Fresh Start + PL Goals with Tara

Hi friends! Wishing you well this year - hoping it got off to a good start for you so far. A new year always means new beginnings, 365 chances, and more fun!Of course it also gets us crafty peeps thinking how do we want to document the next year? Do we stay the same? Do we change things up?

Less of this, more of that...this year I went up in size to 9x12. I absolutely ADORE my 6x8 albums but I really longed for a bit more space and want to focus on more stories - both long and short.


Here is my title page for my 2017 album:

I had a couple photos from our trip to Ireland that I didn't get printed yet - and really loved them so much! I loved the way the black and white photo of my husband and I had some space to add in fun cut-aparts and word stickers.

I absolutely love cork pieces and the die cuts from the 'Jameson' PL kit. I really love adding embellishments to the outside of the pocket, as well as inside too.

I have a ton of Citrus Twist stamps that I love and had to use so many of them. I used a ton of things from my stash which made me happy to finally bring them out and put them to work.

I also wanted to share some of my crafty goals with you and I hope you share yours too!

• Use up my stash - use all the nice things, do not hoard, do not hoard...
• Don't stress - if I only have enough to document a week on one page, then do it! Go with the flow - enjoy the process and have fun memory keeping.
• Set up a weekly workflow - this is for editing, printing, and crafting. Instead of waiting for a few weeks to go by, I plan to do these things weekly so I can spend more time making stuff.
• Less - less options and choices. I want have minimal choices to make so I'm not overthinking my layouts or sifting through loads of things.
• Finish projects. It may take me a few months past the project - but I do want to see more mini albums and other projects done instead of just 'hanging around'. 
• HAVE FUN!

Thank you for stopping by! I can't wait to hear what you plan to do this year and see your layouts documenting January.

Have a lovely day! Xxo, Tara

Let's get digital - hello 2017!

Welcome everyone!
It's Mira and Andrea here and in today's post we'd like to invite You to join Citrus Twist Kits Facebook Fan Page (if You still didn't) and search this amazing place for a few freebie files that You can use in Your projects!

We prepared two cutting files and a lot of printables (You will find them later in the post)  for You and created some inspirations to show You how they can be used! So! Let's begin with cutting files from Mira:

What I made with one of the files is a simple, no-picture layout that is opening my Pocket Life Album saying which year this is:

In January Pocket Life Kit I found a few CTK exclusive papers that were perfect for the opening page of my album - they are bright, intensive and strong and really motivating. I thought they could bring me the positive energy whenever I'd open the album. 

I really love that delicate flower pattern on the other paper included in the kit, so I used it to add a little subtle effect to the page. 

All those exclusive products from this month's PL kit are happily screaming: "Happy New Year! Happy New Year!" so I picked some of them, mixed with embellishments from Embellishment kit, added some final touches with my sewing machine and black ink splatters, and in one moment I created a very nice title page for 2017!

And hello again, from me, Andrea! I've partnered with Mira today as part of the “Let's Get Digital” scrappy fun, to bring you fun free printables to use for the new year too! You can get the printables on the Citrus Twist Kits Facebook FanPage, the same place where you can get Mira's beautiful cutfiles.

I created a two page spread using the printable I designed and the amazing January kits – the main kit, “Jameson”, and the “Oh Darling” add on kit, plus a couple of things from the Sprinkles kit and the Embellishment kit. The kits this month are so beautiful filled with such beautiful and bold colors that really inspired me and made me feel bold and confident with this new year that we have just begun! I am starting my project life album for 2017 and so these will be the first couple of pages in my 8 ½ x 11 album.

For my printables, I created two fun pieces that can each be used in different ways, according to what suits your needs. You may choose to print on photo paper, cardstock or vellum or a combination (as I did). And the printables come in a few different sizes (8 ½ x11 6x8 and 3x4 ) so if you are doing pocket pages you may print the printable as a card as well. Do whatever works for you! In my case, I like to do a mix of layouts and pocket pages in my PL albums and I decided that I would begin my album with a big bold statement cover page! I combined the pink polka dot printable (which I printed out on semi-gloss photo paper) and the black and white printable (which I printed out on vellum) and sewed them together to make a statement piece for the beginning of my album.

For the layout that I did to also start out my new album for the new year, I chose to also go big and bold with the use of a large picture. I chose a pic of myself that reflected my thoughts on this new year, what I hope will be one filled with great possibilities and a bright future on the horizon!

I used the bright bold colors and patterns in the kit like the pretty multi-colored striped Crate Paper patterned paper from the add on kit and the beautiful blue exclusive paper from Citrus Twist in the Main kit. I chose embellishments that I thought fit the “new year, new adventure” theme of my spread and indeed my album for this year. I love the wood piece in the kit that says “hello 2017” on it, the 2017 stamp, and the pieces from the exclusive ephemera pack that say things like “be bold” and “live your best”!

I hope you enjoy the printables and that I have inspired you on how they can be used along with the January kits to make a fun new start to your memory keeping this year! Please share what you create on the Citrus Twist Facebook Page...I would love to see all your creative ideas for how to use the printables! Hope you enjoy the all the 2017 freebies from today's “Let's Get Digital” with me, Andrea, and Mira...we so enjoyed making these goodies for you and we can't wait to see what you do!

Happy Scrapping! – Andrea & Mira