Flowers for the Fourth? July Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog hop

Welcome to the July Blog Hop for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge!   You should have arrived here from Angela's Blog. If you are lost or arrived here first by mistake, hop on over to The Counterfeit Kit's website to find the right path. I hope you enjoy all of the projects being shared!

If you had come to me last month and asked me which papers from my stash would be used to scrap our family Fourth of July memories, Floral prints would definitely not have been on the list. Yet here they are on this next page! I got the idea from the counterfeit kit club challenge.If you don't know what it is( though most likely you do if you are hopping along)... The idea is to scraplift a kit from a kit club using what you have in your stash. One of the kits I saw had a lot of blue and red  floral papers in them. Since flowers are not always easy to use on a page for boys, I felt this would be a great opportunity to use them. Oh...and would you believe there are travel themed items on the page too!?!? The journal spot and the tab sticker on the corner of the photo are from travel collections.

page maps sketch For Counterfeit Kit's 4th of July sketch challenge
starburst paper- Cosmo Cricket
all other papers Sassafrass
sassafrass border
Prima flowers
foof a la buttons
7 gypsies tab sticker and paper clip
Journal spot unknown( Maybe K and Co.)
Making Memories rub on alphas
hand made denim flowers
Basic grey Border sticker-cut apart

Originally, this was going to be a page about sparklers. However, I kept looking at this photo of my son and a sort of, deeper meaning manifested itself. He doesn't have the "trying too hard,sicky sweet smile" that he has had lately. It's the real him...just sweet and pure. So I journaled about that. The title for this page comes from a song by Bob Marley called "three little birds" which is the current challenge at Scrapping the Music.

  I did manage to make another page about the sparklers. We have not had any at the fourth for several years. So it was a nice treat for my son to have some and to share the fun with friends this year. Once again, the floral paper came through for me. I think it gives it sort of a vintage, yet warm feel to the page.

Sketch Inspiration #229
diamond Stickles
otherwise, everything use are scraps are from the above layout

I printed out my photos in wallet size. They were so nicely done on the photo paper, that I trimmed it down and used it as a collage style block. It was a HUGE time saver. My rub on alphas did not go on perfectly. I used a black marker to fix the letters as best I could. The "f" is still a little wiggly though.

 The next time you are feeling a little blue about not having the right themed papers in your stash, check out a kit club or the counterfeit Kit challenge. It just might give you some ideas to help you rethink how to use products you already own. Now it's time for you to hop on to Emily's Blog.

Wedding Day Sandcastle

    A few years ago, We were invited to attend a beach wedding. It was a lot of fun, though I will admit it felt very odd to attend a wedding dressed in a bathing suit and beach attire. My son thought it was awesome. He hates to dress up. The bride also made sure all of the kids who attended would receive a backpack of sand toys. The sand toys kept all of the kids( and my husband) occupied while we awaited for the wedding to start. It was a definite win-win scenario!
   I left my camera at home since the wedding was at a beach. I opted for some disposable waterproof cameras as I had no idea what we might encounter in regards to sand and water. When I began scrapping these pictures, I decided to try some of the 4x6 pocket sleeve style page protectors rather than the traditional 12x12. I had received a package of them for free with an album purchase.I figured this would be a great opportunity to use them since the photos were all standard 4x6 prints. I found there were a lot of pro's and cons to using these page protectors. You really need to plan where these will go in your album as the pockets are on both sides of the page protector. Using the photo sizes the pockets are intended for makes things a lot easier. I think If I had used one of the kits, like the simple stories line, which are designed for these types of page protectors, I would have had a much easier time. Once I got going though, it made for a quick and easy page.

Items from my July counterfeit kit:
Fancy Pants Paper and rub on's
Making Memories alphas
not from kit:
Jillibean soup twine
dmc floss
DCWV chipboard bird
Studio G stamp in white inke with clear embossing powder
Coredinations CS embossed with swiss dots folder and sanded
Colorbok CS
Maya Road Acrylic starfish coloured with eggplant and ginger alcohol inks

I did crop the 4x6 photos down. Not cropping them would have allowed me to just slip them in the pocket. I also chose a Pagemaps sketch, which meant it took a little more time and thought. For a faster page, I could have just decorated 4x6 cards and journal spots and slipped those in. On a positive note, I was able to use scraps for almost the entire page!

Shown above, are the backs of some of the 4x6 blocks. The white sections are the photos. You can also see how I covered page scraps that would otherwise have had gaps or sections missing with other pieces of paper layered over it.
 I could have left the tan paper and white clouds plain. However, embossing them gave just a tad more texture to the page. The sand coloured Coredinations cardstock was embossed with swiss dots using my texture boutique. I lightly sanded it to reveal the slightly darker core colour. I chose to use white ink in a cloud shaped stamp with clear embossing powder to add a subtle lining to the clouds. While these would have been just fine plain, this tone on tone embossing gives it a more finished look as does the hand stitching under the sand castle rub on.
 Now that I have the hang of working with these type page protectors, I will certainly consider using them more often. I think I will try some soon with one of the kits that are designed for these. Maybe then, I will find I like them even more than I do now.
 

Swim America

This month's Red, White and Blue challenge was the perfect motivation for me to scrap the photos of my son learning to swim. He participated in the Swim America program and finished up with it a little over a year ago. I've had the photos sitting, printed and grouped by theme begging for me to get them onto pages, but I was never sure of what paper to use. I had even bought swim team themed stickers quite some time ago when I knew he was going into the program. I realized that the small star print paper and borders in my little 6x6 kit of Pink Paislee's home town summer line would go swimmingly with the photos.

  I set to work, happily splattering sapphire glimmer mist onto the card stock.After fidgeting with the photos, I settled on a design. However, I was not happy at all with the team photo. My son seemed lost in the large group of children. I wanted some way to highlight him while still having him a part of the group. I chose to use a scrap piece of vellum. I used an craft knife to cut out a little window. It was a wonderful solution to my dilemma.

Please pardon the blurry photo and the covered faces, this was done for privacy
Pink Paislee border and Paper
Sapphire glimmer mist
 7 Gypsies number tags
Jolee's by you stickers-goggles
Making memories snaps
SEI Ink blue ink
Me and mY bug Ideas Stickers

I was very pleased to use up some older Making Memories silver snaps. I used my son's first ribbon as a part of the page while adding some of the sticker's I had been holding onto for so many years. In these photos, my son could not yet swim well, but they allowed him to participate with a coach as a spotter. he raced in the seahorse race(pool noodle) and a paddle board race.

  My second page started off with the best of intentions. When I was almost done, I realized I had a big problem. My photos were off-centre.

 I chose to draw attention away from that using markers and hand stitching. The off kilter squares sort of hide the off kilter photos and border. It may not be as noticeable here due to the lovely straightening feature of my photo editing software. ;)

  We'd love it if you shared some patriotic themed pages and projects with us here at Scrap Our Stash. With all of the wonderful events this month, I am sure you will have plenty of photo ops!

The Method Behind the Little Monsters

  I am in the process of training for a Marathon. It's not the kind you run. It's the kind you scrap. It's also known as the Mother LOAD. Over the next few weeks, we'll be training to scrap 26 pages over the course of 26 days. For those of you who don't know what LOAD stands for, it means LayOut A Day. Finding the time to make a scrapbook page every single day is quite the undertaking. I have completed two other LOAD's this year. During the first one, in February, I managed to create a page every day. For the second one, in May, I managed to make a lot of pages but did not get to scrap daily. I did learn a lot during both. The main thing being that letting go of perfection is fine. Just choose your photos and products and start scrapping. I have made a lot more pages since then. I find that I am loving more of my pages now that I have freed myself from making them perfect. After all, people are looking at your albums for the story, not your page composition.
 As part of the Mother Load, we were asked to go over our creative process. While creating pages this week, I realized that I have more than one process. I think this is a good thing, as it open me up to different means of inspiration. I thought I would share a couple of those creative methods with you today.
  The first page was inspired by an HTC phone ad that I saw while reading a magazine at the hair salon. It looked a lot like this one:    
                                                           
                                                     
So I snapped a photo of it on my smart phone. What I liked most about it was how the phone made the letter O in the center of You. I wanted to do something like it on a page.I actually held onto it for awhile until I came across the right photos. I ended up using a photo and hand stitching to create the O in Monster's.

SEI papers and sticker
Basic Grey alphas
paper trunk Black alphas
colorbox black ink

This was one of those photos that I had been unsure what to do with. Sometimes ideas or thoughts sort of stew around for a bit in my head.The same went for the paper( no clue how to use it), but once I got the idea for the title, the page came together. By sticking with the SEI kit, I was able to quickly select papers and stickers to go on the page. Paint has become a go to medium for me. I can always get the colour I need versus spending time searching for the perfect Cardstock. In this case, the paint helped tone down the busy pattern. I used to hang onto elements like the sticker because I felt they had to be used a certain way as they were intended. Now, I have no fear about altering them. In this case, it was designed to be about one person. I just chose to cross over the word "is" and write in the word "are" so that I could include all of the kids' names. I also made an error on this page. I wrote the date incorrectly. While I was able to wipe it off, it left a smudge. I decided I was ok with it, since the page was a bit messy anyway.
 Sometimes photos inspire me. Other times, I see a sketch and instantly know what photo to use with it. I tend to print off a bunch of photos and I have them in my albums in the order I want the finished pages to be in. When I saw the Sketchy Thursday 7-14-11 sketch, I knew at once which photo I wanted to scrap. I had a second little monster themed photo.

Sei papers and puffy black alphas
Cosmo Cricket tiny type alphas
dmc floss
white acrylic paint
Sassafrass chipboard number
Sketchy Thursday's 7-14-11 sketch

Having made the prior page, it was easy to find and use the same supplies. In fact, I often tuck scraps from the first completed page into the album right along with the other photos. Then they are right there when I am ready to work on page two. Having the sketch right there meant it was easy to pull the elements I wanted for the page from the scraps. The title took a little more thought. often on the second page, I will not include a title or will make a subtitle. In this case, the title is part of the journaling which reads " I could hear them giggling. So I peaked under the bed and 6 eyes stared back at me." The white paint helps anchor the photo on the page along with the shelf created by the scraps and stitching. A visual triangle has been created with the orange monster, orange writing in the journaling, and the orange strip of paper under the title.
  I have a few other creative methods that inspire me to work. Most of the time it's a photo. Sometimes, it's a new product or a kit I made from shopping my stash. What allows me the most time to scrap is the way I arrange my photos. I think that's something I shall have to photograph and share in another blog post.

Cool...Like a Fool in a Pool

  It's a fun title. The rhyming sing song chant of it sort of gest you amped up for a fun scrapbook page. It's one of the rub on titles from Fancy pant's beach bum line. It was perfect for these shots of my son and husband in the pool. My son was actually being quite the silly fool on this particular day. Apparently, it's quite fun to swim underneath a waterfall...which he then decided to do over and over again. I guess it's a kid thing. My favourite part about these photos is how my husband is always nearby and smiling. He's not one to pose for photos very often ( partly because I take too many photos). Quite truthfully, these are candid shots of him watching our son...which makes the shots all the more special to me.
  I went a little out of my comfort zone for this page. I chose to try some free collage software recommended by Club CK. It's called Photovisi.You just go to their website, pick a collage and add photos. Then you can move your photos around and edit it.After you are done editing, you save the collage to your computer and print.The only downside is that when you print your collage, there is a small watermark on one corner. I cleverly hid it with the ric rac trim and swimsuit style banner.

Making Memorie sabrina frames, cut and painted turquoise
dmc floss
twinery twine in carribbean
Fancy Pants paper and rub on
maya road Ric rac
Basic grey brads

The rub on and swimsuit trunks are from my July Counterfeit kit. I fussy cut those swim trunks from some of the fancy pants paper. The photo corners were my son's idea. I had scraplifted this page from Kathleen Summers ( see her page here- Fabulous 4th). Her page has photo corners. looking through my stash just did not reveal the right thing. I had this MM frame from the Sabrina collection and my son made the comment that it was a shame it wasn't blue. This gave me the great idea to paint it with turquoise acrylic paint. I cut it apart and did just that. It left enough pieces for use of my second, complimentary page.

We R Memory Keepers chipboard sign
Maya road chipboard brackets with yellow acrylic paint, gold pen, and diamond stickles
We R Memory keepers eyelets
ATD sticker
American crafts rub on alphas
basic grey brads

  This is a page of my own design. I placed the photos, in what seemed to me, a pattern that reminded me of the slide's shape. I also chose the road sign for that reason. I used scraps from the previous page with more fussy cut swimsuits. I wanted brackets to match the sign, so I painted them yellow and used gold pen.
  I can feel really good about these pages because I used up several things from my stash that, before now, I had no clue what to do with: the frame, bathing suit patterned paper, and the road sign. Combining the travel and beach theme in my counterfeit kit really helped me see these products in a new way.

* also submitted at Scrapfit for WWU#9

The Magic Mirror

  We all have those papers we don't know what to do with. It has been suggested that I should purge my stash and get rid of them. I find it hard to do. One reason being that I would hate to take the time to do that. It's time I could spend creating. The other reason being that it's sometimes those odd papers that end up being just the right thing. Take Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland papers. I won a pad last year. It's one of those papers that has a nice weight and quality but that frankly, is just not my normal style. I used some for a swap hoping for inspiration. I still had a lot left. So there it sat. Then last November, I found the perfect photos for using some of the paper up. Or rather, the opportunity to take photos that would compliment the paper arose.
  We were waiting in the kid's fitting room of a department store. The attendant had gone to get my son some more pants to try on. In the corner was this fun house mirror. As my son began making faces in it, I snatched my camera out of my purse and began snapping away( I never leave the house without lip gloss and the camera). All I could think of as I was taking the photos was the silly Alice in Wonderland paper. The layout was taking shape in my mind right there. I guess that's the sign of a true scrapbook addict. LOL
  The first page was made last December shortly after the photos were taken. I had 2 sheets of this tea party paper. I took one, cut out the center square and flipped it to reveal the pattern on the back. I used scraps of black card stock to help adhere it back together. By allowing some of the black card stock to peek out, I was able to roll it and tear it to create the look of a window.

Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland papers
flowers made with Pink Paislee Artisan tape and metal buttons
title cut on Cricut with CK Opa font
matchsticks with the heads cut off for Club CK challenge to use sticks

Some of the elements were fussy cut from other papers. I cut the heads off of matchsticks and glued cut embellishments to  them.
  Sometimes, I don't make the second page right away. If I am not making a traditional two page layout, I may save the photos for a later date. Sometimes I save them for a specific challenge or for when they inspire me again. I just completed page two this week.

pagemaps sketch
Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland papers
Basic Grey brown notebook paper and black brads
Making Memories button brads
Colorbox Chestnut roan ink
ribbon unknown
Little Yellow Bicycle tiny type alphas
Fancy pants brackets

I saw the song challenge for Scrap it with a song and I thought I could alter some of the lyrics to make a great subtitle for this page. This week's song is by the Police..." Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." I chose to use the subtitle of " It's magic" to fit in with the Alice and Wonderland theme of the page. Seeing this particular challenge had made me want to go back and complete page two. If you get in a rut, scrapping photos or challenges that you find interesting are often a great way to find your creative spark again.

My July Counterfeit Kit

  Seems like lately I have gotten around to making my kit a few days late. Seems like I also have had some issues getting the time to play with said kit. I know...it's not an unusual scrapper's lament. Life is busy and one can not spend all of their time cooped up with scrap book supplies making layouts. If we did, we'd have no photos to scrap. So, this first week of July has found me taking some time out for family. I have tons more photos and a new camera( I wore out another one. Part of me is sorry and part of me isn't. Dh says my cameras have a 3 year shelf life due to the high quantity of photos I shoot. Anyway...said new camera rocks! Thank you Dh for spoiling me!)
   I will say that I did not always look to my kit as the go to resource for scrappy supplies this last month. It's not my only stash and other papers just seemed the ticket for certain layouts. Why fight it, right? The goal is pages completed and in albums while fun making them is had. That happened...so all is well. I do think making these counterfeit kits has been a great way to teach me about coordinating supplies better. Anyway...enough chatting and on to the kit!
  July's counterfeit kit is right up my alley! There is a huge travel element to it. It seems, in looking through my stash, that I collect a lot of travel papers and embellies. I have 2 from kit clubs along with a travel stack and TWO( yes that's right!) of the making memories travel lines in their almost entirety.  I think I may have a problem. Either that or I am foreseeing some MAJOR travel plans in my future that as of yet I have no clue about. So it was very easy for me to make the travel add on. I think I shall start there rather than the main kit.

travel add on contents:
We R Memory Keepers travel light papers- travel log, all aboard,Mileage chart,direct flight
and passport stamp and 4x6 albums made easy pad
Basic Grey wander papers- tarmac and arrival
Best Creation  6x6 glitter papers-Travel Forever
Making Memories Panorama rub ons
7 Gypsies carte postal fold over stickers
Making memories die cut tag,canvas tag and sticker
unknown journal spot-postage bracket style
Basic Grey buttons
Maya road chipboard arrow
We R Memory keepers travel light  embossed tag and layered chipboard

I confess that the We R memory keepers items are from last month's Treasure box club kit. Maybe now I will use some of it.

  As for the main kit, as I composed it, I realized that beach themed papers are also something I collect. Maybe it's due to the fact that I am from a tropical climate. I guess I anticipate a lot of use of those papers. I still have some Fancy Pants rusted sun from last year along with the new beach bum collection. I am happy to say that the two go together well. You'll see them in my main kit and an add on.

Main kit contents:
We R Memory keepers embossed stickers and tag, travel tags
American crafts foam thickers-black
ATD Beach fun sticker pad
Sassafrass in Stiches blossoms in kelly green and kraft
Making Memories simply stated rub on alphas
crochet blue flower thing- from Ikea in the curtain section of the store
Maya Road chipboard airplane
Scenic Route garden grove labels
October Afternoon Road Map papers- Skyline Motor inn and Vacationer motel
Fancy Pants Beach bum- Boogy Board paper
Fancy Pants rusted sun papers- Indian summer,Pool party, Umbrella and suit up
Best creation Travel forever die cut  paper
Best creation Travel forever glitter paper- arrows
We R Memory keepers travel light- luggage lining paper
Basic Grey wander- road trip paper
Webster's pages paper- trend setter
Making Memories paper- passport collection
Fancy pants rusted sun ribbon and pom pom trim-yellow
Unknown polka dot strip of tape
Making Memories greenhouse paperie flowers and buttons

I did my best with matching the paper colours and style in the main kit.I did later find a sheet of the Fancy Pants Pool party in my stash. However, I was too lazy to retake the photo.

  When I made the Martha's Vineyard add on, I chose not to emulate the purple tones of the kit.It just was not going to work for me. So I chose to make an additional summer type kit in the hopes of maybe using up a bit more of that beach theme paper I have. 

Martha's Vineyard add on content:
Basic Grey Wander mini mono stickers-alphas
Fancy Pants Beach bum alphas
unknown ribbon
Fancy Pants Beach bum element stickers, rub ons and glitter cuts
Crystal stickers-blue gems
Fancy pants rusted sun papers- cards, sunrise and sunny day
Fancy pants Beach bum papers-  Hammock,sail, boardwalk, shells and Hawaiian stripes

I got the beach bum paper pack about a month ago and I have been very excited to find some photos to go with it. I hope I get some pages done with it this month!

  One of my favourite kits to counterfeit this month happened to be the Liberty Shores add on. Just when I thought I didn't have papers for fourth of July layouts, along came this kit to change my mind. I don't know why I never considered mixing any blue and red papers I had. This will be a wonderful way to use some floral papers in a non-traditional manner.

Liberty Shores add on contents:
Sassafrass Cherry sweet treats stickers
Cosmo cricket flour sack chipboard alphas
Prima e-line pearls and crystals in red
Basic grey basics trims
felt flower and star tag from swaps
Jenny Bowlin bingo card
My Mind's eye union square ticket
Webster's pages petite roses
K and Co. tranparencies
Sassafrass in stitches flowers
October afternoon modern homemaker papers- red plaid and small dot
Cosmo Cricket Sunday picnic and sunshine papers
Sassafrass papers- anthem/sing loud,sapphire/cherry delicious, Spring spring/cherry delicious
and feathered/life is beautiful

  I also made up a trims kit for the liberty add on. I have a lot of old jeans in too tattered a condition to donate. So I included a swatch here as a reminder to use some of that up.

red tulle. unkown ribbons, denim, and maya road ribbons

   By now, I know I have way more papers and embellishments than I can use in a month. It's nice to have options though. We'll see how much I can use this month. Hopefully more than last!

I want this thing off me...a Pagerize this challenge!

A very short time ago, we had a very sick cat. He had several surgeries and fought off severe infections and complications from kidney crystals. At one point, we thought we would lose him. In January, I got these photos of him trying to take the cone off of his head. It was one of those defining moments when I knew he'd be ok. Boo was back to being his clown self. He has since gained back all of the weight he lost and his personality is as playful as it ever was. When I saw Joni's page, I knew it would be perfect for this series of photos featuring Boo's attempt's at taking his cone off.

papers- We R memory keeper's Grandma's kitchen
DMC floss
Colorbox chestnut roan ink
Basic Grey alpha stickers and cat ctickers from max and Whiskers line
Making Memories Tiny type alphas in choc. and white
Bic marc it in woodsy brown

  I chose the papers for their fun, but cozy feel. I stitched under some of the title words to add some emphasis to them. The brown marker was an inexpensive and fast way to add a little detail and a more finished feel to the base paper. I used adhesive foam to add a little dimension to the paisley's.

  Now it's your turn to find the right photos and papers so that you can play along with the Scrap Our Stash Pagerize This challenge!

So Much Energy

  I wish I had it. My son and his friends all seem to have it. Energy, that is. Kids seem to have it in overwhelming abundance. So it seemed fit to scrap these photo of my husband pushing my son and his friends on a tire swing with some bright energetic colours. The title sort of found me via the Scrap it With A Song challenge spot.

All papers and embellishments are from Echo park except:
notebook paper-Basic grey
brads-Basic grey
white CS-colorbok
blue cs-coredinations

Oh and speaking of energy... I hope you have enough to participate in a hop going on through scrapbook challenges. You can start at Brynn's blog. Brynn even came up with the sketch I used for this page. I love the fun banners which were perfect for this upbeat page. It's always fun to see how different people interpret a sketch. So if you'd like to see some other variations, check out the links found here.
 Sorry for the short post, but life is hectic right now. I am pleased to have found a little time to scrap. I am less pleased with myself for not reading all of my challenge list properly. By that, I am referring to the notepad I keep listing all the challenges I want to participate in. I had several I wanted to do for Sketches for all. I thought I was completing one of the challenges with the above LO only to find I was just supposed to use 1 flower and not three.Oh well! Back to the drawing board. I at least have another page done that I like. Happy scrapping everyone!!!