SUNDAY SKETCH with Desiree

 Happy Fall scrappy friends! Today I have a multi-photo, Fall sketch to share with you. Let's take a look at it below.

This four-photo sketch was a challenge for me since I usually only scrap 1-2 photos per layout. However, I was still excited to give the sketch a go. Here's what I came up with.

I started the layout with a wood-grain paper as my base. Then I found scalloped frames in the Farmstead Harvest Ephemera. So, I decided to use a square scallop die to die cut my own frames from the CTK Change is Beautiful 6x8 Digital Papers and  Farmstead Harvest 6x8 Paper Pad. These frames really helped me to layer my photos more easily.

Next, I placed beautiful leaves from the CTK Feels Like Home Ephemera into this large, four-photo cluster. This is my favorite part of the layout.  I also added Farmstead Harvest Ephemera bits and CTK Changing Season Puffy Stickers.

To keep in line with the sketch, I made sure to include my journaling on a Farmstead Harvest Tag. 

To add more contrast to my layout and make my cluster pop, I painted my page with watercolor paint. I layered it under the photos to make it seem like it was already there.

To complete my photo, I placed two small titles. I used the "Home" die cut from the CTK Feels Like Home Ephemera and my favorite CTK Puffy Alpha Stickers. 

Thank you so much for following along on this sketch challenge with me. I wish you a crafty day!

Let's Get Digital | Amanda Baldwin

Hi CTK Friends! 

Amanda here, sharing a super fun Fall layout for today's Let's Get Digital post!

I have used the FREE Leaf Frame file with my Silhouette Sketch Pens for a really fabulous mixed media look! 

Here's what I created....

"Small Things, Great Love" 

CTK Supplies | Little Things Pocket Life Kit, Little Things Scrapbook Kit, October Pattern Paper Play Kit, Leaf Frame Digital Cut File, Pinkfresh Studio Liquid Watercolors. 

Isn't this gor-jus?!! All the Fall fabulousness here! 

I have featured the Little Things Pocket Life Kit, and combined it with wood veneer from the Little Things Scrapbook Kit, as well as fussy cut butterflies from the Vicki Boutin paper in the Pattern Paper Play Kit. 

But it's the Leaf Frame File that really makes this layout! 

The Leaf Frame file has been designed by our very talented Nathalie DeSousa, 

& looks like this....

So awesome!!!

You can download the Leaf Frame Digital Cut File from the CTK Store HERE. 

I enlarged this file so it would frame around edge of my 12 x 12" cardstock base, & then used Silhouette Sketch Pens (Orange & Red ) to draw the enlarged digital file.

I loosely paint the leaves with the fabulous Pinkfresh Studio Liquid Watercolors in Candy Apple, Clementine, Sunshine & even a tiny amount of Lavender! I love the flow and vibrancy of these liquid watercolors! 

Here's a closer look for you.....

Sketch Pens are water soluble, so I use this 'ink bleeding' to my advantage,  & blend to create a little tone within my messy water coloring. I also add a few inky splatters for good measure. So cool! 

Here's another view for you....

Sketch Pens are really good fun, and combined with the Pinkfresh Studio Liquid Watercolors, they're super effective too! 

Those fussy cut butterflies are such a pretty adornment too! 

The laugh veneer from the Scrapbook Kit coordinates perfectly with both the Fall, outdoorsy theme of my layout.

It's also a pretty accurate descriptor of the story in my photo too! Aren't they just the cutest?!

I layer my favorite Fall photo onto that exclusive PL journal card, and then layer die cuts and 6 x 8 pattern paper beneath it all. 

Super simple creating that's tons of fun, and looks super effective! 

And there you have it! My fun take on this month's Let's Get Digital highlight! 

I hope you'll download this FREE file (and more) from the CTK shop HERE, and get a little creative too! 

Thanks so much for visiting, 

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, Amanda xo 

3 to inspire with Mira

Hello Citrus Twist Kits fans!

Today I have a 3-to-Inspire Challenge for You with a few fun ideas on how to use the products in a creative way, and how to make use of Your kits to the very last bit! Are You ready for some inspiration?

This is a challenge for those of You, who need a little extra creative push to get scrapbooking, to keep scrapbooking or for those who just like a challenge! Your take on this challenge can be a layout or a PL spread and remember that you'll want to include all 3 prompts on your project.

This month I prepared two pocket pages using absolutely wonderful fall designs from PL Kit, to document single walk in the park, which turn out to be a really huge adventure for us!

We didn't expect to find squirrels in this park, and meeting with friends was also a huge surprise for us.

So what I did in this spread slightly different than I usually do:

1. I used a product packaging as a PL card. You can see it in the second page - the one with single picture and trees. Have You seen these new cardboards from exclusive Citrus Twist Kits die-cut packs, puffy stickers and alpha stickers packagings? I love their design - delicate grey stripes work really well on my pages! So this is absolutely NOT the last time when I include packaging in my projects!

2. On the exact same page (bottom left picture) I used a stamp "wild + free", but as You can see, I bent the stamp a bit and stamped these words as if they were a part of a circle. I was amazed how fun it turned out! Don't You think this is cool? The idea is easy but the effects are really different from usual! I am going to do it more often!

3. I created a title of my page using my own handwriting. This is not a common thing for me, as I usually don't like my handwriting. Especially in a big format. But I thought it might be something new, so I gave up the negative feeling and just did it! And I like it! The words I used are in polish and the title says: Autumn - the season of miracles.

And here are more details of my spread:

I hope You like the ideas that I proposed, and that You feel inspired! Feel free to join the challenge!

The prompts for this week are:

1. Use a product package in Your project
2. Bend the stamp while stamping the words
3. Use Your handwriting for a page title


Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us in the CTK Gallery and/or on our Facebook Fan Page by Saturday, December 2nd, for a chance to win. You can also upload to Instagram and tag us @citrustwistkits. Have fun!

Tuesday Tutorial with Kelly

Hello friends! Today I am going to be sharing with you how I determine which papers to use when I back my silhouette cut files. For this layout I used the gorgeous  November "Stories" kit. The cut file that I used is from the Silhouette store and was designed by Paige Evans.

Stitching has always been something that I have loved to add to my pages, whether it be by hand or machine. It really helps to make the cut file the stand out and adds a bit of whimsy. Fussy cutting the scalloped blue paper by Maggie Holmes further adds to the whimsy of the page by repeating elements and shapes found elsewhere on the page. 

The gorgeous exclusive orange floral was my jumping off point in choosing the patterns. After choosing that paper, I then chose the aqua triangle and the yellow and white diagonal striped papers to go on either side. Both the aqua and yellow are in the floral paper, so it ties the papers together seamlessly. Finally, the pink-ish coral paper finishes off the edge of the pumpkin and gives it an overall balanced look, plus it pulls in colors found in the photo. 

One of the wonderful things about kits is that you know the colors will work well with one another. The Thicker title Smile is just gorgeous, and I love how it looks on top of my photo. The embellishments in this cluster are perfect for this photo. Anyone that has tried to get a picture of two toddlers looking at the camera at the same time recognizes the struggle...for real!

Thanks so much for joining me today. I've included a link to my process video if you'd like to take a peek at just how this layout came together. Have a wonderful day!

Scrapping with the Add-on Kit with Kira

Hey everyone!  Kira here to show you a couple layouts I created with the Fall Harvest Add-on Kit.  Any other fall lovers here?  It is definitely my favorite season, but it's my first year in San Antonio and apparently Texas hasn't received the memo that it's October.  Lol.  It's 90 degrees as I type this.

Anyway, I pulled out some older photos to work with to get me in the fall scrappy mood.  The first layout I created was for a few pictures of my son picking out his pumpkin last year.  He picked it out by giving it a kiss.  Awwwww! 

I created the large title on my Cricut and used that gorgeous blueberry paper that was included in the kit as my background paper.  I backed the cut out title with the orange and white plaid paper (B-side of "Whirling Leaves").  I decided to add some hand stitching around the word "pumpkin" in a blue that matched almost perfectly to the background paper.  It added the perfect amount of textural detail to my page. 

I'm going to be completely honest here though...the stitching was a nightmare.  This layout gave me so much grief and I've never had as many issues with the stitching ripping the paper as I did on this layout.  I had to cover up one of my "happy accidents" with a fussy cut pumpkin from the "Pumpkin Patch" paper.

But it looked so cute, that I added a few more around the page!  I brought in more of that pumpkin paper by tearing the blue cardstock and tucking the pumpkin paper underneath.  I stitched it down with the blue thread and just loved how it looked!

I added a few of the rubber charms from the Amber Moon collection, which was such a fun added piece of texture.  I finished off the layout by adding some of the Perfect Autumn enamel dots under my title and under the little torn flaps.  And finally I added some white paint splatters around the page.

After I finished this layout, I still had so much product left!  And was still totally in fall mode.  So I decided to make a quick layout of my son in his Halloween costume from last year. 

Can you tell who he went as?!  My husband and I are big 80s pop culture fans...so we dressed our kids as Marty McFly and Doc Brown (my baby was THE CUTEST Doc Brown!). 

I started with some white textured cardstock and decided to use this leaf cut file, also cut from white textured cardstock on top.  I used a few of the patterned papers from the kit to back a few of the leaves, creating a scatter of color across the page.  I didn't glue the cut file to the patterned paper leaves to give it a bit of added dimension. 

I backed my photo with the Dandelion cardstock and added a few pieces of ephemera from the 1canoe2 die cut pack, along with a few of the rubber charms to create two clusters around my photo.  Then I added my title using the Escape the Ordinary Golden Foil Wood Alpha Stickers.  Bonus points if you get the reference.

Thanks so much for joining me today!  And make sure to check out the Add-on kit this month!  You will not regret it!

xo, Kira 

Pocket Life The Small Things

Hello Crafty Friends! This is Jennie with my first Citrus Twist post! Today I'm sharing a few tips to document the small things with the October Good Vibes Pocket Life Kit!

I love that the Pocket Life Kits come with a bunch of cards to journal. I've been trying to use my handwriting more often since I'm always using my typewriter. 

Can you tell I went crazy with the Tiny Words Stickers from Citrus Twist?! I love to add little details everywhere and these are perfect for layering little clusters on photos. 

The variety of the Citrus Twist Die Cuts Ephemera pack is amazing because it has all kinds of shapes: labels, words, simple shapes like hearts,etc. When I started making pocket pages to document my life I didn't think I would have enough photos or events to do weekly spreads. I used to make layouts about everyday life already so I quickly rolled into the pocket groove! It's easy to oversee moments like waiting for the school bus or walking home. You can even use photos other people take! The photo of my daughter writing was taken by her teacher and she sent it to me through the DOJO App.

My mom was an avid picture taker and I love to look back at my photos and see my toys (which are now considered vintage 😨).  I like to include photos of my daughters' toys so they can also feel old when the look back at their "vintage" toys.

The Citrus Twist Stamps are amazing! The quality is really high and they stamp perfect on photos! I love to use one of my heart dies to create little sprinkles to add to my embellishments cluster. The 6x6 paper in the Pocket Life Kit has a very cute paper with little flowers that is perfect for these details.

I don't know if you noticed but my formula to embellish photos is to pick a corner, add washi, a word sticker or phrase, a small shape die cut and I sometimes add a staple. 

I hope you enjoyed my first post! This kit is so awesome I can't wait to create even more pages. See you later! Take Care! 

Sweet Fun

Hello! I don't know about you, but I am so excited that we have made it to September!  In my neck of the woods, Southern California, the temps have been in the high nineties and a new month means we are a bit closer to having some cooler weather. Yay!  September is certainly a transitional month as we head into a new season and I think the September "Twin Falls" Scrapbook kit really reflects this sense of change that is happening and I am happy to share to my first layout that I made with it:

What I really love about this kit, is that it works for documenting my summer stories while giving me that taste of fall that I am craving. The orangey red in the diecuts from Pink Fresh Studio and the bright yellow exclusive patterned paper is just what I wanted. 

The white foam Thickers are pretty great also and the fun, gold foiled butterfly (also from Pink Fresh) is a new fave. 

Now how about you? What kind of crafting products are you dreaming of right now?  I know that for many, thoughts of Christmas crafting seems to be trending right now and a little part of me is right there with them. However, fall is most on my mind and this kit is certainly making me even more excited!

Michelle

Creating a Fall Layout with the October Kit

Hello everyone! Jen here, and today I am sharing a fall-inspired layout that I created with the October Pocket Life kit. This layout was inspired by the die cut leaves included in the kit. I thought they would be perfect to scatter across a layout.

I had these photos of my son at the farmer's market from last weekend. and knew they would go with the kit perfectly. I used a piece of Crate Paper patterned paper from the main scrapbook kit to put across the layout, then layered one of the 4x6 cards and my photos on top. I also knew I wanted to use the cork circles, but the sayings didn't work with this page so I simply flipped them over.

The alpha stickers included in the kit from Pinkfresh Studio are so fabulous! I added them then stitched through for extra texture.

I added my journaling by using my typewriter and cutting it into strips. I stitched through a few of the strips as well. After adding a date stamp and a few puffy dots from the sprinkles kit, my layout was complete!

I hope you have a great day, see you soon!