I got creative!

I promised you a brief description of some of the counterfeiting I did for this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit.

Like I said, I'm really lazy most of the time and don't often make the time to really think through how to replicate the items in our inspiration kit that I don't have in my own stash.

But last weekend, I made the most of a small window of time and space (in my brain) and got crafty for some items I really wanted in my kit.

I'll start with the super easy items:

I decided to make the most of some of the thousands of pins I have and find some free printable Project Life/journalling cards etc which could match up a few sheets and packs in the original kit:

Elle's Studio - Day to Day - Tidbits (available here)

Glitz - Color Me Happy - Bits & Pieces (available here)

Fancy Pants - Down By The Shore - title pieces (available here)

While I may not have found perfect matches, I have a hefty pile of stuff which can be tucked here and there and were a fraction of the price of ready bought items - look at this array:

I used these two pins (this and this)

Lots of bright happy colours, cards with space to write, cards with slogans, cards with dates or days, cards with pretty designs - everything you could ask for. And I could have printed out hundreds more as I have so many pins on my printables board (here) and my Project Life board (here). A quick search round the internet will unearth a plethora of freebies. I printed them out onto 160g card in best quality so they are not as thick as regular cardstock and think that will work really well for layering up.

Next up was the pack camera die-cuts.

Maya Road - Say Cheese - camera kraft die cuts (available here)

It just so happens that I have a set of Maya Road stamps with cameras and they are the same design as these even if they are a bit smaller.

So I simply stamped blocks of images in brown and black ink onto kraft cardstock and can cut them out as and when I need them - talk about simple.

Next up was the summer word stickers:

Bazzill Basics - Summer Big Word Stickers (available here)

I created a word document and typed up all the words I thought I might use on my projects and then filled the text box with orange mini polka dots. I think my font size was a bit smaller than the originals but that's the genius with making your own - I made them at the size I think I will use. As I use them, I will cut them out and whip them through my mini-Xyron to turn them into stickers. Again, I used the 160g card and printed them at best quality.

A rather unsuccessful counterfeit were the word stickers:

Jillibean Soup - Wise Words - Happy (available here)

I used my Cricut to try and replicate a few but my word choice was limited and the blade wasn't sharp enough. Better luck next time although I may still be able to use one or two of them. I'm sure many of you out there will have had more success than me so make sure you share :-)

Last up were the chalkboard Thickers. These were the items that really match the idea of creating your own. Here are the originals:

Studio Calico Charcoal Sketchbook Thickers (available here)

I decided to get my very underused Cricut in use for this one. I hear all the time about how it can be used for all sorts of creative ideas and it mostly sits collecting dust for me. So I dusted it off and fished out all 6 (! yes I only have 6!) cartridges to see if I had something suitable for this alpha. I used a scrap of card to try out a few fonts and to check out the sizes to settle on a serif font that I thought was quite simple but chunky enough. I also used this scrap to try out a few white pen options - a Distress marker, a white pencil and a few white gel pens. I seem to have no luck with them at all but there was one (from three) which was still writing relatively smoothly. I saw on the originals that the shape was outlined and then filled in with lines so I practiced that a bit and liked the effect.

Two sheets of black cardstock were then sent through the Cricut and a selection of upper and lower case letters were cut out as well as some numbers and a few ampersands.

Keeping the sheets on the cutting sheet so that the letters stay put, I then got to work with my white pen. In the end, I found that it was easier if I outlined all the shapes first and then filled them in. It took a long time. I mean a loooong time to get all the letters coloured in and they are by no means perfect. But the overall impression is really good (in my opinion).

And I have loads of e's and all the other letters I run out of! I did a few sets of vowels, extra r, s, t and lots of numbers as well as full sets of the whole alpha in both upper and lower. There are way more than in a standard pack of Thickers and even though they took a long time, they cost pennies so all in all, most definitely worth it.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding - as in using them - so watch this space to check if they make an appearance on my layouts!

I spent a very happy afternoon pottering around making all my forgeries (!) and while I don't necessarily want to do that every kit, I am thrilled with the results this time around.

Lynette will share a round up of all our tutorials for this month's kit so if you've come here directly, I would suggest you go over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and see what the others have made. And don't forget to share with us how you have created your own versions of items in the inspiration kit :-)