Tuesday Tutorial: How To Pair Washi With Kits

Hi Everyone! This is washi addict Jennie! I have sooo many rolls of washi tape! I'm always looking for ways to add them to my projects. Whenever I open my Pocket Life Kit I look for washi that complements the kit. I use different criteria to choose which ones get to join the kit during the month.

The most simple is color. Choose 3 colors from the most frequent colors of the kit. You can use solids or a simple pattern like stripes.

Polka dots are also simple but perfect! Don't look only at the papers, remember the die cuts and stickers. 

This kit has a few metallic papers. I often forget my metallic washi so this is a good opportunity to reach for that item you normally wouldn't choose.

Your criteria could be a special pattern like these flowers. 

I love the tickets on the top but I probably won't add them to this month's kit because the colors don't go that well with the kit.  

These tickets are perfect! They are simple and the colors are the same as the items on the kit.

 Make sure you always add at least one neutral washi tape to the collection.

I'm sharing a pocket life layout! Let's look at close ups to spot the washi! 

I use washi to layer EVERYTHING!! Photos, stickers, embellishments clusters, etc.

I have to be careful I don't add a shaker pocket every week! I love them too much! I put one of the circle die cuts on the outside of the shaker pocket.

I also use staples to add texture and layers to the embellishments clusters.

The yellow and pink ticket was my favorite washi on this spread! The die cuts work perfect with it! The alphas from this month are awesome! And they have numbers! It makes my pl heart happy to have numbers!

I used the stamp from this month to embellish this filler card a little bit more!

I hope these tips helped! Go through your washi stash! Pick at least 3 washi tapes and share them in the Citrus Twist Fan Forum! 

Gratitude Log with Tara

Hello friends! It's Tara here today sharing a little bit of something I've been working on. For months now I have been thinking of how to include writing out daily gratitude to welcome each day as it comes. When I start my day with a heart filled with love, my entire mood and attitude is different as I conquer the big and little challenges that come my way.

I decided to use a passport traveler's notebook undated weekly insert. I love how portable this size is! I'll be traveling this week so it will be easy to add this notebook with my small stash of supplies. The blank canvas of spaces wide open is just waiting for me to create something each week and record my gratitude.

I used this month's GraceBox kit and it's filled to the brim with bits and bobs of colorful goodness!

Here are the supplies I used:

I added in some washi tape, distress ink, and mini mister from my stash along with some past GraceBox stamps.

Here is my first week in August so far.

I love using the Illustrated Faith stamp pad - it doesn't bleed through the pages. I will remember to stamp before I use distress ink - the numbers (Traveler's Notebook class stamp set) smeared a bit. They don't bother me as this week's pages were meant to be a bit messy!

Thank you for stopping by today. I can't wait to see how you use your GraceBox kit or document your gratitude. 

Have a lovely week! Xo - Tara

Pocket Life Sketch Friday with Tara

Hello friends and happy Friday - it's Tara here sharing my take on Pocket Life Sketch Friday. I've been working on my personal album. It's new to me this year and I have really enjoyed it!!

Don't forget to read through until the end for a chance to win some happy mail.

I'm using April's 'Sophie' PL kit and Sprinkles kit in this layout. I love the pops of colour and though it isn't quite summer here, I'm welcoming the sunshine that we do get.

For this layout, I really wanted to focus on journaling and using my handwriting. I love words and photos and my goal is to include more short and long stories with my photos.

Here is your sketch:

I ended up adding more to my layout as I noticed it was a little too plain for my liking. Here is the completed pocket page after some changes.

I added a flip card that I used some washi on to the outside of the pocket. I also added the cute foam stars and hearts, some stamping, and some layers and a cork piece too. I love using extra bits and bobs and took one of the top tear off strips from the paper pad and layered it under the word sticker. I adhered it to the outside of the pocket for some dimension and texture outside.

Here is the inside of the flip pocket. I wanted to use different journaling styles, so I made a list on the bottom 4x6 journaling card. I tucked behind some vellum that I stamped on for the title "loving". I'm also loving that alpha set from Kellie Stamps.

I would love to see what you do with the PL sketch this week. Please share your work in our Gallery or Facebook Fan Page by Friday, May 5th and title it PL 05/05. 

Have a lovely weekend! Xxo, Tara

PL Sketch Friday with Tara

Happy Friday friends! Tara here on the blog with today's challenge - I do hope you join in. As always, don't forget to read through to the end to see how you can win some happy mail.

**This post is picture heavy!!**

For the month of November, I'm working in my traveler's notebook on a daily photo journal of thanks and gratitude. My friend Elise over at Feed Your Craft has been doing My Thankful 30 since 2013. I haven't done a project like this before, so I was super excited to join in the fun. The November Emerson PL kit was just perfect for this too!

Here is what I came up with for prompt 6; I made it more about where my home is instead of the town or city I call home. I love that you can tweak the prompts or use different ones - whichever fits your heart and your gratitude best.

I wanted to include a quote about home. To make the page a little more interesting, I added some white gesso and mixed water and the antique linen Tim Holtz distress ink to create some small paint splatters.

I used past Citrus Twist Kits stamps to make a border on top and my favorite this month - the chipboard word pieces to add some depth and color.

Here is the whole left page. I didn't want to waste any extra bits from the exclusive triangle puffy alphabet, so I took the triangle sliver from the "A" and used it as an embellishment.

Here is a look at the right side:

I made a cascading photo collage because I couldn't use just one photo. It was really simple - just add washi to both front and back sides and a little bit more to use as a guide to flip up!

Here are the other photos and flip through of them in this layout:

I created a hidden journaling card using some cardstock in my stash and added more patterned paper. Some of the washi I used was from my stash, included the ones from the October Waverly Scrapbook kit.

Here are both pages again. I think that this sketch would work well for a double layout or pocket pages. The sky is the limit.

Finally here is your sketch!

Thank you for stopping by today! For your chance to win, create a project (layout/pocket pages/traveler's notebook pages/mini album, etc) based on this sketch. Post your project in our Gallery and/or Facebook Fan Page with the title PL11/18. Post your entries by Friday, November 25th, 2016.

Have a lovely day!

Xxo, Tara

Hello Baby!

Hi everyone! It's Tara sharing how I'm using the "Oh, Sweet Baby" Add-on kit from this month to start a few layouts. We are expecting our third child in January and this kit was perfect for starting a baby album! I paired the Add-on kit with the lovely Seven Clara album available in the shop.


I decided to cut down the last row of 2x2 boxes to have a more narrow title page. I also love having the next page have a peek-a-boo effect with different sized protectors.

Most of the items I used came from the add-on kit, plus some Crate Paper Wonder ephemera from the shop (sold out now), and a wood chip from our Happy Lane Nov PL kit (also sold out).

I added a little bit of the gold washi tape from the "Happy Lane" PL kit on the ephemera. It added just a little extra without going over the top.

I love adding the little bits and pieces to make this layout come together.


My next layout shares our dating ultrasound - I wasn't as far along as I thought but we were excited to welcome another addition to our family!

I really love all the stamps that come in the kits and use them often! The roller stamp in "Oh, Sweet Baby" is one of my new favorites too!

Here it is closer for you to see the details.

 I am in love with all the bright colors that were included in both the PL and Add-on kits. They compliment each other very well!

It's so easy to customize ephemera or PL cards by adding some stamps, extra bits of patterned paper, or the included cut outs from the kit. The possibilities are endless!


I wanted to add more journaling but make the layout interactive as well as keep it well hidden for only us to share together. Using a tag from my stash helped me create it, along with some washi also in my stash.

Here is the hidden journaling written on the backside of the tag.

And one more shot of our baby's profile - just as perfect as can be! 

Please share your creations that you have made with our November kits! I'll slowly be adding more to share as I build up this album a little at a time. 

Thank you for stopping by and keep on creating!

Xxo, Tara