2 Projects | Gina R

Hi everyone, today I'm sharing a couple of pages created with the gorgeous February kits. On this first page I've used the Brinley main kit and embellishment kit. I've played around with a mixed media background on kraft cardstock - I love the combination of pastel colours and white gesso against the kraft background. 

My second project was created with the main kit only. I've used a simple horizontal design with the addition of a corner pattern paper piece. Black + white geometric papers are great for this purpose, they are not as "heavy" as a bright or solid colour, and won't compete or draw the eye away from the main feature of your page.

Have you been creating with February kits? Don't forget to share your projects in the CTK Facebook group and gallery!

Gina xox

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Tuesday Tutorial with Mira Jurecka

Hello Everyone!

It's Mira here with Tuesday Tutorial and today I'll be fully concentrated on Pocket Scrappbooking, which for me is the best kind of memory keeping project EVER! What about You?

I'd like to share with You a few general tips together with a bunch of my favorite tricks that I use very often in pocket albums. I have a couple of pages prepared to illustrate those tips and all of them were created with February Pocket Life and Embellishment Kits from Citrus Twist Kits.
So yeah - let's do it!

1. Pictures

I've documented last four years of my family life in pocket albums, and creating process has changed many times before I decided what's the most important for me and HOW I want to preserve our memories. When I was pregnant I found out what's the reason why I am doing it, why I keep devoting so many energy and time to create more and more pages. It wasn't only because I enjoyed creating them. It was because I knew for who I am doing it - for my daughter. And this is why my albums are mostly focused on this little lady growing up. I knew I want our albums to be a beginning of many many future conversations - a super cool way to bond. This is why my pages are always overloaded with pictures and I have plenty of pages dedicated to journaling all the little stories from Her childhood.

Sooooo... my first general tip for You is to find Your reason why - why are You doing Your albums? It will definitely keep You motivated and will establish the way of how You create.

2. Color consistency

When a few weeks ago on Instagram I asked You Folks what You would like me to write about in today's post, there was this one topic that a friend of mine raised - a color consistency. So here's  my second general tip theme for You today.
Color consistency between pictures and all the details that You add to Your pages: cards, embellishments, etc.
Color consistency is this funny thing that I find very appealing when it comes to looking at the album pages and enjoying it's aesthetics. It begins with the environment You live in, the pictures that You take and goes through Your picture - editing process, to the choice of pictures, cards and embellishments.
For example I like keeping my album bright and detailed, so I take plenty of pictures of everyday details. I always edit them in a similar way - my pictures are rather pale and I often add white frames around the pictures before I print them, which gives me a lot of space for embellishing. Also I choose the cards that suit the colors from my pictures - they have to go together really well.

Obviously not all of us will be interested in color consistency. Some of us like experimenting, some has to try new techniques, some of us just don't care about the colors or just don't feel it. And it's all fine! It's all great! At the end of the day we just need to enjoy the process. Pocket scrapbooking is not about freaking out and comparing albums with others, it's about having fun and preserving memories!

3. Freedom

As I said previously: creating albums is all about having fun, so don't create too many rules for ourselves! This is our album, our project, our creativity and there is no such thing that would work for everyone the same way. Just find Your way, and feel free to change it any time You want.

4. Tricks

Ok, now it's time for details and some random tips that I'd like to share with You! Are You ready?

What my daughter really like is touching every little and colorful detail that embellish our pictures in the album. She always finds them all with her little fingers, so I started adding embellishments on top of a page protectors, to make this experience of her even more interesting. Does it sound fun to You?

I love creating custom PL cards with the use of white cardstock and embellishments from CTK kits. They are complementing my pictures in a very fun and simple way. Would You try this idea?

Customizing already existing PL cards with embellishments isn't anything new for our scrap community, but I always love adding that little touch of personality to the cards. Have You thought about it as Your personal signature? Is there a specific way that You like to do it?

Have You tried stamping directly on Your pictures? I know there are people who are afraid of ruining the picture, but You know what? I always do it and believe me I am a queen of bad stamping!

Splashes! Another perfect way to customize a card!

Have You tried writing down what people around You said and adding those words to Your albums? Obviously, I don't mean every.single.word. I mean funny things. From time to time. Quotations are rare in my albums, but I love them badly! Especially when our daughter says something funny!

Look at this strange water-related object wrapped with some blue plastic foil with a red "nose" (whatever it was), located in someone's garden and covered with snow. She looked at it and said: "Mommy watch! There's a snowman!"
Isn't that cute? It'd definitely worth remembering.

Another fun thing is to use a product packaging in Your pages. In February Embellishment kit there was this awesome set of tiny word stickers with a super cool packaging - tiny words as a pattern (It could also be from puffy-stickers, I am not sure :D). I used it as a PL card.
What do You think about that?

Bunny (or other animal) picture. Okay: this is must have! I found similar pictures in a few albums from the Internet, and it's great! I don't even know how to take this picture (there are probably some apps on Your smartphones that allow You to take them!), but the other day our Nanny just took them and sent to me. And I couldn't miss placing them in album. Awesome!

And my last trick is from similar category: screenshots from Your smartphone telling what was the weather like, or Instagram pictures telling some story. These are two fun ways to change things up a bit in our albums. Aren't they fun?

Okay, that's it for now! I could continue writing this post for ages, but I don't want You to get bored, so I'll leave it for another time :) I hope You feel inspired to create, or simply to share some of Your fav tricks with other Pocket Scrapbooking Fans! Feel free to do it!
Thank You for stopping by!

February KIts

Hello! Michelle here with you today to share a few of my projects using this month's kits! February's kits are packed with brand new releases from my favorite manufacturers and I had loads of fun creating my projects.

My first project that I am sharing is a 9x12 layout that I created using the Main Scrapbook Kit only:

Underneath my usual paper layers, I placed a die cut that I cut using my Silhouette. This was a simple way to add more interest without overwhelming the colorful photo of my daughter. The blues, greens, and pinks were a fave color combo this month and I used it throughout all of my projects.

For my second layout, I jumped outside my comfort zone and chose to use the cool black and white exclusive patterned paper as my background:

As  I was finishing up this smaller 6x8 layout, I found that I wanted to add a little bit more blue to the page. My solution was to cut a little bit of the top of the layout off and layer a piece of white cardstock underneath it. I then tucked a blue die cut from the Pocket Life Kit underneath the patterned paper and stitched everything down.

Working with these kits this month has been a lot fun and I want to invite you to stop by the Gallery to see what the rest of the Design Team made with the February's Kits!

Michelle

3 To Inspire with Emma

 
Hi friends!  I'm back again with another 3-To-Inspire challenge!  I think it's fair to say I'm addicted to these challenges; they are my favourite!

We offer this challenge every Saturday for those who are looking for a little extra push to get scrapbooking, to keep scrapbooking, or for those of you just looking for a challenge (and the chance to win a little something is an added bonus!).

I hope you'll join in with me this week using the following prompts:

1. Create your own hand-cut title
2. Use more than one photo
3. Use a punched shape

 And here's a look at the page I created:

My title was actually inspire by something I found on Pinterest.  Now I know that's a pin for 3D letters but when I first looked at it, I thought the letters were on "hinges" on the sides.  So I set about creating my own version.  I actually love that the inspiration piece for this page is something completely different - just shows that we can interpret what we see in such different ways :)

I picked a few favourite 6x6 papers from the Pocket Life kit and folded a small section on one side, then I just used a pair of scissors to cut the letters out free-hand.

I picked a few of the best photo's I managed at night.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get the best photo's using sparklers at night.  I had planned to put the photo's to B&W but with the softer tones in the papers I used they actually got a little lost.  So back to colour they went!

I used modelling paste to add some textured stars to my background, they're a little hard to see because I went with white on white.  Then I used my hand punch to cut a few tiny stars out of paper (I used the same ones I'd used for the letters) and scattered them around my page.  I literally stuck them down where they fell :)

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us here in the gallery and/or our Facebook Forum.  I really can't wait to see your pages!

Thanks, Em xo

together always

My girls...I never dreamed I would ever be so lucky to have them.  They love each other so much.  Of course they fight like sisters, too, but over all they just love each other.  They share a room, share their clothes, their toys. I really am a lucky mama.
A few days ago I found this photo from when they were younger.  I had made them a tent over the swing in the back yard.  They wouldn't leave it for hours.  The things they imagined that day and many days after.

I have a feeling there will be many many more moments like this as they grow up.  The places they hang out may change.  The topics will mature as they do but they will always be best friends.  I love that so much.

Brinley Main kit + Embellishment Kit

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Brenda

Sunday Sketch with Wendy

Hello everyone!

Happy Sunday!  Wendy here and you know what time it is, right?!  Yep, time for another Sunday Sketch to inspire you and this sketch is truly fab and oh so sweet.  After all, it is February and a sketch would not be complete without a few sweet embellished sprinkles on the sketch. Yes?

Now here's my take on the sketch...

With the grid portion on the sketch, I had this idea for hand stitching on my layout.  Yes, time consuming but so worth it in the end result.

You will want to measure out the grid pattern for even spacing of your stitches.  I used a pencil to lightly draw the lines for my grid along with the use of a grid ruler.  A grid ruler with punched holes is the perfect tool along with a paper piercer.  Also, I would highly recommend to use a mouse pad or stitching mat cushion under the cardstock for easier piercing of your cardstock.

After all my holes were punched, I used a gum eraser to erase away the pencil lines.  Then, grab your favorite color thread (I used DMC floss and three strands), needle, and your favorite movie/Netflix series.  Go ahead and stitch stitch stitch away.

I had SO much fun creating up my take on the sketch with a precious photo of my Yorkie, Principessa.  She is two years old and quite the charmer and the loveliest of love muffins.  Ha!

I used the new February 2017 kits available over at Citrus Twist Kits.  Sooooo many good bits in the kits this month from buttons, Nuvo jewel drops, Thickers...just super fun embellishments.

Oh, and one more thing on the Nuvo jewel drops, you will want ALL the colors, you have been warned. They are addicting!  Ha!

To play along with this week's challenge, create a layout inspired by the sketch, upload it to the Citrus Twist Kits Gallery with the sketch date (2/5) in the title, and you might win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK store.  Easy peasy!

xx Wendy
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Kit Love with Jen - February 2017 Pocket Life Kit

Hi everyone! Jen here, and today I am sharing a kit unboxing video of February's PL kit, as well as sharing a layout I've created with it. Watch the video below to see what's included in your kit this month.

I just love the colors in the kit this month! And the 3x4 cards are fab.

I created a 9x12 page with some of my January photos. I incorporated some of the 6x6 paper as well as the Crate Paper ephemera pack that was included.

I kept my journaling pretty simple by using typed strips from my typewriter. I also added some dates with a date stamp and some black ink.

That's all for today! I hope you've enjoyed this inspiration and peek into the February kits. Have a good day!