A Full Heart | Elsie Robinson

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you're all having a brilliant start to your week. I'm super excited to share my first layout on the blog, using this month's gorgeous Waverly kit.

Autumn is by far my favourite season of the year. There's something so comforting about it getting slightly chillier, whilst the leaves turn into the warmest and brightest shades of red and orange. The air feels crisp and the clothes get cosier; I just love it!

I wish I could bottle it up and keep England's weather in a permanent state of 'a sunny Autumnal day'...

... and that thought was my inspiration for this layout. Honestly!

Whenever I have flowers in the house, they're always put into old milk bottles or mason jars (it's unashamedly very Pinterest of me), and I knew as soon as I saw the blue florals on the Maggie Holmes 'Jane' paper, they had to be fussy-cut. So I thought: 'why not combine those two ideas in paper form?'

Mason jar + a Maggie Holmes floral = a match made in scrappy heaven!

I'm having a bit of a love affair with a navy and burnt orange colour combination at the moment, and luckily for me, the Pinkfresh Studio 'Indigo Hills' ephemera pack had florals with that colour combo! They work really well with the Maggie Holmes flower's, and give the flower cluster a bit of a wilder and more organic look.

There's a lot of foam behind those flowers, but it was important for me to make sure the flowers were all at different heights to make the cluster look dimensional and a also bit haphazard to get that organic impression.

I played around with a few titles for this layout, but I wanted the mason jar to be the focus and all of my initial title options made the layout too busy for me. I decided to stamp 'a full heart', with some teal ink, on a banner from the Indigo Hills ephemera pack.

Titles don't always have to be a main focus on a layout, sometimes it's nice to let the papers and the design do all of the talking!

I also have a process video below if you want to see how this layout came together:

I hope all of your Mondays are off to good starts!

- Elsie x

Sunday Sketch with Veera

Happy Sunday, it's Veera here today to share this week's Sunday Sketch. I love working with sketches as the sketches can help you step away from your go-to designs and try something new!

I followed the sketch pretty closely, just turned it over. I really loved the diagonal line on the sketch!

For this layout I used October's Waverly Scrapbook kit. I loved the soft tones as they were perfect for this layout.

Now it's your turn! To play along with this week's sketch challenge, create a layout inspired by the sketch, upload it to the CTK Gallery with today's date (10/23) in the title, and you will be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK Store!

A Simple Layout with Jen Chapin

Hi everyone! Jen here, and today I'm sharing a quick layout created with the October kits about my son at 4 years old.

I used the Crate Paper patterned paper and adhered it to the top of a piece of white cardstock. I used a single photo that was printed at a bit less than 4x6 and adhered that to the top half of the layout.

For my title, I used one of the large chipboard words from the add-on kit, as well as some of the Pinkfresh alphas from the Pocket Life kit. I wasn't sure going into this page how the title was going to turn out but I ended up loving it! My journaling was printed on paper and trimmed into strips.

I also scattered some chipboard stickers across the layout, along with enamel dots and a bit of mist.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! I hope you are enjoying your October kits!

Feeling autumnal with Suse

Hey, sweet friends! Today I'm getting in an autumnal mood with a bit of a 'go to' layout design of mine: one featuring lots of pretty hand-cut leaves, falling fairly randomly on my page.

I'll be honest with you: it took me three attempts to get this background looking how I wanted it! Those mixed media ladies make it look so easy, don't they? 

I wanted to use modelling paste over my leaf templates, then brush on subtle washes of colour, before adding lots of splatters. What I found tough was knowing when to stop and with the first two sodden attempts, I definitely got too carried away!

I wanted my leaves to feel as if they were among the ones being thrown up in the air by Kitty in the photo... I'm not sure I achieved it, but I do love the relaxed, haphazard feel of all the layers. 

And there were plenty of beautiful patterns and textures in the October 'Waverly' kit to get really stuck in with! I do love the extra details in our kits like the buttons and the beautiful trim.

My final cute touch was this little bird that I fussy-cut from the Maggie Holmes Gather 'Kindred' paper - isn't it sweet, sitting there, turned away from all the action?

I'd really recommend having a play with shapes inspired by nature. Oak leaves have a lovely shape too, and there are all sorts of flower shapes that can look lovely treated in this random, layered way. 

It's a look that really is hard to get wrong, because nature gets it so right in the first place. Happy scrapping, gang!

Tuesday Tutorial - DIY Template for Hand-stitching

Hello! It's Tara here sharing an easy tutorial today. I fell in love with Mira's 'Let's Get Digital' file this month. I don't own a cutting machine, so I decided to use it as a template for hand-stitching. You can use this method for anything you would like to stitch - just print out the words/phrases, re-size, and go!

The supplies you need are:

• paper piercer
• mouse pad or soft mat
• needle
• thread
• printed phrase
• removable adhesive

After printing out the re-sized digital file, I used some removable adhesive to attach it to my 4x6 card.

I tried to space most of my holes consistently, but not too far apart. I didn't worry too much about measurements. This part took a little longer than I expected! Also, you may need to use more pressure if you are using your tool over a few layers of paper or on photos.

Tip: Do not place holes too close together! I didn't think about it too much and when I started stitching, the small space between a couple holes ended up giving way. Don't fret if this happens to you, just keep on going. With practice it gets easier and no one will be able to tell the difference.

I found that using a back stitch was the easiest way to hand-stitch. If you're new to hand-stitching, Amy Tangerine has a great tutorial with some helpful tips!

Here is a look at my finished 4x6 card:

I really love the "hello, I love you" title paired with a "3" stamp from my stash documenting my son's third birthday.

An up close look:

I added a couple enamel dots from the October Sprinkles Kit to dot my "i" and cover up a little oopsie.

I hope you give hand-stitching a try! I found it relaxing to stitch while watching television or listening to a podcast. Once I got started, I was able to get into a good rhythm and was done in no time.

Have a lovely day!

Xxo, Tara

Wendy Morris-Saponaro | Stamping Simplicity and Watercolor Dreams

Hello all and Happy Monday!  Wendy here to share up some simple stamping and watercolor fun.  Let's kick start the week with a bit of watercolor and stamping.  I love all things watercolor and lately I've committed to getting back into my artistic flow along with a new watercolor set in hand, I'm gonna make it happen.  Investing in a nice palette of watercolors is all worth it for colors that are vivid, vibrant, and crisp.

My 9"x12" layout, "Life is Lovely", was created using the October 2016 kit(s) and the stamp set from the October 2016 Scrapbook Main kit.

My husband, Vincenzo, and I recently went to Europe last month for 2+ weeks to visit family.  One of my sister-in-laws lives on the beautiful island, Isola d'Elba (founded by Napoleon) in Italy.  It was the quite literally the island of dreams. The type of island where there is not a bridge and you put your car on a boat to travel one hour to the island.  Yeah, epic.

I wanted to simply capture the beauty of the memory with an airy watercolor touch and stamped words or phrases to transpire my emotion at that time.  I love it when a kit has so many elements (i.e. diecuts, phrases, cork shapes, etc) that flow so well together in creating a magical feel to my layout.

I added some floral stems and sprigs from the Pinkfresh Indigo Hills puffy stickers (October 2016 Pocket Life Kit) and coordinating diecut shapes (October 2016 Main Kit).  Also, the stamped floral stems from the CTK exclusive stamp set (October 2016 Main Kit) were a nice touch that matched perfectly.

Then, as a finishing touch, I added some handmade 'enamel dots' using the Nuvo Crystal Drops (Neptune).  Those drops are addicting!

Hope I inspired you to grab your watercolors and stamps for some simple fun!

Wendy

Sunday Sketch with Lilith

Hello everyone. It's Lilith with my very first blogpost for Citrus Twist. I can't tell you how excited I am to be on this amazing team. Today is Sunday which means it is SKETCH TIME. 

Of all the sketches planned for this month this one spoke to me the least and that made it THE SKETCH to work with because I LOVE being challenged. 

The first thing which I found challenging was the large photo. It is very rare that I use large photos and I didn't really want to so I came up with a way of still have a large centered element but didn't use one photo. I grouped 4 photos to create my larger piece and worked from that. 

To play along with this week's sketch challenge, create a layout inspired by the sketch, upload it to the CTK Gallery with today's date (10/16) in the title, and you will be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK Store!

3 to Inspire with Aimee

Yay! It's my favourite day of the week with my ALL TIME favourite challenge to host!

Oh yeah, doesn't it feel good! Okay, it probably feels better for me because I've done the challenge and I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but in the many years I've been here at Citrus Twist, 3 of my top 5 layouts have been made for Citrus Twist. Today we make it 4.

Here is your challenge should you choose to accept it:

1. Pick a shape and go wild with it.

2. Use Twine - preferably from your kit packing.

3. Use something from a past kit.

Did you read it all in the mission impossible voice? I did when I wrote it. 

Originally, I thought I was going to make a layout titled "My Busy Little Bee", hence the hexagons. I got as far as constructing the 'honeycomb', when I decided to change the photo and the title didn't work anymore. Good thing it looks like a pretty quilt. In fact if your struggling with this challenge that would be a good place to start - search quilts on Pinterest for great ideas on how to go wild with shapes.

The twine for my layout has 2 great uses not only is it a pretty bow that adds great texture and movement to the page, its also a great way to hang the tassels in this months scrapbooking kit.

For the challenge to use a past kit, I choose a few pieces of left over ephemera from the Maggie Holmes Gather pack. It was in last months "Maggie" Scrapbook kit. I swear one day I'll use up an entire ephemera pack. It hasn't happened yet, but you know... we should all have goals.

I really hope you love this layout as much as I do and I really look forward to seeing your take on the challenge. Remember: Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us here in the gallery and/or our Facebook Forum. Better still there is Instagram too! Don't forget to tag @citrustwistkits and hashtag #citrustwistkits #ctk3toinspire.

Aimee Xx

PL Sketch Friday With Marie-Pierre Capistran

Hello everyone!

It's Marie-Pierre here to share with you a full 2 page spread of pocket life scrapbooking! Only this time, I used my Scrapbooking and embellishment kits! You can't really go wrong when you decide to go for the Citrus Twist kits, they are all so versatile and full of goodness.

Here's a better view of the left page:

 And some details

I'm in love with that birds paper from Maggie Holmes (Gather collection) so I included quite a bit of it all across my spread. I added the 2 words from the cut appart sheet and 2 puffy stickers.

In this pocket I used a neutral paper on which I could write my journaling and I decided to cover the bottom part of it to add some color (another patterned paper that I stitched to the first one) and I topped it with a bird that I've cut out of the pattern paper. I added a small adhesive brad in the top left corner. I added a brad to the top photo as well. 

I added a small puffy heart here. Simple can often go a long way!

This is the right page:

I decided to play it soft, since my pictures had very dark colors.

I love to print my pictures in a 3x3 size and I then leave a white border around it. This lets me mount it to a patterned paper and it often gives me room to journal. This time though I decided to simply add a label on which I wrote the name of the place we were at. I did my journaling on a 3x4 card that you will see in a little bit. I stapled my label and added a puffy heart. 2 Patterned papers, one label and a puffy sticker. Doesn't get more simple than this. It's classy and soft. i like it.

I wanted to play with the really cute confetti mix I got with my kit. I used a die cut and filled a pocket. I will close it with my fuse tool once I know what I want to add on the other side of the pocket. Right next to that filled pocket, I used a piece of very subtle patterned paper. I decorated it with a label (for the tile) and another bird cut out of the Maggie Holmes patterned paper. I also kept one pink star to add there on the card next to the filled pocket.

This photo was already pretty busy but I still added some element of declaration: 2 round shaped embellishments and 2 stars. A little bit of stitching too.

 Finally here's my journaling. I really love to use patterned papers to write my journaling on vs. white card stock. The color is always a nice addition to my spread.

Now, here's the sketch I created based on my spread. If you want you can play along with us and use the whole sketch or just part of it if you work with a smaller album. For a chance to win, upload your project to the Facebook Fan Page or the Citrus Twist Kits gallery by Friday October 21. Don't forget to include PL 10/14 in your title.

Have fun creating!!

Marie-Pierre