Snappy Scrapping

Welcome to the start of the May Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Hop.  I picked Challenge #3: Escher Effects for my hop page this month - i.e. to use tessellation in my layout design with a photo from Gatorland back in 2004:

This was quick to do and brilliant for using up the scraps from my May Counterfeit Kit ... as well as creating more scraps if I'm honest!  I hadn't used any of the gold thread I'd included in my kit, so I decided to add a dash of inspiration from both UKScrappers (this week's challenge) and Whimsical Musings (WM#208 to incorporate string art) and added gold threads between my patchwork pieces.

Next on the hop is a regular contributor in our Counterfeit family - Tina.  The full hop list is published on the CKCB today.

A Perfect 10

I squeezed in with a late layout from my April Counterfeit Kit, so it seems only fair to be really early with my first page from May's kit!  Especially as it was an example page for my UKScrappers Team Challenge which went live this morning!  We are scrapping a treasure, with journalling to tell the story (10+ lines or 30+ words) and some bling!

I recently completed my 10th blood donation and the NHSBT sent me a badge to commemorate it!  Ten donations isn't that big a deal (there was a man giving for the 108th time at my 10th session), but it's progress.  You see, I thought that my blood was only useful for research purposes following jaundice in my early childhood.  However, that certainly is no longer the case, as I discovered when keeping Child No.3 company for her first donation.  To make up for lost time, I've been donating as quickly as possible ever since!

I've used the May Sketch from the FB Sketchy Scrappers Group to make this special page for my Book Of Me using my May Counterfeit Kit (including home-made enamel dots - see the upcoming CKCB Forgeries On The Fourth for details).

April Finale

I'm just squeezing into the tail end of April with a final page from my current Counterfeit Kit.  It was started for Challenge #2 way back at the beginning of the month; included a Forgery for the Fourth, but sadly wasn't finished until today.

Did I mention that I'm skilled in the Art of Procrastination?!

Anyway, for Challenge #2 (take inspiration from the February posts of the C'est Mgnifique Design Team), I found a lovely page by Shanna where the giant arrow was used as a background for the photo.

So I set about making a giant arrow to use.  In Microsoft Word I inserted two shapes, an arrow and a chevron, and overlaid them to form an arrow.  I grouped the shapes together and expanded them to fill the width of a piece of office paper, before printing it out to use as a template.  I added dots of colour arround the edge to match my photo and kit.  In the end my arrow wasn't long enough so I split it in two and put it above and below the photo.

The actual page is based on the mirror image of the April Sketch from a Sketchy Scrappers group on Facebook.

Child No.3 had a toy cooker for her 4th birthday and enjoyed frying eggs for us!  I'm also joining in with the UKS SLYMI Challenge #6 to scrap a happy story ... she was certainly happy with her birthday present.

King Con 2014

When getting bored with my "to-scrap" pile of photos, I sometimes resort to the Facebook uploads of my children.  This does leave me low on journalling because they're not my stories, but some photos just cry out to be included in an album.  One such was this brilliant photo of No.1 Son and his lovely girlfriend all dressed up for their first Comic Con.

What a perfect pair!  Their costume colours toned beautifully with the Kaisercraft patterned papers in my April Counterfeit Kit, and I could use some of the phrase cards to make up for the lack of journalling. I recognised "Poison Ivy" but had to ask about No.1 Son's character ... apparently "Salamander Coral" was chosen because he is a comic character with dreadlocks!! 

I'm joining in with the UKS SLYMI Challenge #4 to scrap a funny face ... I reckon green and red is pretty funny don't you?!  Especially as his combination of green body paint and red hair dye didn't completely disappear by Monday morning!

Ginger Snaps

Welcome to the not-quite-final post of the April CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Natalie then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here but it's a short one this month).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Shabby Chic Techniques , #2 C'est Magnifique, N'est Pas?, #3 Ephemera Encapsulated) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my April Counterfeit Kit, I went my own way with a couple of ancient photos of Child No.3 and her Grandad (now sadly deceased).

The photos were pre-digital so I'm not 100% certain when they were taken - I found these in a stack of early photos still sitting in their delivery envelopes - but I know Grandad only visited on special occasions, so I suspect it was for her 1st birthday.

We nearly missed out a dedicated counterfeiter this month - partly because the CKCB has changed e-mails (it's now thecounterfeitkitchallengeblog@gmail.com) - so rather than stopping with me, please nip over to Tina and see what she has to share.

P.S. I'm also linking up to UKScrappers' Scrap Like You Mean It Reboot Challenge #2 as I stamped all over the title letters!

Sketching with Sue Again

Sue at Me & Mine posts a monthly sketch challenge which is always fun to join in with.

On top of that my crop buddy Gill challenged me to do a page where nothing was straight ... I nearly managed it!!

And this week UKScrappers has a challenge from my retreat buddy Ruth who wanted us to use enamel dots (enamel shapes count I'm sure), handwriting journalling (a date is journalling), old stash (well my March counterfeit kit is full of OLD stash), plain cardstock, individual alphas, and fussy cutting (not that fussy, but my frames were home-made)!

Looking back at Sue's original sketch ... I have yet again strayed miles off the beaten track, but I'm happy with the page!

Going, going, GONE!

Well that's another fabulous retreat over and done with - thank you Lesley.  I've laughed (with friends from near and far) and cried (over Rosie's beautiful quilt) and won (a prize in the raffle) and lost (my way to the car park ramp) and scrapped (five and a half pages) and punched (a film strip for Pauline) and eaten (too much) and drank (rather less).

Here's a page I made for one of the challenges - a sketch - which also ties in with last week's weekly challenge over on UKScrappers (using aquamarine, 3 of something - the rings, 7 of something - the tiny eyelets and incorporating water - the waves of the Kasiercraft Offshore patterned papers)!

Child No.3 recently shaved off her hair to raise money for Macmillan's, a cancer hospice charity ... and when I say shaved, I mean right down to a #1 setting!  Her original target of £250 has been smashed ... many thanks to everyone who has donated so far.

A Fairytale Ending

Welcome to the final post of the February CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Cindy then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here but it's a short one this month).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Sappy Movie Inspiration , #2 Life is Just A Fairytale, #3 Say What?) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my February Counterfeit Kit, I chose #3, taking some extra inspiration from Whimsical Musings #53 (Grids) plus the lovely February sketch from Sue's blog and I created a page to record the day Child No.3 encountered a real Fairy Godmother!

She'd agreed to promote our theatre's pantomime, posing in a "glass" carriage, chatting to children during a local town's festival of transport.  Unfortunately, mid-April was particularly cold last year and a sleeveless dress wasn't much protection against the chilly wind.  A passer-by saw her goosebumps, popped into one of the local charity shops and returned with a very pretty, and more importantly, warm, evening shawl for Child No.3's bare arms.  Truly kind!

Thanks for hopping around with the CKCB Members this month - it was very short but definitely sweet this month, so why not join in yourself in March - EVERYone is welcome!

P.S. While I'm challenge combining this might as well be my example for Scrap Like You Mean It which I have rebooted over on UKScrappers ... 48 weekly prompts from Shimelle's wonderful 2009 challenge ... starting with #1 Scrap in your favourite colour ... teal every time for me (definitely NOT pink!)

Prom(pt) Scrapping

At the beginning of each month I get together with a few friends and scrap in my local village hall.  It's a monthly chance to devote myself to using my Counterfeit Kit and try to make a page or two for the monthly challenges.  This month's first challenge at the CKCB is to use a white base for your page ... perfect for these prom photos of Child No.3 in a purple dress, considering there is NO purple in this month's kit at all (and the material of her dress looked a different shade in different lights)!

The white base allowed me to use accents of colour from the garden and incorporate the actual prom ticket which I'd saved with the photos from last summer ... where has the last year gone?!?!

Coincidentally the first challenge for August over at UKScrappers was a perfect fit for this page too ... once I had added an extra flower brad or two: 2 photos, 6 of one embellishment and a heart!

So two separate prompts scrapped promptly for prom photos - a good start to the month I think!

If you fancy being able to scrap promptly with a counterfeit kit (by knowing in advance which kit we are copying) then why not join us on the Master Forger team ... details of how to apply are here.

Spot The Horse

A few weeks ago saw the third Bloggers' Weekend, when I met up with some lovely fellow scrappers for a few days of cutting and sticking.  Our first get-together was back in November 2011 and I told the story of meeting up near Ironbridge here.  Our reunion (with a couple of new faces to make up for missing some of the original Telford Ten) happened in March 2013, and this year it fell to me to organise the third get-together.

Each time we've met, Ruth has challenged us to bring a set of "items" for  everyone else to include in a project ... so this year there were 12 random objects to be added to a page ... can you spot a flair badge, some scraps of silk and cotton fabric, a plastic key-ring, a heart-shaped button and bead, a brad, a paper tag, some baker's twine, a wood veneer cat, heart and horse?

The page is based on the September 1st sketch from Stuck! Sketches which was perfect for including so many elements (though I moved the journalling and split my title) and ties in with the autumnal September House Challenge over on UKSCrappers.  My bag of red paper scraps is a lot emptier now!

Not all of my objects matched my colour scheme, so I got inky and messy with the tag, the wooden heart and the cat.  I chopped the heart-shaped bead in two and coloured it and the button with a black Sharpie.  Meanwhile the orange cotton found its way inside the keyring fob and some silk helped cover up the brad. 

Are you still looking for the horse?  A careful decapitation and quadruple leg amputation transformed it into to a (blood-stained) arrow!!!

Three @ Seven

Welcome to the final post of the September CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from  Margie then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here)

This month we had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Make Your OWN Challenge , #2 Selfie Challenge, #3 Mixed Media Embellies).

I'm not great at taking selfies ... but it just so happened that I had a recent one to hand and some scrapping time at a recent scrappy retreat with my bloggy friends.  Perfect!

We three had just had a lovely meal at a restaurant called Seven!  My page is based on the sketch for the UKS Summer Scrapping Challenge #5 and uses my September Counterfeit Kit plus a few scraps of cardstock, Ruth's washi, Julie's ink and Fay's punches - the joys of scrapping with other people('s tools and supplies) nearby!

It was another short CKCB Members' Hop this month - why not join in yourself in October - EVERYone is welcome!

Ouch!

Hopefully my current trip to Durham to visit No.1 Son and his lovely girlfriend won't involve a trip to A&E like the last one did!

Many thanks for all the sympathetic comments and well wishes.

Thankfully the bruising has gone and the wound has healed well: I won't be needing the sunglasses unless it's sunny!

Of course the photos had to be scrapped for my Book Of Me and perhaps I might remember to duck next time!

I've used my June Counterfeit kit and adapted the current sketch over at Purple Pumpkin to fit the 11x8½ album that houses my BOM pages (and fitted in with a UKScrappers weekly challenge).

Do you scrap the good the bad *and* the ugly sides of life or are your albums filled with purely happy memories?

Tuscany

Time for another scrapbook page made with the lovely Teresa Collins "Hello My Name Is" Collection. For this one I used the March sketch inspiration from UKScrappers along with a photo of Child No.3 and her fellow G&T artists in Tuscany last year

Part of their pre-trip preparation was to make Renaissance-painting-inspired outfits and one of the highlights of their week was when everyone dressed up for a photo shoot in the Tuscan castle they were staying in.  I've added some gems, veneer stars and used Man O Man Sizzlits for my title.

You can read how I started using this collection here on the S J Crafts Blog (and while you're there why not check out their April Challenge ... there's a prize!).

Going Wild With Washi

Over on UKScrappers there are occasional mini-cyber-crops when some enterprising souls put together a few challenges to get the creative juices flowing.  I spotted one asking us to examine our stash and feature something that we have a lot of but use too little, whilst eschewing patterned paper!

Well my March Counterfeit Kit doesn't have a lot of patterned paper & this would be a good chance to use up several of the journalling cards ... plus LOTS of washi tape ...

... though not as much as at first glance because it's only between the photos and journalling cards, not underneath them {I'm not made of washi unlike a fellow Master Forger at the CKCB who shall remain nameless}!

The photos are from last summer's Scandinavian road trip which culminated in Stockholm.  Following a quick introductory tour of the city with friends, we explored the quaint, narrow streets of the old town: "Gamla Stan".  Hubby & I had elk meatloaf for lunch.  You've got to sample the local dishes when you visit a foreign country, haven't you?  However, we did feel guilty seeing real, live elk in the zoo the next day!

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten on holiday?

10 Minute Craft Dash

Each month on UKScrappers there is a home-page feature listing interesting, inspiring and often incredible blog posts from various members and sponsors.  It's a lovely way to find unexpected mojo and this month I have used a technique from one of Angela's cards from Paper & Ribbons with the third challenge over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog (to make a card in 10 minutes or less):

I can't say I really enjoyed working within such a strict time deadline, but it certainly focussed my mind and stopped me from pondering too much on the options.  Can you spot the inspiration card on UKS ?  Angela used the centres to make another card ... maybe I shouldn't have tidied up so vigorously!

P.S. There's still time to have a go with the SJ Crafts  February Sketch and be in with a chance of a prize ... check it out!

(Un-) Happy Accidents

Those darned rub-ons in my February Counterfeit Kit aren't making me happy :-<
The first few I tried to use for a chalkboard effect, but they wouldn't stick on at all and are now in the bin.
Yesterday at my monthly crop, I opened up a "new" (i.e. un-opened, but probably quite old) packet to add a giant ampersand to today's page - and it worked pretty well.  Unfortunately my stupid title positioning meant that you could no longer see that it was an ampersand - OOPS!  So I stamped some ampersands onto the page instead.  However, a day later and the alphabet stickers have lifted up from the page, bringing the rub-on up with them.  Hopefully a little photo glue will solve the problem ...

This page, based on the (90° rotated) January sketch from Skissedilla had more problems during its creation: I was trying to use a white paint pen to highlight the obscured ampersand rub-on when it splatted white ink onto the photo (luckily I had a second print available) AND onto the cardstock!  So the page quickly acquired a lot more ink splatters LOL - actually quite a happy accident in the end :-D

I've also used inspiration from the Weekly Challenge at UKS to use a B&W photo: perfect as for some unknown reason I looked like I'd been under a sun-lamp compared to my Mum and Child No.3!

Fantasy Rock

Child No.3 is a big fan of Emilie Autumn and was desperate to see her in concert last summer.  Not only that, but she was also willing to pay the extra to get a V.I.P. ticket for a meet and greet session before the show.  Luckily I wasn't working when the tickets went on sale and spent an hour sitting by the computer, clicking refresh, waiting for them to "go live".  That was one happy daughter after college that day!  Here's a page with the official photo and a copy of the "doodle" that Child No.3 presented to her heroine.

I'm joining in with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog's third challenge for January: to stamp on patterned paper.  I used Banana Frog Fireworks stamps on the Basic Grey Solar Eclipse paper and the background cardstock - a fun way to tie the two together.

Talking of tying things together, this is another multi-challenge page (you know how I love them) as I've joined in with the January Simple Recipe Challenge over at UKScrappers which asked us to use a combination of rich plum, greeny blue and warm red ... not sure I managed much of the greeny blue, but I did add glitter to some alphabet stickers as required.

I also had fun doodling the striped frames, mixing up my glittery alphas and adding a couple of staples to squeeze in an entry for Punky Scraps December Challenge - phew!!

Keen readers may have spotted that these papers weren't actually in my counterfeit kit for January ... well done!  As long as I'm using stash it's all good I promise.  Plus I have another page that does use my January kit all ready for the end of the month CKCB Members' Blog Hop.

If you fancy joining in with that, please e-mail the CKCB by the 18th - everyone is welcome to join in with a project from any of our monthly challenges - the more the merrier!

P.S. I can't let you go without sharing a close-up of Child No.3's "doodle" with you - I'm so proud of this girl!

Awesome

I've had an awesome day!  Brilliant company, great cake (courgette & chocolate courtesy of Lesley) and plenty of scrapping at my monthly crop.  As it was the last one before Christmas we had a Secret Santa gift exchange and extra goodies in a raffle.  A really lovely day.

As ever, my scrapping output was fairly minimal (I enjoy the chat as much as the creativity) and I only managed one complete page to share today.  That's Child No.3 in the frame earlier this summer ... a very bonny lass I'm sure you'll agree.

The page is based on November's sketch over at Sarah's cards and uses some scraps from my October counterfeit kit (fitting perfectly with a challenge over at UKS to use shades of teal and orangeon a page).  Those teal gems and swirly paperclips were in my the Christmas surprise package on my crop table today - aren't they lovely!

Going Dutch

Welcome to the final post of the October CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Bridget then you might want to start at the beginning here.

This month Challenge #1 asked us to take inspiration from  jewellery in some way.  I've never really scrapped about my jewellery.  I don't have a lot.  A burglary back in the early 90s cleared us out and made me reluctant to invest too much emotion in valuables.  One thing that the "bar stewards" didn't steal (because it was ON my person) was my gold wedding band.  Hubby has a matching one and it was safe on his finger too :-D

It's about time I scrapped the story behind them:

We adopted the Dutch custom of wearing matching wedding bands on the "wrong" ring fingers during our engagement and tranferring the rings across to the "correct" hand on our wedding day.  I'd totally forgotten, but Hubby still remembered that the design we chose was called "sneeuwklokje" (snowdrop).  What a great memory for useless information he has!  Strange name for the pattern though, as to me it looks like a cicle of xxxxx around the edge.

Supplies are from my October Counterfeit Kit with the addition of some blue cardstock, brads and a little orange & gold organza ribbon. The page is 8.5"x11" to fit into my Book Of Me album and it started life as October's sketch over at Purple Pumpkin - thanks Samantha & Sandra - great inspiration as always! (Still time to join in - deadline October 31st)

If you've missed anyone on the CKCBMBH you can find the full list over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog - why not join in yourself next month?!

Hidden Delights

Welcome to the final post of the August Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Blog Hop (or CKCBMBH for short)!  If you've been hopping along with other counterfeiters (and reached me from Milissa) then you will already know that we are sharing the inspiration we took from geocaching by using a hidden element.

I love geocaching and recently managed to add a couple of Scandinavian holiday finds to my tally of caches.  No holiday photos are printed yet, so I decided to use my August Counterfeit Kit for a layout with a hidden photo and some extra hidden journalling. (Apologies for the crummy photos ... Child No.3 took MY camera on HER holiday and I'm struggling with the one she left behind)

On the face of it a layout of 13 ladies celebrating the second anniversary of our scrapbook crop back in April.
Very prim and proper.
Except that prim and proper is so boring ... which meant we had to include a "silly" photo that was much more typical:

And if you flip the photo over there's some journalling as well as a list of everyone's names (given that I made a mistake writing them out when I made the page ... I will certainly be grateful for it in a few years once even more of my little grey cells have gone!).

If you've missed anyone on the CKCBMBH you can find the full list over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog - why not join in yourself next month?!