Scrapbooking with a Kit: Freckled Fawn | September 2014
Confession: One of my biggest struggles, as someone who scrapbooks for a living, is how to integrate design team projects into worthwhile and substantial blog content. I want to both share the projects that I've created, as well as the supplies and techniques I used in the making of the projects.
I want these posts to be a place where you can learn something valuable, not just look at pretty scrapbook pages. I spend a long time working on my projects, and they're usually pretty cool. I want to be able to use those interesting projects as a launching pad for informative and inspirational blog content.
I love using kits. I mix both pre-packaged subscription kits like the Freckled Fawn Oh Deer Me embellishment kit, and the Studio Calico monthly scrapbook/card/project life kits, along with kits I'll pull together from stuff in my personal collection of supplies (more on that in a future post).
Reasons for crafting with a kit:
No more choice paralysis. I would spend hours just going through all of my supplies and looking to see if I had the perfect sheet of paper or the perfect embellishment collection. When using a kit, I know I have all the coordinating supplies I need right in front of me to complete projects.
Easy to stop & start back up. When I'm crafting with a kit, I like that if I need to stop for whatever reason, I can just throw everything back into a box and pick it up again later on.
Lots of inspiration. I love seeing how people can use the exact same supplies in totally different ways. Most of the major pre-packaged kit suppliers have design teams and communities where people share their creations to help inspire one another. Instagram and twitter hashtags are another great way to find creative kit inspiration. I share my Freckled Fawn OhDeerMe embellishment kit projects using the hashtags #OhDeerMe and #OhDeerMeKit.
It helps me think outside the box. When I challenge myself to create using only a specific set of supplies, I find myself pushing my normal creative boundaries and using products in new and unique ways. It reminds me that there is no right or wrong way to use scrapbook supplies, and to just go for it.
Today I'm going to be showing you how I used the Freckled Fawn OhDeerMe September 2014 Embellishment kit and Happy Birthday Add-On.
Favorite Items from this Kit:
Label/Pie Chart Stickers: I used all of these immediately. I'm loving the infographic look -- it goes really well on the white cardstock backgrounds I love so much, and these were the perfect inspiration to create an infographic style, all about me, layout I've been jonesing to make.
Glitter Geotag Stickers: The geotag shape is one of my favorite trends (is it still a trend?). They can be a bit difficult to use alone -- sometimes a bit bulky and awkward -- and I always feel like my handwriting always looks weird when I write next to them -- but I love the way they look all grouped together. The geotag is just a teardrop shape with a circle in the middle -- a great geometric shape. These geotags are covered in a great gold glitter that doesn't get messy and adds a great amount of sparkle without being over the top.
Enamel Stickers: These stickers are such a good shape. I just want to stick them on the top of like every list I write. They are vaguely reading themed with phrases like 'currently reading' and 'favorite book', but perfectly suited to layouts, pocket pages, and cards.
Tiny Flair : I need more tiny flair in my life. These are the perfect size for smaller projects -- they work perfectly on my 8x6 layouts. They're really cute and subtle -- I think I could probably use about 500 of the heart and star ones.
Arrow Paperclips: These were made for me. I'm a sucker for paperclips. I'm a sucker for arrows. And, I'm a sucker for the color yellow. So basically, these are my jam and I want to put them on everything. The thing I love most about the paperclips, is that they're great for office paperwork too. So now my boring stacks of paper get a little bit of color.
I created a ton with this kit. I wound up with four 8x6" layouts (two single page & two double page layouts) along with several cards. The OhDeerMe Kit is an embellishment only scrapbook kit -- this means that there is no paper included in this kit, which is a great way to use up your paper stash.
I added in some supplies from my personal stash, including my sewing machine, American Crafts cardstock, Black Ink, Kelly Purkey 'Bonjour Kit' cards, Life.Love.Paper. 'handmade papers', Heidi Swapp Project Life 'Gold Kit', and my basket of scrap paper (mostly Studio Calico).
Here are the projects that I created with this kit.
Layout One | Bookworm (kinda)
About this layout:
Inspiration: Between the 'bookworm' cork shape, and the literary inspired enamel stickers, I pulled together the common theme and created a layout about my reading habits.
Story: I am an audiobook person. My headaches prevent me from reading novels the way I used to, so I picked up audiobooks and I haven't looked back.
Tip: Without a photo to use as your focal point, it can be difficult to get started on a design. Creating a grid-based layout is a useful trick when you don't have a photo to anchor the page.
Layout Two | SF Bay Adventuring
About this layout:
Inspiration: The gold glitter geotags. I wanted to make a pretty design with them.
Story: Even though I'm an introvert and a homebody -- I love going on adventures and seeing the world.
Tip: Start with supplies! Not every layout idea has to start with a story or a photo. Pick out a focal embellishment (the geotags) and design the layout around that embellishment. Choose other coordinating supplies by matching the color palette, the shapes, or the theme.
Layout Three | Pop Culture Pie Charts
About this layout:
Inspiration: The Pie Chart Stickers from the kit. So Brilliant.
Story: An infographic style layout about the pop culture stuff I'm into right now.
Tip: Make a 'right-now' layout of the stuff you're loving right now -- books, movies, tv shows, food, anything that tells the story of your everyday right-now life.
Layout Four | Who What Where When
About this layout:
Inspiration: The cool transparent journaling card from Kelly Purkey
Story: A k&j date to Longwood Gardens for an Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes concert where it rained the entire time.
Tip: Use a pie chart to break up the details of a day. It gets the point across without having to write a ton of journaling.
Handmade Greeting Cards
About these cards:
Inspiration: I make cards while I'm making layouts. I'll grab an extra embellishment, or a scrap of paper, stamp a little bit, and then I have a cute card to send to a friend.
Tip: I keep a package of blank card bases on my desk so I can quickly make a card with my scraps.
If you have any questions about any of the projects in particular, please leave a comment below.
What are your favorite reasons for crafting with a kit?