041215 CKC April Challenge #2

Challenge #2 this month is to use this sketch from Paper Players:

Blog post HERE

The sketch is really designed for a card but we are no strangers to the art of the change-up at CKC!

This page was based on a series of unfortunate events in late March,

which I began to refer to as "A Deer in the Headlights & an Elephant in the Sink."

As soon as I said it out loud I thought, That sounds like a GREAT title for a scrapbook page :)

I got around to working on the page a few days later.

Imagine my shock to find these when having a rummage in my kit!

Trying always to keep to what's in the Magic Blue Box whenever possible I chose

this custom 9x12" forged paper which gives me the circular element in the sketch.
 I added another few inches of white cardstock to make it 12x12".

With a long title by the time I add the photos & embellis there won't be much room to tell the story.

I used the question mark card for journaling by using my forged washi tape to make a hinge.

I used some gold letters to highlight the words deer & elephant.
I added gold metallic paper to the back side of the question mark for a bold third gold element.

The Jillibean Soup alpha stamp set filled in the rest of the words in the title.

(I am trying to resist adding stitching & ink & just plain more.)

(...sigh... I wish gold photographed better)

I feel like the left side of my page taken all together reads a bit as the sketch's vertical element.

Even the quote for the deer seems appropriate, lol!

This is promising to be a fun kit!

Thanks for stopping by!

022215 CKC February Challenge #2

Bethany/Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog sure comes up 

with some interesting creative challenges!

Challenge #2:  

Use a date stamp in an interesting way.

Head over & check out some of the Design Team projects, 

and check out the Mr. Linky posts labeled Challenge #2.

I got my page about 80% finished early on, 

but this is a Layout a Day month so that kind of took over!

I used my forgery of this Basic Gray paper:

 

to capture a day in the life...

...and I used a date stamp to create an hourly countdown of my day in the left hand column. Poor planning left the bottom right hand corner empty so I just kept stamping the dates until it was full.

I printed off a contact sheet of my photos & added them to some punched squares for photo mats.

 The super-large letters spelling "day" in my title were a little blah, 

so I used some background stamps to dress them up with a bit of pattern.

I love how busy & boisterous the title block is. It really represents how my days feel!

Hoping you will find a creative use for your date stamp(s)!

Looking forward to seeing it in the link-up.

Happy scrapping!

020615 CKC February Challenge #1

Time again for our first challenge of the month at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog!

Challenge #1:  

Use something sheer or clear on your project!

 Do you remember this forgery of mine?

 

Well, it's the obvious choice from my kit for THIS challenge!  

When I made this it was with a page about our retreat in mind. We are in an area with a fair sized Amish population & are delighted with regular glimpses of these living simple folks. 

On our way into town the last trip we followed two horse drawn wagons. At first, we couldn't make out what they were transporting, but then spotted a pair of large ice tongs on top of the load. The blocks of beautiful blue ice became discernible as we closed the distance. 

We snapped a quick shot with a smartphone for posterity.

Okay - don't laugh! That little postage stamp selfie magically appeared. I chose the little camera icon, pointed at the cart ahead, and pushed the little camera... I have begun to convince my family, especially after things like this happen, that I simply repel technology.

Back to the scrappy end of things...

I backed my vellum with an icy cool green paper from my kit. I trimmed my custom vellum down to it's original size but the page felt lopsided. I thought I could use some white cardstock with snowflakes punched out as a border on the left - kind of lacy.

 Then I worked on a little fussy cutting of the inner edge. A tryout helped me realize that my beautiful vellum's sheer quality was being squandered. Serendipity brought the idea to slip those "waste" snowflakes under the vellum! (I wish I could say that was the idea from the beginning but I've gotta keep it real.)

This is the part where I get a little stuck. 

Why would I want to cover that gorgeousness with a photo?

 Perfect :~)

 Thanks for stopping by!

020415 CKC February Tutorials

Our February inspiration kit 

"Across the Miles" from Scrapbook.com 

included this totally gorgeous gilded vellum:

Chic Tags World Traveler "Let's Go"

Irresistible!

I would be willing to bet you saw many of these in the DT kits.

You may have been tempted, too!

My version:

No, it's not a map! But it is gold on vellum :~)

I subbed in this paper as a combination of the map & the red cardstock.

I used these for my counterfeit:

I hadn't used a stencil adhesive before, but you can bet I'll never stencil without it again!

All of my edges were crisp & clean - no bleed-through mess & distortion of the pattern.

I used an old expired credit card to scrape the paint into the stencil & then remove the excess, like you would with modeling paste or gesso. The stencil isn't thick enough to create much relief.

Counterfeit #2 is a forgery of this paper:

Basic Grey Capture "Right Now" B side

My papers were a bit more bold than the original, so I chose the right-hand paper for my base:

Then I punched out gold paper chevrons in place of the gold triangles.

I have plans for this paper! Watch for it to make an appearance later this month.

This is one of the few months where I was able to find quite passable substitutions for most of the elements in the kit right from my stash, as is. Feels almost like I got off too easy!

I hope we have inspired you to dive in & recreate some of your favorite elements

 in the inspiration kit. Remember that we have a tutorial post each month. 

You can easily access the older posts for more ideas. 

Be sure to post your kit & projects on the Monthly Link-Up tab at the CKC blog.

Let me know you stopped in!

110614 CKC November Challenge #1

This may sound easy, but...

CKC Challenge #1 Be Inspired by Pinterest

Pinterest is my kryptonite! 
I must stay away or I will go down the rabbit hole of time-sucking creative inspiration. 
Pets will starve, cupboards will be bare, SOS messages will be left on the dusty furniture... 
you get the picture. Diversion to the point of real life paralysis & atrophy - what a way to go!

To the drawing board...as in my own Pinterest board.

Here's the perfect idea for the photo I'm scrapping.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/377739487469098771/

 And my take...

This paper may be the oldest thing in my kit.

Graphic 45 from 2009!

 This is why even the title is perfect.  My little Yorkie, Lila,

 joins me for breakfast every morning since I retired.

Journaling reads: 

This is what breakfast looks like now that I'm retired. 

No hands on the clock to say when things happen, or when they end.

Hence the banner.

 And the sweet little cluster to show off some of the 

vintage-style goodies in my kit this month.

I loved using that washi to create a border effect at the top & bottom.

Now go grab some inspiration from Pinterest & take the challenge!

 Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog has its own Pinterest link to do the work for you if you need it.

Thanks for stopping.

Let me know you peeked in!

 

110414 CKC November Tutorials

Wow! A lot of fun things to forge this month from the Fabulous Fall kit.

I tackled some Project Life styled cards (there is a whole sheet to cut apart in the original.) 

I used some gold foil paper to create an embelli similar to
the Maya Road heart & leaf paper clips.

I couldn't let the scraps go to waste so I punched some random confetti!

I thought I could forge the We R Memory Keepers
metallic copper sentiment vellum paper.

But the question was...

Yes, it did!

I taped some ruled paper behind to keep my writing straight.

I grabbed some more of the gold foil paper & raided my washi stash...

...to forge this MME Market Street "Ashbury Heights" paper.

I like mine better & the gold even shows through the patterns.

By far the most ambitious forgery was a nod to the We R
Memory Keepers Indian Summer Feathers paper -

only in GOLD, using a gilding
kit & Amy Tan feather stamp.

  I did a test to make sure the stamp wasn't too fine of a design.

The process:

I stamped the leaves with the gilding adhesive & let it dry until tacky.

I added pieces of the gilt paper & smoothed it on with a soft brush.

As you continue to brush the excess gilding pulls away to reveal your design.

Voila! I love it.

 Of course, you could just as easily do this with regular glue & a super fine glitter.

That would be fun! A counterfeit of  a counterfeit.

Hope we have inspired you to new heights of forgery this month :-)

Let me know you were here!