Jumbled thoughts

My Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Fall In Love, came to the rescue again last week for a fun layout using the LOAD prompt to include a list on our layout.

I was driving to work when I was confronted by one of the most stunning sunrises I have seen and I was compelled to pull over and take an iPhone photo. I promise the photo on the layout is directly uploaded out of my camera and printed! I didn't do any sort of colour editing or actions... The colours really were that incredible. Having the list idea in my head, I noticed how my brain goes off in all sorts of different directions when I'm driving and decided to pay attention to that.

When I got home I was really pleased with just how good the photo turned out and also how it would go with the bright colours in my kit. Because my thoughts had been so jumbled, I continued the theme and used lots of different blocks of paper and a mixed alpha title as well as a bullet point list that was spread out  all over the page. For me, it all tied in together.

Layout #6 for my Fall In Love kit

I'm pleased to have completed my target of 6 layouts from this kit but I have enough in there for one or two more so we'll see if that's what I do or if I just move onto making some cards and calling it a day.

The next kit is in the process of being brought together and it's a good one! You won't want to miss the reveal over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site on the 5th.

Last chance to let me know on this post (here) that you popped over to Whimsical Musings to say hello and to have a chance for the Bite-sized Scrapbooking giveaway!

Digging deep

I am busy with LOAD and have really been making the most of my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits. At the beginning of the month, I had leftovers from August (Balmy August) and September (Departing Summer) and my new October kits (Fall in Love and Schrecklich). I'm honestly not sure if I could have kept going day after day without these kits for those days when I didn't want to scour all my papers and just grabbing a ready-made kit has been a lifesaver. 13 counterfeit layouts so far this month in fact ;-)

And here is another one from Fall in Love.

The LOAD prompt was to go for the close up. I decided not only to use a close up photo but also accentuate that with a frame and look into the story in a bit more detail.

Layout #5 from Fall In Love

I've mentioned before that I have lots of random photos that I just take because I like the subject. Then I print it and look at it and wonder why. But there's often something to say about these types of photos. Maybe they sum up a feeling or a mood or they are representative of something. In this case, I looked at these acorns and suddenly remembered playing in the park as a child. Way back when. That was the story.

That's the reason for the page and the reason I scrap.


Love moments like that!

More good company

Always up for a good challenge, I'm again joining in on a new one set by my blog friend S over at Snaps & Snippets.  

Her idea is that we should spend some time in good company with our wonderful stash and become reacquainted with the treasures we possess. I love it and was sold at once.

Week 1 was Cosmo and I posted about this 2 weeks ago. 

Week 2 was Making Memories and I missed the deadline - arghghg! I'm so busy scrapping at the moment that I've been neglecting my blogging. But not to be outclassed by mere deadlines, I'm posting it here and have every intention on linking up with this week's ;-). You don't mind, do you?

I used up some of my precious Passport collection, now severely depleted ;-( to pull together a travel layout about Salzburg. Love these papers so much that I'll be really sad when they finally give up. I may have to get some more ;-) (Yes, I know that defeats the object!)

I love MM and have quite a lot of bits and pieces of it in my stash. I don't find myself buying a lot of full collections but odd sheets and lots of embellishments. It's usually pretty, colourful and easy to use. In my top 10 for sure.


Week 3 is now almost at an end and S has challenged us to use Graphic 45. Surprising for me, I appear to have a lot of it in my stash and I have no real idea how to use it! The patterns are so "all over" and themed that I find it tricky to know how to cut, use or build with it. But I'm pleased to say that I gave it a try and surprised myself in the process.


I had a whole collection of papers and had disregarded them as too themed but when I looked through them, I found 4 or 5 sheets with simpler designs that went together beautifully. I suppose I ought to look at the papers more carefully in future!


The LOAD prompt for today was nature and I thought this photo went with the papers I'd chosen really well. 

All in all, a fabulous challenge S! Thanks for making me see my suppplies in a new way! I'd never have made this layout without your gentle persuasion :-) 


Don't forget to check out this post (here) about our new challenge blog, Whimsical Musings (very exciting!) and the chance to win a giveaway courtesy of Bite-sized Scrapbooking!

It's that time of the month again

No! Not *that time of the month ;-)


Rather, time for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog hop.

If you have just landed here, you might want to go back to our über-talented Guest Designer Kerri who kicks off the hop. And if you arrived via Kim, you are on the right track and at the end of my post, you can see a full list of the hoppers and your next stop, which will be Margie.


Happy hopping.


Our challenge this month was to dress up some stickers on our projects in honour of Halloween which is now just a few short days away. What will you be? Let me know in the comments as I'm collecting ideas for costumes for future spooky days to come ;-)

Anyway, our official remit was to alter some stickers and use them in an unexpected was on our project. Not as easy as it appears at first!

I decided to break out the Halloween kit I'd made this month, Schrecklich, and pretty up some of the CC stickers I had in there. Nothing ground breaking but adding a bit of glitter to the candy and stickles to the banner and the bat meant that the stickers were much more "me". Let's face it, glitter anything and it's instantly more "me" ;-)

I transformed the bat and the matching banner to a card and the candy found its way onto a layout featuring some of the pretty decorations I made for myself last year. 

However, I did do one little thing on my layout which means that you won't even see my stickers on there! I made a title using the stickers as a mask. Black cardstock brushed over with some Stampin' Up Whisper White gives it a *bit* of a spooky look. This would have looked great with a white mist too but unfortunately I don't have one ;-( (adding it to my shopping list while I write!).

What will you do with your stickers? Do you use stickers a lot? Or more like me and just add them from time to time? 

With that, thanks for stopping by and I will send you on your spooky way to Margie and the rest of the team. 

Here's the full list:

Guest Designer - Kerri 
Helen 
Jemma 
Jen 
Jessica 
Julie Ann 
Kim 
Lisa - you are here
Margie  - this is your next stop
Milissa 
Rebecca 
Susanne


One last thing: 

This month's sponsor over at CKC is Momenta. You can see their productshere, their YouTube channel here, and their great blog here.

In order to be eligible for their prize package for this month, all you need to do is:

1. LIKE them on their facebook page (making sure you comment on their page to let them know that CKC sent you! )
2. Send an email to CKC to let them know that you did this.
3. Send a friend over too. You'll get an extra entry for each friend who also likes their page, comments on it and let's CKC know that YOU sent them!

Again, happy hopping!

An announcement and a chance to win...

I've talked about Whimsical Musings a lot recently and you might have been wondering what it's all about...

It all started when Pam (Whimsical Nature) and I set about doing a daily challenge of our own during July. We came up with the name combining Pam's screen name, and my blog. Clever, huh? :-)

When July came to an end, we decided to take it weekly. We alternately create a challenge for the week and then wait to see what gorgeousness each of us creates.

Well, now we've decided to take it one step further and have set up our own challenge blog! And we'd love to see some visitors over there. We've been working hard behind the scenes to get the blog ready and have posted all the previous weekly prompts there and are in the process of uploading our layouts. It's still a work in progress but if I say so myself, it looks pretty darned good!

The concept is simple. Each Monday a "just-for-fun" challenge will be posted and it's designed to really get those creative juices flowing. We have a week to complete the layout and then you will find two posts on Sunday night with our layouts with a small amount of thought process behind it.

And you know what they say, the more the merrier.

Why not pop over to Whimsical Musings Challenge and say hi!

If you join in with the prompts, just let us know in the challenge post comments and we'll drop by and say hello to you too.

And as a little celebration of our launch, I'd like to offer you a little giveaway, courtesy of my "Bite-sized Scrapbooking" friend, Kim. She has bundled up the first 6 months of Bite-sized Scrapbooking prompts into one PDF file - BSS Bundle #1 - and is offering it for sale on her site for $7.99. Do you remember that I had a layout featured a few months ago? My layout is #18!

However, she has generously offered me one to give away to one of my blog readers. You'll love it. So much inspiration, so many layouts and so easy to complete in three easy steps. Kim walks you through each layout right down to the size, number and type of photos you might want to use as well as ways to change it up. You'll love it (have I mentioned that already?!?) and she is now offering FREE membership subscription until the end of January 2012 when the service will come to an end. Get on board while you can!

All you have to do to win a free "BSS bundle #1" is to go over to the new Whimsical Musings challenge blog and say hello! Then come back here and leave me a comment to say you were there! Simple. I'll keep it open to the end of the month and let you know the winner next week.

Softly falling snow

It's been a long, long time since I posted twice in one day but I just made my Jingle Belles card for this week and wanted to put it up a day earlier than usual as I have a special blog post for tomorrow.

So, I'll keep this short and sweet.

This week's prompt comes from Noelle McAdams over at Paper & ICE. When she thinks of winter, she is reminded of all "softly falling snow, snuggly sweaters and socks, mittens, down parkas, warm, soft cookies and coziness in general." And the idea of setting us a soft Christmas card challenge sprang to mind.

I was looking around on Saturday and picked up some felt thinking I might cut something out and get all crafty, when my eyes alighted on a snowflake hanger made of heavy grey felt. And I knew what I wanted to do. Make a card with this element hanging off it so that the recipient can use it on their own tree or as a present tag. I know that I'd love to receive something like this so why not others?

I simply tied the hanger onto the top of the card using cream twine. Simple. I used a CPS sketch #241

I added a small sentiment underneath the snowflake so the card wouldn't look too bare once it was removed.

I'm sure I now have more cards than I need for this year. One less thing to worry about :-)

Will this kit ever end?

I am still working on my Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit, Balmy August. But it's like Mary Poppins bottomless bag. It seems to go on forever.

I have now made 8 layouts and there's at least one more in the kit so that is a target between now and the end of LOAD.

It was also my Whimsical Musings challenge (#10) to make a layout inspired by what's directly outside your door. I was lucky that the weather was as good at the weekend as the previous because I left it quite late to actually do it and I really wanted to use up-to-date, current photos. And the weather really was good. Blue skies, sunshine, jewell-toned leaves, the lot. I struck lucky on my short photo safari.

So, wanting to use up my Balmy August kit, I set myself another challenge of making this autumnal layout with non-autumnal colours and papers.

I found it impossible to limit my photo choices so came up with a photo block to include as many as possible. The usual layering, clustering and tying ensued and the layout was complete.

I'm pleased with how it turned out and that the colours in the photos show as strongly as they do. I hardly edited the photos and didn't need to enhance the colours at all.

Ahh, autumn. Have I told you how much I love autumn? *wink* 

Summer has finally departed

Happy Monday everyone!

I had an unexpectedly short day today which makes me happy and you know what I did with it? Not a lot ;-)

I caught up on the LOAD gallery, I caught up with a gazillion blog posts in my reader and I washed a few glasses (well, there had to be SOME work in there *wink*)

I'm finding the combination of blogging, LOADing, Counterfeiting, Whimsical Musing and blog surfing a bit much at the moment and I was a week behind my reading. That makes a lot of posts that I don't want to miss out on. So those of you reading this, sorry for being slack on commenting and joining in on the fun of your blogs. I'll be back to my normal, irregular schedule in November when LOAD is over.

In the meantime, LOAD has been helping me to work through the leftover Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits I had sitting on my table.

My first focus was my September kit, Departing Summer and I managed another 3 layouts bringing the month total to 7. My usual is 6 so I was pleased with this and now I really only have some scraps to make a handful of cards from. That can wait until after LOAD now though.

So, just to share the ends of this kit:

Layout #5 following the prompt just to make a "me" layout. I was happy to find a way to use the Sassafras background paper that I really love but find tricky to use. The top left and bottom right clusters are all printed as is the gorgeous eyelet lace fabric. I found it didn't need much extra on top to look finished.

I built up my cluster just using up the little bits and pieces that were in the kit and am so happy to have used a few of these really old journalling spots. I still like them, but you know how it is with that older stuff. Gets forgotten...

Layout #6 was a combined challenge layout. I did it for LOAD day 2 to use product you have way too much of, I used my Departing Summer kit, and I fulfilled the Whimsical Musings challenge #7 to use 9 products + 9 techniques + nice words. I've already shared this one with you (here) so moving on...

Layout #7 was really just using up all the larger leftover pieces of paper and throwing them down on the page! But I did manage to use a few of those difficult photo corners (now put into the giveaway box). The LOAD prompt for this was to record a tradition. I have dozens and dozens of these self-portrait photos so it felt good to get a few used up for a reason.

Like I say, this kit has now been officially retired for scrapping and some of the leftover products have already been put somewhere to be given away.

That's another thing I really enjoy about CKC. It gives me the opportunity to fish out the older products and mix them in with the new to see if I still like them and can use them. At the end of the month, if they are still in the box I can decide if that's because I don't want to use them anymore and out they go. Or if I've rediscovered how much I like them, they can go back in the main stash. I really feel like I'm getting so much more out of my products now!

Thank you Counterfeit Kit Challenge :-)

Just layering it up

Challenge #3 over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site was all about the layering.

Did they dream this up just for me? It felt that way ;-)

I went to town with one of my "Fall In Love" papers and fussy cut a whole load of tropical flowers and leaves to match my Philippine photos and then layered up papers and a huge (even by my standards!) cluster. The white cardstock (added in to the kit) was the perfect bright backdrop to all these colours. 

I know I shouldn't say things like this, but I LOVE this layout (I know, it sounds a bit boastful!). It really makes me happy and makes me realise that I have to get more of my Filipino stories onto my pages.

This is layout #4 from Fall In Love. (I promised the CKC girls that I'd get a better photo than this scan but, as much as I love this time of year, I'm struggling to catch the light to photograph layouts - so apologies for that.)

And this one is a fun, experimental one I made (#3) to see how "whimsical" I could go. 

The answer is not all that much before it starts looking a little off! 

But I am happy to use up this AC paper that was in my kit and also some of the chipboard die cuts too. I always struggle with these types of products. I added in a couple of the alphas for this multi-alpha, multi-coloured title. 

In the future, I think I'll be sticking to the style I know :-)

Singing all the way

Do you listen to Christmas music? Do you have a favourite? When do you start piping the Christmas tunes into your home?

If you're anything like me, the answers to these questions would be, "Oh yes! White Christmas as an all time number 1, but there are so many up there as faves. Not before November 1st but I'm usually pretty tired of it all by the time Boxing Day comes along!"

I have 520 holiday songs in my iTunes library which is a bit scary! But many many of them are the same song by different artists and there are a few albums in there I don't listen to much any more. And there's LOTS of swing/Rat Pack type Christmas hits which I love!

So when Jingle Belles challenged us this week to make a card featuring our favourite Christmas song, it was so difficult to choose which one. An all white card for White Christmas, something more traditional for Peace on Earth (of course the Bowie/Crosby version) or something funky for one of my Elvis tracks?

In the end, I took the easy option and found a ready printed Cosmo card that I built my card around.

I have to admit though that the Phil Spector version of a A Winter Wonderland is also up there in my top 20 (as is the whole album - my top 20 has WAY more than 20!). It takes me back to being a child, waiting for Father Christmas to come along and fill my sack.

What memories do Christmas tunes bring up for you?

More to share

I've another two layouts to share with you today.

For these, I used my current Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, "Fall In Love"

Cha-ching. Today's prompt was to include some sort of reference to prices, receipts, bills etc. I thought of this wonderful, happy family photo immediately and decided to do a spin off from the Master Card ad a few years ago. It's so rare that I can bully all of my brothers and sisters as well as my mum to pose for a group photo! The last one was at my other brother's 18th birthday 5 years ago. So this was long overdue and well worth getting a page done about it straight away. So pleased with how this came out!

The LOAD prompt for today was to change up the size of page. Apart from  mini-books, my standard size is 12x12 and I find the 8 1/2x11 really hard but I gave it another try. My mojo was really MIA so I went with something really simple and am not exactly enamoured with the results. But the photo has been hanging around a long time so it's good to have it used. It's all a bit soppy so I blocked out most of the journalling :-)

I'm looking to a full week of work and scrapping - what about you?

Sunday Share

I've been really productive recently but haven't been blogging all that much and so I haven't shared much.

One thing LOAD is exceptionally good for is using up stash - just think of all those papers cut up, the cardstock backing, so many words made from alphabets and embellishment sprinkles that 31 days of daily scrapping takes up.

So that's what I've been doing. Using up stash. And there's a lot to use up. I had four Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits lying around for example and these were definitely a target.

So for today, I'm going to share 4 layouts that I created using my August kit, "Balmy August". That makes 7 layouts in total with quite a lot still left in my box - maybe two or even three more layouts plus some cards. Hopefully, I can get it finished off before the end of the month.

The LOAD prompt today was compare and contrast. I thought these photos of my two brothers on day trips to Amsterdam with me were good examples. I remain the same, but older while each of them are very different. I only added in a few items in addition to the kit - the film strip and the tape.

Today's prompt was to dig deep and tell the story behind what the photo might tell on the surface. I have many of these retro photos with no specific details and I just wrote down some things that sprung to mind when I looked at them. I love these old photos. Fun times. Everything except the alphas are from the kit

We were challenged to doodle. Ok, I totally wimped out on this one. Doodling just isn't my thing so I just drew a line round the outside of the cardstock. 

Today we were asked to journal with purpose. Rather than just talking about our trips to Paris, I wrote a little more about what that means to me. I was so pleased to find a way to use this stunning MME paper and was thrilled at how this turned out.

I added the small canvas label and the small Paris tag to the kit for this layout.

The combination of Counterfeit kits and LOAD works so well for me to use up a mixture of old and new products. And it's great to see those kits being used up in ways I wouldn't normally thought of.

Have you decided to join us yet?

Sweet Inspiration

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site, we are thinking all about October fun or in other words, Halloween and all the happiness that surrounds it. Like CANDY - or sweets as I am more prone to call it!

Mini challenge #1 is to use candy as inspiration in whatever form that takes - the name, the packaging, how it makes you feel, a memory connected to it, whatever you like!

You know that I am a huge Cadbury's fan and therefore, that was the first place I went to for this but the bright colours in all their packaging just didn't grab me this time around (since then I have been thinking about the fact that I could have used my Halloween kit instead!). So I fished around their website and found this page listing a whole load of fun chocolate quotes!

And this *sweet* card was the result. Simple.

What sweets will you use for inspiring a layout or card? Any other Cadbury fans out there?!?

Don't forget that Momenta is offering a great prize pack this month! All you need to do is friend them on facebook and e-mail CKC to let them know to be entered!!  

It's good to know that I'm in good company

Things are busy round here right now (just for a change) in all sorts of way including scrapping.

I'm in the middle of LOAD and hope to be able to share some of my layouts soon ( as well as some other bits and pieces). But today, I wanted to join in on my blog friend, S's new challenge series "In Good Company".

I'm all for ways of using up old stash and that's exactly what S wants us to do by choosing one manufacturer each week for us to rediscover in our neglected stash.

So today was the day, and even though I don't love this layout and my mojo has been MIA for the last couple of days, I am happy to have captured this story and finally cut in my beloved stash. I love this Dutch Girl as much now as the first day I saw it and it was the first Cosmo I used. I may not love Cosmo as much as BasicGrey, but it's there in my top 5!

Now that the collection has been started, you can be sure it's going to pop up again soon!

Looking forward to S's next choice. Watch this space.

I'm dreaming of a Pink Christmas (& a cure)

Jingle Belles is supporting Breast Awareness Month this week with their challenge for us to incorporate pink into our Christmas cards.

And wonderful Stephanie and Lauren will be donating $1 each to Susan G Komen for the Cure for each card that hits the gallery this week. And the gallery is looking like it might be a bumper crop already - do go over there and check out all that scrumptious pink.

Pink for Christmas is no problem for me - pink for anytime in fact!

I turned immediately to BG Eskimo Kisses which I still adore as much today as the first moment I saw it. I needed the card to be quick and easy so I turned to Card Positioning Systems sketches, used CPS 239 as the base and just went to town with the pink! It's not the favourite card in my set but I love the pink and I loved that I got it done!

CPS 239

And hump day is already over for me - downhill to the weekend ;-)

Mail Art Exchange

I wrote a few weeks ago about the Mail Art Exchange I had joined for the first time and which had been organised by Ginger. I nervously sent off my post with the theme of "Earth" all the way across the ocean to Austin, TX and received a lovely email from Amanda to say that it had arrived safe and sound.

And then, a few days ago I also received my mail from St Paul, Minnesota (had to look that up on the map!).

How wonderful it was to open up my mail box and find something so pretty and bright and happy in there rather than the usual grey/white bill-filled envelopes. It was just what I needed to brighten up my day and make me smile.

Carol Anne had covered the envelope with little marching ladybirds and stamped foliage and inside was such a lovely card full of wishes for a happy day and an earth coloured tag inside ready to use on a scrap page someday.

I'm not sure when the next Mail Art Exchange will be, but make sure you are on board for next time because it's such a lot of fun. Wouldn't you prefer to receive something pretty in the post rather than a boring white envelope?

Delightfully happy to announce...

... the winner to my 5 year anniversary giveaway.

Drum roll please............

And the lucky winner is Danielle! 

Congratulations Danielle and thanks so much for your sweet comments on all my blog posts and eco friendly scrapbooking inspiration from your own blog. You have really got my brain working recently and I always feel so pleased with myself when I recycle some packaging or something!

Shoot me a mail with your snail mail address and I'll get your little pack of goodies in the mail to you.  I've selected a few products by October Afternoon from their Boarding Pass collection which have a travel theme. I felt this represented my feelings about being so happy to be connected with friends around the world through scrapbooking and  blogging. I hope you like them! I'd post a better photo here but I've just missed the light and want to get this up today as I'm already late with announcing this!

Thanks to everyone who commented and congratulated me on my 5 years of blogging - it's always lovely to hear from you. 

I have another little giveaway to announce next week so watch this space!

In the meantime, I'm in the middle of LOAD right now and it's scrapping all the way. Then there's Counterfeit Kit Challenge challenges to be finished and a Whimsical Musings layout to be created tomorrow (and news to come from that soon too!).

Busy busy busy. Have a great weekend everyone!

Have stash, will kit

October is well and truly here and with it comes a new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit which is extra exciting this month as I start my time with them as part of their design team - I'm officially a Master Forger!

This month's inspiration kit/s are September/October 2010 kits from Little Red Scrapbook (you can see the kits here).

There's a simply stunning, pretty kit which jumped right out at me and shouted "Make me!" and we were also given a wonderfully cute Halloween themed kit which I couldn't resist either.

So I made two kits... it's not as if I don't have enough stuff to put in them after all!

I selected a whole selection of soft colours and papers for my first kit which I have named "Fall in Love" which is of course a play on words because, as you all know, I LOVE autumn. 

I like the fact that this autumn kit isn't full of those browns and yellows because I use those all the time anyway. I added in a lot more embellishments and alphas than the original kit, but you knew that I would, didn't you? This might be a challenging kit to make any masculine layouts from, but I feel I'm up to that challenge and it's great to see some golden oldies in here from my seemingly never ending BG collection!

And then I made up a smaller kit of Halloween stash inspired by the selection of items in the original kit. I decided to put in my Cosmo papers, mixed in with some BG alphas and a lot of themed embellishments. Halloween isn't such a big celebration round here but we do get dressed up and have some fun, so there are layouts to be done each year. I figured, if I had a kit ready to go and the incentive of using it up for the Counterfeit challenges, I might get a few old photos down on pages. I have included a lot of felt scraps, inspired by the cutest banner in the inspiration kit. I'm definitely going to be making that to use!

I decided to give it a German name, "Schrecklich" which means "ghastly" but somehow sounds much cooler!

This month's sponsor over at CKC is Momenta. You can see their products here, their YouTube channel here, and their great blog here.

In order to be eligible for their prize package for this month, all you need to do is:

1. LIKE them on their facebook page (making sure you comment on their page to let them know that CKC sent you! )
2. Send an email to CKC to let them know that you did this.
3. Send a friend over too. You'll get an extra entry for each friend who also likes their page, comments on it and let's CKC know that YOU sent them!

Don't forget that Counterfeiting is for you whether you are a scrapbooker or a card maker. It's all about shopping your stash, joining in on some fun challenges and making stuff! Isn't that something that we could do all be doing a bit more of?

It would be lovely if you would join us - pop over to CKC and look around, there's a lot going on over there!