We are thrilled that Kate is our Guest Designer this month and she's just going to be awesome. She's kicking off the hop so if you are here direct, do make sure you head back there and give her a warm welcome. If you've landed her from the ever creative Libeeti, you are most certainly in the right place.
This month we were given an incredibly lovely kit by Gossamer Blue and I very nearly tried to get hold of one - just gorgeous. But no, that's totally not the direction I decided to take.
In fact, even though I had several of the papers in the original kit I went in completely the other direction. Hence the name of April's kit, "Opposite".
I still have 4 kits on my shelf from other months that are full of a mix of older and newer product so this time I decided that I was going to challenge myself to ONLY use old product. Nothing new. At all. And all my papers are from older BasicGrey collections and totally mixed up. This is really a use it or lose it kit. I intend to see how I get on and if I don't, then out it goes.
Rather than starting with cardstock as I usually do, I chose to leave that out altogether and just add it in as I need it when I use the kit. That left me with a starting point of papers and having decided that I would limit those to BG (which of course I have so many so this is a drop in the ocean) I quickly scanned through my collections and just picked out some papers that reminded me in some way of some of the inspriation papers. Stripes, spots, diagonals, chevrons (trendy before their time I might add!), yellow, black, orange, soft blue, a neutral. You may not see the connection to the Gossamer Blue kit, but it is certainly there. I'm hoping to infuse a modern feel to these older paper by how I use them. Let's see how successful that is.
Then I went to town with loads of old, old embellies. I added quite a few journalling spots and stickers as there were some of those in the kit, and some metal elements because I wouldn't be able to add in any veneer stuff in - too new! I threw in a bunch of old flowers and lots of gems to go with the dimensional gems in the inspiration kit. And pretty much anything else that caught my eye along the way when I was looking through my embellishment basket.
Journalling spots, stickers and some old rub-ons. Always a challenge for me to use without ruining.
Metal and chipboard - not my go to products any more.
A heap of old gems and pearls.
I've never really known what to do with these glimmer glass elements - any ideas?
And a heap of old flowers.
So as you can see, there's a lot of stuff in there and a lot that is several years old and even more.
My one proviso is that I will feel free throughout the period of using the kit to add in whatever I think the kit or layout needs! Yes, twisting the rules a bit but at least that way, I won't make myself feel too restricted if I can't seem to get the older stash working as I would like.
Opposite may be a long way from the original but I'm happy to give these older items an airing and a possibility to star on a layout. There will be a thinning out of this product as I go along I'm sure. My bag of giveaway stash for my niece is ready and waiting.
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to let me know you were here!
Here's the full list in case you get lost along the way. Now off you go to Lisa J who wows me every month with her whimsical style. I'd buy her kits any day!
Guest Designer: Kate http://kateblue.blogspot.com/
Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/
Wow! You've been thorough but good on you for using up old things.All those embellishments will go far.Good luck using it all.
ReplyDeleteYou are so truy to yourself with this kit! it is totally your colors, and I'm sure you'll enjoy using it. You've challenges your self quite a lot....
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your creative process making this kit. It gave me a few ideas for the next months...
Your kit looks as big as mine last month, I'm going to try a smaller one this month!!
ReplyDeleteYour kit includes so many rich elements. Still love the metal. Good for you for working them in and using them up. That will make way for some new stuff ;)
ReplyDeleteLisa, I love your idea for the kit. Very exciting to use up all the lovely BG papers. I just opened all of my remaining BG collection packs and integrated the papers by color with my other patterned papers so they would get used. I was surprised at how "new" some of the old papers look. It will be fun to see what you do with your kit this month. Nancy Jo
ReplyDeleteHelp with glimmer glass? I'm in line right behind you for that one.
ReplyDeleteMaybe as the focal element in your signature clusters?
Your kit hold close to the spirit of CKC, to create a kit from our old stash, and interpret the inspiration kit in a way that works for us. I always try to be literal in my interpretation, but this month I will aim fora different target. Maybe.
AMAZING kit!!! Loving everything about it!!! Can't wait to see what you do with it!
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Gosh. I love a good "use it or lose it" kit, but I am blown over by how gorgeous those papers are, I think you'll be able to do lots of very "current" pages with these older supplies. I think that glimmer glass would work well tucked behind your photos/papers with other embellies clustered on top. Can't wait to see what you end up doing.
ReplyDeleteSUCH a great kit and I am always a huge fan of your photography / technology skills. Things always look very pro on your blog, which I admire. Excellent job!
ReplyDeleteHow brilliant that fashion is cyclical and now you get a whole load of 'trendy' papers to play with ;0) Love the idea of use it or lose it....I may consider that for next months kit as I have already started to put this month's together even though March's is still sitting there pretty much as it started LOL Have lots of fun playing with your kit...hope you 'use' it :0)
ReplyDeleteSay what you will, but I love the opposite idea, after all, it's about the inspiration! I see the lifting in the alphas, journaling spots and use of blue and yellow. Great kit!!
ReplyDeleteIf ever anyone could make this work it's you! And when is BG ever out of style? Can't wait to see how this inspires your pages :~)
ReplyDeleteWonderfully large kit - you can never go wrong starting with BG - (says the girl who has a big old box on the way to her house). My question to you is whether this might cause you to scrap in a style from your earlier days? I'll be coming by regularly to see.
ReplyDeletegood for you using old stash. I like the key and lock pieces and my youngest is into gems big time.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing your layouts
I am a fan of BG and recognise lots of those lovely papers - they look really good mixed and matched like this!
ReplyDeleteLove that you have some old but trendy papers! I couldn't do a kit with just old stuff, I love my new stuff too much - I salute you! The rubs ons and flowers look great! x
ReplyDeleteSuper cute kit Lisa! I can't wait to see what you do with it!
ReplyDeleteBTW Thanks so much for the butterflies and the rubons!!!! I used a butterfly on my most recent design team project:
http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-new-challenge-at-clear-it-outflowers.html
Hugs! Katrina
Some lovely Basic Gray papers there...great, huge kit and you should be able to have lots of fun with it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done the Counterfeit challenge for a long time. I miss the days when they had the blog hop for the readers to join in on.
While I love the idea of making the kit itself, I somehow never feel connected to the challenge topics.
I do miss making my kits though...time to get using up the ones that are sitting in iris carts!!! teehee
Swoon. I love how by just changing the original intensity of your patterned papers and then working with the feel of those, you've created a kit that is much softer and vintage in feel than the bright, modern inspiration kit. It's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYour kit is so beautiful, it's hard to believe any of that stuff is "old"! I really need to do this...I have so many old embellies that never see the light of day. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDelete