Sunday Sketch with Lory

 

Happy Sunday everyone! How are you? Summer is officially started and after a year and half of hard time we all need relax, sun and sea to rest and leave the stress behind. Don't you think? 

How is going your storytelling this year? I'm trying to tell random stories of that month so I'm gathering together the main and most beautiful stories of that month to document and record them.

Today I'm sharing with you my latest story told and archived in my June Life Crafted album using one of the adorable sketches from Citrus Twist. 

Here the sketch

I have loved this sketch at the first sight ,  it has inspired me a new life Crafted spread. I have used many  paper strips from the NEW! PEACHY KEEN 6X8 PAPER PAD BY FANCY PANTS DESIGNS that you find in the shop.  So I cut out strips, then in the middle of the page I have added the photo where I cut with a cut die a piece of it adding dimension with  3d double side tape. 

To complete the page I mixed up a lot of June ephemera, NEW! CITRUS TWIST BUTTERFLIES & TAGS DIE-CUT CARDSTOCK EPHEMERA , to be true some of my favorites ever. Drops of white acrylic paint ink here and there, the journaling with the gorgeous phrases stamps and the title from the alphabet stickers! 

Here my version of this sketch

Ad here some close ups:

Hope you like it and it inspires you to document your memories! We all have a wonderful ordinare life to tell! Remember the little things are the most beautiful things in life :)

Love, Lory

Sunday Sketch with Patricia

Hello Beautiful CTK Friends!  Welcome to the first August Sunday Sketch.   Here is a look at the 12x12 sketch that I used to inspire my 6x8 layout using the August Scrapbooking Add-On Kit.

I used the Life Unscripted cut file to start my 6x8 layout on the left by flipping the hearts so that the flow would resemble the drops and motion at the bottom of the sketch.

I cut the Life Unscripted cut file separately.  First, with just the hearts for the background of my layout and backed with the book paper and then using the the rainbow pattern paper you see on the right for the title.  I made sure it cut where the rays would be seen in the title to add that affect.  Next, I used more of the book paper, transparent die cut, frame die cut, and pattern paper to create the blocks going across the page, but instead of copying the sketch, it inspired me to lay them in a layered look with just one photo adhered across the layers.  

Once that design was in place, I started added more die cuts, stickers, and stamping to finish the page.

For the right side, I used the Page Protector #3, 4x6 + Journaling spot.  I trimmed that same pattern paper used from my cut out title on the left to help create balance between the sides.  Then just finished that top pocket with another photo and a few embellishments and stamping.  I used the new Stories stamp set for all of the stamping on this project.  So love the embellishments and stamps to create this light layered look for this pocket.  Those tiny stickers and the foam flower stickers are a must-have!  The L and the R foam alphas are from the Life Crafted August kit.  It helped to create just a pop of color.

To help the flow of colors and balance, I trimmed a solid piece of that same pattern paper I used for the title and top pocket to type my journaling to finish this project.

My new favorite kit!  Just amazing and I hope the kit as well as this new Sunday Sketch inspire you to take some time to create!

PL challenge with Laura

Hello ladies! It's Laura here and today I bring you a new Pocket Life challenge so that you can get inspired with this gorgeous new December Life Crafted "Hustle & Heart" kit!

My challenge for you is to...

1. Add some bling!

2. Use your handwriting

3. Use two main colors and a basic

So, once this is told, I'm going to explain myself, but you can take these prompts and create what you feel!

On the first place, I love to add shiny elements on all of my projects. On this kit, you can find these gorgeous golden stars, but you can combine them with some sparkling embossing powders! Get the most out of your stamps and play with different materials!

On the second place, I encourage you to use your own handwriting! It's always nice to see how it changes through the years and it is faster as well!

Finally, you can see that I used some pale colors on this page. My pictures were a little bit dark, so I wanted to balance all the layout. Another technique that I like to use i to combine only two colors and some neutrals. This way, it will be easier for you to match everyting!

And that's all for today! I hope that you got inspired and that you play along with this challenge! And don't forget to check the shop for more beautiful scrapbooking goodies!

Best wishes!

Tuesday Tutorial with Trina: Storytelling

Hello everyone! I'm happy to be here today to share a little bit about how I tell stories when I craft. On today's blog I'm focusing on telling some of those stories in our new Skinny Traveler's Notebook (available in our Shop) but you can use any size, format or medium to do this.

Supplies
I kept my supplies pretty basic for these stories including:

• Fiskars trimmer
• Skinny TN Album
• Tombow Adhesive Tape Runner
• Tombow Glue
• Precision Pen
• Scissors
• Two Inks: One black, one in Sunflower
• Stamps
• plus bits and pieces of elements from the September "Heartbreaker" Pocket Life kit

I like to tell stories of our life and usually find myself about 6-8 weeks behind (anyone else behind?). I also like to include flashbacks from my past including my childhood and our daughter's. The events in today's blog post were from a trip in July, taking our daughter back to college in August, plus a flashback. Here is what happened.

Story 1: Back to College
I like to start with a clean desk and it definitely gets messier as I work. This story focuses briefly on McKenzie's return to college. This is how my desk looked partway through the first spread I worked on.

I documented the story crafted around two photos: in the car when we arrived on campus and a photo that our daughter sent to us soon afterward when she successfully assembled her first piece of furniture for the new campus apartment on her own. This story is short and simple. Don't worry about how much you write — your stories can be short or long.

Story 2: California Trip
The next story is from a trip that McKenzie and I took to California (we do this annually) and our California trips always include a lot of mountain time, hiking and swimming in rivers and lakes. It's up to you if you like to tell your stories in your handwriting or by typewrite.

I like to mix my stories up between typewritten and handwritten. The graphic designer, vintagy part of me likes how the old typewriter looks. But the storyteller part of me loves handwriting, too, as it is my signature. I love looking back at the letters my mom wrote me. Now that she is gone, her handwriting is a part of her that I get to cherish. I know one day all of my scrapbooks will pass onto McKenzie and I want her to feel that touch, too

I used vintage ledger paper to journal on. I found old ledgers in my dad's belongings and love that I can put them to use with my storytelling. (These ledgers are from circa 1950 and are a great way to weave a little vintage family into my albums.) Since the paper is quite thin, I glued it down onto white cardstock.

Here is another close-up. I added a foam pop dot to the back of the heart ephemera for some dimension.

Story 3: Flashback to My Childhood
This is my last story for this tutorial and is a flashback to one of my childhood birthdays. I love that the photo is black-and-white. It's of my sister and I standing in my aunt's backyard. This photo drew me in because I have a big bandaid on my cheek and this became part of the story.

I used three stamp sets for this page.

• September This Is Life "Magic Happens"
• Conversation Starters version 2
• plus July This Is Life "Daily Routine"

The Conversation Starters (v1 and v2) are fun to use. You can use some of the phrases as a jump-off to tell one of your stories. In this case, the "this childhood memory" and "in three words" instantly pulled at my heartstrings.

Before I stamped I mounted the layered photo onto the lower half of my page. The photo is matted, framed with a pattern paper border, then mounted on a strip of town fabric.

I used numbers from the July This Is Life "Daily Routine" stamp set to stamp the numbers 1-3 in Sunflower yellow. I used my Precision pen to write out the 3 words.

I layered some fussy cut vintage music with a shell button and epoxy heart sticker on top of the photo.

On the facing page I told part of the story behind the photo. Again, I used an old piece of ledger paper that I matted with pattern paper. I typed the story onto the ledger before I mounted it on the pattern paper. Last, I included embellishments plus one of those lovely gold phrase puffy stickers.

Don't be afraid to tell your stories. I'd love to see some of yours so be sure to tag us on Instagram at @citrustwistkits and use the hashtag #ctkstorytelling.

Happy storytelling!

xo,
Trina