Master Forgers Challenge Blog Hop

Well, this is a surprise - blog hop in the middle of the month!

A couple of times a year, the Master Forgers do a little extra-curricular scrapping behind the scenes and then run up a little blog hop to let all of you in on the fun.

So, if you have come here via Stephanie, then you are on the right track. And if you have landed here directly, you'll want to head back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge (here) to get to the beginning of the hop. I really suggest you do so that you can check out how wrong (or maybe they are all right!) about whose style the Master Forgers have been scrapping.

Now, what was the challenge then I hear you say? This time, it was my turn to come up with a challenge for us all to (voluntarily) join in with and I scratched my head for some time until I came up with something that mixed up a couple of different ideas.

First off, I came up with 20 questions that could help us describe our own style of scrapping. Now, remember that this is just for fun and really, all of us change it up all the time, but it was time to put a stake in the ground and step up to the line on what sort of scrapper we are! All sorts of mixed idioms here today....

All the answers were sent to me and I pulled them together, made the answers describing individual styles anonymous, then mixed them up and redistributed them out to each of us for a style that was more or less different to our own style. From the chatter in the FB Master Forgers group, I managed to really mix them up quite well and handed out styles that really were quite a challenge! (Insert evil laugh here :-)  )

All sorts of accusations were thrown around - had I returned their own answers back to thems? Did we all have the same answers? Had I just given them some random answers? What had I done to them? I *think* they were all joking and taking it in the spirit it was meant to be LOL but I was giggling to myself. Of course, I knew who all the swap partners were and even knew who I had swapped myself with but it was just as difficult for me as it was for them - I just didn't have to think about who it could be.

The idea is that each of us should make a page using our own "standard" style, then another one in the style of our secret partner and share the results with you. Hopefully they have given you lots of fun along the hop and also told you who they *think* they are swapped with. All will be revealed at the end of my mega-post so bear with me :-)

First off, let me show you the page I made with my own answers to the style questions. I used my November CKC kit, Comfort and tried to combine autumn and Christmas on the same page...

Yep, that looks like one of mine don't you think? There's layers, and distressing and angles. There's a single square photo about nothing in particular, mixed collections, mismatched products. All me I think. I did try to include all 20 answers and enjoyed making this page - just playing around.

Then came my "secret" swap partner. I knew who I had but when I read through the answers, I gulped. Patterned paper background, bold colours, straight lines, no distressing, clean and simple. Double gulp.

Looking that I should use older papers, I decided to delve into my September, Passport kit which is full of older product and also picked up on the travel theme mentioned in the answers. I flipped through until I came across one of my favourite map papers which is relatively bright and decided that this would be good as my background paper. Double, straight matting was all the layers I allowed myself (that was HARD!) and minimal embellies.

I really struggled to keep it simple and am not even sure I managed it! I ended up stitching as my main embellishment which I think kept to the idea of less is more in my partner's style. Visual triangle but diagonal design too - got that. Elements in one of the corners - tick. Mixed alpha - sigh, easier! It was almost more than I could stand not to load it up with stuff and bits and pieces and ink splots. I had to practically sit on my hands.

On a side note, even though I'm not in LOVE with this layout, I love that I was encouraged to scrap this very insignificant (on first view) photograph. All my Philippine photos are pre-digi shots and are far from perfect so this capture of my apartment building from across the street makes me smile - the stitching helps to identify why the photo is important! Love that.

If you are at all interested seeing what I claimed my style to be in comparison to my "Secret" partner then check out below...

Starting points:

1.       photos/story OR sketch/design

me: SKETCH/DESIGN

secret partner: PHOTO

2.       cardstock background OR patterned paper background

me: CARDSTOCK

secret partner: PATTERNED PAPER

3.       neutral background OR colourful background

me: NEUTRAL

secret partner: COLOURFUL AS LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE BORING

4.       people/event themed OR moment/everyday themed

me: MOMENT/EVERYDAY

secret partner: MOMENTS/EVENTS/TRAVEL

5.       single page layout OR double page spread

me: SINGLE

secret partner: SINGLE

Design:

6.       graphic/straight lines OR layers/clusters/angles

me: LAYERS/CLUSTERS/ANGLES

secret partner: I’M FAIRLY CONSERVATIVE TO STRAIGHT LINES ETC

7.       organic patterns/designs OR geometric shapes/designs

me: BOTH BUT MORE ORGANIC

secret partner: BOTH

8.       main elements central to the page OR main elements off centre (on a rule of thirds line or in a corner)

me: OFF CENTRE

secret partner: OFF CENTRE USUALLY AT ONE OF FOUR POINTS

9.       embellishments in a diagonal across the page OR embellishments in a  visual triangle

me: DIAGONAL

secret partner: VISUAL TRIANGLE BUT I LIKE A STRONG DIAGONAL TO BE VISIBLE

10.    girly/feminine feel to the page OR boyish/masculine feel to the page

me: GIRLY/FEMININE

secret partner: DEPENDS ON LAYOUT

Paper/Product:

11.    new/trendy products OR older/classic products

me: NEW/TRENDY

secret partner: OLDER PRODUCTS

12.    papers/elements from predominantly one collection OR papers/elements from a variety of collections

me: VARIETY

secret partner: VARIETY

13.    plethora of embellishments OR clean and simple

me: PLETHORA AND THEN SOME

secret partner: CLEAN & SIMPLE

14.    title work from all one alpha pack OR title work from mixed/multiple alpha packs

me: MIXED ALPHA

secret partner: MIXED

15.    bold/primary/bright colours OR muted/pastels/lights

me: PROBABLY MORE MUTED/LIGHT/PASTEL

secret partner: BOTH – DEPENDS ON PHOTO

16.    single photo OR multiple photos

me: SINGLE

secret partner: SINGLE

17.    standard size prints (6x4/5x7) OR custom (Instagram, square, 2x3/oversized)

me: CUSTOM

secret partner: STANDARD

Techniques:

18.    wet (mists/inks/paint/wet embossing/stamping) OR dry (papers/dry embossing/die cuts)

me: DRY

secret partner: DRY. I’M NOT INTO MIXED MEDIA UNLESS IT’S SPECIFICALLY REQUIRED

19.    handwritten journaling OR printed journaling

me: HANDWRITTEN

secret partner: NEARLY ALWAYS HAND WRITTEN

20.    clean cut/common margins/flat OR distressed/sanded/inked edges/torn/stitched

me: DISTRESSED AND GENERALLY ABUSED

                  secret partner: USUALLY CLEAN CUT

So.... who do you think MY secret partner is? It's one of the Master Forgers - one of the more clean and simple girls..... Yes, you guessed it - my partner was JULENE!!! Can you see it? I'm not sure if I can but maybe you can see more of her style in my travel layout than I can - what do you think?

Thanks for hanging out with me today and here's the full list in case you get lost along the way. Make sure you leave me a comment to let me know you were here and tell me a bit about your own scrap style.

Of course, I'm not going to leave you hanging - I'm adding the names of the secret partners after the names in the list below and I'm hoping to do a follow up post to let you know who was right and who was oh, so wrong :-)

Counterfeit Kit Challenge:http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com 

Angela (she scrapped in the style of Leslie):  http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk/

Bethany (she scrapped in the style of Milissa): http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

Dawn (she scrapped in the style of Angela):  http://dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com

Jemma (she scrapped in the style of Lynette):  http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Julene (she scrapped in the style of Bethany):  http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Lesley G (she scrapped in the style of ME!!):  http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie (she scrapped in the style of Jemma):  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com 

Lynnette (she scrapped in the style of Stephanie):  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Millisa (she scrapped in the style of Dawn):  http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Stephanie (she scrapped in the style of Lesley):  http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca

Lisa H (I scrapped in the style of Julene):  http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/