Citrus Twist "Stories" Pocket Life kit

Happy Thursday, y'all! I received my February Citrus Twist Pocket Life kit and I wanted to do a little "un-boxing"/review for you all, in case you were interested in seeing what's in it!  This kit is chock full off goodies! Read on!

When I was researching CT, I didn't find a lot of info online about it, so I hope this helps anyone considering it. What finally sold me was Dearly Dee's blog. She does a lot of process videos using the kit so you can see what to expect. She also happens to be on the design team!

So the picture above is from the Citrus Twist website. Below, are the kit contents laid out on my desk, less well-lit and well-styled. But I wanted to give an overview of just how much stuff you get!

The kit contains a mix of embellishments and pocket cards. There are 12 3x4 cards and 12 sheets of 6x6 designer pattern paper (bottom right). Also included this month are 2 4x6 cards (the yellow and orange ones, top right). I'm pretty sure this is a new addition! I LOVE that CT gives you 6x6 sheets. they aren't pre-designed with words or anything so you can work them in a lot of different ways, but they're so well-coordinated they can be left alone as a filler card in a 4x6 or 3x4 pocket. My favorite part about the cards/paper this month is that there are some darker colors. The last 2 kits I've received have been washed out pastel colors and I really like the modern look that starker black/white colors give a layout.

Also included are these 3x4 sized die-cuts in white. I took a photo of the back so you can see the designs included. I LOVE the plus sign one! It was a bit of a surprise to get these as I don't remember seeing them in the preview but they're cute! I'm not super jazzed about them because I could do these with my Silhouette, but for people who don't have one, this is a cute addition to a page. I love the look of leaving some empty space in a layout so you can see through to the next side, so this would be good for that look. (Edit: I just got an email from CT that this was a one-off thing so everyone may not get it in their kit. CT has *awesome* customer service and is always doing sweet stuff like this. For example, I got a little "thanks for becoming a subscriber" package in my first kit with some tags and wood veneer. They don't have to do that, but they do! It's so sweet when someone goes out of their way to make you feel special, ya know?)

I also love that CT gives you stamps in your kits. Not only do the stamps coordinate with the kit, but they coordinate with each other because they use the same mix of fonts month-to-month. The small size is perfect for Project Life. I sometimes wish I had stamps with bolder or bigger images to mix things up, but these can always be bunched and layered to make a bigger statement with your stamping.

I am truly on the fence about these letters. As you can see, they're silver with an oil-slick kind of color. I am VERY happy to get something besides gold, though! I just am not sure how to use these. I'll have to see if inspiration strikes!

Citrus Twist usually sends wood veneer, but this month we got cork, which, in my mind, fulfills the same purpose. I love the "nature" look of both wood and cork so these do that! There's a big pile of them with some smaller and some larger pieces. The diamond-shaped pieces also coordinate with the paper! I love the little details like that that make a kit just work, you know?

There is also a giant pile of die cuts. There's the usual pink heart and tag styles, but there are also some really cute florals in saturated colors. These twp are my favorite! I love that they're not pastel! I had eyed the black swan on a CT member's layout and I was hoping it was in this kit and not in an add-on or something. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! It's so bold and cute!

The other thing I like that CT does is provide these cut-aparts. The last 2 months, I scanned them in and made them print and cut files, but that was a lot of work! I love the tags, so I'm glad to have this! Again, the tags coordinate with other kits AND with this kit, so I like that a lot. Something I've been struggling with this year is giving my whole album a cohesive look even though each layout is different colors, but these reliable standards help make everything look like it belongs together week-to-week.

Finally, I didn't include a photo of it, the thing I like most about CT is that they include sketches and DT layouts using the kits in the kit package! I don't always have my computer with me when I'm scrapping, so I'm happy to have the analog version. I can;t say I've actually used one yet. But I know if I'm ever stumped, I can pull from that and have something good to start. In fact, just for funsies, I might try to scraplift an entire layout from that sheet for one week this month. Just to see how it goes! I have to say that with other kit clubs charging for access to DT layouts, it's refreshing to see the content on CT's website and the printout they send each month.

So, thanks for reading! I hope this gives you a good look at Citrus Twist! I'm happy I subscribed and plan to keep my subscription indefinitely. I am going to follow up this post with another about Studio Calico's February documenter kit. I am also going to try to put together a post showing how I think these kits combine, for those of you who subscribe to more than one kit. Stay tuned for some layouts using this kit in February!