scrappy share: june citrus twist kits + cameo

This month I found the perfect scrapbooking marriage...Citrus Twist June kits and the Cameo! These Instagram photos are some of my favorites from the past month, taken during one of our evening walks along the river. I needed to find a way to add the colors and patterns of the 6x6 paper pack in this month's Project Life kit without overwhelming the softly edited photos. After seeing so many inspiration scrapbook layouts using Cameo cut backgrounds, it was on my list to try. Browsing through my cut library I saw a hexagon and though it would be a simple, classic design to pair with my square photos.

I set to work creating the repetitive design in opposite corners of the page and, after careful measuring, set to cut. Then it was time to choose the patterns. I loved the pink floral because it played off of the blooms in two of the photos, the yellow triangles added sunshine, wood grain for a natural element and the painted boards for the path/walkway. Adding in a few other favorites from the pack selection and I was ready to cut and piece them all together.

I cut each hexagon, adding it to a piece of scrap cardstock to be adhered behind the page. When they were all in the correct spaces and secured, I added just a few embellishments - chipboard arrows, puffy stickers and that fun metal clip!

This layout was more time intensive than my usual, with all of the piecing, but so worth the end result! Thanks for looking :)

project life: june citrus twist kit reveal pages...

Ahh, June. The lovely, lovely Citrus Twist June kits that contained...MY STAMPS! This was such an exciting month for me and I could not wait to dive in to both the Project Life and Embellishment kits when they arrived at my door. First the exclusive June Project Life stamp set. I had so much fun designing these and even more fun using them!

 {Week 18: May 6-12}

George and his Pappou's Name Day (St. George's Day), a Target trip and quip, swinging at the park and Mother's Day...

George's first written letter and some crayon mischief, Jack's 15 month (!!!) well visit, Girl Scout cookies, and one of my very favorite memories with G...

{Week 18: April 29 - May 5}

Our Easter celebration, a zoo day and park trip...

More from the zoo and park, how I like my coffee, details of the week and a favorite "everyday" photo of the boys...

And, some of my favorite details..."Hello May" is a freebie Silhouette cut available on Leenah Loh's blog HERE:

"With You" is a cut I designed myself and backed with patterned paper, the speech bubble cut can be found in the Silhouette Online Store...

A favorite everyday moment with the boys...

This makes me cry every time I read it. He is just so sweet...

Another cut I designed to use for Jack's well visit stats:

Thank you for looking! You can see more on Citrus Twist Kits blog, including sketches for some of the 3x4 cards :)

instagram fun...

A few weeks ago a fun new app was released for iPhone. Being a long time fan of Elsie, I downloaded A Beautiful Mess that first day. It is charming, funky and a tad addicting! Here are just a few of the photos that have gotten an ABM treatment...

For 99 cents? It's a inexpensive, fun way to play around with your photos. There are plenty of for purchase add-ons but, I have found the basic app offers more than enough!

{*I am in no way affiliated with A Beautiful Mess and have received no compensation for this post.}

project life: and this brings us up to date (!!!)

I've been on a creative mission this week. Finish all of my design assignments nearly a week early (check!) and then, get the rest of my album current (check!). This morning I was able to sneak in a few minutes to complete weeks 20 and 21 and get them photographed. And, I just finished printing off two photos from this week to stick in Week 22.

You see, we leave for an international vacation on Tuesday. That's four days from now. We'll be gone for nearly three weeks and, well, you know what the return from a scrapbooker's vacation entails, right? The number of photos will be obnoxious. Add to that the normal post-vacation unpacking, laundry and, oh yes, re-adjusting to EST. As soon as we get home, I'll be itching to get my photos downloaded and into my album but, I'll also need to do that since July's design assignments will be due. It's going to be a super fun whirlwind around here!

{Week 20: May 13-19}

Date night, George "supervising" remediation work at his grandparents' house, a $1 Starbucks lunch date, the end of The Office, a very exciting PL product arrival, an impromptu frozen custard stop and more, The Office TV card? Completely inspired by my friend and fellow PLer/blogger Barbara. Check her out!

George floored us with all of a sudden deciding he knew how to write (before ever being taught), Jack causing trouble, a visit with family and new haircuts.. The "Heart THIS" and "AMAZING" cards were cut with my Cameo directly on the PL 3x4 grid cards. LOVE.

 {Week 21: May 20-26}

Mr. Boom's birthday, a zoo trip, G helping me bake his Baba's cake and Jack's favorite play spot. 

This week's layout? Well, it's done. I'm not happy with how it came together. I rushed and it shows but, this project? not about perfection. The documentation is there and in 10, 20 or 30 years, no one will care that the color of that title card is just too peach. Right?

Lots and lots of park photos (it was a such a fun afternoon!), Mr. Boom's new business card and lots of books...

The two missing weeks? They are all done, photographed and will be up here on June 12th, after the June Citrus Twist Kits reveal!

project life: another week in the book...

This week has been completed for awhile now, just waiting to be photographed. It was a jam-packed seven days and I couldn't even manage to capture everything on these two pages so, there is an insert of only Instagram photos (not pictured). The end of April brought us yet another stomach virus (boo!), time outside and a trip across the state to visit my sister and her family. I'm using a mix of my May Citrus Twist Kits, the Seafoam and Jade core kits digital/hybrid cards and my stash.

{April 22-28}

An account of the virus that hit and an exchange of texts with my husband related to an, ahem, incident at the grocery store (no one said parenting was glamorous), a river walk with Jack, liking Big Bang Theory and a pasta loving toddler...

Design F again to fit more stories and photos - Jack's first flight, spending time with my sister and her family and our little hipster...

A hipster close up. The flocked rub-on glasses are from the Basic Grey Hipster line...perfect!

Jack's first flight. He was in awe and did so, so well. I used a vellum pocket cut with my Cameo to hold journaling about the experience...

And, the details on the messy beginning to our week. The text card was made in PSE with a Jade filler card, an Ali Edwards digital stamp and a digi tag freebie...

My Project Life goal right now is to be completely caught up before we leave the country for nearly a month. I'm printing and putting weeks 20 and 21 together very simply right now! Weeks 18 and 19 are photographed and ready for the June Citrus Twist Kits blog sneaks and postings while I am away.

Yes, I am still LOVING this project...

I'm linking up to Project Life Tuesdays with The Mom Creative today!

project life: citrus twist may kit shares...

In my last Project Life share post, I had two weeks missing because they were for my work using the May Citrus Twist Kits and, here they are! I had a lot of fun mixing up the kits and Cameo cuts for my first week of April..

{April 1-7}

The week started with a stomach virus, a chocolate delivery and a fun quote about trains...

And, we ended the week with park trips and a day at the Bronx Zoo - our first of 2013! I included a pressed penny on the zoo card...

This speech bubble is one of my favorite new Cameo cuts! Just perfect for recording Jack's words and phrases that week (he has plenty more now!). It's available in the Silhouette store...

 {April 8-14}

There was so much I wanted to document this week that I veered from my standard two Design A page format. Broke right out of that and used one Design A and one Design F. Instant love! My new favorite combination. The week started with sun and heat! So much so that we were in shorts and tees at the park. Then, a minor bathroom re-do, new summer clothing for the boys in new sizes, George building with Legos and Jack's awesome point and nose scrunch...

My first Design F page gave me so many possibilities! More photos, more journaling. I documented house hunting, a trip to the park, the soil remediation in my in-laws' backyard, a new favorite snack, quotes from G and love notes to the boys...

One of the things I have felt has been missing from my pages lately is real, heartfelt journaling. When the boys look back on these album pages one day I want them to know that I valued our everyday but, I also want them to know exactly how I was feeling about them during different points in their growing years. The CTK Project Life kit this month comes with a whole sheet of Basic Grey sticker embellishments, one being this sweet "Pocket Full of Love." As soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to create, a little envelope with short letters to each of the boys. I cut a bitty bag out of vellum using my Cameo, adhered that to a 3x4 card and added the sticker to the front. I then cut down two 3x4 grid cards so that they would easily slip in and out of the pocket. I decided to go with vellum for this so that it is obvious that there are enclosures, rather than using tabs.

Back soon with more!

brothers...

One of the things I hope most for as a parent is to raise these two boys to be loving, compassionate people - starting with their own relationship. They are so young and have a lifetime ahead to form friendships. The one person I hope that they will always turn to is their own sibling.

In the past few months, there have been more and more moments of sweetness between these brothers. Jack will take a book to George to read or, George will take Jack's hand to lead him to see something exciting. They play together sometimes and along side each other quite a bit. Oh, there are crazy making moments too, and plenty of them! That's also what brothers do, I suppose. But, I love seeing their relationship develop in front of me, hearing George say, "That's my brother Jack!" when we meet someone new or, when Jack walks over to George and pats the top of his head. Those are the moments that melt me. Over and over.

Stick together, my boys. That's what brothers are meant to do.