Inspiration with Alena

Hello  CTK friends! I am so excited to be with you today sharing a little  inspiration with December 2018 "Pleasant Valley" Pocket Life Kit. 

Last week we took a lot of bright winter photos . The title of the white letters will be just perfect for such photos.  I cut snowflakes and letters out of thin foam rubber ( foamiran) using my Silhouette Cameo. Added color accents with colorful letters of the puffy alphabet.

 I also added a few pieces of Ephemera.The card with the yellow hat is just made for my son's yellow jacket.

 Thank you for everyone's support of Citrus Twist Kits in 2018 and from all of us here at Citrus Twist Kits, we want to wish you a very Happy New Year!

Tuesday Tutorial with Neftali

Happy Tuesday crafty friends and welcome to another Tuesday Tutorial! It is Neftali here today to share with you a fun tutorial to create a “simple and minimal layout.” Let’s get started!

Here is the layout I created for this tutorial, which took me no more than 30 minutes to make:

I don’t know about you, but I am sometimes a huge fan of those soft and airy layouts that give you a feeling of “freshness” and “simplicity”. Well, that is what I tried to portray with this particular layout, and I think I achieved it pretty well.

Here is how you can take your supplies to create something simple yet evocative:

First, choose soft colors and simple patterns that contrast, but work well together. 

For that I decided to use the papers in the November “Pleasant Valley” Pocket Life Kit because there were soft colors but still fun bold patterns like the black crosses.

Second, choose a minimal amount of supplies that you think you might use. 

I decided to go with the patterned papers, my circle punch, my sewing machine, and a few of the exclusive ephemera pieces from the PL Kit. I also picked out a few other pieces that I didn’t end up using like the exclusive wood veneer word phrase pieces. I ended up switching that idea out for stamping, instead.

Go with whatever fancies you at the moment but remember to keep just a handful of pieces out on your desk so you don’t dig for anything else. We’re keeping it simple, remember!

Third and final tip, which I used specifically on this layout, was to go for a small black and white photograph. 

I feel like the small photo size helped keep my layout super minimal. But so did the black and white because there are no clashing colors with the other supplies/colors I am using.

The photo in this layout is sized 2x3 (tiny, I know) and I normally print these sizes by using an app where I can fit 4 - 2x3 photos in a 4x6 photo sheet. Easy peasy!

So, those are my 3 quick tips to create a simple, airy, minimal layout. 

I chose to punch a few circles to create 3 totally random clusters across my page. To each cluster I added a (not so perfect) machine stitched circle. To me, white stitching = simple!!

I added my photo on top of a tag and attached that in between the clusters. Then, I used only 5 pieces of what I had picked out from the exclusive die cuts.

Finally, I added a few stamps and my title next to my photo. That’s it! 

Super duper simple and you still have that awesome feeling of having had a moment to craft, especially when you’re busy but just have an itch to make something quick. I really hope you guys give this a try. If you do create something beautiful, come share it with us at The Citrus Twist Facebook Fan group! Thanks for stopping by today, xo.

Sunday Sketch with Neftali

Happy Sunday friends! It’s Neftali back again with another Sunday Sketch Layout for all you scrappy gals. This week I am using one of the gorgeous cut files from this month’s set of cut files that was perfectly curated for this sketch: 

Here is my take on it:

I decided to cut the Floral Garden cut file straight on to my 12x12 white cardstock background and use a mix of the Paige Evans Whimsical collection papers from the Scrapbook Kit and Pocket Life exclusive 6x8 papers. I loved the colors of the exclusive papers and how these two paper collections mix so well!

I used two bright photographs of a spring walk around a park in my neighborhood from earlier this year since the colors popped well with the rest of the colors of my background. 

I then went embellishment crazy because, well, who wouldn’t go Embellishment crazy with their Paige Evans supplies?! Am I right? I used the puffy stickers, the rub-ons, and the enamel dots, and the ephemera pieces.

You might also notice that I brought in last month’s Maggie Holmes Willow Lane Adhesive Thread bows. They fit perfectly and matched my colors and design. I was so excited I still had these sitting at my desk. Which is a wonderful reminder that we could all mix our newer kits with missed (or hoarded) treasures from previous months kits.

I used the tone on tone technique that I love seeing Paige use in her projects! It’s always fun technique of her I like to scrap lift. Can you tell I’ve got a major scrappy admiration of her style? Her talent is one who inspires many of us. 

That is why, I hope that you are now feeling inspired to take today’s sketch and get crafty with your beautiful “Sunshine In My Soul” kits. Don’t forget to come and share your beautiful creations in our CTK Facebook Fan club! Thanks for stopping by today. Be back soon, and have a happy weekend. 

3-To-Inspire with Neftali

Happy Saturday lovelies! It’s Neftali here with you today and I am super excited to be sharing my first ever 3-To-Inspire post today. I am extra happy because this month’s “Sunshine In My Soul” Kits are simply EXTRA gorgeous. I’m a huge Paige Taylor Evans fan and I was so excited to be able to play with her new Whimsical line.

So, let’s get started. I’ve got two layouts to share with you today using these three supplies:

1. Fussy Cut Patterned Paper
There are quite a few choices in this month’s scrapbooking and paper add on kits that are perfect for fussy cutting. I recommend the hexagonal patterned paper and the floral papers. The hexagons are the quicker route with lots of color options, but if you’re up for relaxing while you fussy cut, definitely go for the florals. It’s always worth it! 

2. Chipboard Stickers
We are so spoiled here at CTK that we even had the Whimsical chipboard stickers available in the Embellishment Kit (currently sold out, sorry!). However, there are also some cute chipboard stickers in the Pocket Life Kit you can use.  

3. November’s This Is Life “Thankful” Stamp
Finally, this has to be one of my favorite stamps by far. Anything with florals grabs my full attention, and this stamp set has for sure! 

The first layout I created using these three supplies was this 12x12 layout:

I really fell in love with the hexagoned paper from the Main Kit. I knew I was going to cut it up as soon as I layed eyes on it. These types of patterned papers are so quick and easy to fussy cut, and they still give you such good payoff.  This one in particular has got a lot of colors in it, but I chose the softer pinks, purples, peaches, and florals to create a random diagonal arrangement on my page.

I added a quite small photograph (3x2”), and then went around the hexagons adding embellishments with the Whimsical Chipboard Stickers and ephemera pieces to my liking.

My final touch was to use the little twig stamps from the “Thankful” Set in a soft rose color. These are so fun to play with! You can use them as is, one by one, or you can choose to mix and match them together to create some unique little floral-like clusters. I used them to compliment the hexagons in random spots throughout my page.

I also used the Whimsical rub-on stickers to add a few stitching patterns around the hexagons. It’s quite a simple layout but I feel it’s a super fun way to use these three supplies.

The second layout I created using these three supplies was this one titled “Whimsical”:

I took the same idea to create a completely different look. For this layout I fussy cut two different patterned papers: I used the floral paper to cut out the large floral cluster and the Frames paper to fussy cut a few of my favorite bits.

This layout included two photos which I framed using the fussy cut frames, and I placed them opposite of each other.

I then went in with a very popular Paige Evans technique which is the color-on-color technique.

I used a mix of the chipboards and stamps along with a few other matching items from the scrapbooking Kit to create some fun color-on-color clusters around the frames.

So, friends, are you inspired to use these three simple items to create something beautiful? I hope I have inspired you to get crafty with your “Sunshine In My Soul” kits. If you do get crafty, come share your beautiful work with us at the CTK Facebook Fan Page where we love to share all of our ideas.

That’s it from me today. I will be back later this month to share more inspiration. Thanks for stopping by! Xo

3 To Inspire with Alena

Hello, crafty friends! Alena here today with a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you!

For today's 3-to-Inspire, the categories are:

1. Use the Puffy stickers.
2. Stitch (machine, hand).
3. Use stamps.

I have used the October Pocket life kit and  October "This is Life" Stamp.

I usually use color photos in my Project Life. But today I wanted to try black-white photos. In this case, it is very easy to add embellishments. Just use whatever you like.

 

I created a small composition of die-cut flowers. I think it turned out pretty nice.

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!

Tuesday Tutorial with Neftali

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome back to another Tuesday Tutorial! It’s Neftali here today to share with you a sweet pregnancy book I have created using the Mini TN covers from the shop and the October Little Things TN exclusive papers. As we all know, the exclusives are always so exciting to find every month as they are so bright and beautiful. It’s a given!

But this month I found them to be especially perfect to add to a baby book since they were all light pastel colors and very neutral soft prints.

Let’s get ready, and grab your mom fuel, and let’s make a baby book!

As a side note, you can make any type of book using the items I’m using today. This can be a general guide for prepping your Mini TN’s for any theme or season.

I began by cutting each one of the papers to size so that they would fit nicely inside the wooden covers. Approximately, 3 1/2 by 8 inches. After that I placed them back to back so that they would have a pattern on each side and sewed them together.

I love the look they have when stitched all around! Such a unique and finished look.

Once I finished stitching the pages together, I ended up with 4 base pages for the mini. I simply hole punched them and they were ready to be placed together with ring binders.

My book is now ready to be filled with memories and milestones from this pregnancy.

I decided to create a cover page as the first look when you open the book. I used some really pretty details to keep with the soft pastel colors of the book.

I plan to keep adding more pages as I go and different elements like pocket pages and even smaller interactive elements like glassine bags.

So friends, the October Little Things PL Kit is pretty much perfect for a baby book. But these super easy and basic steps can help you create a base for any Mini TN book! Please feel free to share any of your creations in our CTK Facebook group.

Thanks for stopping by today scrappy friends! I hope you are all feeling inspired to play with your October kits and create something beautiful. Have a wonderful week! Xo

Sunday Sketch with Alena

Hey everyone!  It's Alena with  layout for Sunday Sketch. 

Here's a look at the sketch this week:

I used a sketch for one of the pages of my project Life. 

I started this layout by choosing a few photos to scrap.  I don't typically scrapbook more than one photo per layout.  These photos are of my youngest son .

Most of my page is a Vintage Poetry Book Page,  which I covered with a layer of vellum.

I hope you try out this sketch yourself!  I can't wait to see what everyone creates!