Hello, Friends! Here at Cocoa Daisy, we are all about finding thinking outside your box of happy and encouraging ways to stretch your monthly kits a little further. What better way to do that than with a little mix and match! Whether it's combing elements from two adjacent collections or digging into your stash to find collections with similar themes, colors and designs, we love seeing you get creative with your kits! On the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page, there is always a lively discussion about which past kits pair nicely with the current kit. We love this conversation and the way a new collection can revive and inspired new ideas for memory keeping with a previous collection. Plus, it just makes cents ($). You may only receive one kit, so pairing with previous kits allows you to stretch the contents of each kit, providing more "bang for your buck". Now let's see how our creative team mixed and matched their kits. Jil shares some great ideas for mixing and matching kits. "My favorite way to mix and match kits is to continue working in the Simple Dori Traveler Notebook from the previous month, so that's what I'm doing here with the My Escape Collection-putting it to work inside the Tranquility Simple Dori. I love the black and white chevron design across the middle of the page. I made a photo strip of my watercolor sketches of chickens to run perpendicular to the black and white pattern on the page. I used the number die cuts, alpha stamps, glitter dots, and puffy arrows from My Escape Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit, but included a little washi from prior kits as well as leftover chipboard that fit my theme (a yes! for each chicken), and the Tranquility Memory Keeping Stamp Set including the stamp reminding us to enjoy the little things in life, which is what this page is all about! Have fun carrying forward pieces of earlier kits. They coordinate seamlessly!" Natasha is the mix master and enjoys this process in her memory planner. [embed]https://youtu.be/7wmn4bWUXGg[/embed] Carol's layout features a perfect mix of kits. "If you have leftover bits from a previous kit, consider merging them together for a mix and match project. That’s just what I did making this 12 x 12 Layout featuring Modern Memory Keeping Kit from both the Tranquility Collection and My Escape Collection. I also added in a bit of the My Escape Classified: Memory Keeping Kit, sharing how I made certain pieces work for me. Hope y’all enjoy watching the process on my YouTube Channel!" [embed]https://youtu.be/3H0hAvA97F4[/embed] How fun are these mix and match projects? Jil's use of the Tranquility Simple Dori with My Escape embellishments is a great one and takes the pressure off to "fill" the insert in a certain amount of time. Natasha's go-to technique of color matching with the color card can demonstrate just how well these kits go together. And Carol seamlessly combined patterns and embellishments to create a gorgeous 12x12 layout. Are you inspired to mix and match your kit items? Share with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page.

Best,

Rachel, Memory Keeping Team Blog Coordinator