LIFE CRAFTED INSPIRATION with NATHALIE

 

Hi there!

Nathalie with you to share some inspiration for your next Life Crafted Layout.   With our busy lives, there is always less and less time to sit down and document all those memories.  Well, here is where  the Life Crafted system is probably one of the best ways to get your stories documented quickly and with style.

For this page, I wanted to focus on a large bold title to tell the story of the photo.  So, I used the Spencer Solid Alpha to stamp the large word in one of the 4x8 manila tags.  

In addition, I am using the This Is Life Legends Stamp set to complete the title work, and also to create embellishments for the spread.  I paired the large title with a few extra embellishments from the Flea Market's Findings Kit.

I love having digital papers to work with, that means I can print them as I need them. This time, I am using a digital paper from the Fresh Starts digital collection, and paired it with one of the 6x8 papers from the Fresh Starts kit.  I pulled ephemera from a few collections to help me frame the photo.

I hope this inspires you to document your next story in your Life Crafted album... Remember to share with us your finished projects

XO

Sunday Sketch with Shu-Wen

 

Hi everyone!

It's Shu-Wen here, sharing how I used this week in 2 different ways: 

1) To make a layout in my Life Crafted Album

2) To make a card for a friend

Here's the sketch that I used to create my layout and my card:

Let's start with the layout first!

I decided to adapt the right side of this sketch into the right page of my layout. 

For each of the three photos in the sketch, I backed three small 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" photos of me doing some crafting with the Instax-type frames that came in the Handcrafted Digital Elements package. And for the numbers, I cut apart the stitched hearts in the Handcrafted Traveler's Notebook Basics and Patterns Digital Papers and used the Black Alphabet Puffy Stickers to number each of the photos as shown in the sketch. I decided to ink the edges of these little squares with my Distress Oxide inks to help them stand out from my page a bit. 

Next, I layered up some patterned papers from that same set of digital papers; my craft room is usually not very well lit, so I love how the bright colors of these patterned papers brighten up my layout, even if my photos are a bit darker.

Because I was going to do my journaling on the left side of the spread, I decided not to add any journaling to this right side of the spread, and instead just decorated the empty spaces with some ephemera from the digital ephemera pack and the Handcrafted Die Cut Ephemera Pack, as well as some puffy stickers from the Handcrafted Puffy Sticker Sheet. I also used the puffy sticker that says "Making Things" as my title for this page.

I used one of the digital TN papers as the base for my journaling and stapled one of the ephemera die cuts to the top. I absolutely loved being able to document my love for crafting with this new kit from Citrus Twist Kits!

Here's what my final layout looks like: 

I noticed in the past year that since I've been scrapbooking more, I've been neglecting my cardmaking, which means I don't have as many cards left to pick from in my stash! I happen to have a co-worker who is leaving us at the end of this month, so I decided to challenge myself to create a card for her using this same sketch. As I'm only working on an A2 sized card base (4.25"x5.5"), I decided to make the right side of the sketch into my card front and ignore the left side of the sketch that's blank. 

I love that this kit is so versatile that it can serve as the base for a friendship-type card, and not just be used for scrapbooking our hobbies. In place of the 3 photos and journaling spot, I chose to cut apart even more stitched hearts. Instead of the numbers, I decided to use some mini heart buttons from my stash, which I stitched to the card base. And finally, instead of a title, I decided to add the sentiment "We'll Miss You" with the Deep Turquoise Puffy Alphabet Stickers near the top of my card. As for the patterned papers, I mostly used some leftover scraps of the digital patterned papers I had cut up to use in my Life Crafted Album spread.

You can check out the full process video for this spread and card on my YouTube Channel!

This new Handcrafted Mini Kit has been one of my favorites from Citrus Twist Kits, and I love how both my Life Crafted Album spread and my card turned out! If you decide to make a layout using this sketch, feel free to tag me on Instagram or on the Citrus Twist Kits Facebook Fan page so that I can check it out! Make sure to check out the Citrus Twist Kits Shop for all the new goodies this month! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

3 -to-Inspire with Patricia

Hello Everyone!  It has been awhile since I have shared here on the Citrus Twist Blog, so I'm excited to share a fun 3-to-Inspire with you today in my new Grape Lifecrafted Album using the February exclusives.

 

My 3-to-Inspire are:

• Use paint (or other another medium you haven't used in awhile)
• Use glitter, sequins, or enamel dots
• Find a fun way to use the paint die cut from the February Exclusives

I have a reel I created for Instagram for this project, so you can see how this came together.   But my whole idea came from the paint tube die cut from the February Exclusives.  I had to do something fun with it, and creating a dripped paint effect seemed perfect for it.  I used the leftover and negative piece from cutting the February cut file 'craft,' and then got brave and used both glitter and sequins!  

You will see in the video on Instagram that I did not use foam tape to create that little shaker, I just adhered my tape runner along all the edges, but I will tell you it is still messy.  I ended up also using strips of washi to help hold together.  I might have a few stray glitter and sequins pieces, but I love the effect.  And adding enamel dots to the paint from the die cut added texture and tone on tone look.

As I was blending my paint to get the color green I wanted, I smeared a few tags into the paint and used one of them for my journaling and to be the back of the cut out 'craft.'  As I was smearing the tags, I decided to also make a handprint.  So fun!  I will be sharing another project using that handprint.  I hope this inspires you to document what you create, use a medium you haven't used before or in awhile, and maybe some glitter, sequins, or enamel dots!  Don't forget to do something creative with that paint tube die cut.  Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Life Crafted with Desiree

 

Hi crafty friends! I am so happy to be back with my first post of 2022 to share a spread in my Life Crafted Album. I have really been enjoying using the fun, bright Handcrafted mini-kit. Especially the funky florals.

In this spread, I used the Handcrafted kit to record the joy of continuing on the CTK team and doing what I love.

I started with this multi-colored stripe digital paper from the Handcrafted Traveler's Notebook Basics and Patterns Digital Papers. I enlarged the pattern and copied and pasted it to make a full 11x8.5 sized patterned paper and printed it out. Then, I cut this paper down to two pages to fit inside the album. Next, I put a smaller piece of white cardstock on each paper for my background.

To make my cluster, I backed my photo with a floral polaroid from the Handcrafted Digital Elements. I used this fun paintbrush along with other die cuts from the Handcrafted Die Cut Ephemera and Handcrafted Puffy Stickers. I used these gorgeous ombre Yellow to Pink Fade Alphabet Puffy Stickers to make my "Maker" title.

For my left side, I thought the "create" word and floral from the Handcrafted Ephemera was perfect for the top of my page. It was a great way to balance out my photo cluster and title on the opposite page. I placed my journaling on vellum and placed it under the title.

I could not resist this mini-cluster at the bottom of my page. I used more florals and die cuts from the Handcrafted Ephemera and Handcrafted Puffy Stickers.

I completed my layout by adding these electric pink Handcrafted Tiny Word Stickers and Bright Chipboard Stars. To carry out the craft theme, I splattered pink and blue watercolor throughout my spread.

I hope you enjoyed this Life Crafted spread with me today! I wish you a crafty February.

Sunday Sketch with Kira

 Hey there!  It's Kira and I am back with today's Sunday Sketch!  Here's a look at the sketch I am using today:

And here's my take on the sketch:

 Movie nights are a big deal in our house.  My kids each have a basket that I decorate to coordinate with whatever movie we are watching.  Of course when Encanto came out, we needed to do a movie night.  Since I hadn't seen the movie yet before movie night, I gathered most of my inspiration for decorating from our local Fiesta celebration with lots of bright colors and flowers.  

 

So when I saw the flowers in the Handcrafted mini kit, I knew I wanted to scrapbook the photos of our Encanto movie night.  I started by printing out my three photos as 2" squares.  

 

I layered the three photos on papers from the Happy Heart kit.  And built an embellishment cluster with a flower die cut and puffy phrase sticker  from the Handcrafted kit and a puffy heart from the Happy Heart kit.  

On the opposite page I used the ombre alpha stickers for my title, which I stitched over the top of and layered with a puffy sticker from the Happy Heart kit.  Under the title I added a phrase sticker and a flower puffy sticker.  

 

For my journaling, I typed on top of the pink grid paper from the Happy Heart kit and used a washi puffy sticker so it looked like a note was stuck to my page.  I added the cactus puffy sticker as a nod to Isabella from Encanto.  

Thank you for stopping by!  I can't wait to see how you use this sketch!

 

xo, Kira 

3-TO-INSPIRE with Traci

Hey Hey Hey! Traci today heading up the 3-To-Inspire challenge with a layout I created using the new Handcrafted Mini Kit, Handcrafted Digital Journal Cards, Handcrafted Digital Traveler's Notebook Papers + a couple of the Life Crafted Basics + Ledgers 6x8 Papers!

This week's 3-To-Inspire prompts are:

1. Before & After
2. Stitching
3. A title that spans the whole spread

This is the super-fun layout I created:

When I saw the theme of the February collection, I knew I wanted to do a layout about my craft room/office, something I've been working on a lot lately!  I thought it would be fun to scrap a before and after of what it looks like clean vs. what it looks like when I've spent the day crafting.

My concept was to mirror the cleanliness of the clean image and the messiness of the crafter math image with the composition of the layout itself, so I decided to keep the left side "clean" and the right side I wanted to look like an explosion of (controlled) chaos.

Because having two different styles of scrapbooking on one page can make it hard for the spread to look cohesive, I pulled the whole thing together with a large title that spanned both pages, using the smaller BLACK Foam Alphabet stickers on the left in a neat arc, and the larger puffy stickers on the right in a much messier arc.

Finally, I used the hot pink word strips in the Handcrafted collection on both sides to have that visual pop of color that would draw both sides together as well!

You can hear more of my thought process behind this page and other techniques I used to make sure the spread looked cohesive in my process video on YouTube!

LIFE CRAFTED with NATASHA

Hello Citrus Twist fans, and Happy Friday! Today, I am highlighting the brand new Happy Hearts Collection which is SO adorable. The Happy Hearts mini kit is a specially curated kit of sweet products from various manufacturers. The patterned papers from the Stamp Market were one of my top favorite items in the mini kit and knew I wanted to have them as the main product used in this layout.

I started my page off with a basic mixed media background and then started to build my layers of my layout using various patterned papers. The tags scattered throughout the layout are from a cut apart sheet from the Stamp Market patterned paper pack. I love using tags in my layouts as it brings new colors and movement to the layout.

After I built my layers, I added some ephemera pieces from the Citrus Twist Exclusive Ephemera pack for the latest mini kit, Handcrafted. I paired in some puffy stickers and the most adorable tiny paperclip. Last but not least, I built my title using the brand new black puffy alpha stickers as well as the cardstock stickers from the Flea Market Findings kit. Mixing two different types of alphas in the title adds the greater emphasis on “mess maker” which I love because that’s what this layout is all about!

To see how I put this layout together be sure to head on over to my Youtube channel, and check out my process video. Thanks so much for stopping by!