Sketch Challenge

Welcome to a new week, Nesters!  Dawn here, and today I've got a little sketch challenge.

I created a very simple sketch for you to play with:

I'll be posting my take on the sketch later this week, but I'd love to see what you do with it!  I think this one is versatile enough for an 8.5x11 page or even a card. I look forward to seeing what you create!

Kit Me!

One of the reasons I started this blog was as an encouragement to use up my stash.  I've posted before about purging my scrap room (and in a few weeks, I'm hoping to do another purge...but I'll get to that in a minute), but I still had a ton of product left over.  And I don't know about you, but sometimes having too many choices is way more difficult for me than having just a few.  So I have all these amazing supplies, and they just sit there because I don't know where to start.  (Please tell me I'm not alone in this!)

This is where kits come into play.  I recently subscribed to Studio Calico after taking a few year break from kit clubs.  I like the variety in their kits, and I really like the way they'll break up embellishments so there's just enough for a few pages, but not so many that you end up adding to your stash (aka, where scrapbook products go to die).

I'm a bit pokey getting through the kits, but I'm actually using them, which is more than I can say about some kit clubs I've belonged to in the past.  And as I was working on a layout last week, it hit me - I need to start kitting my stash (and here's where I'll bring it back to my next purge).  

In my free time (haha!) this summer, I'm going to create my own kits.  At the same time, I'm going to do another purge.  If I don't like a product enough to kit it, I'm not keeping it.  I want to use my stuff, not just let it sit around and collect dust (because, honestly, who likes dusting?).

With a kit, I just dump everything on my desk and work exclusively from that pile (note: this also appeals to the lazy side of my personality...it's a win/win).

Due to another personality quirk, I then want to use up everything on my desk surface, which encourages me to scrap.  It's a beautiful cycle. 

Here are a few layouts I've created using the same Studio Calico pile:

The little word embellishments started life as pins (you can see the holes in the bottom where the stick pin used to live).  I used pliers to pull out the stick and then misted + painted these accents:

I even made a rare-for-me double-page spread:

I used a Basic Grey acetate photo frame as an embellishment:

As a way to use up some scraps and speech bubbles (which are just not my style), I created this layout:

The solid colored circles used to be the speech bubbles.  I used them all on this page!

I also created the layouts featured here, here, and here from that same pile (and I'll probably make another 2 or 3 pages before I'm done!).

How do you feel about kits?  Do you belong to any kit clubs?  Do you make your own kits from your stash?  I'd love to know what helps motivate you to create!

This is How I Do It

Hello Nesters!  Anyone else having Montell Jordan running through their minds?

Dawn here, and today I'm going to share my process with you in pictures (I'm still lamenting the death of my camera, and still researching new ones).  Warning: this post is really picture heavy!

I've been working on using up the April Studio Calico kits.  Today, I'm going to share two layouts I've made, and I'm going to walk you through one of them.

Almost always, I start with my picture(s), and then I decide on the size of my layout.  I'm typically a 12x12 scrapper, but lately I've been enjoying the 8.5x11 pages.  Next, I choose the paper:

I'm kinda random when I choose paper...if I think it may work with the photo, I grab it.  I also don't measure my paper.  I typically use my thumb to mark where I want to cut it and go from there.  

I start with what I think will be my "base" piece and cut that first:

I keep building from there:

I knew I wanted the brown paper as my photo mat, but then it needed some color, so I cut the orange dot paper.  I also added the hexagon vellum under the alphabet paper:

There was a teal blue in my son's shirt, so I brought that in with some strips:

At this point, absolutely nothing is glued down.  I took a moment to glue down the paper (but not the photo):

This part of the process goes pretty quickly for me.  It's the next step - adding embellishments - where I get indecisive.  :)

I started by adding a few things to opposite corners of the photo.  At this point, I adhered the photo with foam dots.  I also knew I wanted my title to be in the upper-righthand corner of the photo, so I started to place that:

Once I had the title down, I knew the layout needed something in the opposite corner, so I added this sticker with foam dots:

I was just about finished, but when I looked at the layout, it needed a little something:

I fixed that by adding a bit more of the border strip to the top left corner (you can see that I made a mistake when writing the date, so I just added a small piece of paper to cover it):

And here is the completed layout:

A few detail shots:

The wood piece in the middle photo is one that I shared with you last week.  The "tab" in the bottom photo is actually a slide frame from Basic Grey that I tucked under the picture.

I didn't stop at one layout though...here's another I created using the same products:

Yes, I am a little bit in love with the wood-patterned star stickers.  :)

Here are some close-ups of this one:

Again, I used some of the wood pieces that I created last week.  I still have a couple left over, so you may see those in a future project.

What have you been up to lately?  Anyone else vary the size of her layouts?