Sketches, layouts and cards

I'm not managing much scrapping right now so it's great that I have the Counterfeit kits and challenges to at least get me to my table from time to time. And the challenges make it all so easy. Win-win situation.

This time around we were asked to create a page and then use it as inspiration to make a card. Love this!

I headed over to Page Maps again and found a super cute sketch (here) to use and off I went. Another old photo with not much of a story which gave me the chance to write a few private words and in a jiffy, my layout was made.

Next up came the card and I just took the basic parts of the layout and made a simple greeting card that will be perfect for a hello to a girlfriend sometime. Love having these types of cards just waiting for the right time.

Page Maps August 2012 sketch

Stitching on paper - inspired by quilting

Last weekend I posted about Clair's wonderful Stitching on Paper class in which I have the honour of being one of the GDs.

I had the chance this week to catch up with the first 5 lessons and they really are super. Interested in paper? Love stitching? Than you have to check this class out and say hi to Clair while you are there. There's even a super prize on offer.

In the meantime, today's lesson is being inspired by quilting and I also contributed to this lesson and it was so much fun. I decided to go back to my patchwork beginnings and made a page as a tribute to my Granny who taught me to patchwork nearly 40 years ago!

I chose an old-fashioned patchwork design and made it out of paper scraps. I stitching around each piece to give it some definition and didn't worry about how messy it was. I've never been a perfect hand-stitcher (all my patchwork is done by hand) so it matched the feel I was trying to create. I so love how this turned out and it really made me want to go back to my fabric patchwork again - who knows, I might just do that ;-)

And just to add a couple more examples of how to use this inspiration, here are a couple of projects I don't know if I've shared before.

Why not give it a try and then go over to Clair's site and link up - after checking out this week's class of course!

Online challenge fun

Now, if you visit here often you'll know that I love all the online challenges around in blogland. And how about a online challenge that tells you to go off and find an online challenge to join in!?! That's the first mini prompt for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge this month and if you go over there you can find a good list to check out for starters.

I'm feeling a bit uninspired right now so I decided to head over to Page Maps and found a lovely sketch there to join in on. I love sketches for times like these when I'm struggling to find a starting point and who doesn't love Page Maps? 

Page Maps August sketch

I used my August Olympiad kit for this and based it quite closely around the sketch. I really like how it turned out except the journalling. So, I'll probably cover that up and do it again - maybe with journalling strips.

I've used this photo before but I came across it just a week or so ago, fell in love with it all over again and decided to just make a layout I like rather than a big story.

Which online challenge will you choose? So many choices. So much fun!

Stitching on Paper - embroidery

You remember that I told you about Clair's free class? And I hoped you checked out the first two parts last weekend where she gave you lots of inspiration and know-how for where to start (here for the basics and here for machine stitching) as well as yesterday's part about using stamping for inspiration when stitching.

Well, today's part is all about embroidery and using embroidery on our pages and I was thrilled if a little daunted when Clair asked if I could contribute to this section. Gulp!

Now, I love sewing and I love sewing on my pages but I'm ever so slightly (ok, very!) lazy and don't get around to it all that often, and when I do, it's usually pretty basic. So I knew I had to get creative this time around and try out a couple of new things.

I started off my adding some mist splats (Glimmer Mist) to my cardstock and then creating a small layered photo element with pink (what a surprise) papers from my scrap box. I knew that I wanted my stitching and other elements to sort of radiate out from this point and I knew I wanted to go pretty. So, because I'm not a good doodler so I was happy to fish out my stitching template (Bazzill?) to create some swirls in cream and pink as a starting point. 

Then I decided to get knotty. I love the look of French Knots and decided to tackle them with the help of the internet. Now, the trick to these knots is that they take a bit of practice (some of my earlier attempts are not so successful!) and you need to take them slowly, but once you've cracked it, they are super fun to make and look so cute scattered around.

Once I had finished those, I added some blanket stitch to opposite corners of the page, just for a bit of dimension and because it took me back to primary school when we would create little felt needle books or something similarly "useful" items. It was a fun trip down memory lane!

At that point, I thought that I was done but while looking up a few stitches online, I saw pretty chain daisies and decided to give them a try. They were a bit more difficult to make neat and even but somehow, I felt they added the final, perfect touch.

This prompt really made me go the extra mile on the stitching and the result is just gorgeous!

It doesn't happen often that I take the time to stitch so much but I always love the end result.

Here's another one I did last year and I don't remember if I shared it here or not...

And here's the stitching template being put to good use again on a Christmas card from last year.

And one last one to share - here, the embroidery is a little more subtle and I just created those little stars freehand.

Embroidery is a great way to add something extra to your layout without making a whole lot of bulk. It may take a bit of practice and time but the end result is always worth the effort.

Make sure you check out Clair's class. I haven't been over there yet but you can bet she's got a load of tips and tricks to help you on your stitching way.

August Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to the August Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog hop kit reveal.

If you've arrived here directly, I recommend you go back to the beginning of the hop over at the CKC site (here) so you don't miss out on any of the fun and inspiration. If you are here via the delightful Julie (here) then you are on the right track and I'm glad you've stopped by. Leave me a message to let me know you were here and then go off and make up your kit! 

The inspiration kit this month was a digital kit by The Scrap Orchard, Summer Lovin' by Chelle's Creations. It's a pretty big kit with loads and loads of stuff in it, so it was fun to counterfeit and has produced a pretty big kit for me too.

The colours proved a lot brighter than I usually go for and I really liked the elements of green.

I started off as always, by picking out some neutral cardstock and then added in a red, a dark blue and a buttery yellow (some black was also added in after I took the photos) and then obviously, I didn't have any of the real product so I had to really think about how to approach the kit. So I took each sheet in the original kit and just went with matching up the colour or the design type or maybe just the feel of the paper - small print for example, or solid colour. 

There's a lot of paper in there, this kit is much bigger than I usually make and all the papers are double sided (or at least most) so I have a lot of choice:

And then the fun bit, all the embellies. I had the list printed out of what was in the inspiration kit, and it's a LONG list! So I went through and just picked out the type of embellies I have or what would go with the papers. There's a whole lot of older stuff that I want to try and use or lose as well as some things that I have no idea how to use on a page so it will be interesting to see:

Several alphas also slipped in there as I wanted a lot of variety becuase the kit is so big. There are several things on the list that I left behind and some random stuff I three in just because. I am really interested to see how I get on.

This was a fun kit to put together because of the fact that it was so enormous and there was no way to match up the items exactly. I like the result but we will have to see how it works in reality!

The reds, yellows, blues and greens jumped out at me and then I decided to add in the black alpha and some black cardstock and hey presto, Olympic colours which prompted the name " Olympiad".

Hopefully this kit will prove a winning combination for me (excuse the pun!) and I'm excited to see how yours comes together. Don't forget to link up your creations over at the blog.

Next on the hop is Libeeti so hop on over there and say hello.

And here's the full list of hoppers in case you get lost along the way:

Guest Designer: Guest Designer: Lynnette  http://sassyscrapper2010.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/

Something fab's coming up and you need to know about it!

I've said it before, but it always surprises me - in a wonderfully good, happy, big smiley way - how easy it is to make friends in our little part of the blogosphere. Creative peeps are just the best and along the way I've made many new friends and they are very special to me. And they are such an inspiring group of people.

So I was more than delighted when my Counterfeit friend, Clair, emailed me to ask if I'd like to join in in a creative endeavour she's kicking off on her blog tomorrow.

Like stitching? Like paper? Like stitching on paper? Then you have to come along and join the party.

Clair explains how her FREE class came about on her blog {here} and it all starts tomorrow so you have to make sure that you jump on board.

Did I mention it's free? Did I mention that there's a whole list of talented featured stitchers. Oh yes... and did I mention that there might be a prize? Go on over to Clair's blog {here} and tell her I sent you!

See you in class!