Counterfeit Kit Challenge February kit reveal blog hop

Welcome to February and to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge February kit reveal blog hop. 

I can't say I'm sorry to be saying goodbye to January and hope that February does more to lift the spirits! But a new month and a new scrapbooking kit full of scrummy products is sure to help.

Hopefully you've reached me via Kelly's blog here and up next is Laura who you can find on her Instagram feed here. Of course, you mustn't forget to head over to our very lovely Guest Designer Monica who we are thrilled to have join us (head over to her blog Monica's Craft Corner). The full blog hop list can be found at the end of the post. Make sure to check out the full list as the girls are rocking their stuff at the moment and you won't want to miss out on any of it. :-) 

Julene picked out our kit this month. She decided to delight us with the Noel Mignon Weekend in Paris kit(s) (the link will take you to the Daily Diary kit shown in the photo below) 

Noel Mignon - Weekend in Paris - Daily Diary kit

But there was also a Classic kit (see photo below) that has since sold out (you can see more of the details of this kit in this YouTube video by Rock Paper Treasures here). 

Noel Mignon - Weekend in Paris - Classic kit

Julene has also pulled together a Pinterest inspiration board for these kits that you can find here - some super ideas over there so be sure to take a look. 

Before I go into all the ins and outs of how I put my kit together, let me share "Amour" with you. Perfect for February don't you think!

I looked at the content list for the Daily Diary kit and then the unboxing video of the Classic kit and noted down a whole list of colours (pink, green, yellow, black, cream), themes (hot air balloons, whimsy, fairground, Paris), patterns (repeating, stripes, squiggles, chevrons, circles, colour wash) and emotions (happy, fun, romantic).

Rather than trying to match the kit piece by piece, I then went off and started with my Crate Paper collection to see what I had that matched what I felt when looking at the original. There were several from the Oasis collection - bright strips, ombré, cut apart labels, flamingos, large repeating circles. From there I just built up colours and motives to match the inspiration kit. Some balloons and fairground from Echo Park, water colour and geometrics from Pink Paislee, a gold heart printed vellum, small all over stars from BasicGrey, collage letters, starburst and cut apart cards from Webster's Pages. Beautiful. I finished off this starting point with some sheets of tickets from Echo Park that really need using up.

I really wanted to play up the Paris and romantic part of the inspiration kit so I added in some of the left over pocket cards and stickers from Kesi 'art Moonlight collection which include a lot of French. And a brand new set of stickers from oneCanoetwo's Creekside collection added in a romantic travel feeling.

When I looked at all the embellishments in the Noel Mignon kit, I had a feeling of nostalgia with the florals, pompoms, tickets, metal shapes and of course the ribbon bows so I made sure to include a lot of older bits and pieces which I might have used a few years ago. This will be the chance for me to see if I can still use them or if they need to be donated out of my stash.

There were lots and lots of embellies in both the original kits so I felt ok to also add in loads to mine. You can see several rolls of washi, some random die cuts, tickets, labels.

Some clips and veneer words match up to the clips and acetate words in the original kits.

I love enamel dots so a fresh pack of those found their way in and they have the perfect colours. A gold dotted alpha was close to the original and I included two smaller alphas because I always reach for those. In line with the romantic, vintage feel of Weekend In Paris, I dug out several small lengths of lace which would be great to use and these cameo elements which I've never used. There are quite a few flowers too which I'm curious to see if I can work onto my layouts! In the past, no layout was complete without them but I hardly ever use them any more.

I found some metal elements in my stash and added them in along with some flair, pompoms and an assortment of older embellishments which seemed to fit.

Yes, it's a huge kit! But it's the only one I have on the go at the moment so I think that's ok. I've already cut into it for a few layouts which I hope to share soon and have some ideas for some others too. My target is 6 pages which I think is no problem at all with all these supplies!

I'm excited to see what February brings, are you?

Here's the full blog hop list and don't forget that you can share you Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits and pages/projects on the CKC blog here, over in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge FB community here or over on Instagram here (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #counterfeitchallenge )

And now over to you!

• CKC http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com
• Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com
• Guest Designer, Monica http://monicascraftcorner.blogspot.com.au
• Tina http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
• Cindy http://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com
• Lori http://loriannie670.blogspot.com
• Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
• Julene http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com
• Kelly http://honeysucklehillcrafts.com 
• Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com 
• Laura https://www.instagram.com/mrsp_scrapsandtea/

Sunday Share

I've been really productive recently but haven't been blogging all that much and so I haven't shared much.

One thing LOAD is exceptionally good for is using up stash - just think of all those papers cut up, the cardstock backing, so many words made from alphabets and embellishment sprinkles that 31 days of daily scrapping takes up.

So that's what I've been doing. Using up stash. And there's a lot to use up. I had four Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits lying around for example and these were definitely a target.

So for today, I'm going to share 4 layouts that I created using my August kit, "Balmy August". That makes 7 layouts in total with quite a lot still left in my box - maybe two or even three more layouts plus some cards. Hopefully, I can get it finished off before the end of the month.

The LOAD prompt today was compare and contrast. I thought these photos of my two brothers on day trips to Amsterdam with me were good examples. I remain the same, but older while each of them are very different. I only added in a few items in addition to the kit - the film strip and the tape.

Today's prompt was to dig deep and tell the story behind what the photo might tell on the surface. I have many of these retro photos with no specific details and I just wrote down some things that sprung to mind when I looked at them. I love these old photos. Fun times. Everything except the alphas are from the kit

We were challenged to doodle. Ok, I totally wimped out on this one. Doodling just isn't my thing so I just drew a line round the outside of the cardstock. 

Today we were asked to journal with purpose. Rather than just talking about our trips to Paris, I wrote a little more about what that means to me. I was so pleased to find a way to use this stunning MME paper and was thrilled at how this turned out.

I added the small canvas label and the small Paris tag to the kit for this layout.

The combination of Counterfeit kits and LOAD works so well for me to use up a mixture of old and new products. And it's great to see those kits being used up in ways I wouldn't normally thought of.

Have you decided to join us yet?

The sights...

Just a few of the hundred or so photos we have taken this weekend. Again, all SOTC so not brilliant and some could do with a bit of straightening or cropping but overall, I think they are quite nice.

Mmm, now what could this one be?

And another rather unknown little Parisian gem...

We had dinner again at this restaurant, Bofinger, last night. A wonderful art deco place specialising in seafood and just around the corner from La Bastille. Very romantic!

I worked out that this is pobably the 10th time I have been to this wonderful city and yet, this was the first time I found the time and energy to visit Le Louvre. You really need several days to see everything there is to see, but we managed to get around the highlights according to my guidebook.

I know this is a really geeky thing to say, but when we stood under the glass pyramid and then walked along to the inverted pyramid, it made me think of the Da Vinci Code and what hidden secrets this place is hiding - see, told you it was geeky!

Our lovely retro boutique style hotel just around the corner from the Champs Elysee, L'Hotel De Sers. Very chic...

Not much sign of Christmas yet. But these lights on the outside of Galeries Lafayette were really spectacular!

And this was one of the super motives in the windows - only in Paris I think!

We were too lazy and stuffed full of food to go all the way across town to take night shots of all the best sights, but the Opera caught my eye as something pretty spectacular.

A city with so much to see and so much to discover...

Time away to recharge

It's official. The Hausmann household has officially entered "crazy season". It begins with Halloween and goes through to the New Year.

Without any extra activities, we can total 8 birthdays, 2 wedding anniversaries, Halloween, Advent, St Nicholas, Christmas and New Year before we even think about any other events, arrangements or pre-Christmas get togethers or activities. We celebrate both our birthdays within 5 days of each other and each consists of at least one event celebrating with one or other part of the family. Even on a quiet year, it can become a bit overwhelming!

This year, we can throw in three concerts within 3 weeks of each other, a 40th birthday celebration with more than 20 guests travelling over from the UK, a long weekend away, a boys evening, a business trip and then we are trying to fit in all four families in two countries over Christmas! Phew - makes me tired to think about it!

However, did I tell you that I am married to the most wonderful man IN THE WORLD? Realising how upset I was that I had missed Tom Jones in concert in Germany, he booked us a long weekend away to romantic Paris to see him live and to spend a few quiet days together before the busiest time kicks in! Boy, am I a lucky girl.

And let me tell you, Tom Jones last night was one of the best concerts I have EVER seen! This was one of my favourites of the evening but I tell you, Delilah and It's Not Unusual brought the whole of the concert hall to their feet - totally brilliant. He certainly knows how to rock. Fantastic.

The weather forecast was bad so we have been really lucky to have two days with blue skies and a bright, shining sun.

Today, we wandered around Galeries Lafayette with its incredible stained glass domed ceiling and an enormous Christmas tree covered in pink -my favourite! I was obviously ahead of my time with my pink decorated tree last year! I mean, if it's the colour in Paris, I can't be far off can I?

I don't have any photo editing software on my netbook so these photos are SOTC and I hope to be able to put some more photos up when i get home but just to finish off this post, we also found time to visit the Musée de l'Orangerie to gaze longingly at the Monet water lily paintings, Nymphéas. Just wonderful.

I am one happy bunny!