Wednesday Wonderland #1

So, in the spirit of shaking things up and copying (I'm such a copy cat!) a lot of what is going on in blogland, and especially being inspired by Pam, I bring you *Wednesday Wonderland* where I hope to share my weekly Christmas card making adventures.

I have already posted one card this year but let's make this week the first official week, and I know there will be missing Wednesdays but I'm going to put myself out there and aim for 35 Wonderland posts before the end of November. My target card pile number this year is 75 compared to 60 last year because I managed to create 70 and still ran out (need to cut down the list! ha ha) so it would be nice to really be over what I need and maybe ease off a bit next year.

Of course, I'm not just making Christmas cards from my own creative inspiration. Naturally I'm playing along with the delightfully delectable girls over at Jingle Belles. This will be my 3rd year joining in and if you haven't been over there, you really should. Lauren and Steffi are so talented and produce just the most beautiful creations - you can't help but be inspired.

The prompt for this week was to be inspired by this gorgeous image.

Isn't it just gorgeous. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and cosy and ready to snuggle up under a blanket with a hot chocolate?

So I started off just fishing out all the whites, reds, creams and anything else which seemed to say Scandinavia to me and got going.

It was good to use oversized felt deer which I hadn't really known what to do with. The cards are a bit large for the sensitive-to-size German postal system so they will have to be hand delivered but that's ok if I mostly concentrate on the smaller sizes.

I found this mirrored reindeer hanging around and didn't think it needed anything else.

and it really is quite a good mirror as you can see

This is the last of these ready-made snowflakes which were salvaged from shop bought cards which were too large to post reasonably. Again, good to see it used up and finished off.

This whole card-making malarky doesn't come easily to me but I'm happy with this little collection!

Too early for you to make Christmas cards?

ps. This is a message to Michele of "Michele's Scrapy Creations". You won my giveaway but I haven't heard from you! Please get in touch with me by the end of the weekend (3rd February). If I don't hear from you, I will pick another name out of the hat. 

Catching up and plans for change

I haven't posted all that much recently (here recently means the last 4 months!) and again, this doesn't mean I haven't been scrapping. There's a whole lot of paper cutting going on in the background, I've just been bad at sharing.

I've been marginally better at Whimsical Musings where I've managed to create and post about 80% of the weeks (tut tut!) and I started LOAD1012 but rushed off to the UK in the middle of the month to meet my new niece so couldn't finish.

Which means a lot of layouts which have been made but not posted. Now don't worry, I'm not going to share them all. But I have managed to finish off a couple of older CKC kits and thought I would show you a few of those finished projects.

One of the things I love most about my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits is that the layouts that get made from them are often really different from each other. I often don't remember that they came from the same kit when I browse through them. I think this might be because I always have several unfinished kits on the go at any time and from layout to layout, I change the kit to use. Going back to unfinished kits means that the papers often get combined in new ways and I might add in one or two little things (such as twine or cardstock) which gives them a new look.

This also means that I get to enjoy my kits a long time, I don't get bored with them (well mostly anyway), and I'm not limiting myself to a certain set of supplies for a lengthy period of time.

However, there's the right time to call a kit finished and today was that day for my very old kit, Packing, from September. So here are a few layouts from that kit...

This was for Whimsical Musings #55 (inspired by summer memories)

This layout is for Whimsical Musings #73 (inspired by orgnisation) but also for WM#63 (inspired by random sets of photos) and using Creative Scrappers sketch #244

Packing produced only 7 layouts which is on the low side. In the past, I was happy with 6 layouts but with my newer style, I've been getting nearer 10. But somehow, I looked into the box this morning and decided that its time was over. I've tucked all the leftovers back into the rest of my stash and that means I've just three kits left on my shelf. And it's time to make up the new month's kit. I fell in love with it and I hope you will too. Make sure you come back on the 1st to see how I get on!

In the meantime, I'm trying to come up with some new ideas for the blog. I've been inspired by Pam who has set up a few creative series on set days of the month and I love that idea! What would you like to see here on my blog? Any ideas for me?

I'll try and post some layouts from other kits soon but in the meantime, happy Saturday!

The Counterfeit Kit Challenge participant blog hop!

Welcome, welcome. Glad you are here :-)

I hope you've been hopping though the whole list (it's a glorious, long list this time around) and I'm here to round it off. You should have arrived via Tammie but if you've landed here directly, I suggest you start at the beginning (Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog here) and grab a cuppa  - there's a whole lot of inspiration out there!

The theme of this blog hop is the prompt posted on the CKC site back at the beginning of the month. They challenged us to make a layout using three patterned papers, three embellishments and a three word title.

Mmmm, not so easy I thought. But I gave it a go and it was so much easier than I thought it would be. Double sided paper helped but to be honest I only used those B-sides for a few of the paper embellishments. Limiting myself made me get a bit more creative than usual and love the result. My January kit, Renew is making me so happy. Bright colours and fun patterns proving to be the perfect antidote to the January miseries!

The three patterned papers are:

Echo Park Everyday Eclectic Doily Multi and Chevron Woodgrain and Bo Bunny Vicki B Loverley.

And my three embellishments are washi tape (love this super narrow diagonal stripe), an American Crafts flair badge from Craft Fair Sew Cool and a couple of stickers from October Afternoon Ducks in a Row.

I know, it looks more! But that's because I filled the page with all sorts of little bits and pieces!

Not only did I complete the CKC Challenge #1, but also the January Page Maps sketch that was featured on the Counterfeit blog...

... and also Whimsical Musings prompt #63 to use a random collection of photos. I'd printed these out before Christmas to do this challenge so it was nice to see them down on a layout.

WEll, thanks for stopping by and please leave me a comment to let me know you were here. Next on the hop is the delightful Andrea so be sure to head over there and say hello - one talented lady :-)

Here is the full list of hoppers if you'd like to go back over their wonderful projects or in case you get lost along the way!

Jemma   http://just-jimjams.blogspot.uk/
Lesley G  http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk/
Lucinda  http://www.scrapbooksandcows.blogspot.com/
Shir  http://shir-benovich.blogspot.com/
Leslie  http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/
Julie H  http://spendlesscraftmore.blogspot.com.au
Kate  http://kateblue.blogspot.com/
Tricia  http://triciasimmons.blogspot.co.uk/
Lisa J  http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/
Julie J  http://jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com
Rebecca  http://howiburb.blogspot.com/
Tammie   http://www.lifeinterruptedthenscrapped.blogspot.com/
Lisa H  http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de/      you are here
Andrea   http://SnappingMonsters.blogspot.com   go here next!

And we have a winner...

... Bet you thought I'd forgotten my promise of a little giveaway when I revealed my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit at the beginning of the month.

I may be a little late, but I hadn't forgotten. In fact the number of comments that post got reminded me each time I checked my mail.

So... we had 30 comments and Random.org tells me that number 3 is the winner!

So "Michel's Scrappy Creations" - get in touch with me by mail (on the side bar right) and let me know your snail mail addy and I will get a little package of goodies in the post for you.

In the meantime, I'm making the most of the cold snow weather we are experiencing right now meaning I go out even less than before and I've been creating a little. I think I need some serious warming up of my scrap muscles as the following layout is "ok" but it was oh so much cooler in my head before I made it :-(

I used my December CKC mini page kit, Anticipation and think there's just one layout left in the limited supplies I had. Maybe this time I can remember that I had also chosen a Page Maps sketch I wanted to use.... My excuse is that there's a lot going on right now... ha ha!

CKC December page kit, Anticipate, #2

 

If only photographs could capture the sparkle of the lights (they were literally twinkling the whole time) and the delight I felt when seeing them...

Happy January everyone and Congrats to Michele!

Happy times playing with paper

It's been a long time since I was really able to just play around with paper even though I've managed an odd project or two. But yesterday I decided to leave the TV off and just see how it went.

Back in December, I posted my Counterfeit Kit Challenge December page kit, Anticipate and my good blog friend S kindly pointed out that I had, in fact, forgotten to post the page I talked about in the post. There was a good reason for that. I hadn't made it! I had fully intended to make a page from my kit but the time just ran away and it didn't happen and I forgot that I had written about it.

So that was on my list of layouts I wanted to make and my kit was looking a bit neglected. It also happened to coincide with Whimsical Musings prompt #72 - to use bling, confetti or glitter on our layouts.

A Christmas layout needs a bit of bling as far as I'm concerned so I decided to go overboard and include glitter splats, sequins, glimmer mist splodges and glimmer fabric too. Enough I think?!?

Anticipate page kit layout #1

I did cheat and add in a sheet of white cardstock but that just means that the cream cardstock in the original kit is still waiting to be used and I already have another photo printed out to use for the rest of the kit - I am feeling re-energised :-)

And if that wasn't enough, I had another idea for the Whimsical Musings prompt all about sequins themselves and so I went for it and just got going with a second layout for the same prompt. I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit, Renew and went with gems, glimmer mist, sequins and the story itself. Another piece in the puzzle of my story.  I love that side of this wonderful hobby of ours.

January kit, Renew #2

It's still early in the evening so you never know, I might even just get on with yet another one!

Happy to be Jingling again!

It's January and Christmas is over so what does that mean? It means that Christmas 2013 is just 50 weeks away and it's time to start making Christmas cards again! Ha ha! No really!

The wonderful Jingle Belles girls are back to challenge and inspire us to get card making all year long so that we have a wonderful pile of Christmas greetings ready to post when the crazy season rolls again - and we all know it will!

For the first prompt of the year they've asked us to show them what Santa left us in our stockings. He didn't bring me anything but I did treat myself to a few new things in the sales and decided it was a perfect time to get cutting. I tracked down an appealing sketch and got going!

Sketch courtesy of Got Sketch?

Just a simple card to kick off the season.

Let the fun begin. ;-)

Sugar sweet hearts

With the change in routine over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site, we've also changed the challenges around a bit and I'm here today to share what I've created for the 2nd prompt of the month.

All the challenges are now up earlier in the month to get you inspired to use up your kit so I hope what I'm sharing today will get your creative juices flowing!

We were asked to use cookie cutters either on or for our project. I decided to use a nested set I had forgotten I had as a template for a set of hearts to layer up and set the theme for the layout.

I really enjoyed making this bright coloured page at this gloomy time of the year (January is my least favourite month to be honest) and the hearts drove the way I wanted the layout to feel. The photo is a really recent one which felt good - it was nice to have a non-Christmas photo to use :-)

I have to confess to adding in the heart shaped doily but it was the perfect size and it seemed a shame not to really.

Now, will you create shapes with your cutters for a page? Use them as a stencil to mist a design? Or perhaps get even more crafty and create something inside your shapes - I've seen loads of ideas online but right now, I just wanted to get my hands on some scissors and paper.

A good start to the new crafty year.

Don't forget to share what you make and link up over at the CKC blog (here). And just to remind you that Paper Issues who created the inspiration kit this month (see her Etsy shop here) is not only  sponsoring the CKC this month by offering a $20.00 prize to one lucky Counterfeit linker at the end of the month but also offering a 20% discount to all CKC readers (make sure you check out the original kit post here for more details)

Another great reason, as if you needed one, to play along with us this month. :-)

Counterfeit Kit Challenge January kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to 2013!

Internet image (no original source found - sorry)

I've got my fingers crossed and have high hopes that this will be a good year. I've had a few rough ones recently ;-) so I think I've earned it!

So to all my blog readers, I wish you a most wonderful New Year and all the very best for all your dreams and wishes for the next 12 months.

It's the 1st of the month and this means a new routine round here. The Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop has now moved to today which means that you get no delay in all that kit inspiration. And we are kicking off the year with a new team full of some familiar faces (that would be me and a few others!) along with some talented new ones. So I really suggest you drop by every single one of us on the hop and check out all that new inspiration. There's a whole lot of scrumptiousness to soak up so don't miss out on any of it and if you've arrived here directly, I suggest you pop back to the Counterfeit blog (here) for the starting point. And if you've already been working through the list and are here via the very talented Libeeti, then don't run off to make your kit already. Stop a while and check out mine and the rest of the team. There's so much to share!

This month, we were given the most gorgeous after Christmas kit to forge - A Merry Winter December kit by Paper Issues over on Etsy. Yummy. I would have bought this kit if I'd seen it!

Such a lot of lovely colours and so many ways to use up the kit without it being ALL Christmas. I was really drawn to the pinks, the reds, the aquas and the sparkle.

I was sad to realise that I didn't have a single one of the Crate Christmas papers (now on my list!) so I had to start from the basics and build up from there.

First let me present my January fresh start 2013 kit, Renew...

As always, cardstock came first. Lots of white and kraft and then just two sheets of coloured card (it's getting harder and harder to use it on layouts these days).

Then I tried to pick out papers which either had the overriding colour, or a design feel of the original but without going the Christmas route. I found that my Echo Park, Everyday Eclectic had just the right amount of colour, geometric designs and playful feel to them for them to be the basis of the papers. Many of them were also double sided which gives such a great extension to the kit and makes it so much more versatile. As always, there's one or two really old ones in there hoping for an appearance on a real live page!

And the fun bit - the embellishments. I tried to match up the types of embellishments from the original, even if they look totally different - so pins, buttons, flowers, flairs, some veneer items, some kraft tags (rather than the banners), some frames that can be misted (rather than chipboard), ribbon, twine, bling mist, alphas and labels. I have a lot more of this stuff in my kit but you know how I love to load up the "pretty stuff"!

This is a perfect pick me up kit for the new year and I'm looking forward to breaking into it and getting going again after what feels like an age without any creating at all. Wish me luck to track down that mojo at the same time.

Here is the complete blog hop list in case you get lost along the way and off you go now down under to visit new forger Lisa J! Funny to have two Lisa's on the team now!! On a side note, I spent all my younger years being Lisa S rather than just Lisa and now I'm Lisa H instead - makes me smile!

You won't want to forget to leave me a comment to let me know you were here. You never know, it might be worth your while! *wink wink*

I'm feeling in a generous mood and would love to share a bit of love with you too. It's the perfect way to start the new year don't you think. :-)

Guest Designer: Madeleine Lopez http://senoritaml.wordpress.com/

Andrea  http://snappingmonsters.blogspot.com/  

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

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

Jennifer  http://www.jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/  

Julie  http://www.hisglorygirl.blogspot.com/  

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/  

Lisa H. http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/  ß you are here

Lisa J. http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/ ß go here next

Lynnette  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/  

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

So here's to a wonderful year full of fun, scrappy inspiration and wonderful counterfeiting friends!

Image found here

Happy kitting everyone.