#challenge52kits Project 2/52

Hello again!  I'm back with my second project for Scrapper Emily's #challenge52kits. I know it's been a few weeks since my first post, but I got caught up in working on my Week in the Life album, which I will share soon, and prepping for sending my eldest back to school.

My second kit was a challenge, I won't lie.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  This is Studio Calico's "Roundabout" kit from June 2013:

This was... not my favourite kit.  This was the second month of my brand new sub and I remember thinking quite clearly at the time "what did I get myself into?"  Haha.  Anyway.  I find a travel theme challenging, as I don't actually travel very often.  When I do, it's usually to visit my family so it doesn't feel like travelling, just like going home.

I embraced the challenge though.  Here is what I had left of the kit to work with:

Sorry for the dark photo, it was late at night when I decided to tackle this one.  As you can see, I had a lot of the kit left.  I had that sheet of pretty cloud paper which was my first choice to use, which is why I decided not to use it.  Breaking out of the comfort zone!  So I decided to use the more neutral paper as a base, and got to work fussy cutting some arrows.  Here is my finished page:

And guess what?  I am pretty happy with it!  I was not keen on those transparency overlays originally but they helped to add some fun colour to my photos.  I pop-dotted some of the arrows for some dimension and I used the airmail twine as an accent in the empty corners.

Next up: I will be using the Roundabout add-on, Navy Pier!  This one will be fun to go back to.  As much as I didn't like the main kit, I looooved this add-on. :)

Blog Kickoff!

Hello crafty friends!  I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while and I am finally getting started!  Let's skip the preamble and dive right in with my first project to share.

This was all inspired by Scrapper Emily over on the Studio Calico site.  She had the great idea of going back and revisiting her old kits from when she first started subscribing, by creating a layout a week for one full year.  She has called this her #challenge52kits.

I immediately loved this idea.  I had just recently cancelled my scrapbook sub, for many reasons, not the least of which was that my stash is getting huge and I have been feeling too overwhelmed to create.  I loved the idea of starting from the beginning and using those kits again and seeing how much more I could get out of them.  Some kits I don't have much left of and others I have barely touched.  There's the fun!  A new challenge every week.  (Though in all honesty this will take me longer than 52 weeks, and I have decided that is ok).

So without further ado, my first SC kit was Planetarium from way back in May 2013:

Studio Calico "Planetarium" scrapbook kit

This was the kit that got me to subscribe.  So fresh and pretty!  I still love it.  I had very little left of this kit to work with (I should have taken a photo but I forgot; I will make sure to do so for the next project).  Of the papers, I had mostly scraps, and of the embellishments I had half the sheet of Basic Grey stickers, a few labels, some veneer letters, most of the twine, and some sequins.  I had to add: a sheet of kraft cardstock as a base for the layout.

This is what I came up with:

Lots of paper strips here!  I didn't have many options since I had only a few paper scraps and a few branding strips, but I love how it turned out.  The colours are soft and harmonious and make the photo of my son glow.  

Thanks for starting this new adventure with me!