diy kit: smile

i always want to share more thoughts about my layouts, but alas i am lazy.  recently, i have been contemplating this dilemma and came up with a five area system that i could try.  photo, story, design, technique, and product.  maybe writing a sentence or two about each of these areas would be a nice compromise.  also, using the header/colon system eliminates the need for segues.  seques are just painful to me. 

let's give it a whirl . . .

design: i've been into playing with patterned paper mixes lately.  this has been especially fun when working with patterned papers that I've pulled from my own stash (as opposed to working with a kit that has been mailed to me aka chosen by someone else).

technique:  the cards on the right were originally manila colored.  i used an ink pad and blender tool to color them.  i then decided to add a few splats.  i guess it's been a while since I've splatted.  my first attempt was with my reinkers and a few strong blows.  that went totally wrong.  i then remembered that perfet splats are achieved with the dabber tips of distress stains.  i used this method plus some well placed sequins to hide my distressing splats.  good save, doris.

photo: a copy of one my mom snapped of me when i was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding.  don't you just love the muted tones, blow out, and white photo border?  (totally not being sarcastic, i really do love those things).

story:  while the photo is from my cousin's wedding, my journaling is mostly about my personality.  i was a very serious child back then.  i was often perceived to have a frown on my face, but in actuality i was just a very deep thinker.  i still am, but i've learned to relax the facial muscles so as to be less intimidating.  ;)

product:  here's a quick snap of the patterned paper i pulled together for my own little kit.  i based them off of american crafts diy shop paper pad.  i actually had so much fun pulling these together that i added an extra row or so.  so far, I've made three layouts with this kit that all look completely different even though they use some of the same papers (you can see another i posted from this kit HERE).  i plan to do at least one project life page with it as well before i disband it.

for the two pages I've posted from it so far, i also pulled extensively from my glitter box.  this is where i keep stuffing all my leftover tags, label stickers, and diecut bits.  you can see it's getting crowded in there and needs to be used more.  i'm hoping to make more of my own kits like this, so i can whittle down my stash.