Combine Your Kits | Melanie Louette

Hey SC peeps! It’s Melanie here, with a very quick run through of how I integrate/combine my Studio Calico Project Life® kits with my scrapbook pages.

I’ve been a Studio Calico Project Life® subscriber since (nearly) the "birth" of the kits in 2013. I can’t say enough good things about them. They are chock full of smaller scale elements that translate beautifully to a scrapbook page. I love how effortlessly I can go from the SC scrapbook kits into my Project Life® stash to mix and match embellishing a layout. There’s always a tiny little something in the Project Life® kit that works perfectly on a layout. I seriously couldn’t do without them. I’m going to show you how I combined the Odyssey main Scrapbook kit with my Odyssey Project Life® kit, using a few PL cards and some embellishments from the kit.

I’m all for letting the product ‘talk’ to me when I open my kits. I know what I like and don’t like, so I pretty much know right off the bat what will work for me. Most always, I have a topic in mind before I start a layout, and I always need a photo to go with said topic before I can begin to make my layout. The elements that jumped out at me from this kit were the acrylic stars, (in both the Project Life® and main kit, in different colors), the ‘Go into the world and do Good’ PL card (so great for my layout topic!), the turquoise number labels, and those beautiful gold text on black labels. These were all my inspiration for my layout about my soon –to-be 18 year old. (And I can’t even begin to say how freaky it is that I’m making a layout about my kid being 18, it’s crazy.)

So here’s my jumping off point:

I pulled the cards from the Project Life® kit and the number paper from the Scrapbook kit. I wanted the title to stand out, since I wasn’t really journaling on this page except for the song lyrics. (Note: I added a tag on the back of the layout with some journaling about my son right now. I’m all about guarding his life a little bit more private at this point in time, and I don’t think it takes away from the layout to not have it in plain view.) The Green Day lyrics are dear to both me and my son, one of my favorite songs ever, and a band that we both adore. And they are most perfect for the context of my page. Thank you, Billie Joe, I love you.

I wanted something bold for the title, so I decided on the Laina alpha stamp, which is a nice title size in a classic sans serif font. I double stamped it, first in black, then in Glass Slipper ink to go with the colors of the PL cards & embellishments I was using. I also stamped a few stars over the ‘18’s on the patterned paper to play up that theme. Then a teeny bit of the Kal Barteski text roller stamp from the PL kit, and my own handwriting to complete my title. After these things were done, it was just a matter of pushing the elements around until I came up with a design that I liked. (Sometimes this part takes me 20 minutes, and sometimes hours, I won’t lie.) I am a verrrrry slow scrapper, it can be painful! But after 10 years, I’ve come to terms with it, and I try to go with my own flow and not sweat it. I’m definitely not a ‘slap it on, get it done’ type of scrapbooker, and I like to take my time on a layout, moving stuff around until I’m happy with it. I hail the scrapbooker who can finish a page in less than 20 minutes!

Finally, here’s my finished page:

Hope this inspires you to try adding some Project Life® goodies to your scrapbook pages if you haven’t already- or maybe you are an exclusive PLer who has never tried scrapbooking and don’t quite know what to do with the extras you have left over from your kit - why not try your hand at a scrapbook layout? It may well be the start of a new obsession!

Supplies: Odyssey Scrapbook kit; Odyssey Project Life® Kit; Laina Alpha Stamp, Glass Slipper Color Theory Ink, Inky Black Color Theory Ink

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16 comments

  1. Blitzburggirl says…
    03/27/2015

    This post speaks to me in so many ways! I don't share my layouts on line, just for the privacy factor, and I'm beginning to conceal the journalling alot more anyway, since my son is 13, and visiting friends and family don't need to know ALL the details of our lives. Alsooooooo, when that song came out, I was in the Army, right about 20 years old, and got orders to go to Korea. I really really really didn't want to go- but had no choice. I went, and, to this day, that song takes me back to that point of mandatory change, that turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. And now, whenever I feel myself approaching one of those, that song is always the first song in my playlist. The funny part- I rarely realize I'm doing it. Anddddd to take this post a little bit back on topic ;) I moved 2 months ago, from NC to MA and packed up my scrap room. I was in NC 12 years, my son is 13, soooo many milestones. I spent hours looking through my books, and I didn't realize it, but I used different parts of those lyrics in journalling in no less than 4 places. I even have an entire mini book that features a couple lines on each page hahahahahaha!! That's a great perspective for a son at such an exciting and change filled stage of life :) Oh- I love the layout too! Especially how you used the PL cards at the bottom. Under the picture like that, they don't even look like PL cards. I'm scraplifting this - the moment I get my kits! (All the moving has messed up my mail something fierce!)

    3 Reply 0 Replies
  2. LauraEvangeline says…
    03/27/2015

    I just used my Odyssey card & PL kits to make a layout. I posted it just yesterday. It took me three days to finish - NOT 20 minutes ;-) I used the little map card on my layout too. I just love using maps since we do so much moving around and traveling.
    http://www.studiocalico.com/galleries/158851-gardaland-birthday-layout

    2 Reply 0 Replies
  3. maggie_massey says…
    03/27/2015

    oh, Melanie...this page is amazing. I adore how you used the song lyrics and that photo is incredible. What a gorgeous, gorgeous page...

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  4. Neela says…
    03/27/2015

    This is such a fantastic layout. Every element is so well thought out and so perfectly placed.

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  5. Nori14 says…
    03/27/2015

    fantastic layout!! and such a good idea! Thank you!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  6. 1Djc says…
    03/27/2015

    beautiful layout!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  7. melanielouette says…
    03/27/2015

    @blitzburggirl thank you for sharing your story. Isn't it great how music defines our lives? Glad i could inspire you!

    0 Reply 0 Replies
  8. Frenchie says…
    03/27/2015

    Love this layout, Melanie!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  9. melanielouette says…
    03/27/2015

    @frenchie thank you!

    0 Reply 0 Replies
  10. paperKraftd says…
    03/27/2015

    Love this layout. Your son is gorgeous! Watch out world!!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  11. LisaT says…
    03/27/2015

    Can't believe he is eighteen! Beautiful Mel!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  12. aniamaria says…
    03/28/2015

    Fabulous!!!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  13. sandi says…
    03/29/2015

    Awesome! I love to combine as well! You really did such a pretty combo....eye-catching!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  14. CarlaM says…
    03/31/2015

    What a beautiful layout! Thank you for the tips!

    1 Reply 0 Replies
  15. Sophiesticated says…
    04/01/2015

    I just love everything you make :)

    1 Reply 0 Replies

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