3 To Inspire with Suse

Hey there everyone! Suse Fish back with you today for our regular 3 To Inspire challenge. I do hope you feel inspired to play along: pull out those pretty papers and lovely bits and bobs and just have a ball making a layout or pocket page using my three prompts...

Now I don't know about you, but I'm a little bit out of my comfort zone when it comes to making layouts about myself! It's just not so easy, is it? For one thing, we're never all that happy with photos of ourselves and - perhaps it's me being a typical Brit - but I never want to look like I'm drawing attention to myself!

But our stories are important; we're important and well worthy of playing a starring role in our albums.

So today's challenge involves digging out a photo of yourself and making a layout that reflects something about you or your story right now. Here are your three prompts:

1. Make a layout using one or more photos of you

2. Use more than one patterned paper as your background

3. Hand embroider over your own handwriting.

Once you've created your project, do make sure you share them with us (in the Citrus Twist Kit Gallery, on our Facebook Fan Page or on Instagram by tagging us @citrustwistkits). Can't wait to see what you make and don't forget: if your project is chosen, you might win a lovely scrappy treat!

And just before I go, I thought you might enjoy watching how my layout came together and the little story behind my decision to use both sides of that adorable paper from the September 2015 Main Kit!

Go Big or Go Home with Aimee

Today I have a really quick and easy layout for you that works on a very simple principe - Go Big!

It all starts with a big photo and a big alpha. Once you have them in place you are already three quarters of the way done! 

I choose to mat the photo on big chunky banners in a smaller pattern paper to match the patterns on the alpha and give the layout more detail. The theme I had in mind was big, overstuffed old lady couch - you could just go with rustic.

Once you have your 'big' pieces in place it's time to add the tiny little details that make the spread yours and brings the layout all together, like the twine that tied up Septembers kit, a button and a felt heart from the Wonder ephemera pack. I also went a little crazy with the black destress ink just to amp up the 'well worn' feel. 

So there you have it my giant old lady overstuffed couch - I mean layout. All done and dusted in under an hour. 

Until next time...

Aimee Xx

I used: September's Lombard Main Kit & September Sprinkles Kit.

Recipe challenge with Emma & Aimee

Hi everyone!  It's Emma (and Aimee) here to share a couple layouts we have made using a little recipe challenge I set!  These kind of challenges are fun way to get a page done and similar to our weekly 3 To Inspire challenge.

 OK let's get straight into it - the recipe for our layouts was:

• Die-cuts (at least 5)
• layers
• stitching (machine or hand)
• 1 veneer 
• Cut file (and if you want to be extra tricky, try and use it as a digital stamp and your title)

First up I'll share my page - this is what I came up with!

 

My page started with the "#THATFACE" stamp which is actually something a little new from Kellie Winnell.  I'm incredibly fortune to be friends with Kellie so I was able to test out something new she's trying  - BONUS! ;)  

I repeated the stamp over a full page (6x8) and printed it onto vellum.   To do this I just opened the stamp up in Photoshop, set up my document size to 6x8 and stacked the stamp over and over until the page was full.  Printed as normal with my Canon printer onto a piece of vellum.  Easy one! 

The die-cut piece at the bottom is actually a piece of cardboard that came in the paper packs (to stop them from bending!) - I loved the colour so I ran it through the Cameo and used the negative of the  cut to make the title at the bottom of my page!

 

I'm a big fan of die-cuts/ephemera so I was super excited to see the Main kit this month came with a full pack from Crate Paper's new Wonder line!  Happy days!  I layered a few of the pieces at the top of my page, having only the top sections visible and the rest hiding under my vellum paper (which is backed up with white cardstock which explains why you cant see the bottom half of those pieces!).

This page came together rather quickly.  I love using digital files to create custom pattern paper - makes your page just that little bit unique :)

I'm so excited to show you Aimee's layout - I think she's absolutely smashed this challenge!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi! I can’t tell you just how excited I am to be here with you today. I was completely over the moon when Emma offered to do a joint post with me! I love recipe challenges and I love Emma’s style, so how could it possible go wrong? 

I have absolute mad love for this layout. I had both the main kit and sprinkles kit to work with this month, but the main kit was just so jam packed, there was no need to breakout the sprinkles.

One of Emma’s first stipulations was 5 or more pieces of ephemera - sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Turns out if you take into account her layering rule this is actually an easy fix. I even included my own ephemera from the cafe we visited and a heart from the Wonder Ephemera pack. The hardest part was stopping at one veneer. The veneers in this month’s kit are SO pretty!

I die cut my title on the silhouette and used a prima chalk ink (colour: dry sand) to stencil it on to the layout. I tried my best to pick a similar font to the ‘Merci’ on the transparency to add extra continuity.

Finally there is the matter of sewing - A long time ago Emma paid me a visit and even helped me set up my sewing machine. I naively thought it would be easy. I mean, all I wanted to do was stitch on paper, right? Ha…yeah. Since then I had to change the bobbin thingy to fix a pair of my husbands jeans. I followed what the peeps on youtube said and still nothing. Now I can’t get either the navy or the white thread back in. So until Emma comes back to visit I am restricted to hand sewing. I played around with a couple of ideas on how to include it in the layout, but ultimately decided easiest (read: laziest) way was to hand stitch on a few cute buttons from the kit. 

TA -DA! Mission Accomplished. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It's just so awesome right?!  Thanks so much for joining in with me Aimee!  We will have to do this again ;)  I'd love to see YOUR take on this one too!!  Please upload to the gallery or link it up on the comments below so we can leave you some love :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Em & Aimee

September Guest Designer

Happy first day of September everyone! Today we would like to the take the time to introduce you to our September Guest Designer! Say hello to Brenda Smith!

Hey all! I am so excited to be this month's guest. I am Brenda Smith and I live in gorgeous Virginia with my hubby, 3 adorable kids, and my father-in-law. At the moment I am a SAHM, but my littlest love just headed to kindergarten, so I will be busy job hunting for the next couple of weeks (wish me luck, its been 11 years!).  In addition to scrapbooking and taking care of my family, I am also a photographer.  I love to read, chase my kids around outside, and work out in my "spare time." In a nutshell, I like to be busy and often have too many things to do all at one time.

Before we get to Brenda's beautiful layout, lets get to know our Guest Designer a little bit more. Here is what she has to say about her scrapping space:

I have never had a set scrap space. I used to sit on my bed or if I was painting anything, the kitchen table. When we moved to Virginia a few months ago, we had an extra room that we had no plans for. I took over the entire end of the room with a tall standing desk and my reading chair. It is usually a bit of a mess, but at least it's a pretty mess!

Here is a peak into Brenda's pretty space:

 

Now for a little Q & A with Brenda:

How long have you been scrapbooking and why did you start?

I have been scrapping since 2005. I started with paper then moved to digital for awhile before starting paper again last year. I still love to do both digital and paper now.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

I scrap mostly clean and simple with some layering. I love to mix fun patterns and colors together in interesting ways. Last Christmas my hubs splurged and bough me a Silhouette.  I use that quite often along with my sewing machine. Pretty sure that's not how my mom pictured me using the machine she bought me several years ago, haha. At least I am using it though, right?

What scrapbookers have influenced you the most?

So many scrappers inspire me, but I think I find that I am most often drawn to Maria (analogpaper), LilyandTwig, and Chantelle Philippe. I love their simple and yet striking styles.

What is your favorite thing about kit clubs?

I love that most of the time kit clubs will mix things together that I would not have otherwise bought. They stretch my creativity! It's always fun to play around with different colors then my usual stash of pink, turquoise, gold, and yellow. It keeps me from getting into a rut for sure.

What are your 5 favorite scrapbooking items?

Enamel dots, patterned paper, Color Shine, ephemera packs, and stamps. I use those items on nearly all of my layouts.

How would you describe the Citrus Twist September Kit and what do you love the most about it?

The September Main Kit is just fun. The color combinations and patterns are perfection. Of course, the exclusive stamp and the alpha are to die for. Lots of options for many different projects and so much product! I have made several things so far and still have enough to make more.

Here is the first of Brenda's beautiful projects made using the September "Lombard" Main Kit:

 

Thank you so much Brenda for joining us here at Citrus Twist Kits for the month of September!. It has been a pleasure getting to know you better and we are looking forward to seeing the rest of your beautiful projects as the month progresses!

To learn more about Brenda and to see more of her amazing work, you can stop by her blog and follow her on Instagram @lillylanephoto.

**Make sure and leave a comment at the end of the post and we will be picking one lucky winner to receive one of Brenda's favorite scrapbooking supplies! Good luck!