Our Creative Design Team is chipping away at our stash this month. So far, we have tackled paper, pocket cards, embellishments, and, this week, we are using up some kits in our collection. I have so many kits stashed away that need using, so I was happy to pull one out and use it to create a Fall Fun scrapbook layout. If you would like to join the Love Your Stash challenge, you can share your creations with us by using the hashtag below.
A few years back, I chose to return to scrapbooking. I started in 1996 but had to take a 15-year break after a death in the family. I was facing unresolved grief making it too difficult to look at photos. A year ago, I started recording family memories again. Now I am REALLY behind (says every scrapbooker ever). I decided to treat myself to a Craft with Heart subscription to help me get ahead, but, unfortunately, I have spent more time packing away the kits than I have using them.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the kits – they are beautifully designed and easy to put together. I just haven’t taken any time for myself to scrapbook. When our design team decided to take on the Love Your Stash challenge, I was excited to see kits on the list. It “forced” me to go through my stash and make a scrapbook page of my kids
If you also subscribe to Craft with Heart, you are probably wondering where I got this kit. I believe this kit is from October 2020, but it does not look a thing like the original. Recently someone told me that they dislike subscription kits because they can’t make any changes. They are stuck with photo configuration, background papers, and layout themes they will never use. Well…hold on to your hat because you CAN MAKE CHANGES. There are no rules when it comes to creating.
Before I show you the changes I made to the original layout, take a look at how it all came together.
If you watched the video, you saw what the original layout looked like. I was able to use items from the kit and pair them with items from my stash to fit my photos. The photo orientation, sizes of the photos, and the theme of the photos were nothing like the original design. Just because the design showed horizontal photos, flags, and a different title did not mean that the kit was unusable.
There are no kit rules – You don’t have to follow the instructions – No stones will fall from the sky
If you want to understand where I am coming from, let’s take a look at my thought process as I created the layout. Here is a side-by-side of the original kit design and my completed pages.
My creating process always begins with the photos – which ones will I use, what theme I am going for, and how will I tell the story. I never use all my photos. This day I took about twenty photos – all were great but having too many photos on a layout can be overbearing and some are best kept for another story.
Whether I choose a kit or pattern paper, I work with the background I have before me. This pattern paper had a preprinted circles and journaling lines. I wanted both to show on my layout, so I arranged the photos to take advantage of these features.
To fit the theme and the story I was telling, I added some additional elements – pattern paper, embellishments, and preprinted sentiments. These were all items that matched components from the kit.
I also added a Cricut cut title. The kit was chosen because of the word “fun” and the child-like elements. I added to that title by creating a new title “Fall Fun” and picked embellishments that pair well with the childish icons. I truly enjoyed using this kit and finding treasures from my stash to add to it. I feel like all the stickers, die cuts, and patterns play well together and convey a story of children playing outside on a warm September day.
So….for those of you struggling with kits, feeling like you have to play by the rules – it’s time to grab a kit from your stash and see it in a different light. You have the bones of the page laying before you. All you need to do is dress it up and make it your own.
I hope that this inspired you to Love Your Stash and that you learned a few new tips you can use on your next scrapbook page. Make sure to visit all of the Creative Design Team’s channels so that you can get some more ideas for using up your craft stash during the month of February.
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