Counterfeit Kit Challenge - Star Sign InspirationI

Ok, I cheated! 

There's usually a "bit" of cheating but this month, I was a bit more .... shall we say, obvious!

Ok, let's start at the beginning. I made a beautiful Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit this month, Celebrate. I was really happy with it. I made two layouts right off for assignments which I haven't been able to share yet (but will soon) and then realised that I needed to make my layout for Challenge #2 - Star Sign Inspiration (you can find the blog post with all the shares over here).

Now, while I'd been creating with the kit, a "few" extras found their way in to the box. Some gold words, an alphabet, some chipboard pieces, some die cuts from a previous kit. But you know, it's all good because using up stash is using up stash. Right? So if something finds its way in there and gets used up, I'm not worried.

But now I had to make a layout inspired by star signs.

This was a challenge I'd come up with myself and I was really looking forward to having the excuse of making a page all about me in my birthday month. Like I say, Scorpios can be a little ....  "devious" at times ;-)

When I looked into the leftovers of my kit, which was quite a small one for me, there was nothing that was really inspiring me to make a Scorpio page. But still, determined, I headed off for my weekly crop with my already enhanced kit and a photo. When I got there, some new products had just arrived and I just knew I had to cheat bend the rules a little. The constellation paper from the Dear Lizzy Star Gazer line was screaming my name and I couldn't ignore that siren call. So I gently placed a sheet into my kit box and smiled slyly to myself. Then I spotted the Star Gazer washi tape pack featuring constellations and a rose gold/copper as well as some small font alphas and my destiny was set.

And this is the layout that was born out of my "embellished" kit!

There is a tiny bit of tape at the top and the bottom here but the rest were items in the kit, I promise! (Well, apart from that stunning background paper of course)

I used the manufacturing strip from the constellation paper as well as the hearts that had been cut off from a sheet of Shimelle paper that was in the kit originally. And the photo mat was also in the kit from the beginning so it's not all cheating!

The Thicker alphabet was the perfect size and I added in the small navy stickers because every kit needs something a bit smaller for longer titles such as this. Look at that gorgeous background paper!

And as luck would have it, if I turned the paper upside down, there was Scorpio. This makes me more than happy and I "might" have purchased half a dozen more pieces of this paper. You know, just in case!

So, if I'm honest this is about 60% cheated stuff on the page but the other 40% is really my Celebrate kit.

Will you forgive me? 

This page was a lot of fun to make as I absolutely wanted to keep as much of the design showing as possible but at the same time, wanted to feature a larger photo than usual. By piling up small items in each corner, I really think I achieved my goal and made a page that makes me happy when I look at it - even if I wince a little at the same time ;-)

So, in conclusion... This Scorpio girl is smiling. And that matters.

I do hope you were inspired to make your own star sign pages or just pages featuring stars in some way using your own Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit. If you do, make sure you share with us. There's a great community over on Facebook - Counterfeit Kit Challenge Community - or you can link up at the CKC blog or over on IG @counterfeitkitchallenge or #counterfeitkitchallenge
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Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-kit reveal November 2017

I'm on double duty over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge this month - with both a full kit at the beginning of the month (you can find that kit here) and a mini-kit today. Having picked out the kit myself this time around, I liked it so much that I decided I needed to do both and it's the last regular CKC kit of the year because we always do something different in December.

So you might be surprised to see me here again today but I like to surprise so I hope you'll stick around to see what I have to share with you.

Let's just remind ourselves of the Citrus Twist kit that I picked out as our inspiration. Unfortunately, in the time between picking out the kit and our month going live, the original kit has dropped off the Citrus Twist website but there is an unboxing video on their blog here so you could check it out there if you need a better look (thanks to CKC follower Julie for pointing this video out to us :-) )

I had gone for a closer match in my full kit - Celebrate - and with my mini, I decided I wanted to go with patterns instead and raid my scrap box for some bits and pieces suitable for a few cards.

Chevrons, geometrics, repeating patterns, diamonds, florals, arrows, dots, stars all made the cut and then I added in some suitable embellishments - twine, enamels, washi, mini-alphas, veneer and some elements that I'd made some time before for cards but which had never been fully utilised! Yes, the procrastinator hit again...

Here's my kit.

Not much like the original if I'm honest, but all the patterns are represented and most of the elements of the kit itself. Here are some details.

I had four sheets of this embossed cardstock that I thought would be really useful as bases for my designs.

This star and word strips were inspired by a card I received last birthday and the shooting star effect is really easy to achieve with a suitable sized die.

November and December are crazy season for birthdays and celebrations and I knew that a few birthday cards would be useful to have in my supplies. So I used those embossed sheets to make four similar but different cards. Three birthday and a thank you card as I know that I'll need to send out one or two of those later in the month too!

And here are the individual cards in detail.

I decided to use a few doilies which were not originally in my kit as well as some thread rather than twine.

Keeping it simple with the star element which was already made up.

My nested star die proved so useful and is one of my favourites. I only have a handful of dies because I'm too stingy to buy them normally, but my nested star and circles have really won the day recently.

And there you have it. As always, quick and easy cards which are all similar and very simple. I'm totally not an innovative card maker but with all the supplies I have, it seems crazy to spend money on cards and enjoy the fast results I get.

I still have quite a few supplies from my mini kit left which I will probably just add to another card mini-kit I have hanging around. I still need a handful more cards to replenish my supplies so another sessions of quick creating is needed. One of these has already been given and there are many more days in the coming weeks so I need to get making again!

Thanks for dropping by and please make sure you share your own mini-kit creations over at the CKC blog, the CKC Facebook community or Instagram using @counterfeitkitchallenge or #counterfeitkitchallenge. We love to see what you've been making.

Forgery on the Fourth - November 2017

It seems that all my attempts at Forgeries on the Fourth are very often rather hit and miss and this month was no exception!

I decided I wanted to make my own cork embellishments because those featured in the inspiration Citrus Twist kit were so lovely and I certainly don't have anything like that in my stash.

The cork elements here on the left are really very pretty!

So I started off by finding some cork tags in my stash and collected together some supplies to have a go at my own. A few stamps from my very limited collection and I wondered about paint, ink or even embossing.

To begin with I tried stamping with paint. Er, not so good! Paint too thick? Stamp too delicate? User error? Probably all three to be honest and not a complete disaster but maybe there is a better way.

I fished out a sheet of thin cork and die cut a whole bunch of circles in different sizes. I know that I can use these on my pages just as they are as I've done this before and I really like the effect but I wanted to give stamping and embossing a go.

I have a white Stamping' Up ink pad and I have to say that this was totally unsuccessful - there really was nothing to see. Back to the drawing board again. My embossing pad was not really wet enough and that proved to be a big problem and again, I had no luck.

So I got myself an embossing pad refill and added some to my pad. This gave a nice wet stamp onto the cork and the embossing powder stuck nicely to it.

I embossed some in white and really liked the effect - not really a perfect finish but I found that I liked it as it seems to match the rougher surface of the cork.

I decided to try some other embossing powders and there is definitely a difference depending on which one you used. A no-name pink powder didn't show up at all, and a gold powder was too coarse. The copper was the best by far and it also helped that I used a more solid design stamp which turned out really well.
 

So now I have a small pile of decorated and non decorated dots to sprinkle on my layouts!

What will you make for your own kit this month? I do hope that you share your makes with us. You can do this by using the Link-Up page here on the blog, posting in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community Group or on Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge ).

Counterfeit Kit Challenge November kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to November which just happens to be my favourite month of the year! A little controversial I know, but there you have it.

I hope you're here for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge November kit revel which is the last full regular kit of the year because we always shake things up in December to give us all time to enjoy the season.

Hopefully you've reached me from Lynette who is a busy bee but will no doubt delight you with her kit this month. Don't forget to drop by our Guest Designer Anne's blog and say hello. I was so keen to ask Anne to join us and I'm delighted that she agreed. You will love her style.

And you can find the full blog hop at the end of the post in case you get lost along the way. It's a bit bigger than it has been recently as we all wanted to jump on the big kit option! I'll be back on the blog with my mini-kit too on the 6th so I really hope you'll keep on coming back.

I got the chance to pick out November's kit and had an idea of what I wanted to find - something bright and colourful but still autumnal. Something with a nod to the festive time to come but also one that could be used for non seasonal layouts or projects. I think I found all this in the November 2016 Citrus Twist kit, "Emerson".

These photos are of the main kit but there are several other kits and add-ons available too if this doesn't quite rock your boat.

Here's my November kit, Celebrate.

When I looked the Citrus Twist kit, I realised that I had the copper Thicker words by Shimelle and decided to see what other Shimelle products I had which could match/complement the original kit in some way.

The chevron pattern came first, followed by the blue design, the woodgrain and the spots on a dark background. I followed that with the yellow design by Pink Paislee and then a sheet of Crate that reminded me of the colours in the original. I struggled to find a floral to include and decided to leave that out for the moment because I knew I would be including more embellishments.

I've fished out some brush font Thicker alphas as well as some smaller gold letter stickers which reminded me of the word stickers in Emerson.

Instead of the puffy dots, I've put the wooden Go Now Go buttons which I thought mirrored the circular aspect and would go with the Shimelle papers. And I've included a handful of veneers which have designs on them like the Citrus Twist embellishments as well as some leaves as a tribute to autumn. There are also some washi tapes which reminded me of the arrow design tape and a few cork elements.

I've dropped in several sheets of stickers and labels to give some colour and theme variety and a pack of gold feathers which I love. I like the idea of including die-cuts and picked out my started pack of Paige Evans Take me Away shapes which don't necessarily match the original closely, but will give some variety in the patterns, colours and themes.

I know this mix of products seems a bit random, but I really think I can mix these things up for some interesting creations!

And I can see the original inspiration kit in there - can you? What do you think?

• CKC - http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/
• Guest Designer - Anne - http://bunterpinguin.blogspot.de
• Julene - http://julenebydesign.blogspot.au
• Kelly - http://www.honeysucklehillcrafts.com/
• Leslie - http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
• Susanne - https://www.facebook.com/SnapsAndSnippets/
• Susan - https://littlethingsbigdays.blogspot.com
• Lynnette - http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
• Lisa - http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

Not able to make a full kit this month? No worries! Check back here on 6th November for some mini kit inspiration. You'll also want to mark your calendar for Forgeries on the Fourth (4th November), Challenge #1 (12th November) and Challenge #2 (18th November).

We love seeing your work, so be sure to share your kits and projects with us. You can do this by using the Link-Up page here on the blog, posting in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community Group or on Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge )  

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - prompt #1

Master Forger Julene has challenged us to use a black and white photo on our coloured backgrounds for this prompt as a nod to the infamous Bridget Bardot who lived in St Tropez (the name of our inspiration collection by Prima) and her many black and white movies that she starred in.

If you want to go back and check out my original kit, Reminisce, you can find that blog post here.

I mentioned over on the CKC blog (see my post here) that I just couldn't make a vintage black and white photo work with what I wanted to say or the products from my kit (or maybe I was just being difficult!) and so I picked out the elements from my kit that I wanted to use and then found a photo and story which would work in black and white.

CKC October kit, Reminisce lo#4

I'm convinced that you can still "see" that beautiful sunshine, the beautiful golden sand and the green of the palm trees - just in your imagination. What do you think?

It's always a win when I work out how to use one of these gorgeous vellum frames from the Webster's Pages collection and this seemed the perfect place - especially over that photo realistic card behind it.

Couldn't resist using this card too - without putting anything over it. Just gorgeous. A bit bluer maybe than the North Sea on the Dutch coast but I love seeing those waves. See that tissue peeking out under my photo block? Yes, added that to my kit a couple of layouts ago. And the enamel dots? Yup, realised that I needed some of those too!

I've been trying to find a place for that chipboard forever! It's not even supposed to be used I think - it just held a chipboard circular label on that Crate Paper sheet - but it's too cute to just discard. And that striped circular die cut element at the back? Added in those too when I came across them in my tote yesterday. They are from My Mind's Eye and I think are meant to be table confetti but I love the little something they give to a cluster when I use them.

These map letters from October Afternoon might just be one of my favourite alphabets ever. Sigh! I think I have one full sheet and this one partially used. I'll be pretty sad when it's gone :-(

I have to say that I love how this layout turned out. It really sums up that day and our time at the beach bar. Happy memories.

Thanks for dropping by today and if you're inspired by this challenge on the CKC blog, we'd love you to share. If fact, if you're inspired to create a kit or a page or a mini or anything, make sure to include them in our Monthly Link Up. We want to see it! Or share on Instagram using @counterfeitkitchallenge or #counterfeitkitchallenge
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Counterfeit Kit Challenge October kit reveal blog hop

Oh my! It's October! 

I might have mentioned it once (or a million times) before that I adore this time of year and I'm happy to be here today to present my October Counterfeit Kit Challenge October kit.

Hopefully you've reached me from Kelly's wonderful kit and as I'm the end of the hop today, if you've missed out on anyone, you'll find the full list at the end of the post.

I'm thrilled that Kate has agreed to join us in October as our Guest Designer. She is a wonderful crafter and I can't wait to see what she creates with us this month - welcome Kate!

Julene has chosen a wonderfully soft and pretty kit - or rather collection - for us this month. I don't think we've ever had a Prima kit to use as our inspiration before so this was especially exciting for me to use to make up my kit.

Therefore, in October we are inspired by the St Tropez collection by Prima. It's full of the last days of summer and time at the beach. I think it's a great idea for this time of year because the long sunny days aren't so long ago and I've definitely got some summer 2017 photos that I can use with my kit!

Let's have a look at the St Tropez kit first of all - and you can find more photos over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog as well as the Prima site. 

As much as I adore this collection, I don't really use a lot of Prima these days, so I knew that I was going to need some creativity to bring my kit together.

I noted the following to start the process:

• Colours:
• sand
• pink
• brown
• navy
• lemon
• sea blue
• Patterns:
• floral
• map
• woodgrain
• stripes
• Motifs:
• sea
• beach
• flowers
• butterflies
• summer
• Elements to include in my own kit:
• papers
• pocket page cards
• die-cuts
• flowers

As I took these ideas to my own supplies, the beach and seaside elements kept catching my eye and I realised that I have some wonderful papers by Adrienne Looman at Webster's Pages that I have left over from a few summers ago as well as the Treasure Map elements by October Afternoon that would be perfect to bring together all those feelings. They include blues, browns, pinks and lots of beach designs. This would become the core of my own kit "Reminisce" which I hope will bring back happy memories from summers gone by.

I have a good mix of papers in the core colours I picked out and they feature maps, flowers and beach views - perfect. I might also have thrown in the remainder of the Webster's Pages papers into my kit box in case I need them!

Then I threw in a whole bunch of pocket page cards (only a few of which are shown here!) which I might decide to use to catch up with my Project Life spreads for May or June.

And then of course, came all the various embellishments that all my kits need. You'll find stickers, die cuts, some banner elements, lot of different alphabets, a bunch of washi, a sprinkle of wood veneer and a handful of smaller elements which reminded me of the more vintage feel to the Prima collection. There is definitely an eclectic mix of items that I hope will come together nicely on pages.

I've tried to include a few items that are older or have an older feel to them to represent that more vintage side of Prima and if they get used up, all the better. 

It's a big kit but the only one on my shelf at the moment so I'm aiming to use it for the whole month - and it's a LOAD month too which means it should get some good use. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Here's the full hop list to make sure you don't miss out on the fun. Don't forget that we love it when you share with us over at the blog (here) or in our Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook community. The more the better!

Have a great October!

• CKC http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com 
• Clair http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com
• Kate (Guest Designer) http://kateblue.blogspot.com                                  
• Margie - http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com
• Kelly - http://honeysucklehillcrafts.com
• Lisa - http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de