May Counterfeit Kit Challenge Design Team Blog Hop

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Design Team blog hop for May! You should have gotten here from Lisa's blog. If not, please go back to the challenge blog, and start over.

This month's blog hop challenge was to get inspiration from your favorite manufacturer's blog. My all-time favorite manufacturer is October Afternoon!! I am so in love with their products, I feel compelled to buy almost every line they release. Looking through the blog, there are so many lovely projects, that it was hard to narrow it down to just one! So, I chose two, which are very similar in feeling. What I admired about these pages are the neutral backgrounds, layers, and clusters of embellishments.

Because my kit has a much brighter color palette and because it is a boys page, I had to improvise on some things. I'm happy with how it turned out for the most part. I was able to use more of my handmade embellishments and other stuff from my kit. I also got a chance to play with my brand new charcoal Maya Mist, which was very fun! I wanted some big drips on this page, so I took the top off, and shook the end of the nozzle tube to make the larger drips. I also sprayed once or twice, for good measure. I love that the mist is such a nice dark color!

Here is my version:

I also found this free printable, that some of you might enjoy! These cute little Father's Day cards feature some very sweet boys and girls, that reminded me so much of our inspiration kit this month! Have fun with it!

Your next stop on the DT blog hop is Meridy. Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Embellishment Challenge

Our next challenge this month at Counterfeit Kit Challenge was to make an embellishment(s) to use on a project. There were so many fabulous ideas for creating your own embellishments this month, and I knew I was going to have to try a few of them!

I especially love the "wooden nickels" or poker chip tutorials that were posted. I wish I'd had some of those cool wooden disks, and would love to find some one day. The poker chips I had were too dimensional to decorate, so those were also out. Then, I remembered that I had a pack of Tim Holtz grungeboard with various sizes of circles and squares. I haven't found a really good use for them yet, so this was awesome! I wanted something different than the grayish color the grungeboard comes in, so I first painted them with a mixture of gesso and acrylic paint, for a really good finish. Then, I decorated them with rub-ons (October Afternoon, Scrap Within Reach, Kaiser craft), stamps (thank you, Bethany!), and patterned paper! I just loved how they came out!! I love that they are neutral, and help to tone down the strong colors from my boys kit.

I've had the design for this page in my head for awhile, and I think I saw a sketch with diagonal circles like this somewhere. I can't for the life of me find it now, so I can't give them credit. If you remember seeing a sketch similar to this, would you let me know, please! I like how many embellishments I was able to use on the diagonal cluster of circles, and even layered some circles cut from one of the papers and buttons from my kit.

That was not all! I knew I wanted to make a few banners similar to the ones in the inspiration kit, so I did. I plan on using them on some future pages from this kit. I think I got carried away! I hope you get a chance to try one or more of these tutorials!

MIni Challenge #1

The first challenge this month at Counterfeit Kit Challenge was to make a card using this fabulous sketch from Sketch Support!

I love using sketches! They make putting a quick card together so easy. My kit included product from the Sassafras Lass Nerdy bird line. The stickers are the perfect size to match the sketch, so I decided to make two! Lately, I've been making cards with unusual sentiments, but you never know when you will need that special card.

My May Counterfeit Kit!!

We have been very busy at Counterfeit Kit Challenge! This month, we had the opportunity to counterfeit an awesome kit by Work In Progress kits! I just loved the whimsy and playfulness of the main kit, and wanted to keep that feeling in my own kit.

In my version, I chose to use many items from the Sassafras Lass Nerdy Bird collection. I have had these papers in my stash for awhile, and this was the perfect opportunity to use them. The colors of Nerdy Bird are somewhat different from the inspiration kit, but I was excited that they included purple and pink! These were my daughter's favorite colors as a little girl. In the back of my mind, I wanted to make a boy's add-on, so I did not mind if this one was on the feminine side.

Kit contents:

Papers: Coordinating Bazzil cardstock, Bo Bunny Sunkissed "Summer" & "Adventure", Crate School Collection "Ruler", Echo Park Sweet Summertime "Raspberry Delight", Sassafras Lass Nerdy Bird "Cheery", "Tea for Two", "Starstruck", "Sprightly", "Book Club", and My Mind's Eye Jack & Jill "Serene Spots"

Embellishments: Sassafras Lass Nerdy Flag Banners, Nerdy Journal Tags, October Afternoon Thrift Shop Schoolroom Alpha, Thickers "Rainboots" alpha, Thickers "Dear Lizzy" chipboard shape stickers, K & Co. adhesive gems, Basic Grey Bling It ice cream cone, Recollections flowers, ribbon from stash, "Summertime" and hot air balloon stickers Echo Park "Sweet Summertime", die cut shipping tags (Cricut & scal), ice cream and kite cards October Afternoon, punchouts Pink Paislee "Hometown Summer", and Mickey paint chips from Home Depot.

I was finally able to put together a boys kit! Since I have three boys, it was a no brainer. Mine has a rather patriotic feeling with all the stars, red, white and blue but it could be used for any event, as well as 4th of July.

Add-on kit contents: Patterned paper Bo Bunny "Block Party" & "Jamboree", Blueberry Dot, clear stamps by Sandylion & Sassafras Lass "Song Writer", Sassafras Lass Alpha Token, Pink Paislee alphabet stickers & punchouts "Hometown Summer", star brad Target Dollar Spot, borders "Decadent Edges Boy" Making Memories, ribbon GCD "Rockets Red Glare", and ticket stickers My Minds Eye "Little Boy Blue", felt stars (rak from Crystal!), star chipboard mini album and boy shape Maya Road, and buttons from stash.

I have to confess, after I saw the inspiration kit, I bought a couple of the items from that kit because I "had to have" them! I hope you don't share my secret to Bethany & Meridy!! That really isn't what the challenge is about, but I thought it's a good example of how you might have an item or two from the inspiration kit, and use them, but also include other items from your stash. For me, the most fun of all is putting the kits together! I enjoy scrapping, but I really get a kick out of trying to match the feeling of the inspiration kit. That's one of the big reasons I love this challenge so much!

The numbers!

It's that time again! Time to look at the last month's kit to see how much I managed to accomplish. I completed two layout, with a photo a piece, two cards, and eight ATCs. I'm not going to complain that it wasn't enough this time! It is what it is. I am truly amazed at the quantity of work by other scrappers on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge!! Keep up the good work, ladies!