The Kiwi Lane Play to Create System

I am writing this post in hopes that some day I will look back on it and think "Haha I can't believe I used to post pictures like that!".  

I made this layout while sitting at a Craft/Vendor show bored out of my mind.  As I was marveling at how cute the paper was and how it worked so well with my templates I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the process.  Unfortunately all I had was my Galaxy S3 with a cracked camera lens.  I hope you can get "the gist" and we can all have a good laugh about it.  😂

First I am going to show you the finished project, to give you an idea of where we are headed:

Finished Page!  Maybe you are thinking, this looks complicated! But trust me, it's easy!

Cute right?? I bought this paper pack at Hobby Lobby and I just loved all the colors together.  It's called Gold Rush by Me and my BIG ideas. The only problem was there wasn't really a paper I liked for the background.  Easy enough, I found the background in the open stock paper.  Perfect!  So let's get started!

Step 1: Picking out your paper

Susan Budge, one of the creators of Kiwi Lane, explains it best so I won't try to reinvent the wheel.  If you have a few minutes watch her video.  This is the best way to use up all that paper you have sitting at home!

This is the video that got me hooked on Kiwi Lane!

So how did I pick the paper for this project?  While at Hobby Lobby I looked through the open stock to find a subtle pattern or solid card stock that went with my paper pack.  There was some open stock paper that was very similar to the pack I was buying. The rosy background paper you see in the finished layout above was part of that kit.  It also would have worked well for photo mats.

For the patterns I wanted some variety, both in color and pattern.  I really liked the stripes and the dots because they incorporated all the colors in the kit.  I thought the diamonds would make good mats because they were a very subtle pattern and would break up the solid rosy background well.  I liked the mint green and white stripes because they brought attention to the green color.

The four patterns I chose for my layout.

Step 2: Design

Now for some fun!  I like to start with the borders and frame my page first.  Looking through my templates Madison Avenue caught my eye.  I like the little "dip" it has, it reminded me of a heart. Then I noticed that Cascade Trails has a very similar little "dip" and would work perfectly to complete the frame on each page.

I had some sentiments that caught my eye, so I based the accessories around them.  I used Nature (arrow), Shapes (circle), and Sweetheart (heart).

This paper pack includes several pages of sentiments, similar to what you might use in a Project Life album.  They are the perfect size for Tiny accessories! 

 The beauty of Kiwi Lane templates are that they are see-through.
You can place the template directly over the text or picture, and trace!
I kept rotating the heart until I could fit the words, and a couple of the polka dots. 

This little arrow from Tiny Nature worked perfectly to cut out this arrow and still have some of the mint green included.

This circle from Tiny Shapes was just the right size.
I wanted to make sure I got some of the stripes because
BOOM, instant border!

Step 3 and 4: Trace and cut

Pretty self-explanatory.  Trace around the Kiwi Lane Templates to create the perfect look for your page.  Then cut them out.

The page so far.  It just looks like it's missing something, doesn't it?

There is one more step before placing your page back together, but I wanted to show you what I had so far.  I felt like it needed more.  I added a space for journaling to the first page as well as a star.  Both of these were from the Gold Rush sentiment pages.  I also added an additional sentiment (A Perfect Day) to the bottom of the second page.  I used Delight (a card border!) to add a splash of color and to anchor the circle to the page.

Step 5 and 6: Ink and Replace

If you aren't familiar with inking in your scrapbook pages, give it a try.  I think it adds dimension to your scrapbook page, and gives it more of a finished look.  Compare the finished pages to the above image.  Doesn't it just add some "oomph"??

And that's the Kiwi Lane Play to Create System!  Please comment with any questions, and if you would like to learn more I would love to have you at one of my classes!

✭ Kristin