Sunday Sketch with Anna

Hi dear CTK friends!

Anna here with you today bringing you this week's Sunday sketch. Well let's have a look at our super inspiring sketch.

I love this week's sketch a lot! And I can not lie, lol! Who doesn't love a grid design? Anyway I do so I grabbed my  December Pleasant Valley kits and this is what I came up with. A pretty clean design and very true to the sketch. I opted for the Scrapbook kit mostly, except from the background paper which comes from the Pattern Paper Play kit.

Some stitches of course! Can't scrap without my sewing maschine you know.

There's also some light mixed media here to spy. I've used a pair of  pink color mist's using a plastic bag and the smooshing/kissing technique.

And there you have it! Be sure to grab your scrappy things and join in with us with this happy challenge. Just share your layout on the CTK Fan Page at Facebook so we can see your gorgeousness and leave you some love.

Until next time! Hugs Anna xo

3 To Inspire with Alena

Hello, crafty friends! Alena here today with a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you!
Here's the prompts I chose:

1. Use square photos.
2. Use free cut aparts (digital files).
3. Use the Puffy stickers.

For my spread I used digital files which you can find here.

I created a page in Photoshop, which added all my photos and journaling. Paper embellishments I cut with scissors. So you can see that you don't have to have special tools for that. Also I added accents with machine stitching

For a bright spread  you will need funny photos and a little imagination.

Use the three (3) prompts to create your own project and share it with us on our Facebook Fanpage! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!

Traveller's Notebook Challenge with Nathalie

Hi there!

It is my first time creating a challenge in one of my favorite memory documenting formats, Traveler's Notebooks.  It is no secret, I  love TNs, and keep a daily visual journal of my everyday life, plus a few other side projects -all in TN formats-.   I love the format as it allows me to combine the graphic look of a scrapbook page, and the journal look of my dairies.

By now, some of you are receiving the Pleasant Valley Kits (aren't they gorgeous?!!!), well this month two new sets of stamps were also added to the store,  Spencer Alphabet and Spencer Alphabet outline.    I love the large font and clear look of the alphas, so i decided to used them to document some every day memories in my personal journal.

For the first entry, i decided first on a color combination that will make everything pop.   Then i used the Spencer Alpha stamp set to create the large title of this layout. 

The impact of the title makes it one of the focus of the page, so i made sure that it told the story of the picture. 

Love the colors in this month's Pleasant Valley PL kit, so it was easy to stay in the same color combo when adding the clusters around the picture. To finish this page, i added a few more stamping sentiments using the TN stamp set.    Any clues on what the challenge is, yet? Let me give you another hint.

For this page, I chose to tell the story by using the Spencer Alpha Outline Stamp set to create a large title. 

To bring life into the page, stamped the title on different papers from the Pleasant Valley Scrapbook Kit, and then fussy cut around them, the font is so clean and crisp that it took no time to get this done.

The letters were then glued to form the large title, and this time i added stamped sentiments using this month's add-on stamp set.

How lucky  was i to find a few sunglassed  in the puffy stickers from the Goldenrot collection, included in this month's embellishment kit, they complete my title.  Since the story is told in the title, i just used one of the labels, from the Emerson collection stickers included in the main kit, and used it to hide the rest of the journal in a pocket behind the picture.

By now you have guessed this week's challenge:  CREATE A LARGE TITLE.  Use stamps, alphas, paper or the Spencer Alpha stamp sets to create titles that will tell the story of your page and create lots of impact on your pages.   Trust me it, once you build the title, 80% of your page is done.  So you will be able to produce them in no time!

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.

XO

Mixed Media with Adele

Hey all!

Today I am playing with some mixed media and the gorgeous December Main Scrapbooking Kit. I decided to crack open my junk journal and do some "scrap-journaling" using a photo along with some paint and a stencil.

I used some of the gorgeous Crate Paper goodies included in the December kit today. I also created a process video at the end of this post, showing more details about each step I took using the mixed media.

I added paint and stenciling to the right hand side of my spread and overlapped the spine to create a more seamless look across the two pages.

Do you enjoy art journaling? I love including photos in my junk journal in a fun creative (and painty!) way. Have an awesome weekend scrappy peeps!

Home Sweet Home Pocket Page with Candace

Hello friends!  How much are you loving the December kits?!  I know I say this every month BUT I think this is my favorite kit yet!  I adore the collection of colors, themes and beautiful florals!  When I saw the 12x12 patterned paper all about home I was instantly inspired to tell the story of all the little things that I love about our new home.  I love when I look through products or kits and I am inspired to tell stories I haven't told before.  This is what memory keeping is all about!

Here is a look at the final spread.  I started by going around the house and taking pictures of my favorite elements.

I wanted the spread to have a light and delicate feel.  I decided to stick to a simple color  scheme to let the photos and story of home shine.  I chose light tans, greys, and a little pop of mint and blue.  What a beautiful color palate!

I chose cards from the 12x12 patterned paper and coordinating cards from the pocket life kit to add my journaling and details from around the house.

By adding one of the label stickers from the Heidi Swapp sticker sheet I was able to add a quick title for the spread and a cute puffy heart sticker.  The green heart sticker brings the pops of green on the right side to the left and creates balance in the spread.

I love the whole look of the spread with its light and delicate feel and the heart of the story told on the cards.  I love that I was inspired to tell a new story from our family's life and include it in our yearly album.

What stories will you be inspired to tell this month?

5 Minute Craft

Sometimes you just don't have the time to get everything out and lose yourself in crafting. I found myself in this situation a lot lately. So I created the 5 Minute Craft game. I needed a way to sneak crafting into my busy daily life. When the kids are at school and baby is napping - the mom/wife in me says do the laundry, do the dishes, pick up the living room - but the crafter in me says no one is home, run to your craft room and lock the door! Here is how I compromised:I pick up or do my chores for 5 minutes and then craft for 5 minutes. Back and forth, back and forth.

I love using my GRACEBOX kit because all the goodies and supplies are right there and it makes it efficient for my 5 minute limit. Here is how my 5 min craft session turned out. After four rounds (roughly a half an hour) I had the kitchen clean, dished loaded, two loads of laundry folded and created a fun page in my Bible. 

Art Process: Splatter paint background. Kit die cuts, alpha stickers, puffy heart stickers, & doilie topper. I lettered the HEART and used a faber castell pen to outline. 

I hope you'll try the 5 minute craft game! Have your cake and craft with it too! 

Pleasant Valley Pocket Page with Andrea

Hello sweet friends! Raise your hand if you are flying through your Pleasant Valley kit! It's so darn easy to use and the COLORS! Can we talk about the colors for a second? The pinks and blues in this kit are perfect for Fall days, Summer documenting, or even Winter pages. Today I'm sharing how I used them for a fun trip to our favorite orchard!

The day was warm and sunny so I wanted to bring out that vibe with the colors. I followed my typical pocket page formula of alternating photos and cards and sneaking in some smaller photos on the cards that have lots of room!

The colored puffy stickers make this title card POP! Since I had so many colors to choose from, I decided to do a rainbow effect with the colors that would contrast with the pink paper. Adding the floral sticker to the top and the word strip to the bottom finished it off!

The simple little yellow strip over the blue striped heart was the perfect place to stamp a little sentiment! Also, layering labels and stamps and photos and hearts is such an easy way to add color and story!

I spiced up this cute pink pocket card with a yellow puffy heart, a stamped statement, and some journaling.

Thanks so much for being here today and checking out how I am using the Pleasant Valley kits! Have a super crafty week!