Sunday, January 18, 2015

"Hey Girl!"


Hey all! 

Lately, I've noticed that there is a lot of discussion about the difference between buying things because you will actually use them and buying them simply because you feel the need to own it. Ya know, the difference between productivity and hoarding? Well, it got me to thinking about where I stood in that. Unfortunately, after taking stock of all of the stuff I own, I realized I was coming dangerously close to being a hoarder.  No Bueno. 

What to do? 

I heard about Noel Mignon last year. She offers monthly scrapbooking kits. I don't scrapbook, but I thought maybe this is something I could use for paper crafting. I went to her website and checked out all of the previous months kits and started drooling! Every one of them was amazing! They were also sold out. I figured before I took the leap at $59.99 a month, plus $11.50 in shipping, I should do my research. Well, I found no one could compare to what Noel Mignon had to offer. I felt like this was the difference between every other SVG company out there and SVG Cuts. So, after a "talk" with my husband, I signed up! 

I'll get into more detail about what comes in the kit and how it works below, but let me lay out my plan for you first.

#1. For the next six months, I can only use whatever I receive in the kit. I CANNOT buy anything else for any project outside of birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I mean, how awkward would it be to make a birthday card for my husband with sweet lil bunnies on it? If you've met my husband you would know. No, I'm talking the "I Am Making That Just Because It's Fabulous" type projects. This is what I spend the most money on anyway. 

#2. I have to use the Noel Mignon kit as inspiration, and I can only SVG Cuts files. I only use their files anyway, but the trick there is, while I have almost every file they offer, I've only used a fraction of them. My hope is that by taking a close look at what's in each NM kit, it will make take a closer look at my SVG Cuts files and use them more. So far, so good!

#3. I CAN supplement the card stock that comes with each kit. These kits are made for the peeps that scrapbook, so the amount of cardstock in each one is limited for 3D paper crafting . It comes with 1 sheet each of 5 coordinating colors of AC Cardstock. If you're using them for scrapbooking, that's groovy, otherwise, not so much. I have every color (with the exception of 9 colors maybe?) of AC Cardstock, so this will be easy for me. If I own all of this, then I should use it right? Hopefully by doing this, I will. 

#4. These kits can be progressive. Every kit comes with several goodies, that can be used beyond the life of the kit. This month for instance, there was a bottle of Heidi Swapp Shine Spray. I can see where if I don't give myself permission to use it, I'd put away and never use it again. That would defeat the purpose of this exercise. So, any pens, inks, sprays, etc. from a previous kit can be used in any current kit. Provided it coordinates of course. 

Just in case your wondering what exactly was in this months kit here ya go. I strongly suggest however, you go check out Noel Mignon's website and as usual SVG Cuts should always be your "go to" for the best SVG files. 

"Hey Girl!" January 2015

PAPERS:
5 American Crafts Cardstock: (White, Key Lime, Saphire, Shrimp, Kraft)  American Crafts Love Shimelle (Baxter, Harding) Heidi Swapp September Skies (Light Spectrum, Brilliance, Meadow Bloom, Aspen, Open Air) Amy Tangerine Stitched (Woodland, Thrifted, Moments) My Minds Eye Jubilee Wild Berry (Today, Hey You, Love, Hey You Gardens, Life) Basic Grey J'adore (Flirt, Truly, Sweetheart) Crate Paper Open Book (Sweet Story, My Words).

EMBELLISHMENTS:
1 package American Crafts "After Glow" Thickers, 1 roll Heidi Swapp September Skies washi tape, 1 bottle Heidi Swapp Citron Navy color shine spray, 1 sheet Elle's Studio white alpha and number stickers, 1 package Amy Tangerine rub ons (2 sheets), 1 package Heidi Swapp September skies acrylic stamps (17 pieces), 1 package Heidi Swapp stickers (2 sheets), 1 package My Minds Eye Jubilee enamel shapes, 1 package Jilliben Soup "Click" printed cork shapes, 1 package My Minds Eye Jubilee brads, 2 Maggie Holmes layered tags, 3 Maggie Holmes chipboard frames, 2 Jillibean Soup die cut cards, 1 sheet Elle's Studio "Hello 2015" stickers, 3 Prima felt bows and flowers (sizes will vary), 2 Jillibean Soup mini kraft envelopes, 3 Freckled Fawn star clips, 3 My Minds Eye flair buttons, 6 Maggie Holmes vellum die cuts, 2 yards May Arts Navy ribbon, 2 yards May Arts green silk ribbon.

When the box arrived, my husband looked at it and said, there's no way that it was worth $59.99. Clearly my dear sweet man has no idea how much paper can cost, especially premium paper. These kits come with a minimum of 20 premium patterned papers, all I could think when I opened it was HALLELUJAH!
Here are all of the embellishments that came with this months kit. I had this overwhelming urge to hold them all in my hands and laugh maniacally. Since my husband and children were standing there, I thought it was best to restrain myself and quietly take them to my craft room. 

I gotta say, I really enjoyed this. I mean yes, it's always fun to get new stuff to work with, but the really fun part was I had to take a long hard look at what was in the kit. Actually appreciate (for lack of a better word) what each page and embellishment was all about. This made me realize that not only was I buying stuff to just to buy it, but I never really appreciated it when I did.

I'm hoping to get another project done with this kit, this week, but in the meantime...

This is the book from the Attic Treasures SVG Kit. I don't think I stretched the bounds of my creativity too far given the theme of this months kit, but it was fun anyway! The Roses are from the Crush On You Boxes SVG Kit. The three lil flowers are the Impatiens from the 3D Flowers Part 2 SVG Kit. The Lightbulb is from the Bicycle Built for Two SVG Collection as well as the Frame (which is in the Layered Square file) that I stamped the "Let your light shine" phrase on. Finally, the Chevron behind the Lightbulb is from the Carousel Ride SVG Kit
I had never used Heidi Swapp's Shine Spray before. I have seen it used, and I've eye-balled it, but never could quite bring myself to spend the money on something I wasn't sure about. It's actually a lot of fun to use. I see the appeal. I was really conservative in using this. I sprayed the Roses with it and called it good. I used the Label from the Extras folder in the For My Valentine SVG Kit on the spine. 
I made four "files" to put inside the box. I made these so if you wanted to you could put pictures inside the frames. I couldn't take the time to go get any printed so I cut down some cardstock and stamped them. Besides, this way I could play with the stamp set some more anyway. 
The "File" is actually the optional inside shape in the Awesome Instant Photo Card from the Instant Memories SVG Kit. The Strip behind the "Love" ticket and felt flower is in the same file. I resized the "File" a lil bit to make them fit in the box properly. I also used the Instant Photo Frame and Photo Corners from the same kit. 
This is the same as above, with the addition of Banners. Those are from the Bicycle Built for Two SVG Collection and they are in the Layered Square file. 
For this one, I used the Strip and the Banner out of the Simple Stampable Card that's from the Cards For Mom SVG Kit
Finally, this one has the Chevron from the Carousel Ride SVG Kit.


Pretty easy really. I think this was more of an exercise in slowing down and appreciating what I have more than anything. Not to mention it felt really good not to run to the store and buy things I don't need. If I'm being honest, I'd rather just not leave the house project or not.  It was also a blast to use things I otherwise wouldn't have! Who knew rub-ons and flair buttons could be so much fun? 

I almost forgot! So.  Noel Mignon offers these kit subscription twice a year. The kits run for 6 months. From January to June and July to December. She will post on her Facebook page (which I can't link to at the moment, because FB is NOT cooperating) and her website when she's ready for peeps to start signing up. It was my experience that she put out the last notice in October (ish) of last year for subscriptions that started in January. She says she typically has some kits available to purchase each month without a subscription, but they go fast. And they sure do! 



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