January 2017 Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop.

I'm kicking things off today and next up is the delightful Tina who always inspires with her kit creations.

Just as a reminder, here are the challenges that were up for grabs this month, although any creation with our kits was fair game for today's hop.

• Challenge #1:  - Use a door on your layout
• Challenge #2:  - Zentangles
• Challenge #3:  - Your Perfect Day

I decided to kill three birds with one stone and made a Simple Scrapper Creative Team February assignment page which features my January kit, Starman. The layout features a story inspired by a Simple Scrapper February Story Starter, "Celebrate" as well as a sketch from July 2014, both of which are available as part of the Simple Scrapper membership. But at the same time, it fulfils the Counterfeit Kit Challenge prompt for "Your Perfect Day". I love it when a plan comes together.

You might have seen on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog that we're changing things up as of next month, so this is the last member blog hop for the time being. But I'm SO happy that it's a great one today and am delighted to have so many joining us! So make sure you check out all the hoppers so you don't miss out on any of the fun.

Hop over to Tina now 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

Tina    http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Kelly    http://www.honeysucklehillcrafts.com

Sara    https://sarascrapsblog.wordpress.com/blog/

Julene    http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Sherrie    http://sherriesmuddlepuddle.blogspot.ca

Cindy    http://www.cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com

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

November at Simple Scrapper #2

The last share I have for you this month is a new favourite of mine using the Simple Scrapper current sketch collection and an older Story Starter from October 2015 Inside of You.

I decided to do an online Myers Briggs type personality test - it's a free online test rather than the controlled official one but seemed very thorough and tied in with the results I've had in the past so I'm sticking with it!

I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit, Alpine because I wanted to keep the whole layout a bit calm to reflect what I re-learnt about my personality.

I used three selfies from the stack I took in April in my 30 days of selfies challenge. I'm often hiding behind sunglasses to cover up my shyness, so once again, this all supported the theme of the page.

The most interesting part of doing the test for me was the Introvert element at 89%. I used the Story Starter prompt to write about how people usually assume I'm a total extrovert. I'm loud and able to talk for England. But naturally, that's a whole lot of act and in reality, I'd be happy as a hermit!

I captured all these thoughts in the hidden journalling behind the photo which was shown on the original sketch too. This was perfect for me to turn into a larger pocket (I actually used a brown paper bag) to keep all the information I printed out from the website about INFP type people which I thought was so so interesting. It makes the page really heavy but it's great to know it'll be there to read again any time I want.

That's the last of my November shares for now so thanks as always for dropping by.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

November at Simple Scrapper #1

This layout for Simple Scrapper uses an older sketch from July 2016 along with a current Story Starter on the subject of Getting Stronger.

Using my October Counterfeit Kit Challenge, Lucid kit, I picked out the brighter papers and combined them as a background to the colourful personality of my adorable niece who just turned four! It's crazy how the time has flown but these photos show what a little character she's turned into.

I really got into the splatted effect letters while I was using this kit and here I sprayed them all over with pink and then just dripped on some gold and aqua to pick up on some of the colours elsewhere on the layout.

The numbered washi tape was perfect to note here age and I added the stitching to provide some texture and dimension to these edges. I wanted to have lots of depth so that the bright colours wouldn't compete with the photos.

The original sketch had embellishments in this place but I decided just to include an extra photo and add a few mini embellishments here and there for good measure. As luck would have it, I had some veneer numbers in my kit which I decided to use to number her age in the photos. I'd never have thought of that if I hadn't spotted them at the bottom of my kit bag.

Using the Story Starters combined with a sketch each month has really pushed me to try out different page layouts which I've really been enjoying. I tend to stick to the same half dozen designs and I think that the sketches are really adding some great ideas to change up that feeling of every layout being the same. The Story Starters encourage me to start my page with a story and to often look at the photos in a different way to tell the story from another angle. I recommend both these wonderful resources which are part of the premium membership.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

October at Simple Scrapper #1

October at Simple Scrapper saw me combining two of the month's sketches to have a go at a double spread - something I rarely do these days. It was a lot of fun to work out how to make it look like a cohesive design and flow nicely across the full 24".

I tweaked both sketches to accommodate my design. This sketch indicated embellishments under the photo so I just swapped it out for my main journalling and a sub-title. The card on the left of the photo replaced out a journalling tag.

Sketch #326 from the October 2016 collection and Story Starter #1 - "On the Table" from November 2015

And on this side, I skipped the journalling under the title and went for some simple text directly on the photo to indicate the food that we enjoyed. However, both sides are still relatively true to the original designs of both sketches and prove that you can combine two to make a full spread very easily.

ketch #323 from the October 2016 collection and Story Starter #1 - "On the Table" from November 2015

To ensure flow and cohesiveness across both the pages, I used tones of red, white and blue which match the theme of the page but not the true tones that you can find in the photos. Additionally, I used one collection of paper and embellishments, (Jen Hadfield, DIY Home) ensuring that elements of all colours, designs and patterns appeared on both sides. This was so much fun and reminded me just how great it is to make spreads where you get so much space for all the typical elements on a page - photos, journalling and pretty stuff.

The Story Starter "On the Table" really focussed me to concentrate on the real story of this very British afternoon tea. The bringing together of family - across language and culture which is a very important part of my life.

I wanted a title that supported the subject of the page without being too obvious. And the gold won out even though I use this alphabet so sparingly! I can't bear the thought of it running out - good job I bought three sets.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

October at Simple Scrapper #2

I was thrilled to see that this second Creative Team layout for Simple Scrapper in October made the front cover of the membership magazine Spark. This is an amazing team to be part of and the talent of the other ladies is just so impressive that I feel honoured to be highlighted in this way. And this is a particular favourite layout of mine so that made me doubly happy.

I combined an older sketch with this month's Story Starter, "Tending the Nest" to talk about my mum and my 94-year old granny.

Sketch #300 from May 2016 and Story Starter "Tending the Nest" #7 from October 2016

I also used my September Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Sundance and found that the softer tones of the kit matched my photo so perfectly. I wanted to ensure that the whole layout felt soft, caring and feminine.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge September kit, Sundance lo#2

I used my favourite way of keeping the journalling a little private - a vellum pocket. You can see it's there and if you are close enough to me to feel comfortable to pull out the card to read it, it's relatively easily accessible.

The original sketch was designed for an 8 1/2 x 11" page with four 2x2 photos so I just stretched everything a bit bigger to fill my 12x12 page and made my single photo 5x5.

I loved how the blue and aqua elements in my kit matched my granny's cardigan so perfectly. I don't often try to match up my design with the photos featured, just using what I have in each kit in a way that pleases me, but this worked out so perfectly.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

September at Simple Scrapper #2

Another late share but the last from September before I post my Simple Scrapper and Scrapabilly makes for October.

September's Story Starter©️ collection with the theme of Simple gave me the chance to talk about our progress on decluttering our life.  I matched this with a sketch from May 2013 (#124) which has lots of layers and space for journalling as well as plenty of white space.

My Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit, Alpine, was perfect for this because of the many neutrals that were in the kit and which I was able to select to match my theme.

It's not easy to see in these photos but instead of the paint swashes featured on the original sketch, I misted through a stencil before building my layers on top. It's a subtle effect but adds interest and texture to the overall layout.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

September at Simple Scrapper #1

Late (as ever) but before I start sharing my October team makes, I'd like to share my September layouts.

In September, instead of having new sketches for our designs, we were asked to go back through the huge collection (over 300 sketches) and choose a particular one for a particular reason. 

With so much choice and so many fabulous designs, it took me some time to settle on #234 from March 2015 which features three Instax/Polaroid style photos. I have a small pile of Instax photos which need a home so it was a great excuse to use up these three which were taken of me and my two wonderful brothers from a few years ago. The sketch also gave me the possibility to include a good chunk of journalling while still showcasing pretty products from my Counterfeit Kit Challenge July kit, Scooped (lo#2). I combined the sketch with the Simple Scrapper Story Starter©️ Connections from March 2015 to talk a little about the relationship I developed with these two pranksters during that time. 

I liked that I could use some happy colours and even a few feminine items on this page because of the summer theme. The pinks and yellows don't feel out of place at all.

I don't really do summer holidays so it can be hard for me to find a way to incorporate traditional summer themes but the fussy cut trio of ice-cream cones reminds me of heading into town for ice-cream one evening when the boys were visiting.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

August at Simple Scrapper #2

My second layout for Simple Scrapper in August uses a current sketch teamed up with a Story Starter from March 2015 "You've got mail".  You can find out all about these resources as well as all the other amazing benefits of a premium membership with the link at the end of this post!

I decided to make another layout for my NYC album about meeting up with the sweetest girl, Lynnette! It was a fabulous day and a joy to get to know her in real life.

As you might remember, I have a large kit of supplies that I'm using for these layouts which feature a selection of papers and mismatched embellishments. But there are common elements and colours through all the layouts I've made so far and I'm hoping that the album will feel cohesive in the end.

I loved that the sketch provided space for two 4x6 photos - which I rarely combine on one page these days - as well as enough room for a good chunk of journalling. I was able to fit in a lot about how we first met online and the value of our friendship.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.