Making the most of your kits

Hello, everyone! I hope you've all been enjoying Creativity Week here on the blog. To end the week, I thought I'd share some of the things I do to stretch my kits. I've sometimes been asked how I get so many projects out of just one Coordinates Collections kit and today I'm going to reveal a few of my "secrets"! I've include some examples along the way, too, of my tips in action.

1. Follow the pattern. I like to save my cardstock for cards, tags and accent pieces, so I try to use at least one of my patterned papers as my background. My layout "Just A Peek" shows a fabulous boldly patterned paper used as a background. “Hold Up My Wings” and "The Pink Room" are a couple more examples of patterned papers used as a background.

 

2. Mix it up.When shopping for add-ons, don't limit yourself to the add-ons listed for the kit. Look also at add-ons for past kits that have similar colors, and those for the other current kit, even if they don't seem to match from the preview pic. Jamie stocks tons of stuff, and it's easy to find other things that match. And very often, I'll pull in items from previous CC kits. For example, my layout "The Sun" was made with June's "Jill" kit, but the BG "Max & Whiskers" paper was an add-on for the "Jack" kit and the Thickers were leftover from May's "Funky" kit.

3. Color your world. Don't be afraid to bring in a new color. For example, with the “Flowers” kit, I added some yellow to several of my projects, even though the main colors were clearly pinks and greens. Generally speaking, if your colors are the same tone, they'll work together. In my "Forever" layout, the yellow came from Pink Paislee Artisan Tape and some scraps of yellow patterned paper. In "Then There Were Three", I added green to the mix using the "Dainty Lady" kit.

4. Girls vs. Boys. Worried that you've got yourself a brood of boys but have a girly kit to work with? Don't be. Even the most feminine of kits can produce masculine layouts, and vice versa. Tone down pretty prints by using them in small pieces on a neutral background, like I did with my “Paper Bag Afternoon” layout. Look at all the pinks and purples and swirly stuffs on this. And, in "You Make Me Happy", I created a layout about my daughter using the "Jack" kit. By adding a big Prima and some pretty ribbons (remember tip #3 about introducing a new color?), I was able to create something soft a feminine from a "boy" kit.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. I'll be posting more tips during next month's Creativity Week, so keep your eyes open. Happy scrappy Saturday, ladies!

Comments

[Adele]

Fabulous tips, Kim! Thank you.

[Jes]

Thank you Kim!

[AmyBug]

You always amaze me at how much you get out of the kits. Also you are such an inspiration on using papers/embellies for other than what I would think it was intended. Thanks!