Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Sunday Photo + Words

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Oh how I love March mini madness! I love the minis. The collaborations. The creativity! Seeing the pretty books and reading the stories. Big fat happy sigh. I love it all! 

Today, we are going to look to those minis for inspiration for our sketch and our color palette. 

Let's get started.

 

SKETCH

The sketch this month comes from an inside page from Amy's album. 

I know this is actually two tags side by side, but it also doubles as a fantastic page layout.

 

Here is how the sketch turned out.

If you would like to use the sketch as a layered template, you may download it here. Please let us know if you do!

 

ROYGBIV

I have been loving blues of all sorts. Especially those true blues such as the ones on Valerie's cover.

But two blues don't make a color scheme. So I opened the cover and found a few to use as accessories! 

Here is how the color palette came out.

 

Blue sky, pool water, pistachio ice cream, lemon sherbet, and hibiscus petals. What does it say to you?

 

CHERRY ON TOP

Here is my layout using the sketch and the colors! Amy + Valerie = Amerie. Meet my Amerie layout...

 

Thank you for taking the time to stop by! Please have fun with the sketch and the color palette!

And, I hope that you loved the gallery as much as I! Be sure to visit us next week for our final week of March Mini Madness! And if you haven't yet, stop by yesterday's post and leave a comment to be considered for the giveaway! As always, if you make a layout using the sketch or the color palette, (or both!) please leave me word and a link. I love to see what you do!

give.away.day. featuring CITRUS TWIST

This week has been entirely possible because of Citrus Twist Kits!

 

 

Citrus Twist Kits was founded in the first half of 2012. Their kits are colorful, fun and action-packed. They offer both scrapbooking and Pocket Life (PL) kit subscriptions, plus they have a stamp add-on subscription. The kits have Citrus Twist exclusives and offer great value. They hope that you'll have fun with your monthly projects and that their kits will inspire you to keep scrapbooking/PL'ing with your photos. And they ship worldwide!

Citrus Twist might be a new kid on the kitclub block, but they seem like old pros! We most love the variety in their kits. The kits are eclectic, diverse, and well coordinated. We hope that you could see that in the minis this week. Amy showed off the lovely happy colors from the January kit, You Are My Sunshine. Aliza made great use of the spot-on-trend denim blues in the February kit, Good Life. While Cristina, and Sam used the new Fireflies Main kit to create very different minis, both in emotion and style. That's what so great about the diversity of product in the Citrus Twist kits. You can find favorites inside each lovely brown paper package tied up with strings.

 

We know that it's give.away.day. but we first have a public service announcement! Actually it's just for you, dear write. click. scrapbook. readers. Just you.

Citrus Twist is running a special for March. Here is how it works:

• Subscribe to a Main or Pocket Life kit.
• Choose a free Main kit from September, October, November or December and leave your top 3 choices in order of preference in the comments section at checkout.
• Did one of our subscribers refer you? Please leave their name in the comments section at checkout--along with your free kit selection--so they get a free kit, too.
• Your free kit will ship with your first kit.
• Current subscribers who refer more than one Main or PL kit subscriber can earn multiple free kits.
• This free kit offer is while supplies last during the month of March.

Isn't that awesome? It's like buy one get one! But wait, there's more!! If you choose a 3-month or 6-month subscription to Citrus Twist before the end of March, you will receive an extra grab bag of embellishment goodies (retail value $20). You must be a new subscriber and you must put writeclickscrapbook in the comment section, alongside your top two preferences for your free kit. And as always, you will receive a welcome stamp for each of our new subscribers.

Phew! It's like Christmas all over again!

 

And now, drumroll please... it's

Citrus Twist is holding onto one Fireflies Kit for one of you, dear readers!

If you would like a chance to be the one to take it home, please leave us a comment telling us your favorite citrus dish or drink. Even if it's water with a citrus twist!! If you would like another chance, stop over at their facebook page and like AND follow them, then report back in the comments line that you have done so!

Comments will remain open throughout the weekend. One lucky number will be drawn and posted Monday. Please remember it is your responsibility to check back and claim your lucky number via email at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com.

Thank you, Citrus Twist, for sponsoring our giveaway. And thank you, dear readers, for being a part of our giveaway!

Before we go, here is one last album. This one by Marnie. Just paper, the string that tied her kit, and a few embellishments. Simple but satisfying!

Citrus Twist Mini Madness- Day 4

I had fun using Citrus Twist Main Kit, Pocket Life Kit and PL Embellie kit to create my super bulky mini album! My little boy is turning ONE in 2 weeks time and I wanted to make a mini album with some of his photos, particularly pictures that I really love and also pictures that indicate important things in his life. I have included photos of him with our family members, photo of him falling ill, photos of him being silly etc. I didn't plan my album beforehand, but just randomly pick photos from my phone and print them out in 3x4 size.

 

I initially started with only 6 pieces of patterned papers trimmed into 4.5' x 6.5'. As I was creating, I keep printing more photos and adding sequin pockets, mini cards that came with the kit. This is going to be a gift to the gramps who are lovingly take care of him whenever I need some me-time to create and work.

 

Here are the photos of the mini albums: Told ya, it is a really chunky mini albums. TFL!

 

XoXo

Sam

Citrus Twist Mini Madness Day 3

Hi! It's Amy Sorensen, bringing you another Citrus Twist mini album.  For my gallery mini this month, I made a gift album to give to my mom on Mother's Day. As I was searching through my photos for pictures of my mom and me, I noticing how many pictures I also had of my sister and me together. Since I was spending so much time in my photo files, I decided to set aside some of those Becky-and-Amy photos. I wasn't even sure what I'd do with them yet, but I knew I wanted to do something.

 

So when I received the Citrus Twist kit, You are My Sunshine, and saw how many "you and me" items it had, everything clicked. I needed to make a little "me and you" gift album for my sister!

 

I printed the photos as 3x4s, two per 4x6. I used pictures from all different time periods—the oldest is from about 1977, and the newest is from last Christmas.

 

 

For the journaling, I wrote a rambling sort of story-within-a-story. It has quite a few childhood antectdotes, a bunch of "remember whens," some things we have in common, some things we do together as grown ups. I printed the horizonally-oriented journaling on the kraft cardstock and the vertical on the b-side of the Chic Tags paper called “Crisp Air”—just the white part.

 

For the binding, I wanted to try a technique I learned about in the book How to Make Books. I discovered it while I was finding a different book for a patron (I work at a library), and it's full of all different types of handmade book binding. The one I tried is called Slack Stab-Stitched. Here's how I bound my book together:

1.  Cut all the pages so they are the exact height you want but double the width. Mine were 6x12. One thing I loved about this kit is that I had to add next to nothing to make this entire album. I used the three sheets of Bazzil cardstock to make the inner pages. Score each 6x12 and fold in half.

 

2. Make the front and back covers. I actually used the cardboard insert that protected the patterned papers in the kit to make the cover. (See! I had everything I needed!) I cut each cover 6.25x6.25 inches and painted one side a soft melon-pink color. Then I glued a 6.25x6.25 piece of patterned paper to the other side of each cover.

 

3. Very lightly score the inside and outside of each cover piece. This will be both the line you use when you punch the holes and help with turning the pages.

 

4. Assemble all the pieces: front cover, inner pages, back cover. I decided to follow an alternating orange/cream/turquoise pattern.

5. Stack everything together and keep it nicely stacked with a couple of binder clips:

 

6. Mark three holes on the front cover. Mine were right in the middle and then two inches above and two inches below the middle hole. Punch holes here.

 

7. Cut a long length of ribbon—I used about 1 1/2 yards. Using a lighter, scorch one end into a point (you'll cut this off later so it doesn't matter what it looks like), or maybe you'll have more success finding your needles than I did!

Here are the binding instructions right from How to Make Books, with a few changes I made:

 

Start sewing in the middle hole. Hold the tail of your ribbon and sew through and around the spine, leaving 10" at the end for the final bow. As you sew, keep your tension loose by gently turning the pages and opening the book flat (almost like a loose leaf binder) to be sure you have enough slack in the stitching for the book to open and lie flat.

 

Bring the thread back up through the middle hole, then sew down to the bottom hole, sew around the spine, but not around the bottom.

 

Sew back to the middle and up to the top, sewing through and around the spine, but not over the top.

 

Sew back to the middle. All the spaces should be filled. Open and close the book gently, working the slackness of the thread to be sure you have enough so that the pages can open flat. When the book is closed, the binding will gap on the inside with the slack.

 

Tie a bow or a square knot. Trim the ends of the ribbon, then melt the raw edges with the lighter to make a smooth edge that won't unravel.

 

Here's how the bound album looks (with the title added to the cover):

It's called "Sisters Squared" because that is what our tour group members started calling us when we were in Italy together last fall. (They also commented all the time about how much we look alike, which always made me shrug my shoulders a little bit as I don't think we look the same at all.) 

 

And here are the embellished pages:

I like my minis to have a sort of title page. When I finally give this to my sister—her birthday is in July—I'll add some sort of inscription on the back side of the front cover.

 

A few years ago I scanned a bunch of photos from my childhood. It is fun to finally start using them a little bit!

The "little darlings" patterned paper I made with the stamps from the kit.

 

That turquoise polka dot paper is the packaging from the die cut embellishments. It is the perfect color!

 

The sun and the word "sunshine" is also a kit stamp. It really says "You are my Sunshine" but I just inked the word "sunshine" so it fit with my text. This is my favorite little embellishment in the mini!

 

I wish I could've found one more photo of us together for the left side of this spread. Then again, I love that patterned paper a lot!

 

I remember the day my dad took this picture of me and Becky...it was on Christmas morning and I was mad that my mom wouldn't make Becky share her new scooter with me!

 

The die cuts in the kit are like tabs...you tuck part of the outline underneath something else.

 

 

At first I wasn't sure how to attach the vellum embellishments. Then I realized that if I covered the entire back with a smooth layer of glue (I use the Zig Two-Way glue) it doesn't show at all.

 

That patterned paper on the right was one of the few things I added. I totally had enough paper, but that one was so perfect with the photo and the journaling, I couldn't resist. Also: that orange washi tape makes me swoon. 

 

I love the tab embellishments on both of these pages.

 

This enormous ampersand was my favorite embellishment, so I saved it for the last spread.

 

At first I was sort of bugged that I didn't have a few more pictures. But the more I thought about it, I'm glad that the title page and the end page are just text. The "sisters" card is the only other thing I added to the kit supplies—and only because it fit so well!

 

Just for fun, the back cover.

 

Thanks, Citrus Twist, for a great kit! A bonus: I still have plenty of supplies left for a few more layouts. And I'm pretty sure that "You are my Sunshine" stamp will become a favorite!

 

Citrus Twist Mini Madness- Day 2

Hello! It's Aliza here, with a mini album to share with you using February's Citrus Twist Kit. As soon as I opened up this kit, I was excited to see some products that I had been admiring, and then a bunch more that I fell in love with right away. With such a great selection, it was easy to get started then and there.

A little background about my album.

In February, I needed to travel to Israel due to a family Illness. (I am glad to report that everyone is well and on the mend.) Even with the more serious nature of this trip, I am shallow enough that I could not help but think about how messy and dirty my home would become while I was away.  And, even with the serious nature of this trip, I was not above planning a mini album for my husband and children, filled with instructions about how to clean our home, Mommy style.

It's a work in progress, because really, there is no end to the list of things that need to be cleaned, but you have to start somewhere. I used a 4x6 inch spiral notebook, so there is plenty of space to keep on adding to it.

It worked out perfectly that this kit included some house themed stamps and wood veneers:

 

Since I am a wordy scrapper, I loved that the kit included some papers upon which I could type lots of journaling. Originally I added some of those lovely exclusive wood hearts on the photo, but that move was vetoed by the superheroes featured on this page. No worries, there were other embellishments to bring it all together.

There. I am sure that everything will be perfectly clean from now on. 

Right?

Thank you Citrus Twist for the amazing February kit!

Citrus Twist Mini Madness Week - Day 1

Hello, it's Cristina here to start off the mini madness week featuring Citrus Twist. I was sent the March Fireflies main kit, and as soon as I opened the box my wheels started turning! I love color, and the feel of this kit made me so happy. This was my first time using a Citrus Twist kit, and I absolutely loved it!

I decided to use the kit to create a mini album featuring the pictures from a vacation we took back in 2005 that is very dear to my heart. I used the contents of the kit exclusively; I just added some watercolors, mists and a couple of doilies and tags from my stash, in addition to my typewriter for journaling and my Cinch binding machine to put the album together.

Even though I had many pictures to fit in this mini album, working on this project was an easy process because all the papers and elements were coordinated and I didn't have to waste time matching my supplies.

{how fun to use my watercolors on the mistable alpha for the cover!}

I chose a 6"x6" size for my album, so I started by printing out my photos (mostly in 4"x6" size) and by cutting out the papers in quarters. I ended up making 14 double spreads for the album, so please bear with me while I walk you through them.

Since they were all so pretty, I ended up using both sides of the papers as page bases throughout my album.

I used my mists to recolor one of the wood dots that came in the kit.

I cut out some hearts from one of the papers to use as accents on a couple pages.

I loved the vellum stickers with the typed words. So perfect to add a little something to my pages!

I was in love with this paper so I decided to use it for both sides in this spread.

This ribbon was really pretty and I loved using it to mat my photo.

This bold paper by October Afternoon was one of my favorites, and I love how these two papers matched the colors of my photo!

I love adding pops of color to tie together the two pages of a spread.

It has been many years since we were on this trip, so I used the internet to look for some tidbits about these places.

I loved both sides of that bright paper from Studio Calico, so I ended up folding the corners and using it as a mat for my photo.

Here I made a photo collage of a few sightings using a template by Designs by Lili.

This Citrus Twist kit is perfect for spring, but I thought it worked really well with my winter photos too! So versatile.

I wanted to feature the pictures and memories, and just added a few accents to highlight them.

And that's it! I fit 39 pictures in this mini, and a wonderful memory is documented!

I was left with plenty of leftovers too, which I will be using in my Project Life album.

Many thanks to Citrus Twist for providing this gorgeous and inspiring kit! Make sure to come back tomorrow and the rest of the week for more mini album inspiration with Citrus Twist kits.

This Week is Brought to You by Citrus Twist

Each of our designers this week will be using one of the latest kits from Citrus Twist Kits including their brand new March kit. Be sure to stop by and check out their awesome kits!

Sunday Photo + Words

and the giveaway goes to. . .

Congratulations to Jen! and thank you to all who commented. Jen, please email us with your contact information at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com! We look forward to hearing from you shortly.