Counterfeit Kit Challenge February Blog Hop

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge February Blog hop!!!

  Blog hopping is always fun. I love seeing everyone's blogs and the inspiration they have to offer. I will admit, I often end up getting distracted and find my way off the trail of the hop. If you are easily distracted like me or did not arrive here from Kim's blog, just pop back over to the Counterfeit Kit site so you can get back on the right path.

I have really enjoyed utilizing the kit I made this month. There is always such a good feeling when I see a completed page...knowing a page is done and stash is used. I love my stash but it sure can be a bit overwhelming as it slowly consumes my dining room. I have quite a collection after around a decade of scrapbooking. Which brings me to my subject today...collections. 
  Some people collect stamps or magnets. I collect and acquire scrapbook supplies. My son collects action figures. They usually have a science fiction theme. He started doing this at the tender age of 3. He is fascinated with all things alien. In the last few years, he has acquired an obsession for predators. One morning, he decided to photograph his collection. Off he went with my camera, posing and shooting photos of his beloved toys. I was, at first, a bit unsure of the photos. What would I do with them? Being 10, my son is not the world's best photographer( then again, neither am I). As I examined his work, I realized that some of them could be said to have interesting merit. I had wanted to document his collection, so why not use his photos...his perspective. So I discarded the blurry shots and cropped some of the photos. In a weird way, they seemed sort of artistic. Next came the daunting task of finding the right papers and embellishments to scrap about his love of the most ugly of alien toys.

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch # 241

I quickly realized that the colors I had in my kit were perfect...black ,green and pink. In the right tone, they sort of could be, well...alien colors. I chose to smear black paint onto the page, then added a black K and Co. border for some tone on tone texture. Staples seemed a perfect accent to harden the scroll work of the border. I cut apart a Making memories pink leather frame. The leather reminded me of the alien's armor. The clear pink paislee flower reminded me of the crystal stealth predator and his weapons.

Counterfeit Kit Scraps of Darkness Sketch

 Hand stitching added to the rough grunge feel. On page 2, I used some basic grey flourish stamps with white ink. They reminded me of alien plant life. To add a touch of pink to this page, I used another scrap of the leather frame. I also added Shimmerz Plum Pudding spritz to the flocked MME Lush paper. On both pages, I highlighted certain photos by raising them with 3-d adhesive. It was a fun way to document one of my son's collections.

Thank you for stopping by. It's time for you to hop on to Melissa's Blog.  If you haven't tried it, I hope you try making your own counterfeit kit in March.

Down by the Covered Bridge

I know I should not scrap every single photo I take...but there were so many wonderfully beautiful pictures of our trip to Vail,CO. Though these two were similar, I loved the serene beauty and could not resist including both on a page. My Son looks so cute and little near the covered bridge.

Sketchy Thursday 2-24-11 challenge
PageFrame Designs acrylic snowflake
Imagine That- Winter Fun paper
Pink Paislee Alphas in coconut

I had begun using this color scheme on another page from this trip, so I continued it here. I love how the deep blue looks against the forest inspired green. It felt perfect to capture our hike through the town.I used a border from a swap I was in. The embossed snowflakes in it's design were perfect for this page. My Sew Easy made it a snap to stitch the snowflake style border.

Just Us

The meaning of those two little words has changed so much over time. About ten years ago, it went from meaning just my husband and I to something more like "just we three" when my son came along. I like both, but I do want to share with my son what his parent's life was like when they first met. I don't have a lot of photos of that time period. The one I found for this page is one of those rare few.
   Of course, one of the first design elements that came to mind when making a page around this photo was "hearts." So I cut several of them out in a variety of colors from a Colorbok kit.3-D foam really made the hearts and title pop. Pink fruit punch stickers added a little zing to the Colorbok alpha punchouts in the title.

based on Scraphappy.org 15 minute page for December

The white Bazzill cardstock with embossed dots added some lovely texture to the page. I used my Martha Stewart punch across the bottom. I got out my trusty ruler and marker to pen a border, then added some hand stitching with my Sew Easy. Overall, it was a fast but fun page. I am working on page two which will be all journaling about the things we liked to do before having a child. Who knows...I might share it here with you(if it's not too mushy, that is). If you have a project centered around something or someone you love, please share it with us at Scrap Our Stash!

Without Photos

  One would think it might be hard to scrap without a photograph. It can be unless you have something to say. In a recent challenge from the Counterfeit Kit blogspot, I was asked to do that very thing...make a page without photos. I ended up making an introductory page  for my fall album. As some of you know, Fall is my absolutely favorite time of the year. While I have blogged about it, I had never scrapped about it. Well, until now, anyway.

Once again, a wayward glimmer mist popped into my kit. The richness of the kit I had made seemed perfect for Fall...if only there was a tad bit of orange in it. So my Tiger Lily glimmer mist found it's way onto my page. Quite honestly, I don't know if that's allowed in this challenge. Nevertheless, it was the perfect fit and I am happy with the page I completed.

One thing led to another, and I scrapped another page using the same color scheme and some of the paper from my kit.

LOAD scraplift of Melanie Louette's Sweet Spring LO

I scrapped some photos of things that represent the signs of Fall: my car turning a year older, holiday decor showing up in the stores and on soda cans, and the decorations my son and I make together. I really enjoyed making the title for this page. I embossed some more scrap pad cover pieces, painted them black and then hand cut the letters. I think I can foresee my texture Boutique working a little harder in the near future as this was such a wonderful and inexpensive way to create a unique title.

 More stash used. More photos scrapped. Now how perfect is that?!?! Now I am off to find more photos to scrap with this kit!

Add a little fur...

and this month's Counterfeit kit was purrfect! I truly love everything in the Counterfeit kit I made for the month of February. However, one of the reasons some of the things have sat in my stash is due to the fact that I had no clue how to use them. I admit, that I was stumped for a little bit...until I realized I could make these supplies work with photos of my sweet cat on one of her prissy days.

Sketch Inspiration #206

She is a steadfast companion and is often nearby while I scrapbook. Most days, she hangs out on a chair. On this particular day, she chose to get into my scrap basket. Keep in mind, she is not supposed to be on the table. She had been removed several times and deposited upon the chair or the floor...only to persistently hop back onto the table. I decided to snap these photos of her after she had defiantly crammed herself into the little basket.

sketch inspiration #207

I felt like the color palette of my kit lent a prissy, refined tone that these pages seemed to call for. I got the idea for the silver frames from the Counterfeit kit blog. Unfortunately, I did not have all of the same materials used in the recommended tutorials. So instead, I used a sizzix folder to emboss a piece of scrap pad cover. I then painted it silver with acrylic paint and inked the edges with Colorbox black ink. I think my version is quite passable and I love the texture it adds to the page. I also loved the ease of making a bling flourish with my i-rock and a Bazzill flourish  stitching template.

  Now that I was on a roll with my kit, I  pulled out some photos of my dog running around after a bath. After all...furry cuteness is a good thing. Admittedly, some of these shots were not the best. It's hard to get your dog to pose for photos when he's busy running around the house and rolling on the rugs. I took care of bad lighting in the shots by converting them to black and white. The movement in the photos was something I loved. The photo in which part of my dog is cut off only serves to emphasize it...at least in my opinion.

I will admit, I added an extra glimmer mist color to my kit. The moonlight blue just worked so well with the blue papers from the Bayberry cottage pad. I loved the way it looked splattered across the page. I used glossy accents on the hole punched circles to make my own mini pebbles. I also added some as droplets on the photo of my dog shaking.

I wish my camera better emphasized the blue of the papers in these pages.  It makes such a nice pop of color with the black and white papers.

  I am really enjoying using my kit. It's been so much fun rediscovering things in my stash and finding photos to use them with. I am really looking forward to using more and to making up a kit for March( WOW...it's almost here!). Stay tuned for more creations with my counterfeit kit...

Home Economics

  I don't know about you, but I never learned to cook in school. I have heard that some took such classes. Home economics in my school was all about sewing...which I never have done well(except for on a Layout). Anyhow, cooking is and important skill. I learned only a tiny bit from my mother and grandmother. The rest I learned on my own. I am no gourmet chef, but I can feed my family just fine. I didn't want for my son to one day go out in the world without the skills he would need to cook and care for himself. So I set out to make cooking part of our homeschool curriculum. I figure that he's there with me anyhow and I also admit that I really enjoy these moments with him in the kitchen.

Sketchy Thursday 2-17-11 sketch
Scrap Whispers Go Green Recycle challenge-bread tags

  On this particular day, my son had decided he wanted to cook a whole chicken. So we got out some rosemary and other spices and set to work. As you can see, he quite enjoyed the experience. Little Yellow Bicycle's Savor collection was the perfect line for this page. I have been saving bread tags and this was the perfect page to use them on. I added a little pen detail and a recollections sticker, then hung them on some Twinery Pea pod baker's twine. For a fun twist to the title, I substituted the Maya Road house motif for the "o" in the title.

  I chose to use scraps from the first page to create a second layout. Going with today's LOAD211 prompt, I kept it simple with 5 patterned papers, alphabet stickers and journal strips.

I am finding these  LOAD prompts fun and inspiring. It is wonderful to make quick, decisively made pages that I like the overall look of. Almost as wonderful as enjoying a meal I have made with my son.

Finding Inspiration on Ebay

This is my first year participating in LOAD211(aka Layout a Day 2011). The theme this year is to find inspiration. On our challenge for day two, we were asked to go onto eBay and to do a web search for our name(or the name of a loved one). Then choose something on page one that inspired you to make a page.It was something I never thought to try before. I honestly did not expect much to appear with my name in it. However, a variety of novels and DVD's appeared. I settled for the cover of an Agatha Christie DVD. I could envision it as a sketch for some of my photos.

Amer. Crafts Cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Snorkel papers
Colorbok arrow, Basic Grey Brads,
Colorbox Chestnut Roan Ink

It ended up being a simple yet satisfying page. I invite you to try it out if you are missing a little mojo in your life right now. If you do find some mojo and want to share your work, pop on over to Scrap Our Stash. We'd love to post it for Show and Tell Sundays.

Valentine's Day Blog Hop

 WELCOME!!!
 Valentines day is about more than just love and romance. It's also about friendship. In the spirit of friendship, I am very excited to share a variety of wonderful projects from my scrapbooking friends(from Club CK). I hope you will enjoy this blog hop as much as I. Should you get lost along the way or have not arrived here from Kathy's post, just pop on over to Amanda's Blog. She'll get you back on the right track...and if you follow everything in the right order, she has a grand prize in store for you.

Here are all the wonderful blogs you will be touring:
Candice
Gina
Linda
Becky
Andi
Adele
Janice
Kathy
Christy- you are here now
Briana- Your next stop!
Veronica
Traci
Holly
Cassie
Laurie
Jackie
Margie

WOW! That's a lot of inspiration!


Now...back to the subject of friendship. It's something everyone feels...even animals. I decided to share a page about my cat today. Her name fits her personality. She is indeed a sweet little girl. Sweetpea loves to cuddle and to share time with those she loves. In these photos, she had cuddled up next to our dog, Max.

Basic grey Max and Whiskers papers and Embellishments
Bic Mark it pen in Misty blue and Honey brown
Kaisercraft mini alphas
page is based on CK Magazine 15 minute Layout Nov./Dec. 2010 issue

It was important to me to document this page, but as many of us know... we have more pictures than time. I have lately been exploring the world of 15 minutes pages. I am still learning how to let go a little as I move on in my quest to make fast, simple pages with impact. I can do a page in about 30 minutes now.  I invite you to try one too. You might be surprised with your results.

Thank you so very much for stopping by. I hope you will check out the rest of the blog. Now it's time to go see Briana.

Our First Home

  I have had these photos for years. I guess they have been waiting for the perfect paper to scrap them with. At first, I was saving my Echo Park " Life is Good" papers for scrapbooking our current home. However, I reminded myself that new papers will come along shortly and I will inevitably want those...so therefore, use what I have now. Especially if what I have now inspires me.

  I have been working on a family album for my son( and for future generations). Documenting the view from our first home seemed a perfect fit for this album. I think it will be fun to compare these photos, taken around the time we moved in, to photo of the day we moved out. When I saw Gemiel's page, I knew it's layout was a perfect fit for these photos showing the view from our front yard.

Echo Park Life is Good papers and alphabet
glimmer mist in electric blue and viva pink
My Mind's Eye chipboard journal spots

I also shared the story of how we bought this house. Would you believe our down payment was just $10? The market was pretty hot at the time. If you saw a house, you made an offer. This house was the third home we had looked at on our first day out. We knew it was a good investment. It had been a model home and the builder wanted to sell quickly so they could move on to a new community. I did not have the checkbook with me and the agent needed some sort of down payment to hold the home. So we gave her my husband's lunch money. It was the only cash we had on hand, but it did the trick!

Now it's your turn! Share your stories and Pagerize this at Scrap Our Stash! OH...and if you are curious, here is our front yard:

The paper covers our address. Sometimes privacy is a good thing.;)

A little Fall of Rain

  The Sketches 4 all Valentines Day Blog hop will soon come to an end. Go here for the blog hop post.

  I love the rain. So does my son. If there is no thunder and lightening, we love nothing more than to walk out in it. The world feels bright, fresh, and all our own. During the Fall last year, my son posed the question " What do the ducks do when it rains?" And so to answer his question, I proposed we walk down to the pond to see. My son alternated between splashing in the puddles and catching the rain drops with his tongue. We did answer his question...ducks hide in the bushes or huddle together on the pond.

Sketchy Thursday 2-3-11 sketch
Sketches 4 all Love song challenge
LOAD day 8- use buttons

To commemorate this day, I wanted a bright, happy paper. I chose this blue argyle by Fancy pants because I loved the washed out watery feel with the bright colors. I fussy cut the little circle with words from another sheet of fancy pants. It conveys exactly the mood I wanted for the page. To save paper, I cut a rectangle from the center of the paper, then inked it with SEI ink blue and layered it on top of white cardstock. Now I have paper left over for page 2. I splashed glimmer mist in electric blue and sapphire onto the pages, then scattered foofala buttons to emphasize the splash effect. Glossy accents helped add dimension to some old creative memories stickers and recollections bracket stamps for the title.
   Speaking of titles, it's from Les Miserables. It's a love song, though I did not choose it because of that. I chose it because it was fall and it was raining...so I thought the title fit. After all...an inspiring title can come from anywhere.

Counterfeit kit: My take on February

If you are looking for the blog hop...just scroll right down...

 Who doesn't love kit clubs? I for one wish I had more money to subscribe to a whole bunch of them. However, with very little in the budget for that and having a large stash of supplies already, I simply can not justify buying more than the 1 subscription I already have to the Treasure Box Club. Recently, I found this little bog called the Counterfeit Kit Challenge. I thought this would be the perfect way to use up some of my stash and give myself the excitement of having a kit each month.
  I awaited the post for this months' kit to copy with great anticipation. I hope to use it for challenges and other things throughout the month.So without further ado...here is my kit for this month:

Main Kit:
Pink Paislee Bayberry cottage 6x6 pad
Pink Paislee apple Cider 12x12 PP
My Mind's Eye Lush 12x12 papers
Paper Pizazz Black Silver Floral foil
Artsylicious brads in Kohl
Pink Paislee House of 3 Parisian Anthology flair
Making Memories Sabrina trim
red and black ribbon-unknown
My Mind's Eye Lush ribbons
Making Memories tiny type black and white alphas
Prima flowers
K and Company decorative pins
My Mind's Eye lost and found Union square ticket
Jenni Bowlin Bingo cards

Add On:
Making Memories Sabrina vintage frames
Pink Paislee bayberry cottage brads
Pink Paislee Bayberyy cottage flip notes
Prima e line pearls
My Mind's eye lush red rhinestones
Prima say it in Crystals
Making Memories sabrina buttons

Color add on:
K and company border strips
Glimmer mist in viva pink and silver sugar
Shimmerz spritz in plum pudding
stickles in fruit punch and Christmas red
Shimmerz paint in Royal red

Sketches 4 All Valentine Blog hop

Welcome to the Sketches 4 All Valentine's Day blog hop. I am excited to be a part of such a fun and creative design team. There are so many wonderful challenges at Sketches 4 All. I do hope you will stop by to check it out if you are not yet a member.If you get lost along the way, please stop by Fia's blog to get on the right track.

Here is a list of the Blogs you will be touring today:
Stacy
Michelle
Erin
Christy- You are here now!
Isadory- next stop!
Melissa
Jessica
Khristen
Fia

The month of February focuses on love and friendship. I decided today to focus my project on something I love about my son...his imagination. He absolutely astounds me with the wonderful stories he comes up with.

I used Fancy pants paper to capture the whimsical feel that I wanted for this page. With matching ribbon, a little bit of bling...and I have a wonderful page to capture this intangible moment. I invite you to try to capture something intangible but important.

Meanwhile, don't forget to hop on to Isadory's page for more inspiration. Happy Hopping! And don't forget to count the hearts!

There is a lot more happening at the Sketches 4 All forum...many great RAK's to win including one from me in my challenge, should you choose to complete it. My challenge will post on the 8th. For an extra chance to win, become a follower here and tell me so when you post you project in the forum.

In the Sweet Sunshine

As some of you know, I am participating in LOAD211. Inspiration does abound everywhere... though sometimes it's presence is overwhelming. For this next day's prompt, I was asked to find inspiration in a song. It sounded easy enough. However...there are so many songs...so many choices. In my search, I came across a little challenge spot called Scrapping the Music. The song choice for this particular day was to scrap the tune "New Shoes." I am quite enamored with shoes. I am not enamored enough to scrap them right now. ( maybe I need to buy some some). Anyhow, as I perused the lyrics of the song, the lyrics" in the sweet sunshine" caught my attention. It seemed the perfect fit for the title to my summer album.

Club CK one hour  challenge page
Two Peas in a Bucket Sketch

    I decided to use the Two Pea's In A Bucket January Stretch your sketch. It worked perfectly with the photos of my son and husband's shadows. I love how I captured them holding hands.The red happy pattern of My Mind's Eye's Penny Lane reminded me of the sun and the Lush Flocked chipboard was the shadow. I dotted the eye with a random sunshine button from my stash. It was so nice to find a use for it. It had been hanging out in my stash for quite some time. Since I did not have the perfect mini alphas, I made my own with a pen and some scrap paper. I cut a cream border using the reverse side of the paper and layered red tulle across the top. Kraft paper toned down the bright burst of red.My new favorite pens(Bic Mark it's) came to the rescue: tuxedo black for hand stitching and rambunctious red to color a Maya Road chipboard accent. A few stick pins(salvaged from the packaging of my husband's new shirt) added the final touch. 

Two Blog hops coming soon!!!!

Do you love to hop? Blog hop, that is. If you do I am excited to say I am part of two wonderful hops coming to you soon!

Sketches 4 All has a Valentines day themed challenge. The prechallenge begins on the 4th with a blog hop on the 5th. So keep your eyes tuned to this blog for more info and inspiration!

I am also doing a blog hop with some fellow Club CK peeps on the 10th. There will be a ton of inspiration there as well. I hope to see you on both hops!!!