Hey there girls!  It is Mollie this week from the M & M duo of Merrilee & Mollie, heading up the 3 Kits 3 Ways challenge on the Designer Details Blog.  I am so happy to show you the three ways in which Creative Team members Debi {beehive50}, Amber {AmberR} and I {readstoomuch} have used these three kits from the Designer Digitals shop.

We always have new people joining us at Designer Digitals, so I’ll post what this challenge is all about (just skip this paragraph if this is old hat for you!) Every other Wednesday, Merrilee (digigrandma) or I (readstoomuch) choose 3 kits from the store and 3 creative team members to take the same 3 products and show you 3 different ways to use them. We tend to (but not always) use older products that you might have forgotten about or that you may have missed in the store and we always try to mix designers so you can see how well everything works together. It’s easy and fun and we would really love for you to play along and post your pages in the 3 Kits 3 Ways Gallery when you are finished. 

This week I have chosen these three terrific products from the store:

The first kit for this week is Katie’s Lil’ Red Wagon Kit.  This is one of the first kits that I purchased when I began to “hang out” at Designer Digitals a few years ago, and it has continued to be a favorite of mine.

The second DD product I am using is Pattie’s Staple It’s!.  If you don’t already have this in your stash, you will never regret adding it now . . . Pattie has included every sort of staple imaginable.

And, finally I think that we can all use journaling helps . . . and Lynn has included 23 delightfully simple journaling papers in her Journaling Spots and Strips!

And now here are the 3 Ways!

I knew that Amber {AmberR} would create something terrific . . . and she did!  Just look at this darling page of her two cute children at the playground.  Be sure to check out just how Amber so cleverly used one of MaryAnn’s Road Signs for Kids Brushes.

In addition to the 3 challenge kits, Amber used Katie’s Scallop Strip Masks & Watery Overlays;  Anna’s Stitched by Anna Brown No. 01;  Pattie’s DIY Acrylic Alphabet;  Lynn’s Worn Photo Edges No. 03; and MaryAnn’s Corner Stickers & Road Signs for Kids Brushes.

And, from the second Creative Team member Debi {beehive50} comes this terrific page.  If you are familiar with Debi’s scrapbooking style, you will know that Debi is very fond of solid colors & kraft paper!  As a matter of fact . . . I would say that perhaps only one from every 100 pages have a patterned paper on them!  So, when Debi volunteered I was a bit concerned.

Debi, I am proud of you girl . . . you broke the cycle!  D said, “I got a “kraftier” look by using the SOFT LIGHT blend w/a colored layer underneath!  So, the kit worked… and yes, ALL I used were the three challenge kits!!!”

For my page {readstoomuch} I loved using the papers from Katie’s kit {I just love the bright colors}, the journaling block of Lynn’s was perfect {I elongated it a bit} & Pattie’s staples are in almost all of my pages it seems!  I have used these extras from the store:  from Ali Edwards - Days & Months Hand Drawn Brushes, Hello Baby Hand-Drawn Brushes & This is the Day Word Art.  From Pattie Knox - Have a Heart Felt No. 02. From Anna Aspnes - Sketchy MultiFoto Frames No. 02, Stitched by Anna White No. 01 and Vintage Flashcard Words by Katie Pertiet.

Please join us in the challenge and post your pages in the 3 Kits 3 Ways Gallery. Remember that for your pages, use at least one item from each of the three kits from the challenge and any other DD product that you wish {or no other if you are a purist like Debi}. We’d love to see them!

Thanks from the M & M girls . . . Merrilee (digi grandma) & Mollie (readstoomuch) to each of you for checking out the blog today, and to Debi & Amber for their terrific layouts.  Merr & I love looking into the 3K3W Gallery from time to time to see just what you have created with the kits each week!  We are seeing that some of you are enjoying the challenge and are becoming regulars to this gallery, we are so glad that you are having fun along with the two of us!

Hope everyone has recovered from the full day of Saturday chats and are ready to hit the new week running! Does everyone have their Daily Dose calendar up? If so, you’ll see Bonnie’s sweet layout on today’s calendar page and that’s exactly what we’re using for inspiration. We want to see all the creative ways you can include brackets on your layouts!

Challenge Nine:
Use Brackets

Trying using them to highlight a portion of a photo, create a clever title or simply add a dramatic design element to your layout. And don’t forget to upload your creations to the Daily Dose gallery so we can be inspired by your work! I’ve asked three of our creative team members to give you some examples and did they ever deliver! I love the three dramatically different takes! Don’t you?

The Ultimate Glass Ceiling Credits: Layout by Kathie Ostgulen; Marina paper pack; Meadow Glow paper pack; Light Textured Neutral Paperie No 01; Absolutely Acrylic Aphabet No 01; Flower Gems

Jump! Credits: Layout by Stacy McFadden; H2O Kit; Glitter Thread Stitches No. 2; Stitched By Anna, White, No. 2; Felty Flakes; Purely Happy Paper Pack; Stitching Holes Brushes and Stamps; (mask) Bracketed Paper pack No. 1; FlowerGirl Font

Hello Baby Girl Credits: Layout by Jess Hunt; Polished Petals Linens paper pack; Milly Molly Kit; Yarn Swirls: Love; Bracketed paper pack No 01; Simple Tissue Paper Alpha Set-Pink; Absolutely Acrylic Pastel Tinted Buttons-n-Ties; Carpenter ICG, Flip Flop, Pea sdflenner Fonts

Looking forward to seeing how YOU can incorporate brackets on your next layout!

Congratulations to kchris, her layout Sisters Best Friends won the DesignerDigitals 4th birthday contest with your votes and wins an ipod Nano in her choice of colors!

Welcome to the 100th Saturday Scraplift. That crept up on me!

And the 100th layout we are lifting is this wonderful one by Shannamay (Sharon):

Such a fun page. I love how the playfulness of the photos is echoed by the playful titlework. Try placing letters a little randomly instead of neatly lined up! The torn elements also add to the fun, playful effect. You could try playing with different filters for your photos, just as Sharon has done. In PS you find them under the “filters” rop down menu (those under sketch and artistic are good). Use a layer mask - or simply duplicate your photo layer, then apply the filter to the top layer. You can reduce the opacity of that layer to mute the effect of the filter, or even erase parts of it.

Whatever inspiration you take from it, Sharon’s layout is bound to be a great jumping off point for your own page - as Fiona, Lynnie and Heidi discovered:

Credits: layout by Fiona, Stitching, Dark Textured Neutrals Paperie, OMG pageset, Artsy layered template and textured overlays 5 all by Anna Aspnes, Rounded Corners clipping masks

alphabet and watery washes brushes by Katie Pertiet, Baby Blue papers by Ali Edwards, flower from Sweet Rainbow kit by Mindy Terasawa.

Credits: layout by Lynnie, Soccer paperpack by Art Warehouse, All Sport alphabet brushes and stamps by Danelle Johnson, Grass, Sand and Sea paperpack and Messy Journaling brushes by Katie Pertiet, enamel sports accents and fasten its by Pattie Knox.

Credits: layout by Heidi, Worn edges no.3 by Lynn Grieveson, Weathered Neutrals Paperie y Anna Aspnes, Sweet Owl collection by Mindy Terasawa, Frosted alphabet by Pattie Knox, Metal clip assortment, I look up elements, Yarn swirls: Love and Pin-up vintage photo frames by Katier Pertiet.

~ Lynn

Our quarterly sale is going on now where every item is marked down 30% through Tuesday morning at 6am EST.  And we will be chatting all day on Saturday starting at 8am EST with hourly freebies to give away so don’t miss out.