TN Challenge with Sarah

Hi, Everyone!

Today I'm sharing a new TN challenge with you that again utilizes stamps (you all know how much I love my stamps!) Our challenge for today is to make a border using phrase stamps.

If you're someone that sometimes finds it challenging to add journaling onto your page, then adding phrase stamps can be a great way to include some words and sentiments next to your photo.  Or, even if you do enjoy journaling, adding phrase stamps can add a fun pattern background, or in this case, a border, to your page.

For this spread I used a bunch of the phrase stamps from the Fresh Start Life Crafted kit stamp set as well as the "New Beginnings" stamp set.  I started with the largest phrase, stamping it randomly along the edge of my page and then followed with other phrases, mixing up my colors every now and again to match the colors on the left side of my page.

For the left side of my page I layered by photo on top of a 3x4, 4x6, and 6x8 journaling cards/paper to add some dimension, added in some die cuts and journaling, and called my layout done!

Sometimes it's great to just keep things simple.  It's amazing what a few little details can add to your page!

Hope you'll give this challenge a try!

Happy Crafting,
Sarah

Travelers Notebook Challenge With Jennie

Hello there!  I am so excited to be here with you today.  It's a new year and I want to give you a challenge.  Now, I could challenge you to stamp [my favorite!] or use one of the many amazing elements in the Fresh Starts kit.  However, I've got a different type of challenge for you today. I want to challenge you to create a travelers notebook insert, or at least a page, devoted to yourself. I'd like to see you dig deep, or at least really document a part of yourself in these pages of the insert, or on the one page.  Consider this for 2019! Tell the stories of the story teller.

This layout is part of my All About Me travelers notebook insert.  I've selected 30 prompts so I can discuss things about myself.  They are not all deep questions, but they tell a little bit more about myself.  I absolutely love the colors and items included in the Fresh Starts Kit - they are perfect to tell my stories.

For the left side of the layout, I answered the question if I was a morning or night person.  I trimmed a strip of the striped patterned paper included in the kit [LOVE IT!] and decorated with just a couple of die cuts, but asked the question with the puffy alphabet stickers.

The same idea on the right side.  However, there was a new question [What's your favorite job] that I stamped with the Outline Alphabet Stamp.  The house die cuts were the perfect accent for this question and I am so glad I had them!

Now, I love creating a few travelers notebook inserts, they are like mini albums but easy to use and compact.  However, you can do the same thing -- create something all about you -- in a planner, or in my case, in a Hobonichi Techo.

The New Beginnings stamp set is SO cute and was perfect page inside my journal.  I love those flowers and leaves! I'm using the Hobonichi to document me - my feelings, thoughts and the things going on in my life!  All About Me, wouldn't you say?

We'd love to see you play along with this challenge.  It's important to document yourself and tell your stories.  Make sure you tag us and share how you're documenting YOU!

Travelers Notebook Challenge with Anna

Hi dear ones!

It's my premiere to host this happy challenge Travelers Notebook Challenge. I love creating in this format for a change to my usual layouts. So I've had a blast while creating this one and I hope you will like it as well.

And my challenge for you this time: Use any of our digital files on your spread (digital cutfile or printables) I've used one of the beautiful cut files, the Winter Snowflake, as my focal point on my spread.

Here's what I came up with using bits and pieces from the December Scrapbook kit, Pattern Paper Play kit and the Pocket Life kit as well.

One of my favorite from the CTK exclusive die-cut ephmeras (Pocket Life kit) is that cute little bambi and of course these puffy stickers as well. The cut file is just amazing too, it worked just perfect for my wintery skating pic.

Also I did add some machine stitching. I love the texture it brings to my design. Those classy black labels are also a winner. All the CTK exclusives are always something extra, yum!

And there you have it! Be sure to ask me if you are wondering about anything I've done on my pages and I will try to explain:)

Remember to share with us what you create with this challenge either on social media using @citrustwistkits or #citrustwistkits or on CTK friends page on Facebook.  I cannot wait how you interprete the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by! Anna xo

Travelers Notebook Challenge With Jennie

Hello, friends!  I'm so excited to challenge you to try something in your next travelers notebook layout!  I love using a travelers notebook to document our activities and the things that we do in our day to day lives.  One of my favorite parts about it is it's small canvas.  But, I also really like that I can try things that I might not else where since it's just one small space of many. So, let's get it into it!

I love the December kits.  Both the Pleasant Valley Pocket Life kit and the scrapbook kit are just beautiful this month.  So, I wanted to use mostly the Pocket Life kit, but added the alphas from the 

scrapbook kit were just perfect, so I had to add them.  I LOVE the size, font and color.  They accent so well and yet are super subtle too.

So, the challenge?  It's easy!  Trim around the focus or main image in your photo!  It's kind of a retro trend, but it's also very fun.  I also love how it makes the total focus on the important part of the story!   Because I didn't want to upstage the Painted Ladies, I kept the embellishing to a minimum to focus on the photo.  Layered die cuts make a great base and I selected simple patterned paper [from the Pocket Life Kit] to not detract but accent!

Do you have any photos that you just love?  Why not trim around the main part of the photo and add it to the next travelers notebook layout?  This time of year it's fun and easy to do with limited time. If you play along make sure to tag us on Facebook or Instagram so we can see!

TN Challenge with Sarah

Hi, everyone!  It's Sarah back today with another TN challenge.

Today's challenge is to use a rainbow or multi-colored color scheme.

The new "Sunshine in my Soul" kit has the most gorgeous colors in it, which makes it easy to create a rainbow color scheme in any of your projects.  I will admit that I typically stick with a 3 or 4 color palette, so this was a fun challenge for me too!  I love how this turned out, and this pop of color in my notebook makes me so happy.

If you're not used to using multiple colors in a layout, I recommend starting with a black and white photo.  Not only will your photo pop off the page since its the only neutral piece, it will also make it much easier to coordinate all of the other elements.

For the left side of my layout I used a paper from the Paige Taylor Evans "Whimsical" line as my background.  I cut the inside out of a couple of the frames using my exacto knife so I could bring a little pop of white to that size.  That white space also gave me some room to add my title.  I balanced this layout out by adding lots of color to the right side of my layout, while keeping the background white.  By keeping the background white, it allowed for the page to still be full without being overwhelmed.  To finish this layout off I added some embellishments here and there to make things even more fun and colorful.

I hope you have fun with today's TN challenge!  Don't be afraid to add a pop of color (or many pops of color in this case!) to your TN :)

Happy Crafting!

Traveler's Notebook Challenge with Diane

Hi Guys! Diane here with another Traveler's Notebook Challenge for you!

With so many amazing stamps in the Citrus Twist shop at the moment, I've been playing around with creating different patterns in my TN, using only stamps and ink.

There are many ways to do this. For example, using multiple stamps and one colour ink...

Or using one stamp and different inks...

Or try multiple stamps AND multiple different inks...

No matter which version you choose, using your stamps to create a pattern on your page means you literally only need to add a photo and a story and your page is finished and looks unique and fabulous!

So my challenge to you is to create your own pattern using repeat stamping!

Here's a quick look at one way to use this technique to create a page in my TN...

I can't wait to see what you do with this challenge so don't forget to post your layouts in the Facebook Fan Page so we can see!

Travelers Notebook Challenge!

Hello, there!  I've been creating in my travelers notebook and I cannot wait to try and inspire you all with what I created using the most recent Pocket Life Kit, Sunshine In My Soul.  I was creating another page in the All About Me insert and this kit was the perfect one for one of the prompts.  Let's take a look!

I often find that we end up extra alphabet stickers.  Letters that maybe we need one or two of -- but not all of the ones that are included.  What to do with them?  There's lots of ways to use them up - and for this page I used the alphabet stickers included in the kit as embellishment + title work. 

I simply took leftover alphabet stickers and placed them around my title - creating a descending block of letters that is perfect when talking about books and reading!

See?  The alphas were not only perfect as the title, but also as an accent, as well!  I love how it turned out, it's just so much fun and perfect for my theme.  Do you think that you could see yourself using this idea?  I have another, as well!

This card with the book spines was perfect, as well, for the theme and I knew I wanted to use it.  However, using it whole wasn't really going to work for the space I had available and the design of the page.  So, I simply trimmed out the book spines and discarded the rest.  [Though, with the gorgeous backside I am re-thinking that!] Do you trim up your pocket page cards to fit your project?  Why not try it next time, too?

I hope you love using the November Sunshine In My Soul kit as much as I do! Make sure you share on Facebook how you're using the kit -- and tag Citrus Twist Kits on Instagram -- so we can see your beautiful projects!

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

   

TN Challenge - Put it in a Pocket

Hey Crafty Babes! Andrea back again with a super fun TN Challenge for ya! Currently my go-to format is an open ring traveler's notebook and the beauty of this is that I can insert lots of different items within the rings. In a traditional TN, the pages are stapled and there's no opportunity for moving things around. But I love variety or I get super bored!

On that note, we are going to use pockets in our TN today! I love mixing styles and formats together and adding a 3x8 pocket page to my notebook gives me so much more to work with. We all have thousands of pocket cards, I'm sure of it, so let's use them!

I take a 6x8 pocket page (the design with 4 3x4 pockets) and trim off the column farthest from the holes. For me, this is more economical than buying the 3x8 pocket pages because I already own the 6x8s and I have plenty because I still use them in my other pocket projects! Now you're left with a 3x8 pocket page and you can fill them with all kinds of delicious pocket cards and embellishments from the kits! 

Here I used a piece of the 6x8 paper and trimmed it down to 3x4 for the background. Then I made a cool little label using the stamps and added a tag! And using pockets meant I didn't have to trim down my photos or find a new creative way to layout all the items I wanted to use for this story! 

So what if you're not using a ringed TN and you can't just add in a pocket page. Let's talk about it real quick! One options is: you can trim off the edge of the pocket page where the holes are and use washi tape on both sides of that edge to secure it into the gutter of your notebook. Your pocket may be slightly taller than the notebook so you can trim off the top but also keep in mind that you'll also have to trim the card or photo that goes in that top pocket.

Another option is to place your cards an embellishments in your notebook as if there were pockets. So decorate or journal on the cards and then adhere them to the notebook so they appear to be pocket style! See, everyone can play along!

I sure hope you'll join me for this challenge! Thanks for hanging with me and I hope to see something beautiful you've created with the October kits this month!