West Kirby Marina

I found a little bit of time this weekend to do some scrapbooking. I've really missed playing with my pretty papers over the last few months, so it's lovely to be feeling inspired again. Thankfully, there's lots of inspiration around at the moment - I had some new (well, old really) photographs printed off recently which is always a big boost to my scrapbooking mojo and, of course, I've been playing along with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge. 

The paper's in my kit for this month are perfect for scrapping the blues, greys and browns of my spring-time photographs from last year and I'm hoping that they'll be just as useful in scrapping the rest! I seem to have a lot of kit left, but not a lot of month though - so we'll have to see if I can manage to squeeze in everything I have in mind.

I come back to this simple formula of strips and stitching, time and time again, because it works for me. It's minimalist, but it works especially well with my larger photographs. I've added in a little extra detail with some Cosmic Shimmer Mist and a selection of stamps from the Blossom Stacker Set by Unity and a word stamp from the Say Cheese Too Set by Lawn Fawn (both of which are available in the UK from Make The Day Special.) 

Do you have a scrapbooking formula? One that works for you when you're in a hurry, or when you need a kick start? I'd be interested to know - so that I can try it!

Such Happy Days

Prompted by one of the challenges in the Master's Forger's National Scrapbooking Day Blog-Hop, I started thinking about how I could make my own version of the Sassafras Collage Text Paper to include in my May Counterfeit Kit. 

Just a little bit of stash diving and I was ready to go! First I dug out some white cardstock, the remains of a chipboard alpha set, some spray inks, co-ordinating stamp inks and some of my trusty stamp sets. 

Using the chipboard alpha set as a stencil, I misted part of my cardstock with the spray inks. Once dry, I inked up some of my luscious stamps and used them to add additional colour and texture. Here you can see stamps from three Unity Store Kits - Quiet Essence, All About The Journey and Learning Year By Year, as well as Schoolhouse Backdrops by Lawn Fawn.

Although I've cut the final paper down to include it on my layout, I'll be keeping the extra bits to use in other projects - even on a smaller scale the misting and stamping make excellent backgrounds - so expect to see them making an appearance over the next few weeks. 

With such a colourful paper as the main focal point of the layout, I only needed a simple, but colourful background and a few, well chosen embellishments. To add a little bit of dimension, I've layered a tag, some cardstock from my scrap box and some ... um ... extra stamps.

Even I was a little shocked that I managed to include even more stamps, but those cute clouds and the sweet florals from Bon Voyage and Flutterby - both by Lawn Fawn - added just the right amount of whimsy. And I do like a bit of whimsy!

Blissful Botanicals Blog Hop

The Design Team for Make The Day Special have been busy trying to decide which of our many stamps sets are our favourites. Unable to choose, we've decided to celebrate some of our favourites by having a  little blog-hop each month which focuses on just one set. 

This month we're focusing on Blissful Botanicals - my own personal favourite!  I really do reach for the set every single time I sit down to make cards or scrapbook layouts!  

Here, I've simply stamped two different sizes of leaves from the set, along with one of the dinky, little flowers. I've also added one of the sentiments from the set to tie all of the colours together. The stamps lend themselves really well to this clean and simple style.

Team mate, Jenny, is next in line and I literally cannot wait to see what loveliness lies in store on her blog because she's unbelievably good at colouring and adapting her stamps. I just love her style! So, enjoy! x

Sew Pretty {Make The Day Special}

You might recognise one of the Spring Stashbusting Tags that I originally made with some of the littlest scraps from last October's Counterfeit Kit - truly the kit that never dies! I snuck it into my one of my latest counterfeit kits - Country Retreat - because the colours matched so well - and because I already had an idea of how I wanted to use it. Always a bonus!

I've added images from Lawn Fawn's Sew Lovely and Bannerific to make a cute, little tag that's perfect for any gift giving occasion. I'm a bit of a 'last minute wrapper' so I like to have these things hanging around.

Both of the stamp sets have been around for some time now, but I've been waiting ages to get my inky fingers on them - they were always sold out when I went to have a look. But they're both in stock now and just as delicious as when they were first released!

Once again, the best part of using Lawn Fawn stamps is how well the sets combine with each other - even across the collections. The alphabets and sentiments always fit easily into elements like the banners, clouds and tickets from other sets, making them extremely versatile. Cannot recommend them enough!

City Break & Country Retreat {May's Counterfeit Kits}

I have so missed putting together my kits for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge. Each month I've been looking at the kits the Master Forgers have put together, sighing wistfully, and wishing that I had the time to get into my craft room for a scrapping session. So with a long weekend ahead of me, and with the promise of Studio Calico Kits to counterfeit, I was determined to make the most of it!

I started with Studio Calico's Main Kit - City Of Lights - and tried, piece by piece, to match in a patterned paper with the right texture, colour or pattern. I stumbled a little on the Sassafras Collage Text, but I'm proud to say that with the prompting of Crystal's Challenge, I made my own background paper and included it in my kit for the month. More on that, later in the week!

Patterned Papers: Crate Paper - Peppermint Collection, Ski Lodge; American Crafts - The Classics, Ender; American Crafts - Hello Sunshine, Jovial; Sassafras - Mix & Mend, Fancy Free; Dear Lizzy - Spring, Lazy Ladybug;  American Crafts - Hello Sunshine, Sparkle and Echo Park - Victoria Gardens, Windchime. Cardstock:  Dark Grey, Petrol Blue, Sky Blue, Kraft, Butter Yellow and Cream. Alphas: American Crafts - Thickers, Fellow and My Mind's Eye - Out Of The Blue, Playful. Embellishments: Dear Lizzy - Perch Accents, Rub On Transfers; K & Co - Frames & Journalling Spots; Elle's Studio - Label and Crate Paper - Chipboard Button. Stamps: Inkadinkado - Lace Doilies Cling.

I kept feeling drawn to the photograph of the reverse sides from the City Of Lights Kit - a gorgeous mix of subtle ledgers with a few pops of colour. So, instead of counterfeiting the add-ons directly, I pulled together some extra patterned papers and then added in some embellishments inspired by the ones which caught my eye in each of the add-on kits. The two kits co-ordinate, so I'm sure that I'll be mixing and matching! 

Patterned Papers: October Afternoon - Five & Dime, Lemondrops; Sassafras - Sweetly Smitten, Penpals; Prima - Ledger; October Afternoon - Five & Dime, Rock Candy; My Mind's Eye - Out Of The Blue, Boy Spots; American Crafts - Peachy Keen, Jitter; Studio Calico - Autumn Press, Steamer Trunk and Echo Park - For The Record, Fabric Store. Alphas: Lily Bee Design - ABC Stickers; October Afternoon - Mini Market, Blue & Cream and Sassafras - Cardstock Stickers, Blue Linen. Embellishments: Floral Stencil; Handmade Label and Vintage Button. Stamps - Lawn Fawn - Bannerific; Lawn Fawn - Admit One and Unity - Quiet Essence. 

Now that my kits are put together, I'm looking forward to taking on some of the challenges that the Master Forgers issued during their National Scrapbooking Day Blog-Hop. Here's to playing with pretty paper!