Saturday, July 1, 2023

070123 CKC July Kit Reveal & Blog Hop

 

Groovy!

Welcome to Counterfeit Kit Challenge in July! It's a summer of loving scrappy things from a brand new kit club. More on that in a minute, but first, let me introduce you to our Guest Designer - a familiar face in our community! Dawn is a wonderfully prolific creative & an active member of the CKC family.


My name is DawnLyn Litz. I'm a single Mom to two adults, Autism Mom, Christian, Army Veteran, Paper Craft Artist & Owner of DawnLyn's Designs, Fibromyalgia Warrior, book lover, chocoholic, Mary Kay Consultant, and Educational Advocate & Behavioral Specialist Constant, and gym fanatic.

I love the CKC community because they are friendly and supportive of goals. I came to the group at the end of January and loved the idea of making a kit that I jumped into kit making in February. Last month I created 33 layouts with my kit.

 I am hosting the CKC July festivities and I chose our inspiration kit from Mercy Tiara Kits, a name that is likely familiar to many scrapbookers. The May Feeling Groovy kit was her first & there are now two more kits available. It is a bright, playful & funky kit thanks to a focus on Jen Hadfield's Flower Child collection. Vicki Boutin's Where To Next?, Maggie Holmes' Woodland Grove, and Pink Fresh Studio's Spring Vibes all play supporting roles.

Premiering Mercy Tiara Kits with the Feeling Groovy Kit!
 Details of all of the pieces are included on the CKC kit reveal post.

I really loved the fresh take on retro & chose my papers accordingly.

2022 Jen Hadfield Flower Child/From A to Z, Tweet; Amy Tangerine Brave & Bold/Starburst b-side; JH 2022 Flower Child/Wood You Rather (in the original kit); 2011 October Afternoon Sidewalks/Red Light Green Light b-side; 2021 Cocoa Vanilla Sunkissed/Summer Lights; 2020 Pinkfresh Studio Let's Stay Home/Better Things Are Ahead b-side; 2021 Jen Hadfield Live & Let Grow/Tree Tops; Amy Tangerine Brave & Bold/Summer Stripes b-side; 2018 Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Sunny Days/Snapshot; 2020 Pinkfresh Studio Let's Stay Home/You Are Stronger b-side; 2022 Vicki Boutin Where To Next?/Vacation Mode (in the original kit.)

Here's my full "Happiness Comes In Waves" July kit!


The retro style alpha stamps came in my July Cherry Box yesterday! Perfect.



I also have a couple of forgeries coming on the fourth & some cut-apart sheets from the Jen Hadfield Live & Let Grow collection.

I've decided to ferret out some of my retro photos to scrap so July should be fun. Please take advantage of all of the inspiration on the blog & in the Facebook Community this month, and don't miss a stop on the hop!

 Here is what the rest of July's month of inspiration will look like:

  •  2nd July - Just the Gist of It - to help you find an easy way to create your kit.
  •  4th July - Forgery on the Fourth - Master Forgers share simple ideas for creating kit elements.
  •  6th July - Mini Kit Reveal and Project Showcase - Inspiration for a smaller kit or project ideas.
  • 12th July- Challenge #1 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
  • 18th July - Challenge #2 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
  • 28th July - Follower's Showcase - who has caught our eye this month.
  • 31st July - Killing the Kit - an idea or two focusing on using up the bits and pieces left in your kit.

You know that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjuly2023).

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Friday, June 30, 2023

070123 Archiscraps July Challenge

Distressed! Inked up, torn paper, grunge.

Julene gave us another intriguing inspiration this month!

My mind really enjoys tackling the unique creative aspect of the Archiscraps challenges. The imagery may immediately put me in mind of a certain photo. I can be influenced by the color scheme or even the mood of the image. Occasionally a story will pop to mind.

This time nothing specific was bubbling to the surface. I decided to look through old photos for a change of pace. When I found these favorites I couldn't believe that I hadn't scrapped them! 

I knew I had some stone paper that would be perfect - I could tear it & ink it up to recreate the stone walls - but could I find it?!? NO This kind of redirect always results in more creative solutions, and I love the end result!


 I really had no idea that this would look so dramatic!

 This is a series of 3 photos with a dimensional piece made from cardboard sandwiched in. I found the perfect sky back ground paper that looks old & grungy. I fussy-cut the ruined wall on the left photo & just the sky portion of the view through the window photo on the right to reveal the background paper. 

I discovered this awesome packing cardboard I had saved when I was hunting for my inks - it was perfect to imitate those stone walls! I sliced some pieces off & took a hammer to them to reduce the bulk, then inked them up & arranged them.



The final choice was a new-to-me 2002 alpha stamp set (that I thought looked vaguely medieval) used on the sky background to give the history of the place. I am entranced with the antiquity of England...


Super-fun challenge this month! Hope you join in. 

Post over at the Facebook Archiscraps Community Group

Thanks for stopping by!


 

 


 

Monday, June 12, 2023

061223 CKC June Challenge #1 - Layer It Up!

 


Master Forger of Ceremonies Tara says,  Welcome my friends!  Today I am going to be giving you the very first challenge of the month to help you use that beautiful kit that you curated this month!

Layer It Up!

 Today, your challenge is to use your kit to create 5 layers of something on your layout.  Create a five layer embellishment cluster or create a five layer photo mat! 

I am combining our CKC challenge with Mix It Up Monday (MIUM) a monthly challenge which pairs mixed media & a sketch on a traditional scrapbook layout. The sketch is posted on the last Monday of the month and the Hop takes place on the 2nd Monday of the following month. Join us on Piece Craft Love Playhouse on Facebook.

 Here’s the June sketch created by Christine Steele Harden.

 I just returned from a brief vacation to Savannah, Georgia & knew I would be scrapping the iconic fountain photo. I am using my self-curated Counterfeit Kit Challenge June kit plus my mixed media choices. This sketch offered the perfect opportunity to use at least 5 layers!

My go-to supply is patterned paper & the MIUM challenge works at prying me out of my standard approach into new & risky territory. Let's face it - mixed media often has a will of its own! My first attempt was a comedy of errors that included dreadfully fatal stamping problems. 

Plan B:



My version of the sketch pulled the circular elements to the corners with paint through a stencil plus (faux rub-on) stitching. I kept the tag title but let the patterned paper provide the vertical element behind the photo. I really had planned a much more bold mixed media blitz but alas... it was fun trying, though!

Now it's your turn to take on Tara's challenge!

Let's see what we have for the rest of the month for you:

  • 18th June - Challenge #2
  • 24th June - Follower Showcase
  • 27th June - Tara's Birthday Challenge
  • 30th June - Killing the Kit 
We always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjune2023).
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!

 

Saturday, June 3, 2023

060323 LOAD 523 - Frogs, Pigs & Fuzzy Bears Part III

 

RECAP: Yes, it's that glorious month of May, delightful not only for the changing seasons & the end of the school year fast approaching, but it is our second Scrap Happy LAYOUT A DAY challenge of 2023! 

Alice's genius theme this time is inspired by The Muppets: "Get ready to create the craziest felt and fun-fur inspired layouts all about your life! Two daily prompts, one story-based and one technique- base, make it easy to succeed!"

Here are days 23-31 of my pages:

Day 23 food

Day 24 - a lot of different pieces technique

 
Day 25 - an "I am" page (journaling on the back)


Day 26 - distressing (alphas)

  
Day 27 - wild & crazy to attract attention

(This will be my wrap-up page shown at the end)
 

Day 28 - found item, the wood veneer peace sign

 
Day 29 - a journey, these babies arrived through a rescue

Day 30 - off-prompt catch up page

 
Day 31 - ACOT Pick 5 challenge + journaling use a quote

It's been a LOAD of fun - pun intended. Don't miss out in October! Get a Scrap Happy membership & enjoy three different LOAD challenges each year!

Happy scrapping!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, June 1, 2023

060123 CKC June Kit Reveal & Blog Hop

 

 Welcome, June!

Master Forger of Ceremonies Tara has chosen a bright & breezy inspiration kit for June, but first let's meet her Guest Designer Stacy! Here is her Instagram account.  Leave her some love!

 My Name is Stacy James - I am the mother of two adult daughters, 29/30 Brittany and Caitlyn and two grandchildren Harper 3 and Tommy who will be 2 in July! My husband Dan and I live in Saint Paris , Ohio and have two crazy pets Max who I call my baby dinosaur because he’s an English Mastiff and grows more everyday, and Jack a Persian who looks like Wilford Brimley! I’m a full time adjudicator for the state of Ohio - but I am also a full time memory keeper ❤️ I’ve been scrapbooking since the late 80’s and have taught at stores (when they were everywhere) and now am proud to be on a couple amazing design teams - Traci Reed and Syncopation . You can more often than not find me on my Instagram daily and weekly on my YouTube since Anna has taught me how to utilize it ❤️! As for my style - it’s whimsical,colorful and wordy … I am a huge fan of the story . I truly believe that though we all love the ephemera and the pretty- without the story - the who, the what,and the why, we lose the grit! Because I’m 25+ years when someone grabs the album if they don’t know who is in the photo, where it was why it was taken what will they see? Pretty flowers and strangers. So my style in a nutshell is making sure my stories don’t leave strangers on pretty pages ! I can’t wait to play this month with all of you ❤️❤️❤️ 

Our inspiration kit is a digital kit from Weeds & Flowers Supply Co!  Tara says:  This is a new kit club to me and I thought that the kit that I chose was very summery with its bright colors and fun icons!  Here's the direct link to the  The Friendship Collection kit:

 

Tara has posted all of the detail pictures on the main CKC June Kit Reveal post

As always I begin with the papers.


 

I have a few less papers but chose some washi tape in similar patterns to substitute.

Here is the rest of my kit:


Yes - it's a whopper! I just spent the month of May doing a LayOut A Day (LOAD) challenge. I used up my May CKC kit including an entire BasicGrey collection pack that I included, so this month I added the two bright collections seen on the right.  My entire flair stash is in here to save fetching it every time I scrap. Three packs of floral diecuts & all of the whimsical, bright & happy elements I could find! I included an alpha stamp set as well as a floral.

I can't imagine killing this kit without the LOAD challenge, but I'm definitely in a new rhythm of daily creating, so we'll see!

Now be sure not to miss a stop on the hop:

 


Be sure to come back tomorrow to the CKC main blog for the Just the Gist of It post from Tara to help you get inspired for your own kit! 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, May 26, 2023

052623 Piece Craft Love Iron Crafter Challenge Hop - Wood Veneer

 

Join a fun group of crafty peeps each month as we take on the Iron Crafter Challenge! Each month Anna from @piececraftlove will select a challenge ingredient to use on a layout. On the FINAL FRIDAY of the month, we will have a hop on YouTube and Instagram to show how we used the challenge ingredient(s) for the month. If you want to learn about the mystery item and play along, come over to the Piece Craft Love Facebook group!

May's ingredient is WOOD VENEER. Here's my stash:

(an embarassment of riches!)

 My first thought was a layout I had saved long ago that began with a background made entirely of wood veneer pieces covered with white paint! I can't even remember the rest of the layout's details - that background treatment was definitely worth a scraplift. I began to pull pieces from my stash...


In the meantime I had decided to scrap about a favorite part of my morning routine - Wordle! - using a screenshot of my best & worst games.

(you can guess which is which)
 

I began to build my layout & chose to fill the left & right sides of the page with wood veneer. As I arranged them I realized that it would be really fun to chose only those things that could be named/described with a 5-letter word, Wordle style. That tied all of my page elements together.

Then I built my title, wrote my journaling, and put my page together:


BONUS: Identify all 22 5-letter Wordle words represented on the page. 

Whoever gets closest will receive a snail mail packet of assorted wood veneer! 

You have until Friday, June 2nd to respond by email to lcsmithsaved@juno.com


Don't forget to visit all of the other Iron Crafters who responded to this challenge: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCfSqErOPJorTS9OOJFOdC5iuC8t7mBS_

YouTube:

 Anna    / @piececraftlove                                                                                                                       Tara    • Iron Crafters - W...                                                                                                                   Stacy    / @scrapstuffwithst...                                                                                                               Ashley    / @thescrappingnerd...                                                                                                               Mel    / @melwscrapping                                                                                                                       Nikki    / @nikkisscrapbooki...                                                                                                           Briana    / @lovemylifeonpaper                                                                                                           Misty    / @craftysoupvideo                                                                                                               Kristen    / @scrappingonthefl...                                                                                                       Christine    • Scrapbook Process...                                                                                                   Amanda    / @ajoyfulscrapper                                                                                                               Lynda    / @thescrapbookingp...   

 Instagram:                                                                                                                                                 Anna: https://instagram.com/piececraftlove                                                                                             Tara: https://instagram.com/kryptonite_72                                                                                             Kristen: https://instagram.com/scrappingonthefly                                                                                     Brandi Jo: https://instagram.com/scrappy.boymama                                                                             Ashley https://instagram.com/Ashley                                                                                                      Leslie https//instagram.com/lcsmithsaved                                                                                                 Tina https://instagram.com/tinamcmmvr  

 

Happy scrapping!

Thanks for stopping by!