Tuesday Tutorial with Kira

Hello again, Citrus Twist fans!  It's Kira and I am back for Tuesday Tutorial.  Do any of you have pen pals?  I have a few crafty friends who I write to regularly and send crafty gifts to, but lately, I have been slacking a little.  So I thought I could use my Citrus Twist kits to create a sweet little gift for one of my friends!

I was inspired by the Mixed Media kit this month.  I am in love with this cute Fruitastic stamp set from Pinkfresh Studio.  And thought it would be fun to make my own berry basket.

I used a berry basket cut file from Cricut Design Space and cut it out of the "Sprinkled" paper.  I filled it with the crinkle paper that is included in my kits every month (I save it every month so I never run out!).  Then I added my strawberries!

Supplies you will need for your strawberries:
-paper
-glue
-strawberry cut file
-leaf cut file
-candy

I made the strawberries by first creating a cut file.  (You can download it here, to either cut on your die cut machine, or cut by hand).  I used the Maggie Holmes "Sweet One" paper, which was perfect for my strawberries.  Once you have your strawberries cut out, you will fold along the score lines and glue the sides together.  This should create a little "cup" that you can fill with candy!  I used M&Ms, but how cute would some gummy strawberry candies look in these?!

Next you'll glue together the top of the strawberry, layering each "tab" on top of the last with a dot of glue.  Another option for closing the strawberries would be to punch a hole in each tab and then closing it up with some string.

To finish off the strawberries, I attached a leaf die cut.  I used a cut file from The Cut Shoppe, but any leaf cut file would work fine, or even hand cut leaves would look cute!  I used one of the 6x8 papers included in the Pocket Life kit, for a light pink and mint color scheme.

The mint ribbon from the main kit was perfect to finish off my basket.  I just tied it around the top of the basket rim for an extra sweet touch!

Back to the stamp set that inspired my entire project:  I decided to make a card to attach to my berry basket.  I stamped in similar pink and mint colors for my strawberries on some white cardstock.  Then I stamped the sentiment "I picked the best friend" in black directly on top of the strawberry pattern.  I backed the white cardstock with a pink paper from the 6x8 paper pad.  I adhered the card to the basket with a mini clothespin from my stash.

And there it is!  The sweetest little gift!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and thank you so much for stopping by!

xo, Kira

Lilith's June Layouts

Hello there everyone. It's Lilith with a new blog post for Citrus Twist. Today I'll be sharing 4 layouts I have created with the June Boardwalk Scrapbook kit, the June Best Day Add-on kit and the Embellishment kit.

On the first layout I used a butterfly origami die cut and chopped the top and bottom strips off to let the pink and purple from the background paper show through. I created a layered cluster to the top with my photo and added another in the opposite bottom corner. To create flow I used some sequins from May's kits.

For layout two the colours are a lot more subtle and I opted for a vertical design but with once again a diagonal flow of the layout which draws the eye towards the photo. I added some leaf die cuts for volume and detail and finished the layout off with some mist splatters.

Layout three is probably my favourite because it is so colourful and it has butterflies on it. I LOVE butterflies. I used the same die cut as the first one. Nothing goes to waste.

For my last project I once again started with a die cut (created by Justnick). I cut out pieces of patterned paper and adhered them behind some of the flowers. Some mist splatters and email dots add the finishing touches.

I hope you pick up some ideas. Have a lovely Monday. And see you soon.

Lilith

Tuesday Tutorial with Brenda

Good morning everyone.  Today I am sharing with you one of my favorite techniques for my simple pages.

Often I want to add more interest to my page but still want to keep things from being too over cluttered.  Plus the colors and patterns in the May kit are amazing.  I really wanted to use every paper for this first page.  Adding a cut file to the background and filling it with pretty papers usually does the trick.

Start with the cut file.  You can cut this on any size of paper and it doesn't have to be white.  White backgrounds are just my favorite.

I created this file in Illustrator just for this page,  If you want to use it, I have the PNG for you HERE.
Once you open it in your silhouette software all you need to do is resize, trace and cut.  Be sure to select "trace" or the inside of the letters won't cut out.

The hardest part was choosing the patterns I wanted to use.

Then I just hand cut a few pieces and laid them on the back of the background page.

 There wasn't enough room to glue them down so I just grabbed an old roll of washi and taped it all down.

See how pretty that is!

And here is the finished page.  Colorful, fun and still true to my simple style,

Happy scrapping all!

Brenda

Tuesday Tutorial With Our Guest Designer

Hello! Neela here, your guest designer for the month of February! When I looked at the colors of the February Main "Stories" Kit, I was immediately reminded of our parasailing trip in Big Island, Hawaii.  I pulled up the photo and I knew that I wanted it to be the focus of the layout, so it had to be a giant photo. That is where I started. I also knew that I wanted to use the cork shapes and do some stitching, so I got all of my supplies together.

I cut a white cardstock down to 9x12 inches as all my layouts from this trip are of that size. I poked holes and did some stitching at both ends of the layout. It is a simple backstitch. I used blue and yellow threads to go with the color scheme.

I wrote the word "ADVENTURE" for my title in Impact font in Silhouette Software and cut it out at the bottom of the photo.

Here is how it looks. I also liked what was left on the mat after cutting. Maybe I could use those letters for another project!

I then cut strips of the patterned paper from the kit.

Initially, I backed the title with these strips, but it made the title unreadable. Instead, I changed how I used the strips and added them at the top and bottom of the layout.  I knew that I wanted to make a visual triangle with the cork shapes. They were such a perfect accent for this page and exactly what the layout needed. I then printed out my journaling on a strip of white paper and glued everything together. For the final touch, I added some enamel stars and dots to the title and the page was done. I am really happy with how it came together. I went through a few design changes along the way, but that is a part of my creative process.  I am not scared to change along the way and that's what makes everything more fun! Here is the final layout:

 I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial today!

Neela

Tuesday tutorial with Janine

Hello everyone, it's Janine today. I'd love to invite you to join the following tutorial where I am going to print and cut some printables with my Silhouette.

I created some printables that I used on a layout that I am going to share later. If you'd like to download them, you can of course use them, too! All you got to do is join our Citrus Twist Fan Page on Facebook and download the files.

But now on to the printing and cutting part. Of course you can also print and cut them by hand, but I have to admit that I am lazy when it comes to this. So I love the fact that it is possible to print and cut the files with the Silhouette!

I do have a Silhouette Portrait, but it works the same way with the 12x12 Silhouette. Also my Silhouette Studio program is in German, but I am going to do my best to translate everything for you.

First you open your file. It is very important, that you don't move it around, just keep it as it is. If you do move it around and don't costumize the print file later, then the cut won't be perfect. Anyway, you open your file with the printables and go to your registration mark settings, as shown in the picture above. I don't like to waste paper and I don't want to print and cut a full sheet, so I customize the sliders as shown. In this case I've been looking for the bottom mark to be more on top, so I can cut off the sheet later and use what's left for another project.

Then you print the sheet with the registration marks on it. Don't forget to  customize the settings for your printer first.

Now you open the cut file, that you can download at the Citrus Twist Fan Page, too. You want to set the registration marks the same way you did on your print file.

Then you prepare your cut file for the cutting part. You open the trace settings, cklick on select trace area and select the cut files. You unmark the high pass filter and adjust the settings of the threshold settings to your liking. I like to keep it aroud 50, in my experience the cut is better then.
The next step is optional, but I personally like to delete the original cut file and just keep the traced red lines.

Then mark the red cutting lines you created with a mouse click and go to your Silhouette cut settings. It is important that you click on cut edge and then of course adjust the other settings, depending on what paper you use.

If everything looks ok and has a red line showing where to cut, go ahead, line your paper up on your cutting mat and load it into your Silhouette. Then everything is ready to cut, just see the magic happen.

One last hint, try to have the lights on or good daylight, when you cut with registration marks, so the Silhouette can read them properly.

There are some other ways to do this with one file only, but from my experience this way you get the best cut. :)

And here is the layout that I created, using some of the printables and supplies from various Citrus Twist Kits from the past. I also made a button with my button machine out of one of the circle printables.

For this layout I used a photo that I took when we were in Spain this summer. It was so hot, that the pool was our best friend! The view we had from the pool was amazing, so relaxing.

That's it for today, thanks so much for joining me.

And if you like the printables, don't forget to download the files. I really can't wait to see what you are going to do with them!

Let's get digital with Jen Chapin

Hey there and happy Monday to you! Jen here and today I'm sharing a layout I created with the August kits, along with a free cut file. I was inspired by the heart wood veneers in the main kit this month, so I created a heart background for my layout. You can download that cut for free HERE.

I used a ton of foam squares to pop the die cut off the background of the page. It is subtle, but it does give the layout great dimension. I used a few pieces from the Pocket Life kit, as well as those gorgeous gold thickers from the main.

The Heidi Swapp word stickers in the kit this month are great. I used quite a few on my projects! My other favorite item were the Crate Paper Notes and Things embellishments included in the Summer Dreaming add-on. Those butterflies are just gorgeous.

I have one more layout to share with you. This one was created using a large photo (8x10).

I started with this photo of my kids playing in the backyard. I knew as soon as I took it that I wanted to use it for an enlargement on one of my projects. After adhering the photo to patterned paper, I used the rest of the embellishments from the main kit and Summer Dreaming add on to layer up below.

I also added some enamel dots to the photo because, hello, I cannot make a page without them.

More layering and how awesome is that exclusive book paper garland!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great week.