Hello there Canaries..

Bernii here with you today to share with you another of my Project Life spreads, although this time I am actually using the August " Bohemian" main scrapbooking kit and a couple of the left overs from the August "Gypsy"  Pocket Life kit. I have pretty much now managed to kill both of those kits and I am so happy with all the scrappy goodness I managed to make. So let's take a look at what I created.

Good morning Canaries,

I hope you all had a lovely Fathers Day weekend. I was lucky enough to have a quick visit to Sydney to visit my family. I spent the whole weekend talking! Loved it!

So today I'm sharing a Project Life spread that I created with the "Gypsy" kit & the "Nomad" embellishment kit. To add another little challenge, I decided to try to incorporate the September Sketch into my Project Life kit.  Here's the sketch.

I really love working with kits, because of the mix of fun papers & embellishments they include. There is always something that surprises me (like the arrows this month) that I wouldn't have expected to love so much. I adored this kit. Once I struck on the idea of the sketch & the black background - it really came together easily.

I believe there are still some available in the store here <insert link>. So if you haven't already, please check it out! Also, don't forget there is a fantastic offer on at the moment if you choose to start a subscription. Trust me, you won't regret it!

Hi Scrappy Canaries!

Hello there Canaries an welcome to hump day! 

I wanted to share with you today my latest Project Life spread using the August Pocket Life "Gypsy" kit. I have one word for this kit .. WOW !! 

The colours and the matching embellishments are just amazing!! Bright and bold - but so stunning all together. So different from last month's soft and pastel pallet..

This week for me was a busy week with loads of things happening in the Miller household. I went on a trip to see Heidi Swapp, my son turned 3, my daughter lost her two front teeth and I attended my annual Stitchers day out. So trying to fit them all in was certainly challenging. So I have included an insert and will also create some 12 x 12 layouts with the multiple photos from all those events. 

Hi There, it's Ruth with a couple of cards from the Bohemian, Nomad and Gypsy kits. I LOVE these bright colours and the stickers, ribbons and tapes were so fun I wanted to make something to share, so I whipped up a couple of cards from this month's kits. The only think that was not in the kit was the circle punch and the die I used for the word happy.

Both cards are a technique partner to layouts I shared previously in the month, this first one is the same idea as my stash busting layout which was filled with punched hearts, though this time I pulled out my circle punch instead and because the patterns were quite busy and bright, I left them whole.
There are lots of awesome embellishments in the kits that work for cards as well as other projects like the little circle tags from Chic Tags that worked just beautifully as a sentiment for this card, which I plan to use for a birthday but could really use for any happy occasion that we are celebrating, wedding, baby, whatever!

 Hi, it's Ruth here to share a layout using the Bohemian Scrapbooking kit with a bit of the Gypsy PL kit too, one of my very favourites with all those bright happy colours!
This layout started from the paper, I just drooled over it and wanted it to be as much the hero as the photograph, they needed to sing to each other like the sky and the sea and after a lot of shuffling I came up with this pie-chart style page. Bernii was sitting next to me while I was making it and I credit her with the suggestion of the stitching which I think is the perfect finishing touch, thanks Bernii! :)
Here is the whole thing, I used lots of things in the kit, the stamp, a lot of the papers including using the paint stripes to make the bows, I need to add the date on the right hand side in the blue enamel frame, but I forgot to do it before I photographed this. There might be one of these kits still in the scrappy canary store, but I would be quick as I dont see how it will last, this has to be one of my favourite kits of all time!

The second layout I am sharing today using the Bohemian kit is extremely light on the patterned paper by contrast, I used a white cardstock base and then used the paint striped paper in the kit to make a "messy without getting messy" layout. I was really drawn to the paint stripes paper and too a while to figure out how to make it work for the layout I had in mind.
I trimmed the paper into individual colours and then cut them at various lengths and attached them to a fresh piece of white card stock to make it appear as though I had painted the lines where I wanted them to frame my photo and embellishments.
I used the rest of the paint strips to die cut out the bows in the first layout, I know that you can tell if you look closer that the paint is on another layer of paper, but I love the way the colours work on the page, along with those flashes of gold in the title and stickers.
You can find the Bohemian kit for sale in the Scrappy Canary store, I promise you will have a ball playing with this fab kit, the die cuts and transparency are so fun and the gold is so fun!

Hello! It's Gypsy here again. This time around I wanted to share a whole bunch of pages that I have made using the January Pocket Page Kit Raspberry Shortcake. I'm a relatively simple scrapper and don't tend to use a whole lot of product on my pages. One of the reasons that I love using Kits to scrapbook is that they represent serious value for money- something that is pretty important to me as my scrapping budget is fairly limited. The fact that I get to use a whole bunch of product without having to buy a full pack or paper pad is great for me. I get to use a variety of products on my pages and I get to try some things I might not otherwise buy. And I don't end up with a bunch of leftover product that I am not inspired to use again (and again).

That said I still like to stretch my kits as far as I can and today I have a few tips to share for doing this. The 7 pages made below are all made almost exclusively from one Raspberry shortcake kit. I've added 12x12 cardstock, a few lettering stickers, some bits left over from a previous Polly Kit.


Tip #3 Use Washi tape in place of ribbon. I love this because I find I can make the washi tape to go where I want to- but ribbon sometimes has a mind of it's own.



Tip #4 Cut a 3x4 card and use it across your pockets to give your design a cohesive feel. I totally loved this confetti 3x4 card so was keen to make  it a feature on my page. I cut it into 3 so I could spread it over my layout and help to lead the eye around my page.



Tip #6 Give it a facelift- this card originally said what a wonderful day but that didn't work for me- so I covered the word 'day' with a small piece of paper and used the letter stickers in the kit to make a more appropriate title.


 Tip #7 PL Cards are not just for pockets. When I saw the card above I know it would make a great title for my non-pocket LO.

Tip #8 Punch or cut your own shaped border stickers from washi tape. The great thing about washi is that it is easy to pull up and stick down again. For the piece under the word 'everyday' I taped the washi to some scrap card and then used fancy scissors to cut the zig-zag edge. Then I just pulled it up of the card and applied it to my page. I did the same thing on the bath page with a scalloped border punch.


Tip #9 Use the packaging- The yellow washi tape on this page was originally used to seal some of the little bags that my kit came in- I carefully lifted the tape so I could use the tape on my LO... and also the bags at a later date.

Tip #10 Don't forget your stamps. The little sun stamps on either side of my "Perth wa" are from the Polly November kit- I think the sunny motif is perfect for our new home town. I love that Polly Scrap Kits come with stamps- they are a great tool you can use over and over again, adding even more value to the kit.


Tip #11 Make it smaller and hide it away. One of the concerns that people sometimes have about kits is that they won't like some of the items. The pink and green PL Cards above were pretty bright as far as I was concerned and not something I'd normally choose. But cut down and used in small pieces like this I don't have a problem with them at all- in fact I think they're perfect with these photos.



Tip #12 Make it work. I couldn't find a way that suited me to use these very cool wine glass paper-clips as they were. But once I cut off the clip part with a pair of pliers I was easily able to put them right where I wanted with a little rolled up glue dot. I love how they look with the additional starry fizz.  

Tip #13 Cover it up. This journalling card was absolutely perfect for this page about my word for 2013 'Story'. But the bird on the card wasn't working at all- so I covered it with a heart from the November kit which I mounted on some patterned paper and trimmed around.

Tip #14 Chop up your stickers. I used one end of this lovely label sticker for my title and added the other shorter end for the date.I've done the same with another of the stickers behind my journalling card.

Tip # 15 Have a small stash of quality consumables. I have a small set of spray inks, and twinkling H2O's that I use on my pages to add in some extra details. With these things, a little goes a long way- they allow you to add less to your page so you can stretch your kit even further. On the page above I have used the twinkling H2O's. They have mica in them which gives this lovely shimmery effect.


Tip #16 Use paper instead of ribbon. I've simply cut a v in the end of a small strip of left over patterned paper to make some 'ribbon' for my page.

Looking at what I still have left over the Raspberry Shortcake kit I think I could make another 3 pages or so when I have the time. And that's the other thing I love about kit scrapping- all the gear is already sorted for me- making my scrapbooking much faster and productive than ever.

Thanks for reading! And thanks to Ruth and the team at Polly! Scrap Kits for the opportunity to have a play with the Raspberry Shortcake Kit and share it with you.

Gypsy