3-to-Inspire with NATASHA

 

It’s a little hard to believe that the holiday season is right around the corner. And with that it’s a great time to start thinking about how you would like to document the holidays. I think often paper crafters especially those who might be new to documenting the holiday season get overwhelmed with the process and what products to select. A kit, like the Jingle All the Way is such an approachable way to get a wide range of exclusive products and corresponding items to document all types of stories throughout the holiday season without the overwhelm.

A second way to minimize that holiday documenting scaries is by pre-determining a “pick 3” so today I am here to provide you with a 3-to-Inspire recipe to provide a jumping off point for your holiday documenting.

Today’s Pick 3:

• Stars

• Mix and Match Title

• Black and white photo

In holiday collections in particular there is often repeated shapes or deco elements for example hearts, Christmas tree ornaments, candy canes etc. For my Life Crafted Layout, I decided to use stars and circles to be a repeated design element. By selecting one or two shapes/deco elements to focus on you can prevent decision fatigue. For the stars, I like to vary the size and color of the stars. 

Puffy stickers are always such a fun and simple way to bring dimension and balance to your layout. For my title, I went with the “merry” which was the start of my color palette- paired with the black puffy alpha it ties in the black and white stars and photo. 

I love to get candid photos of the family especially during the holidays but the photo quality can be pretty poor and the captured moment itself could have a lot going on- especially when it comes to color which can conflict with the colors in the kit. 

Converting the photo to Black and white gives some harmony to the layout all while documenting those special moments. I believe better to document the moment- even if it’s not picture perfect. To edit my photos to black and white I use the iPhone editor, no fancy photo editing program needed!

Feel free to use my 3-to-Inspire recipe, or give your own a shot. As part of your holiday documenting prep, you can even jot down these ideas and recipes down in your planner to help you achieve your documenting goals without any stress.

Life Crafted Inspiration With Shu-Wen

 

Hey everyone!

It's Shu-Wen here, sharing some Christmas inspiration for a 6x8 Life Crafted Album (I'm using the color "Midnight" here)! This layout is documenting the origins of my ChouxPuffCreations "small business" account, including my Instagram and Facebook business pages, and I'm going to be using mostly elements from the Merry Making Christmas 12x12 Add-On Kit! 

To start off, I created a large library pocket using two of the 12x12 patterned papers in this Add-On kit. I love the 12x12 papers because it is so easy to use them to create large interactive elements like pockets for extra photos and journaling! Then, I used the postcard ephemera pieces from the Add-On Kit to include some journaling about the story of starting my small business and what prompted me to start using my ChouxPuffCreations "brand" to reach a wider audience online. I decided to include a copy of my business card in the pocket, and I included some extra photos on the backs of these journaling postcard ephemera pieces as well! To finish decorating this page, I used the "Love" die cut ephemera piece from the Jingle All the Way Die Cut Ephemera Pack to decorate the left side of my library pocket, as well as some Gold Alphabet Puffy Stickers to spell out my title on top of the pocket. Then, I decorated the bottom of my page with an assortment of die-cut ephemera pieces and enamel dots from the Add-On Kit. I especially love the cute little hedgehog in the center of my embellishment arrangement!

For the right page of my layout, I decided to keep things a bit simpler and make a photo grid collage using the die cut frame ephemera pieces from the Add-On Kit. Then, I decorated my grid collage with some puffy stickers and more of the enamel dots from the Add-On Kit. Lastly, I matted my photo collage onto another piece of patterned paper from the kit. I also love that these 12x12 papers are large enough that I can cut out pages that match the outside-the-page-protector size of these 6x8 albums! 

Here's a look at my finished layout! I love how the colors of the new Citrus Twist Kits Jingle All the Way Kit match the colors in this Add-On kit perfectly! I look forward to mixing and matching all these products together to make my December Daily pages this year! As for this layout, I'm planning on either including it in my "Before Your Story" 6x8 album, or starting a "Stories of Christmas Past" album. 

I hope this inspires you to get creating with these gorgeous Christmas kits! If you're creating a layout inspired by this page, be sure to tag me over on Instagram @ChouxPuffCreations so that I can see what you've created, and make sure to share you layouts over on the Citrus Twist Kits Facebook Page as well! Thanks for stopping by!

SUNDAY SKETCH WITH KERSTIN

 

Hi everyone! Kerstin here and it's Sketch Sunday time! I love being creative after Sketches and today it's that time again! Here comes today's Sketch after which I worked. 

I always pick 1/2 details to focus on when doing Sketches. I used this one to prepare a page in my Life Crafted 6 x 8 album for December. I chose a Life Crafted 6 x 8 Album in the color Sea Glass. I thought long about which color I would like to use - the choices were Navy, Raspberry or Sea Glass. Sea Glass has won - laugh!

Let's get started!

I made a page for a Gift List and for that I used the amazing Life Crafted JINGLE ALL THE WAY Digital Papers and the JINGLE ALL THE WAY Christmas 2022 Kit. 

On the left side, I cut strips of Life Crafted JINGLE ALL THE WAYS Digital Papers in various widths and sewed them down the center. I decorated with different embellishments from the JINGLE ALL THE WAY Christmas 2022 Kit. I always stick stickers on copy paper first and then cut them out with scissors. So I can decorate the stickers as I want!

On the right side I folded THE matching digital paper and fixed it with a small magnet below the paper. This way I can "hide" my gift list. 

My "title" is a fitting saying I found on Pinterest, complemented with the awesome Citrus TwistAlphabet Stickers. 

Here you have another closer look at my Naughty or Nice list! I look forward to filling the list with the wishes of my loved ones! You can never start in time - right?

I hope you use this sketch for one of your projects and I can inspire you to get started on your December Album!

See you soon! Kerstin xx

3-to-Inspire with Patricia

 

Hello CTK Friends!  I cannot believe we are in October which means the end of the year will be here soon.  And for many of us in the community of scrapbooking, that also means documenting December.  I have a 3-to-Inspire post today using the new Jingle All the Way kit and digitals.

My 3-to-Inspire are:

1. Use it don't save it
2. Bring in techniques to make this album even more special
3. Be honest in your journaling

So first of all, I have not used a red album in years, and had initially picked the 6x8 chambray album.  But as I sat to create, I was inspired to just go with the Candy Apple Red Life Crafted size.  The reason I chose this smaller size, is I know I can do flip outs, ups, and pockets.  And I like to highlight the season's events rather than do a daily.

So my first 3-to-Inspire Use it don't save it is speaking to all of us who admire our beautiful purchases, and want to wait for that perfect time to use it.  Use it now!  For me it was the chipboard numbers and the ribbon in the kit.  Since I do not do a daily, I knew I could use a combination of numbers for my year.  I didn't do an album last year because of the loss of my brother, so I used the chipboard numbers for 2021.  I finished my cover with a CTK exclusive die, sticker, and the sequins all from the kit.

Now onto the second 3-to-Inspire bring in techniques to make this album even more special.  I have purchased a few things to add some freshness, fun, and uniqueness to  create with recently.  One I used here is the Posca fine tip paint pen.  Techniques can be simple and this was...all I did was add white to the die cut pinecone for the appearance of snow.  The black lines were already there, and were my guide.

To decorate the spine, I used the Luna Nos. '2021' on the tag and used a foam sticker from the kit.

Another way I pulled in the second 3-to-Inspire bring in techniques to make this album even more special was to use vellum over my photo, use a metal die to cut out a tree shape from the center, use a circle punch to notch out the top, use a metal circle die and double sided adhesive sheet, adhere it under my notched circle, then sprinkle glitter, and add a brad through the chipboard and die cut tree from the kit paper to create an interactive element.  As soon as I saw the beautiful ribbon in the kit, I think 'hold on to it,' but I knew it would be a perfect accent to my die cut tree...I used the same metal die to cut it out.

In order to get journaling onto this page and include the interactive tree on the front, I had to adhere three sides of my photo to pattern paper about 8x5.  I used the digital journaling card on a blank document about the size of the LC page, but kept it narrow with my journaling.  

And that brings us to the third 3-to-Inspire be honest in your journaling.  I had to restart this a few times to keep the focus on what it needed to be rather than journaling about event.  So my focus was on the feelings, then what I will do about it, and how to get through the season...it really was inspired by the journaling card 'full of wonder.'

Wanted to show you how I have prepped the Jingle All the Way digital Elements to use in my album.  I printed them and cut them with my Silhouette on sticker paper.  I need to pop them all out and add them to a container.

I used one of the stickers already on the bottom of this first page.

Hope some of these ideas spark inspiration for you whether you will create your album this year or from previous years.  1.  Use it don't save it   2.  Bring in techniques to make this album even more special  and 3.  Be honest in your journaling.  Thank you for stopping by and please share what you create on instagram or in the Facebook group tagging me and CTK so we can see!

6x8 Life Crafted Inspiration with Amy

Happy Friday!  Today I am going to be sharing the first layout I have created with the new Jingle All the Way kit. There are so many elements included in this kit, and it was really fun to start playing with them!  
This layout tells the story of a Christmas table topper quilt that I am sewing for my holiday table.  I'm participating in my first "mystery quilt-along" for this project, and I wanted to document its creation in my December album.  I started by looking at the colors in my photos, which were mostly greens and reds, and then looked at the products in the Jingle All the Way kit to find coordinating elements.  I ended up choosing two 3x4 journaling cards, red and white striped mini ribbon, three Mix and Mingle foam stickers, and one of the Evergreen and Holly numbers.  That number is just a place holder for now, and is not adhered, since I'm not sure which day this will end up being in my December album. 

I wanted to add some visual texture, so I ended up sewing my 6x8 photo on a slightly larger piece of white cardstock.  It is sized to fit outside the page protector. I also cut a small piece of vellum and sewed it on the larger photo to create a pocket to hold my journal card.  I then punched a hole in the journal card and added ribbon to make it easy to take out of the pocket.  

 

Finally, I embossed the snowflakes and "Jolly" sentiment from the 3x4 stamp set onto the vellum pocket.  

I am really happy with how this layout came together.  If you try any of the ideas or techniques, I would love to see your projects!  Be sure to tag me @alphins_little_corner on Instagram!  Have a great weekend!

SUNDAY SKETCH WITH ASHLEY

Hey friends! It's Ashley and today I'm stopping in to share my take on the Sunday Sketch with you! Here's a look at the sketch that I'll be working with.

I love that the CTK sketches can be used for traditional layouts, but that they can also be adapted for the Life Crafted size. Since I work in the LC albums, I decided to rotate this sketch to the right and follow the design vertically. 

I am in love with the Spooky Stories Kit release and I used it for my layout. You can see how I followed the idea of the sketch, by keeping the photos in the same place. I also used some of the Halloween cut files that I created for this month's release to fill in one of the embellishment spots from the sketch and also for the title area. You can find the Hocus Pocus Cut File in the digitals section of the shop.

I started my layout with 3 of the patterned papers from the Spooky Stories kit, that were designed by The Stamp Market. I wanted to use two of them for my cut files and then the third one to bring in some of the orange color to the layout. The orange patterned paper was a great match for the color in the photos. These photos were from a trip to the zoo last year in October, and the Spooky Stories kit is perfect for working through my photos from last year to finish up my 2021 October Daily.

I wanted to create a fun title next to the photos on the right hand side of the page. I decided to pair the cut file with the black glitter Thickers that are included in the kit. And, I always like to add some extra embellishments around my title, to create a cluster, so I grabbed one of the pre-cut spider webs, the cute ghost from the chipboard and some enamel dots.

I hope you'll try this sketch for one of your upcoming projects and that you found some inspiration from the layout I shared today!

3-TO-INSPIRE WITH DIANE

 

Hi friends! It's Diane here with a fun 3-to-inspire challenge! This is where we pick 3 elements to incorporate into a layout. I hope you will play along and post your layouts!

The 3 elements that I chose were: One large photo, at least one digital element and puffy stickers.

The minute I saw the mug in the October Digital Elements, I knew it would be perfect to tell the story of my ever-growing collection of fall mugs. I just love adding digitals elements to my pages, it brings such a fun touch! I also added the label up in the left corner from the October Digital Elements page. I wanted to make sure I had a space to add my date. 

Another favorite of mine is adding large photos. I think it makes such a statement and gives the layout a strong focus. I have added some puffy stickers to this side to balance out the digital element on the right. When I am doing smaller layouts like this traveler's notebook size, or even a 6x8 layout, I think a large photo just brings it all together.

I hope you will try some of these elements in your next layout! And if you do, please share them, we would love to see them!

Happy crafting!

Diane