Counterfeit Kit Challenge prompt #2 - Mix and Match Title

Hopefully you remember the kit I made up at the beginning of the month - Heatwave.

It was full of brights and bolds so when you look at the layout below, you might wonder how that happened! But first let's remind ourselves of Cindy's challenge to us this time around.

She asked us to be inspired by a mix and match title or journalling. "We have them in our stash - alphabet stickers, word stickers, stamps, dies and even punches. The challenge is to use at least two different alphabet styles for your title or journaling." She's also created a Pinterest board with inspiration for you which you can find here.

This is right up my street as I usually include several alphas in each of my kits with different fonts and sizes and love mixing them up.

Here's my layout.

I started off by looking into my kit to see what wordy elements I had and discovered that the b-side of the large floral was a lovely handwritten design featuring a repeated "weekend". I built the rest of my layout around that word which I fussy cut and used that as a starting point. I have really limited letters in the alphas I included in the kit so I had to get a bit creative with the words I made up! So too many e's or s's but to be honest, that helped me make my title even more mixed up as each word came from a different letter sticker according to which letters were available. 

I also fished out other wordy items in my kit and added them as embellishments.

I decided to use the hexagon paper by MME and that set the colour scheme for the rest of the layout and I picked out all the blues and greens so that it turned out to be a really toned down layout rather than the hot shades in the original.

The little clipboards were on the b-side of the red paper from my kit and I thought they worked nicely to feature as a mat for my photos as if they were really holding the photos.

Then I just decorated using black, green and blue and tucked my journalling onto a few of the hexagons. I tried to scatter the embellishments into different corners of the page to add dimension and interest and even though the photos are bright and Christmassy, the whole layout is much calmer and softer which pleases me!

I love how versatile my kits are when I look at the backs of the papers that I picked originally! In effect, you get the a-sides, the b-sides and then a mix of both - three kits in one and limitless possibilities!

Have a great day everyone and don't forget that we love it when you share your own projects inspired by any of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits, prompts or mini-kits. You can share over at the blog, in the FB community or on Instagram - whichever suits you best!

In the meantime, head over to the blog to see what the others have produced with this fun mixed-up font prompt and you can share here:

• the Link-Up page here on the blog
• the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community Group 
• Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge )

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Challenge #1 - I love Paris

It's time for Challenge #1 over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and Julene asked us to make a page with the prompt "I love Paris".

No problem for me. Everyone knows that I love Paris and I've made several pages about that romantic city over the last month or so. Therefore, I decided to make a layout about my trip to the west of France from the beginning of the month instead.

I just couldn't reduce the number of photos I wanted to include on my page so I just jiggled the photos around until I found a way to squeeze them all onto one 12x12. It's not my favourite ever page but I still love it!

Julene suggested that we channel our inner Paris by using elements which remind us of the city or incorporating lace, beads, pearls or anything that suggest the romance of the place.

I had included lots of these types of embellishments into my February kit, Amour, and had a lot of fun using some bits and pieces that I haven't used for a long time - beaded flowers, lace, metal corners. The layout is a bit more dimensional than usual but I really do think it's reminiscent of Paris and France in general.

The paper in the background here is actually postcards and envelopes covered in French printing and writing. You can't really see it but I know it's there and therefore, it's perfect.

The title just came to me when I looked through the photos. I also picked out the softer colours from my kit that seemed to complement the stone and antique shades in the photos. Soft aquas, stone, cream, gold, greens.

Several visual triangles have been used in the hope of helping the viewer work their way around this rather busy page. Hope that works!

And that's it for now! My third page with my Amour kit and a layout that is a perfect reminder of one of the best weekends I've had in years. This is such a beautiful part of the country and I can imagine making one or two more layouts about my time there.

In the meantime, head over to the blog to see what the others have produced and don't forget to link up your own creations:

• the Link-Up page here on the blog
• the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community Group 
• Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge )

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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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July at Scrapabilly (part 2)

I'm late sharing but I couldn't resist showing you the layouts I made using the Scrapabilly July Kit des Monats because it was such a lovely summer collection of paper and products and I loved what I made with it.

You can find my first three layouts in the blog post here and I'm back today to show you the final three.

Just to recap, here's the gen on the July kit:

The Scrapabilly July Kit des Monats featured Echo Park's Summer Dreams collection.

There are six summer papers from the collection, the matching sticker sheet (and there are a lot of stickers on there!), a gorgeous washi tape, a lovely slim pack of Thickers white alphas and a smooth-writing, black pen.

I added in the collection enamel dots and also added in the other two washi tape (the kit comes with one of three designs). You can find these products over in the Scrapabilly shop.

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My fourth layout is another from our "Scrap & Sea" weekend and uses some less than stellar Instax shots (I have an older model and my photos seem to be much more hit and miss than others I've seen.)

This might be my favourite layout using the kit. I used three photos to represent the hanging of a love lock in Cologne when I took my family there last year. It could be that this memory is particularly sweet which makes it a particular favourite.

And last but not least, the sunny yellows in the kit reminded me of these sweet mini cocktails we enjoyed last month.

You know how much I love a banner.

I think you can still get yourself one of the July Kit des Monats over at the Scrapabilly shop and if you have any sunny themed layouts to make, this is the perfect collection of products.

I have no idea if I'll manage to keep up the sharing but I'm willing to try if you're willing to drop by from time to time to see if I do!

July at Scrapabilly - part 1

I recently shared my August makes using the Scrapabilly Kit des Monats which features the Fancy Pants Dream Big collection. You can find my posts here and here if you are interested.

It made me realise that I'm very behind in sharing here on the blog and at least I should share the July makes too because that kit was particularly lovely and I really liked what I made :-)

The Scrapabilly July Kit des Monats featured Echo Park's Summer Dreams collection.

There are six summer papers from the collection, the matching sticker sheet (and there are a lot of stickers on there!), a gorgeous washi tape, a lovely slim pack of Thickers white alphas and a smooth-writing, black pen.

I added in the collection enamel dots because you know who much I love to sprinkle. I also added in the other two washi tape (the kit comes with one of three designs) because who could resist the gold foil design and let's face it, pink, mint, pineapple, flamingos and gold? It just had to be done! You can find these products over in the Scrapabilly shop.

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Here

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I received the kit just before I had the good fortune to spend a long "Scrap & Sea" weekend with Mrs Scrapabilly herself, Sylvia and another scrappy friend, Silvia at the North Sea coast in The Netherlands. Time to be creative and inspired by the sights and sounds of the sea. It was a perfect weekend.

I took along my printer and printed photos we had only just taken to use on my kit layouts. By the second day, I was finished and five layouts were ready to be photographed for the Scrapabilly shop. I don't think I've ever been that quick to complete a kit!

This page features the pen included in the kit. I love it and wanted to record that this pen-loving girl is adding it to my list of faves.

I added in some gold thread to my supplies and used it liberally here and there as well as a mini alphabet which helped me with my longer titles.

This photo was from our very first day together and I just wanted to record the fun that we had and the kit just summed up all that hot, sunny friendship we shared.

This layout #3 features a banner along the bottom edge made from lots of stickers from the sticker sheet. I was surprised to find so many ice-creams and lolly pops and they were perfect for this whimsical banner. Lots of gold thread and a smattering of ink splats complete the page which talks about how great it is to be with people who get the need for selfies!

There are another two layouts to share from this kit so come back soon to check them out.

You can still grab one of the last of these kits over at the Scrapabilly shop and other items in the Summer Dreams collection. Get it while you can!