August 2021 - Mini-kit Reveal & Projects

It's mini-kit time. Sometimes a full kit just isn't your jam! It could be that you have other things on your agenda but still want to fit in a little creative inspiration. Maybe you've got other supplies calling your name but a newly selected group of supplies is really appealing. Maybe you just haven't got the energy for a mega kit. This is for you. Master Forgers Laura and Lisa are here today with their "mini" kits (always relative of course!) and the projects they were inspired to make.

First up, a reminder of our inspiration kit this month by Dani Peuss in Germany:

Dani Peuss May 2021 main kit

And now let's see what our team have created!

MF Laura: "I decided to go with a physical mini kit this month. I love all things Heidi Swapp, so this month's kit was perfect for me. I also love her memory planner/Stop The Blur way of documenting everyday stories, so in true counterfeit kit fashion, I have started my own version! 

My mini kit will be perfect for documenting the everyday. 

I also pulled out some really tiny scraps (because I can't throw anything away!) and made some mini embellishment clusters to co-ordinate with my kit. 

I can't wait to put it to good use."

 MF Lisa - I had several of the Heidi Swapp papers as well as the die-cuts and sticker book which I could have just used to form my mini-kit but I decided to challenge myself a little more and use the "High Tide" collage paper as my starting point à la "Just the Gist of It" suggestion back on the 2nd!

I started with the vellum which is part of the Heidi Swapp Carefree collection, then added in the cloud paper by Crate Paper and completed it with two floral papers from two Echo Park collections - Our Wedding and Coffee With Friends. I felt like the papers formed a good combination and they brought out the colours that caught my eye on that original sheet of paper. Sometimes it's hard to see where the inspiration kit is but I have to say that I can totally see it! I also knew that the b-sides could come in useful too (pink, grey etc) which is a bit of a cheat but is always at the back of my mind.

I added in a Pinkfresh Studio alpha in rose god which matches the rose gold on the vellum and then finished off with a pack of die-cuts by Vicki Boutin and the Heidi Swapp sticker pack from the Carefree collection. I was quite proud of myself not to include anything from the original kit but to find items from that main collection which could complement the other items! In the end, I did dip into the HS sticker book but as I always say, "my kit, my rules!" It feels quite large for a mini-kit but I wanted to make a layout and I'm never one to use only one or two papers.

To make it easy for myself, I decided to pick out a sketch from the Simple Scrapper membership (where I'm on the Creative Team) and also one of their Story Starters because I had decided to print out a bunch of photos from our Mother's Day dinner in 2021. And that meant a double spread which I'm never so sure about. The sketch gave me an anchor point and made the process really easy.

I included some photo flaps so that I could include all the shots I wanted but they appear to be sticking off the page somewhat. I guess they will flatten down inside the page protector but I clearly need to practice this technique so that this isn't so obvious! 

We've got challenges and highlights still to come so don't forget to come back!

• 12th & 18th August: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you to get creating from your own kit 
• 24th August: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month 
• 31st August: Killing Kits - an idea or two for using up the bits & pieces left in your kit box 

You KNOW that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcaugust2021). 

 Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see your kits and projects this month.

Lisa

 

August 2021 - Just The Gist Of It

 Sometimes making up a kit just comes so easily but then there are other times when we don't really know where to start. So I'm back today to offer you one possible starting point in case you're stuck and need some help with how to make that first step in bringing your stash together for your own kit.

So let's start with a reminder of our gorgeous inspiration kit for this month - the May 2021 Dani Peuss kit which you can find here.

May 2021 Dani Peuss kit

There are many starting points and if you look back over previous months you can find many takes such as colour, motifs, patterns.

But today I'd like to suggest you start with one single sheet of paper to find your inspiration - High Tide from the Care Free collection by Heidi Swapp.

I think this sheet of paper has a bit of everything that the kit has to offer - it has ALL the colours from the complete kit; the motifs of summer and tropical flora as well as the woodgrain that is found in the kit; and then there are all the words - beach, summer, adventure, good mood, happiness. There's even a rainbow and a sunset - who doesn't love those designs at the moment?!? 

Are you not feeling the summer groove? Then concentrate on the darker greens, greys and neutrals which could take your kit in a different direction or season. Rather than thinking about beach and tropics, you could think about pines, rivers and mountains which could then take the kit in a winter, snow landscape instead. 

To me, this single piece of paper sums up the whole feeling and mood of the original kit and if you use this as your starting point, I think it would take you a long way to build an awesome set of your own supplies to keep you going through August. 

Please share your kits with us and let me know if you use my idea - I haven't actually made my kit up yet (mini-kit detail this month!) but I think I might have a go at taking my own advice here!

 

We have plenty of fun and inspiration for the rest of the month so make sure you come back for more:

• 4th August: Forgery on the Fourth - Master Forgers share simple ideas for creating kit elements 
• 6th August: Mini-kit Reveal and Project Showcase - inspiration for a smaller kit or project idea 
• 12th & 18th August: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you to get creating from your own kit 
• 24th August: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month 
• 31st August: Killing Kits - an idea or two for using up the bits & pieces left in your kit box 

You KNOW that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcaugust2021). 

 Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see your kits and projects this month.

Lisa

November 2020 -Just the Gist of It

 Welcome back to the blog for Just the Gist of It!

The idea behind this post is to give you one possible starting point for your kit. 

Sometimes, we find ourselves looking at the inspiration kit and we just don't know where to start.  Maybe the inspiration kit is just not our style but we still want to find a way to create a kit that is. Perhaps we want to get our kit pulled together quickly and then an easy starting point might be just the thing we are looking for. Or maybe you'd like to change things up and try a new way of pulling your kit together. 

Whatever your reason for needing a little help in getting started, we are here to help.

Back in the day, when I first started playing along with the Counterfeit Kit Challenge, I used a lot of coloured cardstock and always began pulling my supplies by picking out half a dozen or so pieces of card in shades which spoke to me when I looked at the kit. I have to say that many of my fellow Counterfeiters thought this was a strange place to start but it worked for me until the time when I started to cut coloured card out of my supplies. Now I usually only use white (Bazzill Coconut Swirl ;-)), cream or kraft but I do look back on the day when I used pretty coloured and wonder if I should do that from time to time!

Anyway, back to this month's kit and this month's inspiration from the Hip Kit Club (October main kit)- shall we just have a peek at it once again to remind ourselves of its gorgeousness?

Well, I mentioned in yesterday's post that there were other mini-kits available from the Hip Kit Club related to this kit and when I saw the cardstock kit here, I knew that this would be my Just the Gist of It. What a fabulous starting point to a kit and one that took me back to those olden days, hence the long-winded story above!

Take these colours as your starting point, picking out three or four to be your main focus with a hint of the others and see where it takes you! I didn't actually do this for my own kit but I have to say that I'm so tempted to try and get my hands of this collection of colours in cardstock form just to see what it inspires me to do!

Don't forget that there's plenty to keep you inspired this month so don't forget to come back here regularly for ideas and challenges. The month is going to look like this:

• 4th November: Forgery on the Fourth - our Master Forgers share some simple ideas for creating your own kit elements
• 6th November: Mini-kit reveal and project showcase - if you need some inspiration for a smaller kit or individual project idea
• 12th & 18th November: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you get creating from your own kit
• 24th November: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month
• 30th November: Killing Kits - I'll share an idea or two for using up the bits and pieces that might be left in your kit box at the end of the month

We always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcnovember2020).

Happy Kitting!

Lisa!

May 2019 - Follower Showcase

May Follower Showcase

Because we love seeing how you interpret our choice of kits and challenges 

- it makes it all worthwhile - we love to give the spotlight away each month!

It's that time of month again when we get to celebrate YOU - our wonderful followers. 

So many new faces here this month, due to the CKC/BYSS collaboration for iNSD! Delighted to see some old familiar faces as well. I decided to pick out a few great comments to feature that let me know that you are embracing the CKC inspiration.


Julie Kunz:  "Kit is helping me knock out those pages!"

Priscilla Cantrell

"…My takeaway, I enjoyed having a small focused kit. Leaving the kit on my desk kinda made me feel like I "had" to produce something. I need to figure out how to balance that. I love that I used up products from my stash. I have very few scraps left over."

Sheryle Thomas

"…Layouts 2-6 using kit. Well loosely using kit as I did pull in other papers and stickers as I am definitely a "theme" person and couldn't pass up using specific stickers and papers with these. The kit was the jumping off point though, and I guess that is my way to benefit from a kit. I still have to journal on some of my pages. Am looking forward to making future kits. I like the challenge of matching the inspiration kit as closely as possible from my stash."

Gayle Zelman

"A couple of more layouts that I presented on #BYSS for using up your kit (by) making layouts using shapes."

 

We love seeing your work so be sure to share your kits and projects with us. You can do this by using the Link-Up page here on the blog, posting in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Facebook Community Group or on Instagram (find us @counterfeitchallenge and share with #ckcmay2019)

Thanks for joining in the fun in May - I've loved being with you all this month.

Our June "Ring Master" Forger, Lori, will be bringing you lots of fun & inspiration on Saturday!

Leslie