Hip Kit Club: Today

As I was brainstorming ideas for this layout, I realized I hadn't used the awesome circle paper from the Hip Kit Club May Main Kit. Often times I find myself reaching for a certain paper over and over again. When I find something that I love, I want to keep going with it. And, because I don't often use big chunks of paper, I can really stretch and prolong the life of a single sheet of paper. However, I wasn't going to do the kit justice by going with what I had used before, so I pulled out the circle paper and went with it, despite the fact that the lovely stripe/large chevron Dear Lizzy paper was calling my name ;).

   

When the new scrapbooking lines debuted at CHA in January, Pink Paislee's Citrus Bliss was in my top three. I loved the bright fresh colors and the fun icons-lemons, pineappples, flamingoes...and now, thanks to the inclusion of the line in May's Kits, I am even more impressed with the collection.  The colors are really quite beautiful.

   

   

 Happy Wednesday!

Michelle

Hip Kit Club: Three

Patterned paper is by far, my favorite scrapbooking supply and when I open a kit the first thing I do is slowly go through each beautiful piece of paper imagining the possibilities. So you can imagine, that when I set out to make a layout, my initial instinct is to "use all the patterned paper." LOL. Luckily, my inner-logical-voice tells me to narrow it down a bit and today I want to share some insight into how I do just that. When I start a project, I will first pull out all the paper. This time, I not only pulled out the paper from the May Main Kit, but I also pulled out the 6x6 Chickaniddy paper from the Embellishment Kit (I like to have choices!).

   

My first paper pick is always a big, bolder pattern with lots of color. For this layout I chose the multi-colored striped paper from Dear Lizzy's latest collection. This piece of paper will be what I base the rest of my decisions. When deciding on my secondary picks, or my "supporting papers," I look for a variety of patterns that do not compete with each other and colors that will compliment the first paper. I also will include at least one paper that is neutral in color. Here is what I ended up with:

 

By narrowing down my choices and following some basic rules when selecting papers, I was able to put together a combinations of papers that worked together as opposed to competing with one another for attention. Here are some details from my layout:

 

 

So how about you-how do you narrow down your patterned paper? I would love to hear from you!

Michelle          

Hip Kit Club: Sunshine

Do you ever have that one favorite photo where you are almost afraid to scrapbook it because you want to do the photo justice?  Well, that was me recently. During a recent zoo trip I snapped this perfect picture of my youngest daughter and as much as I was so excited to get this picture documented, I was a little nervous too. Often times, when this mental block pops up, my go-to response is to start simply. I nix all the grand plans I have in my mind and start with some basic blocks of patterned paper and go from there. This is exactly what I did for this next layout using a combination of May's Kits from the Hip Kit Club:

   

 This layout came together relatively quickly. I purposely went with a comfortable design to ease some of the self-imposed pressure, yet this layout is still unique and different from my others. By going with an "easier" design, I gave myself room to play with the details. Here is a closer look at them:

   

The flamingo washi tape that is included in the May Embellishment Kit is so incredibly fun and really mimicked the good time that my daughter was having at the zoo.

 

The combination of the Pink Paislee chipboard pieces and the puffy Evalicious shapes from the May Main Kit is a perfect match. I love the variety of textures that they bring to the layout. I also added a different texture by cutting hearts out of the Chickaniddy woodgrain paper and adhering them with pop dots.

   

 The addition of the wood veneer "Life is Sweet" was a last minute decision. To make it shine a bit, I sprayed it with a gold mist, something that I almost always do with my wood veneer. By removing the pressure of coming up with a design as fantastic as my photo, I ended up creating a layout that has since then became a favorite. Most importantly though, I have a fun and special memory documented. Wishing you a great day!

  

Hip Kit Club: Remember This

This past Monday I started off a new week of inspiration with a new layout on the Hip Kit Club Blog and today I want to share my project here with you .

   

When beginning this layout, I set out with the intention to make lots of layers so that I could play with all the fun patterned papers in the May Main Kit. First, I layered three patterned papers underneath my white cardstock. To add detail to the cardstock, I layered white strips on top of it at random intervals and anchored them with stitching. Next,  I pulled out a floral sheet of 6x6 paper from the Embellishment Kit to layer underneath the photo. Finally, I cut apart tags and layered them in two areas along with an October Afternoon label from the Project Life Kit.  Here is a closer look at the details:

 

Wishing you a great Wednesday!  

Michelle

Elle's Studio: May Reveal

Happy Saturday! The reveal of the exclusive May Kit from Elle's Studio is coming to you one day early this month. This month's kit is again packed full of fun journaling and embellishment tags to help you document your stories and capture your memories. Here is what you will find new in the shop for May:

May Kit

 

May Printables and Cut Files 

 

 Good Day Stamp

 

This month's kit and its coordinating extras have been released one day early due to tomorrow's holiday, however the special release price for the kit, $9.99, is good throughout the weekend! Yay!

Now here is a look at what I did with May's Kit: 

 

To see a complete list of supplies as well as more projects from the rest of the Design Team, make sure and stop by the gallery!

Michelle

Hip Kit Club: Celebrate

Today I am so happy to share my first projects made with the May Kits from the Hip Kit Club.

When the kits were revealed last month, I knew that I wanted to use them to open up my youngest daughters new album and that is exactly what I did. 

 

This is what her album opens up with-a 6x8 pocket page layered over a traditional style layout. The addition of the Project Life Kit to the monthly line up of kits makes it super easy to coordinate my pocket pages with my regular layouts. Here is a closer look at each individual page:

 

Whenever I have a smaller sized pocket page layered over a bigger layout, I like to include some coordinating elements between the two. I don't want them to be matchy-matchy, but consistent in color and embellishments.

Well what do you think? Are you liking the bright, vivid colors? I know I am :). Wishing you a great day!

Michelle

Citrus Twist May Reveal

First off, HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!  Love that we get our own special day :).

Second, today is the second of the month and that means it's time for the reveal of the May Kits at Citrus Twist! 

This month's beautiful kits feature beautiful aquas and golds with pops of color everywhere. With products from Crate Paper, Heidi Swapp, Webster's Pages, and Citrus Twist exclusives, the kits are bursting with creative possibilities.

I worked with both the Main "Life Is.." Kit and the May Sprinkles Kit. Here is a look at what you will find in both:

Main "Life Is..." Main Kit

May Sprinkles Kit

Here is what I did with the kits:

 

  

 

  

 

Something exciting to note is that as of last month the price of a subscription to the Citrus Twist Main Scrapbook kit has been lowered to $26 (plus shipping) to make it more affordable. Yay! 

I also want to invite you to stop by the Citrus Twist Fan Page on Facebook where we are having lots of NSD fun! Challenges, giveaways, and daily deals are all included in the lineup as Citrus Twist celebrates--and this is an all week long thing! 

Michelle

Hip Kit Club May Reveal

Happy Friday everyone! Last night the Hip Kit Club May Kits were revealed and today I want to share those with you.

Main Kit

 

Embellishment Kit

 

 

Color Kit

 

 

Project Life Kit

 

 

Paper Kit

 

 

Cardstock Kit

 

 

Wow, right?? I can't even begin to narrow down my favorites this month. First off, the color scheme is amazing and fresh. The blue just really sticks out to me, but the green is right behind it. And the embellishments--looks just like my scrappy wish list! The mix of manufactors is great too--Pink Paislee, Dear Lizzy, Chickaniddy, Pebbles, Evalicious.....and did you notice the bit of Crate Paper's Poolside in the Embellishment Add-on??  Wow, just wow.

 

Well there you have it, I have professed my love for these kits and hope a little bit of it has rubbed off on you :). I have linked up all the kits to make it super easy for you to see a detailed list of contents. All kits are available for order now and will start shipping the first of May!

 

Michelle