More layouts for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge :

You may have seen the first page that I am sharing with you today on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, since it was my submission for the "Food Inspiration Challenge"- and yes, I do realize that it is stretching it a bit to call gumballs "food", but I had the precious photo of my son and his grandma who he was extremely close to before she passed away, and I have had the idea for the page swimming around in my head for a while, so I was happy to put it together finally.  

Counterfeit Layout # 6:

I used pretty much only supplies from my Counterfeit Kit for April: GCD Studios Patterned cardstock, Echo park patterned paper (teal dots),yellow Cardstock, Echo Park title, journaling spot,balloons, orange cardstock scalloped border sticker, and added a birthday mini banner from my stash. I cut the gumball machine with my Sweethearts Cricut cartridge, and added a silver mini brad, a red mini heart shaped button, and Glossy Accents for the "glass globe".

Close-up of the "gumball machine":

I was inspired for this layout by this sketch by Sketch Inspirations:
Sketch 214:

Layout #7 with my Counterfeit Kit:
( I must admit that this is my favorite one done with my kit so far this month!)

 The lovely patterned paper background is the Webster's Pages "Underwater Oasis" from my kit, which I painted in the center with a gold Shimmerz Blingz, and added some of the brown swirl patterned paper to the center to "ground" the photos, then added a journaling tag to the center-one of the K&Co tags from my kit , which I painted with Ranger white crackle paint, then sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists in a couple of shades of teal, and tied with a sheer turquoise ribbon. I then scattered Primas with mini brad centers, a chipboard flower that was inked and painted and embellished with a rhinestone in the center, another chipboard flower that I turned into a starfish with crackle paint and pink inking on the edges, a tiny felt sandollar that was handmade by me, a couple of the gorgeous feathers from my kit,  a few of the tiny silk baby's breath, and a glittered (the turquoise glitter was in my kit, too) Prima flower, and a green glitter butterfly that was embellished with tiny pearls.

Close-ups Of My Flowers and Embellishments:

 This layout was inspired by this sketch from Twisted Sketches:

Sketch# 95:

February Counterfeit Kit

I had soooo much fun playing along with the Counterfeit Kit Club blog last month, so I couldn't wait to see what they had for us this month! They didn't disappoint! The kit they chose to scraplift this month was an awesome kit from Scraps Of Darkness kit club, shown below:
The first thing I thought when I saw this kit was, "Very French, very sexy, and a little, well, dark." Not exactly my normal style, but gorgeous, and I want to push my creative boundaries, so I made a kit as similar as I could, and even made my own version of all of the add on kits from my stash:
My February Counterfeit Kit:


Kit contents:
Making Memories Red Glitter Love Notes
SEI Chocolat Noisette (2) , Eclair
Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Starry Night, Berry Frost
Teresa Collins Damask Invitation and Damask Decor
Creative Imaginations die cut flourished paper
GCD Studios Paris Nights Collection Black shimmer with cream polka dots(2), Vintage parisian collage
Bazzill Wild Pansy Diamond Print Glazed cardstock
3 printed digipapers:
Red Uptown Houndstooth from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff from MyGraphico
Hearts and Diamonds from Family Game Night Papers from Design House Digital
Argyle Print from Jessica Sprague Echoes of Asia kit (was green, I played with it in Photoshop)
decorative vintage pins that I received in a swap
Spare Parts gemstone flower brads
2 ANCIENT red leather photo corners from Making Memories
pink twine
Prima Say It In Crystals
Prima pink and black Crystal Flowers
2 ZVA Creative flourishes (pink and lavendar)
1 light green Prima flower
Basic Grey Painted Brads
With Charm mini golden frame
Doodlebug rub-on letters (partial pack)
Anna Griffin Peyton Collection journal tags
American Crafts Remarks journaling sticker books
1 vintage ephemera french receipt
black tulle
black grosgrain ribbon
small pink and white flowers



A close up of my patterned papers:


My Cardstock Add-on kit: ( I ran out of cardstock very early last month, so I needed some more this month!)So here is my cardstock list:
SEI Chocolat Raisine, Rose (1 each)
2 Wasau White with silver shimmer
1 Bazzill burgundy Swiss Dots
2 Bazzill ?blueberry?
1 Paper Studio textured burgundy cardstock
2 Bazzill pale lavendar
2 Bazzill light pink
2 Walmart black

My Romance Add-On Kit:
Thickers Tiara Accents Glitter Shapes
Thickers Sprinkles white glitter chipboard letters
Making Memories Garden Party shimmer letter stickers partial sheet
Maya Road Cherry Blossoms rub-ons
ZVA Creative flourishes
Jenni Bowlin Journaling Cards
Tim Holtz Grungeboard shapes
Basic Grey Undressed chipboard shapes
assortment of seam binding and trims-pink, red, and lavendar
Pink Heidi Swapp Felt Butterflies
Making Memories Vintage Findings medium kit-"Love"

My Color Add-On Kit: I made my own Glimmer Glams for some of these colors:
Crimson, Silvery Onyx, Concrete shimmer, Hot Lips hot pink sparkle, Ruby Shimmerz, Homemade dark Cherry Shimmer, Homemade Plum Crazy shimmer, Pink Sparkles puffy paint, Pink, Lavendar, and Denim Distressed Stickles, Silver Making Memories paint(if yours are sort of dried out like mine, you can add a bit of warm water and shake really well to get them flowing again),Rose Tea Glimmer Mist, and Tim Holtz Picket Fence Crackle paint. I plan to make some stencils/misting screens with my Cricut, and I will share those when I am finished!

This was so much fun to put together, and I cant wait to make some decorative pebbles, flourished heart and masks, and maybe turn some of that Grungeboard and chipboard into faux metal accents! And make pages and cards too, of course! And of course I'll share it all here when I do it!

Travel Mini Album

Since my family is going on vacation soon, I thought it would be nice to have a mini album/journal for us to record our memories as we go. This is what I came up with.

The whole album is made up of the plain sheets of Tim Holtz Grungeboard. I punched 3 holes in the end with my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite, and put on book rings ( easy to take off and put on as I finished them).

For the cover, I inked the Grungeboard with "Tumbled Glass" Distress Ink pad, then misted it with Turquoise , Riptide, Sea Glass, and Sand Glimmer Mists. I colored this lovely sketch from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Seaside Sketches digistamp set with colored pencils, glued it to the cover of my mini, then surrounded the scene with tiny glass beads in various blues and golds, to mimic sand and water. The letters for the word "Travel" are from Making Memories Passport collection but they were flat stickers, so I attached them to a scrap of Grungeboard, and trimmed the excess.I added a Prima flower and a strand of golden brown beads. I decorated the book rings with various blue and white ribbons, tulle, and twill, and added a Grungeboard "key", that I embossed with gold embossing powder (looks real. huh? ;-) ).

For this part, I attached papers from the Making Memories Passport collection to the Grungeboard, and misted with turquoise, sand, and sea glass Glimmer Mists (very lightly). for the right side, I added a journaling sticker from the Passport collection. For the center, I added a little journaling card from Crafty Secrets, and an envelope for memorabilia that I cut from Kraft paper using Lindsay's Stamp Stuff's Envelope Bonanza svg set. The right side is also misted with Glimmer Mist, and I added an embossed golden keyhole and brads, and inked the edges with Sapphire Distress Ink.

For the next pages, I used some light blue papers from the Passport collection, and stamped a border and title with some stamps from the Passport collection and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. For the center I used a Margarita digistamp freebie, which I printed on white cardstock, cut and embossed with my one Nestie, colored with my Copics, inked the edges with "Tumbled Glass" Distress Ink. I covered my "Blue Hawaiian" with Crystal Stickles, and my hurricane glass with Glossy Accents. For the right side, I used another Passport stamp and "Tumbled Glass" Distress Ink, and tied an "island blue" sheer ribbon for accent.

On the next pages, I used "sand" style paper from DCWV. On the left side, it is accented with sheer ribbon and a travel journaling tag from K&Co, which I also tied a sheer ribbon onto. I added another Crafty Secrets journaling card, and a Making Memories shaped journaling note paper. For the right side, I simply accented it with a ZVA Creative rhinestone flourish to evoke the feeling of a water spray or splash.

On the next pages, I left the grungeboard bare, and misted with sapphire, riptide, turquoise, and sea glass Glimmer Mists, dried with my heat embossing tool, and re-misted, and dried again. Then, I rubbed my glue pad on the edges, dipped them in gold embossing powder and heated. I added an orange hibiscus journaling tag from K&Co to the center.

The next pages are covered with some DCWV travel pages, inked the edges with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink. On the right side, I added a tiny envelope from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Envelope Bonanza svg set, and a tiny road sign that I cut from an svg I picked up somewhere (I have no idea where or I would share the link). Anyway, I cut it, stamped a tiny palm tree with a Studio G stamp, and inked the edges.

The next 2 pages are for the day of my sister's wedding, so I tried to make them a bit more elegant. I attached a creamy white shimmer swirl paper to a kraft background. I finished it off with a black Doodlebug Frill. I tied a tiny organza bag in the center to hold a small souvenir or momento.

The last 2 pages are dedicated to the drive home. I used paper from DCWV's Mango Frost stack, and stickers/journaling spot from Making Memories Passport collection. For the back cover, I left the Grungeboard bare, then misted with Sand Glimmer Mist, Mango, Treasured Hymn, Trufflez, Ruby, and Bed of Roses Shimmerz. To finish off the back cover, I colored another digistamp from Lindsay's Seaside Sketches.

Challenges that I am entering this mini album into are:
Bunny Zoe's Crafts: Summer Days
By the Cute And Girly:Warm Summer Days
Clearly Delightful:Pearls, Bling, and Button Things
Crafty Calendar Challenge: Summer (with the option of using yellow)
The Crafty Pad: Use yellow and orange and some holes (I punched my own holes in the Grungeboard)
The Belli Challenge: Alter It and use up old stash ( I altered and used up a ton of Grungeboard that I have had for at least a year, along with a bunch of ribbon and other goodies)
Creative Cottage: no cards allowed
Creative Craft Challenges:Summer Lovin'

Drunken Stampers: Water (I will be adding beach photos as soon as I have them, as well)
Easy Crafts Projects: Challenges: summer
If The Shoe Fits...Scrap it:vacation
For Fun Challenges: Hand colored design

Gingersnap Creations: Shades of Blue
Pear Tree Designs: Glitter/Sparkles

Practical Scrappers: Embossing
Stamp With Sarah Kay: anything Goes

Now, my album is ready, bring on the vacation!!

Thanks for looking, now head over to Lindsay and the rest of the DT's blogs for lots of inspiration and a freebie!!

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Lisa Jurecek
Margie Visnick You are here!
Melissa Craig
Rebekah Doak
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen
Micki Harper

Sometimes guest
Erin Bailey

Twin Beauties *scroll down for Lindsay's Stamp Stuff post

I am determined to get some scrapping done this summer!!And all of those fantastic sketches that are available are really helping me get it done! And having great papers and flowers (and sweet pictures-more than anyone can count) really inspire me! This page is based on this week's sketch from Sketch Inspirations. I started with some yummy Prima patterned paper (I tell you , I hated covering any of it! I arranged my layering pieces, and chose a pale pink vellum for the largest piece, in order to cover as little as possible of the beautiful background paper (the back was beautiful too... I so hated that none of it was being used! Anyhooo...the pinky/red patterned paper is Basic Grey, the embossed green cardstock is Bazzill Swiss Dots, the circle is a cream shimmer paper, cut with my Cricut and Plantain Schoolbook, the Roly Poly circle from page 72, and the title lettering is American Crafts Thickers fabric letter stickers. The three larger flowers are all by Prima- the Blue hydrangea flower is one that I layered and added the gems to the center of, the pink one started out as plain white flowers (single layer) from Prima's "e" line, that I add Bed of Roses and Ruby Shimmerz to, then lightly inked with a hot pink Hampton Arts ink pad, and a Tim Holtz Tattered Rose ink pad. After all of that inky fun (hubby just laughed at me and asked what I was doing on his wood floor), I layered then all together with a pearl brad and a crumpled, inked and folded paper doily. BTW, I put a sheet of cardboard down on the floor before I sprayed ;-) . The tiny pink roses are some that I found while scavenging through my grandmother's sewing box, and the other tiny flowers and brads are from Making Memories

Challenges I am entering this layout into:

• Sketch Inspirations-sketch
• Alys Sunday Challenge- Flower Power
• Bunny Zoe's Crafts-Nice and Girly
• Crazy4Challenges- Paper Flowers
• Everybody Art Challenge- Green and Pink
• Scrap-Creations- Basic Grey/anything goes
• Little C's Challenge-photo inspiration (green and pink cake-looks soo yummy!)
• Paper Sundaes-pretty as a princess
• Practical Scrappers-flowers

Easter 2009 layout...

For this layout, I started with Sketch #127 from Sketch Inspirations. I spritzed the white cardstock with Bed of Roses Shimmerz- I love the look of it, but it did run on me at the bottom a bit-guess i was a little heavy handed... the patterned paper and cardstock strips are all from my stash. The hearts are Tim Holtz Grungeboard that have been inked and "Shimmerzed" (is that a word?" I cut the loopy border with a free svg file from Heather M's blog, my cricut, and SCAL. I cut the circle @ 5 inches, Real Dial Size, Shift function on the Winter Woodland Cartridge. The journaling spot is from a pack I picked up last year at Target's dollar spot.

Welcome, Little Ones!

I finally finished a layout that was LONG overdue-since my babies are SIX now! The photos are from the twins' first bath (at the hospital), and I was inspired by the Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World- it was this awesome "Aqua/Pink Wedding" photo! (photo by Kelly Oshiro-her inspiration boards are AMAZING)
I love the banner and the ruffley pink cake-this is how I interpreted it to a scrapbook page. I started with a dark teal cardstock background, sprayed it with Pearl Glimmer Mist, heated it with my embossing gun to dry. I then tore a piece of My Minds Eye aqua and teal paisley patterned paper,attaching a piece of pink crepe paper, ruffling as I went, to the bottom of the patterned paper piece. I then covered the bottom seam with a pearl trim. For the photo mats, I cut them from a very pale pink cardstock, and painted with Opal Shimmerz before attaching the photos. I added a clear journaling sticker by American crafts, a rhinestone flourish, and a flower that I made myself with my trusty Cricut. For the flower, I cut the shape out in several different sizes, from several different white papers, cardstock, and vellum. I rolled and shaped the edges of the petals around that gray rub-on applicator thingie that comes with the American Crafts rub-ons, sewed a button in the center, then painted over the center and the edges of the flower with Opal Shimmerz. Then I stuck it on the page with a pop dot. The "icing on the cake", so to speak is the banner, which I also made with my Cricut, and the fabulous Pretty Banner svg set from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I cut out the Scalloped Banners, painted each little banner with more Opal Shimmerz, punched holes, threaded a skinny pink ribbon through, and spelled "welcome" with American Crafts glittering white Thickers. I attached the banner with pink flocked brads from Doodlebug, added 3 more Doodlebug brads for balance by the photos, and called it a day. I am thinking about adding a butterfly to the flower, though. What do you think?
Thanks for looking, now pop over to Lindsay and the other designers' blogs for a freebie and lots of eye candy!
Lindsay
Rebekah Doak
Tamara
Lisa
Leanne
Melissa
Cindi
Erin
Tracey
Micki