Tuesday Tutorial with Emma

Hi everyone!  Emma here to share a super easy tutorial for making your own embellishments!

This month's kits come with some super cut die-cuts, stickers and papers that are perfect for grouping together to make your own dimensional embellishments.  Some times when I don't have alot of time to put a page together I'll sit down and make these - gives me my crafty fix without involving a heap of time :)

 The beauty about making these is there are no rules and you're really only limited by your imagination and the amount of goodies you have onhand to use ;)

1 - First up you'll need some tools - I grabbed my punches, scissors and mini attacher.  Plus you'll need some double-sided tape and foam dots (to add some dimension!).

2 - Then you need to get all those bits and pieces you want to use - I've used some goodies from both the Main and Add-on kits :)

3 - Then pick your favourite papers and start punching and cutting shapes.  I went with circles (used punches) and cut banner shapes with my scissors.

4 - Now this is the fun part - rifle through all your goodies to find things that you love.  I like to group things together at this point.

5 - Start layering!   I don't stick anything down at this point so if I end up not liking something I can  easily take it away.  The adhesive pieces are a little tricky but I tend to just stick those to a clear ruler then lay that on top to see how it looks.

6 - Stick it all together!  Use that tape, staplers, sewing machine or whatever else takes your fancy to keep it all grouped together :)

Super easy right?!

I like leave these sitting in a bowl on my desk so when I'm making a page and need something a little extra, they're ready to go!

And because I still have a few of these left - if you would like a little happy mail with a few embellishments ready to go, just leave a comment below and I'll pick a random winner on Friday and send some of these your way!


Thanks, Em xo

Let's get digital with Alena

 Hello! It's Alena here with new edition of Let's get digital!
I prepared a cutting file for You to download from Citrus Twist Kits Facebook Fan Page! And I used it as background for my layouts.

One of the files 12"X12".

The second format is perfect for Project Life 6"X8".

I used February 2016 "Stories" Pocket Life Kit and  February 2016 Sprinkles Kit.

Hope you are inspired to dig out your CTK kits and start to create today! Thanks for letting me share with you. 

Happy Crafting!

Sunday Sketch with Our Guest Designer

Hello everyone, Neela here again with you and thanks for stopping by today to check out this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge!

This week the sketch features space for three photos with lots of opportunities for embellishing.

Here is my take on the sketch:

This layout is about my son having an amazing time during our vacation last year in Big Island, Hawaii. I liked the relaxed look on his face in this photo and that's how we all really felt.

I mostly followed the sketch as is. My layout is 9x12 inches in size. Instead of 3 photos, I just used one photo which is 3x6 inches.  I love the Bloom line by Maggie Holmes-it has a bunch of blue shades in it that I didn't expect.  The "Happy" word is from the cut-a-part sheet that came with the February Main "Stories" Scrapbook Kit.

I also really liked the C'est La Vie ephemera pack from Pink Paislee. I can't believe how much of it I have used on my layouts. I also added some gold mist splattering on both ends and used the enamel dots and stars that came with the kit to complete my layout. Instead of journaling on a tag, I just wrote directly on the cardstock and that finished my layout.

Now it's your turn! To play along with this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge, create a project based off of today's sketch, upload it to the gallery with the date of the challenge (2/14) in the title, and you will will be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK Store!

3 to Inspire with Gina

Hi everyone, welcome to another 3 to inspire challenge! Your creation can be a layout or PL spread, the only requirement is that you use all 3 prompts and of course have fun! 

Here are your prompts this week!

1. frame it - use die-cut frames or make your own with patterned paper

2. ink it - add ink splatters in any colour

3. repeat stamping - stamp the same word at least twice

Here is my take using just the February Main Kit 'Stories'

Frames have been added from the dic-cut pack and a simple hand cut piece behind the photo from patterned paper

I've repeated the word 'dream' by inking just the once and repeating above then below the first stamped image

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us here in the gallery and/or CTK Facebook Fan page. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

Gina

Pocket Life sketch Friday with Marie

Hi everyone! Marie here with another Pocket Life sketch Friday! :)

Before I show you the sketch, Here's my Pocket Life spread.

Here's the sketch based on the right side of the left page.

And here and some close up shots of my pockets to give some embellishments ideas. :)

I really love to stitch on my photos and cards!! My sewing machine is always out on my desk and easily accessible so I like to sew. Now, don't ask me to sew anything else than paper because I just can't! But paper, it's so easy. It doesn't have to be perfect or straight. I always feel like imperfect looks better. :)

Here I used one of the small velum envelope to make a pocket to 1. hide my picture partially and 2. hide my journaling. :) The little bag was too big for my 3x4 pocket so I cut the bottom, folded the bag a little and stitched. It was then the perfect size for the pocket and for the tag! I added a cork embellishment on top and I like that the picture is peaking out on the side. The envelope is not glued so someone who would ant to see the whole picture and/or read the journaling could take everything out of the pocket without a problem.

Here are two beautiful filler cards. I was not sure if I should add anything to it so I decided to only stitch on one of them to make them feel a part of the whole layout.

Often times I like to only add a small label to a 4x6 picture and to stitch it in place. I loved that there were various style of labels in the February kits.

Another type of label to which I added a small (and very cute) puffy sticker.

I also like to use printed words. It changes from my handwriting and often they just say what I wanted to say anyway. :)

I love cards with lots of white space to write!! Don't feel like you have to fill the whole card if you only have so much to say. You can fill the space that is left with a nice die cut and some stickers.

Stickers are great to spell anything you want. And don't be afraid to mix and match gold and silver. They are neutrals.

Here's a tiny puffy sticker stitched right on top of a stamped phrase.

Letting the picture bleed out of the card is something else you can do to mix things up.

And don't forget that these tiny stamps can be used everywhere as accents. :)

I hope I could inspire you!!
Have fun playing with the sketch and please share your creations with us on the Facebook fan page and on Instagram!!

Have a great weekend!!
Marie

Birthday layouts

Hi Guys!
Mira  here today with very simple idea of documenting changes in Your and Your family members life.
First of all - I love layouts with huge pictures! Don't You? There is something magical in them - I don't know what but I love it!
Whenever we celebrate birthdays in our house I tend to create big-picture layouts. And they go straight to my PL Album!
I promised myself that when my daughter will be growing up - year after year I will do the same: birthday layout with a few points of journaling telling the most important things about her!
Here's the first one:

So currently Ola is one year old, and even though she can't speak, she is a real babbler. She can talk for hours using this strange language of hers - and I admire that! She is also a wise guy and super cheerful girl with a million-dollar smile. She can sometimes be really nervous too. She loves eating and she's definitely a daddy's Girl! She makes our life beautiful and we looooove her to the moon and back :) In short - this is what my layout says.

I created this page with absolutely wonderful February Pocket Life "Stories" kit and Sprinkles kit from Citrus Twist Kits. I especially love that pinkish numbers from Sprinkles kit, that helped me with journaling! They are adorable and even though my layout is very simple they stand out from the first glance!

And for the title I used this amazing die-cut paper word "beautiful" by Heidi Swapp coming from PL Kit. Don't You just love this cute handwriting?

Do You think it is manageable to create layouts like that for every birthday in Your house? I really hope I can do it (keep Your fingers crossed for me, please)! It might be real fun to go through those pages after 18 years or so, don't You agree?

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great Thursday Guys!

In My Studio with Brenda

Good morning everyone!  Today I am going to give you a glimpse into my crafting space.  In the 10 years I have been crafting, I  have never had a designated space.  When we moved to Virginia our house ended up having an extra room that we didn't know about.  The formal living space.  Of course, we didn't have a need for it so it has become my crafting/kids room.

I originally had my desk set up here.  It is now the kids reading area.

I moved over to the smaller wall and made myself a little nook.

I have a furry little buddy next to my bookshelf to keep me company while I work.  He is a ferret named Bandit.  (I have a series of photos of him and my youngest daughter on IG with the hashtag #kaitlynandthebandit.)

I am not the most organized person so a lot of my stuff end up under the desk till I have time/motivation to sort it all out.  Several of the boxes here are actually finished layouts that do not have a home yet.

I love these little canvas boxes I picked up at Target.  They hold my miscellaneous supplies like sequins, paint, paper scraps, ect...

These boxes are actually organized.  They hold bags of different manufacturers supplies.  I plan to label each box once I have it all done right.  It will be so much easier to find everything.

I love using little jars, cans and boxes to hold small things that I want to keep on hand.  I find them everywhere and put them on my desk till I find a use for them.

A lot of times I don't get to my crafting till after dark.  As it is with most of the homes here, there are no existing lights.  Since a lot of our things were broken in the cross country move, I am left with my studio lights as "lamps."  This works for me though.  I can craft and then photograph my layouts without ever leaving my table if I want.

Here is my space after dark.

I hung twinkle lights on the window after Christmas.  I was all done with the holiday but missed the lights.  It also gives the room a cozy glow.


Thank you for stopping by to have a peek into my little space.  Where do you craft?  Do you have your own space?  I would love to see how you craft.

Brenda