Back in the groove

I'm happy.

I've been scrapping and it feels good to have glue on my fingers and ink all over my t-shirt (well, maybe not that last one!). But all in all, there has been quite a lot of cutting and glueing going on.

First off, here's a few layouts I made with my September Scrapabilly Kit (find it in the shop here) which was full of delicate grey, soft aquas, warm yellows, naturally neutrals and über-trendy chalkboard designs. It proved a great kit to use and I mixed up the papers to give myself quite a few different looks. The inclusion of sequins was right up my street of course and I found it so easy to use.

In fact, I still have one sheet of cardstock and a full sheet of paper left so I could, in theory, get another whole layout made but after 5 layouts, I'm putting the scraps to one side and moving on. Yeah, that feels good.

I added in a roll of washi tape (here)

An extra set of enamels (here)

Some mists in grey, silver, gold and Bazinga blue (here)

to which I added a new splodge dropper - it makes great splotches for those of who like to get messy (here)

and a few of my own pale aqua sequins.  But that's it. The rest just came from the kit - nice.

Here are the first three layouts:

I thought the mix of the blues and beiges was so good as well as some good contrast with the blacks. I love the fact that there are great A and B sides - each of the papers appealed to me on one or other of the sides. And that gave me lots of combinations.

I was inspired by a new (to me) scrap crush - Ashli Oliver and her series over at A Flair for Buttons. Her post here featured twine wrapped flairs and I just fell in love with the effect and promptly pinned all the layouts. I didn't have the right twine for these smaller elements so just used thread. Fiddly but I love the result. Lots of fussy cutting and a bit of layer overload - just a whole load of fun.

And a layout that was slightly less successful than the others - too many large photos I think. But it was a story that's been sat there for several years and the colours seemed right for Paris so it'll do. This has been an ongoing joke since we first visited this amazing city together (he's not so keen!)

Tune in again tomorrow for the last two layouts from this kit and make sure you head over to the Scrapabilly shop and check out the gallery. There will be a wide range of inspiration there for sure :-)

Reminder: Don't forget to check out all the 100 prompt celebratory posts over at Whimsical Musings and upload your layouts to the Flickr Gallery for a chance to win one of two prizes. The more the merrier and you have until September 16th to have a chance to win. 

Counterfeit Kit Challenge September kit reveal blog hop

Can it really be September already. Well, according to the calendar, yes it can.

So hopefully you are here for the Countefeit Kit Challenge reveal blog hop and if you have come from the first part of my Lesley/Leslie sandwich, Lesley's blog, welcome, welcome. If you've landed here directly, you can get back to the beginning of the hop back at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog here.

This month, we were given a choice of kits from the lovely Citrus Twist kits and could select one of the July kits for inspiration. There were several lovely collections there but I decided to do something a bit different this time around.

Rather than doing my usual of really matching up item by item, I went for an overall inspiration instead.

I loved the look of these two kits:

And I even had some of the items too as I've splurged a bit recently. But I didn't want to only go with new stuff and matchy matchy and decided that I would only use (mostly) older products (use it or lose it idea) and to go with the idea of a travel themed kit.

It's HUGE and full to the gills of loads of bits and pieces but I have so really old photos and trips I'd like to scrap that I think I can make it go a long way. And it will test those themed items that I don't use so often. If they are still in the kit at the end of the month rather than on pages, that could be a sign that they are past their day. My niece will be happy!

Here's my September kit, Passport:

There's no cardstock in here so I will just add it in as I need it. And of course, there's free items such as mists, twine and anything else that takes my fancy that can be added in at any time.

I started off with papers. Three map designs (I just can't resist maps) and a few more themed papers that I have had in my stash for literally years so let's see if I can find a way to use them. I've included a few colours that I don't usually use so often on my trip pages but that should help me with the versatility of the kit.

 I then went through and added lots and lots of older items and travel themed things. I'm really not sure about those camping items but who knows, maybe I can find a way to fit it into my current style - or not. :-)

I did try and match up some of the types of items from the inspiration kits but really, I just went through my stash and picked out items I liked. And nothing from my more recent purchases.

Lots of alphas to use up, some pins, some veneers, some themed travel stickers

The tapes here are relatively new but I liked the look of them with the other products. Some journalling cards, some die cuts from October Afternoon's first travel collection.

The 6x6 SC pad is new - relatively - but I just thought it might work with the rest of the products and it also brings in some new colours for more flexibility.

I also added in all my scraps from the MM Passport collection (which inspired the name for my kit) and then just added in a few more items just for fun!

I warned you it was huge - and it is. I can't even imagine how many layouts I could make with this - I'll let you know.

If you've got this far, thanks and make sure you leave me a comment. I love to see who's dropped by.

And than you can head off in the direction of my top slice of the sandwich, Leslie S. She is bound to have something gorgeous to inspire you and get you kitting :-)

Guest Designer: Isbaha: http://isbahashome.blogspot.fr

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

Dawn:  http://dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com

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

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

Lesley G.:  http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Lisa H.:  http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ You are here

Leslie:  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com Go here next

Lynnette:  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Millisa:  http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Stephanie:  http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca

August Counterfeit Kit Member blog hop

Welcome again this month.

You should be here for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop.

If you are here via Lesley, you are certainly on the right way. But if you've landed here direct today, I suggest you head back to the Counterfeit blog and then onto Lesley - you don't want to miss her contribution. It's always fun!

This month we were challenged to be inspired by Geocaching - to create something hidden on our pages.

I decided to make a page with plenty of "hidden meaning" to the elements and choices I made. Then I added a few items which are practically clear and not so obvious on the page and to top it off, a title element which is made of vellum and practically hidden on the page. I love the subtlety of it all - can you find everything?

This layout is the 2nd using my August "Solitude" kit which hasn't seen much daylight yet, but there's a whole lot of pages in there waiting to be made. I'm hoping to find the time next week when quiet hits my home once again!

Please let me know you were here - comments make my day :-) and then off you go to Isbaha who is sure to delight.

Here's the full list in case you get lost along the way.

CKCB    http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Lesley     http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Lisa    http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com
Isbaha    http://isbahashome.blogspot.fr

Dawn    http://www.dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com

Stacy    http://stacy.typepad.com

Leslie S    http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Bridget    http://sobejoss.blogspot.com

Milissa    http://millermall.blogspot.com

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

There's a whole lot of celebrating going on....

.... over at Whimsical Musings.

Why not come over and join us as we celebrate our 100th challenge prompt all week long.

You'll find 6 daily prompts, Guest Designers and there might even be a giveaway to be won :-)

See you there

And more kit makes...

.... to share with you.

I've always said that my target for kits are 6 layouts with enough scraps left over for a few cards. The August Scrapabilly kit has produced 7 layouts so far and I have loads of scraps left. I'm really happy with the results and needed to tear myself away from the scraps to move onto other papers and commitments.

If you saw yesterday's post, you'll remember that I did admit to adding some extras in to the kit items which I don't normally do, but The Pier is just such a wonderful collection of products, there was just too much temptation.

You can see all the Pier items in the Scrapabilly shop here and specifically, these are the items I added:

Find it in the shop here

Find it in the shop here

Find it in the shop here

Find it in the shop here

Now, here are the remaining four layouts to share with you from this gorgeous kit. And there are a lot of gorgeous kiddies featured here which seemed only fitting. I can't WAIT till I see these three next week 
:-)

**Lisa doing a happy dance over here**

LO#4 I "stole" this photo of my über-gorgeous niece from my sister's Instagram feed - he he! I haven't got any recent photos and there is a limit to how many times I can use pictures from two or three years ago when I just want to say how wonderful she is (and her brother and sister of course!) I'm sure my sister will forgive me and I intend to catch up on taking some new ones when they visit later this week - yipeee

The pinwheels are adorable and perfect for lazy people like me who just want to stick and go

I just adore all the soft summer colours of the collection

I used a paintbrush to "paint" the page with my favourite mist (at the moment) - my SC gold (here). I love the brushed effect and it gives a wonderful shimmer 

LO#5 The fairground map paper seemed too good to cut up so I used it as a background which is unusual for me. These carousel photos of me with my two adorable nieces seemed the perfect mix

LO#6 Obviously I was on a roll with the nieces and nephew photos and I've been wanting to scrap this story of the curly tongues for some time. They taunt me with their curling abilities and find it hilarious that I can't ;-) I used a whole load of product on here and also added in some of the Crate Paper 12x12 washi tape paper. I like the fact that you have a whole lot of choice as sometimes the washi tape rolls seem to go on forever (ie too long!)

LO#7 I wanted to try to change up the products and make a very different colour for my layout by carefully choosing the items from the kit. I love this softer green/blue look to this and was pleased to get this look.

Thanks for stopping by and let me take this opportunity to give you a heads up for something you will NOT want to miss.

Please make sure you stop by my challenge blog Whimsical Musings on Monday (19th August) for a whole week of fun to celebrate our 100th prompt. There will be lots of inspiration, some familiar faces joining me as GDs and there might even be a prize (or two) up for grabs.

Hope to see you there!