More quick cards

I volunteered again this month to make the June mini card kit based on the main Counterfeit kit and was glad I did because my supply of normal cards is quite low (you might remember that I made quite a stack of postcards back in April but sometime you need something a little bit more).

Rather than actually taking my June kit out and using it as a starting point for the card kit, I took the "recipe" we'd been given for making our kits up and decided to use that for selecting a few items to make a handful of cards. I kept to soft, muted colours as in my main kit so that they go together and tried to make sure I had quite a lot of older stuff too.

Instead of 8 sheets of cardstock and 10 sheets of paper, I decided to halve that and also to use my scrap box for the papers. I also started with a set of 12 card blanks which I discovered in the bottom of my drawer and saved me a lot of time and effort, even though the cards are a little smaller than I usually make.

To further tie in with my main kit, I named it "Softer".

So, the recipe again:

• 10 sheets patterned paper - I chose 5 partial sheets of paper from my scrap box
• 8 sheets cardstock - I chose 4 but found that I only actually used 3
• 2 alphabet sets - 2 tiny type alphas - one MM and the other My Little Shoebox, but I only ended up using one
• 2 stamp sets - a small mini journalling page stamp and a set of mini-sentiments
• 4 journaling spots - I selected the same journalling spots as the main kit - MM
• 3 types of "choose your own" style embellishments (flowers, border strips, ribbon, anything you like) - a sheet of dimensional sticker embellishments from MM that match one of the papers and the journalling spots, a roll of washi tape (I had some new I was dying to try!) and some older Prima flowers that my sister gave me for card making
• 1 roll washi tape - yes, so I added in one here making two rolls. he he!
• 1 "old" embellishment  - the 7Gypsies sticker sheet
• 1 messy item (paint, embossing, mists, etc) - I used a standard ink pad for all the edges
• 1 other item of your choice - I wanted small doilies so in they went
• And as I said before, a dozen card blanks (although I was open about how many I would actually make)

And I also decided I would just look at the CKC card sketches for the last couple of months and use those for inspiration. 

Let's Capture Those Sketches

Random Acts of Creativity

My Favourite Things 

March CKC card sketch featured here

I've said before that I am not really a card maker and I don't have much patience with the process so the sketches gave me some good starting points and I followed them quite closely to bring together some quick and easy designs.


I made two of each design for the four sketches and then the last four were just about using up the paper and some products from the kit. I even used up some of the packaging in the MM sticker pack as pattern paper.

Not the best photos in the world, but you get the idea. And now I have 12 new cards in my box ready to send out to say Hi, to say Thank You or just because. And all in under two hours including making the kit! Success!


We'd love to see your card creations. Why not give a mini-card kit a go and share your results with us?

Let's get moving

Anyone who knows me knows that I certainly don't mean in the exercise, tired and sweaty workout kind of way. Bleh!

No, this is all about the new Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-challenge "Get Moving" which prompts us to make a project with moving parts on it. That one had me stumped to begin with. I thought about sliders or fold-outs and after lots of umming and aahing, in the end went with something I've been meaning to try for a long time and realised that this was the time :-)

I went with large, very dimensional pinwheels for this fairground inspired photo. Somehow I felt like these went together but maybe I was pushing the limits for the connection!

CKC June kit, Subtlety layout #3

Again, this was a page made up before the photo was selected more or less. And then I added a few bits and pieces from my kit to just add a little bit more. As if the pinwheels weren't enough! No one will ever accuse me of having too little stuff on my layouts! :-)

And to proved that my pinwheels really do turn, if you look at these photos, you can see that the wheel is in different positions in each one.

Fellow Master Forger Crystal asked me how I'm going to store this and to be honest, I have no idea! It's really too dimensional to go in a page protector and it would be a shame to squash down all those tails but I don't really have enough space to keep it out :-( I'm still thinking about this one.

How do you store those thick and bulky pages?

In the meantime, what moving parts will you include in your creations? Don't forget to share over at the CKC June Mr Linky page. I'm interested in more ideas - this was a lot of fun! Even though I've only managed three pages from my June kit so far, I still really like it and hope to be able to make quite a few more when I have a bit more time.

Getting messy

The Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-challenge #2 is up and if you like getting messy, then this one is right up your street.

It's all about paint this time around and if you are anything like me, you get it everywhere! Many a time have I found a big blob of (usually pink, let's face it) paint right at the end of my nose, or in my hair, after playing with colour while scrapbooking. So that's where the messy comes in!

I had included a rich coral paint and crackle medium in my kit and just added in some cream to make my painted element work for me and my page.

I often forget to use paint, and I really like the end result so I need to try to use it more often. What is really sad is that many of my paints are so neglected they are really dried up already :-(

Anyway, I picked out one of the coloured cardstocks, determined to get through them, and layered up papers and fussy cut items along with some of the other little embellishments from my kit to form a place for my wonderful vintage photo of my Granny, her sister and a friend at the beach. I need to check the details of the photo as I think there's more story than I can remember, but I think this classic 1930s photo is so wonderful that I was happy to see it on paper.

I dry brushed the cream paint around the edge of the cardstock and then a little on the paper and background - just to give it some texture and to calm down the blue a little.

I then found a small chipboard element and used the coral paint with a thick layer of crackle medium and a top coat of cream which cracked really well. I have a lot of small chipboard that doesn't get used so often so I really need to remember this simple technique to give it a new lease of life.

I'm a little slow with my kit this month (this is layout #2 only) but I'm enjoying seeing how different elements can be combined to work in different ways.

Don't forget to join in the fun over at the Counterfeit blog and to share your painted elements.

When's the last time you were In Good Company?

As I've mentioned before, my very good blogging friend, and fellow Master Forger, S over at Snaps and Snippets, encourages us every month to re-familiarise ourselves with our precious stash and to spend a little time scrapping In Good Company.

This is a lovely challenge to join in on because we buy stash because we love it, right? So it makes sense that it we love it, then spending time with it should  be thought of as quality time. All makes sense, doesn't it?

Every month I promise to join in and often I don't manage it. But I want to. Always! And this month, S even chose one of my favourite manufacturers. I'd like to think, just for me *wink* even though I know she is just working through the wonderful companies to be found in her stash.

Anyway, October Afternoon was just too tempting to miss (even though I managed to miss BasicGrey if you can believe it, a couple of months ago!) and this evening, I pulled out my precious OA and played a little.

I haven't included any journalling or a date yet because I need to quiz my mum about the details - that's her with her mum and dad enjoying a good old fashioned day at the English seaside including deck chairs, long trousers and cardies!

This layout with pretty paper and soft colours makes me happy and reminds me to find more time to play In Good Company. Thanks S.

The best kit.... EVAH! (part 2)

In this post here, I talked about how my April Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Blossom, was the most successful kit I've ever made, giving me a total of 13 pages which is most definitively a record.

I shared 4 of the last layouts from the kit, all made during LOAD and here are the last 4.

I created this layout for the prompt about an overheard conversation. I had received these photos and list of the trolley contents from Libby so while not exactly overheard, I thought "reported" was close enough. I just loved the idea of this little girl's essential items for a trip to visit us. These included a bible, a tambourine, a fairy outfit, a toy santa and of course, an abundance of pink!

Five Sense Friday brought out the topic of taste and there were so many ideas to choose from but this is a particular story I've been wanting to tell for ages so it was a perfect opportunity to get it written down. I moved to my current favourite design of 12x18 with an extra small page for all that story! This leaves all that space for the photos and design. Have you tried this yet? It's perfect when you have a lot to say.

This multi-photo layout was for Sketchy Sunday where we were given a sketch but we were not supposed to use it as it came! Even though I don't make so many multi-photo layouts these days, I added in another photo and made them all smaller than the sketch. Love the design and can feel me using it again. Perfect for those events with lots of fun shots.

LOAD's Manic Monday this week was to "grab and go". I really did just grab the kit and use up the last of the paper scraps which just happened to go together relatively well. I was really pleased with how it came together in well less than an hour which is FAST for me. The photo is actually matted on the back of some bright yellow paper so it really was about getting the most out of the kit. I added in the little lace cluster and the pins as embellishments were really coming to an end!

So there you have it. Numbers #10 to #13 from the most successful kit of all time. For me anyway :-)

Which was your most successful kit? And now many layouts did you get from it? Come on, let's compare notes!

Finishing off the best kit... EVAH! (part1)

I've mentioned before that I aim for about 6 layouts and/or projects for each of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits I make and generally this is easily achievable. Some months, I've even managed to get 8 or 9 layouts. But the kit I made in April, Blossom (featured here) entered the Guiness Book of Records for the most successful kit so far!

I said a tearful goodbye to the leftovers in the kit after a grand total of 13 layouts! I was amazed when I kept opening up the box to find still more great bits and pieces and more than enough to make yet another layout. During LOAD it came to my rescue over and over again.

One of the things I loved most about it was that the mix of bright, happy colours enabled me to bring them together in so many combinations that it's hard to see that they come from the same kit unless you line them up together and notice the matching papers.

I did have to add in more cardstock to make the full 13 layouts but as far as I can remember, not much else.

All of these layouts were created during LOAD for various "Scrapbooking out of the box" prompts.

Here, we were challenged to use themed (holiday) colours for a non-holiday layout. I guess you can now see that I chose red, white and green for Christmas for this wonderful Cam face.

This was the "put your name into eBay and get inspired" prompt. There was a book called "The Scorpio's Anger" which reminded me that I should do a layout about a few of my Scorpio characteristics.

This was to scrap in someone else's voice and I came across a very sweet card and tag from my housemaid in Manila which accompanied a very thoughtful present. It made me feel very humbled to think about how this woman had spent some of her hard-earned money on me.

And this last one for today was to be inspired by cartoon characters. Hong Kong Phooey sprang to mind and I just matched it up with a photo from around the time.

Does anyone else out there remember Hong Kong Phooey? Oh, he was my favourite! I can imagine I'd find it pretty lame these days! Ha ha!

So these are layouts #6 to #9 and there's 4 more to share in a few days! Watch this space.

Inspired by the Counterfeit travel challenge

I'm a bad blogger at the moment. I really need to get back on the wagon again. I have lots to share and lots of ideas but I got a bit overwhelmed with it all over the last month and the blog is the first thing to get left behind.

But I'm hoping to be better so don't give up on me. Ok?

On to the business of the day... The Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini challenge #1 for June which is about getting inspired by travel.

I never specifically add products into my kits with the challenges in mind, so I was relieved to open the box and see that I had included a wonderful sheet of map paper by Paisley Press sent over to me by the delightful Lynette! Pure fluke! I didn't necessarily just want to do a holiday page and got the idea of the title and products with those super cute clouds cut out from one of the sheets (Jillybean I think) before I went on the hunt for a suitable photo and theme.

The rest came together quite quickly and was also delighted to see that super little green brad in my kit with the earth map on it. I think it might be upside down here in the photo, so I'll have to make sure that gets turned rount. But cute, isn't it?

I admit that I felt it needed a little focal point and rummaged through my stash to find this AC Thickers airplane which I added in. Yes, a bit naughty, and I don't know if you can see there amongst the clouds are some teeny tiny letters from Kaisercraft which also got added in.

Not much to say for journalling so I just wrote a few sentences along the top of my papers.

I love doing travel pages and have a plethora of photos and subjects to talk about so maybe I'll try to get another couple done with this prompt. How about you?

June Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop

Hello there! Nice to see you here again for another Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop!

If you've arrived here direct, you might want to pop back to the Counterfeit blog so that you can go through the whole hop. If you are here via Julie Ann (here) then you're on the right track. But I really recommend you going through the whole hop today because I think you are in for a treat with the kits the others have made with the very different challenge this month.

The kit this month was inspired by a challenge posted by Shimelle over at Two Peas (read about it in the Counterfeit blog post here) and rather than having a kit to look at and be inspired by, we were given a list of ingredients to include. I had such fun putting this together and love the kit I've come up with. I can't wait to start using it.

The ingredient list is:

• 10 sheets patterned paper
• 8 sheets cardstock
• 2 alphabet sets
• 2 stamp sets
• 4 journaling spots
• 3 types of "choose your own" style embellishments (flowers, border strips, ribbon, anything you like)
• 1 roll washi tape
• 1 "old" embellishment 
• 1 messy item (paint, embossing, mists, etc)
• 1 other item of your choice

I have been in British Diamond Jubilee fever that last days so at one point I considered going for a red, white and blue theme. But in the end, I went for something much more muted and included lots of older product.

And because it was sort of the opposite of the pomp and glory of the last days, I went with the simpler name of "Subtlety".

I started off by selecting my 8 sheets of cardstock in some neutrals and a few softer colours:

And then picked out about 20 sheets of older and newer papers to mix and match in with the colours, reducing it down to 10 by just a quick process of selection - in/out/back in etc:

After that, I just ran backwards and forwards to my shelves and grabbed items that fitted the descriptions I needed to include and piled it all up until I was done. My mum has been here all week celebrating the jubilee with me so I got her to look through my basket of old items to choose something for me to use and she decided that the dimensional stickers and flowers would look pretty. We'll have to see if I actually use that. But it was interesting to see how an outsider sees product so differently!

So, going back through the ingredient list:

• 2 alphabet sets - one AC Thickers and one October Afternoon 
• 2 stamp sets - some journalling spots and a set of frames
• 4 journaling spots - I selected a pad of greens from Making Memories, two little spots from BasicGrey and some flash cards
• 3 types of "choose your own" style embellishments (flowers, border strips, ribbon, anything you like) - I knew I wanted flowers this time around so that was first, then some AC flair buttons and some Echo Park decorative brads that matched two of the papers
• 1 roll washi tape - a new pink diagonal stripe that I just found at the weekend
• 1 "old" embellishment - the dimensional, themed stickers picked out by my mum
• 1 messy item (paint, embossing, mists, etc) - some paint and some crackle medium
• 1 other item of your choice - I added in my TH film strip but also threw some twill onto the pile which I'm planning to stain with tea so that it matches.

It's quite a large kit but it looks easy to use. As always, ink and twine are considered to be free items and if I need to add in extra cardstock, I will. We will have to see if other items find their way into my kit box ;-)

My target is usually 6 layouts but with this larger kit, I'll be aiming for a minimum of 8 layouts. I'll let you know!

So, the next stop on the hop is Libeeti (here) but do leave me a comment and let me know you were here and what your "old" product will be for your kit. I still have an outstanding challenge over at WM to use up some old product so your ideas will help me!

Here is the full blog hop list incase you get lost along the way:

Guest Designer:  Alison http://missybossy65.blogspot.com/

Crystal http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Glinda http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

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

Jen http://mypair-a-dice.blogspot.com/

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

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/    <--- you are here

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/    <--- go here next!

Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

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

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

Meridy http://www.meridy77.blogspot.com/