Believe In Good Things {Counterfeit Challenge Blog Hop}

If you're stopping by as part of the Counterfeit Kit blog-hop then 'Hello. Hi. Welcome.' If you haven't heard of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge then, oh my, you've been missing out! The idea is to create your own scrapbooking kits from stash, using some of the most popular kits available as inspiration. And, despite the fact that I've not yet spent a single penny, I've been creating with some fabulous combinations I would never have normally used; had access to mini-challenges all month long; and become part of a growing on-line community. Sounds good, right?

When I started scrapbooking, I often saved links to layouts that I loved and I would try to emulate those layouts when I sat down to scrap - only, I'd never really like them because they never seemed to measure up to the original! As I've become more confident in my own style, I've relied less and less on the idea of scraplifting - though I still love looking at other people's layouts - and I've started to love my own layouts, simply because they reflect who I am. I no longer feel as though my layouts have to look a certain way or they 'won't be good enough.'

So, I went back to my old layouts and chose one that I love - just because it was one that really feels like my own - and copied it. The colours might be a little different, but it's still bright and cheerful. And, since I've only used one piece of cardstock, plus scraps and a few embellishments (all the last few in their packets) it's the perfect use for all of those scraps we accumulate while using our kits!

Now, I'm off to the next stop on the blog-hop - Kathy-Jo - to check out what she's been creating, but if you'd like to make sure that you're not missing out you can head back to the beginning at the Counterfeit Kit Challange.

Inspiration Everywhere

Last week's Layout Challenge at The Studio Challenges was instantly inspiring. I knew exactly which photograph I wanted to use and it took mere minutes to pull together the right elements for the page because my Counterfeit Kits were ready and waiting.

I used my version of the Babbling Brook kit, plus a few embellishments that I pulled from my version of the Wildflower Kit - and look - a patterned paper background! Unbelievable! That's twice in a row! There was also an additional challenge to accompany the sketch of using a ruffle somewhere on your layout, so I made my own ruffled ribbon out of some cream satin and added it beneath my photograph. Then I clustered all of my embellishments together to form a focal point and to break the lines of the layout a little. I included one of my handmade rolled roses, some polymer clay leaves, one of roses from my original kit and a cabachon glued onto a chipboard button. Lots of extra used in such a small space. Loving it!

But, there was something missing. Just beneath the cluster of flowers there was a little space and every time I placed another flower there it just didn't look right. I was at a bit of a loss and put the layout to one side for a whole week before inspiration struck.

I'd headed back to The Counterfeit Kit Club and noticed the Inspired By Etsy Mini Challenge then and immediately went to search through my favourites. When I came across these beautiful Temple Lotus Hoops by Lala Design Studio, I knew I'd found the cutest, little addition to my layout. One dinky, pink glass teardrop bead and I finally had the perfect layout.

*happy sigh*

Missing In Action {A Little Interlude}

Deadlines. I thought I'd finished with deadlines the day I handed in my dissertation. But no, I have a major deadline next week and, although I'm unlikely to have to pull an all nighter and then do my printing on the morning of my deadline* - ahem - I currently look very much like this. Isn't this photograph fantastic? I'll be around over the weekend. See you then x

* Not something I'd recommend for those suffering from low or high blood pressure, panic attacks or...um...hangovers!

Hello. Hi. How Are You?

I'll be the first to admit that I've never really been much of a card maker, but I'm determined to use up some of my smaller scraps and conquer my fear of small (design) spaces by making some cards. So, in an attempt to make life easier for myself, I've been designing more mini cards.

These dinky, little cards have a canvas size smaller than an ATC, so filling up the space is a lot easier than when you're designing a traditionally sized card - especially when you have such beautiful stamps to hand.

The first card features one of the suitcase stamps from the A Girl & Her Adventures collection but once again I've used it almost as a background stamp and it's made a plain bit of card into an 'oh so pretty' piece of patterned paper and adds a shabby chic, vintage touch. A couple of stickers and embellishments later and I was done.

For the second, I simple stamped a quote from the delicious All About The Journey collection, added some scraps of paper and a hand rolled fabric rose. All done in less time than takes to make a cup of tea - and just as refreshing!

Two of the easiest cards I've ever made, yet easily two of my favourites. I'm sure my Make The Day Special stamps will be getting a little more use this weekend, as I play around with the big pile of scraps that's accumulated on my desk.

Make A Simple Necklace Tidy {Waste Not Wednesday}

I know that I've been neglecting my little blog for the past few months but spring has finally sprung; my mojo is back and there is light at the end of the 'huge piece of work that has been killing my social life' tunnel. So, at the weekend, I decided that a little spring clean of the craft room was in order and one of my first tasks was to come up with somewhere to put some of my finished jewellery.

As someone who likes to design her own stuff, I'm often a little short on space to keep all of the necklaces and bracelets that I make and I absolutely hate it when they get tangled after being thrown in a drawer or jewellery box. I knew that I really needed somewhere to hang them, so I rummaged around in my stash until I found a piece of binder from an old diary and then pulled down a piece of artwork that usually hangs above my desk. The result is a cute, but ever so simple, solution.

Now make your own version using my (almost) completely redundant how-to. You all know how to punch holes, right?

You'll Need

Artwork - My little tongue in cheek beauty came from the 31 Experiment almost two years ago. It's still there and downloadable but if it doesn't float your boat try Feed Your Soul for similar, free art work.
Binder - from an old diary or photo album.
Cardstock - in whatever size you have handy.
Hole punch or crop-o-dile.
Drawing pins or ribbon.
Pencil.

1. Print your graphic onto your cardstock. (I'm easing you in gently.)

2. Line up your binder with the base of the cardstock. If the binder isn't long enough to cover the base completely either center it or cut it into two and line up against the edges. Whatever works best for you.

3. An old page or cover from the diary will help you line up the holes or you can mark the base of the cardstock where you will need to punch holes by marking it with pencil where the 'prongs' touch the page.

4. Punch holes. (Shocking that that came next, right?)

5. Pass the binder through the holes in your cardstock, making sure that you 'thread' the binder through the holes from front to back.

6. Use drawing pins or ribbon to hang and then stand back and admire your new jewellery hanger, made in a matter of minutes.

Such a simple project, but believe me it makes a huge difference to the tidiness of my craft room and, surprisingly, all of my guests have commented on how much they like the idea. There's lots of ways that you can personalise it with your choice of graphic or by embellishing with your scrapbooking stash.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. And, I'd love to know if you try this or any of my other Waste Not Wednesday projects. They're over there in the right hand side bar, in case you're wondering :)

Such Is Life When Lived {Flickr Favourites}

This is my first Flickr Favourites for quite some time and I'm looking forward to visiting Mitsy over at Artmind to find out what everyone else has in their flickr favourites this week. For me, a little collage of recent favourites, inspired by one of my favourite passages.

"I used to sit on the banks with a raft and watch the water roll lazily by. One day I pushed my raft into the shallows of the water and found the water moved swifter than I thought. My raft was actually a boat. Then, after some time, I rowed my little boat into deeper water. There were great storms, mighty winds, tremendous waves, and sometimes I felt so alone. But I have noticed my little rowboat is now a mighty ship manned by my friends and loved ones; and beautiful calm seas, warm sunny days, and nights filled with comfortable dreams always double after a storm. Now, I could never go back and sit on the bank. In fact, I search for deeper water. Such is life when lived." ~ B.D.Gulledge ~

1. Then, I'll sail the seas, 2. The Seven Seas of Ryde, 3. ..., 4. ...

The passage perfectly describes how I feel about my 'life lived' and how grateful I am for my 'crew' - my beautiful family and friends.

Bee-oo-tiful

Since putting together my counterfeit kits, I've been dying to work with my version of 'Wildflower'. It's no surprise that it was my favourite of the kits I put together - and in fact - when I've been visiting other counterfeiters, it's generally been my favourite of their kits too!

I started with one of the many photographs I took on a beautiful weekend. One I will never, ever forget. Since the memories of that weekend are so special, I decided to be really, really brave and pulled out my favourite piece of cardstock - Japanese Tea Garden from Basic Grey's Pheobe collection and used that as a base for my layout. I added in a page from an old children's books and a journalling sheet from My Mind's Eye, plus several partial sheets of patterned paper from my kit.

I distressed the edges of my cardstock using my craft knife and then blended some inks onto the book page to give it an aged, antiquey look. It's the first time I used my new distress inks and I'm so pleased with how they turned out - something actually worked!

I swapped out the large flower from my original kit and replaced it with a pink one, then combined it with a couple of handmade flowers from last month's kit. The one I hardly used. I also added in some leaves, some of fabric and some of polymer clay - both of which have been in my stash for quite some time.

Of course, I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist adding in embellishments once I started (which is why I tried not to act smug when visitors congratulated me on keeping my kit embellishments to a minimum!) But I think that the freedom to add in bits and pieces is what makes the whole process fun. Besides, it's all from stash, so it's all good.

Counterfeiting Calico

Here's the deal with my Counterfeit Kits. In January, I managed to put together a beautiful kit, which I didn't manage to use - at all. In February, I managed to put together another beautiful kit, which resulted in just one layout.

This month the team have counterfeited all five of this month's Studio Calico releases - and I'm wondering whether I'll manage more than putting them together. But, with the exception of the Mossy Knoll kit (which was just too dark) I had no trouble at all feeling enthusiastic about the colours, patterns and themes. I actually had to force myself to eat breakfast before running off to 'shop my stash'. So, I am hoping that this will be the month that I shake off the winter lethargy and find my crafting mojo!

Here's my four counterfeited kits, along with links to the original 'inspiration' kits.

I tackled the Sunny Clearing kit first because I knew that I would be able to use papers from my We Are Memory Keepers stack, 72 & Sunny. I didn't really need to add much, so I kept it simple with some co-ordinating ric rac and butterfly punches, along with some Buttons and Thickers from American Crafts.

Next, I took on the challenge of counterfeiting the main kit Into The Woods. Again, I pulled quite a lot of the papers from 72 & Sunny, added in some American Crafts and pulled together some co-ordinating cardstock. There's also a partial sheet of Love, Elsie stickers, Thickers, labels, dimensional butterfly stickers, a chipboard frame, wooden star and some butterfly ribbon.

Moving on, I chose to work on the Babbling Brook kit next. At first I thought that I might not be able to find matching colours or patterns in my stash, but I decided to work with the circular theme or the kit and pulled out some more 72 & Sunny (the stack that keeps on going) and some polka dot papers from American Crafts, before adding in a Jenni Bowlin paper which - somehow - works really well. There's also some Papermania cardstock alphas, sticky labels, chipboard embellishments and some pretty, flower trim.

Flagging a little by this point I moved onto the last of the kits, Wildflower. It's so much more feminine and much, much softer than the other kits, but it's turned out to be my favourite and I can't believe it's the only original kit that's still available.

In my counterfeit kit is a very special Basic Grey paper that I've hoarded for far too long, several sheets of patterned paper of unknown origin and some additional, partial sheets of Basic Grey. To complete the vintage feel I've added some pages from Enid Blyton's 'Hedgerow Tales'. The alphas are, of course, American Crafts - I am in no way affiliated with them, just in case you were beginning to wonder! There's also some pretty laces which I've added to an old ribbon card and a sheet of chipboard buttons from Crate Paper's Sweet Branch range.

Now, just in case you're wondering the beautiful rose cabochons and the pretty, lace flower are both from....Primark. Check out the accessories aisles and you'll be able to pick these up for just a pound or two. It's my secret source of scrapbooking products!

So, now that I've shared all my secrets and sources, do let me know what you think of the kits I've put together. I've had so much fun and I'm beginning to wish someone would pay me to do this for a living.