Wonderful, wonderful ...

Welcome to the final post of the October CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Raelene then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Snip, Snip! , #2 Balance The Scale, #3 Paying Dress Up) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.  I've already joined in with #2 with this page, and decided to finish off the Danish part of my Scandinavian road trip album by putting the remaining Copenhagen photos onto a double page spread:

Despite putting loads of navy alphas into my October Counterfeit kit, I didn't have enough letters to spell Copenhagen ... so two "3"s had to do duty as "E"s and that "A" is an upside down "V" with a cleverly positioned heart ... my thanks to Lesley for suggesting this!

I've room for a little journalling with some memories of a lovely foot and bicycle friendly city with a wide range of things to see and do.

We'd love it if you joined in next month's hop, so why not keep an eye out for November's  Kit-to-copy on November 1st and sign up by November 18th.

Size Matters!

Challenge 2 at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog this month introduced me to an intriguing way to think about the colours on your page:  the "gallon-quart-pint" strategy.  So I took a gallon of white, a quart of yellow and a couple of half-pints of grey and navy from my October Counterfeit Kit to make a page about Hubby's recent birthday bottle of beer:

I made the page last month at a Scrappy Retreat where one of the challenges was to use just 5 items of stash apart from the photo(s) ... so that's 1 sheet of cardstock, 2 sheets of patterned paper (the grey and the grid are the reverse of the yellow papers), 1 navy alphabet and 1 yellow flair button!  There was a fair bit of behind the scenes paper and card gutting involved :-)

And FYI that bottle contains 3 litres i.e. over 3 (US) quarts of beer! 
P.S. Who knew US quarts were smaller from UK ones? Not me!!

Pass The Page 2016

Each year in the run up to our Scrappy Retreat my good friend Julie organises a Pass the Page to get us in the creative mood.  This year my inspiration page came from Alison:

I took a look at the doily, circles and frame, repeated elements, arrows and top right title to produce a page for my Edinburgh holiday album:

My first time ever in Scotland so there were several photos taken on the border with England.

I then passed my page on to Missuss Wookie who took it somewhere completely new ... why not pop over and take a look.

PURRfectly Placed

Welcome to the start of the September Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Hop.  I went rogue with the prompts this month and did my own thing with an old photo from 2014:

The photo seemed made for the colours in my  my September Counterfeit Kit ... wouldn't you agree?  The perspective makes those Bengal kittens look huge, but they were teeny back in 2014.  Child No.3 was in kitty heaven!

Next on the hop is a brand new member of our Counterfeiting Club, so please pop over and give a very warm welcome to  Anne.  The full hop list is published on the CKCB today if you get lost on your travels.

Picking Up The (Paper) Pieces

Dear Reader

You may have noticed a tailing off with blog posting here.  Guilty as charged.  The creating is still happening, but the photographing and sharing has not been so regular.  I'm determined to get back into it a little. Please feel free to hold me to account!  Part of the reason for my improved enthusiasm is that I've just spent a weekend with a bunch of scrappy ladies, most of whom I met through blogging.  Those that don't blog either used to or know those that do/did!  I wouldn't have had the pleasure of their company, with great cake too, if it hadn't been for this little corner of the Blogosphere.  I'm determined not to let it die out.  I need to reconnect with my friends' blogs too.

Anyway - here are a couple of pages made with my September Counterfeit Kit over the weekend - both of which are from holidays long past.  The first page is from our Disney 2004 trip to Discovery Cove.  I've already scrapped the reasons we went there in this post from 2013 so there's no extra journalling (yet).  Another reason I must finish this holiday album is that the memories not yet scrapped are fading!  Paint and stitching allowed me to join in with a Hey Little Magpie (Facebook) Challenge.

I set my fellow retreaters the challenge of using a September 2016 Pagemaps sketch - and the hexagons were pretty useful at obscuring disctractions in the foreground of my photo!

Pagemaps Sept 2016

The second page I made from the kit this weekend also used a sketch - from new UK Kit Supplier Turtle Crafts.  My friend Sue is on their DT and always gives good sketch!

Again journalling was non-existant - I need to write something on there, but a happy, chatty retreat with lots of banter isn't a great place to gather your thoughts for a page!

So, dear reader, thank you for still being here, I will be back soon I promise.

Aperto for Business!

Welcome to the final post of the August CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Salla then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here).  We had  a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Happy Sandcastle Day, #2 Outside The Stash, #3 Sounds Foreign To Me) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my August Counterfeit Kit, I used Italian to title my double page spread about a surprise tour of an Italian castle!:

The blues and browns of the kit were the perfect mix for both interior and exterior shots of the Catello di Torre Alfina.  We've visited this quirky town many times over the years - it has an excellent Gelateria!  The castle, however, has always been a mystery.  Never open to the public.  Until this time!

We don't read or speak Italian so we weren't quite sure if we were allowed through the open door ... but others were wandering around taking photos so we joined in!

People then started gathering around a staff member, but we still had no idea what was going on and hoped we wouldn't get chucked out.  However, another member of staff worked out that we were "foreign" and we ended up having a private tour for two of the newly-opened-for-occasional-tours castle!

We were so happy that we'd been cheeky and walked through the green door ... it was a fabulous experience.

I hope you enjoyed the CKCB Members' Hop this month - why not join with a page next time?

High Five!

Welcome to the start of the July Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Hop.

I've picked Challenge #2: Inspired by Cool Waters in Hot Weather for my hop page this month - which was pretty easy as my July Counterfeit Kit had some patterned paper with a wonderful mix of cool and hot colours along with cool dotty overlays and warm rub-ons.

I've used the July sketch from at Sue's @ Me & Mine which is a great one for scrappy scrapping.

The photo is from my local crop's 5th anniversary photo earlier this year - we are indeed a happy bunch!

Next on the hop is this month's Guest Designer - Gretchen.  The full hop list is published on the CKCB today.

Forging Friendships

It's Challenge #3 today over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog and we're taking inspiration from word/number puzzles.
There was some crossword paper in this month's Kit-to-Copy but unfortunately, that wasn't something I counterfeited faithfully in my version this time!
Instead I used a crossword style grid to form my title on this page made at my monthly crop.

The lovely photo was a selfie taken with fellow Master Forgers Lisa (on a visit to the UK from her home in Germany) and Lesley (who lives about half an hour's drive away from me).

I love the way that scrapbooking has enriched my life.  I have made friends locally thanks to our monthly crop and blogging about my pages led me to the CKCB which has brought both real and "virtual" friends as well.

Check out the CKCB today to see how the other Master Forgers interpreted this challenge (I've already seen Lesley's page as she was busy with it at the beginning of the month as well).

If at first ...

Welcome to the not-quite-final post of the June CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Roxanne then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Inspiration Board, #2 In Quotes, #3 Everything Old Is New Again) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my June Counterfeit Kit, I gave a nod to challenge #2 with a humourous take on an old saying:

Having tried (and tried) to get a good shot of Hubby, No.2 Son and Child No.3 before their patience ran out during a birthday meal, I was disappointed to find that not one of the photos was even half-decent of all three of them!  Each one had at least one person moving, blinking talking or drinking!  So I used them all!
I certainly didn't have enough white alphas in my kit for the title, so I broke out some ancient Making Memories rub-ons to help me out.

I'm not quite the end of the hop this month - please welcome a newcomer to the CKCB: Princy

Snappy Scrapping

Welcome to the start of the May Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Hop.  I picked Challenge #3: Escher Effects for my hop page this month - i.e. to use tessellation in my layout design with a photo from Gatorland back in 2004:

This was quick to do and brilliant for using up the scraps from my May Counterfeit Kit ... as well as creating more scraps if I'm honest!  I hadn't used any of the gold thread I'd included in my kit, so I decided to add a dash of inspiration from both UKScrappers (this week's challenge) and Whimsical Musings (WM#208 to incorporate string art) and added gold threads between my patchwork pieces.

Next on the hop is a regular contributor in our Counterfeit family - Tina.  The full hop list is published on the CKCB today.

A Perfect 10

I squeezed in with a late layout from my April Counterfeit Kit, so it seems only fair to be really early with my first page from May's kit!  Especially as it was an example page for my UKScrappers Team Challenge which went live this morning!  We are scrapping a treasure, with journalling to tell the story (10+ lines or 30+ words) and some bling!

I recently completed my 10th blood donation and the NHSBT sent me a badge to commemorate it!  Ten donations isn't that big a deal (there was a man giving for the 108th time at my 10th session), but it's progress.  You see, I thought that my blood was only useful for research purposes following jaundice in my early childhood.  However, that certainly is no longer the case, as I discovered when keeping Child No.3 company for her first donation.  To make up for lost time, I've been donating as quickly as possible ever since!

I've used the May Sketch from the FB Sketchy Scrappers Group to make this special page for my Book Of Me using my May Counterfeit Kit (including home-made enamel dots - see the upcoming CKCB Forgeries On The Fourth for details).

April Finale

I'm just squeezing into the tail end of April with a final page from my current Counterfeit Kit.  It was started for Challenge #2 way back at the beginning of the month; included a Forgery for the Fourth, but sadly wasn't finished until today.

Did I mention that I'm skilled in the Art of Procrastination?!

Anyway, for Challenge #2 (take inspiration from the February posts of the C'est Mgnifique Design Team), I found a lovely page by Shanna where the giant arrow was used as a background for the photo.

So I set about making a giant arrow to use.  In Microsoft Word I inserted two shapes, an arrow and a chevron, and overlaid them to form an arrow.  I grouped the shapes together and expanded them to fill the width of a piece of office paper, before printing it out to use as a template.  I added dots of colour arround the edge to match my photo and kit.  In the end my arrow wasn't long enough so I split it in two and put it above and below the photo.

The actual page is based on the mirror image of the April Sketch from a Sketchy Scrappers group on Facebook.

Child No.3 had a toy cooker for her 4th birthday and enjoyed frying eggs for us!  I'm also joining in with the UKS SLYMI Challenge #6 to scrap a happy story ... she was certainly happy with her birthday present.

King Con 2014

When getting bored with my "to-scrap" pile of photos, I sometimes resort to the Facebook uploads of my children.  This does leave me low on journalling because they're not my stories, but some photos just cry out to be included in an album.  One such was this brilliant photo of No.1 Son and his lovely girlfriend all dressed up for their first Comic Con.

What a perfect pair!  Their costume colours toned beautifully with the Kaisercraft patterned papers in my April Counterfeit Kit, and I could use some of the phrase cards to make up for the lack of journalling. I recognised "Poison Ivy" but had to ask about No.1 Son's character ... apparently "Salamander Coral" was chosen because he is a comic character with dreadlocks!! 

I'm joining in with the UKS SLYMI Challenge #4 to scrap a funny face ... I reckon green and red is pretty funny don't you?!  Especially as his combination of green body paint and red hair dye didn't completely disappear by Monday morning!

Ginger Snaps

Welcome to the not-quite-final post of the April CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Natalie then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here but it's a short one this month).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Shabby Chic Techniques , #2 C'est Magnifique, N'est Pas?, #3 Ephemera Encapsulated) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my April Counterfeit Kit, I went my own way with a couple of ancient photos of Child No.3 and her Grandad (now sadly deceased).

The photos were pre-digital so I'm not 100% certain when they were taken - I found these in a stack of early photos still sitting in their delivery envelopes - but I know Grandad only visited on special occasions, so I suspect it was for her 1st birthday.

We nearly missed out a dedicated counterfeiter this month - partly because the CKCB has changed e-mails (it's now thecounterfeitkitchallengeblog@gmail.com) - so rather than stopping with me, please nip over to Tina and see what she has to share.

P.S. I'm also linking up to UKScrappers' Scrap Like You Mean It Reboot Challenge #2 as I stamped all over the title letters!

Sketching with Sue Again

Sue at Me & Mine posts a monthly sketch challenge which is always fun to join in with.

On top of that my crop buddy Gill challenged me to do a page where nothing was straight ... I nearly managed it!!

And this week UKScrappers has a challenge from my retreat buddy Ruth who wanted us to use enamel dots (enamel shapes count I'm sure), handwriting journalling (a date is journalling), old stash (well my March counterfeit kit is full of OLD stash), plain cardstock, individual alphas, and fussy cutting (not that fussy, but my frames were home-made)!

Looking back at Sue's original sketch ... I have yet again strayed miles off the beaten track, but I'm happy with the page!

Making the Most of My Kit

Welcome to the start of the March Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Hop .  I didn't join in with the challenges this month, but took inspiration from fellow Master Forger Lisa's Whimsical Musings blog and used up some eyelets (WM#203).

I'm obviously out of practice because one or two got a bit squashed ... Making Memories made the hardest eyelets ever!!!!  The photos are ancient ones from 2004 and mean that I am very nearly finished with our Disney album ... but not quite.  We had a smashing if noisy airboat ride around Lake Tohopekaliga looking for crocodilian wildlife ... it dawned on me after doing the title that technically these were the alligator branch of the family!!  I added some toning washi tapes to just one sheet of 6x6 paper and one 4x6 tag from my March Counterfeit Kit ... it'll never get used up at this rate!

Next on the hop is a newcomer to our Counterfeit family, so please give her a warm welcome and plenty of comment lurve by popping over to see Sally.  The full hop list is published on the CKCB today.

Going, going, GONE!

Well that's another fabulous retreat over and done with - thank you Lesley.  I've laughed (with friends from near and far) and cried (over Rosie's beautiful quilt) and won (a prize in the raffle) and lost (my way to the car park ramp) and scrapped (five and a half pages) and punched (a film strip for Pauline) and eaten (too much) and drank (rather less).

Here's a page I made for one of the challenges - a sketch - which also ties in with last week's weekly challenge over on UKScrappers (using aquamarine, 3 of something - the rings, 7 of something - the tiny eyelets and incorporating water - the waves of the Kasiercraft Offshore patterned papers)!

Child No.3 recently shaved off her hair to raise money for Macmillan's, a cancer hospice charity ... and when I say shaved, I mean right down to a #1 setting!  Her original target of £250 has been smashed ... many thanks to everyone who has donated so far.

A Fairytale Ending

Welcome to the final post of the February CKCB Members' Blog Hop; if you didn't reach me from Cindy then you might want to start at the beginning with Lisa (the full hop list is here but it's a short one this month).  We had a choice of three challenges to use for the hop (#1 Sappy Movie Inspiration , #2 Life is Just A Fairytale, #3 Say What?) or indeed, anything made from this month's kit.

Using my February Counterfeit Kit, I chose #3, taking some extra inspiration from Whimsical Musings #53 (Grids) plus the lovely February sketch from Sue's blog and I created a page to record the day Child No.3 encountered a real Fairy Godmother!

She'd agreed to promote our theatre's pantomime, posing in a "glass" carriage, chatting to children during a local town's festival of transport.  Unfortunately, mid-April was particularly cold last year and a sleeveless dress wasn't much protection against the chilly wind.  A passer-by saw her goosebumps, popped into one of the local charity shops and returned with a very pretty, and more importantly, warm, evening shawl for Child No.3's bare arms.  Truly kind!

Thanks for hopping around with the CKCB Members this month - it was very short but definitely sweet this month, so why not join in yourself in March - EVERYone is welcome!

P.S. While I'm challenge combining this might as well be my example for Scrap Like You Mean It which I have rebooted over on UKScrappers ... 48 weekly prompts from Shimelle's wonderful 2009 challenge ... starting with #1 Scrap in your favourite colour ... teal every time for me (definitely NOT pink!)

Whimsical Musings #200

Many congratulations to my fellow CKCB Master Forger Lisa who runs another challenge blog - Whimsical Musings - she and her team are celebrating their 200th weekly prompt!

I've watched WM from afar and admired their sustained creativity but the celebration has finally given me the impetus to use a couple of their older prompts and some of my older Counterfeit Kits to make a dent in my photos.

First I found WM#146 Be Inspired By Buttons (probably my favourite embellishment) and used my November Kit (which still had plenty of buttons in it) to make a DLO for our Scandinavian road trip album.

I had visited Stockholm's Skansen 30 years earlier so it was fun to re-visit in 2013 with Hubby.  Not a huge amount had changed (well open-air museums don't do they?!), but there were living history guides to explain the exhibits and demonstrate skills which made the day really interesting.

I particularly loved the house on stilts ... which would be at snow-level in the winter!

I find DLOs are a great way to combine a bunch of un-related photos from a day out.  Those ice-cream spoons didn't deserve their own page, but they still make me smile so I wanted them in the album somewhere!  I took loads more photos of course and I've scrapped some of the animals we saw in the zoo section here.

Another half-finished CKCB kit got a final pounding for WM#136 Inspired by Woodgrain as I scrapped another open-air museum we'd visited.  This one, Vallby, was on the outskirts of the town where I lived in Sweden and I remember going there around the mid-summer celebrations which are a BIG thing in Scandinavia.  Nothing quite so exciting this time, but we still enjoyed seeing the various buildings and listening to the living history guides.

I didn't have a lot of paper left from this kit, so I've had to get creative with a border punch and paper strips.

Plenty of woodgrain in those photos - I'd been fascinated by all the fencing methods too!

See that wooden board on the bed ... it's the bed-bug remover!  During the day, they would hide in the holes drilled into its surface and they would then be killed by holding the board over a fire - yuk!  I get itchy just thinking about it :-(

Best Laid Plans!

Oh dear!  Whatever happened to "I'm determined to be a more consistent blogger and scrap more" which I posted back on January 1st????  Here I am squeezing just one layout from my January Counterfeit Kit onto my blog in a whole month!  What a bad, bad blogger :-(  I will try harder next month, I promise.  In the meantime, this page was done at my January crop using Sue's Sketch of the Month and documents the delay we had on our journey between Copenhagen and Malmö.

Unfortunately, some inconsiderate person had abandoned their car, blocking the turning circle outside the station.  After waiting in vain for the owner to return and move, our driver attempted a thirty-3-point turn but just could not get past.  Eventually he was forced to reverse back down the crowded street to continue the journey!  I wonder if the red car owner had gone off somewhere on the train ... or was hiding after spotting our coach and the traffic jam behind??