Tuesday Tutorial - Altering Alphas

Hello friends! This is Kelly and today I have a fun and simple technique to alter the color of  the puffy alphas by Pinkfresh. This technique works best when covering lighter color embellishments with dark inks. I also recommend to test the color on an alpha that you don't use frequently and for me that is the letter Z.

I started this page with a google search on Mickey images. I knew that I wanted the traditional silhouette, and once I found one that I liked, I imported into in my software and traced the image for this cut file. I also went ahead and messily stitched around the outline with black thread to emphasize the outline.

I don't usually gravitate towards themed products, and as a result a large number of my Disney photos have not been scrapped. The Malibu kit and the Paradise Add-on both had several pieces that I thought worked well with these photos, and inspired me to create another layout for my Disney album.

I wanted to document the park that we were in this day with the initials somewhere on the page. The Pinkfresh alphas were perfect, except the gray color did not stand out on the label with the rest of the black elements on the page. I used a black Copic marker and applied a few coats of ink to alter the color. I left the alphas on the sheet to make it easy, allowed them to dry in between coats, and then peeled them off and adhered them to the label. 

The one other embellishment that "needed" to get on this page was from the chipboard phrase from the Paradise Add-On kit. The phrase works perfectly for Disney photos as well as every-day photos. 

Here's a peek at how the layout came together. I hope that you will try this technique the next time you need a different color alpha. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope that you have a great day!

Clean and Simple Layout Inspiration | Kathleen Graumüller

Hey friends, it’s Kathleen here again, unfortunately with my last post as part of the Citrus Twist Kits creative team. I absolutely loved being on the CTK design team, but since things have gotten a bit hectic around here (at home, not at the CTK blog ;) ), unfortunately, I had to step down from this design team.

But let’s focus on my project for today! I thought I would share some inspiration for a clean and simple layout that I made with the beautiful May "Malibu“ scrapbooking kit. I used one of the iNSD sketches as inspiration for this one.

 When making a clean and simple layout, what always helps to add some interest to the page, is to use different textures. On my layout I not only used the patterned papers, but also part of the pink tulle that was included in the kit (as part of the border on the left, it’s a bit hard to see in the photos), different embellishments (like the gold puffy stickers, the cardstock stickers), some machine stitching and the white modeling paste.

For that last one I used a stencil from my stash that kind of reminded me of the blanket’s structure (which you can see in the photo). I love the look of white on white because it adds some interest to your layout without adding more colour or patterns, so it doesn’t get too busy.

I hope this layout inspires you to try the clean and simple style yourself :)

And since this will be my last blog post, I thought I would also share some of my favourite layouts that I made with the Citrus Twist Kits over the past eight months (and it was really hard to choose - the CTK kits really pushed me to try new things):

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Tuesday Tutorial – Stamping

Hello CTK friends! Melanie here today to share a fun stamping tutorial!!! CTK has so many wonderful stamps, I thought I’d show you how I like to combine my stamps to create unique embellishments for my projects, in this case a PL spread. Using the Delish stamp, Candid Camera, along with stamps from past CTK kits and the Malibu Pocket Life kit, I created fun accents for my PL spread. 

The stamp frame from the Delish Stamp Set was the base for my stamping, afterwards it was simply combining a larger word/phrase stamp with a smaller word/phrase stamp, making sure that each saying complimented each other. This was a fun exercise in using my supplies and seeing which stamps coordinated well together.

Since I like to work with odd number of items, I created 5 stamp vignettes to use on my spread. Each stamp highlighted the theme of the picture.

To complete my spread I used the PL cards from the Malibu Pocket Life kit along with various embellishments from the same kit. Love the beauty and versatility of this kit, ideal for any type of pictures and stories.

The end result is a simple but unique PL spread that recaps the story of my family. Love this project, love that it enables me to preserve our stories and special moments but also to tell the story of little things that bring my joy and happiness.

Don't forget to share your projects with us on Instagram and hashtag #citrustwistkits and on our Facebook page so we can leave you a little love!

Happy crafting!!!

3-To-Inspire with Kelly

Hello friends! Today I am back with our first 3-To-Inspire challenge for the month of May. I have loved playing with this kit and hope that you will play along for a chance to win a prize!

My prompts are as follows:
1. Use tulle
2. Stitch (machine, hand, or both)
3. Use at least 3 patterned papers

Here is the page that I created using one of the cut files available as a NSD freebie in the shop.

For this layout I used the Malibu Main kit, Malibu Pocket Life kit, and the Paradise Add-on kit. I started creating the page by backing the heart cut file with papers that contained pink, coral, or aqua. Adding in the black and white polka dot brings a bit of contrast to the page.

I'm a sucker for birds and knew that this sweet bird would make the perfect accent on top of the photo.

The doily and twine are from my stash. I stitched through the title to add a bit more detail to the page.

 My mom has dementia, and we have had to make some serious life changes for her. It's been hard, and when I saw these stickers from Pinkfresh Studio, I could not believe how well that they told the story of my layout. Sometimes journaling is not even needed when your products say everything that you need to say.

I chose to layer the tulle behind the heart. I cut several squares so that the color would be a bit brighter, and adhered it to the back of the cut file with hot glue. I wanted to make sure that it would stay in place, and knew that hot glue would do the trick.

I have included a link to my process video if you would like to see how this layout came together. Now, it is your turn to use these prompts and post your projects on  our CTK Facebook Fan Page. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!

xoxo, Kelly

Documenting The Little Moments with Nathalie

Hello friends!
Nathalie with you today to show you how versatile the new Malibu kits are.  This month's kits are bold, colorful and a bit tropical, but they can easily be used to document those everyday moments easily.

By now you all know that i love to combine cut files and mixed media, so i took advantage of  one of this month's free cut files (there are quite a few free digitals being added to the CTK shop monthly!!)

I used the Floral Drops cut file to create the background of this page.  I simply cut it twice from white cardstock, and pretty much sandwiched patterned paper in between the two cut outs.  This just adds a bit of movement to the florals, and enhances all the patterns in this month's Malibu scrapbook and Patterned Paper kit.

Well, for the mixed media, i wanted to create a colorful background where the florals will sit, so I played with some Distress Oxides to create a watercolor background in the colors of  the papers in the kit.  I based the colors of the papers used  -when backing the cut out- on their placement on the background.

A bit of foam adhesive just adds some extra dimension to the florals, and makes them bring life to the page; Which is perfect for this  regular/eveyday picture of my husband and i (we were sitting on the carpet with our baby, so i reached for the phone and snapped a few selfies) .

I used a combination of the ephemera and stickers (from the  main kit)  with the CTK monthly printable and some of the embellishments to form clusters and add a title to the page.

I love how easy it was to put life into an ordinary picture of us (trust me this is us every day!) using this month's kits.  The following video will give you a  more in depth look at how the page came together:

That is all for me today, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions on how the page came together, and stop by the Citrus Twist Kits website to check the kits and the digitals.  I am looking forward to seeing what you all make with these kits!

XO

Nathalie