Kit Love with Trina

Hi CTK friends!

It is hard to believe sometimes that I made my very first video/kit love video just 3 months ago.  A s a shy, somewhat introverted creative it was beyond overwhelming to do the first video. But it's important to me to share each Life Crafted kit and a little of the story behind them.

The soft focus for our May 2019 "Excursions" kit is all about being on the move. So many of our stories happen right at home with our daily running around, errands, driving carpools, taking kids to sports and more. Sometimes we venture out a little further to explore the countryside, go on picnics, and discover new spots in town. Every now and then it's time to jump on a plane, train or boat to go on a vacation. The Excursions kit is about what you do when you are on the move.

I hope you enjoy!

Life Crafted TN Spread by Anna

Hi dear CTK friends! Anna here with you today sharing some coffee love. This month's Life Crafted "Make it a Venti" kit worked like a charm for this spread.

Here's what I came up with this time.

I'm totally in love with all these puffy and Chipboard Stickers in this month's kit. This time I got a little bit crazy using them, but I couldn't help myself, lol!

Also I've a little crush on all these gorgeous patterned papers this month ( actually it's the same gorgeousness each and every month, right? ) Therefore I decided to try to use as many of them as I could for this spread and made a stripe design with some additional stitches. I love how it turned out.

Now it's your time to grab your kit and have some fun. Don't forget to share your goodness with us on Facebook, CTK Fan Page or/and on Instagram, #citrustwistkits. We can't wait to see your creations and give you some love.

Thanks for stopping by here today! Anna xo

PL Challenge with Kelli

Hello, Kelli here and I am excited to show you a pocket page I made with the April kit. I used a mix of the Life Crafted kit, and the add on kit. Both were perfect to document our 14th wedding anniversary. 

The 4x6 and 3x4 card from the Life Crafted kit are so adorable and I love that outline text. I added some journaling to the small card with my typewriter. 

My challenge for you is to place 2 vertical 3x4s in a 4x6 horizontal pocket. Whether its a photo or a card, you can easily make the pocket more versatile for your project. I use white cardstock behind so its easy to slide in. 

Thanks for joining me today! Have a great day. 

Sunday Sketch with Emma

Hello CTK friends!  Emma back on the blog today to share this weeks Sunday Sketch.  As you know, I do love the sketch challenges ;)

First up, let's have a look at our fun sketch that we're working with:

Our sketch is 12x12 but I haven't created one of those sized layouts for years now, so I had to get a little creative in down-sizing it to fit my Life Crafted album.  Here's a look at the page I've put together:

I've tried to keep to the similar design but just brought the side elements in closer together!  Because the background was plain I thought I'd mix things up by using a little bit of the Vicki Boutin glaze along with the Carta Bella stencil (available in the store).  I'm not big on using the mixed media goodies I have but every now and then I give them a try.

 I love how this adds a subtle pattern to my backing cardstock!

Once my background had dried (the waiting for things to dry always gets me, I even used a heat-gun - just seems to take forever, ha) I started building my layers under my photo.  I used a couple of tags included in the  month's cut-aparts and layered them ontop of the tiny alphabet stickers included in this month's Life Crafted kit.

I typed my journaling up on my computer and just picked a type-writer font.  I've popped it at the top of my page to fill a bit of that white space.

For the bottom of my page I tried to match the sketch - I went with the pink woodgrain paper (to match in with the pink tag I'd used) and added that cute coffee stamp/puffy sticker at the bottom left!

Once my photo and journaling were in place I just added a few extra embellishments - I just love the puffy stickers included in the Life Crafted kit this month and they're a perfect match for this page about our new coffee shop!

This little page came together in no time using the sketch! I love creating these pages for my Life Crafted album - it's such a fun and stress-free size to work with.  I've filled one album already and already a few pages into my second!  Really looking forward to buying the new plastic pockets so I can add a little variety to my album as well!

Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today.  I can't wait to see your pages using it.  Be sure to share your page with us in the CTK Facebook Fanpage!

3 To Inspire with Alena

Hello, crafty friends! Alena here today with a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you!

For today's 3-to-Inspire, the categories are:

1. Use fringe.
2. Stitch (machine, hand).
3. Use labels.

For my PL spread I used the Life Crafted Kit only and I really love the patterned paper in the kit this month.

I love how this fringe/sewing /Ephemera combo turned out! 

Sometimes I use small square photos on my page. This way I can place more photos.

Use the three (3) prompts to create your own project and share it with us on our Facebook Fan page!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!

Life Crafted with Diane

Hi everyone, Diane here to share a couple of pages in my nephew's Life Crafted album with you! I really do treasure the chance to sit down with this album and create a pages with this gorgeous little face.

For this first spread, I created a mini layout on one side and then a cut down page protector for the other. To create the mini layout, I used a page protector from the album to give me the full page size and placement for the holes. Then I layered my photo with paper, labels and die cuts from the Pocket Life kit. I stitched the paper to the background to both adhere it and to give it a bit of texture.

For my title, I used both types of alphas from the kit, as well as the Heidi Swapp alphas from the Scrapbook add on kit. I love all the pinks, blues and teals together. Who says you can't use pink for a baby boy?!

I kept the left hand side really simple but used coordinating colours in the 3x4 journal cards to tie the two sides together. Its super simple to cut down a 6x8 page protector to give yourself a place for 3x4 cards.

For my second page, I created my own segmented pocket page to fit a 4x6 card. I filled the smaller space at the bottom with sequins and then used my Fuse tool to close it off. This left me with a 4x6 pocket at the top.

I didn't have enough of the grey alphas from the kit to create my title and I really didn't want to introduce a second colour to the page, so instead I used a permanent marker to colour in my alphas black. It's a really simple way to coordinate any alpha to the page you're making.

I used a single sheet of exclusive 6x8 pattern paper from the kit and trimmed it in half so that both sides of my page protector would be coordinated. I matted both my photo and my journalling with a darker shade of green and then added a few labels to both sides.

Apart from the paper and labels, the last method I used for tying the two sides together, was to add a little detail stamping to both pages. I love how the little cross stamp adds a tiny detail, looks like a sprinkling of embellishments but doesn't add any bulk at all!

I love the size of this album, it is perfect for quickly putting together pages and getting these precious memories documented.

Traveler's Notebook Challenge with Suzanna

Hey friends, Suzanna here! I'm so excited to be sharing a TN challenge with you today. For my TN layout, I took advantage of the freedom that comes with the Life Crafted Album - you can create a TN sized layout, but pop it in your album when you're done. I love that I don't have to fuss with the chunky TN insert or the bound spine, but can still create layouts based on one of my favorite sizes!

Rather than creating two 4x8" layouts like I would for a regular traveler's notebook layout, I created a 4x8" page for one side of the layout, and embellished one of the 3x8" cards that came in this month's kit to use as the other side. To add the smaller card to my pocket, I used my fuse tool to make one of the Life Crafted Album pockets a bit smaller.

For the 4x8" page, I trimmed down a 4x6" photo and added layers with a mix of journal cards and patterned papers that came in the kit. I made the largest layer our of the speckled patterned paper that matched the 3x8" card I planned to use on the opposite side of the layout.

Then I created small embellishment clusters around the photo. My photo was edited to have a subtle pink tone to it, which worked well with the pink/coral patterned papers and embellishments. I love the way everything is complementary, but still has a little pop.

To tie the right side of my layout in with the page I created, I added a few stars and small embellishments in the bottom corner, along with my date stamp.

Finally, I finished off the layout with splatters of gold craft mist in the same places I created my embellishment clusters. I love the way this pulled it all together and really gave it the finishing touch I was looking for.

Now, let's get into the challenge I have for you guys today! The first challenge is to use a photo that is what I will call an "off size." Basically, instead of using a standard sized photo (3x4", 4x8", or 4x6"), I'm challenging you to trim your photo to a size you don't normally use. You'll be surprised how much something as small as this can alter your creative process and overall outcome. I loved playing with this size and plan to do it a lot more in the future!

Next, I challenge you to incorporate a 3x8" card in your layout. Whether that is as a whole page, like I chose to do, or just as an element on your overall layout - that's up to you. Get creative and jump out of your comfort zone! Lastly, if you're feeling up for another challenge, I'll encourage you to use your journal cards as layers in your layout. One of my favorite uses for journaling cards are as layering pieces on layouts of all sizes. They work great!

I hope this layout and challenge gave you a bit of inspiration for your next TN layout. I'll be back soon with more crafty inspiration, but in the mean time, you can share your creations with me over on Instagram! I can't wait to see what y'all are making with this month's kits!

Pocket Life Spread With Theresa | 2019 Weeks 07 and 08

Hello Lovelies! Theresa here with a Pocket Life layout to share with you. I was inspired to use the April Make It A Venti Kit in my pocket page album because everything in the kit is so flexible and usable for everyday memory keeping! Check out the pages I created.

Right now my rhythm for pocket pages seems to be two week spreads and I am really liking the feel of this. Today's layout is for Weeks 07 and 08, so let's begin with Week 07. I chose to pull the pinks, blues, and greens in this kit, plus a bit of yellow here and there. These colors are repeated in the journal cards, labels, and embellishments, so it was easy to select the cards. My biggest tip is to repeat any color that you introduce to the layout somewhere else on the layout.

My favorite card on this layout is surely the date card for Week 07, which began with the pink journal card. I layered the this word art with alphabet stickers to read this week, and added the number above. I also added the date stamp on either side of the word art.

Of course it is important to have lots of space for journaling, so I have used two cards that had plenty of white space. I also layered the journaling spots in the ephemera pack over the blue patterned card which not only gives space for the journaling, but also breaks up the blue a bit so it's not overwhelming on the page. I also used the black and white dotted patterned paper as a base for one of my photos, and then added another journaling spot and the heart ephemera as simple embellishments. 

Now for Week 08, where I am continuing the same colors. 

My date card was so much fun to create for this side! I had a bit of the Floral cut file left over from another layout, so I tucked it in here between the floral journal card and the tag. My tag serves as the home for a simple week number (08), and a bit of journaling. The dates are stamped along the top of the tag.

One more look at this fun, easy breezy layout.

Thank you so much for joining me today! I hope you are inspired to create a Pocket Life layout with your April kit! We can't wait to see your layouts! See you again soon!