Collection Disconnection | Little by Little #5 - Hello Joy

Hello friends! After a long absence (sorry about that!), I'm back with another layout in my Collection Disconnection series. This is a series where I take a single collection (this time it's the Shimelle Little by Little line) and create 10 different layouts, pointing out my tips and tricks along the way.

Today I wanted to share one of the ways I like to use up the extra bits and pieces from the sticker sheets and die cut packs that always seem to sit around in my stash. You know the ones I mean - the pieces that are cute but you have a hard time using them. They are different for each of us.

I created what I'm calling an "exploding photo mat" with all of those cute little bits that I'm at a loss for. And I love it!

I think the key here is to stick to a color palette - greens, blues, and yellow for me - and to let the interesting parts of the stickers and die cuts peek out from behind the photo. It doesn't matter what it actually is. It doesn't matter what it actually says. Just layer it in! Sometimes you have a few words that actually go with your story or theme...great! Put them on show!

After I layered all of that goodness, I added some journaling, a title, and a few intentional embellishments. I kept most of the focus right around the photo and didn't think too hard about it at all. In fact, this layout only took me about 30 minutes to complete. And that's fast for me! I also just noticed that this layout uses no patterned paper. What?! Yes. True. Wow.

You can watch it come together in the process video here:

I hope that you'll try adding an exploding photo mat to your next layout. Pull out all those glorious little die cuts and stickers that you've been holding onto and put them to good use!

I've linked to all available products below. Thanks so much for stopping by!

SUPPLIES
(affiliate links)

American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Wooden Buttons Stickers	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Sticker Book	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Ephemera with Embossed Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Stickers with Foil Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Puffy Stickers
American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Enamel Dots with Glitter Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Hello Joy	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Magic	Heidi Swapp - Color Shine Iridescent Spritz - 2 Ounce Bottle - Gold Lame	American Crafts - DIY Shop 3 Collection - Mini Stapler - Gold
American Crafts 1600-Staple DIY Shop Stapler Refills, Mini, Colored

LinkDeli.com

AE Digital Creative Team: Read Story Kit

When I saw the theme for this month's AE Story Kit, I knew immediately that I had to do a layout about our family's love for Harry Potter. As I thought about all of the things I wanted to include, I discovered that there were stories within the story so I decided to create a series of pages in my album.

It ended up being an 8 1/2 x 11 full photo layout, a Becky Higgins design J pocket page (front and back) and a 7ishx9ish insert. And I can absolutely see myself adding to this in the future. 

I love that this kit sparked that kind of story for me. If I was creating something solely based on my photos, it wouldn't have told the same story. Or it would have been spread across several projects and that wouldn't give the same impact. I actually took two photos (the wands and the stack of books) specifically for this project.

I love that the photo of the books shows the worn edges of the well-loved book spines. So much.

To document this story, I used a combination of the digital and physical Read Story Kit. I believe the physical kit is on a wait list, but you can get the digital kit and it is super awesome. I used digital stamps directly on some photos before I printed. The "Always" stamp was begging to go on this layout. I hand-lettered "Wands at the Ready", digitized it, and added it to my photo as well.

I also created some journal cards using the digital Silkscreen Journal Lines and I will definitely be doing that again. It turned out pretty cool, I think.

I made a process video for this project and it includes my Photoshop process for adding the digital elements to my photos as well as creating the journal cards. You can watch it below or over on my YouTube channel.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ali's Story Kits have changed the way I tell stories. And I couldn't be more grateful. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to check out the Creative Team Gallery (probably later this month) to see what the other ladies on the CT made with this kit.