Counterfeit Kit Challenge - Challenge #1 A Little Bird Told Me!

Challenge #1 this month was inspired by the cute bird patterned paper in the original inspiration kit.

It made me think of the expression "a little bird told me" and I decided that this would be the prompt!

You can see the blog post over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge here with the links to Julene and Alice's layouts and don't forget that we love it when you share using the Link-Up page on the blog, posting in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community  - or on Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge )

Now I suspect that I "might" have twisted the rules a teeny tiny bit but I know that you'll forgive me because it's all about the fun here and getting our stash used up! Am I right? And I "might" have interpreted the prompt a little loosely too! But I was so excited by my weekend experience that I just knew that I wanted to make this layout and found a way to sort of match it to the challenge. But being inspired by the challenge is the main thing too, right?

So here's my layout.

I made the title into something that was said to me rather than the story of the layout being told to me and added in a bit of red paper (scraps from the MME collection I used in my kit) and some mini-alphas. I know there's not a lot of decoration on this layout but I really wanted my die-cut to stand out and make it that star of the show - pun intended.

And if you ever get the change to do a silent walking disco - do it! You won't have so much fun for a long time! I recommend it and challenge you not to get your boogie on while you're walking along, no matter how self-conscious you feel in from of all the people watching the disco, wondering what you're all doing! So much fun.

Have a great day everyone and don't forget that there's still a lot going on over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge over the rest of the month - Killing the Kit #1 (15th), Challenge #2 (18th), Member showcase (24th) and we also have a surprise that I'm planning with our Guest Designer to appear at some point too - probably the 20th - which you won't want to miss.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit reveal blog hop

Wow, it's the new year already! Welcome back to another full year of crafting and creating and hopefully inspiring.

Today is 1st January and it's time for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit reveal blog hop.

There might be a few changes here and there over at CKC over the next month or so, but we thought we'd keep things as they are for January just so that we can get back into the swing of it!

Hopefully you're here via the ever wonderful Leslie and her Blue Box full of goodies (we missed her and her box while she was moving at the end of last year!) and next up is the effervescent Lynnette and I'm excited to see how she kicks off her kit-styling year! Of course, you must make sure you drop by our lovely Guest Designer, Cindy this month too. She's a faithful follower and I'm delighted she agreed to join us here at the beginning of 2017. I'm also so happy to see Clair and Stephanie back in the fold after needing some time out over the last few months. Welcome back ladies (although Clair snuck back again at the end of the year :-) )

Master Forger Julene picked out this month's kit courtesy of the Australian online store Shop'n'Crop and features Kaisercrafts Ubud Dreams collection.

A simply gorgeous selection of typical Kaisercrafts designs and colours.

However.... I've a little secret!

I've gone rogue this month.

Yes, I was "inspired" by the original kit, very much so in fact, but the end result is about as far from the inspiration kit as I've ever gone!

First of all, let me introduce you to Starman.

I knew I was going to need to be a little extra creative here because I don't have enough much mint or navy items in my stash. So I started off with a list of what the inspiration kit included:

Colours: navy, mint, black, white, grey, aqua
Designs: woodgrain, doilies, outlines, doors, Moorish tile designs, small repeating patterns
Elements to the kit: papers, die cuts, mist, veneers - all from single collection, piece of hessian

I started pulling papers and suddenly my eye fell on this Moonlight collection from Kesi'Art which of course, I'd HAD to have. And I thought, "Why not?" I'd make up a kit using a whole collection of product which I'd bought because I love so much but hadn't made a single cut in so far. The colours of many of the papers were similar and look at all those gorgeous small repeating patterns. And lots of black and white and words and stars and constellations and a moon! Oh my!

So here are the papers that match - more or less - the original kit. I have a handful of others in shades of pink and mustard which might make an appearance as well as I start to use the kit up.

And then I included the stickers from the collection instead of the die-cuts, mists and veneers to match the inspiration kit and which will support the theme of the papers. Going along with the fact that I always need a lot of embellishments, I also included a flair, some star sequins, three washis and some silver thread. Perfect.

Cut apart pocket cards are also a good substitute for the die-cuts and bring in a playful element with some added colour.

Of course, I needed alphas so I just picked a handful which seemed to match the colours of the Moonlight collection.

And instead of the hessian, I added in some twine - natural and cream. You can also see a close-up of the gorgeous sticker sheet too here. I love that some of this is in French.

And the name? Well it had to be Starman with the night sky inspired papers but also the fact that it's now 12 months since my musical hero David Bowie died. He was the ultimate Starman so it only seemed appropriate. I can feel some more Bowie pages coming - in fact, I think they will turn into a Bowie scrapbook album when I think about how many pages I've made so far. I'm still suffering from sadness at this loss. Scrapping pages about him is helping me work through my teenage-feeling emotions.

Thanks for coming by today and I hope you are inspired to make up your own kits from stash that your bought because you love it as much as I love this stash!

Next up is Lynnette but here's the full list incase you get lost along the way.

• Cindy https://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com
• Lesley: http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk
• Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
• Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de 
• Lynnette: http://www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com 
• Margie: http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com 
• Jemma: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk 
• Kelly: http://www.honeysucklehillcrafts.com 
• Julene: http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com/
• Clair: http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.co.uk/
• Stephanie: http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.com

If you'd like to join in, you can find information at the end of each CKC blog post about the Member blog hop. You can also link up your kits and creations at the Link-Up page on the blog.

See you there. 2017, here's to a great year of crafting!

February at Simple Scrapper #2

With LOAD keeping me busy this month, I've struggled to keep up with blogging over the last few weeks but just scraping in under the wire to share this second layout I made for Simple Scrapper this month.

I used a current story prompt to scrapbook a Pinterest quotation find. This photo has been sitting there for some time just waiting for the perfect moment to be used and I decided that another retrospective about my feeling regarding Bowie's death was the right time. I reflect on something I saw online when the news first appeared. It really did the rounds and summed up what so many were feeling at the time:

The design of the page was driven by a Simple Scrapper sketch. Each month, members receive a set of story prompts and a collection of sketches to help inspire their pages. This is a sketch that I had used before but I love it so much with those layers in the middle that I knew I wanted to go with it again.

 I used my May 2015 Counterfeit Kit Challenge Rejuvenate kit for this and I have to say that it might have been my favourite kit last year. The mix of pink, gold and aqua was just so good.

I love the way the sketch had all those layers tucked into different levels of the middle band. It gives a lot of dimension without the bulk.

To find out more about the many resources available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership.

February at Simple Scrapper #1

February at Simple Scrapper means a new set of gorgeous sketches/templates and inspirational Story Starters on the theme of "Quotables". 

My first layout is using one of the sketches featuring a 5x5" photo. I don't usually use such a large square photo so it was interesting to find out just how much I like it! I will be trying this bigger size again.

I chose a black & white photo I found online of my musical hero, David Bowie and matched it up with neutrals and basic prints which don't try to compete with the bold contrast of the photo.

My journalling is short and prompted by a story starter from some time back, "Right Now..."

Some of the embellishments are a little symbolic such as the music washi, the note clip and elements of gold as well as the cork stars.

With the combination of the sketch and the story starter, this layout came together so easily. This was the second of now four layouts I've made about Bowie since the shock of his death at the beginning of January. Scrapping thoughts such as this has been a very therapeutic activity and I'm happy that they will have a place in my albums.

Come back early next week for my second February Simple Scrapper layout. Can't wait to share with you.

To find out more about the resources available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership go here.

16 loves {January 2016}

Welcome to the next in the series {16 loves} for 2016.

For the last few years, I've been sharing my loves each month - a little bit of everything that has caught my eye or been enjoyed over the last month. So, a new year and new inspiration and I hope you'll come back each month to see if there is anything in my list for you too.  

To see what I've loved in the past, click to find all my {13 loves}, my {14 loves}, my {15 loves} and my {16 loves}.

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

one

Last month I posted about how excited we all were to meet "Peach". Well, just one day later, she arrived. Of course I dropped everything to go over to the UK to meet her and instantly fell in love.

two

Couldn't resist just one more photo of my beautiful niece. 

three

I'm so excited to see Shimelle's latest collection for American Crafts, Starshine. Such a beautiful colour palette and with all those stars, constellations and globes, this is one for me. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Shimelle's Starshine

four

This layout particularly caught my eye as a super way of making a highlight page about a journey.

Found on Pinterest but uses elements from The Lily Pad's In Review collection here 

five

Originally found on Pinterest, the link to Etsy doesn't appear to be working but these would be so fabulous to include in pocket pages, directly on 12x12's or even tucked inside cards. On my list to give them a try.

Original Pinterest link here

six

While this may not exactly be something that is inspiring me this month, I feel the need to recognise the loss of my musical hero, David Bowie. His music has accompanied me my whole life and I feel bereft. This is one of the last few official photos of him and I feel my {16 loves} wouldn't be complete without it. 

DavidBowie.com

seven

Continuing my hero worship theme, this version of Under Pressure by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury is one of the coolest things I've heard in a long time. Spine tingling, goose-bump inducing, hair raising, awesomeness. 

Under Pressure here

eight

I bought this album on the day of its release, 8th Jan, which was also David Bowie's birthday. It is fabulous and poignant. A bittersweet love for sure.

Backstair by David Bowie 2016

nine

Love the cosy look to this and the colour scheme. Still working on ideas round here.

Found here 

ten

The highlight of my Christmas holiday might just have been the 24 hours we spent at the Dutch coast at Noordwijk an Zee. Fresh sea air and a walk along the beach was just what I needed. 

eleven

I'm particularly in love with this gold washi tape. The glitter doesn't come off, it sticks nicely and is a great shade of gold. I got it at Scrapabilly.de!

Available at the Scrapabilly shop here

twelve

Exciting news to share! I made the Creative Team over at Simple Scrapper where I've been a member for several years and love everything that Jennifer Wilson does to offer her community an creative, encouraging, simple approach to recording our memories with pretty paper and embellishments.

Such an inspirational group of ladies over there and I'm simply (pun intended) thrilled to be included.

Find out more about the Simple Scrapper membership here

thirteen

I also made the new and expanded Scrapabilly Design Team! Another fabulously talented team of creatives over here in Germany and I'm so excited to start working with them.  

Creating for Sylvia since 2013 has been such a wonderful experience and her shop is simply an amazing treasure so I'm overjoyed to continue that relationship as well as getting every scrappy product I could possibly need from her shop! 

Go shopping at Scrapabilly here

fourteen

I found this on Pinterest and just love it - stars, constellations and a globe - strike. This card uses Stamping' Up products but I'm sure it would work just as well with other products. However, I'm very much in love with this card regardless!

Steffi Helmschrott at Stempelweise

fifteen

This young man is my amazing nephew who just turned 13. Wow! Where did the time go? I love him so much. So proud of the wonderful young man he's grown, and is still growing, into.

sixteen

I have no idea where I saved this quote from but it says it all. Me and tea. Sacred. Full stop.

Thanks for getting this far - 16 is a lot to get through but I'm going to see how it works with such a long list. I'm happy to be back with this though and hope there was something here to brighten up your January day.

I’d love you to share your own {16 loves} lists with me. Why not link up in the comments below?

{16 loves} is a series that will feature on my blog each 16th of the month