August 2026 Inspiration Kit and Social Media Hop

 Welcome to August and a brand-new month of Counterfeit Kit fun!

I'm excited to be your Master Forger this month, and I think you're going to love the inspiration kit. For August I choose a kit from a UK company called Crafty Templates, and their May/June kit have lots of summertime, fresh fruit fun, with some great tags, some sequence and some great mixed media goodies! 

https://www.craftytemplates.com/product-page/may-june-2026-embellishments-kit

https://www.craftytemplates.com/product-page/may-june-2026-main-kit

Now, let's give a warm welcome to our Guest Designer, Sarah R, who participates often in our community!  

 I live in Newbury, Berkshire UK. I’m a PA to the Directors at a Building Society. I have two grown up children and one granddaughter Daisy who is 8. I’m a widow of 21 years so I know to make the most of every day - we’re only here for a visit. 

As a child I kept Newspaper cuttings of the Royal Family in a scrapbook and I started to scrapbook my photos about 13 years ago but stopped due to life events, however I really got back into it during 2020 - COVID and lockdown! I have followed Counterfeit Kit Challenge on the blog for years and a couple of years ago got stuck into creating kits from the inspiration each month. I have hundreds of photos still to scrap from many many years of snapping away and I like to use a defined kit for each event, occasion or holiday so CKC is great to help me focus on pulling different collections from my stash together to use this way for each project.  I love all the ideas each month and the support and comments posted in the group is so encouraging - everyone is so lovely.

I love CKC because it encourages me to use papers and supplies I already have, mix them with other kits, and make everything go further — especially all those odds and ends left over from older kits. This month’s inspiration kit is one I actually owned, as I’m a huge fan of Simple Stories, but I’ve used a lot of it already. By pulling in papers from my stash, I can recreate the same feel and make more pages for my summery photos.

I started by choosing papers that matched the inspiration kit, including unbranded fruit papers and some floral and checked designs from Carta Bella and Maggie Holmes — the patterns match even if the colours aren’t the same. Then I pulled out embellishing pieces such as file tabs, a few lemons, washi tape, pom-pom trim, and journaling cards that fit the theme and match the inspiration items. 

To stretch the kit even further, I added in older Simple Stories collections that share the same colour palette: Summer Snapshots, True Colors, Sun‑Kissed, plus the remaining pieces from Echo Park’s A Slice of Summer, which has lots of fruit elements. I also included my office style dies, a cut file (I have some birthday photos), some Vicki Boutin titles, matching Hobbycraft letters, and Bramble Fox Perspextives.

It’s a big kit, but I have plenty of photos to scrap — and hopefully more as we head into August. I’ve called my kit Lemon Sunshine.

Inspiration Hop Line Up:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog - http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/
Guest Designer: Sarah https://buttononit.blogspot.com/

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

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

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

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

Tina - https://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com/

Vikki https://www.instagram.com/memoriesandmomentsscrapbooking/

Amanda - https://youtube.com/@amandacreates1980

Shala - https://www.youtube.com/@Bookishshala

Briana - https://www.youtube.com/@lovemylifeonpaper

Here's what we have coming up this month:

• 2nd - Just the Gist of It
• 4th - Forgeries on the Fourth
• 6th - Mini Kit and Project Reveal
• 12th - Challenge #1: Summer Adventure
• 18th - Challenge #2: Let's get a little Messy
• 22nd - Challenge #3: Let's Get Sketchy
• 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

We'd love to see what you create! Share your projects in the Counterfeit Kit Community on Facebook or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge.  #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcAugust2026

I can't wait to see what you come up with - I hope you will play along with your stash! 

Happy Scrapping!  XO Amanda Bass