New Kit Challenge

So over at the 2PeasRefugees board, crystalb shared the Bash It Challenge. In talking to her about how great that challenge was for getting me to use some of my stash, she asked me for my input on a kit challenge she wanted to create. I am terrible at creating my own kit. I have to be honest and say that. I need more guidance. I can't just look at a picture and run to my stash and make a kit. I need a recipe. Get a striped paper, a floral, and a big pattern. Something like that. Well, Crystal delivered!  Here is my kit:

My kit, which I haven't named yet. Maybe I'll call it Take the Leap. As in, I'm taking a leap and actually making my own complete kit. How does that sound? Anyway, Take the Leap is full of a variety of papers and embellishments from an assortment of manufacturers. From cardstock to stripes, stars to stamps, this kit feels like it has a little bit of everything.

Here are all my papers. I have kraft, dark blue, pink, green, and yellow card stock. The pink, green, and yellow are all from BoBunny and have dots on one side and a soft brushed look on the other. I've always treated it as cardstock and not patterned paper so I will continue with that during this challenge. For patterned paper, I have supplies from October Afternoon, Shimelle, Echo Park, Amy Tangerine, Bella Blvd, and Basic Grey.

Embellishments were harder for me to gather. They're not perfect matches but should work. My messy element are the two spray mists - Heidi Swapp's Color Shine Gold and Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist in Teal High Heal. I pulled wooden elements and a small pack of sequins to use as bulky elements. The wooden tags are from a Freckled Fawn kit (I think). Small hearts from Studio Calico and two script words by Heidi Swapp. I have a 3x4 wooden card with "wish" and a star shape cut out of it. That was made by Two Peas in a Bucket. I had to have it and then never used it! This month, that sucker is getting on a page!

Next on the list was die cuts or ephemera. I have Simple Stories Summer Vibes Bits and Pieces. I also found a die cut work that's been on my magnetic board so long the paper backing has aged in color. It's the thin word "silly" I cut with my Cameo probably five years ago. I wish I was exaggerating with that time! I think it's Ali Edwards handwriting from a file I bought from Designer Digitals.

Moving on, for little letters sticker, I have some from Crate Paper and October Afternoon. I've already pulled another color of the OA letter stickers for the first layout I've already created from this kit. Stay turned for that post shortly. I grabbed two stamps - an Amy Tangerine roller stamp and an acrylic set from Citrus Twist kits from August 2014.

The final items were of our own choice. I grabbed a pack of ribbon from Making Memories. The date on the back is 2007! Ten years old and I haven't used even an inch of it. Washi had to be added so I chose two with metallic gold. Last but not least, two spools of bakers twine complete my kit.

So, what do you think? Head over to 2PeasRefugees and join us in the March Build Your Own Kit Challenge. I can't wait to see what you create! I'm going to leave you with some close up shots. Leave a comment on your favorite piece of the kit if you'd like!

All Tuckered Out

What is it about a sleeping toddler that makes everything seem all right with the world? After spending a long day at the Carolina Renaissance Festival in 2011, Little Miss was exhausted. She fell asleep before we even made it to the gas station to fill up on the drive home. I just had to snap a photo for instagram.  I'm so glad I did! Those peaceful moments are fleeting and so often we never remember to photograph them. This picture has always made me smile whenever I would flip through my photo stack. It's time it made it to a page!

Two Peas Refugees gave a March challenge that was a recipe.

• 1 photo or photo cluster
• 2 patterned papers
• 3 embellishment clusters
• 4 embellishments 

I've been contemplating that challenge since I saw it a few days ago. I knew I could do it. But...those two patterned papers...just two? Only two? But! There are so many gorgeous papers. How do I limit myself to two??

After thinking, I decided two would be simple. If it were the right two papers. Since a lot of patterned paper is double sided, I feel like using both sides is acceptable. One sheet...two sides. It doesn't say a thing about only two patterns showing! 

I decided to go with two sheets from Shimelle Laine's Starshine collection by American Crafts. There were a few reasons for this. The first was that they are gorgeous papers. I adore that collection as a whole. Another reason is because I bought two 25 packs of each of those papers at Tuesday Morning. I normally don't do that but it was only $2.99 a pack. So, if I used even three sheets from each pack, it's more than paid for itself. The final reason was because one of the sheets was one Shimelle designed to use as a cut apart sheet with various squares and rectangles of patterns. Galileo and Voyager were the perfect choices. 

Aren't they gorgeous? I just love all the different sizes and variety of patterns she used. These two as my patterned paper choices gave me so many options to work with. It was hard to hold myself back!

With a simple sheet of Kraft card stock as my background, all the different layers just came together. I used the A side of Voyager as my primary pattern. The B side is the first layer right under my photo.  All the other patterns came from Galileo - both A and B sides. 

I'm doing another challenge from 2PR called the Bash It Challenge. You pick five new things and five old things from your stash and use them. I used the feather, flair, gold mist (as paint on the wooden pinked circles) and my pinked circle punch for that challenge. I'm delighted to say I've now used up the pack of feathers and the pack of flair thanks to that challenge!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll leave a comment about your favorite pattern papers to use on layouts that you feel limited. How do you use what you have to stay within the boundaries of challenges?

Old New Supplies

I'm going through a bit of a Basic Grey phase right now. I want it all. I'm searching wherever possible for it. I may have just had a rather large box with 15 pounds of BG paper arrive at my house...but that's another post!

In early February, I found someone selling Hey Girl! They had most of a paper pad and a whole ton of embellishments. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the different embellishments were a mix of things I would have purchased on my own as well as some things I would usually purchase. (I'm looking at you, chipboard letters!) The seller had also included her scrap pieces. I was a little surprised but happy to have as much as possible. I set off to challenge myself to use those scrap pieces first. I was so happy with the two layouts I created. The only full sheets where the background pages. Everything else was from the set of scraps. 

Almost everything on both layouts is from the Basic Grey Hey Girl! collection. From my own stash I added Stickles, brown ink, some twine, staples, and one letter sticker (which isn't too noticeable sadly).