January 2023 - Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini kit and project

It"s crazy that it's already January but I'm just going to jump right in and get going with a new year of blogging and scrapbooking and sharing snippets of my creative life - hoping to improve, as always. So let"s get going.

Over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge today, we are highlighting mini-kits we made with the kit inspiration I picked out for us this month. 

Here is the inspiration kit from the Hip Kit Club

Hip Kit Club December 2022 Main Kit

There was something about the kit that reminded me of Pinkfresh Studio and I decided to raid my Pinkfresh supplies to come up with a small kit to make some cards while I am out on the road on a short new year holiday. 

A few sheets of paper and a bunch of embellishments and my kit came together really quickly - which is great as I was under time pressure to pack my supplies in a matter in a very short time 😉 (long story for another time maybe).

I thought the papers and cut apart sheet would be perfect for layering, backgrounds and front elements and then I could just dip into all the die-cuts, stickers and other elements as I needed.

Unfortunately, all the photos have that winter blue daylight tone to them even though I "warmed" them up in editing so the kit appears much more blue and lilac that in real life. In reality, there is plenty of soft pinks in there 😉

Then I got happy with the cards - aiming for 6 cards for different or neutral occasions - mission accomplished.

I always aim for quick and easy cards and my designs tend to be very similar but that's ok as they will all be going to different people for different reasons.

Foam squares, layers and some of the puffy elements as well as the addition of a little twine here and there gave the cards texture and dimension to add interest to my simple designs.

Mixing and matching collections and embellishments means I have a set of cards which are similar but different if you know what I mean! Several of the floral die cuts were halved to tuck under elements top and bottom or left and right - that can really help you stretch your supplies! And adding puffy stickers here and there just added a touch of different. Don't forget to get happy with that twine - such an easy, inexpensive way to add something interactive.

January is only just beginning over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and there is plenty more going on round there:

• 12th & 18th January: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you to get creating from your own kit 
• 24th January: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month 
• 31st January: Killing Kits - an idea or two for using up the bits & pieces left in your kit box 

You KNOW that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjanuary2023). 

 Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see your kits and projects this month.

Wednesday Wonderland - Jingle Belles {Look What Santa Brought Me!}

This time around on the Jingle Belles blog, we are challenged to use our crafty Christmas presents to make a card - a great excuse to get them to work straight away.

I received a voucher for my favourite local scrapbook store, Scrapabilly, and treated myself to some papers, pretty alphas, a sprinkle of Prima dots and a couple of stamps. I never buy stamps as I'm really not that good at it, but I'm determined to practice and get better. Seemed like a perfect time to start.

My stamping is still not perfect (as you can see here) but these Cats on Apple Trees stamps are so good that I'm sure I can master it before long.

I've kept them super simple as always, going for a standard design and restricting myself to my Christmas paper scraps box. I also made sure to use my stitched effect circle dies which I got just before Christmas and am determined to really make the most of them. I'm usually too stingy to buy these types of products so they really need to earn their keep for me!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope I can continue this effort, even if it's only once or twice a month!

Jingle Belles Rock! - No time like the presents

I'm not sure how many I'll manage this year after last year's failure but I want to try to play along again with the fabulous girls over at Jingle Belles this year. I created a few cards in the last 12 months but only managed to get a small handful out of the door so I'm determined to try better this time around.

http://jinglebellesrock.blogspot.com/

And Lauren and Stephanie are just the most inspirational Christmas card makers so I know that I'm in very good hands!

Their first challenge of 20120 was "No time like the presents" which is all about recycling wrapping paper, cards or tags from last Christmas onto new cards.

It just so happens that I sorted out my Christmas supply drawers and found three greetings cards from 2018 or even 2017 and decided to just go for it in a very simple way. I ended up creating four cards in total as I also cut out the image from the back of one of the cards! I can't really take any of the credit for these because the original cards were so gorgeous that I knew I just had to use the fronts and voila!

JB:20:01_1&2

JB:20:01_3&4

I really just cut off the front of the cards, matted them with cardstock, glitter or paper and then loaded them up onto a blank base. Done. And off to a good start.

Wish me luck on my Jingle Belles adventures for this year. I'll let you know how I'm doing!

May 2019 - Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini card kit

It's been quite a busy time round here and the CKC blog with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge reveal on 1st, the Just the Gist post on the 2nd, Forgery on the Third on the ... well... 3rd, and then of course, {inter}National Scrapbook Day on the 4th.

There was a lot of activity both on the blog/s and behind the scenes to get it all ready so I was happy that I'd decided to go for a mini-kit this month - a couple of hours and the cards were done and ready to be sent out, even with all the stitching and detail I added.

First off, let's remind ourselves of the inspiration kit - the March 2019 My Creative Scrapbooks main kit:

My Creative Scrapbooks March Main Kit

I loved how summery this kit was with all the travel works, the flowers, the happy aspects. It has pineapples and flamingos and tropical flowers and all of that reminded me of the Simple Stories papers in the "Hello Summer" collection for which I had some of the papers and also the die-cuts.

So that's where I started for my "Greetings!" card kit.

I picked out cut apart sheet featuring a rather gorgeous flamingo which I knew I would use on a card and then added in the stripe and the spots of which matched up patterns in the original kit. I then included the die cut pack matching the collection as well as a few die cuts that I had featuring little girls and some unicorns - all reminding me of the inspiration kit.

I included a stamp set that has yet to be christened as well as a sheet of phrase stickers from another Simple Stories collection and I thought both of these could be useful for card titles.

A few sheets of mini-stickers rounded off this mini-collection.

I then spent a couple of hours and from these three sheets of paper, came up with 7 cards. I still have some scraps so I might make up some more but for now, I'm happy!

I deliberately found ways to include something of each of the items in my kit, testing out designs and styles to see what I liked.

I had some pre-prepared card bases as well as a few regular white cards and added in one small piece of pink cardstock as a mat (on the card below).

Because I always go for the simplest of designs, mostly focusing on 3x4 cards from the cut apart sheets, I went to town with the sewing machine and added stitching on several of the layers and even round the designs (speech bubble, sun and pineapple). 

Fast and simple is the way I always go with cards but overall, I'm happy with the fun elements I've added here and think that they will be a nice addition to my card stash. 

Don't miss MF Susan's beautiful mini-kit and project on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog today and of course, there's more fun to be had during the month!

We always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us!  

You can use our Monthly Link-up page, post them in our Facebook Community, 

or share them on Instagram 

(we are @counterfeitkitchallenge and you can tag us using 

#counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcmarch2019).

Another year with Jingle Belles

It's January and that means another set of creative goals for the year! And again, I'm going to try to join in on the Jingle Belles challenge as much as I can. 

Last Christmas I failed to send a single Christmas card. Not to mention any hand-made cards. And it just made me sad. This year I want to do better. Let's see. I can't promise to manage every week but honestly, a card or two each week can't be that difficult, can it? 

The inspiration over at the Jingle Belles blog- where they offer prompts every second week to take Christmas back over the year - is fabulous and whenever I join in, I love it. Lauren and Stephanie make the most beautiful cards that motivate me to try harder rather than always going for he easy option of a very quick and easy card. If you'Ve never joined in and would like to have a pile of cards at the end of the year, without the stress, check out their website here.

The first challenge of the year JB:19:01 - for which I'm posting too late, but hey ho, it's a start - is "No Time Like the Presents" which all about recycling wrapping, tags or just using your leftover wrapping supplies on a card before putting them back into the cellar for the rest of the year.

Each year I make tags for our German Secret Santa and last Christmas I really went to town with a die-cut layered extravaganza. They took me hours to make and were rather over the top but I loved them all the same. I needed 5 plus one for my niece and ended up making 8 (although I ran out of a few of the die cuts for the last one) and had the last two hanging around on my desk.

This prompt seemed an ideal place to showcase those last two leftover tags. 

The next prompt will be up on the Jingle Belles blog tomorrow so I'm interested to see if I can keep up. The couple of years I managed were so successful. Wish me luck.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge October mini-kit reveal

I'm back today with my Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-kit and project. You can find the CKC blog post for the mini-kit reveal including Master Forger Susan's wonderful selection here.

I was keen to volunteer again because I've been really enjoying bringing together the small kit and then using it up right away. I've caught up on a month or two of Project Life 2017 and I saw this as an ideal chance to get working on another month - September. An autumn-themed kit would be perfect for both the inspiration that Leslie picked out for us and for the Project Life month to finish.

This month's inspiration for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is the Wild Hare Kits selection that was curated for Design Team member Mandi Holmes - you can find her unboxing video here.

Here is a collage that Leslie put together for us to showcase the papers in the original kit so we would be able to pick out the inspiration.

Knowing that I wanted to have a small kit that would still be useful for the doulbe spread I was planning, I decided to include three full sheets of paper as well as a few scraps.

I was inspired by the striped paper, the design by Pink Paislee that looks like embroidery and the cut apart sheet as well as the colours of autumn that seemed to run through the inspiration.

I found an interesting striped sheet with some pretty colours by Simple Stories and then noticed the the collection also had a design that looks like quilting. I was surprised to realise that this was the Mama Llama collection which would not normally spring to mind when you think about an autumn kit. I guess it just goes to show that you can combine products unexpectedly to create fun results.

Apologies for the bad light photos! Late night kitting and creating.

I also included a sheet from Shimelle's Go Now Go line which I had in mind from the beginning due to the autumnal shades. I found few additional cut apart pocket cards from the collection which brought in a little pink to match the Simple Stories papers and a month marker card which I knew would be perfect.

I added in sequins, mini letters and stickers which matched items in the original kit and then I noticed a small bunch of mini scraps and leftover elements from the Cedar Lane collection which seemed perfect as a little extra for my mini-kit.

There is a good mix of items in my kit even though it's small and compact. I love that side of making up my own kits.

Then I made up some pocket 6x4 cards which I'll use for decorative purposes in my Project Life. I glanced through the possible photos I'd be using and saw that we had a few day trips, an Oktoberfest party and the anniversary of when we met so that helped give me direction for my cards.

I adore these month cards and will be holding onto the others I have so that I can use a few more of them. This will be on the first side of my double spread.

The die cut from my forged Thickers was perfect for this celebratory card.

And I was happy to pile up with little word labels for this anniversary marker.

This cut-apart card didn't need much decoration because I didn't want to cover any of the pretty up!

I created all four cards in about 90 minutes - yes, I know that I'm slow - and they will go a long way in saving time when I come to pull together the full month as a whole, maybe tomorrow.

Don't forget that CKC will feature challenge projects on 12th & the 18th which we hope will help you use up those goodies in your own counterfeit kit.

As always, 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 )