Summer times twice

Hi lovely CTK friends!

Anna here today bringing you some lovely summer feelings. I've made not one but two delightful pages made by the CTK June kits. More specifically the Cypress Main Scrapbook kit, the Embellishment and the Pattern Paper Play kit. They are gorgeous each and everyone :)
I've also been playing with one of the fabulous June CTK cut files, this one designed by the talented Nathalie. And I did use the whole paper from where I cut out the cut file as well, if it makes sense :)
Have a look at both of my pages below and you'll see what I mean, lol!

Be sure to sign up for a subscription of one or more kits by your own so you don't miss anything since they can get sold out very quickly.

Anyway, here's what I came up with this time.

Here I've used the ordinary cut file and I've backed it with a white cardstock that I've been "smooshing" lots and lots of  different color mist's on. YUM!

Love the CTK clear stamps. I thought the "Let's Go" stamp worked great here. Also, who can resist the lovely green enamels? At least I couldn't, lol!

This "excuse me while I freakout" sticker is just awesome and I'm so happy that I found out a way to use it.

Well that was number one and here comes number two, hang on :)

Here I've used the "holes" from the ordinary cut file and the letters from inside of the words.

I love when I can use the "whole thing", it makes my heart sing.

This photo is real summer for me, when even I can go outside barefoot in the grass, YAY!

( You know, most of the time I wear wool socks even in summer because I'm always freezing..)

Ohh! How lovely are these enamels? And the beautiful butterfies by Elle's Studio as well, gorgeousness!!

I did some fussy cutting from the "Pl-card" paper from Crate Paper Wild Heart to get my "HEY".

Well that's all for now. See you guys over at the CTK Fan Page!

Thanks for stopping by! Anna xo

Tuesday Tutorial with Adele

Hey Scrappy Peeps!!

Today I am up with a little Tuesday Tutorial for you all (complete with a process video). I am sure most readers have dabbled in documenting birthdays previously - all those big party smiles, delicious cakes and sparkling candles.

But what about the lead up to the big day? We often forget all the little preparation details that join together to make a day of celebration. Today I am showing you how to use pocket pages to document those little moments that happen before the big day - a perfect way for non-Project Lifers to include those photos of DIY birthday projects, yummy party cooking, or birthday presents you've picked without dedicating a whole 12x12 layout to each aspect.

I encourage all of you to give this a go, and use pocket pages to document the ways that you get ready for a birthday. Even if you do not have a party, there's little steps that help make the day special. Maybe the choosing or making of a birthday card? Perhaps buying the ingredients to cook the birthday boy/girl's fav meal? Or even documenting the present you chose to give the person and why? 

For Archie's first birthday we had a big party of 40+ people at our house (not something we will do every year!!!) and I went a little DIY decoration mad...of course hehe! I snapped some process shots of a special high chair skirt I made and included the before and after in this week's layout. 

I also wanted to make sure I documented the "present buying" guide I shopped by and add little more info about what I bought and why. This is something that I will continue to add each year as a fun way to document Archie's changing tastes throughout the years. 

I also added a photo of Archie the day before his birthday in his fav spot doing his fav pastime - flipping through picture books on his little couch. I also hope to do this each year as well. 

I've made an accompanying process video chatting more about my idea for Tuesday Tutorial this month. I hope you enjoy it!!

If you're a non-Project Lifer, I challenge you to buy a little pack of page protectors (or dig out that dusty pack you bought ages ago and have shoved at the back of your craft shelf hehe!!) and try documenting the behind the scenes of an important birthday. 

See you next time!

Adele 

Let's Get Digital with Tara

Happy Monday friends! I'm here today sharing some inspiration using the June Cypress cut aparts (can you say yes for free??) with this month's GraceBox kit.


I'm in Ecclesiastes 3 and encouraged by God making everything beautiful in it's own time. Right now I am experiencing a season of slowing down, inviting myself to live light and saying yes to space. Sometimes it's hard to recognize when you need to reign back from good things, but I find it necessary to grow and learn.

I printed out the cut aparts and made a little cluster at the top of my journaling page. I didn't re-size the circles, but used my 1" circle punch. It was a perfect landing spot for the large sticker, "God is working on me".

I love the label with "slow down & lighten up" but it was a bit too big for my page. I cut down the label and created another cluster with my favorite cut apart piece - the pink speech bubble. I see myself using that over and over again! I used my 1" punch again for the striped circle.

The stamps add so much to any journaling page. I don't think I have found a Citrus Twist Kits stamp I didn't like.

It's a bittersweet day for me today since this will be my last post being on the Citrus Twist Kits team. I've had a pleasure creating for them for three years and have enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you find encouragement to savor the season of life you are in now, as well as the seasons to come.

Blessings! Xxo - Tara

Sunday Sketch with Chantal

This week, our sketch is a 8.5x11 layout with an abundance of layers. Fellow creative team member Kelly Barron, is also joining me this week and sharing her take on our scrapbook sketch.

For my project, I opted for some neutral tones for my papers and added a pop of colour to it all, with the elements.

The elements used, are various items from the Scrapbook and Embellishment kits. I've always been a fan of mixing and matching various shades of green and yellow together.

I printed the speech bubble and whipped out my vintage typewriter to add a bit of text. I then adhered it to my page with some foam tape.

My favourite thing about this layout, is the globe. I really wanted to incorporate the rub-ons in the foreground instead of adding it somewhere behind everything else. To do that, I simply rubbed the globe onto a piece of scrap photo paper and fussy cut it out.

To complete it all, I added a little sewing to the arrows, stamped and dated my page.

Here is Kelly's take on today's scrapbook sketch;

I adapted this sketch to make it a full 12x12 layout. To create this page I used primarily the Happy Heart Add-On kit and bits and pieces from the Main and Pocket Life kits.

I fell in love with the colors in these papers and arranged them in rainbow order for a fun look. The stitching in black helps to bring the title and the black accents of the sticker together for a cohesive look on the layout.

I added a doily from my stash to add some softness to the photo. The texture and interest that doilies bring to a layout make them one of my favorite embellishments to use.

Now it's your turn! To play along with this weeks sketch and be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate to the Citrus Twist Kits store, create a project inspired by this week's sketch and upload it to the CTK gallery with today's date (06/17) in the title.

Happy creating!!!

3-to-inspire | Kristel

Hi all! So, today's post is sadly my last as a CTK DT member as I'm moving on.
I've had such a great time for the past 9 months, creating new projects each month, and I hope
you have been inspired by them.

For today's post I have been working with the Scrapbook kit for a change, instead of my regular Pocket Life kit.
The kit included a lovely paper with some 3x4 cards and tags on it, which I've both used.
I started by picking which 3x4 cards I wanted to use and then added some 12x12 papers into the mix, by cutting some 4x6 cards out of them :-)

As I only had 3x4 photos I didn't have any to fill up the 4x6 pockets, as I usually like to fill up these spaces with full size photos.
I didn't like the idea of using the middle row for photos and fill up the rest with paper, so I mixed some things up from my regular work flow.
I still wanted to have at least two photos fill up some 4x6 pockets, so I chose to add them to a 4x6 card in a way it looks like the pocket consists of two 3x4 instead of one 4x6 pocket.

I then still had two "blank" 4x6 cards which needed some decoration. The first one, on top, became a title card with a simple title and some enamel dots. The second one, on the bottom, became a filler card with a cute tag and pink (!) cockatoo; I love it!

Your prompts for today's 3-to-inspire are as followed:

- Create a Pocket Page with a scrapbook kit or scrapbook papers for a change :-)
- Try to stick with 2 colors which compliment each other
- Be creative with the layout and pocket sizes. Try creating an illusion of split pockets or combine two pockets to make them look larger, for example: Cut a 4x6 photo in two and place them into two 3x4 pockets next to each other.

- Extra prompt: Devote a page to yourself with some awesome selfies <3

I hope you are inspired by these prompts, and my project of course, and I wish you all a lovely weekend!

Love, Kristel

Pocket Life Challenge with Diane

Hi guys! Diane here with another Pocket Life Challenge for you!

I used both the Pocket Life kit and the Embellishment kit this week and I challenged myself to use those dreaded rub-ons in the Embellishment pack. I never have good luck with rub-ons, they never go where I want them to, or they go everywhere! Plus these ones were travel-themed and we did not go anywhere for this particular week. But I knew if I didn't use them now, I never would. So challenge accepted Diane! 

And I have to say, I quite like the result! Even though they are travel-themed, there were enough general ones that I could really make a statement on my spread. None of them are perfect, probably more to do with my application than the actual rub-ons, but I love how they add a little emphasis to my photos. Turns out, using something you don't love every once in a while can be a really good thing.

Here is the process video for how this weeks page came together (don't laugh at my rub-on application though!) ...



So my challenge for you this week is: Try using something you wouldn't normally reach for! It doesn't have to be rub-ons, but find something you would normally put straight in your "no" pile and use it with abandon! Let me know what you think of the results!

Product Highlight - Pom Pom Trim

Hello everyone!

Nathalie and Anna back with you today with this month's product highlight.   If you receive the main Scrapbook kit, then you will find a large piece of mini yellow pom pom trim in your Cypress Kit.  Love all these little details that Trina is always adding to the kits, makes them unique and fun.   Well, let's start with Nathalie's project, as she combined the pom pom trim with a few elements from the kits to create a fun and super colorful layout.

 Hi there!

To create the colorful background, I pulled the stencil in the mixed media kit (I love this new add on kit!), and used a few shades  of ink (Distress Oxides) to blend over the stencil thus creating the impression of the background.   I made sure the yellow strip sat in the middle of the page,

Once the pictures were aligned on the paper (before gluing them down), i chose to back them each with papers from the Add on kit, and the patterned paper kit, so that the papers matched the colors where the picture will be sitting on the page.  Then glued the pom pom trim around the one sitting in the middle of the page.

Once the pictures were set on the page, I used pieces from the add on kit, embellishment kit and cut apart digital sheet to color block the embellishments around the pictures.

To bring more detail and repetition to the clusters, i chose to use the TN stamp to add a few sentiments were the clusters were placed.

For the title, i chose a piece of ephemera from the add on kit that matched the yellow strip of ink.    Before gluing it down, i made a small cut in the center of the right edge of the page, and folded the corners in to create a small peek-a-boo detail. Here i glued a bit of the yellow pom pom trim, and then backed the space with one of the papers from the Add-on kit that match the color of the pompoms.

Love how this turned out.  First I used multiple pictures (YAY!!), the background is inky and colorful, and the pom pom trim is the perfect detail to complete this page.  Just love this month's Cypress kits!!!

Now let's have a look at Anna's gorgeous project...

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Hi dear friends!

Anna here to share my take on this month's Product Highlight. But first I want to say: Isn't Nathalie's page just amazingly beautiful? I love it! So much to love about it, that background, the colors, her use of the pom pom trim, everything - so good!

Well, here's what I came up with. Something much more "Clean & Simple" but yet colorful and fun, at least I think so, LOL! And I had a blast creating this TN-Spread.

At the very moment I got this lovely piece of yellow pom pom trim in my hands I knew that I wanted to use it like this on the edge of a paper sheet in my Travelers Notebook. You get one Travelers Notebook, as well as the pom pom trim, in the June Cypress Main Scrapbook Kit (along with lots and lots of other goodies of course).

And I've also used the absolutely awesome June CTK Spiral Notebook Edge Cut File on my piece of map patterned paper. It's so cool and I love it. So easy to use on your projects, not only in your TN's but on any other scrapbook project.

I did custom my "Broken Crayons Still Color - sticker" with one of the lovely epoxy stickers since the colors on the crayon sticker was'nt right. That's a great way of make left over stickers work.

I love these numbers by Elle's Studio. And who can resist these lovely "Here+There" black rub on words by Crate Paper from the June Embellishment Kit (unfortunately sold out). And as usual I've added a few stitches with my old trusty sewing machine.

Ohh! Look at this lovely piece of pom pom trim! I'm so happy how it turned out.

And also, I love this cute pic of my youngest son digging into some yummy cake, lol!

And don't forget these epoxy stickers by Elle's Studio, they are so shiny and delicious just like candy, YUM!

Can you spy the blue flower paper under my photo? That's one of the beautiful June Cypress Journaling Cards from the CTK store, love them all and you'll need them all, LOL!

Now it is your turn to put the pom pom trim to use.  We cannot wait to see what you create with this.  Remember to share your creations with us on the CTK Friends page on Facebook or on social media by tagging Citrus Twist Kits.

As always, let us know if you have questions on how these came together!

see you all soon!

Nathalie & Anna