I love to shop. There’s just something about how it makes you feel to get something new, a new shirt, a new kit…anything really. Unfortunately, in today’s economy, we all can’t just run around spending money. Most of us have to be very specific about the things we buy, and how we use them. In the spirit of stretching everything we purchase, I thought I’d share my five tips for getting the most out of the kits I buy.
- Tag your favorite basics – In every kit, there are some basics that I just fall in love with. Maybe it’s a nice kraft paper, or a simple white alpha, whatever it is, I give it a special tag so that when I am looking for a good basic building block, I can check out these first. Maybe you put them in a special folder, or keep a list…it doesn’t matter really as long as you know how to find them.
- Look for “inventive” ways to use theme kits – Earlier this year, on the blog we shared how you can maximize your use of Christmas kits with recoloring and such. This idea can be applied to any themed kit. A few weeks ago, Danyale released the “Hipster Dad” kit, which is great for hipster dads…but it could also be used for hipster teens or millennials, or a little one dressing up like dad…it’s important to think creatively about uses beyond the original use the designer intended.
- Use one kit to scrap multiple layouts…at the same time – One thing I try to do is complete a number of layouts at once using the same kit. That way I’m making sure that I am maximizing my use of the kit. I am sure that you’d be able to get a number of pages done quickly when you only have one kit to pull from.
- Keep your kits organized – How many times have you gone and purchased a birthday kit to scrap your little one’s birthday, only to find you had another birthday kit already in your stash? By keeping your kits organized and knowing what is in your stash, you can make more informed purchases and are more likely to utilize a kit again.
- Focus on the non-themed elements of the kit – many times you can look at a kit and start working with the parts of the kit that aren’t heavily themed. Sometimes you have to look beyond what the designer intended as the theme to start to see something a bit different.
Hopefully, these tips will help you get more from the kits you purchase!! I know they have helped me.
bbymks5 says
These are some great tips!! I really need to add tags as I download kits and go back in time and add them, I think it would help a LOT!!
Shivani says
Really great tips! thanks for sharing :) Now I’m inspired to go look at my stash with a different lens on!!!
Vrielinkie says
Oooh I hadn’t thought of some of them, others I already do so that’s good. I use ACDSee and I should put some time into categorizing or tagging, thanks for the tips!