Counterfeit Kit Club Blog Hop

Today I am participating in the Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop, and this will be my last post for them this month as their October Guest Designer. I've included the full list of participants and their links so you can easily hop along and join in on the fun.

http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

http://kaybeetoo.blogspot.com (This is where you are now)

http://dyspraxicorganisedscrapper.blogspot.com.au/ 

http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Today's layout that I am sharing was created for the third challenge that was titled Playing Dress Up. This challenge involves doing anything to dress up your layout. You can choose to disguise it by adding paint or mixed media work, or bling it up by added stitching and sequins. I chose to use distress inks and mist to dress up the background along with adding gold foiled diecuts and glitter Thickers.

In my stash kit I had a few scraps of the gold polka dot vellum so I took a small piece and layered it with the paper layers behind the photo for some extra bling.

The floral diecuts were on my list to use with this kit. They are just so pretty and I was pleased that I was able to work them onto this page. Using my pretty things on a layout is so much better than hoarding them :)

The gold glitter Thickers were my starting point for this challenge. I love the font and the glitter, and knew that I had this photo of me and my husband that would be perfect for this page. Sometimes the photos influence the products I use, and sometimes the products dictate the photos I choose to scrap. I scrap both ways and love them both.

I have truly enjoyed playing along with the Counterfeit Kit Club this month. It has been a great way to dig into my stash and use some older products. I have a process video for this layout as well if you'd like to take a peek. Thanks so much for joining me and I hope you have a great day!

A Halloween Challenge

Mari and I have a new challenge up today, and this week it is a Halloween themed challenge. I do not scrap themed photos very often. I feel pressure when it comes to these types of pages, and I truly believe that it stems from the lack of themed products that I truly liked when I first started scrapbooking. One of my goals this year was to scrap more themed pages and I have to say that I have been pretty happy with the results. 

For today's layout, my main inspiration was the spider web cut file from The Cut Shoppe. I purchased this a while ago, and have decided that I really want to try and use things that I have purchased before I no longer like them...I know I'm not the only one that has done that, lol. 

Suffice it to say that since I don't scrap many themed layouts that my Halloween stash is not very big. The background paper for the cut file is a Fancy Pants paper from 2009. I did stitch through the webs with black thread for added texture. It was a painstakingly long process, but I am so glad that I did it. It really made the page come together for me.

The black word stickers are from Recollections, the spiders are Jolee's Boutique, and the gold stars and title are from the Crate Paper After Dark Thickers. The papers are from my scrap bin with the exception of the background paper and it is from American Crafts. I lost the manufacturers strip so I'm not sure of the name.

I added a bit of journaling with white gel pen on the tag stating that gone are the cute costumes and now it is all scary and gory things. The Trick or Treat sticker is from Pebbles, and the washi and twine are from my stash.

 I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek. Be sure and check out Mari's video as well. Take care and have a great day!

Love This

I created this layout a few months ago, and just have not had time to do a voiceover for the process video so that I could share it. I need more hours in the day...or an assistant...or both :)

I love the Fancy Free collection by Paige Evans. The colors and patterns are beautiful!! I think that my favorite thing about the collection is that I can use it for both masculine and feminine pages. Although I don't mind using pink for boy pages, it is nice to have a non-themed collection that is not primary colors. The cut file is designed by Ashley Horton and is available online at The Cut Shoppe. 

It is easy to get in a rut when it comes to designing pages, at least it is for me. So for this page, instead of overlapping the title on the bottom of the photo, I chose to put it along the side. It felt so good to do something a bit different, plus from a design perspective it works well with the vertical design of the hearts.

 Silver stitching down the center of the hearts helps to add to the vertical design of the page, plus it ties in the title. I also added some stitching along the strips on the left side of the layout. I will say this about the silver metallic thread...I thought I was going to throw my sewing machine out of the window. This thread broke so many times and also jammed up in the machine. Ugh!! However, I am not a sewing machine expert so I am sure that it was user error. 

For an unexpected pop of color, I brought in the salmon pink button and puffy stickers. Enamel dots finished off the clusters. I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek at my process. I hope that you have a great day, and I'll be back soon with another layout :)

Scrap the Challenge: Focus on Fall

Mari and I decided to focus on fall for this week's challenge. Fall is one of my favorite seasons for so many reasons, so I thought that it would be neat to document it. I used this shape from the Silhouette design store by Felicity Jane. I bought it when the silhouette store was having a sale because I knew that I would most certainly use it. I also pulled out my kit that I made for the Counterfeit kit challenge for this month. 

 I am really trying to make an effort to use more patterned paper as backgrounds, and I love the way the cut file looks on this paper. The pink just makes everything pop off the page and I couldn't be more thrilled with the way that it turned out.

 Instead of journaling in sentence form, I typed out several things that I love about fall and then placed them randomly on the die cut. I then sewed through the strips with gold thread to add a bit more gold to the layout. Adding more gold is always a good thing!

These Dear Lizzy Thickers are some of my favorites for their size. The height adds impact and the width allows for a longer title without taking up a lot of room on the page. 

The papers used on this layout, the leaf clip, and the die cut pieces are all from the Pink Paislee Cedar Lane collection. I'm not 100% sure where the fox flair is from, but I think it is Freckled Fawn. I'm linking the process video below in case you'd like to take a peek at how the layout came together. Be sure and check out Mari's video as well. As always, suggestions for future challenges are always welcome :)

Counterfeit Kit Challenge #1: Snip, Snip

Today's layout with the Counterfeit Kit challenge is one that I love and I had the perfect paper in my stash kit. One of my favorite things is to fussy cut shapes and flowers out of patterned paper and use them as embellishments. It is such a great way to stretch a kit or collection, especially if you are low on coordinating embellishments. 

While it may seem a bit strange to document a cooked turkey, cooking it was a really big deal. My mother is not a good cook. She grew up in the country with fresh eggs and plenty of vegetables, and not a lot of meat. So growing up, whenever I ate chicken or turkey and it was dry, I thought that was how it was supposed to taste. Boy was I wrong, and I am so glad that a friend talked me into taking over the Thanksgiving meal. Here is the recipe in case you want to give it a try, and I will also say that using a fresh and not frozen turkey makes it out of this world. 

The leaf paper clips are one of my favorite embellishments in the kit, so I was super happy that I could include one on this photo. I surprised myself by matting the photo with pink patterned paper, but I found that it really complemented the pink leaves of the flowers and the photo itself.

Last year I found these gold leaves in the Target dollar spot and did not use a single one. They make the perfect addition to this cluster and help to tie in the gold Thickers as well.

My journaling is pretty straightforward, and I may make another page with the actual recipe. I haven't decided though, because I may end up creating a layout on my entire dinner with the recipes used. Decisions, decisions...

My process video is linked below. I encourage you to visit Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and see how other DT members tackled this challenge. Have a wonderful day!

October Guest Designer for Counterfeit Kit Challenge

This month I am the guest designer for Counterfeit Kit Challenge! Our inspiration is the beautiful new collection Indigo Hills from PinkFresh Studios. If you haven't ever played along with this group, the idea is to pull together a kit from your stash using a kit or collection as the inspiration piece. I chose the pretty blue color in the alphas as my inspiration, however I didn't have anything quite the same shade. So I decided to still use the color blue, just a different hue. Since it is fall and I am ready for cooler weather, I pulled out what I have of Pink Paislee's Cedar Lane collection as the starting point of my kit.

Several of my embellishments were open making it difficult to take good pictures of them, so I am going to list what I included in the kit:

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane 6x6 and 12x12 papers

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane leaf clips

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane ephemera

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane puffy stickers

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane arrows

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane washi tape booklet

Pink Paislee Cedar Lane fabric tags
Jen Hadfield DIY Home stickers

Jen Hadfield DIY Home die cuts

Jen Hadfield DIY Home washi strip booklet

Simple Stories wood veneer

Miscellaneous flair, sequins, and paper clips

Recollections puffy stickers
Studio Calico tile alphas 

tags 

doilies

enamel dots

Here are the Design Team members in case you would like to see what they have chosen for their kits this month. I hope that you play along this month and make your own counterfeit kit!

Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

Lynnette: http://www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com

Susan: http://littlethingsbigdays.blogspot.com

Susanne: http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

Jemma: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Kelly: http://www.honeysucklehillcrafts.com

Julene: http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com/

Lesley:  Oh! Blog It!

Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Scrap the Challenge: Stash Kit Summary

Today, Mari and I have a video up showing the leftovers from our stash kit, and the layouts that we created. Both of us were ready to move on to something else and use some different products so we decided to retire our kit. We made a total of five layouts with our original goal being four. Woot!! 

I definitely did not even come close to killing the kit, and I'm not even sure I injured it :) I was amazed at just how little it looked like I used from the kit when I felt like my layouts were fairly product heavy. However, I did manage to use up 4 whole sheets of patterned paper, two of which I pulled into the kit from my stash. Three of the four I used as backgrounds, and one of them I fussy cut the florals and used the florals on two of my layouts. The 6x6 paper pad that I included was untouched when I put it in the kit. While I still have more than half of it left, I did make a serious dent in it. I used both sets of Thickers that I added into the kit, but only once for each set. The embellishments that I used the most of were from the Project Life Notes and Things set. I used a ton of them, but I think that are like rabbits and multiplied when I was not looking. I also used four frames from the Notes and Things frames that I had not even opened. That right there made me feel like the kit was a success. 

I did learn a few lessons along the way when putting this kit together. A 6x6 paper pad is a great way to stretch your kit and when I do this again, I will most definitely add it into the kit. I like various alphas for my titles, so two sets of Thickers just wasn't enough variety. I may not pull more into the kit, but I will keep in mind that I am going to most likely pull in additional alphas, and I'm okay with that. In this kit, I pulled in a puffy alpha set and another Thicker set. Another lesson learned from this stash kit is that purchasing a mini Project Life kit that I love is well worth the money. I used so many little bits and several of the 3x4 cards on the layouts.

Here are the layouts that I created with the kit in order of the challenges:

The best part of this challenge was that I did find that it took me less time to create my pages because my kit provided a great jumping off point. I did pull things in from my stash as well, but hey...the whole point is to use the pretty things that we buy! My kit summary video is below and I'm going to link Mari's as well. Have a great weekend my friends!

Mari's summary

Scrap the Challenge: #Dapper

Mari and I have another challenge video up and for this challenge we decided to use our stash kit and use mixed media. I wanted to up the challenge for me...all five of the layouts I have created with the stash kit focused on the more feminine pieces of the kit. I wanted to make a masculine page. My son had recently gotten a hair cut and to say it was a change is an understatement! I wanted to document this special time in his life. 

I started by pulling out pieces of the kit that were typically more masculine. I focused on the neutral colors, and initially pulled in teal as well. In the end my color palette was grey, cream, white, kraft, gold, and a pop of black. I don't normally mix kraft and grey. In my world they complete with one another instead of complementing each other. But I really thought that they worked well together on this page. The background patterned paper was not in the kit, but it has been in my stash for quite a while. I originally planned on trimming off the yellow border, but in the end I decided to stitch around the edge and bring in the gold to make the color pop.

 I layered up several of the 6x6 papers and some of the ephemera to make a focal point for my photo. Some of these papers I had already used and wanted to challenge myself to use those before I cut into whole sheets.  I used black gesso on a Heidi Swapp stencil that I had in an argyle pattern. I felt like it fit my "dapper" theme. It was a huge leap for me to put black gesso onto the pattern paper. There's no covering that up with white paint if it doesn't turn out. 

  

 I decided to use some stamps to add additional pops of black around the photo and to draw your eye around the page. I used some Ali Edward stamps and then just stamped off the image two more times. I like the way that it turned out. The bow tie is one of my favorite ephemera pieces on this page. It just fit the theme so perfectly!

I am thrilled with the way that it turned out. Masculine layouts are just more difficult for me. I'm not sure if it is because of the colors or my lack of masculine products in my stash. However, I have proven to myself that it can be done if you just take some time and plan out your supplies. I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek. Be sure to check out Mari's video as well! Her channel is linked in the description box of my video.

It's a Little Late....

This post is a bit late, but I still wanted to get it up. We had some crazy thunderstorms roll through last Thursday night. They were so bad that numerous trees blew over, power lines were down and exposed lines on the roads, and in my county 80% of us were without power. However, there were blessings in all of this mess. We did not sustain any major damage, and the weather cooperated with us. It was unseasonably cool which allowed us to open the windows and have a cool breeze. The kids did great without the power...I thought that my son might go into withdrawals but he surprised me :)

Anyway, Mari and I posted another challenge video and our challenge was to use the inspiration paper from our stash kit and to lift one another. Here is the layout that I chose to lift from Mari. I had several of the flower clusters that I knew that I could fussy cut and wanted to make a border similar to the one that she made. I also decided to make a layout about one of our daughter's nicknames.

This is my end result using her layout as inspiration. 

I did not use a bunch of products from my stash kit to use as embellishments. I felt like the flowers made a bold statement on the page and I did not want to take away from them. I did cut the gold circles in half to use as a scallop border on top and underneath the photo. 

The puffy stickers, cor heart and washi tape are from my stash but they are both by the same Pink Paislee line as the papers (C'est La Vie). Mari and I decided that we would allow ourselves the option to choose things outside of our stash kit...after all the goal is to use our stash. The kit just makes it easier to get started.

The last challenge I had die cut a few doilies from tissue paper. I kept them on my desk and was able to use one on this page.

I added a bit of gold stitching under the journaling for another touch of gold. The gold Heidi Shine is absolutely beautiful in person.

Here's a link to the process video. I hope that you have a great day!

Another Scrap the Challenge layout

I am really loving this series with Mari and I hope that you are enjoying it as well. Today's layout we decided to use our stash kit and scraplift a layout that we had previously made. I decided to use this layout for several reasons.

I was using the same size photo, I love the overall design, and I wanted to use a lot of items from my stash kit. Here is my finished layout. I stayed pretty true to the overall design and love the way that the layout turned out. 

I added some gold zig zag stitching to a couple of places on the layout to repeat the gold elements on the page.

I absolutely adore all of the layers under the photo and the frame. 

I added some light modeling paste through a stencil to create additional interest on the background. I love the look of white on white.

This embellishment cluster is my absolute favorite on this page. All of the layers just work perfectly with one another and the stitching is the cherry on top!

I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek at the process. If you have an idea that you would like us to try, please be sure and leave us a comment. 

Scrap the Challenge

I have my first layout made with the stash kit that Mari and I have put together...and I need to say this. It has been really fun and gratifying putting this kit together and making my first layout. I will be doing this again! For our first layout we challenged ourselves to use circles and machine stitching. I am a bit scared of circles so when I saw a few layouts with this same ruffle theme, I chose that as my style and I love the way that the layout turned out.

 I used a circle die and cut out several 2 inch circles from my Notes and Things 6x6 paper pad. I always cut out more than I think I will need because I try to make sure that the patterns are varied. I also don't want to stop mid-way to cut more, and I don't mind having the extra.

I stitched through the circles with gold thread and love this little detail. There are a few paper layers under the photo, but I did not want them to compete with the circles so I kept them to a minimum.

The frame wasn't initially in my stash kit, but as I was packing for a crop I stumbled upon them and since they were Notes and Things frames, I added them to the kit. The cork hearts and letters added another texture and brought more warmth to the layout for the perfect touch. 

Here's a link to my process video. If you have any questions leave me a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can :)

Scrap the Challenge

This week Mari and I decided to use a recipe to make our layout. The recipe is: any type of mixed media, 2 photos, 3 embellishment clusters, 4 patterned papers, and 5 different types of embellishments one of which needed to be washi. I decided to further challenge myself by making a birthday layout and using older products. I decided to use this sketch because I could not find my mojo...sketches are the bomb when it comes to lost mojo.

The different types of embellishments that I used were washi, enamel dots, die cuts, a chipboard sticker, stickers, and the pinwheel. 

I love the way the layered washi looks on the clusters. I'm definitely going to do this again.

You can see little mist droplets in the corners of my layout. I forgot all about that part of the recipe until the layout was finished...oops! It all worked out though in the end.

 I have a process video if you are interested. Mari and I are having a lot of fun and would love for you to join in the fun. If you post your layout on Instagram use the hashtag #scrapthechallenge.