More Travelogue with Our Guest Designer Ashley Horton

 

Hi there!

We are so excited to have Ashley back with us today.   She is working her magic with our Travelogue kit, and we are loving what she has created....  Here is Ashley!

Hey CTK friends!  I'm excited to be back for April with a couple of new projects using the Travelogue mini collection.  Today, I have a Disney themed layout and make sure you check the CTK Instagram later this month for a super cute layout!

 

We love the new Star Wars land in Disney World, and we've been several times since it opened up.  I wanted to document a few of the photos of us outside the Millennium Falcon ride.  I chose the cloud patterned paper from the digitals for my background.  I opened the paper in Adobe Illustrator and copied and pasted it.  Then I flipped one of the papers vertically, so I could print out two to create a full background.

 

I placed my photos in a random pattern on the background paper and then I used the two sets of alpha stickers to create my title.  Once I had my title in place, I went through the embellishments to choose the ones that would work best with my layout.  I filled in the spots between my photos and title with ephemera pieces, puffy stickers, and the chipboard pieces. 

 

 

I loved how my embellishments ended up being Teal, Yellow and Black.  It was a great color scheme for this layout and it fit well with my photos.

 

I hope you have found a bit of inspiration today, for using your Travelogue mini kit!  Don't miss my last Guest Designer project, coming up later this month!

MEET OUR GUEST DESIGNER - ASHLEY HORTON

 Hi there!

We are so excited to welcome one of our Travelogue kit  Guest Designer and a good friend of CTK, Ashley Horton.   We have had the pleasure of having Ashley as part of our Creative Team, and love her style.  You are going to love what she has created.  So, here she is...

 

Q & A with Ashley

What is something most people would not know about you?

I have a strong dislike for Pop music...there are a few artists or songs that I can tolerate, but I would much rather listen to the Alternative genre.

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

Chipboard, Alpha Stickers, Ephemera

 What do you love about the TRAVELOGUE kit?

I love that the Travelogue Kit has a wide variety of vacation themes included in it...you can use it for beach themed, outdoor themed or just general travel themed projects!

 Finish this sentence “My dream destination/vacation is . . . “

My dream destination/vacation is an extended trip to Ireland and Scotland.

______________________________

Hey CTK fans!! It's Ashley, and I'm excited to be back with Citrus Twists as a Guest Designer for the months of March and April!  The CT Kits are always so much fun to work with, and I was extra excited to be working with the Travelogue Kit, since travel themed layouts are kind of my favorite!  Today, I have a layout to share with you in my Black Life Crafted album.  It was a quick and easy layout, since everything was already coordinated for me in the Kit.

 

When I am working on a smaller format project, I usually like to find ways to still bring in a lot of product from my Kits.  I thought a grid design would be a great way to do this and feature some of my favorites from the Travelogue Kit.  I started out by checking out the Digitals, so I could have some pattern paper squares for the base of my grid design.  I printed out 6 squares sized approximately to 2.5x2.5 and placed them on a 5x8 white background.  After all of the squares were in place, I machine stitched in between each one of them.

 

Next, I went through the Ephemera pack and pulled out a variety of pieces. Then, I eliminated from those to get the ones I wanted to use to embellish each square.  For dimension, I used pop dots behind a couple of the ephemera pieces.  I also brought in some of the puffy stickers andchipboard stickers.  I really love the look of mixing embellishments on my projects.  It always adds a lot of variety and dimension.

 

 

I decided that I wanted to go with a full sized photo for the right hand side of my layout.  We went out west in 2019, and had not originally planned to visit Mt. Rushmore on our trip, but made the decision to go, while we were traveling near that area.  I took A LOT of photos and thought this would be a great one to document on this layout.  I had some white space at the bottom of the photo, so I used that as my journaling area.  I just typed it in, while I had my photo open in Adobe Illustrator, so it would print right on my photo when I was ready to send it to the printer.  You could also hand write in the white space on photos or use a typewriter and then cut out the journaling strips to add in the white space.  Then to finish it all off, I added two of the ephemera pieces to my photo and one of the stars from the puffy sticker sheet.

 Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you found some inspiration for working with the Travelogue Kit!  And make sure you're on the look-out for my second post later this month on Instagram!

We love what Ashley has created with our Travelogue kit, and cannot wait to see her next project.  Remember to check more of her work on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ashleyhorton75/  

XO

Life Crafted with Ashley Horton

 

Hi everyone!  It's Ashley, and I'm stopping in today to share a layout using the December new Life Crafted products!  I really love the new stamps and ephemera pieces and the 6x8 paper from Crate Paper that was included.  This layout was inspired by one of the papers in the paper pad, and I decided to keep it on the more simple side.

In December, I gravitate toward sparkle and gold.  I loved this gold patterned paper with the sentiment on it and decided to use it for the left side of my layout.  I wanted some contrast, so I used the black puffy alphas to add "XOXO".  I wanted it to looked balanced so I added part of it at the top of the sentiment and the other part at the bottom and offset them.

Since I knew I was going to be using a photo of flowers, I had to embellish with some flowers on the left side.  I went through the floral ephemera and chose a couple of the flowers and leaves to create a cluster below the sentiment.  I placed pop dots under the larger flower to add interest to the cluster.

I went with a full-sized photo on the right hand side of the layout.  I didn't want to cover up much of the picture, so I just used a couple of pieces from the ephemera pack.  And I always love using my tiny attacher to adhere embellishments for extra texture.

I hope you were inspired today, and got some ideas for using the December Life Crafted products!  If you haven't had a chance to check them out, make sure you visit the CTK shop to see what's new!

DECEMBER MEMORIES with Ashley

 

Hello there!

We are wrapping up our SPARKLE & JOY Kit feature with collections of our designers spreads.  Today, we are going to take one last look at what Ashley has created with her kit, and digital files

So many beautiful projects that will inspire you for this December documenting season!

XO

Sparkle & Joy with Ashley Horton

 

Hey there, friends!!  It's Ashley, and I'm back today to share a few more pages with you, in my December album, using the Sparkle & Joy Kit!  I've had so much fun documenting a trip we took in December 2018 to Helen, Georgia!  If you've missed any of the pages in my album, you can find my first Blog post here and see my other pages on the Citrus Twist Instagram feed.

For these pages, I had to use the back side of one of the 2x2 page protectors and thought it would be fun to fill it with a photo instead of embellishments.  I sized my photo to 4x6 and once I had it printed, cut it into 2x2 squares to fit in the page protector.  I did add some embellishments to fill in the two spaces at the top.  I like that they add something a little different to the page.

On the right hand side, I printed a full sized photo and slipped it one of the 4x8 page protectors.  Since I used page protectors for both of these pages, I decided to place some of my embellishments outside of the page protectors.  I like being able to layer them directly on my photos or on the outside!

On these next two pages, I cut one of the patterned papers from the Sparkle & Joy Kit to place in the page protector.  I didn't want to use another full sized photo, and I thought the patterned paper would create a fun background for my journaling card.  I taped the journaling card to a piece of 8.5x11 copy paper with washi tape and then ran it through my typewriter.  I finished off the left hand side of the page with one of the tab stickers and the cute little deer from the ephemera pack.

I wanted to use some of the Sparkle & Joy Digitals on the right hand side of the page.  I printed three of them on matte photo paper and trimmed them out.  Then I sized my photo to the same dimensions and printed it out in black and white.  Once I had all of them cut out, I arranged them on a white background in a grid pattern.  Then, I thought it would be fun to create a little shaker pocket with the FaLaLa Digital tag.  I sewed the bottom and one side closed, using a piece of vellum.  Then I placed my "confetti" on the inside and stitched the remaining sides closed.

My last layout, focuses on a favorite photo of the kids, that was taken on the trip.  I had them pose in front of one of the huge Christmas trees that were in the town.  I wanted to go big with this one, so I spread it across both pages in my album.  I used two different patterned papers from the Kit as the base of my layout.  I didn't want to cut anybody in half or down the middle of anyone's face on my photo, so I sized it first in Adobe Illustrator to make sure it would fit the page without doing either one of those.  Once I had the correct size, I placed it to the far right and then cut off the left hand side of the photo and lined it up on the opposite page.

I also loved the placement of the photo this way, because it left room for me to add my title on the left.  I used one of the words from the Gold Puffy Sticker sheet, placed vertically next to my photo.  Since I wanted the photo to be the focal point of this page, I kept my embellishments very simple.  I added two embellishment clusters at the top and bottom of the photo on the right hand side.  This placement also worked to create a visual triangle with the clusters and title.

I hope you are having a blast creating with your Sparkle & Joy Kit!!  I know I am!!  Make sure you keep an eye out on Instagram for a couple of other projects I'll be sharing between now and December.  And, don't forget to check out the fun digitals that coordinate with the Kit!

3-to-Inspire with Ashley Horton

 

Hi everyone!  It's Ashley, and I'm here today with a new layout using the November Legendary Life Crafted Kit!  I love everything about this month's Kit, and I've got a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you, based on my layout!

Here are my 3-to-Inspire suggestions for creating your layout:

1.  Use two different patterned papers

2.  Layer embellishments over and behind your photo

3.  Add texture with at least 3 different types of embellishments

When I am using more than one patterned paper, I usually like to pair a more subtle design with a bolder color or pattern.  For this layout, I used the black & white diamond pattern on the left side of the layout and the teal grid pattern on the right side.  I love the contrast this creates and it helps in deciding where I want to place my photo/photos, journaling and embellishments.

I really loved the embellishments that are included in the November LC Kit, so I wanted to use as many as possible.  Since I had planned to use a photo that was the width of my patterned paper, I thought it would be fun to layer the embellishments over it and behind it.  Using a larger photo, keeps the amount of embellishments from overwhelming it.  Had I used a smaller photo, I would have gone with less embellishing.

One of my favorite techniques on a layout, is adding texture/dimension.  There is always a great mix of embellishments in each month's LC Kit, that allows me to do this.  I used ephemera pieces, enamel dots and puffy stickers on this layout to give it visual interest.

I hope you will try out my tips to inspire you to use your November Legendary LC Kit!  And make sure you share it with us in the CTK Facebook group!

 

 

Sparkle & Joy Cover Page with Ashley Horton

 

Merry Christmas (in October), CTK friends!!  You're probably pulling out the Fall/Halloween decorations, but around here.  We're getting ready for Christmas with the gorgeous Sparkle & Joy Kit!  Over the next few months, you'll see tons of inspiration from some of the CTK Design team and special guests, that will help to give you some ideas for using your Sparkle & Joy Kit to document the holidays!

Today, I'm starting off by sharing the cover page of my album.  I'm using the Peacock Life Crafted album to hold the pages of my December album, because I love to use non-traditional colors for my Christmas memory keeping. 

There is so much wonderful product in the Sparkle & Joy Kit, so it can be hard to figure out what to start with.  I decided to go with a simple look on my front cover page, to keep from feeling overwhelmed at the start of my album.  I used one of the patterned papers included with the kit and placed the large "Joy" ephemera piece with one of the leaf ephemera pieces in the center of the page.  I added some sequins and a few more ephemera to get the look I wanted.

Once I had all of those pieces in place, I cut a piece of transparency paper to 5x8.  I wanted to use the Alpha Stickers for my title, but I wanted them to "float" over the embellishments I had placed on the under page.  I used my 6 hole punch to punch holes in the transparency paper and the patterned paper.  Then, I placed the Alpha Stickers around the ephemera pieces while I had the transparency paper layered over the patterned paper, to make sure I got the title in the right place.

I love that this created a fun, interactive look, immediately inside the album.  You could also try this idea with vellum, if you don't have transparency paper.  I think working on your cover page at the beginning of your December Album process helps to set the tone for what you want the rest of your album to look like.  I definitely want to continue my album with some interactive elements, but keep a clean and simple look to my pages.

Make sure you are keeping up with Citrus Twist Kits on social media!  I'll be sharing more this month of the CTK Instagram feed and also on my personal Instagram, ashleyhorton75.  You won't want to miss out over the next few months!

Hybrid Layout with Ashley Horton

 

Happy October 1st friends!!  It's my favorite month and time to document my favorite holiday...Halloween!  I was super excited to see the Halloween Digitals that are available for October and knew I could combine them with some of the products in the October Flourish Life Crafted Kit, to create a fun, Halloween layout!

I started my layout in Adobe Illustrator.  I like to "design" my layout first in Illustrator and get a feel for what I want the finished project to look like.  And, that way I already have my Digitals set up and ready to print.  I used one of the designs from the TN Page Basics Collection for the background on the left side of my layout.  It was perfect for adding my photo and then a few embellishments to complete the page.

I decided to pair the Wood Grain paper from the Flourish Kit with the TN Page Basics page that I printed out, to add some contrast to the layout.  Then, I started working with the fun Halloween digitals.  I arranged them in Illustrator, to figure out where I wanted them placed on my finished layout.  I love using the digitals, because you can change the size or take bits and pieces from them that you want to use.

While I was working with the Halloween Digitals, I decided it would be fun to add some vellum elements to the layout, also.  I opened up the PNG version of the Halloween cut file and printed them out on a sheet of vellum.  Then I placed them over some of the printed digitals and attached them with my tiny attacher or with machine stitching.

I hope you'll pick up the Halloween Digitals from the Citrus Twist Shop, and that you've found some fun ideas today, for using them on your own projects.  You can combine them with the Puffy Stickers from the Flourish Kit, to bring some dimension and texture to your layout!