Counterfeit Kit Challenge - Mood Board Challenge #2

Welcome back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge prompt #2 which is all about Susan's wonderful mood board.

Check out the details of the mood board over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog here.

She asked us to take inspiration in any way we wanted to from her curated collection of beautiful images. And there's a whole lot of gorgeousness there so I'm interested to see how everyone else takes their pages.

The bow of decorative plates on the wall caught my eye, especially with the "block" of furniture which reminded me of a blocked photo on a page design, as well as that super quote in the middle. Several of the photos were all about messy piles or layers and then of course, there was the round cake and the arched doorway.

I decided to focus on a curve of messy stitched circles which would frame my blocked photo and incorporate the quote as my title. This gorgeous photo of my wonderful nieces seemed like an all round perfect fit. 

I picked out lots of circular elements from my kit in soft pinks to match those pretty faces and then added in some darker shades which tied in with their bold school uniforms. The curved stitching, the random element placement and the bunched up threads were inspired by the piles of books and papers in the mood board as well as some of those darker shades.

I wanted to add in a glittery heart for interest and then realised that I needed some other glittery items because it was too stand alone. I used more glitter hearts and then cut some very thin strips of the same shade of pink glitter paper and layered them under here and there. They are not totally obvious but make two visual triangles. I also added in a couple more small hearts for interest.

I went with a mixed title which is something I love to do and included a couple of phrase stickers for variety. More stitching was added for interest and to make sure that those pesky Thickers don't come off (super unsticky which is irritating!).

This layout was quick and easy and a lot of fun to pull together once I had decided where the inspiration was taking me! I love it.

You can see what the other Master Forgers did with this mood board over on the blog here so why not check that out. And don't forget to share if you're inspired to create too!

You can add it to our Link-up page, post it in our Facebook Community, or share it on Instagram (use #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjanuary2019).  We love seeing what you make!

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 January 2019 kit reveal blog hop

Welcome 2019 

and welcome to each of you on this bright and fresh 1st January!

I'm excited to kick off the new year with a brand new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit to get the inspiration started!

You should have reached me from the ever delightful Leslie today and next up is prolifically creative Lori but you can find the full list at the end of the post if you need it! Don't forget to check out our wonderful Guest Designer, Meagan Johnson too. We are thrilled to have her this month and she will wow you with her layouts for sure so check out her blog or Instagram too. 

Master Forger Susan has picked out a Felicity Jane kit for us the month to calm things down a little after all the hectic of the festive season. 

You can find all the details on the "Hannah" kit here: https://felicityjane.com/collections/hannah - isn't it lovely? Look at all those gorgeous shades of grey, blue and pink - *sigh*!

This is where the inspiration took me. May I present "Sigh".

I started off by going through some of my older Christmas kits if you can believe it and took out papers in the colours - grey, white, black, blues and pinks - that reminded me of the original kit as well as matching up some of the core patterns - woodgrain, spots, diamonds and stripes. I didn't have any suitable floral so this outline camera print is a good substitute. The number paper is a replacement for the word paper. I seem to have lost some of the deeper colours from the inspiration kit but love the mix that I have put together.

Puffy alphas, glitter hearts, tags and some bits and pieces - including a few random die cuts pieces that are left over from my Christmas tag extravaganza - that reminded me of the colours or elements of the Felicity Jane original. I also included a pocket page kit that I found from Studio Calico that had a lot of the same colours - I thought it might be useful if I did some of my Project Life.

Lots of small labels, word stickers, stars in a matching colour, circles die cut from papers with the same tones, a bunch of washi tape in blacks, greys and golds and two sets of Shimelle stamps from the last two years of Christmas kits. Even if I don't make Christmas pages, there are plenty of words and elements in the sets which could be used - I need to remind myself to get stamping more often.

The black and white puffy elements also reminded me of the Felicity Jane kit.

All in all, it's an interesting kit to start the year and I hope I get to make some pages in the days to come. You never know, I might even have a go at forging one or two of the items in the inspiration kit  ;-) 

Thanks for joining me today. Here's the full blog hop list so do make sure you hop along to see everyone's take on the kits. There's always so much inspiration to be found in how each of us interpreted the original kit for our own style! 

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog: http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

Guest Designer Meagan Johnson: http://www.thepracticalscrapper.com/

Cindy: http://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/

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

Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/
Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/
Lori: https://loriannie670.blogspot.com/

Laura: https://www.instagram.com/mrsp_scrapsandtea/

And as always, we love it when you share with us so don't be shy and connect as much as you can! 

You can join in via:

• the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog here and the link up page here
• the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook community here
• the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Instagram account here (find us @counterfeitkitchallenge and share with #counterfeitkitchallenge)