Freebies from July ’23 (Despite it now being August)

I love learning, creating and sharing. That is why I offer freebies up to you each month. I have both a layout sketch (in printable pdf as well as editable photoshop) and an electronic cut file (in svg) for your electronic die cut machines.

Here is some further exciting news… new for 2023 are PRINTABLES.!! You can print them at home, cut apart the embellishments and use them to create your projects. This month I was inspired by the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday here in the US. You can see all the details in my reveal video, or read on for the short version.

My apologies for posting these freebies from June here now in mid August. The process for this month was riddled with complications from my own lack of skills to accomplish certain things, to software oddities that I just couldn’t problem solve. Yet, with all of the slow downs, here we are with a new set of Freebies. Whew. I am glad to get this out to you finally! I hope you enjoy them.

I have also simplified my upload process by combining each category into a single downloadable folder. You’ll have several file types to choose from, so you’ll need to know which will work for you. If you have any questions on this, please reach out to me in the Contact tab!

Now if you want all the info in one place, please do watch the video. Otherwise, all the images and downloads are listed below.

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Sketch

Once upon a time I started my freebie creation life by offering sketches. And I continue to offer them to this day, so let’s start here.

JULY 2023

  • Download
  • files types include:
    pdf, psd, jpg
  • Released July/Aug ’23

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Cut File

If you are a cut file lover, I’ve got you covered! My video covers any details for this file and any tips and tricks I have to share. Be sure to get all the info by watching above.

Growing Strong cut file

  • Download
  • File types include:
    svg, png, Silhouette Studio
  • See release video
  • Released July/Aug ’23

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Printables

These files come to you in an 8.5×11 inch format for easy at-home printing. Keep in mind that monitor/screen colors and printed colors will NOT be the same! Screen colors often appear more vibrant. Colors even vary from printer to printer!

The pattern papers are ready to print and use. Embellishments will either need to be fussy cut, or you can use the print-then-cut version for your electronic die cut machine*. I try to keep the fussy cutting to simple shapes and any circle elements can be punched out with a 1″ circle punch or die. Any cutting tips beyond these will be in the current video reveal!

Growing Strong

  • Download
  • File types include:
    jpg, png, Silhouette Studio
  • See release video
  • Released July/Aug ’23

The download links have been included besides each image. However, you can always head over to my Freebies Page to peruse the catalog of files I have offered in the past. And if you have any ideas I’d love to hear them. I can’t make promises but I can take suggestions!

* Note, not all software can use the print-then-cut svg file. I have included a native Silhouette Studio file to avoid some current software issues.

Mystery Box Monday, Aug ’23

Hello, hello! I am excited to bring back my Mystery box Monday series. I did this series back in 2020 and since it did not get a lot of views back then I had retired it. But I missed it. This project was just some weird creative fun and I am happy to be back to it.

So, what is Mystery Box Monday? I have a “grab-bag” style box of supplies that I purchased from Piece Craft Love 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 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…

This time around the first two items were clearly Christmas and I thought I knew what I was going to be making, until…

I pulled out this Doodle-Pops sheep embellishment. Um… okay. Now what?

So the brain starts churning away. I could use the letters for a card title. What kind of card? Sheep means baby. Can I do baby with Christmas stamps? There are a lot of words on there, what if I just use the words as an alphabet? What about the holly leaves, what could I do with those in terms of baby? It could be a hill for the sheep to stand on…

…and the idea was born.

I knew the hill would be green and the letters red, so in order to move away from the obvious Christmas color scheme, I pulled in more colors to create a confetti feel. Marker stamping and spattering techniques pulled this card together. If you want all the details, check out the video.

As a bonus I did go ahead and create some Christmas cards too using the same design style. Now I have a bit of a head start on my holiday crafting!

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.

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), August ’23

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.

We are being inspired by this kit from this June kit by Pink and Paper. This is a European company and their kits are built to accompany bi-monthly lesson plans. They are all about education, and not just hoarding! But I tell ya, I was so in love with several of these items and couldn’t narrow it down to just one. So today I four forgeries for you in a bit of a compilation as I’ve done many of these techniques before.

Let’s take a closer look at the items I’ll be recreating.

Let’s take them one by one. First up is the scalloped paper. I simple punched circles (well, actually, half circles) from paper and glued them down into straight lines. This takes some time but zero brain power! It could also be done with stamping (mask off a straight line with tape and stamp half of a circle onto the paper). However, the paper version gives you a bonus… Notice in the final photo the little lift I gave that second row of circles? A layout with tons of dimension is in my future!

Up next is the puffy words. Now, I do have some puffy words already in my kit, but I could not resist pulling out my Nuvo drops for a favorite technique. I created these words and images by drawing with my squeeze bottle onto a non-stick sheet. Let dry for 2 days and these embellishments are ready to go. Nice thing with this technique is that you can use whatever colors and words work for YOUR project!

Want more Nuvo/dimensional drop techniques? Check out this video for lots of ideas!

Third up I have another sheet of pattern paper. I really liked the piece of paper but I knew it would take a while. So I increased the size of my text to reduce the time it would take to get everything done. Now I could have copied the original word for word, but again the beauty of DIY is making it your own. I’ve done my own word art before, and this watercolor piece shows how to get these letters looking good.

Finally I took a flat paper embellishment and recreated it in full real life 3D! I’m taking about the tassels in that ephemera pack. I’ve done tassels more than once over on my YouTube channel because they give so much texture and they are just plain fun to make. If you enjoy fiber based embellishments I have an entire video for that as well.

You could go watch the previous videos I’ve linked up for you, or see all these projects in this compilation video.

Okay, that is my share of forgeries for this month. 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.

Until next time, have an artful day.

CKC Kit Build, August ’23

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 goodies๐Ÿ˜‰ ).

Let’s welcome our guest designer before we dive in. Clair Rigby will be joining us this month! I enjoy seeing when she posts over in our Facebook group, so it’ll be fun to watch her all month long!

Our kit is from a newcomer on the European kit market: Pink and Paper. We will take inspiration from their June 2023 offering. Lisa, our CKC leader is also our hostess this month and she chose this new-to-kits company for their position in Europe (where Lisa lives), and for their education-first approach. (More information on their subscriptions can be found here.)

This kit is bright and flowery with plenty of pink. While I love all those things on their own, I do find it a bit hard to use in my own layouts. So I’ll take inspiration from many things in this kit but shift the color palette just a bit and keep my florals on the calmer side.

I leaned into the purple marbled paper in the inspiration as well as the more peachy pinks. After replacing the teal with just a bit more green, I felt like my papers were ready to go.

Embellishments in the inspiration felt pretty straightforward with some ephemera die cuts, puffy hearts, and puffy words as well. I followed along with much of that, keeping my color palette in mind. A few partially used sticker packs hitchhiked along to complete my embellishments.

Since there were no alphas in the inspiration, I took free rein to use a variety of fonts and styles in colors that coordinated well with my papers.

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 Lavender Bliss for it’s lean into purple and the calm florals I included instead of the bold inspiration florals.

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.

Hereโ€™s the full hop link list

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!

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), July ’23

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.

We are being inspired by this kit inaugural, Feeling Groovy, by Mercy Tiara. Mercy Tiara has a large online presence and audience and she is now offering kits!

While there might have been more obvious things to counterfeit, I was drawn to this little popsicle sticker on the Jen Hadfield sticker sheet.

I was drawn to this image because I have a new stencil from Concord & 9th called Sweet Summer. It was a good excuse to break out my inks and embossing powder — yes, some of these are embossed — to create some sweet treats.

While that popsicle icon on the Jen Hadfield product may be Neapolitan flavor, I made my popsicles in a wide variety of flavors like strawberry lemonade, blackberry, and my favorite, lime punch! Plus there is a bonus popsicle at the end of the video if you want to check it out.

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.

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED^^

—- From Scrapbook.com

—– From ACherryOnTop.com

—- From ScrapbookPal.com

^^ 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!

CKC Kit Build, July ’23

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 goodies๐Ÿ˜‰ ).

Let’s welcome our guest designer before we dive in…. DawnLyn Litz. DawnLyn is very active in our group and shares lots of the projects, from tags and cards to double page layouts. Leave her some love over there for being our guest designer this time around!

Now we can get to the pretty stuff. Our kit hostess for this month, Leslie, was excited to find a new kit offering on the market! It is a kit offering by Mercy Tiara. Mercy Tiara has a large online presence and audience and she is now offering kits! We are using her inaugural kit called Feeling Groovy as our inspiration for this month. If you want to see her whole reveal of this kit, you can check out her YouTube page.

One of the first things I noticed was the pack of PinkFresh Studio chipboard frames. I love their frame pieces and as it turned out I did indeed own this exact pack. I had squirreled it away when I bought it since I was in the middle of so many other things. I’m glad I was reminded of this bit of goodness in my stash to be a starting point for my kit build. The second thing I noticed was Jen Hadfield and Vicki Boutin, two more of my favorite designers. So that made it easy to pull from those three sections of my stash!

Here are the papers I came up with. I believe I only added in those three designers. I really loved that cassette tape paper from the inspiration and considered adding a Bella Blvd vinyl record paper, but the colors were wrong. Instead I used that bicycle paper from PinkFresh (see below) to replace that cassette tape. That along with the big floral are my focal papers for the kit. Not quite the same vibe as the original, but they have their own groove and lean to specific stories for me.

As I mentioned, my embellishments started with that PinkFresh chipboard frame set. I had the matching die cut ephemera from that collection, but I chose to include a different collection of ephemera since it was a partial pack and I want to use it up. I also had the matching sticker sheet, so in that went. I had a very hard time narrowing down the rest of the stuff I pulled. Most of my Jen Hadfield pulls went in, but surprisingly, most of my Vicki Boutin embellishments did not make it. I did keep the two alpha sets I pulled and the tiny Fernwood puffy stickers. In addition I pulled some chipboard style flair (also happens to be PinkFresh) and some flair-style buttons. Enamel dots were the finishing touch.

This kit ended up being WAY bigger than I intended. I was determined to have a smaller kit this time since I am just not using up my kits. But I have a hard time putting pretty things back into storage! So, my kit is big and full and I will likely have to put away the extra pretty things later instead of now. Oh well.

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 Peaceful Plethora.

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.

Hereโ€™s the full hop link list

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!

PRODUCTS USED^^

From Scrapbook.com

From ACherryOnTop.com

SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL^^

Scrapbook.com
ACherryOnTop.com
Scrapbookpal.com

^^ 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!

Freebie Friday, June 2023

I love learning, creating and sharing. That is why I offer freebies up to you each month. I have both a layout sketch (in printable pdf as well as editable photoshop) and an electronic cut file (in svg) for your electronic die cut machines.

Here is some further exciting news… new for 2023 are PRINTABLES.!! You can print them at home, cut apart the embellishments and use them to create your projects. This month I was inspired by the bees and hexagons which have been a part of my work lately! You can see all the details in my reveal video, or read on for the short version.

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Sketch

Here is a closer look at the sketch. I created a layout with this sketch as part of a secondary video for another group. I’ve linked you up in the description if you want to check it out! You can see a photo gallery of that project at the bottom of this post as well.

JUNE 2023

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Cut File

If you are a cut file lover, I’ve got you covered too! My video covers any details for this file and any tips and tricks I have to share. Be sure to get all the info by watching above.

Birds ‘n Bees coordinating cut file

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Printables

These files come to you in an 8.5×11 inch format for easy at-home printing. Keep in mind that monitor/screen colors and printed colors will NOT be the same! Screen colors often appear more vibrant. Colors even vary from printer to printer!

The pattern papers are ready to print and use. Embellishments will either need to be fussy cut, or use the print-then-cut version for your electronic die cut machine. I try to keep the fussy cutting to simple shapes and any circle elements can be punched out with a 1″ circle punch or die. Any cutting tips beyond these will be in the current video reveal!

Birds ‘n Bees

The download links have been included besides each image. However, you can always head over to my Freebies Page to peruse the catalog of files I have offered in the past. And if you have any ideas I’d love to hear them. I can’t make promises but I can take suggestions!

Before we go, here is the photo gallery of the project I created using some of these supplies. The process video is also available. Until next time, have an artful day. (NOTE: The clouds on this layout are from a previous freebies — May ’23 printables and April ’21 cut files– so you may want to check out my whole freebie catalog!)

MIUM Hop

I’ve been participating in the Mix It Up Monday hope hosted over at the Peace Craft Love Facebook page. Anyone in the community can participate in the hop on any social media platform you use, not just YouTube.

The last couple of mixed media video’s I’ve done have felt pretty simple, and that is again true this time. But sometimes we just need simple! And if you are at all intimidated by mixed media, having simple ideas can be encouraging. Here is the full video (and don’t forget the video description has links to the other hoppers!!)

But if you want the quick version, here is how my layout turned out.

Notice that I used the pattern paper, photo frame, and speech bubbles I created in my previous post on doodling your own embellishments. All that counts as mixed media too in my opinion. But the main mixed media consists of watercolor penciling in scribbles on the background and to color in the title.

These simple, slightly messy techniques work well for this story. And don’t worry, she was A-OK after a couple of days!

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED

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!

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), June ’23

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 craft 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.

We are being inspired by this kit from The Friendship Collection kit by Weeds & Wildflowers Supply Company. This is a digital kit so if you are not a digi scrapper but love the mood of this kit, counterfeiting is the way to go!

Since this kit is so jam packed with stuff, if you want to see more, you will have to read my kit building post. There is a whole gallery from this inspiration kit. Or visit their website. we are all about supporting the crafty industry who bring us beautiful products and inspiration. Yet sometimes our crafty needs mean counterfeiting works better for us.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about what I wanted to forge this month. I had a couple of the papers in mind to recreate but my attention really got drawn into all the doodled elements I noticed. Like all of these…

So I pulled out my favorite pens as well as some coloring products. I used my Tim Holtz watercolor pencils but I also show some items using simple markers. Most of the pens that I use for doodling are readily available — the Micron pens. However I have one favorite that I had to track down and that is the Pentel Fude brush pen. Luckily it is available on Amazon, so an easy purchase for most if you like the idea of doodling. That pen is my favorite since the flexible nib allows really easy integration of thick and thinner line work. It is that black pen at the top. As for the Microns, my favorite sizes are 08, 05 and 02 but my 05 has gone rogue so I pulled in an 03 and I don’t think I actually used it!

There are several tips and tricks that I cover in the video below, so if you want some specifics on how I created these items, check it out.

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.

Until next time, have an artful day.

PRODUCTS USED^^

^^ 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!

CKC Kit Build, June ’23

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 goodies๐Ÿ˜‰ ).

Let’s welcome our guest designer before we dive in. Stacy will be joining us for kit fun this time around. You can find here work at https://www.instagram.com/scrapstuffwithstacy/! Leave her some love as we move through June.

Now we can get to the pretty stuff. To start, here is our inspiration kit. It is The Friendship Collection kit by Weeds & Wildflowers Supply Company. They seem to be a digital product supplier, so keep that in mind! Our CKC team member hosting this kit is Tara and she was appreciated the range of options available in this kit. And since she is consistently creates large kits, this inspiration has plenty to offer! As you can see from the inspiration kit images, there is a lot going on!

I was inspired by rainbows and clouds, pops of black and white, washi tape, flair buttons and a few other bits and pieces. The very first thing I wanted to pull was my own paper collection design since it had clouds and rainbows! (It is a free download and you can check it out if you want more information.)

So these are the papers I came up with. The 8.5×11 sheets are from my collection. I didn’t include everything, but just the most relevant pieces. Notice I also have a couple of 6×6 paper pads. There are lots of techniques to incorporate these onto 12×12 layouts if that is your style (This YouTube playlist has many examples.) But… they always make great layers not matter what you do.

Here is a look at the embellishments. I’ve got way more supplies in here than I can possibly use, but having options is good. Kitting helps me limit my supplies just enough so that I am not browsing through my entire craft room each time I sit down to create. Yet a big kit offers plenty of options depending on the mood of the stories I have to tell.

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 for that Forgery on the Fourth project. I’ll tell you I’m showing you some doodling tips and tricks!

There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine Under the Sun.

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.

Hereโ€™s the full hop link list

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!