February 2022 - Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit and reveal

 It's been a while. I know I say that a lot but I feel it's important to let you know that I know! I am trying to do better and as always at the beginning of the year, I have plans... wish me luck.

But I think you're not here to hear my platitudes and (seemingly empty) promises 😉. I hope you are here for the new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit and to see my interpretation of it. So let's get going.

Hopefully, you've reached me from Leslie and next up is Tara. This is such a fabulous kit that you know you're not going to want to miss a single stop on the hop so that you catch all the inspiration so make sure you say hi as you go along. And of course, say a special hello to our wonderful Guest Designer Gretl Dixon - who we are delighted to have with us in February.

Onto the inspiration.

Design Team member Misty is in charge of us all this month with her simply gorgeous selection of the February 2021 Cocoa Daisy kit Demin and Blush - and I have to say that I am in love. You can find more photos and details of the kit over at the Cocoa Daisy site here.

February 2021 Cocoa Daisy kit - Demin and Blush

I thought these planner papers were particularly gorgeous and they drove my choices more than the set you can see in the full kit above. 

February 2021 Cocoa Daisy kit Demin and Blush

I was recently recording a podcast (more details nearer the release date 😉) and I mentioned that the kitting process often identifies missing items in your stash and this month was no exception. I clearly need more blue toned papers. I was struggling a little and I love using blue - note to self to pick some up next time I'm over at Scrapabilly 😉

Anyway, let's not dawdle. I'd like to introduce you to Starstruck

I know what you're thinking... it seems to have wandered off the path of the original kit somewhat but I promise you, I can see the inspiration. 

These are the papers and I started off with the sheet top left by Paige Evans Bungalow Lane. I thought the pink was perfect and it is dark blue in the background. From there I grabbed a handful of Pinkfresh Studio papers (top line) from different collections to pick out the pinks, denim and then the mustard and green of the original kit. They are not perfect matches but I think I like the mix. 

Then I remembered my Studio Forty Lunar collection and as this has softer tones of pink and the colours of the night sky - aka blues - I thought this would also be a good fit. This collection is full of romance - the night sky, the sentiments and the whole dreamy feel of the collection. The whole bottom row of papers are from the collection. I agree that the two rows don't necessarily go together perfectly but I think I can make them work - and it's a LOAD month in February so I am in the whole Glue and Go modus which means making things work which I might not have done at other times!

Then I went to town with the embellishments adding in everything I had from the Lunar collection, including a set of stamps which are hardly touched as yet. I am challenging myself to learn to stamp more in 2022 so this should be interesting!

Some pocket cards, some expoxy stitckers along the night sky theme, a few washi tapes and an almost completed sheet of sparkly enamel dots by Paige Evans.

I wanted to include a set of alphas to give me a lot of choice so added some in different sizes and colours. I think I'm going to need more small stickers at some point but I will add them in as I need them. This looks like a good mix for a start.

And then my eye fell on the Heidi Swapp embellishments from the Carefree collection and something about it just made me throw it all in. There is definitely some blush/pink elements in there as well as some gold which I think is missing from the rest of my selection and even some blue shades. I'm not sure if I can get it to work with the other products in which case I might be short on embellies but I'm curious to see how I work with the kit!

I think this is going to be an interesting kit to use and at the moment, I'm not 100% sure of some of my choices but that's what so fabulous about a Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit - it's my kit and I can make changes to anything or even all of it if I want during the month. 

My kit, my rules 😉

So I hope you will join us this month and make up your own kit - we can take this challenge together!

Here's the full hop list in case you need it and don't forget to share your kits and creations over in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge FB community here or over on IG  - @counterfeitkitchallenge / #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2022

• Counterfeit Kit Challenge - https://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/
• Guest Design - Gretl Dixon - https://bearlitemedia.blogspot.com/
• Misty -  https://craftysoup.com/
• Cindy - https://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/
• Juliet - https://www.instagram.com/julesd/
• Leslie -  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/
• Lisa - http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com
• Tara - https://kryptonite72-rambles.blogspot.com/ 
• Tina - http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com/
• Tracey - http://3obsessions.blogspot.com/?m=1

February 2021 - Counterfeit Kit Challenge - At the Heart of It!

Back today with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge February challenge #1:

At the Heart of It!

As this month's layout is called Herzstück, which could be translated as "at the heart of something", I decided to challenge us all to record something or someone who is at the heart of it all in some way, or even just to make sure that we use lots of hearts on our layout. I managed to do both!

I'm in the middle of LOAD221 at the moment and decided to make it a "28 Days of Mabel" so of course, the topic of today's layout just had to be our puppy and how she is most definitely in the heart of our little family.

My heart-filled kit was perfect for this layout and I just went for a bunch of layers and a generous sprinkle of flowers, stickers and tiny bits and pieces. You might notice that the green paper in the background is strategically placed so that you only see flowers and the leafy wreath design. In reality, it's covered in gorgeous birds but they just didn't fit the theme of any of my layouts so I had to be clever to make sure you could see the beautiful paper but not necessarily the detail of the design - I'm crafty like that 😉

This is a photo from Christmas (along with my internet shy husband) and one of the few where you could see us all and Mabel wasn't just a blur of wriggling or trying to lick one or both of us! Maybe I should have written about that too - or perhaps that's a story for another layout with another Christmas photo!

(I have no idea why all my photos are turning out so badly right now!
The background is a nice, bright white in reality!) 

I had fun with the splats of ink and small embellishments. Sometimes I love just using up a bunch of small items in a sprinkled, spread out cluster. Gets those items off the plastic backing and onto pages which is what this is all about, isn't it? 

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog you'll find a whole bunch of layouts interpreting this prompt so make sure you check them all out. 

And if I've inspired you to make your own layout about someone or something at the heart of it, then make sure you share over in our Counterfeit Kit Challenge FB community here or over on Instagram here (@counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2021). We love to see what you do with your own kits 😍

August at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and mini-LOAD819

It's a new month and I'm going to try to get into a better routine of sharing my scrapbooking projects. I have plans!

I was quite productive in August - well compared to recent times - and made a total of 9 pages. Two for the Creative Team at Simple Scrapper and seven as part of the Scrap Happy mini-LOAD819.

Even though I didn't manage a layout every day - I skipped an evening in favour of a cocktail on the balcony which seemed a good call - I caught up the next day and completed 7 layouts in 7 days which still feels like a win for me.

While some of those LOAD layouts could also be counted for Whimsical Musings prompts (and don't forget my relaunch for that today over at the blog), I decided just to count them for the LOAD819 prompts. I was almost on prompt for most of the week too which wasn't bad for me.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'm going to share the mini-LOAD819 layouts in this post, 6 of which were made with my Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit, Macarons (you can find out all about that kit here).

It feels like a long time since I did a regular layout share so here goes (sorry that this is a long post):

LOAD819#1 / CKC Macarons #1

The LOAD prompt was about the learning experience and I just knew that I wanted to make a pretty page featuring my gorgeously lovely niece who is growing up to be a simply wonderful young lady.

I had included this sunburst paper in my kit and decided to go back to a favourite technique of sewing along the rays to give it some interest and texture. I used white and gold thread to change it up a little.

My kit was full of some more cutesy items and they seemed to fit on this page.

You can just see a hint of a pull out tab here where I included a screenshot of her first school report which of course, is glowing. I was so proud to read the lovely words her teacher had for her and thought it was perfect to match the theme of the page.

I raided my Shimelle sticker book for some stickers and elements to add some whimsical elements to decorate different corners of the page.

LOAD819#2 / CKC Macarons #2

This prompt was about school timetables. I discovered that I really only have a handful of random school shots, most of which I'm not even in, so I need to get very creative about how to scrap the few school stories I want to tell. When I saw this photo it struck me as unusual to have me sitting there with my homework spread out. I normally hung out in my room, not doing it if at all possible. That was the way I decided to go to tell a snippet of my ambiguous relationship with school.

I was drawn to the darker shades in my kit along with the star design and then just lightened it up a little to mat my photo. It was fun to pick out some elements from my kit that were totally different to layout #1 and show how versatile most kits are if you look at them in different ways.

I've actually changed this title slightly to replace the a and t for an @ symbol because I needed the a for another title! ha ha.

LOAD819#3 / CKC Macarons #3

The prompt here was about "recess" or lunchtime. I thought about writing about our "playroom" which was always an experience and not really much about "play" at all. But then I saw this photo that I'd taken back in 2011 when the school had a building anniversary that we were happy to attend. It helped me get some captures of corners of the school that are connected to some strong memories even they're not all positive.

Another example of how you can usually shop your kit for various motifs and colours to make each layout different from the last.

The story is a little bittersweet but I haven't concentrated on the negative side of it. Sometimes this is the way to tackle those more difficult stories - connect it to happier times, and just refer to it in passing rather than dwelling on the negative.

LOAD518#4 / CKC Macarons #4

I've shared this already (you can find it in my blog post here) as part of last month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge prompt #2 - What is summer to you?"

Obviously, this was definitely off-prompt for LOAD but it made me happy to get so many photos of a recent event onto a page so quickly.

LOAD819#5

The challenge today was to talk about school friends but I was inspired to make a layout about my "mint greet washi friend" (in-joke) online friend who has become a real life friend. This is the third time we've got together - London, Germany and Paris! That seemed to deserve a page. I recently acquired the Carta Bella Let's Travel collection which seemed perfect for some Paris pages and it's true. This is the second Paris layout I've made and it's got a bit of everything - pretty colours, nice designs, a hint of theme, interesting bits and pieces for embellishment.

I included the banner here and it reminded me how much I love making these thready loops to decorate the top of the banner tags. I have to remember to do that again soon.

I layered up that tag element at the bottom with four die cuts and lot of foam squares. Perfect for a dimensional corner of the page. 

LOAD819#6 / CKC Macarons #5 

The LOAD prompt was a visit to the Principal's office and it immediately made me think of waiting outside the Head Mistress's office, watching the lights with dread until I had to go in to face my fate.

I'm less pleased with this and have changed out the journalling block several times. I've decided to let it go now and leave it as it is. It uses another photo from 2011 but I'm glad to have found a way to connect it back to my time as a "naughty" teenager (I was nowhere near as bad as it sounds!)

I deliberately used blues and greens here to mirror the school uniform that we wore back then. It was fun to find different shades that could carry though that colour theme (dots and stickers) as well as that days of the week strip of paper which made me think about the school weekday routine.

I hate that photo but it's the only one I have so that's what I have to live with!

LOAD819#7 / CKC Macarons #6

The LOAD challenge was to create a page about after school. I immediately decided that I wanted to capture a story about arriving in France on day one of my new life to be faced with the reality of the day to day of adult life after school. Before I made this layout, I went to my albums to look at what other S of France stories I have only to find that I have about three. So there's definitely some catching up to do.

It's another one I'm completely happy with but I'm going to let it go and live with it without any tweaking. Sometimes, you just have to accept that not every layout is going to turn out as lovely as you'd like.

Some pretty elements and a couple of stickers from the Shimelle pack proved perfect decorations to "lighten" up the mood of the layout.

I wanted to write a lot so I knew I had to keep the embellies low key to give me that space on the background paper.

All in all, I'm relatively happy with the results. My Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit is well used and I now have a few more stories recorded. I'd love to achieve a full month of LOAD in October as part of the Scrap Happy membership - let's see how that works out for me.

I'll be back soon with my August projects for the Creative Team at Simple Scrapper.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge May member blog hop

Welcome to this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop.

I'm right at the end of the hop so hopefully you've reached me via Natalie but if not, why not pop back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to start at the beginning so you don't miss out on the fun.

As always, we are here today to share anything we've made with our kits - Challenges, Forgeries on the Fourth or in fact, anything new. Here are the challenges we have to choose from in May:

• Challenge #1: Quebec Kilo - feature Q or K
• Challenge #2: One of our Two Sketches
• Challenge #3: Escher Effects

I'm doing LOAD516 at the moment so I combined one of the prompts about what was making me happy or excited along with the CKC challenge #2 - sketch #1.

As usual, there was a bit of free interpretation of the sketch but I think you can see the original in there if you look close enough.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge May kit, Sprinkle #5

I see there's a little bit of stuff along that white cardstock edge - I'll have to erase that off. Can't imagine how I missed that.

I added in a little paper from my November 2015, Remembrance kit, which is still going strong

I misted these letters and then used my heat gun which gave it this really intense gold surface

While the photos were taken in March during my trip back "home" to the UK, I was totally excited to get to meet fellow Master Forgers Jemma and Lesley! We chatted and laughed and shared experiences over a delicious lunch and became real friends rather than "just" internet friends! That brings my tally to a grand total of FOUR MFs met in real life. Love that I've had that chance and later on in the summer, Julene and I also have plans to meet up here in Germany.

I also have these two layouts which I made using my May kit.

It's not a perfect photo as it was taken at night but I think you get the idea - Counterfeit Kit Challenge May kit, Sprinkle #2

I love these little veneer hearts so much - I could have used dozens!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge May kit, Sprinkle #4

Thanks for dropping by today. Here's the full hop list in case you get lost along the way.

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

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

Tina    http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Jane    http://alittlescrap.blogspot.com/

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

Elaine    http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk

Natalie    http://thebigdills.blogspot.com

Lisa    http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

16 loves {May 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. I hope you will come back each month to see if there is anything in my list to inspire you. 

To see what's inspired me 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

A gin & tonic is one of my go-to drinks on a Friday evening and we've been enjoying the fact that so many wonderful gins are available at the moment - gin, it would appear, is a bit of an on-trend drink right now. This was a new one for us and at 57% alcohol, you have to be respectful but it's delicious. Fragrant and a little floral. 

two

I'm always on the lookout for interesting travel layouts and so this one seen on Pinterest grabbed my attention right away. The use of the map in the background and then the position of the photos directly onto that map is a perfect way to record a day trip or a short weekend city break. I love it.

Found on Pinterest but originally posted over on Lynn Ghahary's blog here

three

HRH Queen Elizabeth II turned 90 on 21st April 2016 and I, alongside many others at home and around the world, celebrated. I'm so proud to be British at times like this.

four

And to mark the momentous occasion, we had a party! My mum came over and we had a celebratory afternoon tea party. Sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, coronation chicken, red, white and blue decorations and lashings of tea. It was a lot of fun and all the family enjoyed this little slice of Britishness right here in Germany.

five

Of course, no afternoon tea is complete without scones with strawberry jam and delicious clotted cream. My Delia Smith recipe never fails to hit the spot and these remain the best scones we've ever had! You can find the infamous recipe here.

six

Always on the lookout for cute map embellishments, these heart garlands are exactly my thing. Available on Etsy at PaperNotebook and very reasonably priced, us crafty girls could get busy with a paper punch or our Silhouette and run these up to match exactly what we needed.

Map heart garland available at PaperNotebook here

seven

April saw me try a month of selfies. I more or less managed it and some were better than others. I scrap a lot about myself so it's necessary for me to have a ready stock of pictures available to use as and when I need them. This one will be finding its way onto a page before long. Thank heavens for IG filters! I'll no doubt do this again one month as it was quite fun to see how to manage those "bad face" days!

eight

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge, there have been a few changes over the last two months. One is that I've taken over the main admin responsibility for the site and the whole team is now working together to select the kits to counterfeit and the challenges to use them up. There are also some new features popping up here and there which we are all finding very motivating! There's new energy over there which is great. For (Inter)National Scrapbook Day, we offered a whole range of Master Forgers'  favourites to inspire our readers. It was super to see the different directions we all took and I loved reading each entry. Even though it's over now, check out the posts starting here for a bunch of ideas!

nine

Still thrilled to receive my Scrapabilly DT kit each month. It's the best day when it's handed to me when I'm in the shop but it's even more exciting to receive it in the post!

ten

It's May which means it's LOAD516. This is the first month that Alice Boll is at the reigns of Scrap Happy for a LOAD month since she took it over from Lain Ehmann and she's doing an awesome job! The prompts are fun and thought provoking and there's been several extra challenges and spot prizes which is nice to shake things up a bit. I missed a day at the weekend but so far, have 18 layouts done for the month so it feels good considering I wasn't intending on trying for a full month. LOAD is one of the best scrappy times of the year.

eleven

Found this on Pinterest. It's calling me...

Pinterest source here

twelve

It was the Eurovision Song Contest at the weekend and the opening ceremony featured elaborate costumes made of paper. They were amazing. A paper crafter's dream inspiration. I tried to take some photos but this stock photo from the ESC site is better and gives you an idea of the incredible creations. Just goes to show that inspiration is everywhere!

thirteen

It's been a while since I posted a nail varnish in my ongoing love of beautiful nails (which I don't have!). This collection of greys by Essie is so beautiful, I'd love them all.

fourteen

Isn't this cute? A Pinterest find which I adore and would love to have a go at one day.

Pinterest source here / originally found on Design for Soul here

fifteen

This makes me want to embroider. I've had a go from time to time and lack the skill and patience but this is simply so beautiful, I might add it to my list again. Check out Mary Whelan Art to see embroidered pieces that will take your breath away...

Pinterest source here / Mary Whelan Art here

sixteen

Something every scrapbooker is aware of. Something I need to keep in mind during my constant battle with decluttering and downsizing.

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