Thursday, September 18, 2025

September 2025 - Challenge #2 Everyday Life

Hello!  Can you believe we're almost half way through September already?  It's time for our second challenge and I want you to tell us about your every life.  Create a layout documenting something about your everyday life.  Think about something from your everyday that you want to cherish for years to come.  Is it cuddles with your favorite person or pet, a favorite restaurant, a movie or book you can't stop talking about?  It's time to document these little things so years from now, you can look back through your albums and remember what life was like today.

 Here's a little reminder of our inspiration kit, Life Captured by Simple Stories.


Just look at what our amazing Master Forgers created for this challenge!



I created a layout about reading my bible on a daily basis. The photo I used was taken in January 2017 and features the bible that I taught my kids from during our homeschooling era.  This layout is super simple but has a big title and a small amount of journaling.
 

Here are some close-ups:
 



 


I chose to create a layout with a candid of myself (taken by one of my kiddos on the sly) working in the evening lesson planning, which is definitely part of my everyday life from September to end of June. I used some old stash from Studio Calico, and Hip Kit Club pattern paper, and the brads and most of the chipboard is from a school line from Simple Stories. The stamping in the long title was created with the packaging technique first, and then stamping a Dylusion calendar stamp and a Close to My Heart alpha stamp. It's so great to include yourself and your own everyday life moments in your scrapbooks! 






I pulled out the two pictures of Derek and Darcy playing before bedtime. Both were taken in March within a couple of weeks of each other. I am using my Stories by the Month for March 2021. 2022 and 2023 (chipboard piece, journal card, and stamp). The I pulled out a Martha Stewart punch to jazz up the page a bit with pink cardstock. pulled a floral spay I had cut a while ago and ran it through an embossing folder for more interest. The butterfly is a left over from a floral arrangement I dropped off at the nursing home. 
 
 

                                     We still have a lot to come this month.  Be sure to check it all out!

  • September 22nd - Challenge #3 Let’s Get Sketchy
  • September 28th - October Sneak Peek (FB Community & Instagram)
  • September 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

We always love to see what you are working on!   We often choose our Guest Designers by looking at the work you show us.  Share your projects on our Facebook Community Group and be sure to tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcseptember2025 


Happy Scrapping!
Master Forger Vikki

Friday, September 12, 2025

September 2025 - Challenge #1 Happy Hearts


Hello!  Welcome to the first challenge of the month!   I hope you are playing along this month and sharing your projects with us in our Facebook Community.  

Our first challenge is all about your happy heart.  Create a layout documenting someone or something that makes your heart happy.  The possibilities are endless - your child, grandchild, your spouse, a pet, your favorite hobby, even a cup of coffee or a good book.  All of these things certainly make me happy.

Here's a little reminder of our inspiration kit, Life Captured by Simple Stories.



Our Guest Designer and Master Forgers created awesome projects for this challenge!


When I saw Challenge #1 was to create a layout about something or someone that makes your heart happy, my fur babies were the first things that came to mind.  Featured on this layout are my dog Emma Jean, and my cats Luna (top) and Dorito (bottom).  When I created my kit I knew I wanted to focus on using up the ephemera packs and the almost finished Vicki Boutin embellishments mixture pack.  So for me a great way to use up lots of bits is to make a wreath design.  Placing my photos diagonally across the page allows them to be the main focus.  I then used lots of different elements to connect both sides of the photos creating my wreath.  I added a mixed test title to finish it off cause my babies are simply the best!



MF JoJo

Of course when I read what the challenge was I was for sure going to scrapbook about one of my 5 grandchildren, today I chose to scrapbook about my youngest and last granddaughter. She brings me a lot of love and joy in my life, we babysit her full time and really get lots of cuddles.




My boys & our fur baby! I also took the challenge as inspiration for a title!

                                                  

                                                    Check out what's still to come this month!

  • September 18th - Challenge #2
  • September 22nd - Challenge #3 Let’s Get Sketchy
  • September 28th - October Sneak Peek (FB Community & Instagram)
  • September 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

We always love to see what you are working on!   We often choose our Guest Designers by looking at the work you show us.  Share your projects on our Facebook Community Group and be sure to tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcseptember2025 


Happy Scrapping!
Master Forger Vikki

Saturday, September 6, 2025

September 2025 - Mini Kit and Project Reveal

 

Today we are going to talk about mini kits.  We know that life can be busy, and you know that you just won't have a lot of time to play along here at CKCB.  Perhaps you're going to have only a few hours to create some projects.  Maybe you've just found us and the thought of making a kit is just a little bit overwhelming.  Let me introduce you to the idea of mini kits.  Mini kits still allow you all of the creativity, just with fewer supplies from your stash.  It's a great way to get started with CKC.

Here's our inspiration kit, Life Captured by Simple Stories.



Let's have a look at the mini kits and projects created by two of our Master Forgers.  I hope they inspire you to try a mini kit of your own.

Master Forger Misty

This month I decided to create a traveling scrapbook. I'll be heading to the east coast and I want to capture those memories as they happen on the go!

Now my notebook isn't really a traveler's notebook, nor is it a traditional scrapbook. Instead I'm using a type of Japanese notebook that works more like a binder. It has a spiral spine that opens to allow adding or removing papers.

Here it is pictured in the middle of the products.
(More info on these notebooks at JetPens.com)


Speaking of products, my kit build started with some very basic papers. In fact, the globe paper came from some of the inspiration embellishments...
and it sparked this entire travel project!

 Here is a look at the papers I chose to start. I love how the speech bubbles looks so much like the month bubbles from the inspiration! Note that these were cut down from 12x12 papers since I'll need a smaller size for this notebook. I will take the rest of the paper pieces as well.


I've included cut-aparts based on the cut-apart nature of the inspiration's pattern papers. I do have more of these to pack along as well. This is just a sampling.


With my embellishments I begin to veer off from the inspiration a bit. I did include some inspiration based everyday life elements & phrases. Then I made this more my own by including more travel icons.



This project will be a combination of pre-made pages and impromptu pages. The products above will be the ones I take to go. Below are the products I chose for my pre-made pages. I've based them on some of the activities I know I'll be doing on this trip. 

Included are Game Night, Theater Show, Market Meals, and Pool Side.








Now let's take a look at what else I will need. I'll bring basic tools.


This is how everything will be packed for travel. I also have an Instax printer that will come with me. This'll allow me to print photos right from my phone.



And, finally, here are a couple of the layouts I've pre-made. You'll see that I've left room for things I'll make live. Luckily I can move things around if I need more or less space.




It really is best to watch me flip through all the pages in order to see the whole project!
[[video coming very soon]]
I hope you give scrapping on the go a try!


Master Forger Christine

I think I have decided Mini Kit is my jam!  For my mini kit, I stuck with just 4 sheets of paper (although I did end up bringing in one piece of white cardstock).


This kit had such a good variety of colors and themes!  I went with a yellow/orange/pink base with a few pops of blue and green in the little hearts.


For my embellishments, I'm really trying to work through some old sticker sheets, so I pulled out an alpha and another sheet with a similar color palette.  I also pulled an acrylic title, some paper ephemera, and sequins.  I think this will work great to make a couple of projects.

So let's get crafting!


For my first project, I really wanted to use the acrylic title.  I went looking for a photo that seemed to represent the idea behind the title.  Then I looked through the papers.  Initially, I thought to use one of the pattern papers as the background.  But as I worked through the process, I realized I wanted to create a bit more interest.  Hence, the reason I brought in the white cardstock and introduced some mixed media.  I used my Distress Oxide swatches to find two matching colors (Rusty Hinge and Evergreen Bough) and used the packaging technique, stencil and stamp to create this look.  It's fun and messy.


For this layout, I wanted to use my pink grid paper, but it had these bows across the top (it's an old Prima paper pad).  So I definitely wanted to cut it down.  This led me to make a frame of the yellow polka dot, which I did gut in order to create the circle mat under the circle of the orange plaid (which was leftover from my first layout).  My paper ephemera had a cute title and tags.  I pulled the green letters from the sticker sheet.  Once I assembled all the layers, I decided sequins were in order.
I added a little journaling to the right hand tag.


Once I finished my two layouts, I had just some paper scraps left, plus a little more ephemera and stickers.  It was perfect to grab another piece of colored cardstock and create a couple of cards.  

All I had left were a few stickers and pieces of ephemera that didn't happen to match my project themes.

I may be doing mini kits for the foreseeable future!


                       Be sure to check back in with us. There's a lot more coming up this month:

  • September 12th - Challenge #1
  • September 18th - Challenge #2
  • September 22nd - Challenge #3 Let’s Get Sketchy
  • September 28th - October Sneak Peek (FB Community & Instagram)
  • September 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

We always love to see what you are working on!   We often choose our Guest Designers by looking at the work you show us.  Share your projects on our Facebook Community Group and be sure to tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcseptember2025 


Happy Scrapping!
Master Forger Vikki

Thursday, September 4, 2025

September 2025 - Forgeries on the Fourth





Welcome back!  Today our Master Forgers are going to show you how you can take products from the inspiration kit and create your own version, using supplies from your stash and some imagination.

First, let's look at the inspiration kit, Life Captured by Simple Stories, with some of its ephemera.

Are you seeing the possibilities?  Are you thinking of what you can make using your own stash?

 

Now let's see what the Master Forgers created this month.


I'm up with a few fun and easy ideas. 


First, let's make some of those mini message boards! I cut black cardstock to 2x3 inches. The kraft cardstock is 2.25x3.25 inches. Using a ruler (or a strip of cardstock as a guide), I drew lines on the black to mimic the message board grooves. More hand writing and I had my messages.


Did you know that you can color over white gel pen? That makes it so that you can add color on top of dark cardstock! That is how I made the little hearts.


The sheet of images I created on sticker paper. I used ink daubers to put down layers of ink. Then I used my favorite Pentel Fude Touch pen to write the days of the week instead of the months of the year. I filled in the rest of the sheet with stamped images.





 I have used this idea before, but the camera paper appeared in the kit again.

I used my camera stamp to create the paper.


I left it white, but could easily use a blue wash over it if I wanted blue background.
As you can see, I made matching journal cards with the same stamp. I drew on the tiny hearts.
Here's the one I created a few years ago with inked sections over the cameras.


And a similar idea I saw on Pinterest with made cameras. 


I wanted to try a couple things out this month too! I have a lot of stamps that have birds on them, but used one specific stamp from a magazine that I have had forever to make a few embellishments to use.
First I had a piece of packaging and I stamped this bird image on it, and then colored it with one of my distress oxides.   


Then I made these stamped images with some banner ephemera to make these. Using scraps or branding strips would be great for these too! 


 
I was also inspired by the month ephemera and used my oxides with the packaging technique and a Dylusions calendar stamp set to make these:




                       Be sure to check back in with us. There's a lot more coming up this month:
  • September 6th - Mini Kit and Project Reveal
  • September 12th - Challenge #1
  • September 18th - Challenge #2
  • September 22nd - Challenge #3 Let’s Get Sketchy
  • September 28th - October Sneak Peek (FB Community & Instagram)
  • September 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

We always love to see what you are working on!   We often choose our Guest Designers by looking at the work you show us.  Share your projects on our Facebook Community Group and be sure to tag us on Instagram at #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcseptember2025. 


Happy Scrapping!
Master Forger Vikki