Friday, March 31, 2017

Challenge Winners

Today we are happy to announce the challenge winners for both January and February!

Each week our Design Team provides you with three challenges to help you get your creative juices flowing. Pocket Life Sketch Friday gives you sketches to use in your pocket style scrapbooking. Saturday's 3 to Inspire challenge brings you three creative prompts to incorporate on a project of your choice. On Sunday, our Sunday Sketch challenge goes live.

To participate in either or all challenges, all you need to do is upload your project to the gallery within a week of the challenge date, noting the date of the challenge in the title of your project. One winner is picked for each challenge and announced here on the blog.

Thanks to all that participated during the months of January and February! Here are the winners:

Sunday Sketch: $5 Gift Certificate to the CTK Store
     1/1: stefcia  1/8: mamkven  1/15: jinnynewlin  1/22: mamakven  1/29: sandy r
     2/5: mamkven   2/12: barbp  2/19: barbp  2/26: annau
 
3 to Inspire: A small prize from the CTK Store
     1/28: mamkven  2/25: mamakven

Pocket Sketch Friday: Fun Mail
     1/13: mamkven 


**Winners: To claim your prize, please email Trina at citrustwistkits@yahoo.com and include the date and name of the challenge that you have won in the subject line!

Pocket Life Sketch Friday with Diane


The colours in this layout are so bold and graphic, I just love the papers from Pinkfresh in the March Citrus Twist Kits Pocket Life kit. I created my title card with some stamping and a bit of stitching to keep it in the same graphic style.

Here are a few details...



And here is the sketch for you to work with...


Check out the process video of how this layout came together... 

Thanks for visiting Pocket Life Friday, where every week we share PL sketches and a chance to win. For your chance to win, create a layout based on the sketch in this blog post, post your layout to our Gallery or our Facebook Fan Page by Friday, April 7th 2017. Be sure to include PL 03/31 in the title!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

3 white pages with the March Pocket Life !






 Hello Girls !
 
How are you ?
 
I'm back to show you 3 pages realized with this wonderful March Pocket Life Kit :)
 
 
I used some white pages to highlight the beautiful embellishments.

Here is a first page with a big photo :


Love these little triangles : the beautiful March stamp from Citrus!


 

 
 
I used patterns papers un der the photo with the new collection Dream On (Pinkfresh).
And look at this Oasis Gold Foam Word : celebrate !
The heart comes from the embelisshment Kit !
 

 
For these page, I used the PinkFresh words as titles !


And have a look to this Exclusive Thin Wood Veneer Shapes (Kaitlin Sheaffer for Citrus Twit Kits);








 
These tiny words / labels from Maggie Holmes (Chasing Dreams) are perfect to finish a page!

 
 
This Arrow is also an Exclusive Thin Wood Veneer Shapes.
 
Let's make you own white pages !
 
See you,
Célina
 
 

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Simple Travel Notebook Spread With Simple Embellishments



So when you scrapping and you end up with some die cut ephemeras, sentiments and stickers you still can create pretty and minimalist Travel Notebook Spread. All you have to do is prepare the TN, your fav pen for the handwriting, and also the stamp. All of the die cut and also the leather stickers are in Main Scrapbook Kit and also add on kit for March 2017.

This is my full spread using it. This spread is about me and what happend on me in February 2017. I try to focus on the summary of my life using my small handwriting so you don't have to use so many embellishments. For the left page I just decorate it using some die cut ephemeras and also do some stamping.
 
I'm not scare to let the blank space and just decorate the bottom area.


For the right side, I print out two square photos in strips of me. Do some layering with some tags and ephemeras. I also still can do stamping to decorate my photo.


I paste the stickers randomly first and after that I did handwriting. That is the best way to make your layout looks so full and end up pretty.

So you still can do memory keeping with what you got. Don't be scare just start and you will see the pretty result.

Love : Evelynpy

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Tuesday Tutorial | Double Page Layout Process

Hello everyone!

Marie here today with you to show you how I made a double page layout and incorporated 7 photos and a lot of text to record your story.

When I started scrapbooking, the worse part of the process for me was the start. I was looking at the canvas and didn't know where to go from there. It's only after many years of practice that I could easily start a layout. If you are like me and get intimidated by the beginning of the layout, or if you want to know how to incorporate many photos and words on a layout, just keep reading. I'll give you some of my tips and tricks and try to let you see inside my head. :)

Here's the layout I created:


The first thing I did when I received the kit was to look at the colors and motives and ask me what I could document with it. I immediately saw all the oranges and blues and decided it would be perfect to go with my trip I made to Dubai, a week ago.

I then printed photos I wanted to use. I print my pictures randomly in different sizes: 4x4, 4x6 or 3x4 (I then fit 2 of them on a 4x6 piece of photo paper). I print at home but you can easily resize your photos with any photo editing program and make them fit a 4x6 canvas and then send them to the place you normally get your photos printed.

Here I played my photos on some pieces of the kit and I was trying to select what I would use, making the colors and the theme fit my story.


I then trimmed my photos (got rid of the white borders) and that gave me a better look. I played around a little bit more.


I then selected 2 pieces of paper/cardstock which would be my base of the layout. I chose the yellow and white piece of paper which reminded me of the sand dunes (the triangles in the pattern) and I tried to go with the white yardstick for the right page but my very dark photos were not looking good on the crisp white, so I decided to go with the cream cardstock which gave to whole layout a softer look. I really like to use 2 different papers for a double page layout. I find that it brings more interest and it makes me also use more colors.


Once I had my 2 backgrounds selected, I started laying my photos down and that's also when I cut apart that large 12x12 piece of paper with all the small squares I wanted to use. I formed some kind of a loose grid.

When placing my elements and photos down, I was careful to group together what was going together: the silly pictures of us with the camel had to go next to the "just being me is fun" quote, and the adventure square was ment to be next to the dunes and the car pictures and finally, the blu square saying "here with you always" had to go next to the picture of me with my husband. It almost was a no brainer. :)

I added the "Go see the world" square to balance the orange square on the left page.

And I started adding some embellishments, forming a visual triangle that would bring the left and right page together. I thought of the visual triangle too when placing my blue elements. Look at the 2 blue squares. They form a triangle with the large photo on the right page. Also, we were wearing navy blue on that day so, although it's a little more subtle, you can see two diagonal lines of navy lue on the layout, right? Those triangles and lines are responsible for guiding the eye of the viewer on the layout. When you put a layout together, always think of these two elements. You can build a triangle with colors, or even with the kind of embellishment. For example here the cork elements which I placed also in a triangle. Do you see that?


Once my loose grid was there, I added a title. I looked at the place where it would make sense to add it. There was this fairly big whole right there so I thought of a title that would be the good size to fill the space but not over fill it. With the size of the letters in the kit, sand dunes seemed like the perfect title for my layout. If I have had smaller letters, I could have made a longer title like a day in the desert, for example. Since I wasn't done with my layout, I just gently placed the letters there, without adhering them completely.

At that moment, I decided that this picture of the sand dunes was blending too much with the yellow background, so I used a navy blue paper to make a small frame around it. When working with a kit, it's really easy to do so because all the papers are working together. Use a softer colored paper to calm your photo down or like me, a stronger paper to make the photo stand out.


I also wanted the orange square to stand out. Instead of framing it with more paper, I decided to stitch a gold frame around it. The gold thread is very subtle but sparkly so it creates a really nice visual effect. I have my sewing machine right on my table, which makes it so easy to just sew on almost every layout I make. Also, I always have either gold thread or white thread ready to stitch. It's so practical and easy!


Now is the time I started thinking about the journaling. I had placed my pictures in a random order, just thinking of the colors and shapes of them to make sense, and I hadn't,t payed attention to the time of the events presented in the photos. So I thought that the sticker labels would be perfect to add that element of time on my layout. It would also be another way of attaching my left and right page together. The eye reads the numbers 1 to 3 and then naturally looks for the number 4 which is on the right page.


Here is the number 4:


When i started thinking of the time, I decided that I had to swap the large photo of the Burj Al Arab, which we visited in another day during the trip to Dubai, with two photos of more things we did in the desert. Hence the two small 3x4 photos that just appeared on my layout. :) The quality of that one of us together in the dark is really poor, but it fits better with the story so overall, I'm happy with that choice.



I wrote some details on the sticker labels and added a second title on the right page which would add detail to the first title and which would, once again, tie the two pages together.


I added more small embellishments to add color and texture to my layout.


At that point I decided to add more details in my journaling than just the "what" that was already on the sticker labels. When you make a layout and add details, think of the story the viewer will not know when only looking at the pictures. Tell the small anecdotes and funny stories, or small details you don't want to forget. I think that journaling and details like this are what make a scrapbook more interesting than just a simple photo book so use the space you have to write. Just a little bit more at least. :)


When adding small embellishment, add them close to your basic elements that form the page. Here you see that I overlapped the camera on the orange paper. Same thing with the cork embellishments on that next photo:


Also, when using embellishments with a whole in it, like the heart and the arrow here on the right page, pay attention to what will show through that whole. It would have been awkward if the arrow would have been placed a little more down, letting show and amplifying the gap between the blue paper and the photo under it for example.


I finally looked at where there were enough space available to write my journaling. I thought of what I wanted to say and planed it according to the space I had. I also decided to write and stamp with navy blue ink instead of using a black pen. I really like how it makes all the navy blue in the layout pop out and make sense.


Here's the finished layout:


Voilà, I hope you like it and I hope you feel inspired and energize to go create something yourself! :)

Marie

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Monday, March 27, 2017

Mini-Album

Hello! Michelle here with you today to share some mini-album inspiration with you! This month the Scrapbook Kit came with a set of 6x4 chipboard and two O-rings to serve as a foundation for a potential mini-album.  Myself, along with four other designers created albums in place of our usual projects and have been sharing them both here on the blog as well as on our Facebook Fan Page and Instagram.

When I accepted this assignment I did a little jump for joy, because mini-albums are probably my favorite thing to create. They are so much fun to put together and they give me a break from creating traditional layouts. Today I want to give you  a little insight into how I put together my own album.


In contrast to creating layouts, I am very organized when it comes to approaching a mini-album. I brainstorm, look for ideas, and will set up a list of elements that I want to include in my album. I also rely a lot upon repetition-repetition of page design, embellishments, texture, and color.


For this album, I decided to go with a single ring, flip album with loads of layers. I like the look of seeing photos, papers, and embellishments peaking out from behind one another. Along with the March Scrapbook and Pocket Life Kits, I pulled out yellow tags, sequins, paper clips, and 4x4 page protectors to create my album. Mini-albums are also great stash busters!


The yellow tags that I pulled out from my stash served as a background for my journaling. It was super easy to slip them in and out of the typewriter and ensured that my writing stood out from the layered album.


I went ahead and limited myself to three basic page designs, this first one being the most complicated. By repeating them throughout the album I save a lot of time in putting it together. I can also work on my on my album in a sort of assembly line. By keeping the designs simple I free my creativity up for my favorite part-the embellishing.



One of the things I like to do for mini-albums, is to have my photos printed by a printing company. I use my Selphie pretty exclusively, but have found that I prefer the option of having my photos printed on a thicker, nicer photo paper for little albums. One of the reasons is that they are sturdier and hold up better to the embellishing that I like to do. I also like the finish of the photos and since a mini-album is meant to be picked up and thumbed through I think this extra step adds a bit of nice texture.


Even though I rely on repetition for my page designs, I also give myself the freedom to make minor changes. For example, I moved this photo to the right because it suited the orientation of the photo better. I also feel free to move the embellishments around.


My biggest goal for this particular album, was to let the photos shine. This particular batch of photos documented a beautiful trip to the beach and I loved how the photos all turned out. I had planned in advance to have some the photos stand alone and embellished them simply with some machine stitching.

Thanks for letting me share my album with you and I look forward to seeing what you all create with this month's kits :).

Michelle





Sunday, March 26, 2017

Sunday Sketch with Claudia

Good morning! I hope you're having a lovely weekend. It's Claudia here with you and today I'm sharing a layout I created using the following sketch;


One of the things I really like about working with sketches is that it gives you a start of point in terms of where to put certain things on your layout. I knew from the start that I didn't want to use 2 photos on this layout so instead of using another photo I just chose to go with another design element. I cut out a piece from the cut apart paper from the Crate Paper Oasis collection which came in this month's Main Kit.


Since my photo was taken in the sky I thought the title 'Let's Go' would be quite fitting. I used the gold glittered thickers from the Main Kit to create part of my title. For the 'Go' part I used some letters from the cut apart paper from the Pinkfresh Studio Dream On and traced them on the pink circle paper from the Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams collection to add an extra pop of pink (I can never have too much pink on a layout!). To give the letters a bit more definition I pulled out a pencil and outlined them.


I don't really do journaling on my layouts so I used the numbers that you see on the sketch as a design element, which I think works just fine. Do you have a similar photo? Maybe it would be an idea to put your top 5 favorite / dream destinations on there if you're not too keen on doing visible journaling on your layouts.



I punched out a few tiny butterflies with my punch and added them to create a little more interest and dimension in some places. I finished off the layout by adding some gold splatters using the Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Color Shine mist from my stash.


To play along with this week's challenge, create a layout inspired by the sketch, upload it to the Citrus Twist Kits Gallery with the sketch date (3/26) in the title, and you might win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK store.

Looking forward to seeing what you will create!


Claudia

Saturday, March 25, 2017

3 To Inspire with Emma

Hi friends!  Emma here with another 3-To-Inspire challenge! 

We share this challenge every Saturday for those of you that are looking for a little extra push to get scrapbooking, to keep scrapbooking, or those just looking for a challenge (and the chance to win a little something is an added bonus!).

I hope you'll join in with me this week using the following prompts:

1. Use 2 colours only (can go with multiple shades of the same colour though)
2. Use multiple photo's (3+)
3. Use your stamps!  This one is a big challenge for me; stamps intimidate me haha.

 And here's a look at the page I created:


As you can see I went with green and pink for my page.  I printed my photo's so they looked like a photo strip and centered them on my page.   And to add some contrast I went with black embellishments - I think they really pop against the white/green.



I really love the black foam stickers out of the main kit this month - they are the perfect script font! (don't I wish I could write like that!).  The 'hello fun' tag is actually from the 12x12 (Pink Fresh) paper in the main too.


Don't look to closely at my stamping effort but I am kind of proud that I used them for a change!  Don't get me wrong, I love stamps (and I've got a 6x8 album full of them!) but I always forget to actually use them or I worry that I'll mess a page up just trying to use them, haha.  I used the main kit stamp plus the "Camera Roll" and "Life Adventures 3x4" stamps here :) 


The black paper clips from the Embellishment kit are just adorable!  I popped one one of the black foam hearts on top to add a little more dimension to the top of my page (I also popped a foam dot under the right edge of the paperclip so it sits off the page a bit too).



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 our Facebook Forum.  I really can't wait to see your pages!

Thanks, Em xo