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.

Master Forger Misty

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.

Master Forger Julene

 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. 

Master Forger Amanda

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

September 2025 - Just the Gist!

 Do you ever have a hard time curating a kit from your stash? Where do you start - papers, embellishments, stickers?  Well, you're not alone if you do.  Today I'm going to show you how I chose the elements in my counterfeit kit this month.  Plus, I'll show you what I look for when I'm stuck on where to start with my kit.

Let's first look at the inspiration kit, Life Captured by Simple Stories:

  

When I scrapbook, I tend to make page kits.  These include everything I need to make the page, including the photos.  I always start with the photos when making page kits.  When I first started making Counterfeit Kits, it was a little hard to break that habit.  

When I look at the inspiration kit, I  still try to have some photos in mind that will go with the kit I want to create, but I'm not absolutely tied to certain photos.  I look first at the patterned papers and the colors represented in the kit.  I go through my stash and try to choose similar patterns in the same color family.

Here are the papers in my kit this month:

While I didn't have the same patterns as the papers in the inspiration kit, I tried to stay close to the same colors and use similar elements.  I pulled the butterflies from the sticker sheet of the inspiration kit.

I always include around four solid papers in my kit.  This month I added a navy blue piece of vellum as well.  I went through some leftover ephemera packs and chose elements I felt would work.  I had a sheet of puffy hearts, which happens to have birds on it, also from the inspiration kit's sticker sheet.  Enamel dots are a must have for me in nearly every kit.

I have the Noteworthy collection by Simple Stories and thought I might be able to use some items off of the sticker sheet.  I always add multiple alpha stickers to any kit I make.  I like a mix of fonts and colors for my title.

I did see some great opportunities for forgeries in this kit, so picked some different stamp sets to play with this month.  I'll choose which color ink pad to use when it comes time to stamp.

 And that is my kit for the month.  It's not a huge kit, but I think I can get quite a few layouts done.

Here's another good way to get an idea of where to start.  Sometimes I struggle with the theme of an inspiration kit.  Maybe it's a tropical vacation theme and I know that I have absolutely no pictures that will fit.  This is a perfect opportunity to utilize the mood board that one of the Master Forgers create each month.  Check out the one below made for this month  by Master Forger Christine.  This gives you the vibe of the kit, with a lot of different elements that you can choose to incorporate.  It also gives you the color palette, which is an excellent starting point.  I referred to the mood board a lot when curating my kit this month.

I hope my process gave you some ideas on how you choose the elements for your own kit.  If you haven't already put a kit together, maybe this will be the month you give it a try.

Come back in a couple of days and check out our forgeries.  Don't forget, we still have a lot more to come this month.

• September 4th - Forgeries on the Fourth
• 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

September 2025 - Inspiration Kit Reveal and Social Media Hop!!!

 Hello and welcome to September!  It's the first of the month and time to reveal our inspiration kit.  I'm Master Forger Vikki and I'll be hosting the blog this month. Our goal here at CKCB is to curate a kit using our stash, without having to buy more product.  Let's dive right in and take a look at this month's inspiration kit!

This month I chose Life Captured by Simple Stories.  I absolutely love the colors in this kit. I also love how versatile it is by including the months of the year, so you can use it for any season that you happen to be documenting.  

Here are some photos of the inspiration kit:

I am happy to introduce this month's Guest Designer, Stephanie Olson.  She is super talented and I am so happy that she is joining us this month.

"Hello, my name is Stephanie and I am a single mom to one son, a dog and two cats.  I have been scrapbooking for 25 years and I have just started teaching classes at my local scrapbook store.  I love to travel and spend time outdoors so a lot of my scrapbooking is centered around that.  You can find me on Facebook under Scrappy Adventures, and in The Scrappy Square group I admin with my bestie, or on Instagram @mamabear1900."

I'd like to share Stephanie's kit with you.  I can't wait to see what she creates with it.

The Master Forgers are sharing their Counterfeit Kits on our Social Media Hop.  Make sure you check them all out!  I'll see you back here tomorrow!

• Guest Designer - https://www.instagram.com/mamabear1900/
• Brandi - https://www.instagram.com/scrappy.boymama/
• Cindy - https://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com/
• JoJo - https://www.instagram.com/scrappyconfessions
• Julene - https://julenebydesign.blogspot.com/
• Laurie - https://www.instagram.com/scrapbookingbits/
• Ryann - https://www.instagram.com/scrapbookjoey/
• Tara - https://kryptonite72-rambles.blogspot.com/
• Tina - https://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com/
• Vikki https://www.instagram.com/memoriesandmomentsscrapbooking/
• Amanda - https://youtube.com/@amandacreates1980

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

• September 2nd - Just the Gist of It
• September 4th - Forgeries on the Fourth
• 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

August 2025 - Challenge #4 Baby Use Those Scraps!

 Oh wow! Can you believe it! We're at the end of the month already, and it's time for our final challenge using our August kits! Let me remind you one last time of our inspiration kit:

 Our final challenge is always a challenge to use the leftovers from your kit, in other words....scraps! Use your imagine and see if you can squeeze one more layout from those scraps. Not enough paper? Then make a card, or even some embellishments.We can always use more embellishments. Let your creativity shine and show use what you create. Now, let's see what our Master Forgers created using their scraps.

MF Ryann

 Master Forger Ryann had a ton of fun using up some of her scraps for this layout of her with Master Forger Tara on her birthday - the strips behind the photo were so short she cut them in half and put them on either side. The flowers up top are just strips of paper  she tore and mangled and rolled into little flowers for the layout. She layered them over some white crystal drops flowers she drew, and a floral tree in bloom die cut. Foam dots hold up her hummingbird and the table and chairs at the bottom.

MF Christine

 Confession time; I did not have a TON of scraps, really.  And the ones I had were fairly large.  But hey, scraps are scraps, right??  I used an older sketch and made it work with the papers I had left.  I did use up pretty much the last of my ephemera, all the green leaves from my little flower kit, and most enamel dots from one sheet.  Overall, I'm very pleased with how much of this month's kit I was able to bash!

MF Tina 

Lots of scraps used and still have lots of papers from this kit yet to play with :) Other than the base page the rest are scraps including the word art from a cutapart sheet. 

Well, that's a wrap for me! Be sure to check back September first for that month's Inspiration Kit Reveal and Social Media Hop. 

We love to see all your beautiful creations so be sure to share in our Facebook Community Group or tag us on Instagram using #ckcaugust2025 #counterfeitkitchallenge

Happy Scrapping!

 

  Master Foger Laurie

August 2025 - Follower's Showcase

 It's time to choose one of our many wonderful followers and showcase their kits and creations. This is the most difficult part every month. Wouldn't it be great if we could shine the light on everyone! But, alas, I have to choose one. Before I announce who that is for this month, let's take a look at our inspiration kit for August:

 My pick for August is Lacy Stockton! Congratulations Lacy! Let’s take a look at Lacy’s kit: 

 Now, let’s look at the lovely layouts she created wither her kit:

Here's what's coming up for the rest of the month:

• August 28th - August Sneak Peek
• August 30th - Baby Use Those Scraps

Want to play along? We'd love to see your kit! Please share in our Facebook Community Group or tag us on Instagram using #ckcaugust2025 #counterfeitkitchallenge

 

Stayed tuned for more inspiration, and happy scrapping! 

 

 Master Forger Laurie