Sun + Fun / Citrus Twist Kits Guest Designer

Happy Sunday, friends!  I wanted to share another layout I created as the April Guest Designer for Citrus Twist Kits.  I made this using the Make it a Venti Kit along with some pieces from the Scrapbooking Add-On Kit.  This butterfly cut file is also from Citrus Twist.  I loved the rainbow colored papers in the kit, and so I decided to use some of each of them to create some rainbow butterflies.  I cut the butterfly cut file on white cardstock, and then traced each one on a different patterned paper.  I cut them out and glued them down in the centers of the cut file butterflies.

I also used white cardstock as my background, and I created some watercolor effects on that using some of my Shimmerz sprays in a variety of rainbow colors.  I thought this photo of my daughter in a rainbow swim suit was perfect!

Butterflies are so fun to embellish with because they make it easy to create dimension with the wings.  I lightly glued down the centers, and then machine stitched through them.  This allowed me to bend up the wings.  I love how you can still see the outline of the butterflies under the solid ones.  I used some of the Maggie Holmes Sunny Days collection here for layers along with some tangled thread from my stash.

I took lots of photos of the butterflies :)  Here you can see where I smudged a little bit of white gesso on them to give them a bit of a color variation.  I also splattered some watered down white acrylic paint.

I added in some heart stickers from the kit as well.  Some are epoxy/puffy and some are regular stickers...all from Maggie Holmes.

I mixed and matched my title here using some of the tall skinny Thickers and some of the exclusive puffy alphas.  One of my favorite things about Citrus Twist Kits is the exclusive stamp sets!  I adore these cute phrases here.  They add the perfect little touch!

These "Summer" alphas are also exclusive to the kits.  I used a piece of Maggie Holmes washi tape here above the photo as well as another cute stamp.

Here are a few more close-ups of all the fun details!

I hope this inspires you in some way...it sure was fun to put together.  Have you tried Citrus Twist Kits yet?  They really do have some beautiful products, and their exclusive goodies are always amazing!

Thank you for stopping by, and have a great day!

Wanderlust / Paige Evans DT

Hey, friends!  I have a fun travel-themed layout for the Paige Evans Design Team using the beautiful Horizon collection. I’ve been saving this photo for the perfect papers and these are those papers! I used two of Paige’s cut files for this: Globe Outline and Wanderlust. I sorted through all the Horizon patterned papers and chose lots of bright colors that matched my photo. This was taken last year at Seven Magic Mountains in Las Vegas on my way to Phoenix for Creativation. These papers match the rocks perfectly! I used the inside letters of the Wanderlust cut file to make a large title using several papers. I used a dark blue paper from the exclusive Project Pad available in JoAnn Stores to cut the globe. I used Paper 08 as my background.

I created a few clusters around the page, so on this side I added in a globe sticker from the Project Pad, a Shaped Paper Clip and Stickers. I added detail to the dark blue globe by smudging white gesso along the edges with my fingers. I also machine stitched around the edges using white thread. I popped it off the page using adhesive foam.

I love how the bright colors pop against the navy blue background.  To make them stand out a bit more I outlined them with a white jelly roll pen.

I created another cluster down on the bottom right area using an Epoxy Stickers for a secondary title, another Sticker, and few more Project Pad stickers. I also added in coordinating colors of tangled thread for added texture and pops of color. I wrote my journaling with a white jelly roll pen and I love how it pops off that dark blue.

I went light with the layers behind my photo and just used some white tissue paper.  There was so much color going on already between the papers and the photo, so I kept it subtle.

I jazzed up the background paper with a little bit of mixed media. I smudged white gesso under the open spots of where the globe was going to go. I pulled matching ink sprays from my stash and created watercolor splotches using pinks, yellows, oranges, and greens. I love how they are all visible behind the globe and to the side of the photo. To finish off the mixed media work, I added white splatters by watering down white acrylic paint and also Gold Color Shine.

I added a cute heart Epoxy Sticker and some pink thread over on the right side of the photo.

I tucked in a small Chipboard Sticker flower here for a pop of darker pink.

Here are a few more close-ups of all the details :)

Have you created a travel page with Horizon yet? This was a ton of fun to put together. Mixing and matching two of Paige's cut files was a great way to help this page come together quickly. I hope it sparks some ideas for your next layout! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my process video here for more details.

Thanks for stopping in, and I'll see you again soon!

Happy Easter / Hip Kit Club

Happy Monday, friends!  I have a fun and bright Easter layout to share today for Hip Kit Club.  I used the 2019 April Hip Kits and the exclusive spring wreath cut file for my page.  I began by cutting the wreath on white cardstock.  I decided to leave it white and layer lots of the Paige Evans Horizon Floral Die Cuts on top of it.  I fussy cut a big flower cluster from a Shimelle Sparkle City paper (Main Kit) for the bottom of the wreath, and then went around and tucked in other flowers in various spots.

I also used a purple Sparkle City patterned paper as my background.  It matches my daughter's pants perfectly!  I did do lot of messy mixed media on it.  I used a big dry brush to create a big circle using white gesso.  It did look like a hot mess at first...haha!  (You can watch how I made it in my process video down below).  I used the Lindy's Gang Magical Powders from the Color Kit as well as the Starbursts Sprays from last month to create some pink and blue variations against the purple.  I also pulled in a few pink Shimmerz Paints sprays from past Color Kits.

I love that this wreath has little eggs in it!  I backed them with patterned papers.  I also used the O's from the exclusive acetate alpha set.  They make great eggs!  I punched a few extra flowers using an old punch from my stash and some papers from the kit.  To add more texture and color I tucked in some tangled thread in a few places as well.

Just look at these gorgeous flowers!  Paige Evans outdid herself with this Horizon collection.  These were so fun to layer up on this wreath.  Some of the bigger die cuts have a white border around them, and I just trimmed that off so it would match the smaller die cuts.  I also tucked in some of the exclusive puffy stickers inside the floral clusters.

I layered some white tissue paper and a blue Pocket Life card behind my photo and added some Horizon chipboard leaves under it.  I also tucked in some thread and added a puffy sticker on top of the photo here.

I decided to use a white pen for my journaling.  I love how it stands out against the purple background, and it keeps the layout light and bright.  I fussy cut "happy" from a Horizon paper and combined it with some of the navy blue exclusive puffy alphas.  Sometimes I love a short and simple title like this.  Here are a few more of the Os turned eggs.  Since they are transparent, I backed them with white cardstock first.

This orange and pink piece under the right side of the photo is a Pocket Life card that I cut up.  And here are more Horizon flowers on top of the photo.

A few more close-ups of all the beautiful floral goodness!

I hope this layout sparks some ideas for your next page!  I had fun making this...even though I doubted my background as I was making it...haha!  These April Kits are gorgeous, and the colors just make me gasp!

Here's my process video:

Thanks for stopping by, my friends!  Have a great day!

Adore This / Pinkfresh Studio

Hello again, friends!  Today I'm sharing another new layout for the Pinkfresh Studio Design Team.  I used the beautiful Joyful Day collection, I decided to go floral for this page.  I used a few of the patterned papers to back the flowers of this pretty cut file from Just Nick Studio.  Again, I used mixed media on a white cardstock background.  I began with gesso and then used the Liquid Watercolors to create a big wash of light blue.  I splattered in a few other colors, but I wanted to mainly have a lot of blue behind the flowers.

I love backing cut files!  It does take a bit of time, but it's always worth the awesome results.  I used a few circle punches with the patterned papers to create centers for the flowers.  I roughed up the edges using an edge distresser and then added adhesive foam behind the cut file and the circles.

Again, I mixed and matched my title using more of the puffy word stickers and puffy alphas.  I also added in a cute floral puffy sticker and leaf stem.

I did add in some matching colors of tangled thread in a few areas around the page.

I love overlapping pieces on top of my photo when the photo allows, and this photo was perfect to tuck under right here.  I also overlapped the title a bit on to of the photo.

I added more florals to the left of the photo with a chipboard sticker, a few die cuts and a puffy sticker.  I wanted all the main colors of the layout to be in that cluster.

Here's one more look at all the pretty flowers & papers!

Have you played with the Liquid Watercolors yet?  It's fun to mix and match them and come up with that perfect shade to match :)

This was fun to make, and I consider it a pretty simple layout (for me, anyway...haha....you know I tend to spend way too much time on one single page).  If you want to see more of the details, be sure to check out my process video.  I hope you are inspired!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you again soon!

Paige / Hip Kit Club

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I'm really excited to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club today!  It's my first page using the new 2019 April Hip Kits.  I can't say enough about the gorgeous bright colors and fun patterns.  I have to point out my most favorite thing this month...the stunning exclusive stencil in the Color Kit designed by Paige Evans!  It's truly amazing.  There are also three Magical Powders from Lindy's Stamp Gang in the Color Kit, and combined with this stencil....omg!  Check out my page and you'll see what I mean.

I started this page using the stencil.  First I did coat my thick white cardstock with clear gesso to prep the paper.  I used the Prima Art Basics Modeling Paste from a previous Color Kit over the stencil using a palette knife.  It created some awesome dimension and texture.  After that dried, I spritzed an area with water and then sprinkled a bit of the peach colored powder into the water.  I used a wet brush to spread the powder around, and as it hit the water, it spread out into all the grooves of the paste.  It was soooo cool to watch!  I did the same thing with the pink powder. You'll have to watch my video to see it in action.

I did add some blue sprays after the pink and peach were dry.  I pulled the blue Lindy's spray from last month as well as Shimmerz Frostbite from an older kit.  I am obsessed with this color scheme!

These rolled flowers were made from an exclusive cut file for this month!  The look like scalloped spirals when you cut them, and then when they're rolled up they look like this.  Sooooo pretty!!  I made some from one of the periwinkle papers from Horizon and then a few pink ones from cardstock.  I embellished here with lots of goodies...mostly from Horizon.  I used some floral stickers and die cuts, and I also fussy cut a few florals and a heart from the Horizon 2x2 Paper Pad.

Look at this texture...LOVE!  I decided to add in a few little pops of lime green using some leaf die cuts, and to add some down below the photo I used some tangled thread from my stash.  Behind my photo I layered in some tissue paper and a few Pocket Life cards.

All of these flowers here are from the Horizon collection...isn't Paige Evans a genius?!  I even layered a few of them on top of the photo.  I added a few enamel dots from Shimelle's Sparkle City collection and a few exclusive puffy stickers.

I am loving these rolled flowers!  They make the perfect embellishments.  These phrase stickers here are from the Dear Lizzy sticker sheet.  My title is made from the exclusive acetate alpha set...there are even more colors!  I am loving how awesome they look on top of white.

I have gushed enough....haha!  Here are a few more close ups of all the gorgeous colors and textures!

I know I say this a lot, but I truly loved making this page!  You must get your hands on that stencil...it's so detailed and gorgeous.  I can't wait to use it again!  Make sure you check out my process video to see all the details.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day!

All This Sass / Hip Kit Club

It's the weekend...yay!  I wanted to share my newest layout today for Hip Kit Club featuring the 2019 March Hip Kits.  I was inspired by the 2x2 Paper Pads that are included in the 2019 April Kits (shipping now!), and I decided to punch some squares.  I used a 2-inch square punch and used several papers from the Main Kit that I hadn't used yet.  I tend to shy away from bold greens and darker blues, but I love how they looked mixed in with all these other colors.  I also punched a few Pocket Life Cards.  I used some of the Turquoise Mist cardstock from the Cardstock Kit as my background.  I used all three Lindy’s Stamp Gang sprays from the Color Kit as well.

I love how this color scheme turned out.  It’s a bit different from what I usually gravitate to, but the mix of them all was fun to put together.  I glued them into lines, machine stitched through them with gold thread and then bent up some of the edges to create some dimension.

I coated a lot of the background with some white gesso first.  I used the packaging technique and a brush to apply the Lindy’s sprays.  I also used  a few Shimmerz from previous Color Kits.  I used lots of hearts to embellish around the page.  Some are from Crate Paper Sunny Days and some are exclusive die cuts & epoxy heart stickers.

This fun “The Best Ever” sticker is from the exclusive sticker sheet, and it was the perfect size to add into a line of squares.  I added some adhesive foam under it as well as some pink thread.

I mixed and matched my title using some of the mint Doodlebug Alphas and some of the black Thickers.  This title makes me smile, especially with this photo of Paige.  She was walking towards me in the kitchen with her arms outstretched like a little zombie and I was walking backwards snapping photos.  Her little spunky personality is infectious!  I did trace around the mint alphas with a black pen to make them stand out a bit more against the background.

Here I added in more stickers, die cuts and puffy stickers.  I’m usually not a huge grass green fan, but matching it with these other colors made me really like it.  These die cuts and puffy stickers were designed by Kim Watson, and the butterfly is from the Sunny Days sticker sheet.

Here’s another angle of the fun dimension.  I love the texture on the cardstock!

After I glued down these Doodlebug alphas, I realized they were going downhill.  This is why I use a ruler...to make them straight.  Of course I didn't do that this time and they were crooked!  So I had to carefully peel them up and fix them.

More details.  I just love those tiny epoxy heart stickers!

One final close-up here of the bottom cluster.  I used more punched squares and a cute green camera.  I popped it up with some foam and added thread under it.  I then created a little group of hearts above it.

I really loved putting this together.  I love a good challenge to do something outside of your comfort zone, and this did it.  I was skeptical at first, but I really like the end result.  You can see how I put this together here in my process video:

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a fantastic weekend!