MEET OUR JUNE GUEST DESIGNER - JAMIE PATE

We are so excite to share this month's Guest Designer with you... meet the uber talented, Jamie Pate!   We are always amazed by her creations and wanted to see what magic she could create with our Life Crafted kits.  Let's just say you are in for a real treat!

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GET TO KNOW JAMIE

Hey creative friends…I’m Jamie Pate (pronounced just like ate)…my family and I currently reside in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. I’ve been married 30 years and we have 5 children ranging from 23 to 8! And I confess: I am a paper nerd. I love to craft with all the papery things plus all the embellishments and mediums that goes right along with that. It’s addictive as well as therapeutic along with legacy making. In a phrase, being a creative is a beautiful thing. I can’t stop! My time in this lovely hobby and industry has allowed me to work with Heidi Swapp and Paige Evans plus Bella Blvd, Pink Paislee and Studio Calico and many other wonderful companies. I am just so very blessed and humble to be here and share some of what I love with you. Thank you so very much for having me.

Q & A WITH JAMIE

• When did you start scrapbooking?

Scrapbooking officially started for me when my oldest was 2. I was gifted a Creative Memories pre-made page all prepped with mats for photo placement. I added photos and journaling, and the rest is history. My oldest is 24 this year. I have been scrapping for a very long time now. There are lots of stories in my album library to show for this effort. These mini albums and traditional albums and everything in between bring me so much joy. I am forever grateful for this creative outlet.

• What is something most people would not know about you?

Recently I heard that a former president read a book a week. I was amazed. To be one of the most powerful and influential people in the world, and still take time for self education at that rate. It spurred me to challenge myself this year to read a book a week as well. I just started about a month ago. I am loving this new endeavor already. And highly recommend.

• What are the 3 scrapbooking products you can’t live without?

Well. For one…I could not live without my hot glue gun. I know. It’s probably not scrapbook correct to use a hot glue in my photo memory keeping. But I do. (wince).

Secondly…my Pilot G-2 .38 pen. I buy them by the case full. I have to have a good pen around. And this one is my ultimate favorite. I like how it writes on smooth or textured cardstock. And even in my art journals full of painted pages. And everyone I have suggested this pen to has found it a winner as well.

Thirdly an item I can’t live without is my Silhouette Spatula Tool. Traditionally it’s purpose is to help lift cuts from a cutting mat. Which is how I use it too. But that tool is much more than that for me. It distresses paper edges beautifully. I use it to place alpha stickers on my projects. And my most favorite use of it is for clear stickers as I don’t want to get finger prints on them. I use this tool so much I have two of them. 

• What do you love about the June Life Crafted kit?

It may be easier to answer what I don’t like about it…which actually that answer would be nothing. I loved the fresh pinks and florals found in the pattern paper. Mixed in with some of the digital papers was pure magic for me. And those Tiny Alphas…can I get those by the case too? The floral die cuts from the Ephemera are always a fan favorite and just needed to be their own item. And have I mentioned the puffy stickers yet? I think I was just so lucky to be guest to this month’s kit. It was all very happy to craft with and there may be a few hoarding issues going on as well.

• Finish this sentence “If you could see my scrapbooking space now . . . “

You would probably say wow. I know that sounds pretentious. But it’s the very first room you walk in when you come in my home. While not renovated as I have planned…yet, it’s a big wide open and airy and well lit space. I commandeered our front room and formal dining room for my ‘studio’ several years ago. And while it is accessible to all the people whenever they think they need me, I am super happy it is the space it is. Oh…and this causes me to have to clean up daily. So I am always working on decluttering the extra things and keeping it as streamlined as I can for just what I need. Not always easy. But it works for me. And yes, you are welcome to come craft with me anytime.

And here is a peek at Jamie's beautiful creative space:

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For my blog project I chose to use the LifeCrafted Album as the base of a sort of photo essay album.

 It’s a work in progress. And I just love it. That Goldenrod album is GORGEOUS> And perfect play against this kit.

The album starts off with a clear acrylic page. On it I adhered fussy cut flowers from one of the pattern papers. An ephemera label plus the Tiny Alphas are layered over the collection of flowers. Digital stamps rounded out the layering as well as the tabbed feature.

Under the clear page can be found those oh so fabulous Foam Words. In addition layers of notched papers were used from the digital kit. This layering of paper and words plus ephemera is repeated throughout the album. It’s my go-to technique for embellishing. I adore the layers and the patterns and colors up against each other. The possibilities are endless and a wonderful invitation to play.

Don’t you love a good journal card? I went heavy with the digital kit in this album. Bringing in bits of pattern paper plus puffy stickers causes this album to feel connected and cohesive. The theme of this book is photos of the everyday that may seem ordinary, but they add up to life for me.

After the intro pages, there are tabbed sections. The first section focuses a bit on my home. I included journaling that support my current feels on the subject of home. 

I loved these Page Protector 3 pockets. That little space at the bottom is perfect for journaling…

or even a little photo…I enjoyed adding different sizes of photos to this photo essay. For this album I stayed with 4x6, 3x4 plus the 4x2-inch sized photos. I found it easy to simply print a bunch of photos up all at once and just play.

The page format now repeats itself in this Life Crafted Album as it now moves to the subject of Creativity. 

The tabbed pages were created by printing the digital paper onto vellum. That sheer factor brings to these pages so much softness. Plus a little peek into the pages behind the vellum.

I have plans for adding pages that celebrate my obsession love with coffee. Because all those fun coffee ephemera that are dying to be used on these pages. But for now, I hope this album has inspired you. I hope you find this June kit as fabulous as I did. And I hope you also find ways to celebrate the ordinary yet beautiful aspects of your everyday life.

WOW!! just wow!!  we are so honored to have Jamie create such a beautiful project with our June Kits and Life Crafted album.  Make sure you follow Jamie (if you aren't already) so she can keep you inspiring you with her beautiful work.

        

  

Sunday Sketch with Laura Rahel Crosby

Hey friends, it's Laura Rahel Crosby here with you today bringing you my take on this Sunday's Sunday Sketch challenge. Today's sketch is gorgeous and can altered to fit into so many different size layouts. I made an 8.5x11 scrapbook layout and love how it turned out. Here's what the sketch looked like and my layout.

I loved adding the white thread, the paper clip, and all those dimensional embellishments in the CTK Life Crafted kit this month. There is so much texture on this page and I love how it all came together.

I hope you've enjoyed this Sunday Sketch. Happy crafting friends! Make sure you're following me on YouTube to see everything I make with my CTK this month.

xoxo, Laura

3 to Inspire with Kelli

Hey crafters! It’s Kelli, and today I am happy to show you a pocket page I made with the darling June kit. When I saw the pocket cards I immediately thought they would all go well together. So I printed some 3x4 pictures of some things that have been happening “around here” lately.  

I also loved the papers that came in the kit. I incorporated them into the project by punching out butterflies using my die cut. I added them to the cards with a staple.

I like to think of the cards as being mini layouts. I add some flair to each of them and then put them all together in their pockets.  

I added lots of simple journaling to this layout. I used handwriting on one of the cards, and used typed words for the rest. I typed them on white card stock paper, cut them out, and glued them right on to the photos/cards with a glue stick. I love that you can add them directly onto photos.  

Three things you should try on your next pocket page: 

1. Add some die cut punch shapes (I used a butterfly). 

2. Think of each pocket card as a mini layout and add flair and texture like foam stickers, ephemera, etc.. 

3. Type your journaling and cut it out in strips. Glue onto photos/cards. 

Here’s a video of this project: 

Thanks for joining me today! I hope you got a little inspiration for your projects. Have a great weekend.

Life Crafted with Marsha

Hey friends!  Marsha here, and I'm sharing a spread in my Life Crafted album using the June "Around Here" Life Crafted kit and the This Is Life "Routine" stamp.  This kit is my absolute favorite- I may have said that before about the Life Crafted kits, but they keep getting better and better!

Here's a look at the spread I created:

For this layout, I began with a photo of one of my morning routines- coffee and knitting.  I started with a white cardstock base and added a strip of blue and gray patterned paper to the edge of the page.  There were several ephemera pieces and cut aparts from the kit that went along with this theme, and I added them in a loose grid around the photo.  I used an ephemera piece and puffy foam phrase stickers for the title.  Next, I added some stamping using the This Is Life "Routine" stamps.

For the other side of the layout, I used one of the new Life Crafted album page protectors.  There are always so many gorgeous journaling cards in the kit, so I was excited to use a couple on the page.  I chose the cards, and added ephemera, stamping, a puffy foam sticker, and some of the enamel shape stickers to finish off the layout.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Be sure to share your creations using the new Life Crafted "Around Here" kit on the CTK Fan Page on Facebook or on Instagram using #citrustwistkits.

"Love this so much!" Life Crafted Layout with Suzanna

Hey everyone, Suzanna here! As always, I'm so excited to be back on the blog today sharing a layout I created with this month's Life Crafted kit. I created a layout for my Life Crafted Album by mixing a few styles - on the left page of the layout, I've used a stacked pocket page, and on the right, I put together a mini layout, without a pocket.

Surprisingly, this is my first layout for my Life Crafted Album, that I created without slipping it into a pocket. I've seen so many crafty ladies on the team, and so many of you, create these types of layouts and have been meaning to try it out myself. I love mixing layout types and styles in all of my albums, so it seemed fitting to finally give it a go in my Life Crafted Album!

I was so excited to see a lot of the goodies this month were perfect for documenting my favorite spaces. I've been taking quite a few photos of my space recently, and this layout was perfect for documenting a couple of them!

Using a patterned paper from the kit, I trimmed it down to around 4.75 inches wide. I did this to allow a half-inch margin on the left side to punch my holes, without cutting into my layout design. Using a mixture of die cuts, labels, stamps, and alpha stickers from the kit, I created the large title - "Love this so much!" It describes my feelings about the photos perfectly, and allowed me to describe my feelings without adding additional journaling. Sometimes I don't have a lot of words about my photos, they just make me happy, and that's totally okay!

On the left side of the layout, I used a stacked pocket page for my two photos. Using a couple stamps, I added sentiments straight to my photos for a clean and embellished look.

To finish off the layout, I added a tab from the die cuts to the top of my bottom photo, and included another stamped phrase. Stamping is such a great way to embellish your layout while still keeping a clean and airy design, like I was going for here.

I hope I gave you a few ideas for your next project, and as always, I'll be following along with your creations over on Instagram! I'll talk to y'all later this month when I'm back with another fun project.

Hugs, Suzanna

Life Documented with Nathalie

Hi there!
Nathalie with you today.   I am hoping you all have had the time to take a look at this month's AROUND HERE kit, the Add-on kit and all the Add-on Stamps.   Aren't they all amazing?!  Well, today, I want to show you a more in depth look at some of this items by creating a few entries for my May Life Crafted album.

The new This is Life - ROUTINE stamp set is versatile and perfect for many different documenting formats.  I chose to use it to create the film strips that form the background for an entry in my Life Crafted album.

I pulled Distress Oxides to match the colors in this month's  AROUND HERE kit and then created the film strips by repeating the stamp.   I left a small space between each film strip to add the title and date.  Those lovely foam stickers in this month's kit are so awesome and perfect size for the  album - i need to purchase a few more of this-.

For the other side of my layout, i printed one of the digital TN papers to be the same size of the Page insert (5x8.25in) and then placed my picture strip right on it.   I  used embellishments from the kit ans also from the cut apart elements sheet available for free to subscribers or for purchase at the CTK Digital shop.

To tie the two sides of the layout together, i chose to use the This is Life -ROUTINE stamp to create a small film slide.  This was fussy cut and then i used the white space in the center to add my lines of journal.   Love how this turned out, and all the color used to document a few fun pictures of my daughter and i.

Since we are talking stamps, then you want to make sure you add one of the 3x4 Typewriter Alpha stamp to your collection. The size of these alphas are great to add them to pocket pages, or in my case to build the title for my layout.

This month's Add-on Kit is amazing, and i love how versatile it can be.   For my layout, i pulled one of the new page protector (Protector #2) configurations, so that i could use some of the cut apart cards from the Pinkfresh Studio paper included in the kit. 

I kept the pockets pretty simple, but makes sure to play with the circle, arrows and accents of yellow to make sure these two create a coherent look on the spread.

To balance the spread, i cut a piece of one of the Pinkfresh Studio papers -included in the add-on kit- to build the background.  The large 6 alpha from the Maggie Holmes Sunny Days collection was the inspiration for this page.   I build a small cluster of ephemera and cut aparts making sure they matched the colors in the spread.

Here is where i used the TYPEWRITER stamp to complete the title around the number (Toronto is known as the "6") .   The font is perfect to match all the fonts around the page, and since they are individual alphas, you can shape your title around any area.  The following video will show you how it all came together:

Remember to check all the new stamps that are available this month, if you miss adding them with your kit,  it is ok, all CTK stamps are shipped for free!  If you have questions on how this came together, please do not hesitate to contact me!


XO