Scrap Your Stash Using Kiwi Lane Designs!

If you're anything like me, you have approximately 245,000 sheets of scrapbooking paper in your stash, give or take a few sheets. Well, it seems like that many. And most of it is old. Really old. My goal lately has been to use up those partial collections that I have left in my stash. But every once in a while, I come across a full collection that I had been hanging onto. Such as the "Laurel" collection from Scenic Route. The collection was released in 2006 and I'm almost positive I bought it as soon as it came out. Which means it's been in my stash for about 10 years. It's about time it saw some action, right? Well, here's the photo-ready layout I made using my Kiwi Lane templates:

 

Along with the older paper, I also used brads from My Mind's Eye collections that were released at least 3 years ago, Doodlebug paper frills that are at least 9 years old, and Bazzill flowers that I've had for at least 8 years. Wow. I'm more of a supply hoarder than I thought!!

It's fun to buy new stuff, and I'd never ask you to give up the joy of shopping for new paper, but remember what you already have and use your Kiwi Lane Designs templates to breathe new life into your old paper!

Templates I used:

Abbie Road 3A,3B

Scallops 1A,1B

Madison Avenue 2A,2B

Tiny Wildflowers 1T,4T

Nature 1

Tiny Nature 1T

Tiny Brackets 4T

Wacky 2

12" Strips

Photos

**Love this layout? You can own it! Head over to my Etsy shop to purchase it- but hurry! It's one of a kind and won't last long!**

Home Decor with Mon Ami Gabby and Kiwi Lane

So I'm stepping out of my box for my post this time.... or maybe I'm stepping off my page... I don't know.  

Either way, I got to work with some splendiferous products from Mon Ami Gabby!  Have you ever heard of them?  Chances are, if you've ever gone to a Scrapbook Expo or Creating Keepsakes Convention, you've seen them! They are the company that has embellishments galore- and tons of super cute stuff!  Every time I've seen them at a show, I've had to hold back to keep from buying everything in sight (which they would have liked, I'm sure, but my bank account would have cried.).  Anyway, I was given a whole plethora of pretties to work with in shades of blue, yellow and white.  So much fun!  I wanted to showcase Mon Ami Gabby's products along with Kiwi Lane's templates and I wanted to step off the page, so here's what I came up with:

Supplies:  paper (Making Memories); burlap (DCWV); stamps (KI Memories, Hero Arts); ink (Ranger, Tsukinedo); paint (craft supply); jewels (Doodlebug); flowers, buttons, ribbon and crystals (Mon Ami Gabby)

Templates used:

Tiny Celebrate 3T, 4T, 6T

Paradise 4

Mini Scallops 2A

It's a little hanging tray with the following quote: 

"Shared joy is double joy and shared sorrow is half sorrow. -Swedish Proverb"

I've had this quote hanging around my scrap space for a while (ok, more like YEARS!!) and had always wanted to use it on something and never had.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity!


So the tray that I started out with was something my grandma game me a few years ago and had gotten buried on my desk.  I found it recently and had it fresh in my mind when my Mon Ami Gabby stuff arrived, and an idea was born!  Here's what the tray looked like before:

(Sorry for the icky picture.  It was late at night and I couldn't get the lighting right.  One of the hazards of midnight crafting, I suppose.)

I sanded it and put a coat of ivory acrylic paint on it, then scuffed the edges and corners for a shabby look.  Then I hand stamped the quote.  And that's why it's kind of funky.  I know the spacing is uneven and nothing is in a straight line.  It adds to the charm, right?  Or it reveals that I'm still a novice stamper, even though I've been doing it for 12 years....

Anyway, once the paint was dry and the quote was stamped and trimmed, I started to layer... and layer.... and layer!  That is one thing I really like about Mon Ami Gabby and Kiwi Lane- they encourage layering!  Mon Ami Gabby has this super cool burlap ribbon that has wired edges and is printed with a chevron pattern and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.  Only it seemed to be too overwhelming for my small scale project.  So I used my templates on the ribbon to break it up and keep some of the cute ribbon, without an onslaught of pattern.  For the top banner, I folded the ribbon in half and used part of the Tiny Celebrate 6T template to cut small triangles out.  I then used hot glue to attach it to the wire that I cut off the ribbon.  

For the bottom part, I used the Mini Scallops 2A template along one side and kept the wire on the other side so I could do some pleats. 

I loved how the Kiwi Lane Templates added some more depth to the layers of flowers, buttons, ribbon and crystals from Mon Ami Gabby!  I also liked that I combined rough burlap, delicate paper roses and elegant crystal teardrops on this project and it all worked together to make a shabby chic decor piece.  I hope you try some layering on your next home decor project- especially mixing elegant with rustic. You might just love it!

And if you have loved looking at the fabulous products from Mon Ami Gabby, they have a wonderful Pinterest board you can follow HERE  and you can follow them on Facebook HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!