Life Crafted with Krystal

Hi everyone! Krystal here with two spreads in my Life Crafted album for 2020. This year, I decided to dedicate an album to some of the "in-between" stories, ones that I don't feel require a full 12x12 layout but are too big to fit into my Project Life album. I'm using one of the gorgeous new Charcoal albums for this purpose, and I'm super excited to start filling it up!

I'll be using the February Add-on kit for both of today's spreads. It's full of beautiful papers from Pinkfresh Studio and Crate Paper, which ended up being the perfect compliments to the stories I have to tell! I'll also be using two of this month's cut files on my pages. The first is a subscriber exclusive floral heart, and the second is an adorable heart with paw prints, available in the shop.

My first spread is documenting a funny moment between my partner and me while we were on a recent trip to Cancun. I decided to use the rainbow "Looking for Sunshine" paper from Pinkfresh Studio as my background, so I trimmed it down to fit the album, being careful to trim off both of the darker colors on either end of the paper. I wanted to keep this page light and bright. 

I cut the floral heart cut file from the white cardstock that was included in the kit, then backed it with a sheet of vellum from my stash. I wanted to add softness to the page, and I wanted the beautiful rainbow colors to show through. When I adhered the cut file to the background, I was careful to only add adhesive around the outside edge. That way I could tuck some of the other elements on my page underneath the florals, making everything flow together and feel cohesive. 

I backed my photo with the "Beauty of Simplicity" paper from Pinkfresh Studio to give it  a bit of contrast and help it stand out on the page, then I tucked it into the floral on the right-hand side before adhering it down. I added embellishments from the kit in three clusters around the page and finished it off with a few of the enamel dots from the kit.

For my journaling, I decided to hand-write it around the outside edge of the heart. I felt like this was the best way to get my story told without adding a bunch of harsh lines to my otherwise organic page. Finally, I added the date of the photo using my roller date stamp, and then I could call this page done!

For my second page, I decided to cut the "Paw Prints on My Heart" cut file from the B-side of the "Meadow" paper from Crate Paper's Magical Forest collection. I loved how the dark forest green stood out from the woodgrain of the "Childhood" paper I used as my background.

For the opposite side of the page, I used the same "Meadow" paper, but chose the A-side this time. It has a beautiful floral pattern that works perfectly with my nature-themed photo. To help the photo stand out from the background, I added a matte of the minty green "Bloom and Grow" paper from Pinkfresh Studio. I also added a die cut in that same shade of green to the right-hand side of the page to tie both pages together. 

I added several die cuts around my photo to embellish it, and I included a couple of the chipboard circles from the kit on both sides of the page. I love the pop of yellow against all of the earth tones. It adds a brightness to the page that keeps it from feeling too heavy. 

For my title, I used the puffy alpha from the kit and added them along the edge of the heart cut file. Then I finished off the page by adding a few lines of journaling and the date below the title. And that's it! Both of these pages came together really quickly, and I was able to document two stories that would otherwise have gone untold.

You can all of the details to my process in the video below.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read my post. I hope you were able to find some inspiration for using your kits and albums. Until next time!