Sunday, December 30, 2012

Meet our Design Team

I would like for you to meet our 2013 Design Team!  We have some familar faces as well as some new friends to inspire you!  I asked each Master Forger to take a photo with a scrapbook item that represented them...have fun getting to know our new Design Team!



My name is Andrea Ockey Parr and I reside in the great state of Utah. You can find out more about me on my blog: http://snappingmonsters.blogspot.com/. The scrappy item that represents me is a handful of colorful yarn, ribbon and lace. This says "ME" because I like to take materials that I don't really know how to use in the traditional sense (knitting) and use them for artsy stuff anyway. I believe that you don't have to be trained, pro or "correct" to use all sorts of fun stuff!




Hello my name is Angela, I live in England with my husband and three children, two of them have special needs. I keep sane by crafting, art and scrapbooking. I blog my journey at Toucan Scraps and News [ http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk/ ] . I love to teach and write tutorials. A few years ago I decided to move my tutorials onto a separate blog to make them easier to find, they are at Toucan Scraps Tutorials [ http://toucanscraps.blogspot.co.uk/ ] . I craft with paper and textiles, and play with mixed media art, but when it comes to scrapbooking my most important scrapbooking tool is my laptop. Nearly all my scrapbooking is digital.




I'm a Brit in (north-west) Britain and I'm called Jemma but I go by the username Jimjams on various forums (fora?) as wel as on my blog Just-Jimjams. I've picked a rainbow's worth of buttons for my scrappy item as I love a good rainbow and I use lots of buttons on my pages.
 

 
 

Hello! I'm Jennifer Grace, a crafting mum-of-two from Dorset, UK, (and owner of the blog: Jennifer's Jumbles ) and I've chosen gems and pearls to represent me. I like to scatter jewels on my projects, because they help me to feel 'free' - I tend to keep my photos and papers straight, but then I let loose with the jewels, and have fun with it in the moment. That's quite like my life - I'm always trying to be organised and sensible, but then I rebel for a bit and just act silly instead! I also like to add sparkle to the lives of those around me - I like to make lots of gifts and cards for friends and family to share my passion, and I hold bi-annual blog events to spread inspiration, and a chance of winning giveaways, with the online crafting community! I hope you'll enjoy my twinkly projects here at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog!




Hello, fellow forgers! I'm Julie LaKose (aka hisglorygirl or glorygirl), creating and blogging here in the USA (www.hisglorygirl.blogspot.com). SO excited, thrilled and honored to be part of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Design Team! YIPPEEE! It was more difficult than I expected to choose one scrappy item that best represents me. While I use a variety of different items, depending on the project, the one item I can never be without is a set of letters. Words are super important to me in real life and on my pages. I believe there is power in our words and I strive to keep mine positive and uplifting. It's important to me to encourage others with words whenever I have the chance. Thanks so much for the opportunity to be part of this community! I'm so looking forward to the months to come!!!!





"Hi, I'm Libeeti from Israel. I'm a mom of two adorable and energetic boys. I'm a full time working woman by days, and an addicted scrapper by nights and weekends.
I started scrapbooking about 3 years ago, encouraged by a good virtual friend of mine. Scrapbooking became my mental therapy, but I'm not sure it's low cost comparing to psychologist... LOL.
The scrapy tool I chose to take is Prima's distress tool. Distressing is my all time fav technique to use and I distress almost every paper I put my hands on (luckily I don't use it on my boys...). Till lately, I used simple cutting knife to distress my papers, but from the first day I got Prima's distress tool, I can hardly put it down. Sometimes I feel that it does everything except making coffee...LOL."  Feel free to come by MY BLOG to see my work!




Hi, I'm Lisa! Originally from Birmingham in the UK, you can now find me living in a small town called Marl in North Rhine Westphalia in Germany, home to great beer, delicious Bratwurst and traditional Christmas Markets! I moved for love and soon discovered that I also fell in love with Germany! I'm a traditional scrapper, creating mostly single 12x12 pages about my life. I chose the What's Up line by BasicGrey to represent me as I'm a basic kind of gal, there's a whole lot of neutral in my life (grey!) and my number one manufacturer is of course BG themselves. This line (and to be honest, many of their lines) has plenty of pink and anyone who knows me, KNOWS I love me some pink, as well as lots of whimsical patterns and colours which can also be me when I'm not being very grey! I'm full of contradictions ;-) I reach for BasicGrey more than any other manufacturer and it was my very first piece of BG paper that got me hooked. I'm thrilled to be part of the Counterfeit Design Team and can't wait to get going in the New Year with new challenges, new fellow Forgers and plenty of new inspiration!   Check out what I am workin on at MY BLOG!
 
 


 
Hello from Australia. My name is Lisa Johnston and I thrilled to be given the opportunity to contribute to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.
I am a mumma to four boys, wife to my wonderful husband and I squeeze a part-time job in there as well.
I have been scrapbooking for ten years and my stash shows it! I have imposed a scrapbook spending ban on myself for the next six months (apart from adhesive of course) and counterfeiting will be a perfect way to make old supplies seem new again. I can't wait to get started.
I chose a photo with one of my favourite Scrapbook Magazines. I may not scrap everyday but I certainly read about it and plan my next scrapbook project in my head so when that precious time comes I am ready to go.  You can see what I am up to at MY BLOG!




Brown paper packages tied up with strings...these are a few of my favorite things. And of course, that string MUST be baker's twine! My name is Lynnette Nagle and I'm thrilled to be on the design team of another one of my favorite things: Counterfeit Kit Challenge. Baker’s twine is all the rage these days. Whether used to make a simple bow, wrapped around a photo or used as lines for journaling, this vintage embellishment can add a lot of interest to your page. Originally red and white, it was used in bakeries to secure the classic white bakery box closed. Today, it is available in every color in the rainbow and goes way beyond the box. It seems as though baker's twine and I go together perfectly. It's classic in style with a nod to vintage flair. It's strong and hardworking holding boxes secure or tethering balloons. The twine's colors are well-coordinated and tightly intertwined much like the relationships I have in my life. And most of all, it's just so whimsical that is HAS to bring a smile to your face!


Lynnette and classic red and white baker's twine...so happy together!


My real life home is in Allamuchy, New Jersey which may be too far for you to visit, so be sure to stop by my virtual one at www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
 

 

Hello, fellow scrappers. I'm Milissa from southern Texas and super excited to be on this fabulous team with these wonderfully talented women. I chose this birthday board book for my project for a couple of reasons. First, the colors in the two paper lines I used for it are beautiful and I love them. Second, I don't get to make altered projects near enough and I love making them. And finally, when I was making this I wasn't sure my daughter was going to like it but she absolutely loved it so that made it even more special. I hope to see you around, both here on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and on my own blog, One Happy Scrapper at millermall.blogspot.com.




My name is Rebecca, and I am from Ohio.
I chose my ATG as a scrappy item to represent me. The ATG is a pretty simple piece of equipment, but it gets the job done. I'm a pretty simple  scrapper;I like scrapbooking to be easy. My scrappy time is pretty limited, and while I can be slow and get lost in the details, I generally try to keep things simple so I can get as much done as possible. So that's why I chose the ATG to represent me. I don't think I've done any scrapping without my ATG since I bought it a couple of years ago, and its the only scrappy-related item that actively saves me money as I use it. So I'd say it had definitely earned its keep on my scrapping desk!  You keep an eye on what I am up to on MY BLOG!
 
 
We would also like to say a sad goodbye to Susanne and Margie as they move on to other things!  It has been a joy to work with both of you! You will be missed!
 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Mr. Linky January 2012

Here is the Mister Linky for ALL of the links for the month of November...whether you are linking a picture of your kit, a mini challenge, or anything else you have created, link it here. There is a "quick link" to this Mister Linky on the top right side bar of the blog as well.

In order to make this Mister Linky a little easier to *understand* with so many different types of links in it...in the "name" field below, type your name and either the word "kit", "mini challenge", or "other" according to what you are linking. Hopefully that will keep it a little organized!!!

Been Caught Stealing!

We are REALLY excited about our January Guest Designer!  Say a big hello to Madeleine Lopez from Senoritami !



I am an educator, crafter, wife and mother to my angels. I have been
scrapping for over 2 years and currently live in Massachusetts. My sons
are my daily inspiration. Through each of my projects, I aspire to
elicit smiles and a sense
of gratitude for personal memories and everyday life. I value the art
of story-telling. As scrapbookers we not only tell the story for a few
of our contemporaries and
family, we also capture everyday life for future generations. Each
project gives me the opportunity to use words, color, textures and
details to capture stories, emotions, places and events. It is this
multifaceted form of storytelling that makes this hobby so enjoyable
and exciting to share.
 
We are so happy to have you with us this month, Madeleine!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Milissa's Page Kit in Action


Christmas is by far my favorite time of year.  It is not, however, my favorite time to scrapbook.  I believe the reason is because I take way too many pictures and I have a hard time deciding which to scrap and which not to.  As a result, I have accumulated quite the backlog of Christmas' to scrap. So when we Master Forgers were asked to pick a month to create a page kit for the Counterfeit Kit Blog naturally I chose December.

Here is my Kit, titled Christmas Wonder, using some Webster's Pages paper.


Now, I have to admit to a little blunder.  When I made this kit, I layally loved all of the papers I chose.  But as I started making my layouts, I realized there was one sheet I just was not going to be able to utilize:

Yep, that one with the big "x" on it.  So I made a quick substitution ....


And I believe you will agree that my pages really came out much better for it.
Here is the sketch I used for all of my layouts, changing it up a little here and there


Pink Paislee
 I had seen it on the Pink Paislee blog back in September and pinned it knowing it would come in handy.  

Onto the pages.... 


 I have finally gotten a grip on all my Christmas pages and am up to 2011.


I love these little rosettes.  I took the little paper circle off of two of them and added some bling to make it go with the colors of the page better.


Those little ornaments I have had forever!


See how well my substituted paper works with this layout?


 I have to admit, I dipped back into my stash and pulled out this little border of lights and colored them in to go with this page.  I think it added just the right touch.


And my final layout, unfortunately, needs to have the pictures reprinted.  I didn't notice until I went to add them to the layout that they were printed at the end of the print cartridge and they have streaks through them. 
But how about that?  Three pages out of that little page kit.  Okay, I did cheat a smidgen and added a couple of background papers.  But they were already in my stash so that doesn't count, right?
I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Until next time, happy scrappin'!


Monday, December 24, 2012

Milissa's Creative Process

Today is my turn to share with you my creative process.  I hope you have enjoyed all of the posts from the other Master Forgers about their process and their page kits and that it has given you a chance to get caught up a little.
 In previous blog posts I have shared the different ways that I create my kits so I thought I would discuss my process for creating a project.
 Generally, I try to clean up after each project.  My desk will usually look like this when I start off a new project. 


Okay, not completely  clean, but a nice open whole to work in.  The stack closest to the front is stuff that usually is an ongoing project, in this case cards.
 There is usually a starting point for a project - something that sparks my interest.  It may be a sketch, a new purchase I want to use, etc.



For this project, I am making two cards and one of them is for a lady that loves pink and bling so I have picked these items out of my stash as my inspiration. 



I also have these stamps that I want to use on the cards.  This is a new stamp company and I love the font and the borders on these stamps.  Now lets raid my scrap stash for some paper.



 I think this will be just the thing!



If I don't have a sketch or a challenge that I am working from, then I just kind of play around with the paper to make it work.  For this card above, it's hard to tell but the bottom stamp is actually double-stamped, slightly offset.  I like to that sometimes to make it look like it has a shadow. 



And here is the card that I started with.  I think she will like it.  I also dressed up the inside a bit. 



More sparkle!  And that is my scrappy process in a nutshell.  So do you have a system for how you scrap or do you just go how the wind blows?  I used to think I didn't really have a set way to scrap till one day it just clicked that I really always start the same way.  It was one of those "aha" moments.  I bet if you really think about it you have a process too!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Lisa's Creative Process



I have a little confession... I’m a very changeable person and not very organised. And this also applies to my scrapbook process. J So, even though I’m describing my process below, I can’t really promise you that it’s always like this! I tend to go where my mood takes me. Sometimes I start with a story I write down, sometimes it’s the photo that drives the steps I take, product can often inspire me to create without any idea of which photo or story I want to end up with and then there’s challenges which very often drive my direction. And I like it that way. I like the variety of the way my brain works and I might make two layouts right after each other and use different ways to create them, depending on how I feel.

However for the purpose of this blog post, I decided to just create a page I had on my list and see what I did so that I could describe it for you.

I started off with inspiration from my challenge blog – to be inspired by babies. I had a pile of photos to choose from the recent arrival of my new niece so in this case, I picked out a photo next. For products, I knew I wanted to base my design on white cardstock so out that came. Then I went to my piles of stash and started flipping through, picking out anything that spoke to me. Pink and pretty shades were the idea I had in my mind and before long I had a half dozen or so sheets of paper or scraps that seemed to go together. I laid them out and added a few embellishments to the pile so I could see what would work together. A few papers got taken out straight away and in the end, I only used a few of those selected.



Here we have all the products I thought I might like to use. There’s a few items from My Mind's Eye (Follow Your Heart) along with some BasicGrey, some Bo Bunny, a sheet from a Swedish paper company, Maja Design and Prima. I liked the addition of the neutral greys to the pinks and wondered if I could incorporate the Polaroid designs in there too somehow. The unusual thing about this layout is that I have used a large photo – it’s 5x7 with a wide white border. I tend to use smaller prints right now so I knew that would be a bit of a challenge for me.

The next step for me is to lay out some paper blocks to see how the colours are combining and to estimate the layers I want to incorporate. I generally just cut up blocks of paper and only then work out how and where to put them. In the photo you can see one or two other papers that I have already cut but couldn’t work them into the design so I left them out. I lay out the papers on the page to see them together and then add a few of the embellishments I might like to use. At this point I realised I wanted a doily so added that in. My process is very fluid! I might add in some small items to my clusters such as the SC veneer items, fishing them out of my stash as the idea comes into my head.




At this point, nothing is attached and nothing is fixed in my mind. I very often stop and start again at this stage. But on this layout I then picked everything up and started gluing down, lightly pressing them down until I know that the position is correct. When everything looks about in the right position, I flatten all the items down with my hand to fix them all.



Next up comes the photo and the beginnings of my embellishments, usually placed in small, dimensional clusters, and very often forming some sort of a visual triangle or diagonal across the page. These design principles help bring your eye around the page to the items you wish to draw attention to. In this case, it’s bringing your eye from the start of the title at the top, down through the photo and across to the second part of the title at the very bottom.

It’s now that I start rummaging around in my stash for extra little items to add in to my clusters. I was rather limited for this layout as some of my stash (such as buttons) is still packed away after our move so I limited myself to whatever I could find on my scrap table. 3 small pink buttons it was! I also try to make sure that I’m working in odd numbers, which tend to be more pleasing for design. There’s a small cluster of three at the bottom and the same at the top. There are three birds and one butterfly. It’s not a hard and fast rule but something that just tends to happen naturally.



For this layout I continued to poke around on my desk and discovered some washi tape that I had just purchased, so a few strips got added here before I looked through my alphabets for something that would be suitable. I knew I wanted to write a long title but wasn’t sure what or where. When I came across these small BG letters, I knew they would be perfect due to the large number of letters on each of the sheets. I did this title back to front, starting at the bottom with the last word and working back to the beginning of that phrase before deciding how the title should start (wording) and where I would put it. That is another reason I like the current trend for small letters so much: it doesn’t restrict me so much and I can usually find a small corner to squeeze in these words.



One of the issues with creating the page like this is that there’s been no planning for my journaling! If I have a lot to say at this stage, I’m in trouble and this is when I might realise I need to add a 6x12 page for the story. Or maybe create some sort of hidden journaling pocket. This is when I realise that I should plan more! However, for this layout, I was lucky as the photo is the main focus, the title is long and says a lot and therefore the journaling was almost not needed. But I don’t make many pages with no journaling at all, so I got out some rough paper and jotted out a few lines until I found something a bit more than, “You are gorgeous and I love you”! Then I copied this into the small corner I’d picked out and was relieved to find it fitted in. Sometimes the last sentence of my journaling gets missed out when there’s not enough room, or I just move to another free part of the page. I’m just not that organised!

The last thing I did was to add some super thin paper strips (as you cut them, they naturally develop a curl) along the side of the photo with a small pink ribbon bow at the bottom that had caught my eye in my scrap bag.

Now it’s time to step back and have a look to see if everything is working ok together. I check for balance, for colours, for crooked letters (although they are always a bit crooked!), for if something else is needed to add a little extra.

This time around, I decided it was enough. I could have continued building up those clusters, scattering more stuff around or maybe splatting some ink to add a little extra something.



So there you have it, a typical page following a typically chaotic process for putting it together. I hope you enjoyed this little insight to my rather disorganised brain and if this is different to how you produce your layouts, I’d love to see you give this a go and see how you get on!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lisa

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Lisa's Mini Kit



Lisa's Page Kit
Sketch from Page Maps

Layout from Sketch
Another Layout without photos



Visit Lisa's blog for more information about her kit and layouts at http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Friday, December 21, 2012

Margie's Creative Process

Thank you for visiting today! Today, I will share a little bit of my scrapbooking process, and how I proceed once I have made my Counterfeit Kit for the month. For example, my Halloween themed kit that I pulled together for this month. Usually, I pull my kit and photos first, then start looking for sketches that I can use, that will work with both. When I came across this sketch on the PageMaps blog, it struck me how perfectly it would work with the round Martha Stewart embellishments that I had included in my kit, so that is where this page started.

This is the page that I came up with, based on this sketch:


Stop by my blog today to see the rest of the pages that I have created from this kit!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Margie's Kit

When Beth and Meridy challenged us to each take a month, and make a themed kit for December's blog posts, I immediately knew I wanted to make a Halloween kit for October! With four kids, I have accumulated quite the stash of Halloween products and photos, so I knew that I would have plenty to work with! For this kit, I was inspired by my new 8x8 pad of October Afternoon Witch Hazel, with the warm orange, black, and aqua. That was my starting point, and that is how "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"came to be.

I wanted "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"to have a whimsical vintage Halloween feel, so I started with the color scheme and then moved to prints-I loved the vintage patterns on the October Afternoon papers, and I felt that the Tim Holtz Halloween paper stash had a fun vintage twist to it, as well. The Martha Stewart round sticker embellishments carried out my theme, and then I moved to pulling ribbons, washi tape, and other accents that complimented my color story.
Be sure to stop by my blog today , http//scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/ , where I will share a complete supply list for my kit!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Crystal's Process

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How do I start a layout? In order to figure this out I actually sat down a did a layout like normal and took notes. Here is what I found. I can only start a layout one of two ways: either with photos or a sketch. If I have the photos then almost always a sketch follows and if I am starting with a sketch then I must find the number of photos the sketch requires. 

Next is picking out my background which most likely is a neutral cardstock, kraft, black, white or cream.

I then pull three to four pattern papers that pull colors from the photos or go with the location/season I am working on.  I am a stick and go girl. I fiddle for about two minutes and then have found that I usually go back to my first instinct so I am trying to get better at that aspect. 

After I adhere my pattern paper, then I place photos making sure to leave room for my title and journaling. Now I go into my stash and pull embellishments, thickers etc for title or design and cut title with Silhouette. Last is adhering journaling, although I usually hand write it once before placing it on the page. 

So there you have it my simple scrapping process. Do you have to start with photos? Or do you prefer to start with pattern paper or a new embellishment? 

I hope you are enjoying your holidays, see you in the new year!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Crystal's September Kit-Fall

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Well of course I am here today to share a FALL page, did you expect any less? I don't have a sketch just yet or a page done since scrapping has been on the back burner for me since our son was born in July. I think you guys will understand that though! Here is my kit! Enjoy!
Crystal-Fall

Monday, December 17, 2012

Libeeti's Process

 Today Libeeti is here to share her process. Enjoy!
My creative process, making the CKC kits:

Step 1:
Look at the inspirationkit and take a deep breath. Don't panic, Bethany came up (again) with an inspiration kit that I havne't got the faintest idea how will I counterfeit it.

Step 2: 
Look again, this time with a pen and a sheet around. It's time to do some homework here.

Step 3:
Start writing down the colors of the inspiration kit. Try to figure out what are the main colors and which of the colors are secondary.

Step 4:
Write down the main patterns of the inspiration kit.

Step 5:
Decide on which colors and pattern I'm going to counterfeit.

Step 6:
Take out dp with the colors/patterns that I decided to counterfeit. 

Step 7:
Time for another deep breath. I took out HUGE amount of dp. no way I'm goning to use them all, or even 75% of them. Sometimes this stage can take a day or two...or three...

Step 8:
Reduce, reduce and reduce.No way I'm going to put 20 dp into my kit! reduce again.
Try to include some "old" papers, and if possible - at least one "ugly" (i.e. not so loved) paper. 

Step 9:
Choose coordinate cardstocks. Make sure to include at least one of the following: white/off white/cream and kraft.

Step 10:
Time for embellishments. Look ate the inspiration kit - are there any embellies that I wish to counterfiet? do I have enough time to counterfiet them? 
Try to put into my kit some of my neglected items (this way I managed to reduce dramaticly the amount of chipboard I had!). Make sure to include doilies and buttons.

Step 11: 
Look at the challenges for the next month. Okay, another deep breath. I know I'll find a way to handle them.

Step 12:
Print enought photos to work with (I always, really always, neglect this step).

Step 13:
Pet my self! I managed to cope with another counterfiet kit! Let's the fun begin.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Libeeti's Page Kit-August-Sweet Summer Days

Today Libeeti is here to share her Sweet Summer Days kit and a cool sketch! Head on over to her blog to see a layout she did with both!