This past weekend I put together another kit for April, combining three My Minds Eye collections: Stella Rose, Indie Chic, and So Sophie. At the time I purchased them, I must have really like the aqua and yellow combination, which is great because these three collections are easily interchangeable! Along with the 12 x 12 papers, I had chipboard from the Stella Rose, a 6 x 6 pad and die cuts from Indie Chic, and die cuts and overlays from So Sophie. Also thrown in were brads from the MME "The Sweetest Thing" collection, the paper of which I used up last week.
This is how I make my own kit:
1. The 12 x 12 containers from Michaels are the perfect storage for homemade kits! You can see through them, and they hold a lot of goodies all in one place. Be sure to get them when they are on sale or use a 40% off coupon for the best price. In my scrap closet, I usually have two of these that I fill and empty all the time. It is incredibly handy to grab and get something scrapping finished.
2. Next, I go through my paper box, where currently I file all my left over papers and collections by manufacturer and choose a color scheme that attracts me. From that, I go through the rest of the box and find all the papers that easily coordinate (usually there is a three color theme that I will use).
3. Third, I will go through my stash of embellishments and choose what is left from the original collection, plus anything else that coordinates with it. Thickers or other chipboard lettering also goes in the box.
4. Because I hate throwing things away, I have this drawer set on my desk that houses miscellaneous stickers, die cuts and chipboard. The next step will be going through these drawers and find anything that I can use up that matches my kit. I love to put all these miscellaneous pieces in this cute catch-all and leave it on my desk for easy access.
5. Finally, photos. I will go through my current pics or archives and print photos with my Canon Selphy, putting the dates on the back. This way, I have all that I need in one spot for when I want to sit down and be creative for a few minutes.
As the scrapping begins, I always check my other stash for buttons, twine and other things that are stored by color. This makes it easy to grab a small container and go through to find extra embellies to add to a layout.
The fun thing about shopping from your stash is that you can put together some real creative kits. I find that many of my layouts from a kit will look much more "scrappy" -- meaning that it looks more like a scrapbook page instead of something very coordinated. You can make it simple, or get more artsy as you meld your scraps together. Does that make sense? I personally like the different look as I go through my scrapbook at the variety of pages that I have created.
Since this destashing has begun I include one caveat with these homemade kits. Once I have used up all the paper that I can (including using some scraps for cards),
I will throw the rest away.
In the trash can. Never to be retrieved.
I will also go through the embellishments, and if I have tried a couple times to use them with different kits and they go unused, they go in the trash. You have to get rid of the old to invite in the new, right?
Try making some kits with your older stash. Let's use up that great stuff or throw away and move on. Who's with me?
