It has been a few months since my last freebie release. I was super excited when I got this idea and had to create it right away. I created a small notecard with a pocket design. There is a top layer that you can glue on to create and actual pocket. This is great for making table decor as place settings or name tags.
I have many ideas to go with this pocket and look forward to creating more of these sweet projects. I’m hoping to work with this cutfile more in the future! Until then, if you want to see how I created this table decor project you can check out that process video.
Now if you want to see how to use these cutfiles in Cricut or Silhouette, please check this out. These tutorials assume you know basic features and functions of your software and gives you specific tips on using and adjust the various layers of this cutfile to produce a final cut.
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).
Man, I have been so busy with a long list of stuff going on. Luckily most of it is good. Unfortunately it means multiple things have fallen through the cracks. Deep breath. Pick up the trail and move forward.
With that I am here with my October kit. The team at CKC breaks up tasks for the group by various jobs. I’m actually on the job of creating a mini kit + project this month. But… that kit & project is going to be a fun home decor idea (sneaky peek there). That means I still need a scrappy kit. So here it goes.
First here is our guest designer: Liz Ketter! You can find her on Instagram. I don’t know Liz so I am looking forward to seeing her work. Speaking of which we need to build a kit based on inspiration. Since I am behind the times, you can check out Liz’s and the rest of the team’s kits over at the CKC Blog. We are working with the An Autumn Tale: Chilly Breeze digial kit available at Sweet Shoppe Designs.
The very first thing I noticed was the demin accent. LOVE. We have had at least one other month with denim vibes during my tenure on the team. Still loving it. I also appreciate the softer takes on oranges and browns. Those are not my go-to colors at all. Yet the tones here have a bit of a glow to them that I appreciate.
So these are the papers I came up with. Apologies for the blurry photo. I had my camer in the wrong setting when I snapped this and didn’t realize it until it was too late.
And here is a look at the embellishments. Despite the chaotic look of this pile, I kept it simple. I added dies and stamps to create items as I scrap. I added textural elements of felt and cork. Then I just plopped my entire fall embellishment pouch onto my kit. Done.
Don’t forget that each month I also create my own elements to add into my kit. Of course these are inspired by the original kit, but often have a twist of their own. So don’t miss what I will make in just a couple of days. I’m loving my ideas this time.
There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine…
Easy Breezy Autumn
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.
Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!
As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.
Since we always start our forgery projects with inspiration, here is the image we are working with this month. It is the Daily Journal Scrapbook kit from Cocoa Daisy.
I was drawn to the pattern papers right away.
In the top row, the third from the left is that striped pattern paper. I was instantly drawn to that and knew that I wanted to recreate it from washi tape. That part went as expected. When I took that paper to my sewing machine a happy accident occurred. The tension on my machine was too loose and my stitching ended up being loosey goosey. There is no other way to describe it, LOL. I loved the texture for sure and will make this a purposeful technique in the future.
Can we just take a moment to reflect on why forgeries are so fun? I took the inspiration of a flat piece of patterned paper and recreated it with physical products. The real life texture this brings is awesome. I feel like I made it better than the original.
I created a bonus set of embellishments from this project. I saved all the little tails that I cut off of the washi tape when I trimmed the straight paper edges down. Those I applied to the edges of scrap paper. I cut that paper down and formed tags!
I wasn’t done yet. My next forgery was to make that far left pattern paper in the bottom row. Zooming in on that it is a slightly distress chevron print. I wanted to try a couple of things and ended up making a double sided piece of paper with a technique on each side.
The left was straightforward stenciling. However I used a Paper Pouncer^^ from Picket Fence Studios to make the job super fast! On the reverse side I used a chevron embossing folder as a stamp! There were a couple of challenges with this technique so I ended up with more distressing than intended. While this wasn’t quite what I wanted, I think the technique is worth fine tuning in the future.
If you want all the details on creating these lovely items, check out the video.
That is it from me this month. Stay tuned for when I put these to use on layouts! For now, you can find more creative ideas at the CKC blog. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite products with supplies you already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
Until next time, have an artful day.
^^Disclosure: I do use affiliate links to products at no cost to you. I receive a small percentage of any sales from these links. I really appreciate your support by shopping through my links. It keeps my craft room stocked with supplies for future projects!
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).
I am not ready for summer to be over. I’ve barely been outdoors this year! Maybe after ridiculously hot summer temps I can shift my outdoor mindset into fall. Until then I will continue to scrap in my basement and avoid the overwhelming heat.
That means I need to kit build once again. This time I am taking a different tack for two reasons.
I’ve taken on the mini kit job this month over at CKC.
I need smaller kits since I have barely made a dent in the past few kits.
With that in mind I decided to build out page kits. I have done this in the past, but I have a bit of a difference this time. I’ve chosen my stories first, then built my page kits. Kinda. Sorta. I’ll explain after I introduce you to CKC’s guest designer for the month. Welcome Amy Jo Johnston. She will be sharing her work over on the CKC Facebook group. Be sure to check her out there and show her some love.
Now we can get to the paper. Brandi Jo chose our inspiration this month. As she has boys, you’ll notice a lean toward blues and greens. Yet there is a hint of florals if you need some of that in your life! Check it out.
I love the colors and the option to add some pops of boldness. The camera icons are something I’m all about, yet haven’t done in a while. It’ll be nice to pick up some old favorites again. Plus I’m always down for some mixed media vibes.
I took different elements of inspiration and tucked them into each kit. As I mention above, the idea to choose pictures/stories before product popped into my head as I was mulling things over. This is NOT how I normally kit. Taking on this change felt good this time around. That allowed me to use the inspiration yet really define the kits. I started really by pulling a few papers that played into the kit, then my photos/stories, then more paper for balance, and I wrapped it up with embellishments. This let me take on a bit more specific theme for some things.
Kit #1: School Kit
This one starts off looking quite different than the inspiration. But if you take a look, you’ll find commonalities. The elements I pulled from the inspo: text print, bird motif, “+” motif (in my case I used “x”, but you get it, right?), cameras and frames. Then I felt free to add in extra embellishments for the story. In this case a school story.
Kit #2: Memorial Kit
For this one I leaned into the pops of black. In addition I included film strips, frames, a hint of floral, washi tape (including a bird one), and a few tabs and tags. The basics from this kit (papers, stickers, journal cards) are all from Simple Storie’s “Heart” line from several years ago. I’m sad to need this line, but glad I had it on hand already.
Kit #3: Solar Kit
Here again you can see some similarities and differences from the inspo. Floral in a bold way. Teals in watercolor. A shot of black. Cameras, film strips and frames.
Each kit is it’s own entity, while all were inspired from the same goods. That is one of the joys of kit building! I’ll be creating a few of my own items from this inspiration as we typically do for our Forgeries on the Fourth project. I will also have that mini kit project up on the 6th. As you can guess it is another page kit… but for a double page layout! So stay tuned for all of that.
Before we go, there is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine…
Memorable Moments
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.
Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!
As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.
Since we always start our forgery projects with inspiration, here is the image we are working with this month. It is the A Bee-utiful Day kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.
A bee-utiful Day kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.
There were a couple of things that caught my attention. First we have to look at the closeup of the pattern papers to get started.
A bee-utiful Day kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.
See that bottom right corner? It is a striped hexagon yellow print on a black base. How can you get good color on top of black? My best product for that is distress oxide inks. The inks do dry a bit duller and chalkier that than bright bold color, but that’s okay. Still a fun technique.
Next up was tackling some butterflies with a balance of black and bright colors.
A bee-utiful Day kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.
I used mica filled watercolor paints to get that great color on top of black.
If you want all the details on creating these lovely items, check out the video.
That is it from me this month. Stay tuned for when I put these to use on layouts! For now, you can find more creative ideas at the CKC blog. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite products with supplies you already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).
I’m trying to hold on to the last month of summer. It has been passing quickly for sure. Luckily our inspiration kit captures some summer vibes to keep us going. Before we dive in to that inspo, let’s welcome the CKC guest designer for the month. Sarah Rouault is a UK scrapper who enjoys defined kits for her projects. CKC works great for that. To learn more about Sarah, head to the CKC blog for all the details.
Now we can get to the pretty stuff. To start, here is our inspiration kit. It is Bee-utiful Day Kit kit by Jennifer Fehr over at sweetshoppedesigns.com. Our CKC team member hosting this kit, Jody, appreciated the boldness of the kit.
I’ve been using plenty of black and enough yellow lately so I was a tad hesitant. But when I looked closer at the floral pattern papers and the cardstock color palette I knew I had plenty to work with. Throw in the add-on mixed media pack and I was golden.
So these are the papers I came up with. I leaned into some of the bee theme, included yellows and also gave a nod to the geometrics and woodgrains in the pattern paper graphic. It is easy to miss some of those smaller details when you have such a bold cover image. Be sure to take your time when checking out inspiration. You never know what small things will catch your attention.
I included the black the most in my embellishments. I have black mixed media paper by Vicki Boutin to do watercolor and inking techniques on. Plus I added black fibers & ribbons. That will give me enough black to work with and not be overwhelmed.
Don’t forget that each month I also create my own elements to add into my kit. This time you’ll get to see those coloring on top of black paper techniques!
There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine…
The Bees Knees
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.
Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!
^^ Disclaimer: I offer affiliate shopping linked products when possible. This shopping won’t cost you anything extra, but I get a small kick back from the companies for sending business their way. It is an easy way to tell me “Thank You” for the content I provide. I appreciate you using my links!
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).
It’s July and no matter how you cut it, in the norther hemisphere it is true summer. No wonder this month’s inspiration kit is jam packed with summer vibes. Before we get to that though, let’s welcome our guest designer, Lacy Stockton. Lacy is a Creative Memories scrapper and she is surrounded by the boys in her life. You can read more about Lacy along the blog hop. She’ll be sharing her work in the CKC Facebook group, so be sure you join us over there.
Now we can get to the pretty paper. To start, here is our inspiration kit. It is the Moonlit Collection kit by Traci Reed. Traci is a prolific and talented digital and physical paper designer in our industry! This kit is a big color punch from her typical work. But what a way to show off so much color by grounding it in black!
The picture above represent the digital kit and the thumbnails below show off some of the printable side of her work. I love that she does both!
I must admit that my mind was all over the place when I was kit building this time. Let me walk you through it.
At first I had the idea that would I print and cut the “sticker” elements from the Moonlit collection as I own them already. The plan was to pair them with just cardstock. Yep, just a bold rainbow + black selection of cardstock. I’ve done a couple of pages along those lines in the past and was curious to try it again. Also, I wasn’t so sure I would have papers in my collection that would go with Moonlit since I tend to be a soft color scrapper.
But wouldn’t you know as I started looking through my stash I started pulling. And pulling… and pulling. I ended up with 24 papers. I leaned into the orange, yellow and purple. As you can see my purple is pretty tame compared to Moonlit, but you work with what you’ve got, right?
But the papers didn’t stop there. At this point I had to create subsets of papers. We’ll get to that soon! First let’s cover the main embellishments.
I focused on the embellishments from the digi kit. Plus I added gold. Why gold? Two reasons. Traci Reed talked about the glowing quality of the Moonlit colors. I didn’t have that property to my kit so I pulled in some shine. But that shine idea came by accident from the papers below. Notice the sky print on the far left? That paper was one of the very first I pulled while I was kitting. It didn’t make the main kit, but instead it joined some companion papers and embellishments to become an add-on. All featuring gold, which did spill over into my main kit.
Oh, you would think I was done, but you’d be wrong. Boy I just kept going. While I was looking for yellow papers that far left lemon paper below caught my attention. It just made me crave summer food, especially fruit. So another add-on was born.
Was I done yet? Yes. Yes I was. LOL. I had to stop at some point, right? I have a scrapbook retreat coming up so this kit will be in my luggage. I’m hoping to make a dent in this massive-for-me kit.
There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. Since I’ve got so much going on, let’s do a little recap, and give these pretties some names.
Hot Summer Nights main kit papers
Hot Summer Nights main kit embellishments
Rainbow Lights add-on
Shooting Star add-on
Midnight Snack add-on
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.
Don’t forget that each month I also create my own elements to add into my kit. Of course these are inspired by the original kit, but often have a twist of their own. So don’t miss what I will make in just a couple of days.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.
Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!
As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.
Since we always start our forgery projects with inspiration, here is the image we are working with this month. It is the DLS Designs, Timeless collection.
I wanted to recreate a few different elements from this inspiration. You’ll have to dive deep into all the elements to find some of this things that sparked my interests.
I want to tackle each one individually. I’ll save the best for last. The first two items I’ve shared before so we’ll zoom through them. We will start off with wood style picture frames.
I made mine by swiping the edge of an ink pad over scraps of white cardstock. By using the edge it creates streaks which mimic woodgrain. Of course this can be done with any papers, but I really like this look. My tip for making the frames look like frames is to miter the corners. If you don’t know, mitering is creating the diagonal corners. I have a video sharing tips on how to do that, as well as tips for making frames in various sizes. It really is easier to show it than to explain it.
Next up is the word art. I’ve shared this many times before. The biggest tip for this one is to use a pencil to draw guidelines on your paper. This will look much like old fashioned elementary school paper that teaches kids how to form their letters. It’ll do the same for you to help you keep your penmanship very even and tidy. Plus, pencil is very forgiving. Made a mistake? Erase it and try again. The video for this one covers all of it if you want to try this out.
Notice I only fussy cut some of the images out for demonstration purposes. Most of the time I’ll just leave them rough until I’m ready to use a specific word.
Now, we are ready for my favorite. I tell ya, I never would have thought to do this technique without having been inspired by the 49 and Market pattern paper. That is one of the reasons I love CKC. It brings in new ideas for me to explore creativity. My brain is now buzzing with more ideas!
These images are pretty much to scale. Notice that my pattern paper (right) has much larger images than the 49 and Market paper (left). That is a result of using the supplies that I have on hand. I am thrilled with how it came out regardless of the scale! In fact I want to try this technique over and over again with various images.
Deciding what images to use for this one was based on the inspiration, but you can use anything. In fact you don’t even have to use as many images as I did. You can do this with single images. Imagine doing this with balloon shapes for a birthday page. Or how about just something like hexagons for an everyday pattern paper? In fact, using a single image will make life easier when creating the paper. Let me explain.
I used a masking technique to make this paper. If you are not accustomed to stamping, masking is a very common technique for building scenes. It helps imagery sit either in the foreground or in the background. In this case, the text is “pushed” to the background. Depending on your project, masking can be a little time intensive depending on the number and complexity of your images!
If you know what masking is then feel free to skip this part. I’ll explain masking for those who need the info. To make the masks you have to stamp the same image on a thin paper and then fussy cut it out. There are specialty masking papers for this but I lost mine at the time of filming. You do want thin paper. Generic printer paper is perfect for this. You also want to trim your mask pretty closely to the outline of your image. Thin paper plus close trimming means the next step of the process will create a cleaner look to the final project.
Once the masks are cut out you can adhere then over the images on your project. I use a temporary adhesive to do this. Again, specialty masking paper has built in tackiness to make life easier. Once the mask is applied, stamp the text stamp over the icons. This allows the text to surround the image without the text ending up on top of the icons. If your mask is made with thick paper or not trimmed closely, when you remove the mask you’ll see a blank halo around the image. This can be it’s own technique for sure, but I wanted to get this detailed collage look by keeping everything tight.
Remember I mentioned above how using a single image will make life easier? That is because you only need to create one mask. Just move the one around when you need to cover the next area. Want to make life even easier? Use a stamp set that has a coordinating die. Then you can cut out the die shape and use that as your mask. You can even cut out several to speed up the process.
So this is the third video in my forgeries/makes for this month. All the videos link off to each other so if you start one, you’ll be able to access the others. The end screen of each video will lead you to the next part and even wraps around back to the beginning.
Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope I have shared something helpful.
For more creative ideas, the CKC blog has more forgery examples to check out. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite products with supplies you already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).
The year is half over? Already? I’m not ready for it to be June yet. Nevertheless, time waits for noone. So that means we need to build a new kit for a new month. Luckily I used up all my papers from last month and I am ready for some new goodies to play with.
Before we get to that, Let’s welcome our guest designer for June. Mel Walkden will be joining us. I know Mel from various crafty adventures so I’m happy to welcome her here. She is very active in the crafty world. You can find Mel on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. I know she is active on Facebook as well so you can use her socials to find her there also.
Now we can get to the paper stuff. To start, here is our inspiration kit. It is the Vintage Artistry Sunburst collection kit by 49 and Market. Our CKC team member hosting this kit is Laurie and she chose this bright and sunny collection to lead us into true summertime.
I was inspired by the bright color palette. I really don’t use colors this bold typically. But I’m feeling ready for the sunny warm colors. I really had to think about what I had in my stash that would meet this bright challenge.
So these are the papers I came up with. There are just a couple 49 & Market papers since most of my other stash from them was in softer color tones. I fleshed out the papers with lots of Vicki Boutin and a bit of Amy Tangerine. I didn’t over do it with my paper choices this month. I’m really hoping I can use up the entirety of it again this time! I love killing my kits. I will add in solid black cardstock for matting elements since that is my go-to layering right now. Plus the inspiration kit has pops of black so I will lean into that.
As for embellishments here is the pile of supplies I pulled. I know there is no way I can bash that stash, but it gives me options depending on the stories I end up scrapping.
I did get in some of the softer colors from my stash to fit in here. Plus I have added purple based on my 49 & Market and Vicki Boutin choice. Notice however that I didn’t add anything tropical or nautical in nature. I didn’t think I’d be able to use those elements this month. However I did collate a collection of stamps with imagery in that theme just in case. I’m calling those stamps my Nautical Add-on. So as the final elements to my kit here are my alphas (very basic) and my add-on stamps.
Don’t forget that each month I also create my own elements to add into my kit. Of course these are inspired by the original kit, but often have a twist of their own. So don’t miss what I will make in just a couple of days.
There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. For the literal burst of color some of the papers have, I’m calling my kit…
Sun Sparks
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.
Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!
I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to create your own kits. Then we bring you inspiration and challenges to help you use up those kits!
I’m hosting the activities this tome over at CKC. That means I get to create our challenges this time around. So…here we are with the first challenge of the month. I adored the circle print from the first image of the inspiration. Based on that, I challenge everyone to go geometric with their layouts.
I loved this paper so much that I created a cutfile that represented it. Just take a look below. Man. I’m just loving it. This is up for free here on my blog, so you can love it too. (While you are checking that out, I also created one more unrelated cut file that is also free over there.)
So with that cut file, I pulled a bunch of papers from my CKC kit and got to work making this layout. Oh. My. Heart. I just love this. I did tone it down with vellum. I do wish I had lighter weight vellum since it was toned down a tad bit too much. Even so, I’m just pleased. (Did I say that yet? LOL)
I have a video sharing more details on this process as well.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted this challenge. For more info check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog page, our Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
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