Hip Kit Club | Curiouser & Curiouser

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.
 
I love the versatility of the October Hip Kits from Hip Kit Club! They can be used for Fall layouts, everyday layouts, or even Halloween layouts...like the one I'm sharing today!

I used a mix of the Cedar Lane collection from Pink Paislee and Jen Hadfield from Pebbles Inc.. And I incorporated two of our challenges for this month. I took inspiration from the Gold topped pumpkin from the October Mood Board, and added in touches of Orange and Gold on my page. I also used the Sketch from this week's Weekly Challenge for the design of my layout.

And I can't resist adding cut files to my layouts, so I used one of the feather cut files from Nicole Nowosad.  You can have access to Free Cut Files, by signing up for a FREE account on the Hip Kit Club website! 

ETSY STORE

Simple Stories | Carpe Diem Planner

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Simple Stories to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.
 
This past Friday, some awesome news was posted on the Simple Stories Blog!  The new Carpe Diem Planners and coordinating collection were introduced!  The Planners will be available through retailers starting in mid November.  I've already had a chance to get started in my Coral Planner and wanted to stop in to share a few of my pages with you.

  
If you would like to check out more of the Carpe Diem Planner colors and coordinating products, visit the Simple Stories website HERE.  And if you would like to know where you can purchase these products starting mid November, visit the Store Locator on the Simple Stories website.  
 

ETSY STORE

Hip Kit Club | Hello Fall

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Give me some Fall themed papers/embellishments, photos and cut files and I am a very happy scrapper!  I am still going strong with the October 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits, from Hip Kit Club. For today's layout, I wanted to incorporate some of the Hip Kit Club cut files, and used the background cut file I created and some of the cute leaves from one of Kim Watson's cut files!

I started by cutting the background cut file from White card stock from the October 2105 Cardstock Add-On.  Then I layered it over one of the Amy Tangerine patterned papers.  Before machine stitching, I cut some of the background words from one of the Jen Hadfield papers and then placed them in the negative spots.  I really liked the mix of typography this added in the background.

 
Once I had the background completed, I added my photo and started layering embellishments from the October 2015 Main Kit, October 2015 Embellishment Kit and the October 2015 Project Life Kit.  I wanted to keep my photo and embellishments clustered in the center of the layout, to keep from covering a lot of the background work.  

I wanted to also incorporate some of the other cut files, included with this month's Kits.  I separated one of the leaf shapes from the fun Fall wreath cut file, created by Kim Watson.  Then I cut them from two different colors of card stock, included in the October 2015 Cardstock Add-On Kit.  Once the leaves were cut, I ran them through my sewing machine, to get a bit of added texture. 

I've still got more in store, using the October 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits, so make sure you keep checking in on the Blog and Facebook page!  And we've got some awesome Kits coming up!  Make sure you head over to the Hip Kit Website to check out the November Hip Kit & Add-On Kits and keep an eye out for the upcoming December Daily Kit!

 ETSY STORE

Simple Stories | Happy Holidays

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Simple Stories to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

And by Happy Holidays, I mean Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!  October through December is my favorite time of the year, and I love creating Fall and Christmas layouts.  And Simple Stories has you covered with some great collections for the upcoming holidays...Pumpkin Spice, We Are Family and Claus & Co.  Today, I'm sharing layouts using the Pumpkin Spice collection (with a bit of We Are Family mixed in) and the Claus & Co. collection.
 
Let's start out with the layout using the Pumpkin Spice collection (might as well stick with chronological order!!).  I had a lot of fun with this layout.  I thought it would be fun to cut a large pumpkin shape and then back it with an Ombre look, using patterned papers from the Pumpkin Spice collection.

After I cut the pumpkin shape from White card stock, I traced the shape onto a second sheet of White card stock.  Then I cut strips of patterned paper and made sure they were placed outside of the pumpkin shape traced outline.  Before placing the die cut pumpkin paper over the second piece of card stock, I machine stitched through each of the paper strips.

Then I adhered the die cut pumpkin paper over the background card stock piece.  I decided to mix in hand-stitching with the machine stitching, so I stitched around the outside edge of the pumpkin with a mix of embroidery floss.

Once I finished the hand-stitching, I started going through the Pumpkin Spice Chipboard, Bits pack and Sticker Sheet, to add coordinating embellishments to match the color of the patterned paper strips.  I also wanted to add some embellishing around the outside edge of the pumpkin, so I added a mix of embellishments, as well as Enamel Dots.
 
This look can be created with lots of different shapes and collections!  Hearts, stars, a large letter, etc. would work great to create this same effect on your layout!

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On my second layout, I used the gorgeous Claus & Co. collection.  I took this photo of my hubby and the kids last year on Christmas Eve, as they were checking out the Santa tracker.  I loved that it was a candid shot, with no one making faces, crying or hitting brother or sister!  HA!  It was one of those photos I wanted to save for just the right collection, and Claus & Co. fit the bill!

I knew I wanted to use the frames from this collection in a prominent way on my layout.  So I started by mixing three patterned papers in the background, and then added a mix of the Chipboard Frames to the right hand side of the layout.

I placed the frames on the layout, and moved them around several times, to get just the right placement.  When I had them where I wanted them, I went ahead and adhered each one.  The frames made perfect spots to add embellishments from the Claus & Co. collection.  I added a mix of Chipboard, Stickers, Bradz and Wood Veneers to each of the frames to give the layout dimension and texture.

I finished the layout, by adding my title on the left hand side of the page, to balance out the design.  It also created a visual triangle on my layout, that helps to guide your eye around the page. 
 
So whether you are scrapping photos from Christmases past, looking forward to creating new layouts for this season, or prepping your December Daily, the Claus & Co. collection is perfect for documenting all of your holiday memories!!

ETSY STORE

Hip Kit Club | First Day of Fall

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Today, I am sharing my first Hip Kit Club layout for our newest term, using the October 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits!  This time around, we are doing things a bit differently.  The Design Team is alternating weeks posting on the Hip Kit Facebook page and the Blog.  So make sure you're following on FB, to see weekly posts and check the Blog for full posts too!

Here's the layout, that I created with a mix of product from the October 2015 Main Kit, October 2015 Embellishment Kit and the October 2015 Project Life Kit.

I wanted to use the patterned papers from the Kit, to create a decorative background.  I cut 2.5 inch squares from several of the patterned papers and then cut each one in half.  Then I placed the squares back together, mixing the patterns and then added machine stitching for a quilted look.  I finished by adding my photo and embellishments in a grid design! 

Thanks for stopping in today, and I'll be back next Thursday, with a new layout with the October Kits!

 ETSY STORE

Hip Kit Club | Fabulously Fallish

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

The October 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits from Hip Kit Club landed on my doorstep this past weekend, so Fall can officially begin!  There are so many fun Fall goodies in this month's Kits, and I am kind of giddy since Fall is my favorite season.  Granted, sometimes Fall just kind of passes us by down here in the south, but I'm determined to enjoy any little bit of it.  While I was out enjoying the nice weather this past Saturday, a squirrel was visiting and snacking on some flowers.  I snapped a few photos of him and knew I wanted to use the picture on my first layout this month!

I started the layout by layering a couple of cards from the October 2015 Project Life Kit behind my photo.  Before adding the photo to the background paper from the October 2015 Main Kit, I used a brown pen to trace the plus sign design from the stencil included in the October 2015 Color Add-On.  Then I cut a few leaves on my Silhouette Cameo, and added coordinating water colors to the background paper, before stitching the leaves down.

I used a mix of the Evalicious Navy Puffy Alphabet Stickers and Dear Lizzy Thickers from the Project Life and Main Kits for my title.  I always love to mix typography in my titles.  And the mix of embellishments from the October 2015 Embellishment Kit, Project Life Kit and Main Kit, were perfect for adding the finishing touches to my layout!

I can't wait to get started on more layouts, with this month's Kits!  And we also have new Cut Files and Printables to go along with the Kit this month.  Make sure you visit the Hip Kit Club Website and sign up for a FREE account to have access to each month's downloads!

ETSY STORE

Hip Kit Club | We Are Better Together

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Hip Kit Club to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

When I start a layout, I usually have some idea in mind of where I am going with the design.  But for this layout, I had zip, zilch, nada!!  So instead of sitting for an hour and wondering what I should do, I just kind of jumped in.  I grabbed one of the Documentary patterned papers from the September 2015 Main Kit from Hip Kit Club and cut some hearts.  I mixed the hearts by using the multi-colored Ampersand side and then added in a few hearts from the opposite wood grain side.

I liked the way this look turned out in the background, because it allowed me to use some of the patterned paper from the Kit, without the background being completely overwhelming.  Layering the patterned paper hearts over White cardstock from the September 2015 Cardstock Add-On, gave the base of the layout a bit of a cleaner look.

I wanted to create a vertical design with my photo and a few embellishments, to avoid covering up too much of the background.  The "We Are Better Together" tag from the Amy Tangerine Bits pack in the Main Kit, worked great for the title of my layout.  And I used one of the Crate Paper Die Cut Words and a few Crate Paper Chipboard pieces from the September 2015 Embellishment Kit, to add a bit of dimension to my layout.  I also love that you can adjust those Chipboard pieces, by removing part of the backing and lessening the dimension of the different pieces.

And I couldn't resist adding in a bit of stamping with the cute Elle's Studio alpha stamp set, included in the September 2015 Color Add-On Kit.  I thought about coloring over them with the Distress Markers also included in the Color Kit, but I wanted a bit more of a contrast, so I went with a Black ink pad instead.  I liked the end result of our daughter and son's initials stamped in the background of the layout.

I was really happy with the end result of my layout, considering my lack of a plan!  That's one of the great things about the Kits from Hip Kit Club, you don't have to over think it.  So much of the work is done for you, because of the amazing products included every month!  If you are thinking about subscribing, now is a perfect time!  Just head over to the Hip Kit Club website and check out the upcoming October 2015 Hip Kits and the information for becoming a new Subscriber!

And before I go, I'm so excited to be staying on with Hip Kit Club for another term.  I LOVE working with the Kits, and I am looking forward to working with everyone for the upcoming term!  

 ETSY STORE