Monday, March 7, 2011

Counterfeiting and Catnip

  Catnip...who knows why a cat loves it so much?!?! I know my cats love it, but I sure hate the mess! We recently discovered the catnip ball. I love it almost as much as my cats do...almost. I captured these photos of my cat. She knew the catnip was in our suitcase for her, and once we gave it to her, she immediately commenced coveting her newest treasure. She rolled around with it, cuddled it, and then proceeded to lick it. It's messy, but not nearly as much as the sprinkle kind. So I foresee more of these in her future.

Scraphappy.org March 2011 Sketch
Submitted for Scrapfit's Workout#39

As far as the pages I created regarding Sweetpea's love of the catnip ball. Well, I used items from my counterfeit kit.I decided to use yellow cardstock. Yellow is my least liked and thus least used paper color. It however, seemed to beckon me as I checked my cardstock stash. It was the perfect base color, adding some bright flair to the earthy, catnip type tones I had chosen.
  You may recall a circle stamp in one of the Studio Calico add on kits. Well, sad to say it...but I don't own said circle stamp. I set out to find something in my collection to come close to it.The best option I came up with was to stamp circles. I don't have circle stamps...but I do have a collection of lids in varying sizes.

Three sizes worked best for the pattern I chose here. I used lids from my Oil of Olay eye cream tube, a water bottle and a hair spray bottle. I recommend keeping an eye out for usable lids in your home. There are some neat shapes out there...like the oval from my deodorant,or the oddly rounded squarish shape from my dog's food container, the flower shaped lid from my son's juice... I admit. I am a lid collector. I do recommend washing your lids thoroughly with soap and water before using them on your page. Or, if you are lazy like me ( I like to think of it as spending time on more creative endeavours), you can stick them in your dishwasher. The lids are great for stamping with paint or ink onto paper. In this case, I chose to paint onto the cardstock and then to use the lids to stamp brown circles onto the page.
Pencil Lines Sketch 228

I rather like the effect of these stamped circles. It adds a fun organic feel to the page and corresponds to the theme of a catnip ball. I wish my photo editing brought out the true yellow tone of the base Cardstock. I enjoyed using fussy cut flowers from the Crate Paper Season collection along with the matching chipboard accents, embellishments and stickers for a whimsical, feminine touch. Christmas red stickles added a little flair on both of the pages.

I really love my first two pages. However, I can't stop here...I have a ton of other items in my counterfeit kit to use up. Off I go...

19 comments:

  1. Great way to make do with what you have!

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  2. Great layouts. The lid stamping looks fantastic. What a smart idea. your cat is beautiful.
    TFS
    Ang

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  3. Calicos are my favorite cats. I was looking at the first page thinking that is a great stamp. I would love a fabulous stamp like that. When I read it was lids I was inspired. You might see lid stamping on my pages soon.

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  4. Lovely cat great to read about the ball and I love how you have altered the cs think I must now raid my cupboards for lids that is such a great idea

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  5. Awesome stamped circles! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. I love it. WAY to be resourceful! Great job!

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  7. I like how you made-do with things you had on hand. Great technique and fun layout.

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  8. Great layouts and I like your circle paper. Saving lids is a great idea. Now I am off on another hunt to find lids this time. :0)

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  9. Love the circle you painted...I also love how with the last pick you journaled around the paper. Have you tried putting the catnip ball in the tub. My cat loved that.

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  10. What a terrific page and great interpretation of the pencil lines sketch. Love how you used the circles - very clever

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  11. Great pages! Love the lid stamping!

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  12. I love your stamping!!! That is such a great idea!

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  13. What a fun way to make your circle papers! Love it!

    Bethany
    Counterfeit Kit Challenge

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  14. Wow! Love your stamped circles!

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  15. Oh, I do love those circles, very creative! My cats go crazy for catnip, too, almost too crazy.

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  16. Great way to recreate that stamp! Oh, and my cat loves the catnip ball too :)

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  17. Great idea for stamping circles! I really don't have many stamps and I find that I'm always wishing I had this or that.

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  18. Love both pages, especially the pencil lines one. That handmade background is so cool, such a fab idea :)
    Hannah :)

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  19. Fun technique, Christy! I love the finished project!

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