February 2025 - Challenge #2 Animal Stories

Welcome back to the blog. I hope you have been using up the supplies in your kit to tell your stories. If you still need a bit of motivation, we have another idea for you. First let's take a look at our inspiration again.  

Kitaholic Kits' May 2024 kit

Inspired by the geometric animal print in the pattern papers, today I want you to tell a story featuring an animal. From pets, to the wild ones, I want to see all the critters!

Guest Designer Sheryle

Another layout about one of my favorite subjects, my cats.

Master Forger Brandi

While my kit did not have anything specifically "zoo-themed" in it, I was able to stretch some of the outdoorsy elements from "Great Escape" by Cocoa Vanilla Studio into a sweet introduction page for a day at the zoo!

Master Forger Cindy

I used the zebra print paper from my kit for my layout today. I'm scrapping Milo and Maverick guarding the Grandkids door while they are taking a nap.

Master Forger Jody

Hello crafty friends! This challenge gave me a chance to highlight a small part of our New York City trip last fall. Central Park is awe inspiring including the super cute Zoo. My little guy had a great time watching the seals swim around and around!

Master Forger Laurie

 

I was excited for this challenge. I have a cat named Harley and a dog named Zoey. They really are part of our family and loved so much. To convey that, I used a blue background paper with tiny hearts and a black and white paper with the word "love" in different fonts. Of course I had to use a play on words for my title. Since my main background paper was so dark I used a white jelly pen for my journaling. This photo captures their personalities perfectly. Harley is always stealing Zoey's bed, but she isn't bothered by it. She just makes room and snuggles in.

Two challenges down, yet there is still more to come. Here is what we have coming up.

• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,

Misty

February 2025 - Challenge #1 The Month of Love

 
It is time for our first February challenge. We always start off with a reminder of the inspiration kit we are working with.

Kitaholic Kits' May 2024 kit

This kit steps away from the typical love theme of February’s Valentine’s Day holiday. There are zero hearts in this kit! So today I want you to create some hearts from your kit supplies and put them to use on a layout. To get you started, lets take a look at the team's creations.

Our guest designer has a super fun take on the animal skull pattern paper. Check out the supply she use to represent bones...

Guest Designer Sheryle

I die cut the blue hearts from a paper in my kit. Since we were at the vet, I got to use the X-ray stamp!

Master Froger Julene

I used one big wood veneer hart as the feature on this layout.

I used many branding strips plus ribbon and a big paperclip. The background paper is from TLC.

Master Forger JoJo

My kit is far from any love or Valentine's theme. It's an outdoor adventure kit and what a perfect challenge to do for these photos, since they were taken on me and hubby's first  anniversary camping trip. So I just punched some hearts out and mixed them in along with all the die cuts across the bottom.

Master Forger Misty

I added my main heart as part of my title. That heart I created in the style of the stamp in the inspiration kit, with the geometric lines. After I punched the heart, I ran it through an embossing folder. I inked up the lines of the folder first so the geometry would be more distinctive.

That ticks off the first box for our monthly challenges. We still have plenty coming up.

• 18th February - Challenge #2
• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,

Misty

February 2025 - Mini Kit and Project Reveal

Welcome back to the blog. Today is the day we share mini kits with you. If you are short on time, or if you have a specific project in mind, a mini kit can have you covered. Two of the team, Vikki and Tina, are here to show off how they go mini.

As a reminder here is the inspiration We are working with this month.

Kitaholic Kits' May 2024 kit

I'll let the other ladies take it away now.

Master Forger Tina
It's great to be on the Mini kit crew this month. With my vacation this month for about 10 days I knew I wouldn't be scraping like I'm use to. A fun kit to counterfeit this month too. I went to 2 paper pads for most of my kit.

Love the pop of yellow and blue on a very neutral based kit. Reminds me of the outdoors, museums and buildings. I have pulled enough that if I want to scrap throughout the days available to me to scrap I can. For my project I decided on going back to my 2023 photos and scrap the day I went to the local Museum

My town has some wonderful history and it's always fun to check out the Museum for any new exhibits and this time did not disappoint with this cool exhibit of our old Canal system. Here's some close ups of the layout and journaling

I enjoyed using the neutral background for my photos and bringing in the colors for my accents.

Master Forger Vikki

This month I opted for what I consider a super mini kit.  I was drawn to the masculine colors of the inspiration kit and knew I had the perfect photos to go with the color choices.  I've been scrapping photos of my great niece a lot, so the "boyish" colors were a welcomed change this month.  I wasn't yet sure which color alphas I wanted to use, so decided to add those as I completed layouts.

I completed two projects so far with this month's mini kit.

I knew I wanted to use a photo from a concert I went to last year with this kit.  The paper depicting items from the 80s was a perfect pairing.  I added the guitar sticker to the kit with this photo in mind and love how the blue guitar stands out on the page.  I added a couple of background papers under the photo, in addition to a polaroid frame and filmstrip.

For my second layout, I used a piece of the burlap as a background for the photos of my dad and step-mom.  I popped up some stickers using foam dots.  For the tag, I used a piece of the burlap for the string.  It's a simple layout, but it documents what they love to do, and that's something I want to remember for years to come.

We have barely gotten started with our project inspiration. There is still plenty more to come. Here is what is next on the agenda.

• 12th February - Challenge #1 
• 18th February - Challenge #2
• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,
Misty

February 2025 Forgeries on the Fourth

 

Today is the day when our Master Forgers share the forgeries they have created for the month of February. First, let me remind you of our inspiration kit, 
Kitaholic Kits' May 2024 kit

Our guest designer, Sheryle Thomas, jumped into the forger action. Check out what she created. I absolutely love the cassette die. Plus she had antlers in her stash! So fun.

Master Forger Misty

I had so many ideas this month but I knew I had to just pick a couple. So here is what I ended up doing. 

I tried creating that geometric animal pattern paper using animal dies, a ruler, and a gold pen. I also made some rustic tea-dyed trims. (This is just cut up rag cotton from damaged clothing soaked in extra strong tea for color.)

Master Forger Jody

Used her trusty Silhoutte to cut a free cut file to use as a stencil. Then she used a beautiful gold to fill in the stars.  Now she has a striking background paper ready for a picture and embellishments.  

Master Forger Ryann was inspired by this sheet of paper in the kit.  She has photos of her son at the Children's Hospital with animals that are similar, so she wanted to use this sheet.  She decided to use her Cricut's drawing feature to make a page that (while isn't exactly like it) was inspired by it.  She could use a bear paw for free on her software, and changed the sizes, angles, and the colors; coming up with this origami-style animal print inspired paper!

 Now that everything in our kits are complete, let's see what we have next.

• 6th  February - Mini Kit and Project Reveal 
• 12th February - Challenge #1 
• 18th February - Challenge #2
• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,

Misty

February 2025 - Just the Gist of It

Master Forger Misty here as your hostess for this month. We just had our inspiration reveal yesterday. Sometimes our Counterfeit Kit building can be a breeze, and sometimes you may bump up against an item that you just aren't sure what to do with. 

Despite getting to pick any kit I want as the hostess, I chose this kit. Yet, there was one paper in the inspiration that I wasn't sure about. I won't dismiss a whole kit just because one item is unusual. So let's tackle it together.

Starting from the beginning, here is the full kit.

Details of the papers' A sides

 

And the B sides

 

Plus the embellishments

As well as the add-ons

 

Now let's take a look in on that challenging sheet of paper. Animal skulls. Yep. Now I'm sure some of you will be fine with this. But it did give me pause for a few minutes.

How to tackle this bit of inspiration?

1. Ignore it. That is fine. I don't always use every item in an inspiration kit anyway.
2. Replace it with a sheet of Halloween Skeletons? Or perhaps a sheet of reindeer paper from Christmas supplies? Could work. This would mix up the seasons in an interesting way. This is what I found in my stash.
   
   
   
   
3. Go with a non-skeleton version of an animal or nature print. Much easier. I had many options in my papers, from full 12x12 to 6x6.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Try for the color mood with something heavy white on black. Again I had plenty of options with white on dark backgrounds.
   
   
   
   
   

I saw possibilities in all of these papers. Which option did I go with? I chose the xoxo paper for a couple of reasons. First, I thought the balance of black and white worked well. Plus it was a bit sketchy in nature which matches the inspiration paper's style. Finally, it is a nod to Valentine's day. I don't do many holiday themed items, but giving a nod is just right for me.

Here is how it looks in my selection of papers

The bottom line is, don't be intimidated by anything in an inspiration kit. There is always ideas to work with. I'm excited to see what you will choose for your skeleton paper!

Now, let's see what is coming up next this month:

• 4th February - Forgeries on the Fourth
• 6th  February - Mini Kit and Project Reveal 
• 12th February - Challenge #1 
• 18th February - Challenge #2
• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,

Misty

February 2025 - Inspiration Kit and Social Media Hop

 

Welcome to February 2025. Yes it is already time for a new Counterfeit Kit Challenge!

Master Forger Misty here. I'm up this month to lead the team and you, our community, through another month of inspiration and scrapping. Our inspiration kit for the month is from Kitaholic Kits in Australia. I chose the May 2024 kit. This one appealed to me since it reminded me of a winter cabin in the woods. I wanted something wintery but not full of the typical motifs. With a really neutral color palette and just the right pops of accent colors I hope you find this kit flexible.

Kit overview:

Paper "A" sides:

 

Paper "B" sides:

Embellishments:

 

And the mixed media add-on kit...

Now that we've seen the kit, let's welcome this month's guest designer, Sheryle Thomas. Sheryle is from our very own CKC Facebook community. I love her consistent activity in the group and was happy to invite her to be our guest. Here is more from Sheryle...

"After a long career in nursing and years of caring for my mom, I have been able to focus more on the fun aspects of scrapbooking. I have been scrapbooking and collecting supplies for 25+years so time to use the supplies. I love following sketches and challenges to play with all the pretty paper and embellishments. As a retired person and childless cat lady I get to tell the stories of my extended family and of course those beloved cats. My favorite technique is probably die cutting as I do some on most pages."

Our new kit reveal always comes with a team social media hop to get your creative ideas flowing. Be sure to visit all our team members this month to see a wide range of takes on the inspiration.

Social Media Hop:

 

• Counterfeit Kit Challenge - http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/  

• Guest Designer - Sheryle Thomas (Sheryle is sharing her work on our Facebook Group)

• Brandi - https://www.instagram.com/scrappy.boymama/ 

• Christine - https://www.youtube.com/@ScrappingHarden

• Cindy - http://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/

• Jody - www.instagram.com/floppyearedfarm 

• JoJo - https://www.instagram.com/scrappyconfessions

• Julene - http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com/

• Laurie - https://www.instagram.com/scrapbookingbits/ 

• Misty - http://www.craftysoup.com

• Ryann- https://www.instagram.com/scrapbookjoey/

• Tara -  https://kryptonite72-rambles.blogspot.com/
  

 

 Now, let's see what we have lined up for the rest of this month:

• 2nd February - Just the Gist of it. 
• 4th February - Forgeries on the Fourth
• 6th  February - Mini Kit and Project Reveal 
• 12th February - Challenge #1 
• 18th February - Challenge #2
• 22nd February - Challenge #3 Sketch Challenge
• 24th February - Follower Showcase 
• 26th February - March Sneak Peek (on Instagram and the Facebook Community) 
• 28th February - Challenge #4 Baby, Use Those Scraps Challenge

We love to see what you are working on!  Drop in your projects to our Facebook Community Group and of course tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcfebruary2025

Have an artful day,

Misty