Are you a one kit person. When you do a layout, do you usually use just one kit? I am, and I wish I could change!! Oh, once in a while I will use stuff from different kits, but I wish I could learn to do it more. Any suggestions??? I was looking through Laura's thread of everyone's favorite threads and saw some of the coolest things. For example, all those wonderful brushes, and tabbed folders, and those Stamp Tramp kits are awesome, and those stapled sequins are to die for, and on and on-----. BUT, I buy this stuff and then it gets buried and I forget I have it!!!! I go to do a layout, find a kit and just can't think of anything that would go with the kit. Then days or weeks later I will come across something in my stash and beat myself up for not using it in this layout or that layout!!!!! HELP-----I want to expand more!!!!!
I absolutely understand! Maybe set yourself a goal of buying and then scrapping almost immediately (on the basis of once you have used something once you will remember it!). Do you use Pinterest? Another idea is to create a pinterest board for "scrappy supplies I own" and pinning the previews from the store onto it. Then train yourself to have a quick scroll through when you sit down to scrap so that you are reminded of what you have. (or you could go really old school and print off the preview images several to a page and sticking them on the wall in your scrap space or in a folder!)
I know a bunch of peeps who have a "Haven't Used" folder. They keep all of there kits that are bought, but not use on a layout in it so they make sure to use them. I also know a few who have a preview folder. They copy the preview from each kit into a folder and then scroll through the folder when they are ready to scrap. Try breaking out small - like with BYOC. All the colors match, so you know it'll go together!
I rarely scrap with just one kit. Instead, I search my files for what I want. My file folders are not the default blue folder icons -- I make them the kit preview images -- so I can scroll through my TLP folder and find papers, alphas, and larger items easily. And I type other items I'm looking for (ribbon, heart, star, etc) in the search bar of my files, which brings up a lot from which I can choose.
I'm a one kit person. Most of the time. But there have been times I've used more. Challenges that require you to piece things together, like MOC's Bingo challenge get me out of my comfort zone. So now I find it easy, even though I still am a one kit kinda girl. But when I do want to go outside of the norm, I use the search function. Most of the TLP designers (thank you so much ladies) name their files pretty great. So I just use Windows search to find say a scatter, or a butterfly within the TLP folders, and I get all these gorgeous butterflies that I can pick and choose what matches the layouts I'm scrapping. I use it quite a bit especially to see ALL the templates. I save them all as TIFF files and then I just use search to search for TIFF and up comes ALL my template.
I have a "To Use" folder where I keep shortcut links to new items. I keep shortcuts instead of the actual folders cuz I'm afraid I'll somehow delete or otherwise lose something if I put the kit in there. Anyway, it does help to use items right away. I also have an Excel file where I list things by Kit Name, Designer, Store (I use acronyms, so the lilypad is TLP), themes, colors, misc (like "BYOC 2018-01"), and Year Purchased. Having that makes it easy to find coordinating items. Let's say I'm working on a Christmas page: I can search "Christmas" and scroll through every kit labeled "Christmas" in my Theme column. Or I can look for colors. I put "bl" for blue and "gy" for gray. So I could search "bl gy" to find kits that have both blue and gray. Oh, and since I have a Misc column, I can arrange in alphabetical order via that column to find ALL of my BYOC goodies for a certain month, or all my DYD items. That long-winded spiel was just to say that there are non-scrapping tricks to help you scrap with multiple kits.
I am a one kit person as well. Some times I will use something from another kit but I always stay with the same designer. I am no good about matching different styles so by staying with the same designer, I feel confident that they will look good on the same layout. I have all my kits in folders by store then designer then kit. I put a copy of the previews in the designer folder and can scroll thru them to find what kit I want to use (I use Picasa which is easy to scroll thru).
I'm a one kit person too. If it's not kits (like BYOC) I feel a need to buy it all because you know, just in case. lol
We are soul-sistahs! I'm totally guilty of buying all the cool things & then forgetting about them! I've been trying to find a good way to use them too- so I like these ideas also! I have no advice for you other than- you're not alone!
Generally, I like to mix it up. I have some favorite papers and elements that I go back to often and I have toyed with copying them into a "favorites" folder so I don't have to remember which kits they come from. I use the search function pretty often - which has already been mentioned. If I know I want to use a string or a tag on a page I'll just search it in my lilypad folder and it will pull up everything I've got. Another thing that has been helpful to me in just forming the habit of using different kits together, is the BYOC here. You can buy pieces from different designers but know that they still all work together - just an easy way to practice.
I very rarely only use one kit and love to mix and mactch and find the obscurest items in my stash. I don't have a "haven't used" folder, everything just goes in its proper folder. But I am an avid tagger - not excessive, but it works great for me - and search in ACDSee often. I only tag previews, except for certain items I know I want to find later individually, so it does not take too long.
I won a copy of ACDSee fairly early in my scrapbooking journey, and used it to tag my supplies. Having stuff tagged by theme, object, designer, style, MOC friendly, colour scheme etc makes mix and matching supplies really easy. When I get a new kit I tag it straight away. It adds it to the system, and helps me get to know the kit too. I wouldn't attempt a tagging system like mine from scratch with a stash the size mine is now. You could tag just the previews assuming you keep your previews in with the kits. E.g. all these ones contain frames, all these ones are arty, all these ones have red in them etc etc. Most file viewing systems have some level of tagging/searching options in with them now a days.
@Angela Toucan Yes, I keep my previews with the kit and I do just that. Except I tag items like wooden backgrounds that need a little special treatment. And I tag favourite individual items. Without tagging (and without the credit tracker) I'd be totally lost...
I have my supplies set up by TLP > Designer > kit To start with mixing it up, try with one designer and mix match their products. Or try papers from one designer, elements of another. look at pages in the gallery to get an idea and see the kits people used to see how they mixed it up. Then follow their idea like an inspiration or scraplift. just have fun
If I could LOVE this, I would!!! I am currently working on a personal supply database so I love hearing about your Excel file!!
Spreadsheet users, UNITE! lol! I spent some time thinking about starting that Excel spreadsheet before I actually did it. I was worried about how much time it would take to add all my kits to it (I started DS in late 2007). Then I realized that I don't have to include every. single. kit. from the start of my DS days: instead, I could just create a ss and enter only the kits I had in my "To Back Up" folder. (That's where I unzip to.) Anyway, my long point is, for me, STARTING that ss was the tough part. Once I had that little Excel file started, it was easier to go back and add info for older kits. I just keep my Excel ss open whenever I go through my Kits folder to purge stuff. (I have decided to delete anything pre-2011 and almost all freebies pre-2015. If I look at the preview and I'm not saying WOW, then it's gone.) It feels good to get rid of stuff I don't need/want as well as organize the stuff that I do need/want. Oh, and I should mention that "extras" have their own Excel file. The setup is very similar except that I have a column for "Type" and I write if it's WA, JC, Doodles, Template, Action, Style, Paint, or Alpha. That way, I can organize the ss by Type and quickly see all of my WA packs or paint or whatever. I tend to scrap from kits, so this helped me use those packs that don't come in a kit.
This is pretty much me. Sometimes I start with a kit and pull what I think I'll need from it, then search out other pieces using search. Other times I might start either just a paper pack or element pack and pull the rest out from another set. I also tag my previews with colors - mostly generic (blue, pink, green) but if there's a color I usually have a lot of I'll tag that specific shade (navy, mint). I also tag the previews of my templates by photo openings so if I know I'm scrapping with 3 photos, I can find them quickly. This helps me use other supplies I might not have otherwise seen to use on my pages.
