More Inspiration from our July Guest Designer - LISA VARSHINE

Hello everyone!

We are so happy to welcome Lisa back to our blog for her last post as a Guest Designer.  We are sure you are going to love this project as much as her previous ones... 

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Hi friends! I’m back with my third project as this month’s guest designer. For my last project, I wanted to complete a weekly ProjectLife spread with the gorgeous Life Crafted kit and a few extras from the add-on. I love that the kit gives you all the beautiful pieces you need to make spreads like these quick and easy, but still so pretty.

I think my jumping off point for this spread was the floral print 4x6 card I used for the title. The bright colors in the July kit are perfect for documenting our summer stories. My typical process for weekly spreads is to print my photos first (at home), then choose my cards, journaling, and finally any embellishing and stamping. I always use the same format page protector for these spreads: eight 4x6 photos or cards, and eight 3x4 photos or cards. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but I usually include half photos, half cards in each 12x12 two-page spread.

The left side of this spread starts with my dated title card. At first I was considering stamping the date on a die cut and attaching it to the card, but I love the pattern so much that I didn’t want to throw off the symmetry. I took a chance and stamped right on top of the card and was pleasantly surprised with how legible the stamping was.

I always include a lot of color on my pages and this combination of lavender and bright yellow was so great. I had fewer words from this week, mostly photos. The 3x4 banner card provided just the right amount of space for me to include a few thoughts. The repeating love card seemed to be the perfect compliment to the other colors and patterns I had going on on this page. For the bottom right card, I wanted to include a little series of photos of my son having trouble waking up from his nap. I made a simple photo strip in photoshop and attached in to the card. That ended up being one of my favorite parts of this spread. I finished the page off with a circle chipboard and a fun “yay” die-cut.

On the right, I started this spread with a trimmed piece of patterned paper from the Life Crafted kit. I fell in love with this pattern and thought the color was a great fit. To add a little visual interest, I clustered a few die-cuts pieces and finished with a bright yellow chipboard heart sticker. I was so excited that the Pinkfresh die-cut pack included another fun little speech bubble. It worked perfectly with this photo and I love being able to repeat details through the spread to add a little cohesion. I think chipboard pieces are my favorite embellishment (so hard to mess up!) And this month’s set did not disappoint. I think between my three projects, I used every piece.

This spread was so fun and quick to put together. That’s exactly what I want from my CTK kits and they always come through! The gorgeous variety really helps me to stick with one kit and never fall too far behind in my documenting. Thank you so much for having me this month. I hope you were able to find a little inspiration somewhere in these projects!

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WOW!   We have been so lucky to have Lisa join us this month.   Her projects using our July Life Crafted Kit -Best of This Life- and all add ons  have been colorful, inspiring and oh so beautiful!  THANK YOU, LISA!    Remember to follow Lisa to continue to be inspired by her innovative and beautiful work. 

YouTube Channel (videos coming soon!) 

Summer Magic with Nathalie

Hi there!
Nathalie with you today bringing you a new layout that features the lovely July Scrapbooking Add-on kit to document a magical summer memory.  This month's kit is packed with beautiful papers and designs that will make it so easy to document your memories.

It was so hard and easy to pull pieces from the July kits to create this page.  However, i chose to start with a non-white background.  Once I found this light blue cardstock, my first idea was to add a bit of mixed media to the background.

Using the Pinkfresh Studio watercolors (found in the CTK Shop), I added splashes of color to the background.  While it dried,  i used  my Silhouette Cameo to cut two of the stars backgrounds (Subscriber cut file) from the white cardstock included in the Add On Kit.

In addition, i used another cut file (subscriber only) to create the title of this page, and backed it with papers from the add-on kit.  With so many choices in the papers, it was easy to create a summer masculine palette for the title.

A bit of foam adhesive secured the cut outs to the page. A few sentiments from the Add-On stamp set were also added to the background.  The picture was then set on the middle of the page - nestle between the cutouts- and clusters of ephemera and stickers from the Add-on kit and a few from the Life Crafted kit were added to the corners of the picture.

To finish the page, i added a small strip of paper to the bottom of the page, and then added a few gold ink splatters and lines of journal besides the title.

I love the final look of the page. This month's Add-on kit is so packed with beautiful pieces that will get your creativity flowing, and make it easy and quick to document all your memories -not just those Sunny Summer ones-.  Remember you can always contact me if you have questions on how this came together.

XO

Sunday Sketch with Marsha

Hey friends!  Marsha here with you today, and I'm excited to be sharing this week's Sunday Sketch challenge.  I love working with a sketch, and this one is perfection. 

Here's a look at the sketch:

Here's the layout I created:

For my project, I decided to create a 6x8 layout.  This was a challenge for me, considering I normally create traveler's notebook pages.  However, by using the sketch as a jumping-off point, this page came together so quickly! 

I used the July Life Crafted "Best of This Life" kit, the Stamp Add-on, and the This is Life "Chasing Curiosities Stamp. 

To begin the page, I chose a notebook print paper from the kit to use as my background and added some black mist splatters.  This often goes terribly wrong for me, so I like to do this as the first step in my process.

Next, I printed a photo of my mom and me, taken last year at the annual Relay for Life Cancer Breakfast.  We have been attending this event for many years- it's always fun, and a nice way to celebrate another cancer-free year!  I followed the sketch for the placement of my photo, and I used some ephemera pieces, cut aparts, and stamps to frame the photo.

For the title, I chose to use the amazing woodgrain alphas included in the kit.  I think they are my favorite part of this month's kit!  I trimmed the scalloped ephemera piece in half and layered it below the title, creating two rows of scallops.  I love this little detail!  To finish off this area, I added some machine stitching over the woodgrain alphas and to the top of the scallops.

I trimmed an ephemera piece with a notebook paper edge and placed it at the top of the page.  Using my typewriter, I added the journaling to a piece of white cardstock and trimmed it into a tag shape- following the sketch.  Next, I added a puffy cardstock sticker, cut apart element, and an enamel shape.  To finish off the layout, I added a bit more machine stitching.

Thank you for joining me today!  I hope you will play along with this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge and share your project with us on the CTK Facebook Fan Page!

3-To-Inspire with Anna

Hi dear friends!
Anna here with you today bringing you this week's 3-to-Inspire challenge. I just love this month's The Best of This Life kits !  Lots of  happy colors, gorgeous designs and so versatile which made creating with it super easy.  let's have a look at the prompts I've choosen.

1. Use color mist/watercolors on your background, preferably more than one color.
2. Use Digital files (Stamps/Cut Files/ Cut apart elements/PL cards/TN papers/)
3. Use more than two patterned papers.

With these prompts my 12x12 layout came up so easily and I had so much fun while creating.

Now it's your turn to dig into your kit's and play along with us in this challenge.

Here's what I created.

I started up with my first promt using four different color mist's for my background. I used a brush and did some painting to get my pretty bold color blocks.

For my second prompt I used a digital cut file designed to fit one of the lovely Life Crafted Albums. Though I used mine as my title, I just turned it on side instead of using it stright up. Also I used one of digital PL cards (the yellow one with white flowers) and backed a part of the cut file with it.

My third and last promt was using more than two patterned papers and so I did and even more, lol! I think I can count up to five different paper designs.

To finish this happy page I used a few puffy Stickers as well as a few chipboard stickers. They are just gorgeous. There will be a little step by step tutorial of this page on the CTK IG-Stories, hope you'll like it.

Now I do really hope this challenge inspires you to create a project of your own. Be sure to head over to the website and check the kits for this month as well as the different stamps that are available in the CTK shop.
Also please do ask me if you have any questions and I will try to help out.

All the best until next time! Anna xo

Life Crafted with Alena

 Hey friends!  Alena here, and I'm sharing a spread in my Life Crafted album using the July Life Crafted "Best Of This Life" Kit.
I love kit  this month - perfect for summer photos.

This spread is  pretty simple, but it's all about bright accents.

I love using the negative of Chipboard. Try adding different little embellishments or pieces of patterned paper to empty cells. It's pretty simple, but it always looks good. 

On the first page I placed a black and white photo, so I can add more color embellishments. I'm crazy about paper with stars, so I just cut them out and put them in circles.

On the second page I used the Chipboard Alphabet. Some of the letters I decided to leave, they are perfect for mint paper.

I hope you are inspired to create something with your CTK kit today!

Best Of This Life with Amanda Baldwin

Hi CTK Friends & Fans! 

Welcome back for more July Life Crafted Kit inspiration!
Amanda here, & let me tell you, I honestly swooned when I opened my Best Of This Life Kit. So.much.gorgeousness!!! But rather than rave about how amazing the Life Crafted Kits are, let's allow my projects to do all the talkin'....

First up is this fresh & fun Summer layout, "Summer Days"

So cool & refreshing! 

Summer Days documented to perfection with the Best Of This Life Kit!

Let's take a closer look....

The colors in the pattern papers, combined with those fabulous woodgrain alphas are simply the BEST for scrapbooking our fave Summer moments! From the mid blues to the aqua marines, this page takes me to the beach! 

And just look at all those amazing embellishments! The Life Crafted stamp, and the chipboard & puffy stickers are definitely my faves!!!

Speaking of chipboard stickers, here's a better look at them!  Best ever, for sure!

As usual the clear stamp sentiments are really crisp and add the right amount of journaling to your pages! With so many beautiful products in the kit, I just couldn't resist creating lots of luscious layers with both the papers, journal cards and labels. 

And for added interest, I fussy cut around the florals on one of the journal cards - see below....

Simple, subtle but so effective!

The shell die cut ephemera pieces are a cute adornment for my beachy page. Sometimes it's the smallest details that really add that finishing touch! Gorgeous!

For my second project, I am sharing this pretty layout, "LOVE"...

Sigh! Talk about ALL the pretty things!!! This is so super sweet! 

This time I am combining the Best Of This Life Kit with the July Traveler's Notebook Stamp and the Best Of This Life Cut Aparts. Love it!

Like my previous layout, I have created more luscious layers so that I could tuck in lots of ephemera and showcase those pretty papers, cut aparts & journal cards. Infact, it was the folk art style 6" x 4" journal card that inspired the color scheme for my page. You'll spy that I snipped the card in half, and butted it together to create the appearance of a 12" x 2" strip of paper. You'll spot two more cards in my photo stack too....

Swoon! Those layers are really somethin'! Florals always have my heart! And those Cut Apart labels (lovely & happy) are a sweet addition to the layered goodness!

Let's not forget the journal card that I snipped into three to create the fun 'love' tabs on my pattern paper strips - such a fun way to use this card if pocket pages aren't your thing!

With such a delightful color palette, I opted to repeat stamp my sentiments in similar color inks instead of the usual black. I love how soft & pretty this looks! The CTK stamps are always the best!

Did you see how I've incorporated the tiny kit name label card? I loved the sentiment on the kit name card and had to tuck it into my photograph layers. I snipped it into half so I could also include it in my paper strip feature. Perfect!

*Note: the sequins featured on my layout are from my personal stash*

Beautiful! Such a pretty page for my darling daughter! 

Next up is some Life Crafted Album love! 

Here's a super cute back to school page from my album with this month's kit....

How cute & fun is this?!

I just adore those woodgrain alphas - perfect for adding some warmth to my cool color scheme!

I also love the use of labels in this design too! 

Here's a better look at my page...

Super cool! The puffy stickers and enamel dots really add that extra something, don't they?

The mix of colors and patterns in the Best Of This Life exclusive papers is nothing short of awesome! I love the variety of designs, making the kit super versatile! 

And there you have it! My first few projects with the gorgeous July Life Crafted - Best Of This Life Kit! I hope I have inspired you to get creating with these stunning products!

Shop the latest Citrus Twist Kits HERE. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo