No not the person who you were talking too who suddenly ghosted you.
No, not the haunted spirit kind of ghosts. (Though that is close.😉)
I want to talk about the technique of ink ghosting! While this technique is very simple to explain, it does take some time and patience to get right. So let me show you how it is done and give you of tips & tricks.
Work on heavy cardstock. The smoother the better.
Choose a water reactive ink. Many basic dye inks on the market will work. Look for labels that say “permanent” or “watercolor friendly”. Those are the ones to avoid!
Spread ink all over your paper really well. Ink brayers or foam daubers work great. You can use blending brushes but it will take much longer to get a good coat of ink.
Use an open shaped stencil. Anything with too much detail can get blurry.
Cover up any paper that sticks out beyond the stencil!!
Spray a light mist of water from about 12 inches away until the images are evenly coated.
Wait for about 10 seconds. Dab excess water away with a dry towel.
Repeat as needed to get full coverage on your project!
Voila!
Now I have a bit of an announcement. I will be opening a small online shop to sell a few products. One of them will be this ghost stencil that I designed! If you really want to see it in action, the video below shows all the detail.
I’ll be sharing another ghosting technique on Nov 4th using some stamping. Stay tuned for that! Until next time, 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 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!
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.
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 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.
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 pattern papers from this kit, and a washi tape from the add-ons. I loved the yellow striped paper, the starry green-teal paper and the scalloped paper. I set to making each item.
Everything was pretty straight forward. The hardest recreation was the scalloped print since I didn’t have any stamps to do that one. Instead I used an embossing folder and had to figure out how to get the patterns to align over several separate pieces; twelve by twelve sheets of paper do not fit in an embossing machine! You can see everything in 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😉 ).
Welcome to May! It is my turn to host the activities at CKC this time! I’m excited to share what I’ve got going on for us this month. First though, let’s welcome our guest designer. My friend Alison Day agreed to share her talents with us this month. Not only is she a lovely layout creator, she also owns a scrapbook & craft store—Ladner Village Arts & Crafts located near Vancouver BC, Canada. You can find Alison on her blog, her YouTube channel and Instagram.
Now that we have given Alison some love, let’s move on to our inspiration! I was browsing the net looking for a kit when I happened upon a new-to-me company—DLS Design. It isn’t a surprise that I’d never heard of them since they are located in the Netherlands. However, when I saw their kit called Timeless, I was hooked! (Oh how I wish it wasn’t too expensive to ship their products to the US. Sigh.) That bold geometric hit all the sweet spots for me. Bold, but well balanced with softer colors and white. Plus quirky detailing to the circles. Then a deep dive into the collection lead me to fabulous icons like moths, pears, houses and so much more.
So here is what the Timeless kit looks like on their website.
Since this image isn’t full of detail, I did a bit of copying and pasting to get a better look at all the items within this kit. Here is how I put everything together. Some of the images aren’t the best as they were tricky to track down!
Note that this kit is a smaller selection of goodies from their larger collection release. If you want to see the entire line you can get even more inspiration.
So to build my kit I stared with that first pattern paper that I fell in love with. I actually had quite a few circle and half circle prints in my stash. Nothing was quite perfect but I settled on a Heidi Swapp paper that I really like (far right). From there I built out my other papers with pieces that captured the mood of the inspiration papers.
Next it was time to pull embellishments. I wanted all the cool icons, but I don’t have many of them in my stash. I had to make do with what I could pull.
On the left I have some cut-apart cards that have some of the icons, such as house plants, moths and books. I included a sticker sheet and ephemera pack from PinkFresh Studio that also had some more of the icons. The colors of those two weren’t a perfect match, but I will use the pieces that work. Phrases, enamels, hearts and stars were all on the inspiration menu and they made it in as well. Alphas are a must, but I skipped the kit stamp in favor of a die. Then, from the expanded collection I added in washi tape as well. Embellishments complete!
Don’t forget that each month I also create a few of my own elements to add into my kit. In the kit build video below I talk about some of what I have planned if you want a small sneak peek.
Before I wrap up this post, there is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine…
Sweet Summertime
All the bold color, fruit and moths remind me of warm summer days & nights!
If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my video.
I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits. I know I am very curious to see what they all come up with.
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 [fill in blank here].
But if we take a deep dive into this kit and all it’s components, we can zoom in on these few items. In the pattern papers there is a green grid print that can be easily doodled by hand. That “plus” print pattern paper also can be super easily replicated. There are on the to-do list for sure. Next, the “rainbow” embellishments made up of little florals are not that hard. The little floral “medallions” –for a lack of a better word– from the embellishment stickers are best shown in this version from one pocket card.
In that final pic above, I took things ever farther. I explain in the video that if you are new to doodling, you can get started by copying. Once you are comfortable, new ideas will come and you can just keep going. These are the ideas that popped to mind as I was playing. I had more ideas that I had time to make.
If you want to work with me as I walk through the process, you can follow along with this 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.
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!
Just a couple more things to share with you as I wrap up the month. The second item is my fav so don’t miss that one.
First up I did my Mystery Box Monday project. This is where I’ve purchased a grab bag of discounted supplies and I pull out three things from the box without looking. Then I have to put all of those to use on a project. It is just a silly creativity stretcher and a good excuse to purchase a box of random supplies.
I pulled out two ink pads and I was starting to feel nervous. Luckily, the third item was a stamp set. Whew! I had something more to work with. Although, now that I think about it, I totally could have gotten inky with stencils or stamps from my stash. As it was, I pulled way more inks and other supplies and went well beyond what my three mystery ingredients were!
I had fun creating this 5×7 art piece. I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a while to hang on my wall. This feeling of artfulness outside of the scrapbook page is growing in my brain more and more lately! I did decide to give this one away as I still have more ideas for MY walls! (More on this project in this video.)
Speaking of artfulness, the next one gets very arty indeed. But it isn’t hard! It just needs a few specific supplies. I talk all about it in the video, which is the best way to get the hang of the whole process. However, if you want the step by step blog post, that is all over on the ScrapHappy.org blog where I am a creative team member.
Oh my! Just playing with all that color is fun. Who cares about turning it to anything in the end. Yet, I did have this layout in mind, so my alcohol inked background did make it to a finished product!
Okay, that is it for March. I know Easter is in a couple of day from posting this. If you celebrate, I wish you a Happy Easter. Until next time, have an artful day!
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