Digi Scrap with ANY kit at ANY time

One of the most useful skills I (Katie) have gained by being a team member and contributing writer here at The Daily Digi, is the ability to scrap with just about ANY kit at ANY time. When I open up a new set of The Digi Files each month, there are 7 different (and amazing!) contributions from 7 different designers. It’s my “job” to help show our readers what can be done with those kits. When I write posts, I illustrate my ideas through digital layouts and I use an incredibly wide variety of supplies to do that. I know a lot about how to pull what I need from my supplies and I feel confident that I could create wonderful and meaningful pages with any handful of high quality digital kits, even if they have specific themes. How is that possible? Well, I rely heavily on some of the tricks we have shared in these previous posts:

• Elements Go Chameleon
• Stretching Solids for Digi Scrapping
• Boy Pages from Girl Kits
• Getting the Most from your Kits
• Using Patterned Papers on your Layouts
• Five ways to get more out of your kits on Sir Scrapalot’s blog

I’m also willing to look at a kit in different ways, and I reuse a lot of digital supplies when I scrap. This approach allows me to go beyond the limits of  what a kit is “supposed” to be used for. I like the way team member Lauren Reid put it – “I think sometimes we label kits by the obvious theme and then forget to look at it again with an outside-the-lines set of eyes. Girl kits can work for boy layouts, Christmas kits can work for vacation layouts, Summer kits can work for winter pages…. Granted, maybe not ALL bits will transfer over to a new theme, but with creative eyes, you can dig up a bunch of bits to re-purpose, I’m sure!”

Let me show you how I use my “creative eyes” to extend the life of my digi scrapping supplies

When you look at any kit or group of digital supplies, scan through them with the idea of finding solid papers and all-purpose prints that will work with any theme. This Jubilee kit by Peppermint Granberg of One Little Bird Designs is perfect for a birthday theme.

Upon closer inspection, you will see that the majority of the papers in the kit are designed as solids and patterns that would work with any theme. These colors of red, blue, yellow, gray, and white can be used on so many different types of layouts. I can get a lot of use out of these!

There are basic embellishments that will always work with any theme. I love to find buttons, brads, staples, frames, alphas,stitching, tags, and journaling prompts or cards in kits because I know I can use them over and over. These are the workhorse elements that provide the finishing touches for digital layouts. This Seaside kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow is so much fun for beach projects and it would be easy to only use the kit for those sunny memories.

When you take a closer look at some of the embellishments, you will find that there are plenty of items that are perfect for multiple pages and themes.

Many kits are designed around a central theme such as a holiday or a hobby. These are wonderful to use for the designated layouts, but they can also be stretched to fit related topics as well. This Storytime collab kit Kristin Aagard & Nikki Beaudreau is a great fit for school and reading pages.

With a little imagination, you can use several parts of this kit for other topics.

Halloween kits are filled with orange & black, Thanksgiving kits have muted fall tones, Christmas kits have plenty of red & green. Pick out the prominent colors from these packs to use on other pages. This Season of Giving kit by Sahlin Studio has very traditional Christmas colors.

The colors can be “harvested” to use for other projects and extend the life of the kit. Here are 4 of the papers and how they could be used for more themes.

Be sure to take some time to shop your own stash and look for new ways to use old favorites. You might be surprised at how many ideas you can get when you look at your supplies with fresh and “creative eyes”!

P.S. Sue was the random winner selected from The Lily Pad post!  She won $10 in product from The Lily Pad!  Check your email Sue!!

P.S.S. Tamara was the random winner selected from comments on Friday to win a spot in Jessical Sprague’s class.

P.S.S.S. Ruth was the random winner selected from those that posted layouts in response to the reader challenge She won $10 in product from one of this month’s contributors!