Scrapabilly February kit shares (part 2)

Back again today with the rest of the Scrapabilly February kit makes. I posted some layouts on Monday but just to remind you, here's the stunning kit we were given to work with:

It's available in the Scrapabilly shop here and the DT gallery can be found here. I recommend you dropping in and grabbing one before they are all gone! A simply gorgeous kit that was heaven to use. 

I nearly bought a second kit for myself but in the end, went the whole way and bought lots of the Dear Lizzy Serendipity collection items for my NYC kit. You see, I had decided on the Amy Tangerine Stitched collection to scrap my NYC photos - something about the colours and designs reminded me of the city and it felt a bit "urban". But then I picked up this kit and was inspired - at last - to print out one or two of my photos from my trip there last year. They just seemed to fit the papers in this collection too. So rather than giving up on the original idea, I decided to simply combine the two collection and items I've brought together already into one mega-kit. I will be doing enough pages after all!

So, to cut a long story short, these four layouts are the first four for my NYC album. More to follow no doubt! There's not really a lot to say about each of them as I think they speak for themselves. I continued to add in a little mist, some gold dots (can be found in the shop here and they are really nicely domed, bright gold little dots!), some twine, and a sprinkle of SC veneers.

I probably need to go back to this one and add a little journalling. But to be honest, the layout might say all I want to say at this point!

This came from a LOAD prompt to do a now and then style layout. I especially like the splash of yellow here and the fun journalling along the banner. I kept realising that I had run out of journalling space and still had more to say so I carried on tucking it about the layout! All in all, that is a bit of a Pam thing so I guess it fits!

I wanted to highlight the constellation paper as much as possible but make the layout as pretty as possible at the same time. The veneer stars reinforce the star theme and the little cluster at the bottom is a nod to our neighbouring star signs!

This last layout is a tribute to the wonderfully thoughtful gift that Lynnette gave me when we met in February. Such a thrill and such a beautiful cushion that now has pride of place in my room. Every time I look at it, I think of her and it makes me smile. So I knew that I wanted to make a very pretty, pink layout using up the last elements from the kit. I love it and both the gift and the layout made me happy which means that it was perfect for the Whimsical Musings prompt #159 - inspired by what's making you happy right now. Love it when a plan comes together!

So, there you have it. At last, four layouts to kick off my NYC album covering both trips. I love that I got the inspiration from this kit to start something that felt too big to handle. Now I just need to reduce those 2000+ photos down to a manageable amount to scrap and I'll be sorted.

Thanks for getting this far! I appreciate every single reader and commenter here on this - sometimes - neglected blog. Let me know which layout from which 2015 Scrapabilly kit is your favourite and I might just pick a commenter to receive a little something in the post from me!

These are my share posts so far this year:

Scrapabilly January kit shares (part 1)
Scrapabilly January kit shares (part 2)
Scrapabilly February kit shares (part 1)
and of course, this post that you are reading right now for February part 2
Scrapabilly March kit shares (part 1)
Scrapabilly March kit shares (part 2)

Who doesn't love a good Thursday incentive?!?

And we have a winner...

... Bet you thought I'd forgotten my promise of a little giveaway when I revealed my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit at the beginning of the month.

I may be a little late, but I hadn't forgotten. In fact the number of comments that post got reminded me each time I checked my mail.

So... we had 30 comments and Random.org tells me that number 3 is the winner!

So "Michel's Scrappy Creations" - get in touch with me by mail (on the side bar right) and let me know your snail mail addy and I will get a little package of goodies in the post for you.

In the meantime, I'm making the most of the cold snow weather we are experiencing right now meaning I go out even less than before and I've been creating a little. I think I need some serious warming up of my scrap muscles as the following layout is "ok" but it was oh so much cooler in my head before I made it :-(

I used my December CKC mini page kit, Anticipation and think there's just one layout left in the limited supplies I had. Maybe this time I can remember that I had also chosen a Page Maps sketch I wanted to use.... My excuse is that there's a lot going on right now... ha ha!

CKC December page kit, Anticipate, #2

 

If only photographs could capture the sparkle of the lights (they were literally twinkling the whole time) and the delight I felt when seeing them...

Happy January everyone and Congrats to Michele!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to 2013!

Internet image (no original source found - sorry)

I've got my fingers crossed and have high hopes that this will be a good year. I've had a few rough ones recently ;-) so I think I've earned it!

So to all my blog readers, I wish you a most wonderful New Year and all the very best for all your dreams and wishes for the next 12 months.

It's the 1st of the month and this means a new routine round here. The Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop has now moved to today which means that you get no delay in all that kit inspiration. And we are kicking off the year with a new team full of some familiar faces (that would be me and a few others!) along with some talented new ones. So I really suggest you drop by every single one of us on the hop and check out all that new inspiration. There's a whole lot of scrumptiousness to soak up so don't miss out on any of it and if you've arrived here directly, I suggest you pop back to the Counterfeit blog (here) for the starting point. And if you've already been working through the list and are here via the very talented Libeeti, then don't run off to make your kit already. Stop a while and check out mine and the rest of the team. There's so much to share!

This month, we were given the most gorgeous after Christmas kit to forge - A Merry Winter December kit by Paper Issues over on Etsy. Yummy. I would have bought this kit if I'd seen it!

Such a lot of lovely colours and so many ways to use up the kit without it being ALL Christmas. I was really drawn to the pinks, the reds, the aquas and the sparkle.

I was sad to realise that I didn't have a single one of the Crate Christmas papers (now on my list!) so I had to start from the basics and build up from there.

First let me present my January fresh start 2013 kit, Renew...

As always, cardstock came first. Lots of white and kraft and then just two sheets of coloured card (it's getting harder and harder to use it on layouts these days).

Then I tried to pick out papers which either had the overriding colour, or a design feel of the original but without going the Christmas route. I found that my Echo Park, Everyday Eclectic had just the right amount of colour, geometric designs and playful feel to them for them to be the basis of the papers. Many of them were also double sided which gives such a great extension to the kit and makes it so much more versatile. As always, there's one or two really old ones in there hoping for an appearance on a real live page!

And the fun bit - the embellishments. I tried to match up the types of embellishments from the original, even if they look totally different - so pins, buttons, flowers, flairs, some veneer items, some kraft tags (rather than the banners), some frames that can be misted (rather than chipboard), ribbon, twine, bling mist, alphas and labels. I have a lot more of this stuff in my kit but you know how I love to load up the "pretty stuff"!

This is a perfect pick me up kit for the new year and I'm looking forward to breaking into it and getting going again after what feels like an age without any creating at all. Wish me luck to track down that mojo at the same time.

Here is the complete blog hop list in case you get lost along the way and off you go now down under to visit new forger Lisa J! Funny to have two Lisa's on the team now!! On a side note, I spent all my younger years being Lisa S rather than just Lisa and now I'm Lisa H instead - makes me smile!

You won't want to forget to leave me a comment to let me know you were here. You never know, it might be worth your while! *wink wink*

I'm feeling in a generous mood and would love to share a bit of love with you too. It's the perfect way to start the new year don't you think. :-)

Guest Designer: Madeleine Lopez http://senoritaml.wordpress.com/

Andrea  http://snappingmonsters.blogspot.com/  

Angela  http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk/  

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/  

Jennifer  http://www.jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/  

Julie  http://www.hisglorygirl.blogspot.com/  

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/  

Lisa H. http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/  ß you are here

Lisa J. http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/ ß go here next

Lynnette  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/  

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

So here's to a wonderful year full of fun, scrappy inspiration and wonderful counterfeiting friends!

Image found here

Happy kitting everyone.

We have a winner!

If you remember this post, I promised you a little giveaway courtesy of Bite-sized Scrapbooking

and today I used the random generator to give us a winner.

Sarah! That's you!

I'll forward your email details to Kim and she will send you the pdf link for the BSS Bundle #1.

Enjoy!

To everyone who commented on our new venture over at Whimsical Musings, a big thank you! We had a lot of interest over there and we hope to see some of you join in the challenges. And for those of you who were unlucky this time around, do pop over to Bite-sized Scrapbooking (using the affiliate link in the right side bar) and have a look around. You'll love what you find over there and tell Kim I sent you!

I'll keep it short for today - tomorrow is my November Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal and I love it. Some good layouts and projects in that kit ;-)

Here's a sneak at a little bit of it ...

More good company

Always up for a good challenge, I'm again joining in on a new one set by my blog friend S over at Snaps & Snippets.  

Her idea is that we should spend some time in good company with our wonderful stash and become reacquainted with the treasures we possess. I love it and was sold at once.

Week 1 was Cosmo and I posted about this 2 weeks ago. 

Week 2 was Making Memories and I missed the deadline - arghghg! I'm so busy scrapping at the moment that I've been neglecting my blogging. But not to be outclassed by mere deadlines, I'm posting it here and have every intention on linking up with this week's ;-). You don't mind, do you?

I used up some of my precious Passport collection, now severely depleted ;-( to pull together a travel layout about Salzburg. Love these papers so much that I'll be really sad when they finally give up. I may have to get some more ;-) (Yes, I know that defeats the object!)

I love MM and have quite a lot of bits and pieces of it in my stash. I don't find myself buying a lot of full collections but odd sheets and lots of embellishments. It's usually pretty, colourful and easy to use. In my top 10 for sure.


Week 3 is now almost at an end and S has challenged us to use Graphic 45. Surprising for me, I appear to have a lot of it in my stash and I have no real idea how to use it! The patterns are so "all over" and themed that I find it tricky to know how to cut, use or build with it. But I'm pleased to say that I gave it a try and surprised myself in the process.


I had a whole collection of papers and had disregarded them as too themed but when I looked through them, I found 4 or 5 sheets with simpler designs that went together beautifully. I suppose I ought to look at the papers more carefully in future!


The LOAD prompt for today was nature and I thought this photo went with the papers I'd chosen really well. 

All in all, a fabulous challenge S! Thanks for making me see my suppplies in a new way! I'd never have made this layout without your gentle persuasion :-) 


Don't forget to check out this post (here) about our new challenge blog, Whimsical Musings (very exciting!) and the chance to win a giveaway courtesy of Bite-sized Scrapbooking!

An announcement and a chance to win...

I've talked about Whimsical Musings a lot recently and you might have been wondering what it's all about...

It all started when Pam (Whimsical Nature) and I set about doing a daily challenge of our own during July. We came up with the name combining Pam's screen name, and my blog. Clever, huh? :-)

When July came to an end, we decided to take it weekly. We alternately create a challenge for the week and then wait to see what gorgeousness each of us creates.

Well, now we've decided to take it one step further and have set up our own challenge blog! And we'd love to see some visitors over there. We've been working hard behind the scenes to get the blog ready and have posted all the previous weekly prompts there and are in the process of uploading our layouts. It's still a work in progress but if I say so myself, it looks pretty darned good!

The concept is simple. Each Monday a "just-for-fun" challenge will be posted and it's designed to really get those creative juices flowing. We have a week to complete the layout and then you will find two posts on Sunday night with our layouts with a small amount of thought process behind it.

And you know what they say, the more the merrier.

Why not pop over to Whimsical Musings Challenge and say hi!

If you join in with the prompts, just let us know in the challenge post comments and we'll drop by and say hello to you too.

And as a little celebration of our launch, I'd like to offer you a little giveaway, courtesy of my "Bite-sized Scrapbooking" friend, Kim. She has bundled up the first 6 months of Bite-sized Scrapbooking prompts into one PDF file - BSS Bundle #1 - and is offering it for sale on her site for $7.99. Do you remember that I had a layout featured a few months ago? My layout is #18!

However, she has generously offered me one to give away to one of my blog readers. You'll love it. So much inspiration, so many layouts and so easy to complete in three easy steps. Kim walks you through each layout right down to the size, number and type of photos you might want to use as well as ways to change it up. You'll love it (have I mentioned that already?!?) and she is now offering FREE membership subscription until the end of January 2012 when the service will come to an end. Get on board while you can!

All you have to do to win a free "BSS bundle #1" is to go over to the new Whimsical Musings challenge blog and say hello! Then come back here and leave me a comment to say you were there! Simple. I'll keep it open to the end of the month and let you know the winner next week.

Delightfully happy to announce...

... the winner to my 5 year anniversary giveaway.

Drum roll please............

And the lucky winner is Danielle! 

Congratulations Danielle and thanks so much for your sweet comments on all my blog posts and eco friendly scrapbooking inspiration from your own blog. You have really got my brain working recently and I always feel so pleased with myself when I recycle some packaging or something!

Shoot me a mail with your snail mail address and I'll get your little pack of goodies in the mail to you.  I've selected a few products by October Afternoon from their Boarding Pass collection which have a travel theme. I felt this represented my feelings about being so happy to be connected with friends around the world through scrapbooking and  blogging. I hope you like them! I'd post a better photo here but I've just missed the light and want to get this up today as I'm already late with announcing this!

Thanks to everyone who commented and congratulated me on my 5 years of blogging - it's always lovely to hear from you. 

I have another little giveaway to announce next week so watch this space!

In the meantime, I'm in the middle of LOAD right now and it's scrapping all the way. Then there's Counterfeit Kit Challenge challenges to be finished and a Whimsical Musings layout to be created tomorrow (and news to come from that soon too!).

Busy busy busy. Have a great weekend everyone!

LOAD, Counterfeit and Whimsical Musings all rolled into one

I had a very busy September for some reason and wasn't as productive as usual for my various challenges (hangs head in shame). I was so thrilled at being the GD over at Counterfeit Kit Challenge and had wanted to get more done than I managed which disappointed me. And in the run up to my trip to the UK, I didn't complete Whimsical Musings #7 which Pam had set and then we decided to leave out the week when I was there - and I really missed that too!

So today, I am making amends by trying to combine all three challenges: LOAD day 2, Whimsical Musings #7 and Counterfeit Kit Challenge layout #6. And I think I might have managed it!

Pam had set me the prompt of using a previous Stacy J challenge from National Scrapbooking Day where she had used 10 words + 10 products + 10 techniques to make a layout about someone she loves. Pam's all about the odd numbers so she changed it to 9 of everything.

LOAD day 2's prompt was to chose stash that you have WAY too much of and find a way of using up a whole lot of it at once. Well, I think this applies to all of us really, doesn't it? I can't think of any crafter who doesn't have too much of one or many items (hangs head in shame yet again!).

And I wanted to make layout #6 using Departing Summer as that is my usual layout target each month. And I wanted to get it done before the new month's kit gets published... just a few days now!

So three big challenges and a goal to get them all done today...

LOAD #2, Counterfeit Kit Challenge #6, Whimsical Musings #7

• For the LOAD prompt, rather than picking out one item that I have too much of (a pretty tough decision anyway!), I just used a lot of product on one layout. 
• Then I only used my Departing Summer kit for the Counterfeit challenge (just adding in the alphas). 
• And finally, for my 9 products, I decided to have 9 different embellishments: buttons, twine, flower, pin, alpha, paper trim, recycled doily, cut-out paper element decoration and a kraft calender spot
• And my 9 techniques were: inking, layering, distressing, sanding, clustering, tying, strip journalling, fussy cutting and recycling.

Do you think that I have a challenge problem?

Just about 36 hours left in my giveaway which is open until Monday. Be sure to pop over to my "Delightful" blog post here and leave me a comment to be in with the chance of a small giveaway....  

Don't be shy, come on over and leave me a comment - it could be your lucky day!