Play more while creating

Hi Hi all, Ruth here with a share from the March Polly kits, I simply adore Amy's Plus One collection that was featured in the Polly March kits, well let's face it, there isnt an Amy Tangerine collection that I don't love to bits and it is sometimes a struggle not to buy more than i need whenever she releases one just so i can hoard it all forever because it is so lovely.. frankly I am overcome with the urge to squirrel away 100% of the exclusives when they come in a lovely package from Amy in the post! I swooned over these acrylic flairs and it was quite an act of willpower to put them in your kits instead of just KEEPING them all for me MUAHAHAHA!! (here are some of those gorgeous mini flairs in action on the layout)

 Hmm anyway, moving on from evil laughter and hoarding of exclusives to this month's project life share, which is taking advantage of Amy's design choice to have a black and white collection with awesome pops of bright colours. I decided to have a play with the colours and make a single side with lots of brights and the other side with all neutrals. I think that, for me, it is important to keep it fun and playful, as Tim Holtz is always reminding us, enjoy the journey. I try to apply that to crafting as much as possible and enjoy the creating rather than spending it focused on the results. The results are only one part of my hobby!
 Here is the bright side of the layout, all exploding with colour and vibrancy, I LOVE it! I kept the busier patterns to a minimum, only the black and white piece has a slightly crowded pattern so I left it quite alone otherwise. The rest of the papers are subtle patterns like brush strokes and small soft white patterns.
 Here is the other half of my colour playtime layout, with lots of neutral black and white and the delicious cork pieces. The photos certainly dominate when the background is so very much in the background!! I havent tried using so little colour before and was pleasantly surprised at the results. I have to admit though, it is less fun to play with neutral tones than my beloved bright happy colours.
Here is the full layout, and you can see that by sticking to Amy's collection for the full double page, the brush script, the hints of colour from the acrylics and the repeating elements like the camera and frame all help to make the double page feel quite cohesive. This would be harder to achieve if you were using a more eclectic mix of products I think.

I invite you to PLAY more, try doing something different next time you craft, for me trying one side without colours was a fun way to play while crafting. What would you like to try changing in your normal style just to have fun and "enjoy the journey" of creating. It is all too easy to get focused on your end page and forget that the whole point is to enjoy the time you spend crafting it!!