First Day with Emma

Hi CTK friends!  Emma on the blog today to share a layout using the, oh so gorgeous, February Main kit!  I'm quite sure I've confessed my love of circles before - there is just something about them that I adore and I find myself sneaking them onto pages without even realising sometimes.  In this case it was actually a conscious decision but rather just use circles on my page, I mixed it up by adding them onto 2x2 squares and creating my own patterned background!

This is one of those layouts that kind of just came together on its own.  I started it with an idea of using circles and the design changed a few times in the process of actually putting it together ;)

Here's a look at the page I created:

 

As you know (or may not know), my pages are all 6x8 which means I'm always left with lots of 6x4 "scraps" of paper, particularly white cardstock which I almost always use for my backgrounds and I'm forever looking for ways to use them up.  For this page I've used them by cutting little 2x2 squares and then adhered my circles on top (I used my glue pen).  I used a 3/4" punch and cut dozens of them using almost all of the papers included in the Main kit.

 I think I had around 10 of the 2x2 squares done by the time I'd used up all my punched circles (I went a little crazy with my trusty little punch).  I had originally planned to just adhere them to the page in a plain square pattern but by some odd chance, I'd turned one on the diagonal and liked how it looked so ran with that instead.

 

Rather than keep it all square and uniformed I cut a few of them in half (so they're 1x2") and mixed the positioning, keeping a small border around them.  Although I've mixed all the patterns with the circles I found that having the squares/rectangles all butt up together was crazy busy so that small white border around each shape helped to break things up a bit.

I adhered the pieces using double-sided tape but I've also gone over a few pieces with the sewing machine (using either standard straight stitch or the zig-zag).  My pages are not complete without some machine stitching on them!

My journaling is typed up in Photoshop and I just make sure it fit within the 2x2 white squares then printed it on the same white cardstock I've used on the background (using up more of that scrap cardstock I have!).

The gold alphas included in the main kit are gorgeous and I LOVE how they have mixed sizes of the font.  I often have trouble using some of the alphas on my page becuase they are so big but these smaller fonts are perfect.  I used a combination of the small and large fonts here and by some small miracle, they are a perfect fit for my 2x2 square format!

Although I knew what my layout was going to be about I actually left the photo printing until I'd figured out the background design.  Although my title/journaling are on the angle I didn't want my photo to be so I used Photoshop to create the diamond shaped template for my photo and then just printed it on 6x4 photo paper.

I left the embellishing to the bare minimum because the page has alot going on in the background already, I just tucked one of the word stickers at the bottom of my journaling then cut the yellow heart from the leatherette stickers and popped it underneath.  And that's it!  Embellishing is my favourite process of any layout so only having 2 pieces is unheard of for me ;)

I'm not going to lie - this page took a bit of time to put together.  I'm a slow scrapper at the bet of times but this probably took a few hours (I want to say 2 hours but in all honesty I think it was probably longer than that, ha!). It was fiddly, and somewhat messy with gluing all those circles down, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it!  And it's such a great way to use all those patterned papers too (without it looking like a crazy mash of patterns!).

I am so happy how this page finished up.  I got to use my favourite shape (circle) but added a new spin on it by having them stuck to 2x2 squares and having them on an angle. 

Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today!  I hope this might inspire you to try a new spin on a trusted favourite shape/technique of yours!  Take care, Em xo

Flourish layout with Laetitia

Hi everyone, so happy to meet you today with a newlayout and the wonderful February kit. I love her vintage side with the Maggie Holmes Flourish Collection and the book page piece with the music score partition specially unearthed for the kit.

As usual I opted for a white background that I covered half with pretty printed paper. For the title I completely fell for the phrase in vellum included in the ephemera Crate Paper pack of the kit.

Around the photo I added pretty stickers of embellishments kits. The photo has been pasted on 2 labels contained in the kit. There are many in the ephemera pack and I love it.

On the right I chose to add several small labels to give a vintage side. I sewed them together and added more stitches on the yellow paper.

I hope you like this layout and give you ideas ;) I give you appointment next month in a spring atmosphere! Xoxo
Laetitia

3-to-Inspire with Anna

Hello lovelies! Anna with you today for this week's 3-to-Inspire. I've been playing with the fantastic February Cedar Grove Main Scrapbook kit, Embellishment kit and the lovely Patterned Paper Play kit.

Let's have a look at my three prompts for this week:

1: Use two, or more, ephemera pieces
2: Use a digital cut file ( or a diecut by your i.e  Big Shot/Cuttlebug)
3: Use your CTK stamps

And here's the page I came up with!

I did some serious smooshing here using a Distress Ink pad, Faded Jeans, with a plastic bag and some water. Also I've done some black ink splatters and stamping, using the CTK stamps. On top over the smooshing I've mounted one of this months free CTK digital files, designed by talented Nathalie.

I spliced it in two and used both the pieces as you can see :)

Actually I'm not a "blue person" but I must say I really, really like this denim blue color , YUM!

Love this pic of my dear friend Christel <3

Now it's your turn! Use the three promts to create your own projects and share them whit us here in the gallery and/or at our Facebook Forum. I can't wait to see your take on this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs Anna xo

Product Highlight: Playing with Crochet Thread

If you have received your kit and need inspiration as to how to use the crochet floss, this is the post for you! Crochet thread can be used to anchor buttons and charms, tie ribbon onto tags, binding albums, and my favorite technique is to stitch on the layout. Myself, Kira and Nathalie will be sharing our projects today and hope to inspire you to use the crochet thread.

On this layout I used a stencil to draw out a leaf. I then cut the leaf out, traced around the edges of the leaves, poked holes in the cardstock, and then did a simple backstitch. This method is easy and the only supplies needed are a needle with an eye opening large enough for your thread.

Hey everyone, Kira here to share another way to use the thread included in your kit.  If you are familiar with my scrapbook style, you'll know that I loooooove stitching on my layouts.  But I knew Kelly does too!  So I decided to stretch my creativity a little with this project and think of a way to use it in a non-hand stitching way.  

 

Enter the mini album!  I have been on a bit of a mini album kick at the moment (I think I've made 4 this month so far!).  But I have never attempted a coptic binding style mini and I thought this thread presented the perfect opportunity to do that.  I started with two 4"x5" pieces of chipboard from my stash (it is relatively cheap on Amazon, or you could even re-purpose the packaging from a 12x12 paper pad!).  I covered the front/back of the chipboard with the "Passion" paper from the main kit.  And covered the insides with the B side of the same paper.  

Then I created my "signatures" (apparently that's what the inserts in a coptic book are called...who knew? This is my first time making one.  Lol.) with plain, white printer paper and covered them with the 6x8 paper included in the Pocket Life kit.

  

I stitched everything up according to this tutorial.  And I added some of the Good Vibes charms that were included in the main kit, along the spine.  I plan on decorating the inside with my Citrus Twist kit, so stay tuned for progress on this later!

xo, Kira

Hi there!  When Trina mentioned to us that there will be crochet thread in the kit, I did a small happy dance.  I have crocheted my whole life, it is one of my favorite things to do, and i was itching to add it to one of my pages.  

I used the crochet thread to create a textured edge to one of the ephemera tags from the Flourish collection included in this kit ( i would crocheted the entire page, but there was not enough thread in my kit!)

I kept the page fairly masculine, and included small accents of mint/teal so that the texture in the tag will show  as you look at the page.  I just love all the small sentiments in the stamp , they are perfect to personalize the page.

I hope you are all inspired to use the crochet thread included in the Cedar Grove Main Scrapbook Kit.  It can easily be used to stitch on your pages, bind your mini books, tie your small pieces and tags, add texture to the page, or simply as decoration on the pages.  It is all up to you!

We cannot wait to see what you are inspired to create with it!!!

XOXO

Nathalie

Let's Go Monochromatic with Kelly

Hello friends! Today I have a layout and process video to share using the Main kit, Embellishment Add-on, and Project Life kit. I was inspired to create this layout with several of the romantic themed elements that are in the kits, and my starting point was the gorgeous vellum swan die cut. I consider neutrals to include gold, so for my pop of color I chose to use pink.

This photo is of my husband and I when we were on a cruise. The background of the photo is a bit distracting, so I cropped it close. I could have easily turned the photo to black and white, but ended up liking the pop of color the photo brings off the neutral background.

The music sheet that is included in the main kit makes a great layering piece behind the photo and the vellum die cut. I trimmed down the music sheet by using a ruler as a straight edge and tearing down to size. Tearing the paper with the ruler edge gives a bit more control of how much is torn off and keeps it relatively straight.

Usually when working with metallics I stick with one color. The mix of rose gold and gold works beautifully with this page and the pink tones. The large floral was fussy cut from one of the 6x8 papers included in the PL kit and helps to bring balance to the right side of the page.

To finish off the layout I machine stitched in gold thread around the edges of the layout, and added gold mist. Misting led to a happy accident when a blob of gold mist fell onto the page. It bothered me so much that I decided to use the word phrases to cover the mist blob and then layer a few more down the page to balance out the phrases.

I hope that you enjoyed this and will perhaps challenge yourself to make a monochromatic layout in the future. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!