March Counterfeit Kit Projects

My March Counterfeit Kit has been languishing in it's box all month long. Not because I didn't like it - in fact I love it for it's bright happy colours, and my handmade embellishments! But March has been busy with illness and birthdays, and I had other crafty projects to make for deadlines, so my poor kit was feeling neglected.

Not anymore though! Over the last couple of days I've made a layout and a couple of cards, and I'm working on some more. So though it's taken me a while to get to it, I know I'm going to get a lot of use from it eventually!

Here's the layout - Moments:

I chose soft colours for this page about my Dad walking me down the aisle on my wedding day. I like the coral colour in the patterned papers - it's not quite so girly as pink but still has a romantic feel. 

I used the Pink Paislee 'moments' word for my title, though I still haven't completely decided whether to put another word before this so it says 'nervous moments' or 'sweet moments' or something like that - what do you think? I couldn't choose what other word to use as their were so many emotions going through me at the time!

There's a cluster of embellies below my journaling - I used the key to symbolise that my future was becoming 'unlocked', my fimo feather was the perfect colour, and I love the heart button which is pale but pearly. I stuck these all on with glossy accents:

I'm happy with the dreamy feel to the page!

Here are the cards I've finished so far...

Believe You're Awesome:

A pretty card to cheer up a friend. I heat embossed a chipboard butterfly with white embossing powder - thanks Sarah for lending it to me! And I added some little pink gems to the wings, so it looks nice and sparkly.

For You: 

I just had to use this cute owl on something! This card would make me smile so much if it came through my door - I just adore cute owl designs. Plus the yellow is so cheerful. I can't wait to send it out to someone! 

Can you see the little heart stamp? It's from the Maya Road 'You Are' Stamp set in my kit - I used it on my layout too. I am going to be using this heart all over the place - it stamps so clearly and is a sweet finishing touch!

Have you been making any projects that make you feel happy lately? x

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Counterfeit Kit March Challenge #2

The Counterfeit Kit March Challenge #2 is to mix at least 3 different patterned papers together, inspired by the designer Vera Bradley. I often mix patterns together on pages with a cardstock or plain background, so to really challenge myself I used a background paper with a bold pink chevron pattern...

Happy to be Together:

I made sure that some patterns were bold, some subtle, some big, and some small, so that the patterns didn't overwhelm my photo. 

I am pleased to have finally used this 'Happy to be Together' chipboard piece as my title - it's been in my stash for years and years:

And my Shrinkles bird looks good next to some layered up Prima flowers and Crate Paper Brad (I attached the bird using glossy accents):

I love how bright and busy this layout is, as it reminds me of that summer day. Though since I finished and photographed the layout I've remembered more details about the day - like how me and my daughter didn't like the food as she is picky and I was heavily pregnant... and how she didn't want to go home because there was a path-maze that she was walking round-and-round for ages... I need to fit some more journaling somewhere!

How about it - will you have a go at mixing lots of patterns on your next page? 

I'm off shoe shopping for the kids today... wish me luck! x

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Fimo Feathers and Paper Straws Tutorials

Good Day! Sorry this tutorials post was a bit delayed, but I went away this weekend to a crop (more details about that on another post this week), and I didn't manage to get this post finished before I left. So here it is now...

Here are the handmade embellishments that are part of my March Counterfeit Kit:

The 'stickers' and the little birds were quite easy, so I haven't got a tutorial for those - I'll just talk you through them at the end of this post. But first I have got two other tutorials for you - one for the feathers, made of Fimo modelling Clay, and a video tutorial for the paper straws!

Fimo Feathers:

Step 1: Soften a lump of white modelling clay (I used Fimo):

Step 2: Squeeze one end to be more pointed, and flatten the other end, so you have a shape a bit like a guitar:

Step 3: Elongate the flattened end, and pinch the pointy end together more. the pointy end should be about a quarter of the overall shape in length:

Step 4: Flatten the pointy end down too, so it now looks really pointy like a pencil. Shape the other end to have a soft point at the tip:

Step 5: Finish shaping and smoothing the clay until it looks like a feather:

Step 6: Bake or leave to dry according to manufacturer's instructions. Then use a fine paintbrush and some acrylic paint to paint a feathery blue line all around your feather:

Step 7: When the outline is dry, paint a line up the middle - you can add a 'hole' somewhere along the line to make it look a bit thicker:

Step 8: When the centre line is dry, you can then paint diagonal lines going from the centre to the edges of the feather, all the way along. If you make any of the lines too thick, you can leave it to dry and then paint back over them a little with white acrylic paint:

Step 9: When the paint is all dry use some strong, dries-clear glue to add a gem and a sequin to the bottom of the feather:

Done! My feathers are approx 3.5" long and ⅛" thick, and they weigh 6 grams. You could maybe make them a little thinner, but Fimo will get more brittle the thinner it gets, so don't make them too thin or they will snap. And make sure you attach them to your projects with strong glue!

Paper Straws:

I did a video tutorial for this one - it's only a minute long. The steps are:

Step 1: Take a square piece of paper and roll it from one corner to the opposite corner (with no adhesive).

Step 2: Unroll it and add adhesive to the two sides of the square that you were rolling towards.

Step 3: Roll it back up, and then snip off the two pointed ends.

Here's the video (you can view it HERE in You Tube to see it larger):

Quick and easy! Use a strong adhesive - I used removeable tape at first and the corner unrolled a little, so I tucked a bit of strong gluestick underneath and it's fine now. A permanent adhesive works better!

Happy Stickers:

For these I used a variety of stamps and inks. I chose images and words that matched the kit and then stamped them onto shapes, or stamped them onto paper and cut them out. The tag and label shapes were cut using my Slice design cutter.

For some of them I inked the edge, some I doodled a border on, and the tree I backed with card. Then I just stuck them all onto a piece of white card using blu-tack, so I can take them off and add adhesive when I want to use them!

Shrinkles Birdies:

These were simple too - I just coloured in a bird stamp using ProMarkers, and stamped it onto frosted Shinkles. Then I cut them out and shrunk them in the oven - they shrunk to about half the original size, so these little birds are just under an inch wide. They are so cute!

There we go! I hope one of my handmade embellishments has inspired you to add a little something handmade to your next project. Check back through the month to see how I'm using these on my layouts and cards!

x

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My March Counterfeit Kit - Blog Hop Reveal!

Hello and welcome to the reveal of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Design Team's Kits for March! You should have arrived here via Jemma at Just Jimjams, and your journey will take you onwards after you've taken a peek at my March kit!

(Edited to add: I mention below that the tutorials for the handmade embellies will be posted on the 2nd of March, but due to slight technical problems and slight me-running-out-of-time, the tutorials will be posted on the 4th of March instead. Sorry!)

This month we're counterfeiting the lovely Soda Shoppe Kit by Noel Mignon. Their kit was full of happy colours, feathers, flowers, owls, butterflies, bunting, and more! 

Here's my version:

I just love the eclectic assortment of bits and bobs in this kit, and the colours are so sweet - they make me think of ice-creams!

Here are my papers and alphas: 

12x12 Papers: Pebbles Walnut Grove 'Eliza Jane', Crate Paper Storyteller 'Chapter' and Fourteen 'Cupid', WRMK Madame Royale 'Elisabeth', Bo Bunny Love Bandit 'Birdie Die Cut', My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose 'Buddies', Echo Park Note To Self 'Arrows', Doddlebug Design 'Word 4 Word', Making Memories 'Die Cut Artisan Flower Patch', Echo Park For the Record 2 'Tailored Journaling Cards'.

6x6 Papers: Bazzill Basics Papers Wayfarer, Studio Calico Hey Day, Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee, Crate Paper Random, and Papermania Happy Days.

Alphas: 'Salutations - Pink' Fabric Thickers, Glitz 'White' Teeny Alphas, Making Memories Noteworthy 'Ava' Shimmer Alpha Stickers, Sassafras 'Slate' Cardstock Alphas.

Here are most of the embellishments (minus the handmade ones which can be seen below):

Embellishments: Bazzill Basics Papers Vintage Marketplace Stickers, Bella Bld Sunny Happy Skies Rainbow Block, WRMK Madame Royale Rub Ons, Capture the Magic Chipboard Owl, A Burst Die-Cut (unknown make), 7 Gypsies 'Evidence' Card, My Mind's Eye 'Miss Caroline - Dolled Up' Stamps, Maya Road 'You Are' Stamps, Marion Emberson Designs 'Lets Go a Bunting' Stamps, Dear Lizzy Roller Date Stamp, Pink Paislee Artisan Words 'Family', Freckled Fawn 'Yellow Airmail' and 'Heart Cloud' Washi Tapes, Heidi Swapp Trimmings 'Sunshine', Papermania Gems, My Mind's Eye 'Together' Enamel Dots (only peach ones left), My Mind's Eye Fine And Dandy 'True Blue' Chipboard Owls, Crate Paper Pretty Party Brads, Mister Huey 'Pretty Pink' Mist, Tattered Angels 'Firefly' Chalkboard Mist, Tags from Elle's Studio (Mostly 'Sweet Life'), A selection of pretty buttons from my stash, Some old Papermania Chipboards, Crate Paper Little Sprout Die Cuts, Some Chipboard Butterflies (brand unknown), Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee Chipboards (that came free with a magazine), Crate Paper Random and Paper Heart Chipboard, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline 'Dolled Up' Label Stickers, Prima Fairy Belle Flowers, Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Chipboard, My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose 'Delightful' Blue Trim.

Phew! What a lot of embellishments. But apparently I still didn't think I had enough, as I handmade some more!

Handmade Embellishments:   

There will be more details on these, including tutorials for the feathers and straws, posted here tomorrow (2nd 4th March instead - sorry for the delay).

 So what do you think? Just looking at this kit makes me feel happy. I am looking forward to using it on lots of pretty projects!

Now that you've seen my kit, it's time to hop along to Julie at His Glory Girl to see what kit she's put together. If you get lost at all, then here's the full hop list:

Guest Designer: Dawn: http://dawnsscrapbookcottage.blogspot.com/

Andrea http://snappingmonsters.blogspot.com/

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

Jemmahttp://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

You Are Here * Jennifer http://www.jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/ * You Are Here

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

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

Lisa H.http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Lisa J.http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/

Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back later today with another Blog Hop post, this time for the Paperhaus Magazine Spring Fling!

Happy March! x

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I'm a Night Owl - The Get-To-Know-You CKC Blog Hop

Hello! For a final blow-out for our February Counterfeit Kits, some of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Design Team are taking you on a hop to get to know us as individuals a little better! You should have arrived via the wonderful Jemma at Just Jimjams, and I'll send you onwards at the end of this post!

We've made some projects, inspired by one or two journaling sheets from the lovely Christie Zimmer at Grace is Overrated. I chose to use the 'anti-to-do-list' which you can find on Christie's blog HERE.

Here's mine all filled in (I added a bit of colour round the edges of mine with washi tape and stamps from my kit):

When reading over this and thinking of a project to make, what most jumped out at me was how much of a night owl I am. I was filling the sheet out at about 11pm at night, I still had lots to do, and my mind was buzzing with ideas. I was multi-tasking lots of things at once (watching tv, printing party invites, filling out this journal sheet, and about to start a stack of ironing). I don't often go to bed before midnight, as I'm most productive at night. So I documented this part-of-me on my layout.

I am a Night Owl not an Early Bird:

If you can't make out the journaling, it reads:

'Most evenings I will be up until mid-night. I have lots to do in the evenings...blog reading, dishes, ironing, crafting, watching tv. I'm usually doing at least two of these at once! If I try to go to sleep any earlier then I just lie awake for hours - things whirl around in my head. It's better if I feel I've achieved lots! And no matter how late it is when I go to bed, I always find a few minutes for a game of Bejewelled Blitz!'

The black chevron bit at the top right of the page, which looks like tape, was actually part of the Pink Paislee Portfolio paper. I just cut around the bottom half of it with a craft knife and slid my other sheet of paper underneath, so it looks like it's taped into place:

The cute owl is cut using my Slice Design cutter and the Fall/Back to School Design Card. I had fun building a little background for him using embellies in my kit:

So tell me, are you a night owl, an early bird, or somewhere in between? 

Now it's time for you to hop onwards to the fabulous Julie at His Glory Girl. If you get lost anywhere along the hop then here's the full list for you:

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

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

You Are Here * Jennifer http://www.jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/ *You Are Here

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

Lisa H. http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ 

Lisa J http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/

Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/ 

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

And don't forget that tomorrow is the reveal of the March Counterfeit Kits, so they'll be another Blog Hop for you to enjoy tomorrow morning! In fact, I'm also joining in with the Paperhaus Spring Fling Blog Hop tomorrow, so things will be busy here! See you then! x

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Cards for all!

I've been using up my February Counterfeit Kit by making some quick cards, for a variety of people or occasions:

I don't know who these are all destined for yet, but they'll go happily into my card box for when I need a card in a hurry! 

It make me feel good to have made a big dent in my kit too. I know I'm going to have some stickers and alphas left at the end of the month, but that's okay. Most of the papers should be gone! Do you ever make a batch of random cards just to plough through a bit of stash? x

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Red Arrows (A Counterfeit Kit Layout)

I had set aside this photo of the Red Arrows to use with my February Counterfeit Kit, because there was lots of blue in the photo, as well as in my kit. But when trying it out on the blue papers I realised there would be too much blue, and what it really needed was a strong contrast. So I was very pleased I'd stuck this bold red paper into my kit as well:

The design of this page is quite uncluttered for me, but I still managed to fit on a fair few embellishments - mainly lots of arrows! I hadn't noticed before how the red triangle button could look like an arrowhead, so it was perfect for this page! 

Everything is from my kit, except a gold ink pad used to stamp the star tab. The tab is attached to a photo that's tucked behind the journaling panel:

I love the photo even though it isn't the best quality picture, as my daughter had this expression on her face the whole time we were watching the Red Arrows - half astonishment and half confusion! She asked a lot of questions... 'How do they fly so fast? Why does their smoke change colour? Why are they so noisy? Where are they going?' These questions and some private journaling are documented on the back of the photo.

Have you ever seen a Red Arrows or similar airshow? This was the first time I'd seen them since I was a kid so I was thrilled by it too. We hope to go again this year, as it's a free event each year as part of Swanage Carnival, just down the road from us!

Have you been crafting lately? Don't forget to keep an eye on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog  for inspiration! x

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Wobbly Walking & Bouncing About

 I have been using my gigantic February Counterfeit Kit, honest! Here's a couple of layouts to prove it...

Wobbly Walker:

This one shows one of the first pictures I took of my son walking - with a helping hand or two. He looks so pleased with himself!

I had fun adding lots of sentiments to this page to capture the memories - to try and keep the day as fresh in my mind as it is now. I especially like the 'I treasure this moment' stamp by Elle's Studio, and the 'Happy Days' brad by Papermania:

My handmade journaling card was perfect to sum up the moment, and I like how the ombre effect creates a sense of movement:

The arrow at the top left is pointing to the number '1' because that's how old he was - I like this little extra detail that you might not notice on first glance.

Bouncing About:

This was the first time my kids bounced on a see-saw all by themselves! It was a cold day, but they had so much fun. It took me a while to think of a title for this one, but I settled on 'bouncing about, enjoying life', using mini alphas and an Elle's Studio 'Lil' Snippet':

My handmade vellum envelope was a great place to hide some extra journaling about all our trips to the play-park, and why this day was especially nice:

I'm glad scrapbooking helps me capture all these moments when they get on together, but I should probably do a page soon about all the fights they have too - I don't want the record of our lives to look too unrealistically perfect! They've had some dissagreements today, about whose turn it was with the ball, who gets the biggest snack, and who gets to sit on the wooden chair - to name just a few!

Do you document the imperfect moments too? Or you prefer to keep your albums happy and lovely?

I'm going to keep using my mammoth Counterfeit Kit, though it's going to be difficult to stick to it, as I've bought lots of new goodies from Elle's Studio and Glitz Designs, and they cannot be ignored...! x

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Oh How I Love To Read - A Challenge Mini-book

Challenge One is now live on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, and it's one that's a real challenge: to create a page or project with no photos, only journaling, about 'why I love ____ '.

I quite enjoyed this challenge! I always have lots of things I'd like to record, but because I don't have photos, they tend to get forgotten. For my project I ended up with a mini-book, as I was inspired by my theme 'Oh how I love to read' to use an old book to record my favourite novels in:

I'm going to show you how I put the book together, and then show you all the pages in case you wonder what my favourite books are (I warn you they are mostly Children and Young Adult Fantasy Novels)!

Here's the construction:

Step 1: Cut the front and back covers off an old book, using a craft knife and a steel ruler. I used a poetry book I picked up at a car boot sale for 20p, as I loved the yellow pattern!

Step 2: Cut a length of fabric approx 2.5" wide, and 3" longer than your covers (so there will be 1.5" to spare at each end). Use pinking scissors to stop the edges fraying.

Step 3: Use a hot glue gun to attach the fabric to your covers as a spine. Glue onto the outside of the covers first - make sure they are level, and leave a 1" gap in between them. Then fold up the top and bottom flaps onto the inside and glue them with hot glue too. Mark a pencil line 1.5" down from the top and 1.5" up from the bottom (I've added arrows to the photo as it was hard to see the pencil marks).

Step 4: Cut another strip of fabric that's 1" wide, and 1" less in length that the height of the book. Add hot glue above the top pencil line, and attach the top of this fabric strip. Then slide on a small book ring. Add more hot glue from below the book ring, to the next pencil line. Then slide on another book ring, and glue down the end of the strip. Done!

Now you just need to decorate the front cover:

I used all bits from my February Counterfeit kit. The doily flowers are punched from one of the 6x6 papers, using a Martha Stewart Vintage Doily punch.

I also used my kit for all the pages, cutting them to different sizes. I used the Echo Park sticker sheets, a bit of washi tape, and some misting with a wood arrow for a mask, for embellishments. The only extra pages are the front and back pages, which were original pages from the poetry book. I stuck two pages together to make them a bit stronger, and then used gesso to cover up the front of them for writing on:

I love my mini-book! I hope to keep adding to it, as I find or think of more books that I love. Hopefully one day my kids will look through it to see what books they might like to try! 

So, are you going to take up the challenge? If you need more inspiration there are more DT examples HERE. Or there's also the 'Progress' layout I made last month that had no photo! I'm going to try and do another 'no photo' layout for the member's blog hop later in the month, which you could be part of if you want to take up the challenge!

For those wondering, my sister didn't get a placement at a Camp America camp yesterday. We stood for 2 hours in the cold to queue up for the event, and by the time we got in all the positions had been snapped up by the people ahead of us! She can still apply online though, so fingers crossed. And we had a nice time in London, including dinner at Chiquitos, so it was a good day anyway! See my instagram photos in the right sidebar for some of the photos I took!

x

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