The Realizations Just Keep Coming

First of all, thanks to everyone who left such nice comments on my post yesterday. They all mean a lot, and I'm planning a follow-up post, but I want to let things sit for a bit first. In the meantime, I've had another digi-scrap realization:

I enjoy making mini kits, since they don't require as big a commitment and you can try out things a bit easier since you know it's just on the small scale. However, I've felt like mini kits are just sort of the bottom of the barrel in the digi-scrapping world. It seemed to me that designers make them to give away, and then people like to download them, but no one really uses them. They just sort of float around, uselessly taking up space on people's hard drives. I'd always wonder to myself, "who really loves mini kits?"

Fast forward to right now when I suddenly realized, ME. I really love mini kits.

I have two main reasons for making layouts. 1) I do large projects, usually from trips, that I like to coordinate together. These require rather large bundles of specific things, which I like to make myself so that everything works just how I want it to. 2) I like to make random layouts of random pictures just because. For these layouts, I rarely want to use the same kit more than once. I want it all to be new. Also, if I'm presented with lots of wonderful things to use, I WILL USE THEM ALL, on one page. I can't really stop myself.


Layout

A good example of using all the things. This wasn't even a mini kit...

Clearly for a random scrapper such as myself who has control issues when it comes to limiting things on the page, mini kits are ideal. Even better you can get lots of great ones for free. This all seems really obvious as I type it right now, but honestly I just figured it out. And now that I have, I thought, could I use all my mini kits? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!


Folders

I have already rearranged my folders accordingly.

Are there any other mini kit lovers out there? Anyone else who loves to scrap randomly? Anyone else with control issues? It's always great to have company.

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Recent Comments

Rebecca Burnsworth
Rebecca Burnsworth Fri, 03/14/2014 - 08:36

This is so cute. I love the border and the paper. I love the flowers, the saying and all of it. I am definitely what some may call a random scrapper. I work in smash books to alleviate some stress in my life and have found that I LOVE random things put together. That's what my smashing is all about. :)

Tania Ruiz
Tania Ruiz Fri, 03/14/2014 - 08:34

I love mini kits too! Sometimes that's the perfect place to find a unique element, and I often find myself using most of what's included on the page as well. I definitely scrap randomly, I wish I could scrap in order to make sure every picture gets scrapped, but every time I try I get a creative block. I have to have the freedom to grab what inspires me in the minute, and that goes for both pictures AND supplies, which is where mini kits really fit the bill. Your layout is fantastic, thanks for sharing!

Lisa Lavery
Lisa Lavery Thu, 03/13/2014 - 08:58

I love mini kits! I have a huge collection of them and continuously scrap from them. It's great because I have such a wide variety of papers and elements to work from. A quick way to build an amazing resource!

Sonja Nelson
Sonja Nelson Thu, 03/13/2014 - 04:14

I love the mini kits. The large kits are just too much and almost make me feel overwhelmed.

Brandi White
Brandi White Sun, 03/09/2014 - 18:05

I'm not really a random scrapper but I'm fairly simple. I don't use a lot of 'stuff' on my pages. But I don't really work with full kits, unless I'm doing a gift album like a birthday or wedding one for a friend or family member. I use ACDSee to organize my stash, and I have everything tagged by paper or element, then by color or theme. That's just how I function. :)

Susan Cantin
Susan Cantin Sun, 03/09/2014 - 09:51

Mini kits are my favourite as well, both for scrapping and designing. I like to keep learning something different and mini kits keep that alive

Uniq Liu
Uniq Liu Sun, 03/09/2014 - 09:19

Normally I choose elements and papers based on my mood, with no rules. I guess I scrap randomly. ;)

Lórien Rezende
Lórien Rezende Sun, 03/09/2014 - 04:23

I can work with mini kits sometimes, but I confess it´s not my favorite thing to do. I like to have an assortment of things to cluster, and two solids (or a solid and a solidish) paper for each color... Sometimes I feel that even regular sized kits lack in stuff for me... Specially when the flowers are either all realistic or all flat, in a way they don´t look good clustered... And I don´t think my layouts as crowded...What I really like is the idea of co-ordinated mini kits...

Dawn Evans
Dawn Evans Sun, 03/09/2014 - 03:53

I make cards and other paper products with the kits I collect so it makes no odds to me if it is a big or a small kit - it's either a paper/element that takes my fancy or it's not. I have millions in folders "just in case" and my favourite ones that I'd like to use are starred and when I need a card inspiration I just download one and see what comes of it. That's about as random as you can get :) I also sometimes just look at the patterns/colours for inspiration on a painted/inked project.

Jamie Mu
Jamie Mu Sat, 03/08/2014 - 21:45

Control issues? I just say I have an eccentric style! I like to download stuff as I go while sorta having a theme in mind. I do not like to be limited in any way.. So I organize my folders by paper or by elements because I like to be able to see the whole pool. It also gives a jolt of inspiration while I browse through! :D

Jenifer Grace
Jenifer Grace Sat, 03/08/2014 - 13:10

You are soooo right. I love the little mini kits (which are always free) so bonus, and when I first started learning the ropes, that is all I'd use. But I've found I don't use them much anymore, unless I add little bits of different ones together to create an interesting SB page. When I first started, I was using MS Office (crazy I know, but its what I had and after learning thru trial and error very simple, but you couldn't do much by way of creativity) When I finally got PSE I went crazy with the coloring. Made it sooooo much easier to make mini kits fit better. I find that there is almost always one thing in mini kits I absolutely LOVE! whether its an interesting paper texture, jewel, flower, or letter. I guess what I am trying to say with all of this is. Yay for Mini-Kits! :oD

Laura Wellinghoff
Laura Wellinghoff Sat, 03/08/2014 - 12:35

I think I struggle with the same things...you list the two extremes! Wanting everything to co-ordinate for a large projects...(which might be why I've never been successful in completing those big projects!), and then doing short random things. I think that the second comes because of the first. It's always fun to mix things up, and needed as you spend so much time on one large project. The challenges, both layout scrapping and design challenges are great, and helps us all be accountable for changing things up and pushing us from our comfort zone!

Sarah Lewis
Sarah Lewis Sat, 03/08/2014 - 10:16

Mini kits are fun and manageable--so easy to pull a layout together quickly. I love the realizations that you are having about your designing and your scrapping. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings with us.

Sheila Reid
Sheila Reid Sat, 03/08/2014 - 07:40

I LOVE mini kits, they are my favorites, mainly because they do not overwhelm me and are so simple
and easy to play with, and like Kaleena says, they are sooooo like cute little cupcakes to me,haha, they are
just fun to have,haha.

Elizabeth Minkus
Elizabeth Minkus Sat, 03/08/2014 - 03:29

YES!! i love mini kits! as look over my collection of digiscrap (100's of gb) i realize how much of each kit i have never used. i make a couple of layouts then move on to something new that caught my eye. i've started feeling bad about so much unused creative art. mini kits make it easier to scrap according to my whims. and i just make anything i want to add that isn't included in the kit.

Nadia Slegers
Nadia Slegers Sat, 03/08/2014 - 01:00

Nice comments! I also love mini's. There was a time that I did not arrange my folders in kits but just in papers and elements. I use whatever I feel like, it doesn't have to be from the same kit. And I use the papers not only digital but also to craft, printing them on special watercolor paper and use them for bookbinding or other crafting projects.

Paula Kolarik
Paula Kolarik Fri, 03/07/2014 - 23:52

I LOVE mini-kits and they LOVE me! Full kits and bundles are great, but like you, I want to use all the awesome embellishments!! Very frustrating when trying to emphasize my photos!! LOL Marissa, just remember: YOU ARE AMAZING!! Thats all you need to remember! xo

Anita Phillips
Anita Phillips Fri, 03/07/2014 - 23:42

I love mini kits! I love making them too. I have learnt heaps in 3 months doing you mini kit challenges! Your designing and the designs of others on here are a true inspiration to those of us just starting out! Take today, whilst working on the April Blog Train I did some stitching work and remembered I had done it in one of the first kits I put up for downloading - talk about improvement! My first effort was awful, this one however I am proud of! I download heaps of mini kits and use them in my 365 scrapbooks. I have found loads of them on this site from all of the wonderful designers and some I have found through links whilst visiting blogs on blog trains etc! I had buy a portable hard-drive for everything though! To be honest I find the big kits harder to deal with, being new to scrapbooking. Just working with a limited number of paper and elements really helps keep you focussed on what you want to do! I dont think there are any I had downloaded that I havent liked something in! Even if it is just a paper, or flower etc... Some even inspire me to make extra bits for them - love it when people provide you with the colour palette! I have used loads of your work Marisa and enjoy it all! Thanks

Jess Townsend
Jess Townsend Fri, 03/07/2014 - 21:38

I'm always trying to fit too much on the page :P

Amanda Lopez
Amanda Lopez Fri, 03/07/2014 - 16:51

I am definitely with you here! I love mini kits. I like the selection that comes in a bundle/full-sized kit, but minis are definitely my favorite way to go. I don't do large projects though...at all. Everything I scrap is just what I'm in the mood for, a picture I came across and feel inspired to put to a layout, a challenge, etc. The fact that there are so many free is also a big plus. :)

Kim Legerdemain
Kim Legerdemain Fri, 03/07/2014 - 16:22

I lost my external a couple years ago and since then, I've downloaded over a thousand freebie mini-kits. At first it was kid-in-the-candyshop syndrome but now I still download them if I see an interesting paper or element. Some get tossed because of quality issues but most are pretty cool. Blog trains are super fun to collect because it's one palette and a big pile of different styles interpreting it. A good way to identify kits you repeatedly go to is put a symbol next to the folder name each time you use it, then when you need a big bundle, visit that designer's store. I love using mini-kits when I want to do a challenge, something funky or a theme to match my photo.

Tiffany Johnstone
Tiffany Johnstone Fri, 03/07/2014 - 16:04

You know I'm the same way lady! I LOVE using too much stuff and I'm so random with my scrapping. I love mini kits because it limits the stuff I can put on one page. I download them all the time, but I also pay for them as well. They are a reasonable way to try out new styles, and I never feel guilty about only using them only one time. I've downloaded many more of your mini kits than your bundles. I'll get a page idea in my head and many times I'll kind a mini kit to accent the idea perfectly. With that said, I have MANY more kits that I haven't used than I have. I never thought to organize them as kits used or not used. Good idea!

Meg Bertapelle
Meg Bertapelle Fri, 03/07/2014 - 15:59

I love both - mini & big LOL But then, I'm admittedly a digi-scrap hoarder ;) I can usually control the number of things I use in one design out of a big kit - but I get so excited when there's lots of things that I just think are awesome, and the ideas start percolating (especially when I see what someone else has done with it). One the other hand, I also like the simplicity and conciseness (is that even a word?) of a mini-kit - it only includes the best versions of things, and only what might be needed to make a small, simple project or just a layout or 2. I totally can see your point though, and think if you love them, then you should go ahead and keep loving them! and making stuff with them! :D

Kaleena Farmer
Kaleena Farmer Fri, 03/07/2014 - 14:24

I love mini kits too! I have to admit and first I thought "Why do I even download these. I will never use them," and for the longest time I didn't. Now though I think they are great for those photos that don't really go with anything else but I still want to use. I find that in general they have just the right amount of stuff for me - my pages usually don't have lots and lots of things though sometimes they do. Also lets face it the truth is cupcakes are just cute mini versions of big cakes and that is exactly what mini kits are ^^ who doesn't love a cute cupcake?!