Tutorial Tuesday with Andrea

Hello friens! Andrea here to share a tutorial with you on this fine Tuesday! Who's ready to get stampy? Today we are going to create a whole page of stamped sentiments and it's going to be easy! I'm sure you've experienced the frustration of having this beautiful cluster just the way you want it, and then you basically have to take it apart to adhere it all back together. Well I like to avoid frustration in my scrapbooking so I found this stamping trick to be super handy when stamping multiple on the same page.

Start by selecting all of the stamps you want and place them down (the right way, with the backs facing up), arranging them to your taste and design idea. My idea here was a collage look with variety in the sizes but being careful to spread out larger stamps evenly so it didn't feel cramped. I used all stamps from the Badge Maker set and the Little Things set.

Once I had all the stamps down where I wanted them, I grabbed my acrylic block that was big enough to cover all the stamps. If you don't have a block big enough for your design, then do these next steps in smaller sections.

Lay the acrylic block down on top of the stamps and press firmly in order to get each one to grasp the block.

Carefully pull up the block and all the stamps should come along for the ride! Now you have a block with all the stamps exactly how you wanted them!

Even though I photographed this next step with the stamp pad on the desk and the stamp block on top, I would recommend the opposite. Lay the acrylic block on the back side down on your table and press the ink pad onto the exposed stamps. This will allow you to see the ink coverage better so you make sure that all the stamps are inked evenly.

Depending on the ink pad you're using, and how big your overall design is, you might have to work quickly. I use staz-on and it dries fairly fast so I had to ink-ink-ink super quick to get it all covered.

At this point you can stamp it down. I always eye ball stuff but you can pencil out a frame to guide you or make little markers with washi so you remember where exactly you wanted to stamp.

That's it for the stamping portion - now it's time to decorate! I added puffy hearts and die cuts to the stamped page to add color and fun! 

On the opposite page I built a fun photo cluster using cards and die cuts from the gorgeous Little Things kits! The wood grain background is from the 6x8 papers and I basically want all my backgrounds to be this pattern!

Here's another look at how the two pages work together. I feel like the open feeling of the stamped page balances out the heavy cluster on the left page. And because I used coordinating colors and shapes on both pages, it pulls off that balanced look.

Thank you so much for joining me today for this fun tutorial. I hope to see how you create your own stamped collage! Until next time, happy scrapping!

TN Challenge - Put it in a Pocket

Hey Crafty Babes! Andrea back again with a super fun TN Challenge for ya! Currently my go-to format is an open ring traveler's notebook and the beauty of this is that I can insert lots of different items within the rings. In a traditional TN, the pages are stapled and there's no opportunity for moving things around. But I love variety or I get super bored!

On that note, we are going to use pockets in our TN today! I love mixing styles and formats together and adding a 3x8 pocket page to my notebook gives me so much more to work with. We all have thousands of pocket cards, I'm sure of it, so let's use them!

I take a 6x8 pocket page (the design with 4 3x4 pockets) and trim off the column farthest from the holes. For me, this is more economical than buying the 3x8 pocket pages because I already own the 6x8s and I have plenty because I still use them in my other pocket projects! Now you're left with a 3x8 pocket page and you can fill them with all kinds of delicious pocket cards and embellishments from the kits! 

Here I used a piece of the 6x8 paper and trimmed it down to 3x4 for the background. Then I made a cool little label using the stamps and added a tag! And using pockets meant I didn't have to trim down my photos or find a new creative way to layout all the items I wanted to use for this story! 

So what if you're not using a ringed TN and you can't just add in a pocket page. Let's talk about it real quick! One options is: you can trim off the edge of the pocket page where the holes are and use washi tape on both sides of that edge to secure it into the gutter of your notebook. Your pocket may be slightly taller than the notebook so you can trim off the top but also keep in mind that you'll also have to trim the card or photo that goes in that top pocket.

Another option is to place your cards an embellishments in your notebook as if there were pockets. So decorate or journal on the cards and then adhere them to the notebook so they appear to be pocket style! See, everyone can play along!

I sure hope you'll join me for this challenge! Thanks for hanging with me and I hope to see something beautiful you've created with the October kits this month!

Please welcome Andrea Gray to our Creative Team!

Please joins us in welcoming  Andrea Gray to our Creative Team!  We are such a fan of her crafty creations and cannot wait to see what magic she creates with her Citrus Twist Kits each month!

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Hello Friends! To say I'm excited to be joining the Citrus Twist Creative Team is a major understatement! If I could use all the adjectives to convey my happiness, I would!  Instead I'm going to introduce myself and do a little Q&A!

My name is Andrea and I'm also known as Retrohipmama. I recently started a crafty & lifestyle magazine as a way to inspire makers to keep on making! I love memory keeping and all sorts of crafty things. Making stuff has just been a way of life for as long as I can remember. 

When did you start scrapbooking? I've been crafty since the 80s! But scrapbooking came into my life in 1998 and I have never given it up. I've seen all the trends and styles come and go and along the way have reinvented my own style. I love the memory keeping aspect but I would be lying if I didn't admit to how much I adore the products. Playing with color and images is my jam!

What is something most people would not know about you? I have some weird food quirks. Snacks especially need to be eaten in pairs, either by color or size. There's something about the symmetry that just makes me need to snack like this! 

What are the 3 scrapbooking products you can’t live without? I definitely need labels, tags and clips to create almost any project! Everything else is just a bonus!

Now that you know a little bit about me, I'll share my go-to format for memory keeping using the October kits!

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6x8 is my main format and I love to do one side with pockets and a full layout on the opposite side. It gives me an opportunity to play in pockets as well as practice my new favorite full page style.

Lately I've been loving working die cuts and ephemera into a puzzle-like style. It's kinda like a collage and a grid design and I love making odd shaped supplies fit together! This is definitely my jam!

For this page about my dad, I wanted to remember that when he texts me, even though I know it's from him, he still always ends his texts with "Love Dad". I used the love die cut and the alpha stickers for the title and then added the floral elements and of course, hearts! 

Thank you so much for joining me for my first ever CTK blog post! I hope you gain some inspiration to use on your own projects!

See you soon!