011616 CKC January Challenge #3

Challenge #3

Get your stamp on with repeat, 

I say, repeat stamping!

  

For me this challenge prompt IS a repeat, lol.

I inadvertently piggybacked this onto my Challenge #1 page.

I used 10 stamped frames for my list of faves page HERE.

So? back to the drawing board!

When I made my kit this month I didn't include any alphas.

My intention was to use my homemade Project Life-style cards as titles, like so:

(Just in case you might think those little flowers are stamped, 

they are simply fussy-cut from one of the She Art papers in my kit.)

My repeat stamping effort was concentrated on the hot air balloons.

I used three different stamps from 7 Gypsies, Glitz & an anonymous wood mount.

I practiced a little with second & third generation stamps to soften the images.

By using this technique you also visually push some of the images further into the background.

One of the reasons many of us hesitate to use our stamps is invariably they 

come out smudged or incomplete on a page that we've put a lot of time into. 

Yes - I stamped these AFTER I did the rest of the page!

No nail-biting allowed. There is always a remedy of one sort or another...

These two balloons failed to stamp a large prominent section of the image.

On this page I was able to just plop cloud bandaids on to camouflage the fail.

Sometimes I will draw the missing portions or use a white pen to visually erase extra marks. 

Gird up your loins & go for it!!! We are all about using up your stash, and STAMPS COUNT.

So let me leave you with the final product.

Apologies for the awful photos - this really looks amazing irl!

(If I get time I will re-shoot & remove these comments)

Fear not! Break out your most amazing stamps & have an inky play!

Thanks for stopping by!

061615 June CKC Challenge #3

This was my favorite challenge this month at Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog.

Challenge #3: One side or the other

  Focus on only ONE side of your project 

(either one...I don't have a preference) 

and keep the rest white space.

Fortunately I had some help from ScrapHappy's June sketch.

Link HERE to find out more about membership.

More inspiration from my scrap crush, Ashli Oliver.

I loved the stacked elements on the left & the layers of white.

Ashli Oliver for Simon Says Stamps

(Process video HERE)

We just spent a week visiting Gatlinburg, Tennessee en route to Atlanta to see "the peaches."

We went to the Georgia Aquarium to celebrate their birthdays.
Chloe adored being up close & personal with the fishies!
She struck a pose more than once of gracefully moving as if she was swimming...

I knew I wanted to use this fish stamp, so I used a less than perfect image
to hold it's place on the start of my layout. The blue paper is standing in for the photo.

Then I used Archival Ink for a perfect image, and added an assortment of Distress Inks to add color.
This process always seems miraculous!
Just blot the ink pads on your mat, spritz with water, and sop up the ink.
Then I added a subtle spray of gold Color Shine.

Fussy cut, highlighted the crown with a gold pen, added a few tiny gems, and some Glossy Accents for the eye.
Makes me look like an artistic genius but the Ranger products did most of the work!

Because of the direction of the fish stamp I flipped the orientation R-L.
Then I decided that my white space could use some added pizzazz.

Happy Scatter Etsy shop HERE

Had a blast putting this together!
(It was really hard not to add any color on the left.)

A little vellum accent punched with "bubbles" is the perfect finishing touch.

I hope you are inspired to tackle this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

041615 CKC April Challenge #3

And the inspiration just keeps coming over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog!

April Challenge #3 Spring Inspired: 
Let Spring help inspire your project

Living in a state at the top border of the U.S. makes me delight
in those first signs of life after the blanket of Winter begins to recede...

This moodboard at S.W.A.T. Challenge #53 was a great inspiration!

I began with the Messy thought of mimicking a pocket page with a grid.
I chose some elements & dressed them up with some vellum & stitching,
then made a simple title block with plans to add a little strategic stamping.

As I began to add the photos there was still a lot of empty white space.
Mounting the page on a grey & white polka dot helped add a border, an idea I got
from Susan's page HERE, but there was still an especially large space at the top... ugh.
I tried adding some stitching but it looked dreadful & now I had a row of holes!

I thought perhaps adding some washi, but couldn't get that to work either.
Eventually I cut strips of the script card from my kit to work in here & there.
I added some polka dot washi tape to them as an accent, covering the top corner with it.
Getting happier! Finally fussy-cut a little bee for that corner & it's done.

I also added some flowers made from the vellum circles & brads,
just like the ones made by Elsie at A Beautiful Mess!

One last change was mounting my title on a photo overlay with a big heart,
another subtle layer that adds the perfect sentiment about Spring.
It also gave me something to attach the title letters to with a tiny attacher!

I think I'm drifting further & further from the messy vibe!

Go ahead - celebrate Spring with a page from your counterfeit kit 
& a little Spring mood from S.W.A.T. Challenge's gorgeous inspiration board :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

040615 CKC April Challenge #1

This month's kit promises to take me in some new directions!
I welcome that change.

April's Challenge #1:

 Pick your favorite challenge going on right now on any other blog 

(could be non scrappy related, too).  Don't forget to link it up!

(Did you catch my coordinated red/white/blue above, hehe?)

I am not very regular with challenge blogs or sketch sites, 
so I began a rather random search and ended up here:

Link HERE

 "Drill #52: We all hate to scrap ourselves. We all hate to share our own stories. 
But we need to! So this week that is our challenge to you!

Share five little facts about yourself. Projects can be layouts, art journal pages, 
canvas or other altered projects as long as you share five little things about yourself!"

I had a second level of inspiration - this layout from Becki Adams:

Found in her Gallery HERE

I just loved those title letters and knew the large Autumn Leaves alpha stamp set in my kit 
would be perfect! Then, off to the Magic Blue Box and my Messy Throwdown kit...

I decided that I loved how the fussy-cut letters looked on a kraft background, then
 I chose the large striped paper. Five stripes - perfect for my Five Little Things About Me.

If you check the detailed shot below you will catch one of my stamping boo-boos.
The "T" in night owl (lol - but it really wasn't my fault as the stamp fell off the stick
and apparently I put it back on wrong. Oh. I guess that DOES make it my fault...)

For those with stamping anxiety I did do practice layouts with each of these squares.
 The retired one didn't turn out too hot anyway because I didn't stick to the plan.
I can live with that.

Simple, graphic, bold. 
I would say that keeps true to the vibe of the Messy Box inspiration kit!

Thanks for stopping by!

040415 CKC April Tutorials

Our inspiration kit this month was the first ever Messy Box from ABM/A Beautiful Mess. 

A highly graphic, smaller scale kit designed for pocket style scrapping.
I challenged myself to come as close as humanly possible to the original.

I began my  “Messy Throwdown" kit forgery with the simple vellum confetti. 

My hearts aren’t wonky but I could pretty well match most of the  vellum colors.

Next up was the 9x12" hugs & kisses paper. 

I have a great Autumn Leaves Stampology alpha stamp set that I thought would fill the bill. 

I’ve included it in my kit to possibly use for titles & sentiments. 

To keep it looking a little more random, I turned the X in different directions, and used both 

the zero & O as they had different looks. A simpler idea would be to use a broad stroke Sharpie!

 



Next was the simple 9x12" dot paper. 

I wanted something a wee bit more interesting, so I rummaged around in my stencils & background stamps and found this dotty circle mask. I decided I only wanted part of the circle on my paper, so I made a quick cover up for the white paper out of kraft cardstock – heavy duty enough to stand up to some heavy misting without bleed through.


I off-stamped the inky mask onto another piece of white cardstock to mimic the 2-sided reverse colorways in some of the items in the kit. I decided, though, that I didn’t need to do that with everything.   

I think these turned out pretty cool!

 There were three sets of cards in the inspiration kit - 4x6", 3x2" & 2x2".

Some of the cards begged to be forged, like the simple L-O-V-E card. 

 All it takes to make a perfect painted dot is the non-business end of a paintbrush! 

Practice a little on a scrap until your dots are fairly uniform. I traced out the letters in pencil first. 

Caution: do NOT try to erase the pencil until the paint has dried COMPLETELY. .. (don’t ask)

My 3x2" cards.

The "make a MESS" card was another easy counterfeit. 

Their 2x2" cards.

The small numbered cards seemed an easy forge, just had to unearth these rub-ons from 2005.  

 That’s what we’re all about here at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge – 

turning our old tired stash into trendy stuff that will get used!

The striped cards with sentiments were another easy counterfeit.

The arrow was the easiest of all!
(That patterned paper bottom right was on old forgery still in my stash)

The days of the week washi was a cinch - black cardstock & day stamps!
I added a little double-sided tape to the back so it's ready to stick down.

And don't forget that you can check the CKC archived posts for the monthly forgery tutorial.
We have covered a vast array of techniques to make your own counterfeits. 

Now take a closer look at this Messy Box unboxing video 

to see what elements get your creative forging juices flowing!

Thanks for stopping by!