Counterfeit Kit Challenge May kit reveal blog hop

Great that you're here!

Hopefully you should have reached me via Leslie's blog and next up is Lynnette. If you've landed here direct, why not start back at the beginning - the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog - and hop all the way through so that you don't miss out on any of the inspiration. Of course, you really must also pop over to our GD Jane and say hello! We are thrilled to have her with us this month.

This month, Jemma was responsible for picking out this kit by Quirky kits. and I have to say, it's a great one! There's a main kit and two add-ons to choose from.

It's My Party by Quirky Kits

Shiny Happy People by Quirky Kits

You've Got the Love embellishments by Quirky Kits

I loved them all and decided to just incorporate elements from all three into my kit, Sprinkle.

I was lucky enough to have hoarded saved two pieces of the Echo Park bokeh print paper which matched the inspiration kit and I decided to build my kit from that. I added in the alpha sticker sheet and then found some matching papers. I didn't exactly follow my "rules" as I started with older papers and just kept adding in from there which I felt fulfilled my basic requirements overall.

I didn't have exactly the same items from the My Mind's Eye Market Street as the original, but chipboard and buttons from the collection are a perfect match all the same.

I added in several alphabets so that I have some choice. The plain white with the stripes will appear in my Forgeries on the Fourth!

I also forged the coloured veneers - come back on the fourth for those!

I just added in some bits and pieces to give me a feel of the original and am super satisfied with the result. Sprinkle will take me far I'm sure!

As mentioned, come back on the fourth to see my forgeries and then next weekend, I'll be part of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge inspiration weekend for (Inter)National Scrapbook Day.

Did you see the news over at the CKC blog? If not, you might want to check that out too. #justsayin'

Here's the full list in case you get lost along the way but I would suggest you check in at every stop to make sure you get the full inspiration. Go along to Lynnette now for her fabulous staged reveal!

Guest Designer: Jane at a little scrap... http://alittlescrap.blogspot.com
Jemma: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk
Julene:  http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com
Kelly: http://66.147.244.112/~honeysv0
Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de
Lynnette: http://www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
Margie: http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com
Susan: http://littlethingsbigdays.blogspot.com
Susanne: http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
Clair: http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.co.uk

10 years!

14th January 2006 was a very significant in the history of Lisa. This was the day (although it might have been a day or two either side of this!) when I stepped inside my first scrapbook shop on a visit home to the UK and caught a glimpse of my very first piece of BasicGrey paper. And I was lost. Forever.

It was at that moment that I knew I had discovered something that I would love and that I had been looking for for a long time without even knowing it!

I'd been reading about this thing called "scrapbooking" online for some time. I think first through Flylady and then just generally as I looked into it and tried to work out what it really "was". It took me about 6 months before I felt confident that I understood the concept enough to talk to my sister about it and her interest was piqued. So when I found a shop that stocked scrapbooking product - whatever that might be - near to Birmingham, I persuaded her to come along with me to check it out. We both nearly gasped when we saw the papers and embellishments. And I'm talking about a shop which had a teeny tiny selection of product! But we were in awe! Such pretty bits and pieces to cut up and use to decorate our photos. Sounded like fun. So I bought a few a lot of items and took them home with me. I had been in England that weekend for my nephew's third birthday and knew that these photos would be ideal for my very first scrapbook page.

I suspect that it took me some time to pluck up the courage and convince myself that I had everything I needed to jump right in and looking at the page, I think that these products are not the items I bought at that first shop. I probably convinced myself that I "needed" an eyelet setter and eyelets - remember how popular they were, back in the time?!? - and the papers and stickers were from a DCWV paper pack - no BasicGrey to be seen here for sure! And I remember ordering some books to tell me how to do it right! But sometime in January would have been that first paper cut...

So, do you want to see that first page?

A double page spread featuring various random, unconnected elements and a bit of a sticker sneeze. Badly printed photos and even themed Barney elements from the party invitation and bits I picked up while I was there - the journalling tucked away was probably something I'd seen in one of the books as was the matting and double matting! I remember being short of title elements/letters and being proud of my computer title work. It all looks so amateur to me now but I'm still so proud of it!

Later on, in the first six months or so of scrapping, there would be layouts made which have not stood the test of time as much as this one due to really awful design and execution - most likely in the bin by now. But even though there's a lot of amateur mistakes on this one, it's really not sooooo awful!

Just for fun, here is that awesome little boy right now! He's 13 and all grown up. And I still love making pages about him and he must get a lot of credit for putting up with his old Aunty Lisa needing hugs and photos.

And this is my most recent layout about him - the ten years have brought a lot to my scrapping, the design style I have, the relationship I have with my family and life in general. Mostly for the good I hope!

Now that I have my layouts in albums, I was easily able to identify and pull out two further layouts from those early weeks - how I love that! I'm not sure exactly when they were made but I'm guessing that they really were right at the very beginning. Maybe even the first handful of layouts.

I still adore Blitzen by BasicGrey and was so happy to make up this page using a sketch (new for me!) I found on the BG website. I remember spending so long on this getting the papers exactly as the sketch suggested and the overlap of the photos just so. And there's story there too. I recall my husband looking at this when I first made it and asking why I had made it - what about the big story stuff. And I told him that these were the memories that were precious to me. Soon after this, I discovered the world of scrap celebs such as Stacey J, Shimelle and Ali E and I knew that this was my home. Capturing the details of life that I wanted to remember as well as some of the more important events...

...such as my sister's wedding. We used to challenge each other back then and this was in response to me saying we should make a page about the other one. Look! There's a sheet of the very first scrap stuff I picked up back in that very first shop we went to, and fibres and rub-ons! And hidden journalling, and the metal charms that were so "in" back then. This page is so dated but I really really love it. Still!

The intervening 10 years and probably way more than 1,000 layouts have brought about a lot of changes to me, my life and of course, my scrap style. Scrapbooking has improved my life in so many ways including the wonderful friendships I've made with creative peeps around the world - both online and in real life. Real, deep, meaningful relationships that make my life happier. I can't imagine not scrapbooking even if I don't make as many pages as I did in the past.

And I'm still scrapping the little memories as well as the big events. And I'm still using and loving BasicGrey papers - even though I'm sad that their time in the paper crafting business appears to be over :-(

Long long long story short, I also wanted to share my most recent page with you today which uses my Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit, Rekindle and features elements of BasicGrey Infuse papers in what I like to think is a perfectly up-to-date, stylish way.

A big event recorded - a new baby in the family - which calls for an über-pretty page which mixes up old and new. Both papers and embellishments. Infuse papers were from 2007 and the DIY shop collection was new to me in November. 2015. There's brand new gold glitter washi alongside the vintage price tag which was included in a Bellboo kit way back in 2008. This is one of my creative goals for this year - loving and using the stash I have and bringing it together on pages which make me happy!

What are your creative goals this year? With January almost over, it's time to make sure our goals really do match what we can achieve. This layout has proved to me that I'm on the right way.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge July kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge July kit reveal. Hopefully you're here directly from our wonderful Guest Designer, Julie and next up is the ever delightful Lynnette with her creative kit staging - always a thrill! The full hop list is at the end of the post.

I'm even more excited than usual about the Counterfeit Kit Challenge reveal this month. Because? Well, this month, we were given the March Scrapabilly kit as inspiration featuring Kasier Craft Blue Bay papers. How exciting is that?!? I'm SO curious to see what the team create with my friend's awesome kit and am thrilled to be able to feature a little more of my one and only scrapbook store, Scrapabilly :-)

Here's the original kit - remember it? Check out those gorgeous aquas, greens, neutrals and greys. I loved it then and I still love it :-)

And a few detail shots!

Of course, I worked with the original kit back in March (you can see my original posts here and here) so this was a completely different experience than usual for me - interesting!

First up, why don't I show you my July kit - Redux

I didn't really know how to approach this kit because of the fact that it was a kit I'd actually had and worked through. But as luck would have it, as I was decluttering my room and sorting through stuff, I came across a well-loved but VERY old kit from our Bellaboo days when my sister had set up and was running the shop. This particular kit is from November 2008 and when she sold the shop in 2009, I bought a second kit because I loved it SO much! The first kit was pretty much finished and then the second one was broken into with a few layouts but the scraps and leftovers were all kept together because I really loved is SO much! And it struck me that the colours were very similar to the original inspiration Scrapabilly kit. I decided to build the kit around these leftovers.

What do you think? Not bad huh? There are two full sheets and a handful of scraps. By the way, the papers are Autumn Leaves! Anyone remember them? I used to LOVE their stuff. Ah, the good old days :-)

There were also a whole load of full sheets of cardstock in the kit bag so I put those into my kit too. I don't really use coloured cardstock anymore but let's see if I can get creative with using it up or even base a few layouts on the lighter shades.

Then I went though my scraps - in fact I went through ALL my scraps, decluttering along the way - and found a few leftovers from the original Scrapabilly kit and at the same time, pulled out anything which reminded me of the colours of the original. Again, all partial sheets and some scraps really are pretty small. There are some really old ones, such as the BG paper there in the middle, and some very up to date ones too. I really feel this collection of paper epitomises the original papers and works well as the base colours for my kit.

Then I had some of the original kit die cuts and cut apart elements left so I included those too. To fill up my die-cut selection - the original kit had half a full pack - I went through all the small bowls and collection points I had on my desk where I've been throwing in left over trinkets, dies etc and pulled out anything with a similar colour or feel to the original kit or my paper selection. There is a lot here! And one or two which are not quite the colour scheme (such as that pink heart) but that seemed to go with what had already been pulled out. There are elements from Dovecraft, BasicGrey, Crate, Pink Paislee and October Afternoon just to name a few.

I also went though any Cameo cuts I had left over from past kits and included a few here too - that teal glitter really matches the other colours I think.

The original inspiration kit had some twine so I included that and two other pieces of thread that had been in the original Bellaboo kit - not sure if I'll use them or not but the colours are great.

I found a few flair in my kit colours (including a Scrapabilly one in German!) to match the Scrapabilly exclusive flair in the original and instead of a selection of buttons, I've chosen a batch of decorative brads in designs and colours which fit my supplies. Washi tape was thrown in for good measure and because I don't use enough of it! The Scrapabilly kit had a metal arrow included and the original Bo Bunny papers includes a lot of doors and windows, so I interpreted those elements into a metal key embellishment. It's really heavy which is why I haven't used it up to now so I might have to see what to do with it.

So there you have it! A kit that includes elements from a whole range of other kits and which date back as far as 2008 right up to the present day. Now that's what I call a Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit!

What's the oldest element in your kit?

After letting me know you were here, don't forget to continue through the hop with Lynnette up next. And here's the full list in case you get lost. Link up any kits and creations over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog link up page and share the fun of the kitting world!

Guest Designer Julie https://jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com

Lisa:  http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

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

Margie:  http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com

Stephanie:  http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.com

Susanne:  http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

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

Julene:  http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com

Leslie:  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

And 21 months late

Yep, here's yet another unfinished - now finished - project left over from Libby's Bellaboo days!

We all celebrated Bellaboo's birthday back in September 2008 and Cleo came along for three, fun, very Cleo, classes - a layout, a wall canvas and a mini-book.  

True to form, the mini-book involved much complicated folding and of course, true to form, I did it wrong, needed to start again and ran out of time! And so it sat, and sat, and sat on my shelf until the weekend when I picked it out and left it in the way in order to encourage me to FINISH it!

I had all the photos printed - retro, teenage, 80s photos of me and my wonderfully, poster decorated bedroom and a whole load of album covers that sum up that era for me. 

I cut them all up and slapped them on. Wrote out some strip journalling and worked out where to put it, popped on a few embellies, squeezed a title on the cover and have called it quit! 

Now, I have just looked up my reference photos of Cleo's original book and of course, it's much more detailed and wonderful than mine! Bits and pieces, flowers and twirly bits as well as Dymo strips here and there (should have thought of that!!!). Really cool and much more interesting than mine. It's unlikely I will go back to the book and spruce it up a bit now that I have seen how cool the original was, but you never know....

In the meantime, I am calling it done. Another one off the shelf. Gold star for Lisa!

Oh, and by the way, I really was pretty cool in the 80's ;-)))

LOAD round-up

Yes, May is over and I did it.

I managed to complete a layout every single day throughout the month, even getting creative on the train to and from London and making the most of short periods during the day to think about what I wanted to do, or to pick out photos or papers.

I used up stash, only using what I had on hand (if you don't include new inks I got from Deb and some Thickers I picked up in the UK) and mostly used up photos that were lying around. I even delved into my photo holding binders (Library of Memories) for a few of the multi-photo layouts. And I managed to get almost up to date with my Dimensional Details class at BPS by Nic Howard along the way. All in all, not a bad month!

May 24th

** Inspired by the quote I saw on WCS the day before.

May 24th no. 2

** Was feeling really inspired to do a second one - using a photo I downloaded from the Berkeley Hotel website and part of my BPS class - design by Nic Howard

May 25th

** Using this fantastic photo of Isabella meant that this bonus design from my BPS class using the digital title element by Louise Williams was a doddle - I can't decide if this one or the previous one is my favourite one of the month - isn't she a beauty?

May 26th

** Prompt on why I scrapbook from LOAD, design inspired by Trina McClune as part of my BPS class

May 27th

** Challenge from the BPS class to use our favourite 5 products on one layout - mine here are kraft, BG papers, buttons, inks and thickers. Lifted my own design from earlier on in the week but general inspiration from the Nic Howard class

May 27th no. 2

** Another Nic Howard layout from her Dimensional Details class - this week was all about clustering - my favourite technique at the moment!

May 28th 

** Bonus assignment on my Nic Howard class with a design by Trina McClune - such a lot of work and effort with all those squares but I love the result!

May 29th

** LOAD prompt was "excess" - could only be one thing for me - Pink with a bit of bling thrown in for good measure. Another delightful photo of Isabella that I took back at Christmas and using a "vintage" Bellaboo kit from Libby's time. Such a pretty page kit.  

May 30th

** The daily LOAD prompt was vintage so how about a vintage building? One of my favourite buildings in Paris.

May 31st 

**The daily LOAD prompt was to use B&W. So I used my wonderful pile of finished layouts as inspiration for this colourful (but still a bit of B&W!) layout - I struggled with this!