December Daily with Sarah: Documenting Our Christmas Card

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm back to share how I added in the Christmas card we sent out this year to my December Daily album.  Last year was the first year that we started ordering photo cards and it's a tradition that I hope to continue for as long as I can.  I'd also like to make sure I document these cards every year in my December Daily album so I can look back on them and see how we've changed. 

There were so many beautiful papers and embellishments in this month's "Pleasant Valley" kits that went with the colors of our Christmas card so I got to play around with a lot of options!  However, I will admit that my main inspiration for embellishing this page was the "Postmarked" stamp set.  I just love all of the buildable pieces, and the sentiments and illustrations are so perfect for documenting or sending happy mail! 

For the left side of my page I used some pattern papers to back every other 2x2 inch square.  I used the Heidi Swapp letters from a pattern paper to spell out "Family" and I just love the nice bold look that made.  I wanted to have some see through pockets in between my pockets filled with pattern paper so for those I either used buttons (adhered to the outside of the pockets) or some labels that I stamped on.  I added a piece of transparency to each of the clear pockets so I could adhere whatever went inside to ensure that nothing would move around.  

I also adhered my Christmas card to a piece of transparency mainly because I didn't want to punch through the card itself, but also because I wanted to make sure the backside, which has a photo of my daughter on it, was visible.  I really enjoy the floating effect that that gave.

Thank you for letting me share this simple and fun page with you!  If you're working on a December Daily album this month I hope it's going well and that you're enjoying the process.

Happy Crafting!

Tuesday Tutorial with Neftali

Happy Tuesday crafty friends and welcome to another Tuesday Tutorial! It is Neftali here today to share with you a fun tutorial to create a “simple and minimal layout.” Let’s get started!

Here is the layout I created for this tutorial, which took me no more than 30 minutes to make:

I don’t know about you, but I am sometimes a huge fan of those soft and airy layouts that give you a feeling of “freshness” and “simplicity”. Well, that is what I tried to portray with this particular layout, and I think I achieved it pretty well.

Here is how you can take your supplies to create something simple yet evocative:

First, choose soft colors and simple patterns that contrast, but work well together. 

For that I decided to use the papers in the November “Pleasant Valley” Pocket Life Kit because there were soft colors but still fun bold patterns like the black crosses.

Second, choose a minimal amount of supplies that you think you might use. 

I decided to go with the patterned papers, my circle punch, my sewing machine, and a few of the exclusive ephemera pieces from the PL Kit. I also picked out a few other pieces that I didn’t end up using like the exclusive wood veneer word phrase pieces. I ended up switching that idea out for stamping, instead.

Go with whatever fancies you at the moment but remember to keep just a handful of pieces out on your desk so you don’t dig for anything else. We’re keeping it simple, remember!

Third and final tip, which I used specifically on this layout, was to go for a small black and white photograph. 

I feel like the small photo size helped keep my layout super minimal. But so did the black and white because there are no clashing colors with the other supplies/colors I am using.

The photo in this layout is sized 2x3 (tiny, I know) and I normally print these sizes by using an app where I can fit 4 - 2x3 photos in a 4x6 photo sheet. Easy peasy!

So, those are my 3 quick tips to create a simple, airy, minimal layout. 

I chose to punch a few circles to create 3 totally random clusters across my page. To each cluster I added a (not so perfect) machine stitched circle. To me, white stitching = simple!!

I added my photo on top of a tag and attached that in between the clusters. Then, I used only 5 pieces of what I had picked out from the exclusive die cuts.

Finally, I added a few stamps and my title next to my photo. That’s it! 

Super duper simple and you still have that awesome feeling of having had a moment to craft, especially when you’re busy but just have an itch to make something quick. I really hope you guys give this a try. If you do create something beautiful, come share it with us at The Citrus Twist Facebook Fan group! Thanks for stopping by today, xo.

Using Embellishment Formulas with Diane

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is busy with life, celebrations and a documenting December project at the moment. And with things being as busy as they are, I REALLY don't want to let my everyday documenting slip by the wayside.

One way to make your documenting quick and easy, and to avoid the dreaded decision fatigue, it to use "embellishment formulas" on your page. 

Simply put, this means you decide on one little grouping of embellishments which could be a stamp + a word sticker + a puffy heart and repeat that same grouping throughout your page. To be honest, it could be as simple as one stamp or as complicated as you like. But the point is to make one decision only. 

As well as making things easy, it also helps to bring your entire page together as one cohesive layout. I used two different formulas three times each on my page and I'm so pleased with how it turned out AND how quickly it came together.

Here's how I put my embellishment formulas to good use to create a quick page of Project Life ...

This really is a great technique and I can't wait to see what you make with it, so don't forget to post your layouts in the Facebook Fan Page so we can all see!

Sunday Sketch with Anna

Hi dear CTK friends!

Anna here with you today bringing you this week's Sunday sketch. Well let's have a look at our super inspiring sketch.

I love this week's sketch a lot! And I can not lie, lol! Who doesn't love a grid design? Anyway I do so I grabbed my  December Pleasant Valley kits and this is what I came up with. A pretty clean design and very true to the sketch. I opted for the Scrapbook kit mostly, except from the background paper which comes from the Pattern Paper Play kit.

Some stitches of course! Can't scrap without my sewing maschine you know.

There's also some light mixed media here to spy. I've used a pair of  pink color mist's using a plastic bag and the smooshing/kissing technique.

And there you have it! Be sure to grab your scrappy things and join in with us with this happy challenge. Just share your layout on the CTK Fan Page at Facebook so we can see your gorgeousness and leave you some love.

Until next time! Hugs Anna xo

3 To Inspire with Alena

Hello, crafty friends! Alena here today with a 3-to-Inspire challenge for you!
Here's the prompts I chose:

1. Use square photos.
2. Use free cut aparts (digital files).
3. Use the Puffy stickers.

For my spread I used digital files which you can find here.

I created a page in Photoshop, which added all my photos and journaling. Paper embellishments I cut with scissors. So you can see that you don't have to have special tools for that. Also I added accents with machine stitching

For a bright spread  you will need funny photos and a little imagination.

Use the three (3) prompts to create your own project and share it with us on our Facebook Fanpage! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!

Traveller's Notebook Challenge with Nathalie

Hi there!

It is my first time creating a challenge in one of my favorite memory documenting formats, Traveler's Notebooks.  It is no secret, I  love TNs, and keep a daily visual journal of my everyday life, plus a few other side projects -all in TN formats-.   I love the format as it allows me to combine the graphic look of a scrapbook page, and the journal look of my dairies.

By now, some of you are receiving the Pleasant Valley Kits (aren't they gorgeous?!!!), well this month two new sets of stamps were also added to the store,  Spencer Alphabet and Spencer Alphabet outline.    I love the large font and clear look of the alphas, so i decided to used them to document some every day memories in my personal journal.

For the first entry, i decided first on a color combination that will make everything pop.   Then i used the Spencer Alpha stamp set to create the large title of this layout. 

The impact of the title makes it one of the focus of the page, so i made sure that it told the story of the picture. 

Love the colors in this month's Pleasant Valley PL kit, so it was easy to stay in the same color combo when adding the clusters around the picture. To finish this page, i added a few more stamping sentiments using the TN stamp set.    Any clues on what the challenge is, yet? Let me give you another hint.

For this page, I chose to tell the story by using the Spencer Alpha Outline Stamp set to create a large title. 

To bring life into the page, stamped the title on different papers from the Pleasant Valley Scrapbook Kit, and then fussy cut around them, the font is so clean and crisp that it took no time to get this done.

The letters were then glued to form the large title, and this time i added stamped sentiments using this month's add-on stamp set.

How lucky  was i to find a few sunglassed  in the puffy stickers from the Goldenrot collection, included in this month's embellishment kit, they complete my title.  Since the story is told in the title, i just used one of the labels, from the Emerson collection stickers included in the main kit, and used it to hide the rest of the journal in a pocket behind the picture.

By now you have guessed this week's challenge:  CREATE A LARGE TITLE.  Use stamps, alphas, paper or the Spencer Alpha stamp sets to create titles that will tell the story of your page and create lots of impact on your pages.   Trust me it, once you build the title, 80% of your page is done.  So you will be able to produce them in no time!

Remember to share with us what you create with this challenge either on social media using @citrustwistkits or #citrustwistkits or on CTK friends page on Facebook.  I cannot wait how you interprete the challenge.

XO

Mixed Media with Adele

Hey all!

Today I am playing with some mixed media and the gorgeous December Main Scrapbooking Kit. I decided to crack open my junk journal and do some "scrap-journaling" using a photo along with some paint and a stencil.

I used some of the gorgeous Crate Paper goodies included in the December kit today. I also created a process video at the end of this post, showing more details about each step I took using the mixed media.

I added paint and stenciling to the right hand side of my spread and overlapped the spine to create a more seamless look across the two pages.

Do you enjoy art journaling? I love including photos in my junk journal in a fun creative (and painty!) way. Have an awesome weekend scrappy peeps!