Homegrown Page Kit: Mix and Match to Create Your Own Look

Hi crafty friends. It’s Kristine and I’m back again today with another Simple Stories page kit for you. In the last post, I shared how to use the Beachy page kit mostly following the directions with some extras. These page kits are ideal for the beginner scrapbooker to learn about page design. Today, I will show you how to can take one of the page kits and rearrange the layouts to make your own unique look. The best part: everything still coordinates since it’s from the same kit!

For this tutorial, I will show you how to mix and match the two double page layouts from the Homegrown page kit. This is a great way to advance your scrapbooking skills while personalizing the layouts. With the Homegrown page kit, you will receive four 12 x 12 background papers, 33 carddtock die cut pieces, and 16 chipboard die cut pieces. Since I also have leftovers from the Simple Stories Love Grows Here card kit (there’s a recent blog post about it), I will use a few of them in my layout. However, if you do not have the card kit, you can use the pieces from the page kit.

Rearranging the Layouts in the Page Kit

You may be asking why I would rearrange the layouts in a pre-made kit. Sometimes, there may be a certain embellishment that does not fit the type of layout you want to make. For me, the cow image on the second layout does not work with my theme. Other times, you may like elements from one layout with elements from the second layout. In my case, I like the first page of one layout and the second page of the other layout. My solution is to combine the page with “Family” and the page with “Together” into one layout. Then, I will create the second layout from the remaining pieces.

To begin, I will add all of the pieces to the “Family” layout. Rather than using the photo size in the page kit instructions, I will make my own photo mat sizes. Mine measure 3 1/2” x 5 ” for the landscape mat, and 3” squares for the smaller ones. Then, the “home grown” sentiment is a leftover piece from my card kit.

Moving on to the second page, I will add the yellow background paper to the left side of the page rather than the right. Next, I will remove the black and white print paper. The two border strips will match the first page. Then, I will cut two photo mats: one measuring 4” x 6” and the other measuring 3 1/2” x 5”. From the original “Together” layout, I will use all of the die cut pieces to embellish the layout. However, I will arrange them differently and also add the circular die cut pieces in the bottom right corner.

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Homegrown Layout #2

For the lefthand page, I will use the design included in the page kit with a few minor adjustments. First, I will make my photo mats both 4” x 4 1/2”. Also, I will move the yellow butterfly from the bottom of the page to the middle of the page along the lefthand side.

Then, the second page of this layout will be a completely different design. First, I will add the leftover piece of black and white paper from the first layout to the lefthand side of the page. Next, I will cut two 3 1/2” square photo mats for that section. The larger photo mat measures 4” x 6”. Most of the embellishments are from the original layout with the barn, but they are arranged differently. I did not include the cow die cut, and added the produce die cut along with several leftover pieces from my card kit.

I hope this post has given you some inspiration for how you can rearrange a pre-made a page kit. It can be quite useful if the embellishments don’t quite match your photos or the look you want to achieve. It can also be fun to design your own layout using just the supplies from the page kit! Head over to the FotoBella online store today to pick up a Simple Stories page kit and give it a try!

Until next time, happy crafting!

~Kristine, FotoBella Design Team