Sometimes simple is best with Aimee.

Since before Eva was born I have had a crippling fear of scraping her album. I created this perfect little human, how hard can the perfect scrapbook be? Yeah... It's impossible. Especially when said perfect child isn't really big on naps. I've come to the realisation that sometimes done, is better than nothing. Even better than 'done' is a page with a simple clean style that can be done in 15 minutes. Let's rock this out shall we?

Tip One: love your kit. Trina does such an amazing job of giving you everything you need. This page is living proof the you don't need to raid your stash. Paint, glue, the Capri Main Kit and June's Embellishment Kit and your good to go. And you know what? I find that limiting my supplies not only saves me time, it also increases my creativity.  Give it a go, you might surprise yourself.

Tip Two: You often find that Kits have a few sheet from the same collection. Use them to your advantage as they were designed to go together. Also, white cardstock is your friend, who am I kidding it's my scrap supply soulmate.

Tip Three: No one REALLY needs a title. Hell, if you can get away with word stickers who even really needs journaling? Oh how I love Citrus Twist Phrase Stickers <3 <3 <3

Tip Four: Ditch the time consuming processes. Sure I could print a label in one of a million cool fonts  and colours, but frankly it's just easier to use the typewriter. Why get out the sewing machine when a tiny attacher works so well. And by 'well', I mean it drives me less mad when I run out of staples apposed to having to refill and fit the bobbin.

There you have it my CT kit lovers. The secret to simple, chic, streamlined pages.

Can't wait to come back and play next month,

Aimee Xx

Tuesday tutorial: Don't forget you!

If you're anything like me, when your kit arrives all beautiful and new, your first thought is to grab those kiddy, pet or family pics. The ones that you're not in because - surprise! - you're behind the camera. I know I tend to reach for pictures of my daughter (especially when she was tiny) because those are the pictures I like looking at.

But we need to remember to get ourselves in our layouts too: we're an important part of our family's stories and our faces need to be in those albums. But of course, most of us don't love, a. having our pictures taken or b. how we look when we do force ourselves to pose! 

So here are a couple of tips to ensure that that gorgeously unique face of yours makes it onto at least a few of your pages...

1. Pose in front of your mirror whenever you feel even vaguely good about how you look... if you've blow-dried your hair or put on some make-up - get snapping. You can crop out your camera later on.

2. Work out how your camera's timer setting works and see what result you get that way. For this bike shot, I'm posing outside our local takeaway which has lovely white walls!

3. Ask someone to take a shot of you whenever you like your outfit. This shot was taken outside a supermarket, but I was wearing my very favourite mint-coloured cardi.

4. Don't be afraid to pose with a prop. Yes, I felt silly posing away in my husband's glasses for these shots, but I love the resulting photos and they have already graced a few projects (going into black and white is also a top tip if you happen to suffer from rosacea like me).

So come on, girls: let's get ourselves on those pages! God gave us these faces and our families love them, so we should celebrate them too.

Make a page about your favourite outfit, your favourite song lyrics, your hobby or drink... just get yourself in your album and don't feel shy about it. Let's really 'enjoy ourselves'!

Planners Gonna Plan with Wendy

Hello everyone!

Wendy here to share up a different type of blog post for you today.  Let's talk planners!  Have you checked out the planner craze these days?  There was even a HUGE planner convention near me (in New Orleans) that I'm still pinching myself for not knowing about.  I will say that I don't carry more than two planners - one for personal deadlines (i.e. bills due, doggie grooming appt, etc.) and another for my creative/design team deadlines.

I've always been one to carry a planner or notebook with me in planning out my day, to-dos, or checklist of upcoming deadlines to target for the day/week.  Then, when the planner scene brought rad stamps, stickers and amazing add-ons to jazz up my daily lists, I was all in. Although I don't go frou frou (aka frilly decorations with a bazillion stickers, countless washi tape, colors galore, etc) within my planner, personally, I keep it simple with a few stamps and simple stickers.  Personally, this is my preference.  However, if you have the time and desire, go deluxe and decorate to the max your planner(s).

All this leads me to say, did you know you can take your Citrus Twist Kits stamps to the next level to use in your planner(s)? I say plural in the word planners because many who are quite addicted or "highly dedicated planner enthusiasts" (as I like to call them, ha) will carry more than one, two, three, four+ planners.  Personally, I don't have the time or space to carry more than two.

Here are my top essentials for my planning from shopping over at Citrus Twist Kits.

• Pick your planner album.  There is a neat planner album option available over at Citrus Twist Kits, Webster's Pages Color Crush Leather Planner Kit available in teal, pink and caramel colors.  Personally, I use a Kate Spade covered spiral bound album (for my creative deadlines) and a Day Designer/Blue Sky 6x8 gold & white spiral bound (for my home deadlines) from Target.  In July, I will switch from the Kate Spade to the new Get to Workbook that gives off the calendar year of July 2016 - June 2017.

• Stamps. Stamps are my must-have in my planner!  This is my ultimate embellishment and necessity for my planning.  There is the motherload of options over at the Citrus Twist Kits shop.  Look up "stamping" in the category and take your pick.  The stamps by Citrus Twist Kits yields an abundance of options from the simple wording and phrases.  Love them to bits!  The Hero Arts My Week 4x6 set gives you many options for planning it out.  A huge fav are the Kelly Purkey stamps that are perfectly sized for planners.  You can find these and the roller stamps over in the shop too!  

• Inks. I know many prefer pigment ink for planner stamping.  Personally, I prefer dye ink.  Pigment ink is more absorbent and takes a bit longer to dry (or speed up with a heat tool). Dye ink is instantly dry after stamping and non-smudging.  As far as ink colors, I stick to basics of red and black.  The majority of my stamping is just in black. There are a few dye ink options over at the Citrus Twist Kits shop here.  

• Mini cards. These 2x3 mini planner cards were recently released and work perfectly for planning, shopping, and getting organized.  You can attach them with a stapler to your planner page or drop in your wallet for a reminder while out and about.

• Embellishments.  If I use embellishments in my planner, I like flat and not so bulky embellishments.  You can look at your current and past Citrus Twist Kits for fun embellishments to add into your planner.  Some of my favs are cork accents, non-bulk flair, mini binder clips, and stickers. The are SO many options in the "Embellishments" category over at the shop. 

Hope you enjoyed my share of planner essentials in my stash!

What inspires you from Citrus Twist Kits to plan it up?

Wendy

Sunday Sketch

Hi and welcome to today's edition of our Sunday Sketch Challenge! This week our sketch features multiple photos and you can bet I was super excited to take advantage of this! First, here's a look at our sketch:

I had the good luck of getting to work with the June Add On Kit this month and thought it was perfect to scrap a batch of outdoorsy photos that I had taken during a recent stop to view some spring wildflowers:

Usually I like to stick pretty close to the sketch, but this this time I couldn't make a few of the elements work for me. I was absolutely set on sticking with the photo arrangement, however I just did not care for how the photos looked with a square of patterned paper underneath them. After considering my options I decided to use a large triangle of paper instead and instantly felt that I had made the right decision in changing my layout up a bit from the sketch. 

Now it's your turn! To play along with this week's challenge, create a layout based off of today's sketch, upload it to the CTK Gallery with today's date (6/19) in the title, and you will be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK Store!

Looking forward to seeing your take on the sketch!

Michelle

3 to inspire with Diane

Diane here with another "3 to Inspire" challenge for you. You can find this challenge here every Saturday for those who need a little extra creative push to get scrapbooking, to keep scrapbooking or for those who just like a challenge! Your take on this challenge can be any project and remember that you'll want to include all 3 prompts on your project.

Your prompts this week are:
    1.    Create a completely different format than you normally would.
    2.    Get messy! Pull out your mixed media supplies and get those hands dirty.
    3.    Use something up. All your scraps or all the stickers. Don't hold back.

Here’s my take on this challenge:

I'm super inspired by the Traveler's Notebook class at the moment so I wanted to create some inserts instead of my usual pocket pages or layouts. I used up all my paper scraps on one, stitching it all down and using up all the left-over puffy stickers as well. Then I really went to town with all my modelling paste, watercolours and spray mists. After all that, it really only needed a few flowers using the cutfile from this month and a couple of stickers.

Here are a few close-ups...

For my last insert, I used the acrylic words from the Sprinkles kit as a mask for my spray mists before adding ALL the enamel dots!

Here's a quick video on how your acrylic shapes can do double duty...

You can watch this video on YouTube or subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us here in the gallery and/or our Facebook Forum. You can also upload to Instagram, but remember to tag us @citrustwistkits. Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Pocket Sketch Friday with Mira

Hello everyone!
It's Mira here with Pocket Life Sketch Friday challenge! Today I prepared a single-page sketch with a few interesting elements for You  to try! So let the fun begin!

Here's the sketch:

And this is my inspiration that I made with June "Capri" PL Kit together with some elements from Sprinkles Kit:

I used first card on the top left corner and this awesome Pink Paislee chipboard alphabet to create the title (I'll be having another post about titles in my pocket album in a few weeks, so be sure to follow CTK blog to read it :D)

I really love all the wood-inspired pieces from this month's PL Kit, what about You?

And what I found interesting to give it a try, was the flow of embellishments going through the whole page in its center part. I used Citrus Twist Kits exclusive cork elements from PL and Sprinkles Kit to do it:

And another thing worth mentioning: I stacked one ampersand on another for a fun, eye-catching effect. Do You like that idea?

It's Your turn! Feel free to get inspired by today's sketch!

If You happen to use this inspiration in Your own album remember that You have a chance to win a price! Create a layout based on the sketch from this blog post, post your layout to our Gallery or our Facebook Fan Page by Friday, June 24th and be sure to include PL 06/24 in the title! Thanks for visiting Pocket Life Friday!

Have a gorgeous week Folks!

Let's Get Digital with Emma

Hi friends!  Emma here with this month's edition of Let's Get Digital!

Trina created the most gorgeous cut file this month:

 You can download from the cut file from Citrus Twist Facebook Fan Page.

I absolutely love die-cut flower shapes, they are one of my favourites to create and use!  This is the page I created using them :)

For my page I kept it quite simple - just cut a few (well, I cut dozens actually...I like to keep extra's for later ;) ) from 3 different papers in the June kits and formed a circle on the centre of my page!  I adhered them with glue but went back and stitched in a circle too just to make sure they were not going anywhere.

Because the pages I create are 6x8 it means the circle is a little out of proportion with the page (12x12 or 8x8 would look a little more balanced for example, and be much bigger on the page!), I just added a few ink splatters and enamel dots to help fill that void at the top and bottom of the page.

I put the photo to the right side of the circle and my title to the left...gotta keep things balanced, ha!  

Then I just added some of my favourite embellishments and called it done!  Love how easy the die-cut shapes were to use!

I can't wait to see how you use this month's cut files!  Be sure to link them up in the gallery and/or the Citrus Twist Facebook Fan Page!

Thanks, Em xo