2016 PL Week Nine

Welcome back to our regularly scheduled programming for my Week Nine layout! I had a personal challenge for myself this week- use up some of those Citrus Twist 6x6 patterned papers I had adored but hadn't yet found a home for! Read on for how I had to change my thought process to find these a home!

So maybe it's because I've been watching Shimelle's weekly Glitter Girl youtube videos that I have become more aware of the subtleties of matching patterned papers. She is always talking about cream backgrounds vs white backgrounds and how to mix them together. Well, a few of the Citrust Twist 6x6 papers have cream (or dirty white) backgrounds that didn't mesh well with bright bright whites. So I took this (slow and little-photographed) week to work them in.

Looking back on a few of my spreads, I am seeing a recent use of horizontal stripes. I really like this paper, so I used it for 2 3x4 pockets in a row to give some continuity between the pockets. I kept it simple by adding a wood veneer word from Citrus twist (LOVE their wood veneers!).

This is a photo of snow on our windshield one more as we left for work. I am so over snow. I thought this would be a good place for the Studio Calico "nope" rubber word. It is bright white, but I think in this context, the white is almost like a color itself because the dirty white/cream of the papers is my background color. I added a little more contrast with some wood veneer chevrons from Studio Calico that I picked up at Tuesday Morning. Check that place out if you haven't! They have a ton of stuff and it's pretty cheap to bulk up your stash (if you need it :D ).

I also finally found a place to use this zebra paper! I loved it but I hadn't figured out how to use it.... until now! One of the Citrus Twist papers in this same collection came with a cut-apart type sheet. So I cut out the "hello" and sewed it on then used a wood veneer to add some interest. I also used one of the cut-aparts in the top left photo that says "love." In retrospect, I probably would have swapped those two, but what's sewn on is permanent! In the end, I like how it turned out and I'm proud I found a way to use that adorable paper!

I had also been swooning over this polka dot paper but I wasn't able to work it in to a previous spread because of the cream color. I thought it went really well with the spotty snow from the photo on the bottom right, so I added it to this page. My final hurdle was figuring out how to work in my weekly date card, which I usually print on white cardstock. I realized I had some tags in this manilla color, so I took a chance and printed the date on one of those. Love it! I am so proud of myself for thinking outside the box on this one!

Thanks for reading and I hope I gave you the courage to use supplies you normally wouldn't. If I can do it, you can do it!