Sofa Friends & Scrapfriends

I have a number of sketch challenge sites in Feedly and usually grab a few sketches from around the web for inspiration before a crop.

I don't actually print them out - just re-sketch them onto a scrap of paper, indicating where the photo, title and journalling will be, along with any embellishment groups.  This more or less guarantees that my page strays from the original sketch, especially if I can't refer back to it before finishing the page.

This month I popped over to Scrapfriends and grabbed their November sketch (#19), my November Counterfeit Kit and a festive photo: our three kids and their cousins have been snapped on our sofa almost every Christmas for the last 17 years ... it's getting harder to gather them all together thanks to jobs/studies/travels and it is definitely harder to squeeze them onto it. 
{It won't happen this year either as we are facing our very first Christmas without No.1 Son; my heart strings are being tugged hard each time I cut an apron string *sigh*}

I remembered that there were some feathers hanging down on the sketch and chose to interpret them as hanging baubles because we use them to display our Christmas cards from them each year - see what I mean about deviating from the sketch LOL

There's a colour challenge over at Scrapfriends in a couple of days ... I wonder how far I'll wander from that ;-)

In the meantime they also have a great blog candy giveaway at the moment ... take a look here for details.

P.S. See my title figures there ... they were plain grungeboard ... amazing what a little blue ink, a swirly stamp and some black Stazon can do - check out other ideas for changing colour over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog today!

And We're Off!!!

Away we go!  The first challenge of the year is up at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog today and it's a special one.  Take a look over there because you will not only find details of the challenge criteria, but also hear all about the re-introduction of the CKCB members' blog hop associated with it.

I've already had a go with the challenge, but used up the remains of my November Counterfeit Kit to do it with (as long as the supplies get used it's all good LOL)!

A blank journalling tag - apologies - because I still need to quiz Child No.3 on the name of her travelling companion (the one on the right).  Using a sketch from Scrap Friends I had fun adding Spellbinders So Trendy embossed texture to my title letters which were cut with my Sizzlit Round-a-bout dies.

Can you guess what the criteria for the first challenge from the CKCB are?
No?
To use three patterned papers, three embellishments and a three word title - the use of a three pointed shapes or a photo with three subjects is entirely optional and probably over the top!!

There is now plenty of time to be inspired by the challenge, sign up for the blog hop and schedule your post.  Will you join me?  I loved the flexibility of this challenge so much that I'll have another page for you (this time made with my January Counterfeit Kit, honest) - hope to see you then!

Positively Negative

There's been a bit of a trend recently for using negative space on pages - backing holes made by the Slice or Craft Robo or Silhouette with patterned paper as way of adding depth to a page.  I have been looking on enviously as I don't own any machines (or even punches) capable of cutting out the middle of pages like that.  I was therefore a little perplexed when the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog announced their third challenge for September: to use the negative space from punches or die cuts.

OK, I don't have a fancy machine but I do have plenty of punches so I got busy with some stars and circles to go with a photo of a Michaels store in Las Vegas that was the highlight of our stash shopping {and the starting reason for organising a trip to the U.S.A.}

Thanks to Clair's recent Stitching On Paper class I'm still exploring hand-stitching and had fun with a great technique I learned from Kinsey Wilson's blog which I used to make faux negative space letters for my title.  I've used one of my favourite free fonts, Teen, which matches my teeny tiny Banana Frog stamps and my diminishing supply of Scenic Route chipboard alphas .

Challenge combining as ever, I've used the August sketch from Scrapfriends as part of a September Weekly Challenge on UKS. All Almost all supplies are from my September Counterfeit Kit, including home-made tags, but not including the lovely stripy chevron washi tape - that was kindly sent to me by Alison - thank you :o)