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!

041115 CKC "Messy Throwdown" kit page 4

"Birch trees, a fire pit, an outhouse & a happy hunky husband!

What more could a girl want?"

That's where we find ourselves at the retreat this spring.
The foundation for the cabin is ready to fill & we're just waiting on the ground to thaw.

Had a few snaps ready to scrap so I grabbed my
April CKC "Messy Throwdown" kit for this little bit of fun!

Now I have to say, I have really enjoyed this detour into uber graphic style.
Like eating at a restaurant that serves you teeny tiny portions on a
beautifully styled plate when you are a family-style kind of gal!
You can appreciate the culinary skill & enjoy the beauty.
But I'm missing me some beautiful patterned papers, so I pulled these out for a trial run...

Sigh ... feels like cheating so back to the Magic Blue Box...
And I'm happy that I did! This new vibe is helping me make some fun pages.

I am determined to use those brads this month,
and I am still in love with those emoticon stamps!

What more can I say?

Thanks for stopping by!

040715 WM#163 & #164 Challenges

I have all these unscrapped Whimsical Musings prompts dancing like sugarplums in my head :-)

Somehow I rarely manage to get to them as other commitments clamor for my time.

BUT

today I made good on a promise to myself to have some creative playtime!

Challenge #163 was to use this sketch from Citrus Twist

 which I promptly turned on its head, which suited my photos better.

THEN

I grabbed Challenge #164 to use feathers.

THEN

I grabbed my April CKC "Messy Throwdown" kit.

Yep - a trifecta!

I am loving how those gilded feathers turned out!

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!