Take a look through any of my albums in the last 3 years and it’ll be easy to spot one of my favourite manufacturers, BasicGrey. I have pages created with products dating back to the very first ranges they released. I remember the first range I fell in love with – Sweetpea Alyssa – from there I really didn’t look back.
BasicGrey is a Utah based company. Much curiosity has surrounded the name and its origins. I remember reading how the name was created in one of their very first online newsletters.
The shortened version is that originally the owners were going to sell the designs – at the last minute they decided to set up their own company. During the registration process they were asked for a name – which they had not thought of. Looking at her freshly painted grey walls, Rachel quickly decided on the name ‘BasicGrey’, put that down thinking she could always change it later. The link to the newsletter has all the info on why she decided the name was actually perfect for the range.
The 4 ranges of paper released at CHA in July are among my current favourites. I created the layout “A Natural Interest” primarily with the Periphery papers, but if you look closely, I have included papers from some of the older lines too, such as Lollipop Shoppe and Sublime. Everything on the layout, from the layers of papers, to ric rac, lettering and this gorgeous hand cut bird are all BasicGrey products.
With the 4 new ranges released in July came new products for BasicGrey as well. I was one of the scrappers jumping up and down in excitement as I saw the images of packets of buttons starting to appear on the internet. Along with the addition of buttons, they changed the packaging of their ribbon. BasicGrey ribbon has been a staple of mine for a while now; it was exciting to see easier-to-store packaging.
One of my favourite things about BasicGrey is the way it coordinates with itself. Obviously each range has patterned papers, solids, die cuts, chipboard, rub-ons etc that coordinate, but I love the way I can pick and choose papers from various ranges and they still seem to go together wonderfully. Take this page for example.
The main papers you can see here are from the Recess range – but along with it are elements from Mellow, Periphery, LilyKate and Perhaps. Add various rub-ons and the page is complete.
While I love creating with BasicGrey myself, I am also constantly finding myself drawn to layouts created with their products as well. Odds are if I love a layout in a gallery or magazine, it will have ‘BasicGrey’ in the supplies list. Great examples of this are these layouts below, all by Kelly Goree.
Alexis, created with the Recess range. The gorgeous little people in this layout are rub-ons. I love the new chipboard lettering shown in this layout too. (I’m a sucker for chipboard alphas!).
T-Ball was created with the Mellow range. Brown is one of my favourite colours to scrap with at the moment, pair that with orange and red and I’m a happy girl. This layout caught my eye as soon as I saw it.
Stitch was created with the ‘Obscure’ range. Occasionally BasicGrey brings out papers that I am not sure on initially, and Obscure was one of those ranges. The tables have turned now though, as I find it one that I turn to regularly.
While BasicGrey release new designs and products (can’t wait for the acrylic stamps to hit the shelves!) regularly, I find some remain favourites for a long time. This 2 year old floral project was made with one of my long time favourites, Color Me Silly. The arrangement sits in the doorway of my scrap room. I suspect I won’t be moving it anytime soon!
