The One with the Elle's Studio Forever Grateful Project Kit (+Giveaway!)

When Elle of Elle's Studio asked if I'd like to play with their Forever Grateful Project Kit I responded with a yes, yes, a thousand times yes! (Okay, I don't think I said those exact words in my email reply, but I sure thunk them!) I am so grateful to have been apart of Elle's Studio's very first design team from January to June 2010 - how I miss it! So it was fun for me to delve right back into all things Elle.

Project kit coordinator and extraordinaire Jenni Hufford created the altered tray seen above.

Here's a bit about this project kit:

Capture those moments you’re most grateful for in 7Gypsies newest printers tray! With papers, buttons, embellishments and more, from popular manufactures, along with your limited edition Elle’s Studio tags that were made just for this kit, you are set with all the supplies you need to put together the perfect tray for yourself, to give as a gift or both! And don't forget, the limited edition Elle's Studio tags will never be sold or printed again - once this kit is sold out, they are gone. You can even use the instructions provided to put together your tray. Sit down with a cup of hot chocolate – all you need to grab is your photos, scissors, and glue - we’ve provided the rest! Bonus: Save the leftover exclusive Elle’s Studio Tags to use on your other layouts, cards and more!

THIS KIT INCLUDES

31 Elle’s Studio journaling + embellishment tags

Photo Shadowbox Tray (7Gypsies)

Graphic Paper (Crate Paper)

Heirloom Paper (Studio Calico)

Buttons (Crate Paper)

2 Veneer Houses (Studio Calico)

1 Doily Flower (Jenni Bowlin)

1 Wooden Spool (Jenni Bowlin)

1 Pin (Maya Road)

1 toothpick

2ft cream ribbon

So here is my pile'o'stuff before:

And here is the finished project:

(Yes, I know I've used these pictures a lot recently, but they match the kit perfectly so that's that!)

My goal was to use as much of the kit as possible and no other supplies besides adhesive.

On the bottom right section, I wrapped the wooden spool with the ribbon, tied a bow with the ribbon, attached it with the stickpin, cut out a banner and glued it to the toothpick, slid it inside the spool, then added it to the tray. There was a "3 tags" printed on one of the sheets of tags, so I cut off just the "3" part and set it on the wooden house. Cuz there are three of us Evans's :)

The only "fancy" thing I did to this section was I trimmed off the black scalloped tearaway strip from the bottom of one of the patterned papers and covered the red scalloped strip under the sentiment. I wanted to tone down the red aspects a bit cuz there's no red in our photos.

My favorite part of this kit: the buttons! I wanted to use them all and I think they look so pretty together so I just glued them all in one section.

I made photo corners from patterned paper, cut out a few elements from the patterned papers, and added them to one corner for a dash of whimsy.

This section was fun. There were just a few tags that I didn't incorporate so I cut out individual letters from those tags to spell our names. I love the ransom look and am glad I was able to stick to the kit exclusively. There was even an "x" on the "xoxo" sentiment strip for Fox!

It's true, I'm so thankful for my little family.

On the largest section I cut out most of the tags and adhered them with either a glue dot runner, one foam square, or two foam squares stacked together for double the pop!

Want to see even more altered trays using the Forever Grateful Project Kit? Your wish is my command! The current design team each got to play with a kit and here they are:

Top left to right:

Allison Waken

Keshet Starr

Laura Kurz

Leslie Ashe

Marcy Penner

Stephanie Klauck

Waleska Nerris

Jenni Hufford

Because Elle is amazing, she's offering to give away a Forever Grateful Project Kit to one lucky person! Alls you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on this post by Tuesday November (NOVEMBER??!! Time is flying!) 1st 2011 and I'll post the winner that day.

Have a happy Friday!