Regrouping

Well, the best laid plans of mice & men...

Supposed to go to the Megameet yesterday in Novi, but baby Lincoln had a really rough night (I found out at 3:30 am with a desperate phone call) & I was needed as mama's caregiver instead. Everyone is recharged & new plans have been laid.

Another big disappointment was that my LOAD layout was just NOT coming together - loved the idea but I took it too literally, and got stuck waiting for glitter to dry, etc... finally gave in & got in bed at a decent hour.

The prompt was to be inspired by a cereal box! Well, we don't keep our cereal in the box but in canisters. I remembered, though, that I had bought something recently and loved the packaging so on the hunt I went. I tried to capture some of the basics that I liked: clean graphic style, lovely little cluster accents, and room for some journaling below.

Isn't this cute?

Not my favorite layout by a long shot, but sooner or later during LOAD I do it all the way I planned & it falls flat. I am not happy when I get too literally inspired, and it's good to be reminded of that! Onward...but this will need a rehab...stay tuned :~)

My big save was working from my French Connection kit - so nice to have my choices narrowed down ahead of time - I seem to always be able to find something that will work! It is fun to work with limits.

Catching Up with WM Challenges: #36 Earth

Over at Whimsical Musings there have been a lot of weekly challenges lately that have taken awhile to gel in my mind. One was inspired by Earth Day but was left just as Earth to keep it more open-ended. Well, I was thinking of taking garden pictures, but nothing was really taking a hold of me...

My coworker was off today & so I opened the mail.

Look what I found!

Free scrapbook paper!

All of these "papers" were found inside mailing envelopes meant for mailing payments. The designs provide security in that no one holding up the envelope can determine the contents. Suddenly the inspiration hit that these were "Earth-friendly" items if I could recycle/upcycle them.

I was surprised & delighted to find such a variety of patterns & colors.
I mean - seriously - bright green hexagon??? How cutting edge can you get, lol?

Here is what I made:

I even used some of the colored paper from the check stubs.

And I scored this sailboat embelli for my stash:

Do you think I could get opening the mail added to my job description? :~D

NSD Giveaway

And the winner is???

(my lovely assistant is my 89 year old aunt, Aunie!)

Here is her comment:

Katie Scott Scrapbooking  May 5, 2012 12:40 AM

The Counterfeit Kit Challenge is one of my favorite blogs! I added your blog hop to my round up of National Scrapbooking Day Online Happenings Links: (look here)

Congratulations, Katie! Only problem is you didn't say what your fave color is :~)   I am heading to Novi MI on Thursday for the Great Lakes MegaMeet to shop for a prize & will post a pic.

Honorable Mentions to the following ladies who posted the links to their pages:

li-bee-ti  (look here)

KindleLover  (look here)

Rebecca at How I Burb  (look here)

I think I will send you each a little envelope of punched hexagons in your color :~)

Thanks to everyone for hopping along!

This was my first blog hop & I loved meeting/seeing y'all.

 

Manic Monday Indeed!

Our challenge today for LOAD Day 7 was a 30-Minute layout. Here's mine:

How easy was this with my French Connection kit at hand? I had come up with the poem yesterday & knew which photos I wanted to go with it, so most of the time was spent deciding on product (as usual!), not crafting the layout. The background paper already had the postmark graphic up in the corner, and I thought the maps were perfect. And it literally only took 30 minutes!

Before LOAD I would never have even entertained the idea of a "quickie" page. My first one was this:

I can still remember how heart-pounding it was to put this together "under the gun" so to speak! I was up at midnight when the prompt was posted & I felt like it was cheating to spend all the next day thinking about it, so I sat down right then to crank it out! It's possible that this was the first time I had put my own handwriting on a page. I spent most of my time editing & printing the photos, and it turned out to be really loose & fun.

That's the bottom line appeal to me of doing LOAD - each time it pushes my comfort zone out of the way & I forge new territory in my scrap journey :~)

Up Close & Personal

Have I said yet that I am so thrilled to be here as Guest Designer this month?
I never imagined how doing Counterfeit Kits would super-charge my scrapping output. Just being able to reach into the box & pull out all sorts of goodies makes my stash seem new & inspiring. Limiting what I have at hand by "stealing" a kit allows me to use so much more of all the wonderful things I've collected. And I'm encouraged in a new creative direction by making my own knock-offs of on-trend items.

Here is the "tres chic" Studio Calico City of Lights May inspiration kit.

I think I will have to break down & buy that adorable stencil lettering guide page. Look what I saved that someone (I wish I could credit) did with it:

And as if the main kit wasn't lovely enough we have 4 add-on kits to steal from!

Some of the first bits that caught my eye for my French Connection kit were the punched tags - easy peasy! I expect to use them for cluster bases or journaling spots. The kraft scroll frames with white accents in the Montmarte add-on came off just as quickly - just punch & doodle. The Louvre add-on had pennants - a popular accent lately - and I had the perfect stamp to use along with some fancy toothpicks from Cracker Barrel to finish them off in style. I was so happy to see sequins as part of the Sorbonne add-on as a few months ago I bought every color in the store!

And just for fun I also made these mini punched-out tags.

Then these sweet little folded notes for discreet journaling like the envelopes on the Versailles add-on.

And some journaling cards I had already made up from a stamp set to boost my Smash pad stash (say THAT five times fast!) Also found these great conversation bubbles at Office Max last month - perfect to counterfeit the ones peeking out from the Louvre add-on...

Don't forget to share your kit at CKC!

Sunday

Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

May CKC Kit: The French Connection

Wow, I loved the inspiration kit so much (see here)  that I did the most literal kit lift so far. It took a little digging for some of the components & some I even homemade. What do you think?

 Here is my main kit  The French Connection:

The main Studio Calico kit City of Lights:

  My L'ecole add-on:

Studio Calico Montmarte add-on:

My Joie de vivre add-on:

Studio Calico Louvre add-on:

My D'artiste add-on:

Studio Calico Versailles add-on:












And a little goodie bag  called Bonbons:

















Studio Calico Sorbonne add-on:

  
Enjoy the rest of the hop! Here is the pathway or link directly to Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog (here)

Crystal http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/ 

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ 

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Susanne http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/

Bethany http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/ 

Be inspired, play along, and post your own interpretations of this spectacular kit! 

Thanks for visiting with me :~)

Let me know you were here!