3-To-Inspire with Marsha

Hey friends!  Marsha here today with this week's 3-to-Inspire challenge.  This is one of my favorite challenges, because it's such a great way to get your creativity flowing by focusing on three key elements.

Here are the prompts:

1. Play with hexagons
2. Use a cut file
3. Add PURPLE

Here is my take on the challenge:

For my project, I used the October Scrapbooking Add-on Kit, the Life Crafted "At My Table" Kit, and a subscriber exclusive cut file- Screen 4.  I love the bright colors in the kits this month, especially the gorgeous purple!  In my opinion, it's not used nearly enough in scrapbooking products!

I decided to create a layout in my Life Crafted album documenting a fun photo taken at my grandmother's 90th birthday party earlier this year.   I began by cutting out the cut file using white cardstock.  I layered it over a piece of grid patterned paper from the Add-on kit, trimmed to 5"x8.25" (to fit in the LC album).  Next, I backed several of the hexagons with patterned papers from the Life Crafted kit, also adding foam behind one of the hexagons for added interest.  For the title, I used some puffy phrase stickers from the Pink Paislee Truly Grateful collection, found in the Add-on kit.  To embellish the page, I added some ephemera pieces, a butterfly, and a puffy heart sticker, all from the kits.

For the other page, I added a piece of purple patterned paper behind my photo.  I trimmed out a couple more hexagon shapes and added them around the page.  This made the spread more cohesive by using this shape on both sides of the layout.  Next, I used some puffy stickers and ephemera pieces to embellish.  Using the Life Crafted Stamp, I added some stamping to some of the clusters.  I also added some hand-written journaling to each side of my photo.  I prefer the look of typewriter or computer printed journaling, but it's nice sometimes to use my own handwriting, even if it is imperfect.

I love how this layout came together using these amazing kits!

Here's one final look at the spread:

Thank you for stopping by today!  I can't wait to see your take on this 3-to-Inspire challenge.  Be sure you share it with us on the Fan Facebook Page or on Instagram using #citrustwistkits!

Pretty Adorable Sweet by Paige Evans

Hey there!

Paige Evans here to share another layout created with the November Sunshine in My Soul kits!

I started with one of the exclusive cut files - the beautiful flower frame. I cut it from the white textured cardstock and then spent some time backing all of the open spaces with the different colors found on the hexagon patterned paper.

Then I placed dimensional adhesive all on the backside and stuck it onto another piece of white cardstock for the background. I used my sewing machine to stitch around the frame edges.

I placed a photo inside the frame. Next I fussy cut lots of flowers and leaves from the floral paper and tucked them in and around the cut file flowers.

I embellished further with puffy and chipboard stickers inside the frame. Around the outer frame edges I used the puffy alphabet stickers to create three words and then wrote journaling above the top edge.

Thank you so much for joining me today! I have loved seeing your creations made with the November Sunshine in My Soul kits that include lots of the Whimsical collection!

DIY Embroidered Banner Embellishment with Kira

Hey friends!  It's Kira and I am back with what might be my favorite layout of all time.  And it's all thanks to this cute little banner!

I started by using one of the exclusive cut files this month, and used the draw feature to trace it on some fabric.  Then I used a simple backstitch to stitch around the word "gather" in blue.  Once I stitched the word, I cut the fabric out in the banner shape I liked.  I used a skewer stick for the dowel and machine stitched to attach it.  I tied on some embroidery floss on each end of the dowel to "hang" the banner.

I used an enamel dot (and a tiny bit of hot glue) to attach the banner to the page.  I grabbed the Whimsical thickers included in this month's embellishment kit to create a flower cluster at the top of my banner.

The background paper is Paper 16, which has this gorgeous ombre rainbow heart pattern on it.  I decided to play with color blocking to decide on the placement of my photo since my boys are wearing blue and green shirts.  And it worked out nicely since I had stitched my banner in blue as well.

I fussy cut another large floral piece from Paper 3 and placed it under my photo and under the banner.  I grabbed more elements from the die cut pack, puffy stickers  and rub on sheet to color block around my page.

I love how this page turned out and you'll definitely be seeing more of these embroidered banners from me in the future!  Thanks for stopping by!

xo, Kira

Sunday Sketch/Kit Love with Kira

Hey friends!  It's Kira and I am back with a special Sunday Sketch addition of our monthly kit love post today!  And today, I will be working exclusively with the "Sunshine on my Mind" main kit.  Here's a look at the sketch I am using today:

And here's my take on the sketch:

Since I am scrapping almost exclusively in 8.5x11, the first thing I did with this sketch was flip it.  I could've also "cut" the sketch and kept the orientation the same, but since I was working with two vertical photos, I liked the idea of flipping it.

Have you had a chance to look at the items that will be included in your November kits?  There is so many gorgeous items from Paige's new collection, Whimsical (and how cool is it that she's the guest designer this month?!  I don't know about you, but I am completely fan-girling about it)!  There are two papers in this kit that I knew immediately would be used as background papers at some point, Paper 2 and Paper 5.

Fun fact:  my four year old (featured in these photos), likes to help me for about the first five minutes of me scrapbooking.  I love to make him part of the process.  Since I couldn't decide which paper to use as my background, I asked for his opinion.  He responded, "The unicorn paper!" (Maggie Holmes, Frolic).  Hmmm, not sure that would've worked well for this layout...so I went with Paper 5.

For the paper strips down the left side of the page, I used a branding strip from Paper 3 and a 1" strip from Maggie Holmes Happy Times.  Then I decided to add some additional texture by adding the white pom pom trim and some machine stitching.

I decided to change the location of my clusters from the bottom left/top right to top left/bottom right.  Paper 3 was begging to be fussy cut, so I cut out a few of the flowers as bases to my layers.  And I also fussy cut a unicorn from Frolic, to appease my four year old, which ended up being my favorite part of this layout. I added some die cuts and puffy stickers to my clusters to give them some more interest.  (Also, I firmly believe more is more, so I didn't really want to stop adding elements from this gorgeous collection.)

I added a few papers (Paper 2, Happy Times and Paper 9) behind my photos and did some messy machine stitching.  The die cut "artistic" was a perfect title for this layout.  I finished off the layout with some of the enamel shapes in mint, pink and yellow.  And the rainbow striped label included on the cut apart sheet was perfect for my date.

I can't wait to see how y'all interpret this sketch and use all of the delicious goodness included in the "Sunshine of my Mind" kits!  Make sure you join us over in the Facebook group so you don't miss any of the amazing sketch inspiration that gets posted over there!

xo, Kira

3-to-Inspire with Nathalie

Hi there!
Nathalie with you today with this week's 3-to-Inspire challenge.  By now you all have seen the  new Sunshine in My Sould kit, what can i say, GORGEOUS!  So, let's get ready for a new batch of prompts that hopefully will challenge you  throughout the week:

1. Use a non-white background
2. Create fussy cut embellishments
3. Document  special someone/somebody who you are "Thankful for"

Here is what i have created for this Challenge:

I was so drawn to the beautiful floral paper from Paige Evans Whimsical collection -included in the Sunshine in my Soul kit-, that i decided to fussy cut a few of the floral clusters to use in my page.

I  love white cardstock for my backgrounds, but this paper from Pink Paislee (also included in the Sunshine in my Soul Scrapbook kit) provided a soft and muted color background for the page.   I used a bit of mixed media in the background to make everything else pop from the page,

Once the background dried, the layout came together quite rapidly, as i used the fussy cut floral images to create the large clusters of flowers behind the picture.   Along the way, I added a few cut file leaves created using this month's  Floral Frame cut file.

To embellish the page, i chose to use some of the cut apart elements from the free monthly printable sheet along with some of the puffy stickers and enamel dots from the Whimsical collection included in this month's kits.

To build the title of this page, I decide to use one of this month's free cut files -Thanksgiving Titles -to create a stitching pattern on white cardstock.  A bit of chain stitching and gold watercolor bring color and texture to the title.

Now to complete the title i used a combination of the hand stitched cut out, the This is Life stamp set and one of th Rub-ons from the whimsical collection included in the Embellishment kit.   I wanted to emphasize how much i love my daughter and how thankful i am for her, so having this bold title works perfectly.  The following video will show you how it all came together:

Now it is your turn to use the prompts to create a project of your own.   Remember to tag Citrus Twist Kits whenever you share your project on social media.  I cannot wait to see what you create with the Sunshine in my Soul kits .

XO

Meet our November Guest Designer - Paige Evans

We are so excited to have the amazingly talented, Paige Evans with us this month to work with our Sunshine on My Mind kits.  Our November kits have some of her gorgeous new Whimsical collection included so pairing up with Paige this month was a perfect match!  I'm sure you'll be justs as amazed by her gorgeous pages as we are! 

Be sure to connect with Paige and see more of her beautiful pages via her website, Facebook or Instagram.

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Short bio: My name is Paige Evans and I love scrapbooking! I've been married to my husband Chris for 11 years and we have two kids that are most often the focus of my pages - Fox (8) and Jane (6). We also have a dog named Joey, a cat named Rachel, and a bunny named Phoebe (yes, we're huge Friends fans!). We recently moved to the Denver area and are enjoying settling into this next chapter!

When did you start scrapbooking? I started scrapbooking when I was 16 years old and got my very first job at a local scrapbooking store. The first time I put pictures with paper & stickers I was hooked! As they say, the rest is history!

What is something most people would not know about you? I know Morse Code - I learned it in high school for my senior project.

What are the 3 scrapbooking products you can’t live without? Silhouette Cameo, patterned paper, sewing machine

What do you love about the November, Sunshine on My Mind, kit/s? I love that these kits include lots of my new collection with Pink Paislee called Whimsical :)

Finish this sentence “If you could see my scrapbooking space now . . .  It's half a mess, half organized. I'm working on lots of projects at the moment so it's a bit chaotic, but I know where everything is so that's a plus!

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WHIMSICAL by Paige Evans

Hey everyone! So excited to share my first layout created with the Sunshine on My Mind kits!

I started with the rainbow striped paper and used a border punch on every color to make scalloped strips. I lightly adhered the strips across the B-side of the aqua sailboats paper and then machine stitched across the top of each strip. To add lots of texture I bent up the edges of all the scalloped paper strips.

Next I grabbed two photos of my daughter and overlapped them in the middle. I layered frames from the Whimsical ephemera die cuts underneath and added a chipboard "whimsical" sticker at the bottom of one for the title. 

Then I had fun picking and choosing embellishments to go across the entire background, placing them color-on-color. So pink clouds over the pink paper strip, blue clouds over the blue paper strips, etc. I love the texture this technique creates!

I just now realized as I was typing this that I forgot to add journaling, but it will go across the very top and bottom edges of the layout :)

I hope that you are inspired to check out the November Sunshine on My Mind Citrus Twist kits! They are full of color and things to get your creative mojo going! See you again soon!