Counterfeit Kit Challenge - prompt #1 - inspired by Easter

Master Forger Tina has challenged us to come up with an Easter themed layout for Challenge #1 at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog (see the post here).

That seemed pretty easy for me until I realised that I don't actually have such spring typical colours - all those pastels from the original inspiration kit - in my own selection so I needed to get a bit creative with how I approached this.

Just a reminder of what my April kit, Rogue, looks like...

But I did have some colourful snaps of Easter that I thought would look good together as a quick overview. So, what did I have in the kit? Spring has come late round here and we've had a lot of rain and cloudy days so the cloud paper and the raindrops seemed a good representation of all that. Then there's a paper with small tulip style flowers - typical spring too even if it's a bit on the darker side. And so I combined those with some floral paper, a little vellum, a small floral print and a hint of tissue paper. It's all a bit dark and dull - which is how the weather's been - but the photos really lift the whole look of the page.

There wasn't really much to say in terms of journalling so I just added some words in mini letter stickers to highlight the main things to remember about Easter this year - bubbles, eggs, chocolate, spring flowers, gardening and breakfasts. Easy and so much quicker than trying to find a space to write.

A larger, light coloured title draws the eye and I used my veneer butterflies to add more of the same tone and well, they are flower related, aren't they?!?

Even with all the dark tones of the background, I love how the photos jump out. This is a page I'm totally happy with. Nice!

Are you inspired by this prompt? Have you made up your own Counterfeit kit? Have you been busy using it up? We would love to see what you come up with, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can do this by using our Link-Up Page here on the blog, posting in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community or on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge and use the tag #counterfeitkitchallenge). Hope to see you there!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini kit and project

Well, I'm Miss Late-in-the-Day as usual but I thought I'd make the effort (at midnight!) to write up a complementary post here to give you some detail shots.

If you've been over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog this morning, then you'll have seen my mini kit that I made for August's Counterfeit Challenge.

This month our inspiration was the gorgeous Studio Calico "Lost River" from Sept 2016. Here's the main kit and there were additional kits too - a planner kit and a pocket page kit - as well as digital downloads of the papers and the pocket cards. Just search for "Lost River" over at the SC site to find all the goodies.

Master Forger Clair picked out the kit this month and we were all delighted with it. A great transition from summer to autumn. She was somewhat of an enabler too, pointing out that the digital downloads were still available. And yes, I couldn't resist. I purchased the pocket page downloads and am thrilled to have them. I'll get them printed soon but wanted to make up my mini kit without them!

So, onto my mini-kit... I took inspiration from the colours and feel of the original inspiration kit and then followed Master Forger Susanne's "directions" in Just The Gist of It to pull together a Project Life kit for my August pages.  

I know this looks like more than a mini-kit but all the sheets are 6x6 and the cards are all pocket page cards (so 4x6 or 3x4). I'm still finding my way through the Project Life system and it's taking me some time to work out how to make things fit my own style and how much project should be in a mini-kit for one month's spreads.

I didn't include many embellishments in the hope that I wouldn't feel obliged to over decorate too many pages - some veneers, some gold and white confetti (reminiscent of the vellum circles), gold thread and some washi tape. I included alphas and some labels which didn't make the cut in the end but I wanted to make sure I had at least a few options. 

I knew there would be lots left over after making my pages, and also noted that I'm definitely missing some pocket page cards for journalling and of different orientations. And indeed, there really was a lot of the kit left over but I'm happy overall with how it came together.

I'm trying to follow the same format each month so that there's some consistency and in the hope that it becomes easier for me. It also gives me the chance to use both landscape and portrait photos and cards in both sizes. So I start the month with a single side of Design A, then have two sides of Design D and finish off with the Design A again. If that's not enough, I can add something in between (I did that in April with my 30 days of Selfies spread). I'm trying not to be too rigid but to have enough guidelines to make it simpler.

I managed to get August completed across the "usual" four sides.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm finding this more difficult than I think it should be. It takes me ages to make spreads like these (feels much longer than regular pages) and I'm not sure the overall design is entirely pleasing! I love that I have the month's details captured and all those little photos that wouldn't normally make it onto pages used up, so I guess it's definitely worth it, but I'm still looking for ways to enjoy the process more and make it feel better designed! 

Tips and tricks still ever welcome!

In the meantime, I'll leave it at this and wish you a very happy Hump Day. And don't forget to share what you make with your Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits! Join in over at our Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community. The more the merrier! 

August at Scrapabilly (part 2)

A second post to share the August Scrapabilly Kit des Monats layouts with you. You can find part 1 here if you missed it.

The August Kit des Monats features Fancy Pants Dream Big collection and is full of beautiful soft colours, gorgeous motifs such as clouds, stars and soaring birds, and is just all-round lovely. The kit includes 6 collection papers, some mini alphas, a pack of collection die-cuts, a cute set of postmark stamps and some puffy word elements - also from the collection. 

Here's the kit photo.

The sewing machine was in full use for this layout which is one of my favourite two layouts using the kit. I decided to go whimsical with this one and use the clouds (who can resist those faces), birds and stars to make a page with a few words about my niece who can be seen in the photo from many years ago.

Several of the word elements seemed perfect to mix in with the sleeping die-cuts.

I went with printed strip journalling which I often forget and then use all the time again when I remember. I love the look of the white on white strips and the simple black font.

I collected together flowers and leaves for this sweet cluster at the edge of the photo block and used some foam dots here and there to give it a little dimension and texture.

This last layout started with the decision that I couldn't bear to cut up that gorgeous road paper. Then I pulled together some elements to make a die-cut cluster and then the rest of the design came together.

A pocket for my private journalling and again, printed to keep the look simple and plain.

Well, that's it for this month but I might try to share the July kit here too soon as I really loved using it and I think it might still be available in the Scrapabilly shop.

Check out the Scrapabilly shop for this kit and a whole treasure trove of scrapbook products.

August at Scrapabilly (part 1)

I haven't shared my Scrapabilly makes over here on my blog for a long time. It feels rather late to try to go back to previous months (although I might share July because that really was a gorgeous kit) but let's start with August's kit. If you follow me on Instagram, you will already have seen these but here they are for those of you who don't!

The August Kit des Monats features Fancy Pants Dream Big collection and is full of beautiful soft colours, gorgeous motifs such as clouds and soaring birds, and is just all round lovely. The kit includes 6 collection papers, some mini alphas, a pack of collection die-cuts, a cute set of postmark stamps and some puffy word elements - also from the collection. 

Here's the kit photo.

And here are my first three shares.

Layout #1 features an interesting find in Mainz that I discovered while exploring the city recently. The 50°N latitude line goes right through the city and they've marked this with a feature in the pavement. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love maps, atlas, and these markations so I was thrilled to record this. I kept this (and most of the layouts with this kit) simple to showcase both the kit contents and the photos.

It was fun to get the sewing machine out to add some detail here and there as well as the Cameo to give me some additional titling options. This is one of my favourite hand-drawn words for a title and have no doubt used it before. But it seems to go with everything!

Second up is a layout featuring some photos I took in Paris in 2007 and a story from way back in the 90s. I don't have any suitable photos from back in the day - way before digital photography and the camera constantly in your hand, and even when I didn't even have my own camera - so it was a great way to link up the more recent photos with a story from the past.

I had a lot of fun stamping and fussy cutting out one or two of the postmark elements - and this was perfect with the Paris stamp - and clustering them up with the words and die cut elements to give detail and texture to the page without a lot of bulk.

This star paper was one of my favourites in the kit. In fact the stars, the map and the cloud papers just made me super happy and I could have made a dozen items with them.

This layout layout - for today - might seem a strange one. It features a photo of a large art photo that used to hang somewhere I used to work. The guys in the photo were my students and I loved the composition of the shot. I used the photo to record a few details about my appreciation for the art the company would commission and how great this particular piece was. It's especially special as I don't work there any more and often wonder what happened to these energetic, ambitious, young men from my class.

Some of the word elements from the die-cut pack seems particularly appropriate and again, my Cameo provided some pretty cool extras!

That's it for today. If you'd like to see more, I'll be sharing the remaining two layouts from this kit in a day or two. Come back for more details!

If you are interested in your own kit, and why wouldn't you be? - you can find it over at the Scrapabilly shop here. Perfect for dreamy, travel, exploration or simply fun-filled layouts.

15 loves {March 2015}

Welcome to the next in the series {15 loves} for 2015 based on the original concept by my beloved friend, Pam, back in January 2013. I shared my loves (mostly late) all through 2014 and now it's time to see if I can continue the series through 2015. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. You can see all my {14 loves} {here} and now all my {15 loves} {here}

I hope there's something in here to inspire you or maybe just make you smile.

Woo hoo! On time for once. Let's see what I'm loving at the moment! I have to warn you that it's every so slightly New York heavy. ;-)

one

Yay! Shimelle is back. I was thrilled to see her posting every day this week along with two new video series. This layout came from her Cut, Stick, Stamp video this week and then there's another, As It Happens. She's been gone nearly a year and I think there was a collective "Yes" from around the world to see her back online again with her sweet style full of layers and whimsy.

two

A sweet reunion. So happy to see this girl again and get to spend some quality time with her. Our itinerary was significantly lighter than last time which gave us more time to just chat and be together. This girl is awesome. So happy to know her.

three

I made Pam do Top of the Rock ... again... while I was there. I just "needed" to see that NYC view once more. It was cold up there and Pam only managed a few minutes outside. But that was just long enough for her to organise me with light and a good selfie. This view is one I will never forget!

four

And then on the way out Pam spotted this book. A sign!

five

There was a lot of food to be eaten while we were there. I mean a lot! And it was all delicious. But on our last day together, we travelled around the world with Cuban brunch and English afternoon tea at the Crosby Street Hotel. Tea, sandwiches, mini cakes and scones with cream and jam, topped off with champagne. We must have sat there for hours and just took it all in while chatting about life, love and everything!

six

Ok, let me share one non-NYC love now, just to prevent from you getting overloaded and me getting too boring!

These Winnie the Pooh pocket page cards are just adorable. And I really intend to get going with my PL since I saw that Charly (in the Scrapabilly crop group and my "adopted" Scrap Baby sister!) is up-to-date with hers! The competition starts here! I can't let her win now can I? Which reminds me of a little NYC story *wink* I saw the original Pooh and friends at the New York Public Library. No doubt that snippet will make it onto one of my NYC layouts or my PL pockets - these cards will no doubt be part of that!

You can find these Winnie the Pooh cards here at One Velvet Morning which is über-full of amazing freebie cards. 

seven

Back to New York. She makes me happy. We got to scrap together, in the same room, at the same time! What an experience. She had bought us both the same Studio Calico kit so we could see how each of us worked with it. I was in awe of how easy Pam made being creative with pen, paint and ink look. I found myself just watching her put her pages together and felt a bit like a beginner! I'd never have thought it would have been possible for us to create together in this way and I will treasure the memory.

eight

Pam had warned me it was cold and it was. But mostly, I could deal with it. Except this evening on Times Square when I thought my fingers were going to break off within two minutes of taking off the mitten part of my gloves to capture a few shots. At -15° or so, it was shockingly bitter but for me, it was all part of the fun!

nine

When I visited NYC last year, we didn't manage to meet up with Lynnette, but we were determined to make up for that this time around. And it was a highlight. What a simply wonderful person she is. Sweet, genuine, kind and just lovely. We had a great day together and got on as if we'd all been friends for years - which of course, we have! This photo is one of my favourites of the whole trip. The three of us together. Fabulous!

ten

When you get photobombed, you just have to hope that it's by someone as wonderful as this! We were on the High Line and this stained glass wall is a highlight photo opportunity. But this photo is priceless!

eleven

I'm not a shopper, it's a well-known fact. But when in Soho, what's a girl to do? I just went in to take a peek - honest! But I came out with a beautiful pink bag ... oh, ok, and a matching clutch/wallet! It's very me and maybe I'll feature it next month. At the moment, it's so precious that I just stroke it rather than taking it out!

twelve

I brought home more than one precious new item. This stunning cushion now has pride of place in my room. A thoughtful, perfect present from sweet Lynnette. I've already scrapped it so check out my Scrapabilly kit shares next week for my February kit to see the details. Thanks Lynnette, it's beautiful. And our friendship means so much to me.

thirteen

I said that this trip was full of delicious food and it certainly was! We went from one cafe or restaurant to the next and I enjoyed each bite. Shortly before the trip, Pam suggested I downloaded Kelly Purkey's new travel workshop for NYC - Destination Documented. It comes with top recommendations for places to visit, where you should eat, what photo opportunities there are and much much more. It was great. There were a lot of insider tips included and we realised that we'd already done several and, during this trip we ticked off a few more. On my last morning, I travelled across town to another of the top Kelly recommendations - a Salty Pimp at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. It was worth the journey and even worth the rather ugly, unladylike photo of my big, open mouth! Kelly will be featuring a different city each month and I highly recommend checking the workshop out. No wonder she is Pam's favourite!

fourteen

My last view of the city made me sad, but happy to be going home with so many happy memories of good times, spent with someone so very special. Thanks Pam, thanks New York. It was swell! Hope to see you again before too long!

fifteen

So true. I got plenty of this during my time in New York - lots and lots of laughs with Pam, and good, deep sleep due to the fresh, cold air and the literally kilometres that we walked all over town! 

I’d love you to share your own {15 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{15 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 15th of the month