Life Crafted with Nathalie

 

Hi there!

Nathalie with you today to bring you a bit of inspiration to kick off the weekend!   I am sure many of you are still waiting for your physical True Stories kit to arrive.  The Pandemia has created a large delay when it comes to shipping goodies around the world.  Well, how about using this month's Digital Files to get your stories documented!  Let me show you ...

Today, i want to show you how digital files can transform plain vellum into a beautiful transluscent layer for your layouts!

For the one side of the page, i used one of this month's Basic Documenter TN page. I simply printed it, added the funny picture of the before and after and a few stickers.  I printed my journal on vellum so that i can tie the two sides of the pages together.

The beauty of working with vellum is that it serves as a beautiful divider for your album, which lets you tell  totally unrelated stories in one spread.   This time, i used one of the PL Digital journal cards, and enlarged it to fit my page, and printed it making sure to leave about a half an inch on the right edge so i can folded and attached it to the page.

After stamping the title on the vellum heart ( Archival Ink), once again, i used one of the basic Digital TN papers to create my single page layout. I added my picture ( backed it with a Digital Patterned paper) then used the This is Life Stamp set to add some details.   

Here is another layout that uses mostly this month's digital files.  This time, i used vellum to create soft layers and hide my journal .

I enlarged the 4x6 PL and printed it on vellum.  I ripped the edges of the vellum a bit to add texture before attaching it to the background( TN Digital Patterned paper). I used the Digital Ephemera to create the "Choose Happy" embellishments from vellum.  I combined both Bailey stamp sets to create the title.

To hide my journal lines, i used one of the Digital PL cards as the base, then added one of the Digital ephemera pieces on top and printed them together on vellum making sure to leave about half inch at the top to create the flap.

I added my lines of journal to one of the PL cards and just folded the vellum piece to create the flap that conceals it.

I love how this turned out, and how easy they came together using a few of this month's Digital files and vellum..   Hopefully, the kits arrive at your doorstep soon, but while you wait, stop by the Digital CTK shop to check the new matching files!

XO

MEET OUR August 2020 GUEST DESIGNER - JESS FORSTER

 

Hi there!

Today we are so excited to introduce our August 2020 guest designer.    Many of you might know her from social media, and her beautiful projects.  But  those don't match the beautiful person she is in real life!  Please help us welcome, JESS FORSTER  to Citrus Twist Kits. We are so honored she is here, so let's learn a bit more about Jess, on her own words...

Hi Everyone - My name is Jess Forster, and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with my husband Aaron, my daughter, Rowan, and son Sam. By day I am a medical social worker working children and families diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes; by night, I enjoy being active and getting creative. I love using pocket pages and paying attention to life’s little details via heartfelt journaling. Memorykeeping helps me to make sense of the world and everything that is happening in it. I am so excited to be Citrus Twist’s Guest Designer for the month of August and especially love the theme of True Stories!

I have been on a variety of creative teams including Becky Higgins Project Life Creative Team (2014); Ali Edwards Creative Team (2017-present) and Elle’s Studio Design Team (2018 - present). I have  taught online at Ali Edwards. Com (2019) at Big Picture Classes (2015-2016), and at in person events at Crop and Create across Canada (2016-2020).

When I am is not getting crafty or making memories with her husband and two kiddos, Rowan and Sam in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto, ON, you can find me listening to podcasts, watching stand up comedy, running or drinking too much coffee.

Q & A with Jess

1.When did you start scrapbooking?  I started collecting scrapbooking supplies in 2008. My husband and I had finished our masters programs, got married, and we bought a house all in one year. Life was changing in new & interesting ways and I knew that I was to document that creatively. In 2010, I finally put those supplies to use after participating in Ali Edwards Week In The Life Project. After completing that project, I knew I was hooked. I have been crafting / keeping my memories / playing with pictures ever since.

2. What is something most people would not know about you?  I’ve had short hair for most of my life. For a brief period of time in the 1990’s I had the 90210 puff - but it wasn’t pretty. Although my short style has changed, I don’t think I will ever grow it out again. #Short hair don’t care! 

 3. What are the 3 scrapbooking products you can’t live without? Great question! After a decade of scrapbooking, I realize that I gravitate towards 

1 - 3x4 journaling cards

2 - Number stickers 

3 - Heart / star embellishments.

It’s true - I never met a heart / star embellishment that I didn’t like! Ha!

 4. What do you love about the August Life Crafted kit – TRUE STORIES -?   Not only do I love the bright bold summer time colours in the kit & the heart puffy stickers, but I am fan of this months theme. Stories / storytelling has always helped me to process what is happening in my life. Whether it’s “in the moment journaling” or reflecting on something that has happened in the past, storytelling is a huge part of my identity.

 

5. Finish this sentence “If you could see my scrapbooking space now . . . “ You would notice that my desk top is cleaned, my bins are somewhat organized and that the there are a ton of supplies / layouts / albums in piles on the floor that need to be put away. You would also find random scrapbook supplies around my house! Lol!

 
Documenting Small Summer Moments

 

 Hands up if you LOVE summer? I know I do, for sure! Although our family plans have been slightly altered thanks to the worldwide pandemic, I am trying to enjoy and celebrate the smaller summer moments by myself and with my family. This summer, I decide to house these stories, a collection of warm weather adventures, in the Calypso life crafted album.

 

In my first entry, a double, 3 x 8 pocket page layout, I recorded the story of my bike ride through the waterfront park. One of my favourite things to do as a kid was to ride my bike. I love the joy it brought me as a child and I also enjoy the wind on my face as an adult.  I used two, 3x4 journaling cards, one to tell a story of the past and the other to tell a story of the present. I stamped ““the story of me” on one card. I then used two arrows and the “finding my bliss” chipboard on the page in a visual triangle to draw the viewer’s eye around the page.

 

In my second entry , a double, 4x8  pocket page layout, I recorded the story of our recent trip to the playground. After our province entered into phase 3, which included opening up playgrounds to the public, I wanted to tell the story of going back and hanging out in one of our favourite weekend spots. I love the perspective of the top down photo of my son Sam playing on the wooden castle that I made that picture the star of the show.

 

Both excited and nervous, I used the 4x6 journaling card to share my thoughts and stamped the word “True Story” on the card below. I also incorporated the stamps, “The story of Today” and “family story” on the layout. I then created a visual triangle with the heart puffy stickers from this month’s kit. Gosh I love the colours of those embellishments!

 

Whether you want to tell the stories of summers past or present, I hope my pages have inspired you to document your small summer details in your life crafted albums! Thanks for looking! 

I have had the pleasure of seeing Jess teach and share her passion for documenting in real life, so i know how much of her she shared on these layouts.   They are amazing!   

Be sure to check Jess' Instagram account for lots of inspiration, and if you are lucky to find one of her classes, take it!  You will learn so much and will love every minute of it!  She will be back later in the month, but remember to leave her some love!

XO

Inspiration with Marivi

Hello everyone again, I hope you are all well.

Today I show you a bit of what you can do with the beautiful August kit  TRUE STORIES .

For this first layout I have used two papers, one of them alone is enough I have only added an ephemera piece with a message.

 .

On the other page I have placed the photo on top of a card and have added some ephemera pieces that combine with the other paper.

To complete it I have added some enamel dots.

For the second project, two blank pages in the first one, only two details, a puffy sticker and a chipboard.

On the other page the photo surrounded by different elements, some pieces of paper, and several ephemera, which I have sewn.

I have also added several puffy stickers and with a stamp I have stamped a message.

Hope you like it, and see you soon! 

Pocket Page Challenge with Krystal

 

Hey everyone! Krystal here with another pocket page challenge. This week, I used the August "True Stories" Life Crafted Kit to create a page in my album documenting our recent vacation. I just love all of the bright colors and outdoorsy themes! It was perfect for this week's page!

This was the first project I created with this kit, so I started with all of my favorite bits: the rainbow ombre grid cards, the "Too Good for Words" card, and that "Oh, Hey!" die cut. I knew I wanted to include them, so I built the rest of the page around those elements. 

As I said before, there were lots of outdoorsy themed goodies in the kit. Since I was documenting our recent trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, I made sure to include as many as I could.

I layered die cuts with puffy stickers on each of my photos to create small, colorful clusters. Because I had used the rainbow-colored cards, there were not colors that were off limits on this spread!

And that brings me to my challenge to you: Create a spread that is full of color. Use a paper or a card to ground those colors on your page and help them all make sense, then go to town adding all the colors to your page! I love creating colorful pages. They make me happy when I look at them, and I hope they do the same for you!

You can see my entire process in the video below.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope to see you back here soon!

Sunday Sketch with Nathalie

 

Hi there!

Nathalie with you today to share this week's Sunday sketch challenge.   Sketches are one of the best and easiest ways to create any project, as it provides a blueprint for page, the rest is up to you.  This week's sketch is a fun one, let me show you...

Now let me show you how this inspired my layout using the August Add on kit:

I was drawn to the paper layers in the sketch, and decided to use them in a similar manner in my design with a few additions...

I combined papers from the Add on kit and the jean texture paper from the Life Crafted kit to create the layers behind the pictures.   I decided to switch the large picture to two smaller ones.   Having the three photos help tell the story.  In order to highlight the lone photo, i chose to back it with the same papers, but added the photo corners ( available in the CTK shop).   

The original sketch has a few strips of paper weaved through the paper layers. I decided to use fussy cut florals ( Fresh Bouquet collection - included in the add-on kit) and layer them as indicated by the paper strips.

One of  the biggest changes is that i replaced the large horizontal and bottom vertical paper strips with mixed media.  I used an old Heidi Swapp stencil and Vicki Boutin Art crayon and stencil brush to create the impression on the white cardstock.   I made sure that the impression stretched beyond the paper layers, just like the paper strips it is replacing. This gave me a place for my title - you can find those fun foam stickers in the CTK shop-.

As for embellishing, i pretty much followed sketch to add my embellishments through the page, and even added a few stamped sentiments ( True Stories Stamp set) around the page.

To balance the page, and also to follow the sketch, i used left over pieces from the papers and a few small embellishments -add on kit and CTK shop- to create a small cluster at the bottom of the page.  My handwritten journal and a few drops of diluted art crayon complete the page.

This page came together easily just by following the sketch.   The small changes, just make it more my style!  Remember to check all the kits, stamps and add ons on the CTK shop.  If you create a project using this sketch, please share it with us.  we love to see what you create with our sketches and products.

XO!

3-to-Inspire with Marsha

Hey friends!  It's Marsha here today, and I'm excited to be hosting this week's 3-to-Inspire challenge!  Here are the prompts:

1. Focus on circles

2. Use chipboard/puffy stickers

3. Include stamping

Here's the Life Crafted layout I created using these prompts:

For my spread today, I used the August Scrapbooking Add-on kit, the Life Crafted True Stories kit, and the This Is Life Stories stamp.  To begin the layout, I trimmed a patterned paper from the add-on kit to 5"x8.25"- to fit as a full page in the album.  I used a metal die from my stash to cut circles out of another patterned paper and then adhered it to the background paper.  I added a circular puffy sticker and chipboard flair pieces into the circles I had cut.   To finish off this side of the layout, I used an ephemera piece to highlight one of the circles and added some stamping onto a few of the flair pieces.  The stamps worked perfectly on the chipboard flair!

For the other side of the layout, I used two patterned papers to serve as a background.  I added my photo onto another piece of patterned paper and a journaling card from the LC kit.  I fussy cut an ampersand from a journaling card and adhered it over the edge of the photo.  To embellish, I used more of the chipboard flair and did some stamping using the LC kit stamp and the Stories stamp.

For the title, I used a printable cutapart tag and stamped the word "details" with the This Is Life Stories stamp.  

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you will join in on this week's challenge and share your projects on the CTK Fan Page on Facebook or on Instagram using #citrustwistkits.  I can't wait to see what you create!