3-TO-INSPIRE WITH ERICA

Hey Guys! It's Erica here with your last 3-to-Inspire challenge for the month.

This week's prompts are:

1. Use multiple photos
2. Stamp on your background
3. Use the leftover bits from your puffy sticker sheet creatively


Here's my take on the challenge using this month's Life Crafted Possibilities kit and the Good Vibes add on Stamp





Your first challenge is to use multiple photos on your spread. I used a full TN page on the right side, and on the left I used one of the 4x6 + Journal Spot Page Protectors to highlight my favourite photo.





Your second challenge is stamp on your background. I used this prompt to create texture on my background with the rays of sunshine from the Good Vibes add on Stamp.





I also used the sunburst from the same stamp set to highlight this cute sign on the hot dog cart. I took a photograph of the sign and then cut it out to use as a sentiment sticker.




Your third prompt is to use all the leftover bits on your puffy sticker sheet that you normally wouldn't even consider! That's all the insides of your stars and even the middle of your puffy alphas. I used the triangle shapes to mimic the sunbursts on all my circle embellishments, and the centers of your stars as enamel dots to sprinkle around.





I hope I've inspired you to try out these prompts in your projects. Have a crafty week!

February 2020 Life Crafted with Nathalie & Trina

Good morning everyone! Nathalie DeSousa and I are here today to share some of the projects we've been working on with the February kits.

Nathalie DeSousa

Hi there!  Cannot believe that March is around the corner.   Before we move onto our new kit, I want to share with you a few of the daily entries i have created using the POSSIBILITIES kit and some of the new goodies at the shop in my Life Crafted album.

The starting point of this page was the lovely 4x6" card.  I just loved the framed space in the card, and used it to add my lines of journal.  The new Insert Adhesive Strips are so perfect to add pages, ephemera, etc to the album without having to create the perforations to the page.  I simply trimmed a bit of the strip to fit the card ( i saved the pieces for a later use) and slipped the typed card in the album.

I used the soft orange paper from the kit to create my layout.  I simply backed the picture of our Saturday night dessert with vellum and add it to the page.  I wanted to keep the page simple but festive, so i decided to create a banner/bunting with all the small flags and ephemera pieces from the POSSIBILITIES kit... so i stitched them to the top of the page.

I just added a few extra stamping sentiments from the Traveler's Notebook Stamp set and then completed the page with enamel dots.  Now, i had the blank space of the card to work with, so i set to create a second spread in my Life Crafted album.

I cut the 3x8" card to back the picture of my Book-loving daughter and then glued it to the back of the card.   I added a few embellishments around the picture (literally tied the small tag around the picture!).

Since i wanted to make the word "read" the focus of the page, i chose the new 2x2" inserts.  This time, i used the Digital PL Cards to print enlargements of two of the floral cards -same as the one behind the picture-.  I sized the white card -originally a 3x4"card- so that i could cut two 2x2" squares from it.

I stamped the word using the Spencer Alpha stamp set in black ink on the color background and set it on the center squares.  This time i hand wrote my lines of journal in the lower right card, and embellish the pockets just with a few stickers, enamel dots and  ephemera. 

Just loved how easy these came together.  I hope you are also using the POSSIBILITIES kit to document your days! 

XO

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Trina Craig

I'm finally starting a mini in my new Fir Green Life Crafted album for a recent girls' road trip along the central California coast. It was so much fun to drive the coast, hang out with my best friend and all along the way we took lots of breaks and photo opportunities PLUS I collected a lot of ephemera on the trip. (The gold metallic alphabet is from our soon-to-be revealed March WEEKENDER Life Crafted kit.)

Here is one spread made with the February 2020 POSSIBILITIES Life Crafted kit.

I tucked a postcard of an old color reproduction photo postcard between the page with the big photo and the page that is a mini scrapbook layout. I'm placing pages loose inside my album and the trim size for these pages is 5" x 8.25" - the perfect size/way to showcase 5" x 7" photos and to whip out fast mini layouts.

Here is a close-up of the back side of the postcard. Typically when I go on vacations I like to pick up postcards along the way to add journaling and help tell the story. The brand new Adhesive Page Strips couldn't be more perfect for adding ephemera like this postcard. I curved the foam phrase sticker to fit on the page so it didn't hang off the edge. The photo is a little 2"-wide pic that I set up sized and printed using the Print to Size app on my iPhone. (With this app you can size your photos up or down and arrange them on your photo paper however you want. It's a hand app!)

Here is a real close-up of the Adhesive Page Strip . . . they tuck in just perfect and allow me to free float inserts like this postcard. Your barely see the strip when it's in your Life Crafted album and adds so much versatility that I know you are going to love using them. (I trimmed the adhesive strip down and saved the bits I trimmed off to use on other small inserts.)

Here is one more layout I made with the February POSSIBILITIES Life Crafted kit. I used an old photo of me when I was about 5 years old.

I hope you enjoyed our shares today. We can't wait to see what you create with our February kits.

Nathalie & Trina

Life Crafted with Elizabeth

Hello friends.  Happy Monday.  To start off your week, I'd like to SHARE a spread I created in my Life Crafted Album with the February "POSSIBILITIES" kit.  As you can see, I chose to FLIP the layout on its side.  I've ADMIRED but haven't done many HORIZONTAL pages.  It's DIFFERENT, and definitely adds some INTEREST.

I can't seem to get enough of photo strips.  Since I had some SIMILAR photos of my son and his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, I opted to continue my OBSESSION.

Next, I used the stamp set and blue ink to add some color and random patterns peeking out throughout the spread.

I wasn't done stamping yet.  (Stamps are ABSOLUTELY among my FAVORITE, GO-TO products).  I found several word phrases and STACKED them along the side of my strip.  Then I added a puffy white title sticker and a few colorful die-cuts.

To finish, I added a few more FUN die-cuts and stamped the date.

I hope this provides some INSPIRATION.  If you have a random, empty page, try the HORIZONTAL option.  I will do it again.  

I'm taking a break from several of my creative team assignments.  My son is graduating from high school and we're selling our house.  Thank you for your SUPPORT, and allowing me to share my projects with you.  HAPPY crafting.

XO, Elizabeth

3-to-inspire with Diane

Hi everyone, Diane here with another 3-to-inspire challenge for you! You can find this challenge here every Saturday for those 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, Traveler's Notebook page or a pocket page spread in your Life Crafted and remember that you'll want to include all 3 prompts on your project.

Your prompts this week are:

1. Use as many die cuts as possible
2. Include some hidden journalling
3. Put some puffy stickers on it!

Here’s my take on this challenge using the February "Possibilities" Life Crafted kit ...

I decided for this challenge I would create a page in my reading-themed Traveler's Notebook. I was inspired by the "chill" die cut because I had spent so much time forcing myself to take breaks and relax while reading this book. First I created my base for my hidden journalling by taking a tag from my stash and typing my journalling onto it, making sure it would be hidden by my photo. Then I used some washi tape to create a flap and viola, hidden journalling!

Then I started placing my die cut on my page, making sure that I started with the larger ones first and then filling in any gaps with smaller pieces. I was trying to create a diagonal from the bottom left to the top right so that my page still had some white space to stop it becoming too busy.

Once I felt happy with the general layout, I started sticking things down, rearranging as necessary. I filled in any little gaps with puffy stickers and stamps until my page was covered.

Here's a look at the process this spread took ...

Thanks for stopping by today and I'd love to see any page you create using this challenge so don't forget to tag me and share in the Citrus Twist Facebook Fan page!

Life Crafted with Krystal

Hi everyone! Krystal here with two spreads in my Life Crafted album for 2020. This year, I decided to dedicate an album to some of the "in-between" stories, ones that I don't feel require a full 12x12 layout but are too big to fit into my Project Life album. I'm using one of the gorgeous new Charcoal albums for this purpose, and I'm super excited to start filling it up!

I'll be using the February Add-on kit for both of today's spreads. It's full of beautiful papers from Pinkfresh Studio and Crate Paper, which ended up being the perfect compliments to the stories I have to tell! I'll also be using two of this month's cut files on my pages. The first is a subscriber exclusive floral heart, and the second is an adorable heart with paw prints, available in the shop.

My first spread is documenting a funny moment between my partner and me while we were on a recent trip to Cancun. I decided to use the rainbow "Looking for Sunshine" paper from Pinkfresh Studio as my background, so I trimmed it down to fit the album, being careful to trim off both of the darker colors on either end of the paper. I wanted to keep this page light and bright. 

I cut the floral heart cut file from the white cardstock that was included in the kit, then backed it with a sheet of vellum from my stash. I wanted to add softness to the page, and I wanted the beautiful rainbow colors to show through. When I adhered the cut file to the background, I was careful to only add adhesive around the outside edge. That way I could tuck some of the other elements on my page underneath the florals, making everything flow together and feel cohesive. 

I backed my photo with the "Beauty of Simplicity" paper from Pinkfresh Studio to give it  a bit of contrast and help it stand out on the page, then I tucked it into the floral on the right-hand side before adhering it down. I added embellishments from the kit in three clusters around the page and finished it off with a few of the enamel dots from the kit.

For my journaling, I decided to hand-write it around the outside edge of the heart. I felt like this was the best way to get my story told without adding a bunch of harsh lines to my otherwise organic page. Finally, I added the date of the photo using my roller date stamp, and then I could call this page done!

For my second page, I decided to cut the "Paw Prints on My Heart" cut file from the B-side of the "Meadow" paper from Crate Paper's Magical Forest collection. I loved how the dark forest green stood out from the woodgrain of the "Childhood" paper I used as my background.

For the opposite side of the page, I used the same "Meadow" paper, but chose the A-side this time. It has a beautiful floral pattern that works perfectly with my nature-themed photo. To help the photo stand out from the background, I added a matte of the minty green "Bloom and Grow" paper from Pinkfresh Studio. I also added a die cut in that same shade of green to the right-hand side of the page to tie both pages together. 

I added several die cuts around my photo to embellish it, and I included a couple of the chipboard circles from the kit on both sides of the page. I love the pop of yellow against all of the earth tones. It adds a brightness to the page that keeps it from feeling too heavy. 

For my title, I used the puffy alpha from the kit and added them along the edge of the heart cut file. Then I finished off the page by adding a few lines of journaling and the date below the title. And that's it! Both of these pages came together really quickly, and I was able to document two stories that would otherwise have gone untold.

You can all of the details to my process in the video below.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read my post. I hope you were able to find some inspiration for using your kits and albums. Until next time!

OUR GUEST DESIGNER: ASHLEY HORTON

 


Hi there!
We are so happy to have Ashley share some of her awesome talent with us today!  She has used the POSSIBILITIES kit in her projects, and i am sure you are going to love what she has created for this post!.

Here is Ashley:

Hi everyone!  It’s Ashley, and I’m back with another layout in my Charcoal Gray Life Crafted Album using the February Possibilities Kit!  I love using large photos for layouts in my Traveler’s Notebook and did just that for this layout.

I printed my photo in black and white and placed it on the back of one of my previous pages in the album.  When I take photos, I try to frame them with white space.  This way, I can add embellishments or digitals right over my photo.  I used a mix of the ephemera pieces, chipboard and puffy stickers on my photo to add some fun embellishments.  I also used one of the cut apart labels and wanted to share a fun tip for cutting these out.  I use my paper trimmer to cut all of the straight edges.  Then, I take my single hole punch and punch out the corners to create the indents of the label.

There are some gorgeous 3x4 Journaling Cards in the Possibilities Kit and I wanted to incorporate them into my layout.  I like that you can use them as is or you can also customize your journaling cards.  I added a couple of ephemera pieces to both of the cards before placing them in one of the 3x8 page protectors.

To finish off my layout, I decided to make a tab for the 3x8 page protector.  I opened a tab cut file in Silhouette Studio and cut it from one of the journaling cards in the Kit.  Then, I placed the “grateful heart” sentiment on the tab.  I used my tiny attacher to staple the tab in the center of the page protector.

I’ve had so much fun with the Possibilities Kit and I hope I’ve shared some ideas with you, that you can use with your Kit!  Thanks so much for stopping by today, to take a look at my Traveler’s Notebook layout!

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All we can say is WOW!  We are so thankful to Ashley for sharing some inspiration with you all.  Remember to follow Ashley on her social media outlets.