February Kit Club And A Few Tricks

Hello, hello! So excited to join the Scrap Shotz Design Team. Pinch me! We have such a supportive community here and I am excited to be part of it. Also, I am really looking forward to get to know all of you.

This month I am playing with the February 2019 Scrapbook kit and loving every single bit of this beauty. The kit this month is all about the Pinkfresh Studio, Indigo Hills 2 collection and brings in some matching crystals and cardstock and wow!

I thought as a way to introduce myself I would share the first layout I made with this month's kit and  share some of my go-to scrapbooking tricks while I am at it. I used quite a few of my go-to's on this layout. Here we go, this is my 12x12 traditional layout called Moments.

Now lets break this layout down sort of layer by layer as a way to reveal my go-to tricks for you.

Let the background pattern do the work! When there is a fabulous pattern paper in a kit let it do all the work for you. Do not hesitate to use just a single photo on a layout and even push your pictures and journalling to the side of the background, etc. It the pattern is lovely, show it off! The background paper from the kit I used here is Pinkfresh Studio, Indigo Hills 2  - Eminence. I love it and didn't alter it in any way.

Find inspiration online! One of the things I like to do when I receive a kit is look for inspiration on social media for that kit or the products in it. We are a community that inspires each other - so be inspired. I went online when I got my kit and discovered the Pink Fresh Studio Facebook Group and would you believe they had this vine/leaves background cut file for free. Yes please! I cut it on plain, flat white cardstock so it wouldn't take anything away from the Eminence pattern paper behind it.

If its pretty, use the product packaging! For those of you playing with the kit this month you may have noticed that the Pinkfresh products packaging is have this amazing light grey/purple diagonal line cardstock insert. It makes a fabulous layer on your project. I cut off the branding and used it to back my photo. Best part is, it matches the collection perfectly!

If you love the ephemera, use the ephemera! If I had an endless scrapbook supply budget I promise you I would get 2 or 3 packs of ephemera with every collection I ordered. I love them! So pile them on, spend out, use em up, no hoarding. I piled every flower bit (ephemera to puffy stickers) from the kit as layers behind my photo. A tip, if you are going to cover half of the ephemera up cut it in half for another layer or for another layout. At least half of mine are cut in half on this layout so I am not wasting their goodness behind the photo.

Add some texture using string! I have loads of different string colours and textures in my stash and I love cutting off a long string, sort of balling it up into a loose knot and tucking it behind a photo or ephemera. If you have ever watched a Missy Whidden YouTube video you will know how my addiction with this string trick started. It adds such a great little pop. I use a colour that either compliments or contrasts my layout and sometimes use more than one colour. There is some awesome May Arts Ribbon - String Burlap in the Scrap Shotz shop in great colours if you want to give this a go on your next layout.

Use a black and white photo! When there is a certain collection or product I want to play with, for example this month's kit, but I don't have a photo that will match the colours - I print in black and white. I love how the muted tones of a black and white photo really showcase the bright features of a  collection. With this layout, I think it really makes that orange/blush color of the stems and flowers in the ephemera stand out. For some reason, I also think black and white looks more fancy.

My final layer on this layout was some paint. Once complete, I took a few minutes to just gently splatter some paints in blue, purple and orange gently around the photo to give the white cut file a little something. I really like the way it turned out. Its a little too pretty for me to add journalling to so I am going to do my journalling on a 2x3 pocket card and just attach it with a flap once its in my album. Oh maybe that's another go-to trick!

Well that is me! Thanks for reading. If you try one of these tricks, I would love to see. Please tag Scrap Shotz on any of social media channels when you share so we can oooh and aahh. Also, would love for you to say hi in the comments - I look forward to getting to know you.