Counterfeit Kit Challenge March member blog hop

It's time for another Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop and I'm happy to see you here.

I'm kicking off today, so you can find out all about the hop back at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and the full list is at the end of the post.

Here are the March challenges in March:

• Challenge #1:  Border Craze:  Get crazy with borders
• Challenge #2:  Irish Challenge: Celebrate St Patrick's Day with some creativity! 
• Challenge #3:  Desk Challenge: Take inspiration from the state of your desk

I wanted to give the border challenge a go and knew exactly what paper I was going to use! I had been wondering how on earth I was going to use all those hot air balloons on a page and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

In fact, this page came together in my head long before the challenge came about while I was flying to NYC. I remember taking off and as we went through the clouds and the bright sunshine came though the window, I suddenly came up with the title on this layout - Beyond the clouds, the sun is always shining. It seemed to sum up everything I'd been thinking recently. I snapped a shot to make up the page when I got back. Perfect timing.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge March kit, Drift lo#3

A little journalling card is tucked away under the photo.

Fussy cutting the balloons out seemed perfect for my mixed up border.

I love how this turned out! What about you? Have you ever come up with a page this way?

Next up in the hop is the ever delightful Clair! She is such an awesome crafter and a well-loved counterfeiter, and we are thrilled to have her on the hop again. Make sure you go over and say hello!

And here's the full list in case you get lost along the way.

CKCB         http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Lisa           http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

Clair          http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com

Gemma    http://thesteelenook.blogspot.co.uk

Margie      http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com

Tina           http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Laura         http://beadsbuttonsandbirds.blogspot.co.uk

Virginia     http://celtichouse.blogspot.co.uk

Sherrie      http://sherriesmuddlepuddle.blogspot.ca

Jemma      http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Scrapabilly February kit shares (part 2)

Back again today with the rest of the Scrapabilly February kit makes. I posted some layouts on Monday but just to remind you, here's the stunning kit we were given to work with:

It's available in the Scrapabilly shop here and the DT gallery can be found here. I recommend you dropping in and grabbing one before they are all gone! A simply gorgeous kit that was heaven to use. 

I nearly bought a second kit for myself but in the end, went the whole way and bought lots of the Dear Lizzy Serendipity collection items for my NYC kit. You see, I had decided on the Amy Tangerine Stitched collection to scrap my NYC photos - something about the colours and designs reminded me of the city and it felt a bit "urban". But then I picked up this kit and was inspired - at last - to print out one or two of my photos from my trip there last year. They just seemed to fit the papers in this collection too. So rather than giving up on the original idea, I decided to simply combine the two collection and items I've brought together already into one mega-kit. I will be doing enough pages after all!

So, to cut a long story short, these four layouts are the first four for my NYC album. More to follow no doubt! There's not really a lot to say about each of them as I think they speak for themselves. I continued to add in a little mist, some gold dots (can be found in the shop here and they are really nicely domed, bright gold little dots!), some twine, and a sprinkle of SC veneers.

I probably need to go back to this one and add a little journalling. But to be honest, the layout might say all I want to say at this point!

This came from a LOAD prompt to do a now and then style layout. I especially like the splash of yellow here and the fun journalling along the banner. I kept realising that I had run out of journalling space and still had more to say so I carried on tucking it about the layout! All in all, that is a bit of a Pam thing so I guess it fits!

I wanted to highlight the constellation paper as much as possible but make the layout as pretty as possible at the same time. The veneer stars reinforce the star theme and the little cluster at the bottom is a nod to our neighbouring star signs!

This last layout is a tribute to the wonderfully thoughtful gift that Lynnette gave me when we met in February. Such a thrill and such a beautiful cushion that now has pride of place in my room. Every time I look at it, I think of her and it makes me smile. So I knew that I wanted to make a very pretty, pink layout using up the last elements from the kit. I love it and both the gift and the layout made me happy which means that it was perfect for the Whimsical Musings prompt #159 - inspired by what's making you happy right now. Love it when a plan comes together!

So, there you have it. At last, four layouts to kick off my NYC album covering both trips. I love that I got the inspiration from this kit to start something that felt too big to handle. Now I just need to reduce those 2000+ photos down to a manageable amount to scrap and I'll be sorted.

Thanks for getting this far! I appreciate every single reader and commenter here on this - sometimes - neglected blog. Let me know which layout from which 2015 Scrapabilly kit is your favourite and I might just pick a commenter to receive a little something in the post from me!

These are my share posts so far this year:

Scrapabilly January kit shares (part 1)
Scrapabilly January kit shares (part 2)
Scrapabilly February kit shares (part 1)
and of course, this post that you are reading right now for February part 2
Scrapabilly March kit shares (part 1)
Scrapabilly March kit shares (part 2)

Who doesn't love a good Thursday incentive?!?

Scrapabilly February shares (part 1)

What with one thing (which might have had something to do with daily scrapping a la LOAD!) and another (which might have had something to do with a fantastic trip abroad - did I mention I went to NYC?!?!?!), February came and went without me sharing my Scrapabilly kit shares made with the incredibly, wonderfully gorgeous Dear Lizzy Serendipity collection. I totally fell head over heels with the products, colours and designs found within the kit and the pages practically made themselves!

Here's the kit, and you can find them at the Scrapabilly shop here:

Be still my beating heart! There's pinks and navys and golds and foil and sparkle as well as pretty alphabets, shimmery word stickers, funky stickers, flair, ribbon and chips as well as, of course, constellation paper (one or two extra sheets, uh hum, might have found their way into my stash!). A stunning kit for sure.

Today, I'd like to share two layouts and then there's another four to be posted later in the week - they all "match" theme-wise which is why I've put them together.

First up is just a playing-with-pretty-paper type of page featuring a gorgeous photo of my baby sister and her baby! I borrowed a Stamping' Up bow punch for those aqua bows on the page and totally loved them which makes me think that I might splash out on that when I'm next invited to a Stamping' Up party. I can see much use out of it with my way of scrapping and the bows are nice and small too which makes a difference.

On this layout I added in a small amount of twine, a few gold dots and some mist to the kit. 

And this layout was another one made during LOAD but not quite on prompt. Something about the prompts though got me looking through older photos and I was thrilled to discover this one in a batch I'd scanned when I was home (UK) last year.

In the end, I only used the pretty jar paper to fussy cut the individual jars to use as embellishments but they looked so pretty like this!

Again, I added in some twine, mist and gold dots, and also two shipping tags to tuck away my private journalling. The washi top and bottom is also additional to the kit but I thought the colours went well and the little hearts supported the rest of the theme.

One of the things I especially loved about this kit was the combination of pinks, aquas and navy. I've always loved navy and I personally think it goes with almost everything! I used the bluer tones of the papers to make sure this page didn't get too girly!

The Scrapabilly gallery with all the work by the DT can be found here - well worth a look as we all have very different styles and I always think it's interesting which paper designs appeal to each of us!

What do you think about navy? Right on trend or not right for you? You can bet that you'll be seeing more navy from me in the months to come so it'd be interesting to find out what you think about it!

15 loves {March 2015}

Welcome to the next in the series {15 loves} for 2015 based on the original concept by my beloved friend, Pam, back in January 2013. I shared my loves (mostly late) all through 2014 and now it's time to see if I can continue the series through 2015. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. You can see all my {14 loves} {here} and now all my {15 loves} {here}

I hope there's something in here to inspire you or maybe just make you smile.

Woo hoo! On time for once. Let's see what I'm loving at the moment! I have to warn you that it's every so slightly New York heavy. ;-)

one

Yay! Shimelle is back. I was thrilled to see her posting every day this week along with two new video series. This layout came from her Cut, Stick, Stamp video this week and then there's another, As It Happens. She's been gone nearly a year and I think there was a collective "Yes" from around the world to see her back online again with her sweet style full of layers and whimsy.

two

A sweet reunion. So happy to see this girl again and get to spend some quality time with her. Our itinerary was significantly lighter than last time which gave us more time to just chat and be together. This girl is awesome. So happy to know her.

three

I made Pam do Top of the Rock ... again... while I was there. I just "needed" to see that NYC view once more. It was cold up there and Pam only managed a few minutes outside. But that was just long enough for her to organise me with light and a good selfie. This view is one I will never forget!

four

And then on the way out Pam spotted this book. A sign!

five

There was a lot of food to be eaten while we were there. I mean a lot! And it was all delicious. But on our last day together, we travelled around the world with Cuban brunch and English afternoon tea at the Crosby Street Hotel. Tea, sandwiches, mini cakes and scones with cream and jam, topped off with champagne. We must have sat there for hours and just took it all in while chatting about life, love and everything!

six

Ok, let me share one non-NYC love now, just to prevent from you getting overloaded and me getting too boring!

These Winnie the Pooh pocket page cards are just adorable. And I really intend to get going with my PL since I saw that Charly (in the Scrapabilly crop group and my "adopted" Scrap Baby sister!) is up-to-date with hers! The competition starts here! I can't let her win now can I? Which reminds me of a little NYC story *wink* I saw the original Pooh and friends at the New York Public Library. No doubt that snippet will make it onto one of my NYC layouts or my PL pockets - these cards will no doubt be part of that!

You can find these Winnie the Pooh cards here at One Velvet Morning which is über-full of amazing freebie cards. 

seven

Back to New York. She makes me happy. We got to scrap together, in the same room, at the same time! What an experience. She had bought us both the same Studio Calico kit so we could see how each of us worked with it. I was in awe of how easy Pam made being creative with pen, paint and ink look. I found myself just watching her put her pages together and felt a bit like a beginner! I'd never have thought it would have been possible for us to create together in this way and I will treasure the memory.

eight

Pam had warned me it was cold and it was. But mostly, I could deal with it. Except this evening on Times Square when I thought my fingers were going to break off within two minutes of taking off the mitten part of my gloves to capture a few shots. At -15° or so, it was shockingly bitter but for me, it was all part of the fun!

nine

When I visited NYC last year, we didn't manage to meet up with Lynnette, but we were determined to make up for that this time around. And it was a highlight. What a simply wonderful person she is. Sweet, genuine, kind and just lovely. We had a great day together and got on as if we'd all been friends for years - which of course, we have! This photo is one of my favourites of the whole trip. The three of us together. Fabulous!

ten

When you get photobombed, you just have to hope that it's by someone as wonderful as this! We were on the High Line and this stained glass wall is a highlight photo opportunity. But this photo is priceless!

eleven

I'm not a shopper, it's a well-known fact. But when in Soho, what's a girl to do? I just went in to take a peek - honest! But I came out with a beautiful pink bag ... oh, ok, and a matching clutch/wallet! It's very me and maybe I'll feature it next month. At the moment, it's so precious that I just stroke it rather than taking it out!

twelve

I brought home more than one precious new item. This stunning cushion now has pride of place in my room. A thoughtful, perfect present from sweet Lynnette. I've already scrapped it so check out my Scrapabilly kit shares next week for my February kit to see the details. Thanks Lynnette, it's beautiful. And our friendship means so much to me.

thirteen

I said that this trip was full of delicious food and it certainly was! We went from one cafe or restaurant to the next and I enjoyed each bite. Shortly before the trip, Pam suggested I downloaded Kelly Purkey's new travel workshop for NYC - Destination Documented. It comes with top recommendations for places to visit, where you should eat, what photo opportunities there are and much much more. It was great. There were a lot of insider tips included and we realised that we'd already done several and, during this trip we ticked off a few more. On my last morning, I travelled across town to another of the top Kelly recommendations - a Salty Pimp at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. It was worth the journey and even worth the rather ugly, unladylike photo of my big, open mouth! Kelly will be featuring a different city each month and I highly recommend checking the workshop out. No wonder she is Pam's favourite!

fourteen

My last view of the city made me sad, but happy to be going home with so many happy memories of good times, spent with someone so very special. Thanks Pam, thanks New York. It was swell! Hope to see you again before too long!

fifteen

So true. I got plenty of this during my time in New York - lots and lots of laughs with Pam, and good, deep sleep due to the fresh, cold air and the literally kilometres that we walked all over town! 

I’d love you to share your own {15 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{15 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 15th of the month