Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop

I'm happy to be here today kicking off the Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop this month. After you're finished up here, you'll need to hop along to Tina and if you get lost along the way, you find the full list at the end of this post.

It's going to be a great hop this month so make sure you do drop by them all.

Just a reminder what challenges were up for grabs in August:

Challenge #1: Blank Canvas:  Use WHITE as your background on your project.  Just plain white.

Challenge #2: Gift Wrap Challenge:  Find some cool gift wrap and use it to inspire you

Challenge #3: Word Challenge - Do a project based on the word FRIENDS

I've already shared a layout about my scrapbooking friends for challenge #3 (see blog post here) so this time around, I decided to go for challenge #1 and use white as the background.

I have to admit that it wasn't all that much of a problem for me as I reach for white cardstock most of the time these days - generally speaking, I back my layouts on white, cream or sometimes kraft.

I went with a Kelly Purkey sketch from the Sketchbook class and I've included all the sketches in my Tripster kit and that made it super easy. The chipboard frames then drove the rest of the design. Originally, the larger frame had a date in 1972 which reminded me of these very old and very grainy photos of our trip to London. When I talked to my mum, we realised that it was in fact 1973 but that's fine, all part of the process!

So, picking out some of the items in the kit that went best with the white background and highlighting the travel words on that October Afternoon paper, this was the result.

Layout #2 from my Tripster August kit

I've also include the exclusive Kelly Purkey Sketchbook class stamps in my kit and was very happy to find a way to include them in a mini cluster.

I haven't been managing to make the time for much scrapping recently so this page made me happy. Two pages from my kit and another one in the making, let's see if I can get it done for sharing before the month ends. I am determined to scrap more next month and work through some of my 9 (!!!) kits which are still sitting on my shelf!

Thanks for dropping by and don't forget to let me know you were here!

Tina is next up and here's the full list. Happy hopping.

Lisa   http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de
Tina   http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
Susan   http://littlethingsbigdays.blogspot.com
Margie   http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com
Clair   http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com
Karen   https://pinkycrafter.wordpress.com
Kelly   http://www.honeysucklehillcrafts.com
Jemma   http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Scrapbooking connections - a layout

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog today, Stephanie's put up a post all about how very international we are on the team - me in Germany, Jemma in the UK, Julene in Australia, Stephanie in Canada and the rest of the MFs over in the US - Bethany, Lynnette, Leslie, Susanne and of course Margie. You can see the post here

But what's even better than having the whole world (or it feels like it at least) covered in the team is that we are quite intrepid travellers too.

And that means there have been a few meet ups in real life as well.

This year, I've been lucky enough to meet no less than four of my scrappy friends for real including two very special Master Forgers - Stephanie and Lynnette. Lynnette and I not only met up for a day over in New Jersey when I visited NY for the second time, but also here in my home when she came to stay for three wonderful days. Stephanie and I went sightseeing around Cologne and along the Rhine for two days too!

In addition to the joy of meeting these two sweet souls, I also got to go and spend time again with my beloved Pam in NY, this time spending a week together and then Kathy and I met up in London for some fun sightseeing time.

Each of these trips and visits have been covered in my 15 loves so you can see more photos here - March, May, July and August

But tying in with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge prompt #3 this month to be inspired to scrap by the word FRIENDS, it was a no-brainer for me to make my page about how incredibly lucky I am to have met these wonderful people and to have them in my life - in person!

This is layout #1 from my Tripster kit and uses a Kelly Purkey sketch from her Sketchbook #3 class

I added in all the sketches from the KP Sketchbook class into my kit this month as well as the exclusive stamp set that came with it. And then I even stamped with it! It was a bit scary but I like how it turned out.

Just noticed that there is some eraser rubbings hanging around on my layout and the pencil marks under my journalling haven't been erased very well - will have to deal with that

I love looking at these four happy photos.

I am thrilled and honoured to have had the chance to meet these friends and to connect at a deeper level. Ladies - Watch out! I'm coming over to visit you in your neck of the woods as soon as I can!

15 loves {August 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 2013 & 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 {13 loves} {here}, 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.

one

Still on the flamingo trend, I found a beautiful set of free printables on Pinterest. I was wondering whether I should print my three favourites (including this one) and get them framed to hang in my room until the next trend comes along!

Find these and other printable here

two

And another trend is of course pineapples. I thought this little stamp was quite cute but I bet my super creative friend, Pam, could whip one of these up in a matter of minutes. I'm wondering if I should give it a try or just buy one...

TalktotheSun etsy shop here

three

The main highlight of the month was a visit to Germany by the ever delightful Lynette! She came over here on her way through to Poland and stopped for three days. We had an amazing time together and chatted and giggled our way through two countries and a very full itinerary.

Here we are on the first day in Amsterdam taking a canal trip. This girl is so sweet. Loved having her here.

four

While we were in Amsterdam, we we around the Royal Palace which I hadn't done before. I fell in love with the main hall with globes, maps, constellations, star signs and even a magnificent statue of Atlas holding up the globe on the wall. Just beautiful. But spotting this on the floor made my day for sure. 

Made me smile - you know how I feel about being a Scorpio.

five

On day two, we just had to stop in at Sylvia's wonderful shop, Scrapabilly, to introduce Lynnette to the joys of having an incredible LSS within easy driving distance. I know I'm spoilt in more ways than one and it was great to see my two scrappy friends chatting away. This hobby breaks down language barriers and connects people in a very special way. 

six

And then it was all over too soon and I had to take her back to the airport. We were so sad to say goodbye but really so happy to have had the chance to spend this quality time together! Until next time.

seven

So true! 

I have four beautiful, adorable, gorgeous nieces...

eight

Feeling a bit adventurous after my trip to London last month and my travels around with Lynnette, I spotted this bookbinding workshop by Paige Evans down in Munich. I'm also feeling a little uninspired with my scrapbooking recently and decided to really brave and do something I've never done before! 

Find out about the workshop here

nine

I'm always pinning. This is gorgeous. One to lift in the future!

Malane at Studio Calico

ten

There was a long summer break for our weekly crops at the Scrapabilly shop and we all missed it! So on the first night we were all together again, there had to be Sekt (sparkling wine) and ice-cream on the cards to inspire our paper snipping.

eleven

Gorgeous. 

Pinterest source here

twelve

We also had a short weekend break to the beautiful German port town of Hamburg. Our hotel was a former water tower and funky inside and out!

Mövenpick hotel - Hamburg

thirteen

On the first evening, we discovered a fabulous fish restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. It was just want we wanted - good food, cold champagne and a great atmosphere.

Jellyfish - Hamburg

fourteen


Hamburg Rathaus (Town Hall) is stunning and this time around (I've visited the city once before), I made sure to catch a guided tour around the official rooms. It was worth the wait.

Hamburg Rathaus

fifteen

To be honest, the main reason we were in the city were a pair of tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera. A stunning performance and a wonderful weekend.

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

Scrapabilly August kit shares (part 2)

Glad to see you back for part 2 of my August Scrapabilly shares. You can find the first blog post here and just as a reminder, here's the kit full of the October Afternoon Summertime collection.

Layout number four was the first one I started making with all the fussy cutting of the clouds and light chains. I think I was following a sketch but I'm not sure anymore! All the same, I like the design and putting everything heavy on the right is something I don't do so often.

Sometimes you just have to scrap a photo even if you don't have a particular reason to do so. This photos of my niece is exactly that. How could I not?

My final layout was inspired by a Pinterest Janna Werner find here even if it didn't turn out anything like the original. I added an iPhone Chrome filter to all the photos to make them even brighter and sunnier than the originals so that the yellow butterflies and background elements wouldn't overshadow them.

I die cut the butterflies from the foam using my Big Shot adding some stitching for detail.

And then I made up four simple cards using left over elements and some fussy cut items.

Well, I had to save the flamingo from the cut apart card didn't I?!?

The envelope will be useful for a birthday voucher or gift card.

Again, there's a whole gallery to check out with the Design Team creations over at Scrapabilly so why not take a look. And don't forget you can pick up your own kit there too.

Scrapabilly August kit shares (part 1)

It's really summer now and what better to record those happy summer memories than a wonderfully sunny, bright kit from Scrapabilly. The August kit is full of October Afternoon Summertime collection papers and has everything you need to capture the long, hot days of this time of year.

Let's take a look at it first...

There are a grand total of 9 papers as well as a sheet of mini labels and some enamel dots from the Summertime collection. A pack of October Afternoon alphas - in two sizes which were so useful - Simple Stories frames and clips, kraft envelopes and translucent journalling cards from Maya Road, brads from WRMK, some hessian ribbon, a sheet of corrugated cardstock as well as a sheet of foam, a selection of cardstock and of course, my favourite, a Scrapabilly exclusive flair. I know I say this every month, but man, this month was a full kit! Saying that, I did add in a sheet of the matching collection puffy stickers and another full sheet of enamel dots. They were a lot of fun to use!

You can get the kit here and all the collection items here. I think I'll be scooping up at least one more of the sunburst papers!

I created 5 layouts and four cards and would like to share three layouts today. I hope you'll come back at the weekend for the rest :-)

First up, I think this might be my favourite layout of the kit. I love the photo so much and really needed to find a way to use it. I was already at the end of the kit and used up a bunch of scraps to layer up behind the photo and just kept adding little bits and pieces until I felt like there was enough on there! The light string paper was so adorable that I just had to keep cutting out the chains!

I added some stitching here and there and need to remember to leave out the machine as a reminder because I love the extra something it adds.

Next up I really wanted to make a fun, bright, silly page about our London phonebook photos! It was Kathy's first time to the UK so I made sure we got giggly with the red icons and I love how they turned out. The softer toned b-sides in the collection really helped those über-bright photos to shine!

I'm not really sure if you can see but ink splats just had to be red, white and blue! Subtle but there!

This is the paper I need to get again. I adore it. And there was no way I was going to cut into it so I had to come up with a design and subject that supported all that bright sunshine. I fussy cut out the clouds and just made a small cluster to back the photo. I die cut the polaroid frame out of the foam paper. There is some nice dimension on this layout even though it looks relatively flat.

Such a great kit to use and I love how bright and happy the results are.

There's a whole gallery to check out with the Design Team creations over at Scrapabilly so why not take a look. And don't forget you can pick up your own kit there too.