Saturday, October 6, 2018

Travelers Notebooks–CKC Oct. 2018

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Two Travelers Notebook spreads I have put together using only items from my Counterfeit kit!

#home is a view of the changing of the seasons down by my pond – Oct. 01, 2018

Everyday is my Great Dane, Lucy, standing in the shade waiting for me to catch up on the way back to the house at the end of our walk!

all smiles

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A full 12x12 layout using only items from my Counterfeit Kit! I once scrapbooked with limited supplies because I was just getting started with this craft, working from this kit reminds me of those days, and forces me to really think.

As a bonus, I actually finished off two packages of embellishments! Granted neither of them were all that full, but it felt good to use something up, better than I thought it would! I know buying new is fun and exciting, but finally using all of a product or that “special” paper is (almost as) exciting!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Counterfeit Kit Challenge–October 2018!



I just recently heard about this rather awesome challenge, and have done a couple of practice rounds to try and figure out a method that worked for me. This month I think I (almost) figured out how my mind works!

In short, over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge, you build a kit from your stash that is inspired by the “store bought” inspiration kit chosen by the challenge. Think of it this way, it’s like a mood board for kit building!

For the month of October the inspiration kit came from Wild Hare Kits, a kit club that builds a kit based on your needs and preferences! It’s a “personal shopper” for supplies! Anyhow…to be more specific, the kit chosen for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is the kit that was made for Wild Hare’s September Guest Designer, Mandi Holmes.

Inspiration Kit:

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Here is my kit:


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And here is my process:

I look at Colors, Patterns/Textures, Alphas, and Embellishments.

In this kit the colors I saw were teal, brown, pink, a little green, and yellow/yellow-orange. The patterns that stood out to me were chevrons, wood, “+,” stars, a little floral, and faux washi. The alphas were brown, wood, and some square sticker alphas then finally, I look at the embellishments. For me I saw sequins, stickers, puffy stickers, and framed phrases. This is it, this is what I listed for myself to use as guidelines as I searched my stash.

I find picking out my patterned papers first works great for me! After all, they tend to be a major part of layouts/projects! I have a rather large supply of papers, but eventually I narrow it down to around twelve.

My patterned paper choices:

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While I am picking out my papers, I also pick out some that would work as “cut aparts,” or accents. Either because of their pattern, because of their size, or because I’ve already cut into them!

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Next, I choose cardstock (and in this case a sheet of vellum also):

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Now the hard part. Embellishments.

For me this means rummaging through ALL of my products that fit under the umbrella term “embellishment.” Initially, I choose A LOT! A lot more than is even remotely reasonable!
And, since my alpha packages are stored in the same cabinet, I also pick some alphas out that would fit my kit! (For the record, I try to pick already opened packages first.)

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Now the absolute hardest part. Reduction!

I narrow down all my embellishments and alphas until the fit in this box with my papers and cardstocks. This is how I keep my kit all together, and this is how I force myself to reduce! If I didn’t give myself a maximum space for my kit to occupy, I’d never be able to do the challenge! I would just have to take a photo of my entire room and say, “Look! My kit takes up four walls!” This is also why I am so excited about this challenge…there’s getting to be less and less space for me in my room!

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After my box is all packed I throw together my mixed media products (stamps, dies, inks, etc.). They don’t go in the box for two reasons, 1)Inks can leak and 2)They are rather bulky.

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And as always, I have my “staple” supplies. One’s that are (almost always) a constant for me no matter the project.

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Now, off to try and make a something from all this …

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Toblerone

Using a Traveler's Notebook to document little tidbits!
This was the first TN spread I did, but I never got around to posting it! I'm trying to get my ... EVERYTHING... all caught up, and that includes at least sharing some photos of projects that didn't get a full post with lots of details up.

Plus, it's a rather straight forward spread! The sticker with the date, the bee, and the beehive are all print and cut stickers from the Silhouette Store. The honeycomb stamp (using Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide) and embossing; Tim Holtz. The puffy stickers and yellow washi; Hip Kit Club. My papers all came from my scraps, and that one little photo corner is from Pink Paislee's Hello Sunshine line!

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Altered Jar!

An altered jar I made, mostly just to see where it would go, but also entered in the May (2018), Reneabouquets Mood Board Challenge on Facebook.

The jar I've had sitting around for a while, the top I found while digging up part of the yard last month, and the butterfly was left hanging on a stump by the previous owners. I washed everything up and set them aside without any plan for them at the time, but I decided to see what I could glue together this month.

After I added the Moulds to the jar, I coated everything with white gesso, then started layering on the paints & when I thought that was too "bright" I decided I should FINALLY try out the Baked Textures!

That mass of "netting" on the underside of the top piece is actually some "spider web" I picked up at the 99¢ store this past Halloween! I needed something to...cover...the top of the bottle, but I also wanted something different. After I got the "web" on I just randomly dribbled some JudiKins Diamond Glaze on and added the Silver Pink Shard Glitter Glass from Reneabouquets!


To add some shine to the butterfly, that was painted with Vicki Boutin paints, I added Diamond Chunky Glitter Glass from Reneabouquets!







The jar was painted with Prima's Opal Magic "Blue Gold" on the bottom side of the flourishes, and Prima's Sparks "Mermaid Sparkle" above the flourishes, while the flourishes themselves were painted with Opal Magic "Yellow-Blue" before having a layer of "Ancient Amber" Baked Texture added!


A close up of the beautiful, handcrafted flowers from the Reneabouquet Shop! For the coloring of the lid, I mixed some "Mermaid Lagoon" Distress Oxide with some Vicki Boutin Iridescent Glaze, spritzed in a bit of water for easier mixing, and painted it on! And that rust all over? "Chunky Rust" Baked Texture! Absolutly Awesome!






Product List:
  • Reneabouquet Exclusive Products: 
    • Diamond Chunky Glitter Glass 
    • Silver Pink Shard Glitter Glass 
    • All of the flowers and leaves! (From a couple "Teal and White" sets) 
  • Seth Apter/Emerald Creek: Baked Texture: 
    • Ancient Amber (Keyhole & Flourishes - After painting Yellow-Blue) 
    • Deep Sea (Butterfly Body) 
    • Chunky Rust (for the rust) 
  • Ranger Perfect Medium™ brush 
  • American Crafts - All The Good Things Collection - Mediums - Acrylic Color Pop
  • American Crafts - Mixed Media Collection - Glaze - Iridescent
  • Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Embossing Ink Clear
  • Prima - Iron Orchid Designs - Vintage Art Decor Mould - Large Fleurish
  • Prima - Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Acrylic Paint - Opal Magic - Yellow Blue
  • Prima - Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Acrylic Paint - Opal Magic - Blue Gold
  • Prima - Finnabair - Art Alchemy - Sparks Acrylic Paint - Mermaid Sparkle
  • Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Oxides Ink Pads - Mermaid Lagoon
  • JudiKins Diamond Glaze
  • Creative Paperclay
  • The netting is actually "spider web" from the 99¢ store I bought back at Halloween.

Monday, May 28, 2018

Happy Layout!

My Great Dane, Lucy, laying in the pond after an afternoon walk.


Over at scrapbook.com I host a monthly challenge, "The Ugly Games." Each month "tributes" are given someone to send two papers and (at least one) embellishment to. The receiver is then challenged with creating a layout using all or part of the papers, as long as they are recognizable, well the embellishment(s) are optional and count towards two extra votes! This isn't to say the papers are ugly, but the combination is meant to be U-G-L-Y, or at least something that wouldn't normally be used together! It really teaches one to think about papers differently and how to combine different colors and patterns!

For the May 2018 Challenge I was sent the following papers and set of stickers:



The layout they became is at the top of this post and here:

The cut file used here is "Piece of the Pie," from The Cut Shoppe (Etsy). I cut the outer edge of the shape in the yellow paper, then the "outline" in the red & white paper! With the stickers I coated them in clear gesso so I could apply watercolors to them, then used the hearts and flowers on the layout!



Product List: 
  • Hip Kit Club Exclusive Die Cuts 
  • Pentel Water Brush 
  • Clear gesso 
  • American Crafts - Lovely Day Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Up
  • American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Li'l Bit
  • American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Hello Joy
  • Echo Park - Summer Dreams Collection - Enamel Dots
  • Scotch ATG - Adhesive Applicator Gun - Pink
  • Sharpie - Fine Point - Writing Pens - Black - 2 Pack
  • Silhouette America - Cameo Version 3 - Electronic Cutting System
  • Silhouette America - Cameo Version 3 - Autoblade
  • Tonic Studios - Tim Holtz - Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors - 7 Inches
  • Prima - Watercolor Confections - Tropicals
  • Tonic Studios - Tim Holtz - Mini-Snips - 5 Inches
  • Crate Paper - Chasing Dreams Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Moment
  • American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Cultivate Joy

Saturday, May 12, 2018

A little note...

A short note to explain my absence...

We moved 1400 miles! Whew, I'm tired! LOL

But, I'm finally getting everything situated in the new home, and I had to order an extension cord (USB) for my camera so I can (hopefully) someday make little videos of my brain attempting to control the actions of my hands!

Spring Fling Tag Swap at Reneabouquets!



Over on Facebook, Reneabouquets hosted a "Spring Fling" tag swap for May! This is the tag I came up with for my partner! (Well, I added to what I had been thinking of, because I had daffodils on the brain as soon as I signed up! LOL)

The daffodils are cut from a thin Mulberry Paper and after I put them together I coated them in (watered down) Vicki Boutin Iridescent Glaze and added the stamen. And actually, I didn't have the right shade of yellow for them, so after cutting the trumputs out I soaked them in Shimmerz: Creameez "Daffodil" (that was just a lucky coincidence the color I was looking for was also appropriately named!) 







Product List:
  • Reneabouquet Products: 
    • "Silver Pink" Glitter Glass 
    • Beautiful Board Small Quilling Flourish 
    • Tiny Treasures Sweet Pea Lavender Premium Paper Glitter Glass Butterflies 
    • Mini Pink Lemonade Mulberry Roses & Leaves Set 
    • The gardenias were pulled from different rose sets I had from Reneabouquets 
    • The paper is from Blue Fern Studios: Spring Parade, and you can purchase this from Reneabouquet! 
  • Silhouette Cameo 3
  • PixScan Cutting Mat
  • AutoBlade
  • The lattice cut on the background and the daffodils are both files from the Silhouette store (Design IDs #40858 and #112756)
  • Ranger 
    • Multi Medium - Matte
    • Glossy Accents
  • Scotch ATG
  • Prima - Finnabair - Art Alchamey
    • Sparks Acrylic Pain - Fairy Wings
    • Opal Magic Wax - Royal Robes
    • Art Basics - 3D Gloss Gel
  • Vicki Boutin Iridescent Glaze
  • Shimmerz: Creameez "Daffodil"
  • Tim Holtz Distress Oxide "Shaded Lilac"
  • JudiKins Diamond Glaze