Let's Get Digital with Marsha

Hey friends! Marsha here today, and I am sharing a layout in my Life Crafted Album focusing on some digitals from the Citrus Twist Kits shop.  I used one of the subscriber bonus journaling cards from this month as a background paper for my layout.  I loved this card and thought it would be perfect enlarged on a page.

Here's a look at my layout:

  

To begin the spread, I opened the journaling card file in Photoshop and enlarged it to approximately 4" wide.  Next, I printed it out on some white cardstock and trimmed it to the size of my TN page.

Since the background of the page was done, I began creating the layout using the Life Crafted Gratitude kit.  I added my photo to the page and used a stamp from the This Is Life "Grateful" Stamp to stamp a floral piece at the edge of my photo.  I stamped the date onto a printable cutapart label from this month and tucked it behind the photo.  A vellum leaf and puffy heart sticker completed the simple embellishing around the photo.

For the title, I stamped the word "hello" from the November Traveler's Notebook Stamp.  To complete the title, I used some tile alpha stickers (from a previous LC kit) and the glitter foam stickers from this month's kit.  I did not have enough Ls, so I trimmed two of the lowercase Fs to make the Ls.  I added more of the vellum leaves and stamped another floral from the TN Stamp.  To complete this side of the spread, I added some machine stitching to the edge of the page and to the stems of the leaves.

For the other side of the spread, I decided to focus on the vellum leaves from the Life Crafted kit.  I placed them randomly on the white cardstock base and added a bit more stamping with the Grateful Stamp.  To finish off the spread, I added some machine stitching to the stem of each leaf.

Here's one final look at the layout:

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope this has inspired you to use some digital elements on your next project.  I will see you again soon!

Marsha

"Chapters" with Marsha

Hello friends!  It's Marsha, here with my first post as part of the Citrus Twist Creative Team.  I am so happy to be here!  The March Life Chapters kit, is absolutely gorgeous, and I am excited to share with you the layout I created using the kit, Life Chapters Cut Aparts, and Traveler's Notebook Stamp Set.

To begin the layout, I chose a black and white photo of my husband and me, taken last month at a Valentine's Day Banquet.  The geometric heart patterned paper from the kit is my favorite, so I decided to use the full sheet on my layout.  I cut it in half and layered it over some white card stock, machine stitching around the edges for interest and texture.

I layered the "chapters" ephemera piece along the edge of the patterned paper to serve as my title.  Next, I stamped on a label using the Traveler's Notebook Stamp Set.  The sentiments on this set are perfect for my layout!    I used some of the cut aparts, and one of the chipboard circle pieces to complete this section of the page.

For the other side of the spread, I used one of the journaling cards from the kit as a mat for my photo.  I layered a label behind the photo, stamped the date on a tab, and added a couple of chipboard pieces.  I trimmed another one of the 3x4 cards into a tag shape to use for my journaling and tucked it behind the photo.

Here's another look at my completed layout.

Thank you so much for joining me today.  I hope I have inspired you to use the March Life Crafted kit and Traveler's Notebook Stamp Set to document your stories!

Inspiration Seeking with Kira

Hey friends!  It's Kira and I am back with two new layouts using the Perfectly Posh kits.  Here's a look at my first layout:

If you received the pocket life kit this month, you would've seen this pocket life card:

This card inspired the entirety of my layout.  I loved the circular element, the sunset-like colors, and I loved how easily this could be translated into a scrapbook layout!

I started by cutting a large 7" circle from a piece of 8.5" x 11" white cardstock.  Then I cut strips (about 1/4" wide) from a variety of papers from the Willow Lane 6x8 paper pad (included in the PL kit).  I adhered these strips with just a tiny bit of wet glue onto the circle from the cardstock.  I stuck closely to the color placement of the PL card.  Then I stitched each strip down with my sewing machine.  I added some foam behind the background paper, and adhered the circle underneath.

I decided to scrapbook this adorable photo of my youngest son when he was monkeying around in my bed.  I can't stand how cute he is in this photo.  I backed the photo with some packaging from some Willow Lane embellishments.

Then it was just a matter of embellishing, I loosely color-blocked my embellishments, and added some gold glitter stars for a pop of sparkle.  I thought the perfect finishing touch to this layout was the crown I added to my son's photo.

Now, here's a look at my second layout:

I recently discovered artist Sarah Milne on Instagram.  She does the most amazing collage art and I fell in love with the florals she creates.  I knew they could be perfect on a scrapbook page if I could figure out a way to translate them well.

I started by punching five circles: two 1.5" and three 2".  I wanted to figure out placement before starting because I didn't want to make too many or too few.  Once I had placement down, it was time to build my flowers.

I chose some of the blue and lavender colored papers from the 6x8 Willow Lane paper pad.  I cut the papers into strips about 1"-2" wide.  Then I cut very messy crescent shapes out of the paper.  I started layering up the flowers on the circles I had punched earlier, starting from outside, working my way in.  I didn't have an order as to how to layer the paper pieces, I wanted it to look as random as possible.

Once I reached the center, I added the buttons from the main kit to three of the flowers.  The two other flowers got a paper cut circle and enamel dot.

I used my manual die cut machine to cut some leaves out of two shades of green paper included in the paper pad.  Then I mixed shapes and colors of leaves for each of the flowers.  I used the Wonderful thickers to add my title "Love You".

I finished off the page with some embellishments from the sticker sheet and thickers.

I hope you enjoyed these two pages I created, and got some ideas on how to find your own inspiration!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

xo, Kira

3-To-Inspire with Kelly

Hello friends! Today I am back with our first 3-To-Inspire challenge for the month of May. I have loved playing with this kit and hope that you will play along for a chance to win a prize!

My prompts are as follows:
1. Use tulle
2. Stitch (machine, hand, or both)
3. Use at least 3 patterned papers

Here is the page that I created using one of the cut files available as a NSD freebie in the shop.

For this layout I used the Malibu Main kit, Malibu Pocket Life kit, and the Paradise Add-on kit. I started creating the page by backing the heart cut file with papers that contained pink, coral, or aqua. Adding in the black and white polka dot brings a bit of contrast to the page.

I'm a sucker for birds and knew that this sweet bird would make the perfect accent on top of the photo.

The doily and twine are from my stash. I stitched through the title to add a bit more detail to the page.

 My mom has dementia, and we have had to make some serious life changes for her. It's been hard, and when I saw these stickers from Pinkfresh Studio, I could not believe how well that they told the story of my layout. Sometimes journaling is not even needed when your products say everything that you need to say.

I chose to layer the tulle behind the heart. I cut several squares so that the color would be a bit brighter, and adhered it to the back of the cut file with hot glue. I wanted to make sure that it would stay in place, and knew that hot glue would do the trick.

I have included a link to my process video if you would like to see how this layout came together. Now, it is your turn to use these prompts and post your projects on  our CTK Facebook Fan Page. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!

xoxo, Kelly

Sunday Sketch with Kira

 Hey friends!  It's Kira and I am back with this week's Sunday Sketch!  This sketch is everything I ever want in a layout:  large title, grid style layout, and hand stitching (okay, I added that last part, but if you haven't stitched on a layout before, I challenge you to do so!).

I started this layout by choosing a few photos to scrap.  I don't typically scrapbook more than one photo per layout, but when I take a million snapshots of one moment (as a mom of adorable toddlers, this happens more than I care to admit), I usually like to print a few in a smaller size and include them on my page.  These photos are of my youngest son playing with my headband and enjoying selfie mode on my phone.

I chose the title "Sweet Selfies" since my son is pretty sweet in these photos.  But full disclosure, I mostly wanted to use the "Peace Sign" paper from Dear Lizzy and thought the oranges tied in nicely with the word "sweet".  I used the reverse of the same paper for the word "selfies".  I hand stitched around the word sweet (using DMC embroidery floss - the color is 598 and matches perfectly, in case you are interested).  And then I machine stitched over the word selfies.

I stuck pretty close to the sketch, and added my photos to the upper right hand corner.  I used some more Dear Lizzy paper to add some layers behind my photos.  Since the sketch called for a tab on the right photo, I thought this would be the perfect excuse to add in some of that vellum we got in our kits!  I used my tab punch, machine stitched it directly to my photo and then used the stamp set to add the phrase "Be brave.  Be wild."

I used one of the PFS stickers to add my date and clustered a few Pick Me Up puffy flowers around it to bring up some of the blue.  As another excuse to use the vellum, I printed my journaling on a piece and stapled it to my page.

I finished off with a few more embellishments (I stuck with the main kit exclusively on this layout) and then called it done!  You can watch the entire process here.

Until next time,

Kira

Sunday Sketch with Kira

Hey everyone!  It's Kira and I am back with TWO layouts for you using the Sunday Sketch.  Have you used the sketches for your travelers notebook layouts yet?  I consider myself a TN newbie...or a TN dabbler?  Lol.  I don't know, I do TN spreads occasionally, but it's definitely not my main form of documenting.  So I find sketches really helpful!

I used the sketch originally for this 12x12 layout.  I chose this picture of my dog since it was horizontal vs. vertical orientation.  And then I stuck very closely to the sketch.

I started with all my paper layers.  I used the 6x6 papers that were included in the Pocket Life kit.  I wanted to use ALL THE COLORS on this layout.  So I loved the public transportation map paper, and loved that it also served as a neutral to break up the other patterned paper I chose.

I created a small cluster to the left of my photo using the camera from the thicker pack, a couple stickers from the Here & There sticker pack and finished it off with a puffy sticker from the PL kit.  

I added a small amount of stitching on top of the layers in black thread.  Along with a few puffy stickers from the embellishment kit and Pocket Life kit to add another pop of color above my photo.

I used the Here & There thickers for my title.  And layered it with a sticker from the Here & There cardstock stickers.  I brought the puffy stickers down to my title to create a diagonal design along my page and incorporated some more black by adding some splatters.

I added my journaling strips and a date stamp and called this page done.  You can watch the entire process here.

Now see how I used the same sketch but in a TN format. 

The first thing I did for this TN spread was flip the sketch on it's side.  Most of my photos are portrait orientation since I take them on my phone.  So it made more sense to me to flip the sketch.

I also went a little lighter on my layers.  And honestly, finding the right balance was harder in this format than it was on the 12x12 layout...but that's probably because I am a TN newbie/dabbler.

You might notice that I did add some stitching on my layers here too.  I did that before I adhered on layers into my album, and chose black since I knew I was going to add black throughout the rest of the layout.

When I started working on the reverse side, I knew I wanted to use one of the adorable Amy Tangerine paperclips as my title.  This led to me deciding on sort of flipping my orientation again.  I think it added a really whimsical look to the page. 

I added the phrase "Photo Story" from the TN stamp set.  Then added journaling strips underneath.  I finished the page off with black splatters.  You can watch the entire process here. 

I can't wait to see how you interpret this sketch!

Until next time,

Kira