3-to-Inspire with Cece

Hello, friends! Cece here today with a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you! This month's #gracebox is super fun and has a load of goodies to create and play with.

For today's 3-to-Inspire, I will be creating with:

+ Pinkfresh Puffy White Alpha Stickers
+ Dina Wakely Media Turquoise Acrylic Paint
+ Citrus Kit White Cardstock Die Cuts

  

I am creating in my 100 Days of Bible Promises by Shanna Noel today and I'm working on Day 48. First, I scraped down some of this gorgeous turquoise acrylic paint using an old credit card. I love how smooth this paint is and how easy it was to put down. The scraping technique is an easy way to get some color on your page with very little mess.



Next, I put down some stamps and the puffy white alphas and wrote out -- "I'm still here with you. Forever and always by your side."



Last, I put down some of the die cuts to fill in some of the white spaces above the words.

 

I loved working with all the elements of this kit and loved how this page turned out and hope you do too! Remember to share your pages on the Citrus Twist Kits FB Fan Page or on social media and use the hashtag #citrustwistkits. I'm excited to see what you do with this kit.

Wishing you a great weekend and God bless!

GraceBox Creating with Ashley

 Hey everyone! Ashley @magmagandme here. Happy Thursday. Today I am pulling out my July GraceBox Kit & grabbing some old paints to have a gooey, creative time! The GraceBox included a 12x6 sticker sheet from IF - All people, All Nations - the colors and patterns are amazing - I primarily used them for this page in Isaiah. 

First, I started with some coordinating acrylic paints that I picked up for 50 cents at Walmart years ago. I used the super sophisticated painting technique of using my fingers. I find that it makes for a lighter touch and more natural paint smears than using a brush. A little here and a little there - perfect background for the fun stickers! TIP: If you find your page getting too crazy - just add a little white on top to tone it all down again.

 There is no right or wrong way to apply it - have fun.  

Then I added a layer of stamping from the GraceBox Stamp. It comes with 2 patterns this month - crosses and polka dots. PERFECT! I added them sporadically around the page. 

Then comes the stickers! Layer them, cluster them, throw in a strip of washi to make the sticker color pop. Again, there is no right or wrong way to do - whatever look good to the eye. Sometimes I want to hoard the cute stickers and not use them but my new years crafting resolution was to USE ALL THE THINGS ALL THE TIME - no holding back. If you have the subscription you can rest assured that another great box of supplies is coming net month - so use it! 

After I stickered, I outlined a few of them to help them pop against my busy background. The July Stamp has so many great one liners! Even though they don't all go with my featured verses - I just had to use them to show you how versatile they will be in your Bible Journaling. Sometimes I think my handwriting just doesn't cut it, so it's nice to have a stamp that can quickly give me that type look to enhance my page. 

Final step for this page was to hunt through my collection of clips. I love finding coordinating clippies that will top it off! I leave my Bible open on a counter and look at it for a few days until I can create again. It's a work of art and should be shown off! So add that accessory and make it beautiful! 

Thanks for reading & happy creating! Be sure to share your creations with us on the Citrus Twist Fans Page  and don't forget to tag with @citrustwistkits on any social media:)

3 to Inspire with Ashley

Hi crafties, it is Ashley @magmagandme here today to bring you a 3-to-Inspire post.  Hopefully by now most of you  have received your July GraceBox and you've had time to check out all the goodies. So many great stickers this month, right!? AND THAT STAMP SET. SQUEAL! 

Let the fun and creativity begin.

This week's 3  prompts are:

• #1  -  Use acrylic or puffy paint
• #2  -  Use ephemera pieces
• #3  -  Use more than one ink color

Here is what I have created in my Bible using these prompts:

SIDE NOTE: ( I am pretty sure there is SOOO much pink in my craft room -

 it's giving off a pink hue in all these photos! SORRY! )

Back to the prompts!

 #1 is a fun one that many people are intimidated by. The puffy paint included is a perfect way to dabble in it. Did you know that puffy paint cam be watered down a bit and acts just like a lose watercolor? You can blend it or splatter like I did. 

I also did a white acrylic smear over some of the print to help the stickers pop.

I chose a praise prayer chapter in Exodus 15 to journal in. 

The pretty pinks in this kit pair nicely with the worshipful verses. 

Next I jumped to #3 - multiple ink colors. I loved the stamp set this month (check it out). I pulled the cross bundle and found a pink and green ink that matched the ephemera to come. Make sure you wash your stamps off with a baby wipe in between colors so you don't blend them or so they don't stain the stamp.

The #2 prompt -  ephemera is almost too easy! There were so many great choices in the GraceBox. I cheated and used the cardboard stickers too. :) One of the floral frames I chose wasn't popping so I used a small, black ink pad to brush the edges. This helps define the shape. 

Can you see the difference in the next two photos?

I used a few other stickers from the kit, the black ones from June's Gracebox (just needed that bold punch) and wordfetti stickers. It's all about layering.

 Don't be afraid to use everything and the kitchen sink sometimes! 

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;

he has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise him,

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior;

the Lord is his name."

Exodus 15:2,3

Now is your turn to use the prompts to inspire a project of your own.

 These prompts can be for any type of project; a card, TN page, a photo page, your Bible. Anything!

  Remember to share your creations on the Citrus Twist Kits Friends page on Facebook,

 or on social media (please tag @citrustwistkits) .   

I look forward to see how you creatively interpret the prompts in your work.

Happy creating! 

Tuesday Tutorial with Tara | Label Love

Hi friends, Tara here today for another installation of Tuesday Tutorial. I'm sharing an easy way to stretch your stash. I love little bits of ephemera and sometimes have a hard time finding the right phrase or the right size for a certain project. Here is an easy way to create your own labels and ephemera to fit your needs.

Grab some ink pads, clear blocks, and stamps!

I start by using this awesome label from the Detours stamp.

I then add phrase stamps from April's GraceBox kit, along with other stamps from past GraceBox kits. I prefer to go for mostly neutral shades but added in a bit of color too.

For a little bit of a fun twist - I also stamped on some vellum paper and loved how it turned out! Test out a few different types of ink. You can see the top left "Say Yes" circle smeared pretty badly. 
TIP - ink on vellum takes longer to dry so give it some time before cutting out your ephemera. I have to say the Illustrated Faith ink pad was my favorite to use!

When you have some down time (for me it's usually watching a show or listening to a podcast), I find it very relaxing to cut out the little ephemera labels and bits.

I didn't have a large enough circle punch, but made wonky circles by using the Rise and Shine stamp set circles and cutting it a bit off to the side. I love having a little pile of bits ready to add to projects.

I stacked up the circle, label, and and old phrase stamp to give this tab a layered look. I love how the layered ephemera looks using this month's GraceBox kit and some watercolor.

Here is a look at the entire journal entry.

I hope you find some inspiration to create some labels, tags, and/or ephemera. Please share your creations in the Citrus Twist Fan Page. Thank you for stopping by!

Things Above - April GraceBox

Hi friends, Ashley here. I should be washing the loads of Easter dishes I made, but instead I'm busting out the craft supplies. (I think it will really motivate me to work hard in the kitchen later. wink, wink! ) The April GraceBox is here & bursting with color and possibilities. The rub on stickers, the stamp set, the colorful alphas, the die cuts - a girl struggles to know where to start!

Typically, I lay it all out on my desk and the first things that says USE ME, USE ME is where I start. This month it was the All People All Nations Paper Ephemera (Illustrated Faith). I loved the continent pieces! Oh the places I could go with them. Then i decided the rainbow card illustrating Col. 3:2 needed to be a part of it. I found my verse page empty in my Bible, so it's time to get started.

Here is a peek at the components this month.  Click HERE for the full descriptions & photos.

After 10 minutes of driving myself crazy with trying to make my earth geographically correct - I decided to just get artsy with it. So I cut my own shapes and created an earth that fit. :)

A little watercolor base, squiggly outlines, splatter and polka dot stamps completed the look.

 I loved how the verse card had the rainbow coming out of the earth. It inspired the stacking of the alpha stickers. The Booklet of colors were begging to be used all together. But boy are those buggers hard to get straight. They are a thin, almost opaque-y sticker - you've be warned!

 I topped by page in Colossians with a tab & doily from the kit and a few coordinating washi from my stash. No page is complete without a bouquet of clips & bows. 

 This was a awesome kit to dig into and I can't wait to use the next pieces. Head over to the shop to sign up for your kit subscription or try one to start!

Happy Crafting,
Ashley Haake
aka
@magmagandme

February GraceBox - LOVE

 Hi everyone, Ashley @magmagandme here! 

The February GraceBox is full of stickers, colors, stamps, a date stamper, 3D pieces, journal prompts and more! I tend to want to use everything and the kitchen sink. It is hard to choose the first pieces to give attention to. This month I decided to control myself! I narrowed right into these beautiful watercolored die cuts. They are BEAUTIFUL!  

 How fun is this original stamp set from Citrus Twist!? I punched out the tab for my page from the backing of the die cut package. Then I used the LOVELOVELOVE stamp. Perfect.

 I used my watercolors to add some splatter to match the die cut pieces.

 The Love with action is actually cut out from one of the journaling cards. I love the sentiment and had to add it into my Bible.  I finished off this page with a few of the enamel dots.

I loved this kit and loved the pieces that inspired another page in Ephesians! 

 Get yours in the shop while they last. 

I hope you get a chance to put a little love in your work this week! 

Ashley

@magmagandme

Extend Your Kits | Kristel & Tara

Happy Monday friends! Today Kristel and Tara are sharing a different spin on how they used their kits in other ways than the norm. Kristel is working with the Sugarland PL kit and Tara is using the January GraceBox kit. 

---------------------------------

Hi all! So, today Tara and I wanted to challenge ourselves to use our kits for something totally different than what we were used to.
I have been working with the Pocket Life kit, which is perfect for all sorts of memory keeping; whether it's Project Life, scrapbooking, using a traveler's notebook, etc.
But, I have found out it is also perfect for decorating your planner, for example :-) And I'm sure there are many more ways to use your kit.

To keep track of my DT projects and deadlines, social media and personal crafty ideas, I'm using a (medium) Happy Planner this year.
These have a weekly overview in which the days are vertically divided into rectangle little boxes which you can use in all sorts of ways.

Since I don't need to break up my days, I just use one or two boxes to write down all my notes and the others I like to decorate.

I chose a few of the papers in the kit, including the awesome book page, and cut rectangle boxes in the same size as my planner's.

I always like to create some sort of a pattern with these boxes and leave open space where I can write down all my notes.
As long as I leave enough white space for my notes, I'm all for decorating, so I got out some of the included embellishments and played with them.
To finish this week's layout, I got out (CTK) November's TN stamp set, which has a couple of cute hearts included, and stamped a couple of hearts to act as bullet points.

I absolutely loved this challenge and its results, so I guess i will be using my PL kit more often for my planner and maybe more :-) 

Have a lovely week and until next time!

Love, Kristel

---------------------------------

Hello! I am so excited to work with Kristel today on a different take of how to use our kits. I use the GraceBox kits mostly for bible journaling and faith journaling, but really wanted to try something different.

This year I purchased a Hobonichi Cousin planner to use for my faith catchall. Instead of planning in it, I am using the daily pages for reflections on bible readings.

I wanted to use the first page of January for mapping my faith this year. I took the concept of mind mapping and tweaked it to faith mapping.

I'm a huge fan of all Citrus Twist Kits stamps and used this month's stamp set along with a few others from past GraceBox kits - V2 stamp, V4 stamp, V8 stamp, V13 stamp, Scripture doodles stamp, V17 stamp, and V19 stamp found here.

I really want to work on my walk with the Lord and strengthening in my faith. I decided to use the "walk in faith" stamp as my focus this year. I then chose key points to help me in my daily faith walk.

I added color to my page with Tim Holtz distress inks and water. I love to add it to extra packaging and smoosh it all over creating a watercolor effect. I also used the stencil and layered a few different colors of chalk ink to make the messy dots.

I added a few bullet points of what was on my heart regarding each key point.

I loved layering the cute Pretty Little Studio cutapart sheet and layering it with the vibrant Vicki Boutin diecuts for a pop of color.

I had so much fun going out of my comfort zone with this challenge. I plan to incorporate more faith mapping in the future. 

Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by. I hope Kristel and I inspired you to try a few new things with your kits.

Blessings! Xxo, Tara

Scripture Challenge Share

Hi friends, Tara here today! I'm one of those people that love a good daily challenge. I get so excited but a week into them I'm burnt out and so behind! I'm really loving The Reset Girl's Faithful Life Challenge. It's a weekly challenge and you can do 1 or 4 different scripture writings for the week! I love having options for weeks that are packed full of things, or being able to do more when I find more time.

Here's a little peak at my traveler's notebook entry for Week 2 using the September GraceBox kit.

I started off using some Prima fluid chalk edger with a wipe and made the pink background. Then using this month's stamp set, along with an older GraceBox V4 stamp, I added crosses and stars. I'm loving the awesome alpha stickers that came in the kit this month! I couldn't get the true color to show up but they are translucent and so lovely.

Here is the full traveler's notebook entry. I love writing scripture! It helps me memorize it and I enjoy being able to go back and meditate on different messages from the bible. 

This verse is one of my favorites - it reminds me that life isn't meant to be easy or without struggles. We can find our strength through Jesus. I'm so thankful for that!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be blessed, xo - Tara