Special Kinda Love / Hip Kit Club

Happy Friday!  I wanted to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club today.  I used the 2021 January Hip Kits and an exclusive cut file.  I enlarged the cut file to make it a really big title.  I like doing this because it helps me decide where my photos will go and it also serves as the big design element on the page.

I cut the title on white cardstock so I could customize it.  I used one of the exclusive patterned papers and based my color scheme on that...lots of reds, pinks and coral tones.  I tore a big chunk of it and attached it to some thick smooth white cardstock to serve as the background.  I coated the lower half with clear gesso to prep it for some watercolor, and I smudged a lot of white gesso over the patterned paper to soften it up and to fade out some of the flowers.  I wanted to add watercolor to both areas since the title overlaps the center of the page.

I used a mix of products from different kits on the background.  I used the Shimmerz Naughty or Nice from last month's kit and mixed it with some Lindy's Gang Cockle Bells Coral from an older kit.  I wanted a nice deep reddish coral color to go behind the title, but also wanted it to match the flower paper.  I decided to machine stitch through the title after I cut it.  I wound up sewing it to a scrap piece of cardstock using three different thread colors and then fussy cutting it out.  It was kind of hard to read like that, so I added color to each word.  I used some Lindy's spray from an older kit as well as the Jen Hadfield Gold Glitter Spray from a kit from 2019.  I love how it turned out!

The title had so much texture, and I like how it stood out from the background.  I did pop it up using some adhesive foam to make it stand out even more.  I also used a few of the rolled flowers from the Color Kit.  I wound up making this one here on my own from white cardstock.  I covered it with gesso and then color it to match.  Not perfect, but it works...haha.

Here are the two flowers from the kit...I did the same with these as far as gesso and painting.  I used one of the wood veneer pieces and a few chipboard stickers as well.

I love how messy and rough this looks.  And the shadowing effect turned out really nice.

There are a lot of options with these rolled flowers.  I rolled these very loose.  You can also roll them very tight so they're even more layered and dimensional.  I added some metallic gold thread here for a pop of color and shine.

I did add some gold splatters and a puffy speech bubble sticker.

I went with black & white photos so everything would stand out.  Sometimes color photos can get lost if they blend in with the background too much, and these photos stood out better like this.  I added this cute bird die cut here along with some pink thread.

And here are more close-ups :)

I hope this inspires you in some way...it was fun to make!  I love when a cut file sparks an idea like this.  Be sure to check out my process video:

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!