Let's Get Digital with Sarah

Hello, CTK friends!  Today I'm back with a layout using some digital elements.  Before we get started let me preface this post by saying that you do not need any fancy cutting equipment to replicate this type of look.  We're going to be using some basic cutting tools and a little bit of patience to put together this really fun page.

For this project I used the Modern Beehive cutfile as my focal point and then embellished using the November cut aparts, the pocket life and main kits as well as the "Thankful" and "Documented" stamp sets.

If you have a cutting machine that would definitely be the easiest and fastest way to trim your cut file.  However, the great thing about using a simple geometric cut file like this is that you can easily go in with a ruler and exacto knife and cut around the outline, which is what I did here.  I simply opened the .png file in photoshop and printed it out.  The default of the image is black, which is what I wanted for my layout, but you could also change the color before printing it out.

I didn't worry about being too precise with my cutting (you can see little slivers of white around the beehive) because you can't even really see them once all of the embellishments are stuck down.

I backed a couple of of my hexagons with patterned paper and stuck down some die cuts, stickers, and labels to embellish my beehive.

Finally, I made a little visual triangle with my stamping just to give some interest to the edges of my paper and finish my layout.

I hope this gives you some inspiration for using some of the digital files this month!

Happy Crafting!

Travelers Notebook Challenge with Sarah

Hey there, CTK friends!  Today I have a TN challenge for you that involves using a bunch of frames to create an interesting background.  If you don't already have some frames that you want to use, that's totally okay because we are going to be making our own by cutting up some patterned paper!

If you've never tried using frames for a background, I'd love to encourage you to try it out.  Frames add such a fun pattern and shape element, and you can get really creative with different colors and textures to make it your own.

For this page I used some pattern papers from the "Little Things" Scrapbooking kit to cut out my frames.  Using my Exacto knife, scissors, and paper trimmer, I cut out some rectangles and circles of various sizes and patterns.

Once I had all of my frames ready I played around with their placement on the page, making sure that I didn't have any floating elements.  I had some frames go off the page and the rest of the frames connect to each other.

I didn't need to do a lot to embellish this page since I already had a lot going on with the colors and patterns on the frames, but I did add a title and a few small die cut pieces to finish off my page.

There's a video below if you'd like to see how this page came together.



I'd love for you to give this a try!  There are so many possibilities with frames so you can get super creative and make it your own.

Happy Crafting!
Sarah

   

Pocket Page Process with Sarah

Hey, CTK friends!  Today I have a pocket page process to share with you using the gorgeous new "Little Things" Pocket Life kit (and a couple of other goodies that released this month :)
This kit is filled with such beautiful pieces that would be perfect to document the Fall , but it's definitely versatile enough to document any season.  As you can see here, I used it to document a summer month and it worked out great!

For my title card I cut one of the 6x8 papers in half, used the puffy alphabet stickers from the kit to spell out my month, and added a couple of the leaf die cuts and a wooden heart just to add a little something extra.  

 Sometimes I like to layer a die cut pieces on top of my PL cards to make a fun filler card.  Here, the "so grateful for so much" tag added the perfect sentiment and graphic element for that card.

Also, I can't get enough of that "eat" wood veneer from the scrapbooking kit!  I wanted to use it here since that was the first photo I ever took of my daughter in her high chair.  Hello, solid foods!

I wanted to try to use as many sentiments from the "Little Things" stamp set so I decided to curve the sentiments around my daughter's silhouette.  It not only allowed me to use a bunch of sentiments, it also added a fun border to make that photo really stand out.

There's a process video below if you'd like to see how all of this came together. 

Thank you for letting me share this fun page with you!

Products Used:

"Little Things" Pocket Life Kit: https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/october-2018-little-things-pocket-life-kit

"Little Things" Scrapbooking Kit (For "Eat" Wood Veneer): https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/october-2018-little-things-scrapbook-kit

Little Things Traveler's Notebook Stamp:  https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/october-2018-travelers-notebook-little-things-stamp

Happy Crafting!

TN Challenge with Sarah

Hi, CTK friends!

It's Sarah here today back with another TN challenge.  Today we're breaking out our stamps and getting inky! :)

My challenge for you today is to create a stamped background in your TN.  There are many ways you could go about this challenge- from sectioning off areas to stamp to stamping on cardstock and then adding it into your notebook like pattern paper.  Or, you can just go all out like I did here and ink up both pages of the spread!

This month the gorgeous Magic Happens stamp set released from CTK and I found myself instantly in love with this little gem so that's what I decided to use on my pages here.

I started with the two tags that are in the stamp set because they are the largest pieces and provide the most structure due to their shape.  Once I had those down, I started slowly adding in sentiments using a few different ink colors.  I stuck to only a few colors since this page is already quite busy.  After all of the stamping was done I didn't really need to add much of anything else, but I did embellish a bit more using some pieces from this month's Pocket Life kit.  I like how those elements bring in a different texture.

I'd love for you to give this challenge a try. :)

Happy Crafting!

3-To-Inspire with Sarah

Hey, CTK friends!

It's Sarah here back with a 3-to-inspire challenge for you.  Today I'm going to be working with:

- Pattern Paper
- Stamps
- Stickers

Instead of using these products the same way I usually use them in my TN, I wanted to challenge myself you try something new with each supply.  Let's take a look at how this came together.

First, I used patterned paper to create a tag and a pocket in my TN for some journaling.  For the pocket, I cut down a piece of patterned paper to be the size of my notebook page, and then cut it in half diagonally. When adhering it to my notebook page I was careful to apply adhesive only to right and bottom edges.  This way there was plenty of room to tuck my tag inside.  I also took a branding strip from one of the papers to add a pop of pink to the edge.  It seemed like a nice transition into the plain white paper.

Next, I added a little bit of stamping to my tag.  Normally I go pretty crazy with my stamping, but for this project I wanted to keep it simple and just add a little something to spruce things up around my journaling.  

Finally, I used some of these clear stickers to create a pattern background for the left page.  I love how this turned out!  I've created my own background using stamps before, but I've never tried it with stickers.  Not only is this technique much faster, but I love how all of the different fonts look together!

So there you have it!  A pretty simple TN page using 3 products in a new way.

Happy Crafting!

Traveler's Notebook Challenge with Sarah

Hey, friends!  Sarah here, and today I have a fun traveler's notebook (TN) challenge for you!

Flip up photos are quickly becoming my go-to when trying to get more photos into my TN, and they are super easy to make!  All you need is a little bit of washi tape or a sticker of some sort and you're good to go.  I was first introduced to this technique by Ali Edwards who shared how to make these for a flip up pocket in Project Life page protectors.  I still use this technique occasionally for Project Life, but you'll mostly see it in my TNs now.



For this layout I used some of the Maggie Holmes Willow Lane washi tape that came in the "Perfectly Posh" Citrus Twist Embellishment kit and adhered the tops of two photos together.  I love how the two photos look very similar, but if you look closely enough you can see my daughter's expression change as we read.

If you'd like to see how this page came together, feel free to check out the process video below!




I'd love for you to take on this challenge of creating a flip up photo in your TN!  It's super fun and after you do it once, you might just end up doing it again and again (like me! :)

Here are the kits that I used on this page:

"Perfectly Posh" Scrapbooking Kit: https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/august-2018-perfectly-posh-scrapbook-kit

"Perfectly Posh" Pocket Life Kit: https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/august-2018-perfectly-posh-pocket-life-kit

"Perfectly Posh" Embellishment Kit: https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/current-kit-subscriptions/products/august-2018-embellishment-kit

Happy Crafting!

Let's Get Digital with Sarah

Hey, friends!  It's Sarah here, and today I'm sharing a fun way to incorporate digital elements into your project!

I think one common misconception when it comes to digitals is that you need a bunch of fancy software in order to use them.  That couldn't be further from the truth!  Fancy software can be nice when it comes to cut files or wanting to make major modifications to a file for your project, but sometimes just having the ability to print a digital element is good enough.

I love print files because it allows me to choose what paper I want to print on (I typically use regular printer paper when I'm going to be using them in my traveler's notebook (TN), and I get to type my journaling directly onto the cards/labels, which is great if you're someone like me that doesn't own a typewriter!  Another major bonus is that digital files are typically less expensive (or in this case, FREE!), plus you can print them over and over again.



For this TN layout I started by downloading the free cut apart labels from the "Perfectly Posh" kit (available here: https://citrustwistkits.com/collections/digital-files/products/perfectly-posh-cut-aparts-free-august-2018) and then typed up some journaling onto some of the labels using the Typewriter option in the Toolbar menu.

Lastly, it was a matter of just printing, cutting, and then figuring out how I wanted to place everything on my page.  

I had fun mixing the printables with other elements from the "Perfectly Posh" Pocket Life kit so I could have a nice variety of shapes and textures. 

I'd love to encourage you to try out some of the printables in the Citrus Twist Kit Shop to see how you can incorporate them into your projects!

Happy Crafting!

Pocket Life Challenge with Sarah

Hi, friends!  Sarah here today with a fun Pocket Life challenge that will hopefully help you get more use out of the fun embellishments in your kit!

My challenge for you today is to use your stamps and/or embellishments to decorate your own filler cards!

One of my favorite ways to customize my Pocket Life pages from week to week is to play around with making my own filler cards.  I absolutely love getting my stamps and embellishments out to see what kinds of cards I can create from scratch.  Each one is like a mini layout!

You can play around with making little clusters of embellishments or just keep things really simple with a single stamped image.  The possibilities here are endless!

For the filler cards that I created from scratch on this spread I used one of the 6x8 patterned papers that comes in the Pocket Life kit.  Those 6x8 papers make great PL cards if you cut them down!  From there I used my die cuts, stamps, and puffy stickers to embellish . . . and Voila! custom pocket life cards :)

Hope you have fun with this one!

Happy Crafting!

Traveler's Notebook Foldout

Hi, Friends!  Sarah here, and I'm so excited to be sharing my very first post on the Citrus Twist Kits blog today!

Today I wanted to share how I put together foldouts in my TN.  This has started to be my go-to for documenting little daytrips or any event where I have multiple photos or need a little extra room for journaling.  I feel like this layout is perfect for documenting little summer adventures, and it's just a super fun way to switch up the format in any TN!

The only thing you need to create a fold-out in a TN is a piece of paper/cardstock that is roughly twice the width of your notebook.  This way, you can adhere half of the page into yours notebook while the other half (or whatever width you choose) folds over.  Double sided patterned paper works great for this technique because you can have a fun pattern on both the inside and outside of your foldout.

For my project I used a piece of cardstock that had a bright chevron pattern on one side and a repeated lemon pattern on the other.  I love how the colors of these papers compliment each other, and how each pattern makes a really nice background for photos and embellishments.

I wasn't working with a lot of photos for my page, so I had a lot of room to play around with embellishments, which is awesome because there are always plenty of embellishment goodies that come in the Citrus Twist kits!

If you'd like to see a more in-depth look at how this notebook spread came together you can check out the video below!



I hope you have a chance to try this technique out, if you haven't already!  You might surprise yourself with how easy it is to create extra space in a TN!

Happy Crafting!