Hello, Friends
In our everyday life, we use instructions and recipes to help us build, navigate, and create the “stuff” of our lives. But when it comes to creativity, we often bristle at the thought of using a blueprint to help us get started. Many think that we need to constantly come up with new ideas on our own. But we encourage you to take that layout created by someone else you loved and, yes, make it yours! We believe in “scraplifting” so much, that the owner, Christine, creates instruction sheets for layouts created with the memory keeping kits. Starting in February, there will be instruction sheets for both the
Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit and the
Modern Memory Keeping Kit. If you do not receive the kits, you can always purchase the sketches in our
Digital Downloads shop. The sketches are designed to inspire and ignite your creativity. As you will see in today’s post, our designers follow the sketches to varying degrees, but each spread is 100% stunning.
Evy starts us off with her take on this month’s sketch.
“I love sketches! I love them because they give me so many ideas and sometimes, they unlock creativity. You can always choose whether to follow them 100% or just take inspiration and see where creativity takes us.
In this project, I used this month's sketch from the
New Chapter Traveler’s Notebook Memory Keeping Kit, which you can also
buy digitally in the Cocoa Daisy store. For the left page, I simply printed the photo and added a title with alpha puffy stickers. Instead of the geo marker, I used a chipboard embellishment.Here is an idea: if you want to get the effect of the title imprinted on the photo, attach and detach the alphas several times.
For the right page, I included journaling strips with no stitching and a few die-cuts in an altered position relative to the sketch.” Evy’s tip with the Alpha stickers created such a neat effect on her photo! A few product swaps made this design all her own, and we love it!
Aimee is inspired by a joyful spread and creates a little magic herself.
“I just love a good sketch and the “Joy” sketch Christine included in the
New Chapter Travelers Notebook Kit for January is no exception! I love looking at sketches especially when I’m short on time or lacking in creative spark at the moment. Sometimes I follow the sketch rather closely, as I’ve done here, or they are more of a jumping-off point and I tweak them a bit.
My favorite thing about this sketch was the use of the scribble stamp as an edge or border; it really gives a fun look to the page.
I opted for one large photo instead of three and mixed up my paper and embellishment choices to really make it feel like my own. If you haven’t tried following any of the sketches included in the memory keeping kits, I challenge you to give it a try, you might fall in love with the result! Till next time, happy crafting!”
We love Aimee’s spin on this design. She can add her own personal touch to the spread, while still pulling inspiration from Christine’s page. And we are loving that scribble stamp border, too!
Natasha shares a layout inspired by a previous month’s sketch from Christine.
“From time to time, especially when I have had some time away from my craft room, I start to feel in a bit of a creative slump, almost rusty. During these creative funks, I often turn to sketches or “scraplifting” a layout I bookmarked on Instagram or saved on Pinterest. I know it is a fast way to jump-start my creativity by minimizing the number of choices I need to make to put the layout together.
I have been a longtime fan of hexagons so I decided to scraplift an
older layout from Christine and the Acorn Lane kit entitled "On the Menu." With so many beautiful patterned papers this month in the
New Chapter Traveler’s Notebook Memory Keeping Kit (truly, each paper was a new favorite) I chose a layout that could show off as many of the patterned papers as possible.
I followed the layout closely, but mixed up a few elements to make it work for me and the materials I selected. For example, I have one hexagon punch, whereas Christine used two different sizes. Even though I didn’t have the exact punches she used, I did not let that stop me. When using a sketch, do not get too hung up on exactly recreating the layout. If you have your eye on a layout, give it a try! Use the supplies you have in a way that embodies the idea from the original layout and I am sure you will have a beautiful final product that you enjoy putting together! I know I sure did.”
Natasha’s take on Christine’s design is beautiful! Notice how she used staples for the vellum pieces, maintaining their airy feel. Vellum can be tricky to adhere to your page but staples are always a great option.
Have you seen layouts that you loved and wanted to recreate? We encourage you to do so! Don't forget to share it with us by tagging
@cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the
Cocoa Daisy Fan Page.
Best,
Rachel, Memory Keeping Team Blog Coordinator