Tuesday Tutorial with Missy

Hey, friends!  Missy here, and today I'm sharing a fun tutorial with you using the April Main "Santorini" Kit.  If you're like me, sometimes you have a lot of left over die cut pieces or ephemera that you didn't wind up using on your layouts.  Or there might be some pieces in the package that you don't know how to use or just may not fit your style.  Fear not!  Here is a great way to use them all up no matter what they look like.

I took all the Basic Grey die cuts and vellum pieces that I knew would be hard for me to work with.  I glued them all down on a sheet of white cardstock.  I love getting messy, so I went over the whole thing with some white gesso and let it dry.  Then I added some gelatos and ink sprays to create a watercolor effect over all the die cuts.  Once that was dry, I used a few different sized circle punches to create all these fun circles.  (My process video down below will show how I did this step-by-step.)

Once I adhered all those circles on another sheet of cardstock, I machine stitched through each one and then began placing my photo where I wanted it.  I embellished around it using bits and pieces from the kit.  I used the cute yellow Pinkfresh Studio alpha stickers and combined them with a Cameo die cut for my title.  That blue paper is a Citrus Twist exclusive.

Here you can see one of the circles closer.  I love that some of the die cuts curled up when they got wet and gave it some dimension.  I fussy cut those cute arrows from the Amy Tangerine paper.

You would never really know that these die cuts were about sewing and creating...now they are just bursts of fun color and they give a great abstract look.  I added some of the Amy Tan rubber leaves here under this Basic Grey flower and some tangled thread from my stash.

One more close-up of the circles...I hope you give this idea a try.  It's really fun and easy, and it's hard to mess up!

Here's my process video showing you the entire process.  I hope you enjoy and are inspired!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Missy Whidden

3 to Inspire

Hello! Michelle here with this week's "3 to Inspire" challenge!

Your take on this challenge can be a layout or a PL spread and you must include all 3 prompts on your project. This is what I have for you today:

1. Use 4 or more patterned papers.
2. Stack your title.
3. Repeat 1 or more elements.

Here is my take using the January Main " Vernona" Kit:

Using four or more pieces of patterned paper is right up my alley!  I went to town and used a total of five (which includes the background.) The super cute letters from 7 Paper were the perfect size for stacking a title. My repitition of the circles is pretty obvious, but I also added multiple stars and sentiments at the bottom of the page. 

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own project, share it with us here in the gallery, and you will be eligible to win a small prize from the CTK Store. Make sure to include the date of the challenge in the title of your gallery submission. Can't wait to see what you create!

Michelle

Adventure-Michelle Wedertz

Surely I'm not alone on this, but I REALLY like anything wood veneer and I was super happy to find the package of wood words from Heidi Swapp in January's Main "Verona" Kit. Heidi's script writing is quite beautiful and the big words make for a great ready-made title.

Part of what I like about wood veneers, is the added natural texture they bring to a project. I rarely mess with them because of this, usually opting to add just a spray of gold Color Shine  to make the wood sparkle a bit without hiding the wood finish. This month though, I went outside my usual box and gave them a light coat of gold paint.

My goal with the paint was to try to come close to the beautiful yellow-gold color that is featured in the kit without sacrificing the wood finish. I started super slowly and added thin layers of paint to the wood word keeping in mind that "less is more" because I didn't want to go too far and completely mask the wood. I ended up going over the word three times and was happy to have gotten the color just as I wanted.

As you can see, I got pretty close to the yellow in the patterned paper, plus the paint gave a little added sheen that I like.

How about you-do you alter plain wood veneers or do you leave them as is?  With the smaller wood pieces I never go any further than a light spritz of Color Shine, but the larger ones seem to invite a little bit more alteration. Would love to hear what you think!

Wishing you a great day.

Michelle

Sunday Sketch with Missy Whidden

Hey there, Citrus Twist fans!  Missy here with you today, and I'm so excited to bring you this week's Sunday Sketch.  It's an awesome sketch, and this month's kits are just perfect to use for it.  I love the square photo, the layering, and those fun corner pieces.  Sketches are such a fun jumping off point to get your scrappy juices flowing!

Here is what I created based on this sketch.  I stayed pretty true to it.  I started with one of the Seven Paper sheets for my background.  I added a bit of white gesso and then some bright blue acrylic paint.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut some messy rectangular frames out of the Basic Grey paper and built my layers on top of that.  I used a lot of the Maggie Holmes papers for this as well as the fun printable cut-apart sheet.

I love all of these bright colors together!  I love layering bits and pieces around my photo.  I used one of the fun flair buttons, one of the Heidi Swapp scripty puffy stickers, one of the sentiments from the branding strip of the exclusive CTK papers, exclusive wood veneer...so many little details!  I used a foam brush to apply the acrylic paint.  I wanted a messy brush stroke effect.

I added some cord to the cut-apart tag here and layered it behind the photo.  I also added in some pink tangled thread behind the flair button.  That is a great way to add a pop of color and some fun texture to your page.

I fussy cut more pieces here and did lots of machine stitching.  I also used some of the exclusive CTK stamps on my layout.  They are super fun and can be used in so many ways!

Here's my process video if you'd like to see how this layout came together.  Thanks for watching!

Okie dokie...that is my layout!  I hope it has inspired you in some way.  I hope you use it to create something amazing!  If you do use the sketch, make sure you upload it to the Citrus Twist Gallery by next Saturday to be eligible for a $5 coupon to the store!  Be sure to add "1/17" to the title line so we know what sketch you're using.  I can't wait to see what everyone makes!

Have a fabulous day!

Missy :) 

Sunday Sketch with Aimee Dow

Yay for another Sunday! I am particularly stoked about this one for a couple of reasons. For starters all the Christmas madness is beginning to subside and a weekend is just another weekend, rather than my own personal christmas present safari. Secondly, I got first pick of the sketches this month and I don't mean to brag, but I love how this one turned out.

I rotated the sketch on the side to accommodate the large letter title and the photo orientation. 

The subject matter is a little new to us too. Little Eva arrived 2 weeks early on the 7th and really put a kink in my christmas scrapping. Truth be told I'm really not that upset. Red and Green are not exactly my colours. This months 'Flea Market' scrapbooking add on, on the other hand was right up my alley. 

I punched some circles from the Amy Tangerine paper and used the Basic Grey cork circles as the scatters. The little acrylic stars are the only thing I had to pull from my stash all the little hearts around the layout came from the Maggie Holmes Shine Chipboard - that's my favourite thing in the whole kit.

I fussy cut out a typewriter from Dear Lizzy paper to use for my journaling. I even used a craft knife to slot the cardstock in where is would usually go on a typewriter. It's super simple to do, but it's super effective.

Last, but not least are the tiny little finishing touches like watercolour splashes, a few lines of stitching and of course a stamp or two and I'm done! Now it's your turn. So now it’s your turn to play with this lovely sketch… and don’t forget to upload your project to the Citrus Twist Gallery: you could win a $5 Coupon to use on anything in the CTK Store! Remember to add "Sketch 12/27" to the title line.

Aimee Xx.

3 to Inspire

Hello! Michelle here with this week's "3 to Inspire" challenge!

Your take on this challenge can be a layout or a PL spread and remember that you must include all 3 prompts on your project. This is what I have for you today:

1. Include two or more tags/labels.
2. Add in a bold black. 
3. Put some flair on it.

Here is my take using the October Main Kit:

I really went to town with the label requirement and made them a main feature of my layout. I embellished them with shapes from the Memorandum Washi pack and some stitching. I added in a few pieces of black from the diecuts included in the package of Basic Grey frames and layered in the fun black plus sign patterned paper (my fave from the kit!). 

One of my last steps was to place a piece of fun, lavender flair right next to my photo.

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own project, share it with us here in the gallery, and you will be eligible to win a small prize from the CTK Store. Make sure to include the date of the challenge in the title of your gallery submission.  Can't wait to see what you all do!

 

Michelle

How to use . . . with Amélie

Hi there! Here is Amélie and today I will share with you some tips to use crepe paper! As you probably saw this month, in your  main kit, you will have a piece of crepe paper. I really love having supplies that are unusual. I love to think at how I can use this or that to give to my creations something different!
Crepe paper is perfect to add texture and relief to your creations!
I will share with you three creations using crepe paper! This might inspire you!

First this layout, I use crepe paper in the layering under my picture.

 
 

Now my second layout! On this one, I use crepe paper to make a background. I simply cut some stripes of crepe paper on stick them on my cardstock. You also can stitch them on your cardstock!














And at least, this little card. I use a rest of crepe paper to create a bow:

I hope this post give you some inspiration.
See you soon.
Amélie

A Big Goodbye to Some Citrus Twist Kits DTs & a Scrapbooking Challenge!

Hi everyone! We have enjoyed all the talented designers on our team who share their creations with you every month on our daily blog and in our gallery. At the end of June we have 3 DTs who will be moving on to share their talents in other parts of the scrapbooking world.

It has been our pleasure to work with Gina Rodgers (with Citrus Twist Kits since day 1!), Nina Ostermann and Tanya Batrak. Ladies, thank you for all of your beautiful design work.

The Challenge
We love the title of Nina's "It's Going to Be a Good Day" layout (below) and decided to base a challenge on her title. We want to see what you come up with for a scrapbook page or Pocket Life layout that uses the phrase "It's going to be a good day" for inspiration.

To earn a chance to win please upload your project to our Gallery and put "DT Challenge" in the name and leave some love for our departing DTs on this blog post. Please post your entries by Saturday, June 28th for a chance to win the grab bag. We'll be giving away a dreamy box of wood chips!

Here are some memories of some of their work for Citrus Twist:

From Gina, shares of her unique style:

Here are some fun shares from Nina:

And some of Tanya's artsy creations:

We look forward to seeing your entries into our "It's going to be a good day" challenge.

Thank you Gina, Nina and Tanya for sharing part of your scrappy world with us here at CTK. We wish you every happiness!