Do you have any great tips for using Kit Club kits?

If you're struggling to the point of having only made 2 layouts after 18 months of subbing, I think you need to try a radically different approach because whatever you're doing just isn't working. And perhaps the radical approach is that you need to quit your commitment.

When I used to sub and got to the point of trying to kill a kit (which was vital since I live in a small space with no scrap room/stash corner), I'd just take the kit that needed to *poof* out of my life and look at the colours, the theme if it was very restrictive and use my brain to think of photos that would work with it.  That was the easiest way for me to make sure the kit was gone (or at the very least greaty diminished) by the end of my scrap session.

However, I worked the other way around when a new kit would arrive through the mail. Since I subbed to a kit from the same hemisphere, it was usually relatively easy to make some of my recent photos work with the latest kit. Colours and seasonal themes were in sync. For me, the trick was really to use the kits as they came and to maximise the excitement of getting something new in the mail. Get the kit, ooh and aah over the content, print a photo and get down to scrappy business without remorse. Otherwise, they'd just turn into a pile gathering dust, making them expensive things to unbox but not use.

Adele from Inkie Quill does regular Kit Crashers videos (although they're mostly for Project life but here's one for a layout and another) as well as Collection Confusion process videos (this one and that one) if you want some general inspiration on how to use a kit up no matter what, even if the theme doesn't fit the season or the colours aren't to your liking. Perhaps it'll help you to take on the challenge rather than think it through too much and delay using them even longer? At some point, you've just got to jump in with both feet... well scrappy hands.

Best of luck! Just remind yourself that kits are based on current trends. If you keep waiting, you'll end up uninspired with outdated supplies and possibly a negative feeling when you realise how much money has been poured into unused goods.

ETA: like Frazzled Mom , I struggled with Studio Calico. Those kits just demanded I went fishing for other supplies and it drove me nuts.

I find that some kits just speak to me, and others are just not what I need. I have a few suggestions, but you really have to look at how YOU scrap to figure out what to do.

Are you afraid to cut into the papers because they are a limited resource? I have trouble with that with kits I really love. I hoard them, in case I have the PERFECT story to tell with them. I have talked myself into letting go, and if I don't have any more of those pretties later, there will be others I can use.

Do you not want to cover up the graphics on the page? I have had that happen with gorgeous pp that I feel I can't use because my photos and journaling and title--you know, the stuff I scrap about--will ruin the effect of the paper. I have found that I can overcome that by fussy cutting the edge of an image and tucking photos or journaling cards underneath. Or using an Xacto knife to cut out an image buried under another element and then tucking it into a cluster like I would a diecut.

Can you switch to a different club? Or a different kit within the same club? If you think about what you usually scrap and then look for kits that fit that, maybe you will find one that works for you better than the one you have. The one kit club I still subscribe to is a little more feminine and artsy than I really need. I keep getting it because I would never even look for some of those supplies, and when I want to play with paper rather than feeling driven to tell a story, they are perfect.

Do you need to be reminded that the kits are there? I keep the most recent kits front and centre where I can see them when I start scrapping. They are pretty seasonal, and since that is the way I scrap, I can use some of the papers & extras that way.

Can you make cards from the papers you don't see yourself using for a page? Again, having those newest kits in range of my roving eye encourages me to grab them when I need to make a quick card.

Can you combine your kit supplies with your regular stash so they are right there when you go looking for supplies to create a particular page?

BTDT? I have dropped several subscriptions in the past because I outgrew them. Used them to learn a certain technique or page design, but it was time to move on.

I hope you find a way to either use your kits or walk away to new adventures. Let us know how it turns out for you.

I've been receiving and using my kits for a long time. What I do is when I receive the kit, I lay out the paper in one or two or even three sheet combos and then I usually pick a theme like if it's Valentine's Day type of paper and embellishments, I might do all the pictures that show love and then I go to the computer and I print off photos on my selphy in the last few months that match the colors and go with the theme, if I have a theme, and if the colors don't match, then I turn the pictures to black and white before printing them out.

Then I lay the pictures, usually two or three or even one picture, on each combo of papers or single sheet, typically add black or white cardstock to the sets that need it as well, and then I put all the combos with pictures back in the plastic bag with all of the embellishments and when I come to that kit, I pull out the first combo set of papers with the pictures and work on each layout until the kit is finished using the embellishments in the kit. Goes pretty fast like that.

Maybe it's time to break the kits up into your general stash. I did that. I felt overwhelmed by the pile of boxes that I didn't know quite what they contained. I had labeled my boxes with the month, year, and general description. I was never sorry I broke them up.

I recently did the same with my FJ kits. I have a box for papers and a box for embellishments. Now I use them with the rest of my stuff.

The other advantage to breaking up your old kits is you won't feel guilty looking at the pile of them, knowing you weren't using them.

Oh, and while you are doing this, set aside to donate any papers or embellishments you just don't like and would not have purchased separately. I do this ruthlessly. That way when I am going through my supplies, I love everything.

check out noel mignon kits if you're looking for themes. she always does christmas, fall/halloween, summery, valentines, etc. the kits are pricier than most but you really get tons of stuff. she just opened subs recently for the next 6 months so you'll have missed out but you can buy one off kits pretty much every month.

i would totally subscribe but they're a bit too themed for me (i live in the desert so no snow, no fall and no spring photos to scrap!).

try breaking your unused kits up and pairing the papers by color or feel and then adding more themed embellies. good luck!

Great input in this thread! One thing that I didn't see mentioned: if the kit club has a gallery/fb page/instagram/Pinterest board, use that for inspiration on using the kits. Many have design teams that post layouts from the kits. It's a great jumping off point to dig into a kit by scraplifting (or straight out copying) a layout you like from a DT member or even another customer.

Regarding theme kits, Scrapbook Generation has theme-based kits that come with pre-designed sketches/examples for the kit contents. They don't have exclusive product, but seem to use the latest releases. You can buy some one-off kits to see if you like them and want to subscribe.