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!
And we have reached the final challenge of the month. If you joined me in January, you’ll know that that the final challenge each month will now be a use your scraps challenge. I was inspired by another group challenge as well for this one. ScrapHappy’s current Unexpected Inspiration challenge is all about games and I was inspired by a game called Patchwork to use up scraps in a quilted fashion.
Take a look at the game box.
Lots of color and pattern all pieced together. Perfect for using scraps. Not only that, but the game title inspired my own story and title! Now, I didn’t want to spend too much time quilting, so I kept my quilted portion smaller and used it as grounding and accent.
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 inspiration. For more info check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog page, our Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
And if you want to get in on the ScrapHappy membership, check out details on joining here.
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!
The 22nd is always the 3rd challenge of the month where we give you a sketch to use as a starting point for your layout! This month’s sketch was created by team member, Brandi. Be sure to check out her social media for more freebies like this. Let’s take a look at that sketch.
I liked the vertical lines, the bold title and offset photos. I decided to interpret the triangles using mixed media instead. I did lose a bit of that feeling when all was said and done. But… that is how sketches go sometimes!
Notice just a hint of map style stenciling behind the title and again on the lower opposite corner? That was my fill in for the triangles. When I was working it felt more like a triangle than it did by the end. Here are just a couple more views of the final design.
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 inspiration. For more info check out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog page, our Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.
I play along with a couple of online scrappy challenges each month, including the Iron Crafter Challenge hosted over at the Peace Craft Love Facebook group. It is a fun & free group if you want to check them out.
Each month we are given a mystery ingredient to use in our crafting recipes. If you know me, this is right up my crafty fun-loving ally. Let’s check out what we’ve got going on this month…
This time our mystery ingredient is… pocket cards.
Usually I have a pretty easy time with the challenges as I am an bit of an eclectic scrapper. However, pocket cards–and pocket scrapbooking–are not something I do much. I had to really dig in my supplies to find a small stash of these cards. I really appreciated being challenged to come up with a fun way to use these supplies. I like what I did. I hope you do too!
I used those pocket cards in three ways. First, the larger card creates a grounding mat for my first two photos. Next, smaller cards layer to form a space for my journaling. Finally–an the idea that is the star of the show–I used the cards to create borders at the top & bottom of my layout.
Normally I’d just smack down a single card as the sole embellishment or a bit of a base to an embellishment cluster. This idea of cutting/tearing them to create a border is an idea I would like to return to. Perhaps this challenge will get me using those pattern papers with all the cut out pocket cards!
Of course if you want to see more, the video has more details.
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my latest project. I hope you will come back next time as well. Until then, have an artful day!
I’m back with my Freckled Fawn Kit subscription for this month. I’ll show off what I’m getting in my kit and create a project with it. As I am newer to these kits, I’ll share my pros and cons with you as I go. With that, let’s dive into this months kit.
Unfortunately I forgot to take my posed kit photo before diving in, so instead I grabbed this screen shot from my reveal video.
I was happy to see that the washi selection was a role of tape this time instead of washi sheets. I like both and will be happy to see the variety of options included moving forward with my subscription. Likewise, the chipboard stickers and cardstock label stickers had some differences to them this month than last month. I was worried I’d get bored with the same supplies over and over, but so far there is a tad of variety in the shapes to keep it interesting. Plus, the small alpha stickers this month have gold foiled letters and that was a lovely surprise. As I just touched on reviewing the kit when I got the release email, I didn’t notice that detail.
Now, for a bit of a con. When I did get the release email I was able, as a subscriber, to add on extras for no extra shipping fee. I did choose to get a second set of the floral ephemera since I imagine creating an entire wreath with these beauties. However, the second set didn’t make it into my package. I contacted them the same day I opened my kit and I have yet to hear back. I will give it just a bit more of time and try again. I’ll let you know what happens.
I wouldn’t want to leave you wondering just what to do with these supplies. So I almost always make a project as soon as my box arrives. That way I am sure to use it instead of just showing it off. This time around I made a 12×12 layout based on a sketch from a sketch class I am taking.
I am still struggling with some lighting issues in my space after one of my light fixtures went kaput. So this is not the most flattering photo, but you can still see all the pretty colors, textures and patterns included in the kit.
Of course if you want more information you can watch my YouTube video to get a better look at the kit products and my project.
If you want more info on these kits, check out the links and info below.
Freckled Fawn^^ They sell products individually, or in subscription kits. The kit subscriptions are a build-your-own bundle style. You pick and choose which of their standard items you’d like shipped to you each month. They carry items from wood veneer all the way up to 12×12 scrapbook papers. Take a look and see if there are any goodies you wan to add to your craft room! And… if you use the code craftysoup you’ll get 15% off your order!
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at what these little kits have to offer and seeing it put into action with a project. I’ll be back soon with more crafty goodness.
Until next time, 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!
Hello all. Today I’m sharing the layout I created as part of the LOAD challenge. Each LOAD month, Alice asks for community members to volunteer their talents to share a layout based on day’s prompts. I received Day 13 as my task and it featured a prompt to tell a story about precision and to use an embellishment that requires precision.
After just a bit of thinking I had a story in mind. But what kind of embellishments require precision to use? That one took a little more thinking. When I spied a paper strip that had rows of colorful circles I realized that I could do a stacked die cut title in multiple colors. That would require a lot of precision to get all the letters aligned, stacked and glued in place!
Here is my story about how my eyes don’t precisely work together for clear vision. Instead I end up with doubled vision in certain situations. My title work mimics the physical problem in a way. If you want to see the full process video for this project, keep scrolling.
Okay, that wraps up a simple post for today. Until next time, have an artful day.
It is the first challenge of the month over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. It also happens to land on the Mix It Up Monday (aka MIUM) challenge hop day. Luckily for me both challenges fit snuggly together, so I’m saving time and energy and combining the two!
The CKC challenge was to use TWO types of mixed media. And as usual the MIUM challenge was to use a sketch and add in mixed media.
So you can obviously see how they fit together!
For reference here is our sketch from Rochelle Spears. I liked that it had three photos with an option for a fourth in that little polaroid frame. I went to my story binder, found a story with four photos and it was a story that would work well with my CKC kit colors and textures.
I told this story of creating decorations for a school trunk-or-treat even. My daughter and I designed our trunk based on the Little Shop of Horrors musical (specifically the movie from the 80’s as that is my era!). As the movie is set in the inner city the brick paper felt like a perfect base for the photos. I did change out the banners for tags. My mixed media was acrylic paint (green pluses) and spray mist. Both were chosen for their messy textural nods to all the materials that went into building our Audrey II monster.
If you want to hear more of my thinking behind layout decisions, check out the video.
I hope you can check out both the CKC team’s take on the blog, and follow along with the MIUM hoppers listed below.
Hello, hello! I am excited continue to share this series into 2024. I did this series back in 2020 and revived it in 2023. The box of supplies I bought at that point has continued to serve me for this series! I never guessed how packed this box would be when I purchased it.
So, what is Mystery Box Monday? It is just a silly game and creativity stretcher! I have a “grab-bag” style box of supplies that I purchased online as part of a clearance sale back in Dec ’22. Since the box is a grab-bag, that means all the supplies in the box are a mystery. The box comes at a steep price reduction because the supplies are unknown. Who doesn’t like a good deal and a fun mystery?
I’m going to reach into this box and pull out three items. Much like that cooking show with the mystery basket ingredients, I have to put those items to use on one crafty project. Will these ingredients work together? Or will it be a recipe for disaster? Let’s find out…
Here is a peek at the mystery items I pulled out of the box this time around. I must say my heart sank a bit when I got two chipboard pieces. And that lantern piece is so big. What to do, what to do…?
Honestly I had wanted to do a tag or embellishment project this time, but these pieces were just to big for that. I gave those items a think for a moment and then the Loving You chipboard piece obviously became a tie in to the upcoming Valentine’s Day. I didn’t want to do a scrapbook page but that lamp post is so dang big. The solution? A slimline card!
I did boost the complexity and interest level of this one by making it a tri-fold peek-a-boo slimline card and using lots of mixed media. The mixed media nearly destroyed me! It just got worse and worse until I was able to pull it all together. You can hear my challenges in the video below!
So that is it this time around. I hope you join me for future Mystery Box Monday goodness. Until next time, I hope you 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.
This month our inspiration was chosen by Brandi Jo who has boys in her life to scrapbook. So, she avoids all the typical “girly” papers. Thus we are being inspired by a fall color pallet of blues and oranges. This kit is November Rain by Not Just For Boys Kit Club.
I found the bold diagonal stripe paper in the top center, and the blueprint style paper in the top left to be pieces that I did not have in my stash. So that is where I focused my forgery attention. (I wish I could have forged the blue brick but I could not figure out a way to make that happen!)
Here is how that stripe paper turned out. I am rather pleased with it. The trick with a diagonal stripe has to do with math. The diagonal of a square is always longer than the sides. In the case of 12×12 pattern paper, that diagonal is almost 17 inches (if I did my math right 😁). That means you either have to cut a whole new paper right on that diagonal or piece together shorter pieces to reach across the span. In my case I used both.
For my second forgery, I did not have any type of mechanical stamps or stencils to recreate that paper. So instead of trying to make an exact duplicate, I went with the vibe of the paper. I used industrial looking imagery to pull this one together. It is all stenciling so it came together rather quickly.
If you want more details on how I pulled these together, especially tricks to get those diagonal stripes to work well, you can check out the video.
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😉 ).
As we dive into our inspiration for February, let’s welcome Jessica Mikels as our guest designer for the month. You can connect with her via her Blog, Instagram account, and YouTube channel. I hear she is a mixed media goddess, so if you are like me and go for that style, do check her out.
Now we can get to the pretty stuff. To start, here is our inspiration kit. It is November Rain kit by Not Just For Boys Kit Club. Our CKC team member hosting this kit is Brandi Jo. Since she has boys to scrap she wants kits that shy away from pinks, flowers and butterflies. This kit fits the bill.
This kit was outside my comfort zone. I actually liked that! It meant that it was a challenge, and I enjoy a good challenge/puzzle. Oranges and browns are not my go-to colors, especially here in the midst of winter. I knew I needed to lighten and brighten this kit if it was going to work for me.
I did this in several ways. First, I chose a Traci Reed digital collection that features a cozy, homey vibe in a richer color palette, including oranges. It is called Hygge Season and has an add-on that includes specific winter icons. While I was browsing my TR supplies, I landed on the Tempest collection (a freebie on her site– follow instructions to get all three parts of the freebie). This one has a bit of color overlap with the inspo kit by having coraly-orange, tealy-green, navy, plus some pink. The takes on the colors in this collection definitely brighten things up.
I also chose wood grain that included whites, a bit of pink and lighter versions of orange. You can see in the photo below how everything pulled together.
I have lots of die cuts (too many really to use in one month!), a bit of cork inspired by one of the brown kit papers, as well as stencils and navy spray in my embellishments. I pulled several alphas in browns and tans and one navy. They all have most of the vowels used up so hopefully I can get some titles out of these. That is why I pulled so many! Check it out.
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. So I’m calling mine…
Yin Yang
This title won’t make sense unless you hear me in the video talk about some of the embellments featuring homey vibes while some feature bad-day vibes. If you want more details on all that and more, 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 have been struggling to keep up with life these days. Have you ever been there? Well, in an effort to stay active here I’m going to wrap up January in a bit of a gallery style, so let’s dive in.
I went back to 2018 or 2019 for this story of exploring a new-to-me town while my daughter was at an event. Despite the rain, it was a lovely adventure.
This is from my ongoing Mystery Box Monday series. I have a grab bag of supplies that I ordered. “Grab bag” means I have no idea what is in the box! I reach in without looking (a challenge!), pull out three items, and put them to use on a project. This is just a fun and creativity stretching exercise. Are the projects always great? Nope. Do I learn something each time? Yep.
Video
CKC Challenge #2: Tell a story of a special moment.
We happened to have this owl visit our yard one day for several hours. My whole family was in awe and we spent a good amount of time just staring at this guy.
Iron Crafter is all about putting underutilized supplies to use. I wouldn’t say my stamps are under used, but one thing I don’t do much is stamp my titles. So along with other stamping, I also stamped part of my title.
The CKC group has added two extra challenges to our array of inspiration each month. Sketches are one such addition. If you want to see the sketch and how I worked it to this layout, check out the video.
New for 2024: Freckled Fawn Kit unboxing + project
Since my SCT Sampler kits were discontinued, I went on a quest to find a new kit subscription. I landed on Freckled Fawn! Here is my first project from my January kit. The video shows the entire unboxing, thoughts on why I chose Freckled Fawn and the project creation.
I love the Mixed Media Mayhem group, but as I am struggling with time in my days, this is the one YouTube project that I may need to drop from my calendar. I’m still thinking this over. At any rate, I was really happy with how this one turned out.
At the end of each month, CKC is now offering the “use your scraps” challenge. While I have a go-to list of using up scraps, I’m not sure I have 12 ideas–one of each month of 2024. I will be learning along the way with everyone! As my ideas run out, I may skip doing videos on this project as well. Again, decisions need to be made!
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craftysoup.com 