Heard about The Great Master Forger Search? The Counterfeit Kit Challenge is having a Design Team Call and they chose a really fun way of testing out 'candidates' issuing us all a little summer quiz based on this month's Globetrotter Theme. Our choice of answers determined the elements of our 'kit to counterfeit' and my answers were: 1A (Basic Grey Second City Collection) 2C (Glitter) 3C (Ribbon) 4C (Cork) 5A (Sequins) 6C Stamped Embellishments and 7D (Pocket Page Cards.)
Starting with the Basic Grey Second City Collection, I was initially a little underwhelmed. The collection, which is full of strong, dark colours reminded me of Halloween, but I was determined to step out of my comfort zone a little and wrote a small list of elements to inspire me: Purple, Teal, Grey, Cream, Yellow, Orange, Stripes, Polka, Graphics; Frames; Flair Buttons, Cameras; Diecuts and Stickers. Then I went searching in my stash.
An Autumn Evening includes: Hot Air Balloons: Everyday Eclectic - Echo Park; Bookworm: Dewey Decimal - Lawn Fawn; Periodicals Dewey Decimal - Lawn Fawn; Autumn Splendor: Finally Fall - Bella Blvd; Wizard of Oz: The Classics - American Crafts; Cream Puff - Bazill Cardstock; 6 x Unknown Patterned Cardstock Sheets: Various Collections - American Crafts, We Are Memory Keepers & Prima; Foldies - Sassafras; Mini Market Letter Stickers: Blue & Cream - October Afternoon; Alphabet Stickers: Dewey Decimal - Lawn Fawn; Cardstock Letter Stickers: Musical - Sassafras; Frames: K & Co and We Are Memory Keepers; Assorted Stickers & Diecuts: American Crafts, Dear Lizzy and Echo Park; Calendar Pockets: Elle's Studio; Ribbon and Lace: John Lewis; Brads: Basic Gray and Papermania; Shipping Tags - WH Smith; Say Cheese Too Stamp Set: Lawn Fawn; Bannerific Stamp Set: Lawn Fawn; Bon Voyage Stamp Set: Lawn Fawn; To The Point Stamp Set: Avery Elle; 5th & Frolic Stamp Set: Dear Lizzy; Gold Glitter: Creative Crafts; Sequins and Assorted Embellishments.
When I came across the Periodicals Patterned Paper from Lawn Fawn, I realised that it included Teal, Cream, Yellow and Orange and looked a little like Logan Square from the Basic Grey Second City Collection (squint a bit, okay?) It also includes kraft/brown and a lovely, deep burgundy (so those colours are included in my kit instead of the purple and grey.) Finding a half sheet of Autumn Splendor from the Finally Fall Collection by Bella Blvd, then solidified the direction of my kit and I ended up with some beautiful cardstock choices that I know I will enjoy working with.
Moving on to the extras, I created a nice, neat little pile of stamped embellishments that are the perfect counterfeit for the stickers and die-cut shapes in the Basic Grey Second City Collection, by rummaging in my scraps for co-ordinating leftovers, then using some of my favourite stamp sets from Avery Elle, Lawn Fawn and Dear Lizzy. I included cameras, frames, arrows, banners, clouds, Polaroid frames, stars, sentiments and leaves - and will have a lot to choose from when I start scrapping!
I've also included a small pile of teeny, tiny bunting from the Bannerific Stamp Set by Lawn Fawn, with the intention of sewing up some more little banners (using my Pennant Banner Tutorial) in autumnal colours.
Then I went digging around in my stash and found some co-ordinating calendar pocket pages for September - November which are from 2013. I'm not sure how I'll use them, but I will! I also dug out some ribbon, lace, sequins and glitter, leaving me with only the cork to find. I have none in my stash - it's not something that I love the look of - so I knew that I would need to be a bit inventive.
Creating Cork Backgrounds In PicMonkey
2. Select 'Textures' from the far left-hand menu, then choose 'Boards'. Use the 'Rotate Arrows' at the top of the main screen to change the orientation of the image.
3. Choose the 'Cork' texture and use the sliders to change the depth of the colour.
4. Select 'Text' from the far left-hand menu, then choose a font from the list. PicMonkey automatically lists all of the fonts available on the PC in use - this means you can choose your favourites!
5. Click 'Add Text' at the top of the left-hand menu, then enter text into the text box that appears on screen. (I chose a quote from one of My Pinterest Boards.) You can then use the options available to change the alignment, size and colour of the text. (I moved mine to the top, so that I can fit a small photograph, or a little bit of ephemera, underneath.)
6. And, that's it. A customised printable, ready for use in any digital scrapbooking projects and easily printed for traditional scrapping.
I created a few, but this one is, by far, my favourite.
Lately, I've been exploring the textures and backgrounds available in PicMonkey and I've used them to create my own 'cork textured' cards for use with my Autumnal Evening Kit. Follow the instructions below to create your own.
1. Head to PicMonkey, then select hover over 'Design in main menu, then select 4x6. (You can alter the orientation later on or choose to resize the image to 3x4, but I like to start with this basic ratio.)
1. Head to PicMonkey, then select hover over 'Design in main menu, then select 4x6. (You can alter the orientation later on or choose to resize the image to 3x4, but I like to start with this basic ratio.)
2. Select 'Textures' from the far left-hand menu, then choose 'Boards'. Use the 'Rotate Arrows' at the top of the main screen to change the orientation of the image.
3. Choose the 'Cork' texture and use the sliders to change the depth of the colour.
4. Select 'Text' from the far left-hand menu, then choose a font from the list. PicMonkey automatically lists all of the fonts available on the PC in use - this means you can choose your favourites!
5. Click 'Add Text' at the top of the left-hand menu, then enter text into the text box that appears on screen. (I chose a quote from one of My Pinterest Boards.) You can then use the options available to change the alignment, size and colour of the text. (I moved mine to the top, so that I can fit a small photograph, or a little bit of ephemera, underneath.)
6. And, that's it. A customised printable, ready for use in any digital scrapbooking projects and easily printed for traditional scrapping.
I created a few, but this one is, by far, my favourite.
May You Live In Pinteresting Times!
For the challenge element of The Great Master Forger Search, I'm challenging everyone to create a project based on an inspiring image from Pinterest. But, here's the catch, it can't be from a board related to crafting! Instead, try to find some inspiration from a board relating to food, travel, decor or clothing. Be inspired by the colours, textures or elements of the image, instead of scraplifting a favourite layout!
I was inspired by the eclectic arrangement of the photo frames in this beautiful interior decor image and used three teeny photographs, along with some of the smaller elements and embellishments from my kit to create a layout about meeting my friend Mel for the first time - and the silly adventures that followed!
I would be thrilled to see any projects that you might create using this challenge as a starting point, so please do pop back and leave me a link if you make something.
Do also head on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge for more fun forgeries, challenges and the Challenge Member Blog Hop!
I was inspired by the eclectic arrangement of the photo frames in this beautiful interior decor image and used three teeny photographs, along with some of the smaller elements and embellishments from my kit to create a layout about meeting my friend Mel for the first time - and the silly adventures that followed!
I would be thrilled to see any projects that you might create using this challenge as a starting point, so please do pop back and leave me a link if you make something.
Do also head on over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge for more fun forgeries, challenges and the Challenge Member Blog Hop!
Love the little ticket and camera additions. Glad that you found a way to be inspired by the choices of colour and extras you had on offer in the challenge. And a handy little tutorial for customising too :)
ReplyDeleteLove the little cameras and the clouds are so cute. What a lovely colour combination and a fab tutorial might try that 1 xx
ReplyDeleteI love how you took the inspiration and made it work for you. And even without that "Halloween" vibe that you saw in the original kit, I can still see elements of it. Great tutorial and a super challenge - will be adding that to my list. I always forget to print and cut out elements to copy a die cut pack. Good luck with your entry :-)
ReplyDeleteOh we ended up with the same kit choice for the challenge :) How fun is that and mine doesn't look anything like yours :) You did a fantastic job pulling your kit together and I like the printed die cut pieces :) What a fun challenge you created too. I wish you luck :)
ReplyDeleteLove your wee banners. Great idea for cork background elements too - thanks!
ReplyDeleteLovely hearing how you arrived at your kit choices - I often have that wandering aspect to my final kit choices. I really liked your presentation & your forgeries were very fresh & appealing. The twist in your Pinterest challenge was also quite inspired. Thanks for your entry.
ReplyDeleteYour stamped embellishments are cute and clear.Your pinterest challenge is a great idea.Good luck with your entry.
ReplyDeleteWonderful kit, love the stamped embellishments! Good luck. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Clair for popping in and commenting on my blog! Yours is a superb entry, very well done, good luck! Thanks especially for the how to make your own cork printables part, I've only started with PicMonkey recently and had not looked at the textures at all yet. And yes, I too am very sad that SODAlicious is out of business. I was lucky to attend two workshops by the owners, Nulka and Jaszmurka, and they are the nicest and coolest teachers ever! We'll have to keep an eye on what future brings for these lovely ladies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments on my entry. LOVE your little stamped embellies and the colours in you kit are gorgeous. Isn't it funny just how different everybodys kits can be from the same inspiration. Good luck :D
ReplyDeleteI love your kit and your challenge is so cool, that inspiration image is rather gorgeous. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLoved your kit! The cork printable is so cool. Cute embellishments you stamped out. Great layout you created and I love the Pinterest challenge. Good luck!
ReplyDelete