wednesday...Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop!

Welcome to the September Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop! If you came from Ali Thomas's blog then you are on track but if you stumbled here, please go back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to start the blog hop!

This blog hop is all about stamping techniques and I have a fun tutorial for all of you to try!

Here is my finished layout:


I'm going to show you how I made the three larger circles that I used as embellies in this layout.

Supplies:
-Script stamp (Prima)
-StazOn black ink
-distress ink (Vintage Photo by Tim Holtz)
-embossing ink (Tim Holtz)
-Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel
-embossing tool


Step 1. Cut three 3" circles and stamp with a script stamp (I used a Prima stamp on mine) and archival solvent ink (I use StazOn).


Step 2. With a distress ink (I used Tim Holtz Vintage Photo), lightly ink the edges and over the circles to give it an aged look..


Step 3. Cover your circle with embossing ink (I use Tim Holtz) by using your pad right over the circle. Cover the circle now with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).


Step 4. Heat it up using your embossing tool and enjoy your handmade leather-like circles!

Here are a few close up of my layout:

You can see how cool the circles look on the finished layout! They are glossy and thick and leather-like. It gives a lot of texture to masculine layouts!


I hadnmade my own flowers using the same pattern paper as the circles so that it matches my layout. I finished it off with a liquid pearl in the center.


This is my handwritten journaling. I handmade the little banner in the bottom.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my quick tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it! To keep on hopping, please go to Helen's blog!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

saturday...3 cards using stamps

Morning everyone and happy Saturday! I hope that you are enjoying your weekend!

I have 3 cards to share with you  today. I made these three cards for the Counterfeit Challenge #3 which is to make your own embellies and alter them using stamps or alter store bought embellies with stamps.



For this card, I handmade my backrgound by stamping onto kraft paper. I also made the little bird (which is a stamp) by stamping her 3 times, one in the background blue stripped paper, one in the lighter pink and white pattern paper and another time in the darker polka dot paper. I then cut it out and pieced the chick together over the background. I  just love how sweet she looks!

here is a close up of her:


Here is the second card that I made:

I had a lot of fun making this card! I used a cream colored cardstock for the background. Using the heart paper, I used the grid to cut using my X-acto knife small rectangles to mimic a window. For the butterfly, I stamped her twice, once on acetate and once on a light blue pattern paper from my stash. I cut out both images and layer them on top of each other, only gluing the center. i added some blue rhinestones for the body.

Here is a better view of the butterfly. You can see that her wings are raised:


Finally, my third card was king of fun in the sense that I used up a lot of the smaller pieces of pattern paper that I had after making my layout and cards:


For this card, I embossed the background cream cardstock to give it some depth. I used the leftover rectangles from the previous card and line them up on this one. I used one of the smaller handmade roses that I has included on my kit and stickled the edges. I made a tiny banner and altered it by stamping it with brown ink and machine stitching it to the card.

Here is a better view of the banner and rose:


Thanks for stopping by my blog today and I hope that I've inspired you to use those stamps!

friday...layout inspired by Birds of a Feather/The (paper) Trailmakers using my Sept. Counterfeit Kit

Happy Friday bloggers! Today I want to share with you a layout that I made using my September Counterfeit Kit and the best thing about this challenge is that I didn't have to spend a dime! I had everything in my stash so I just went stash shopping.  :)

Here is my layout:


I actually made my own background for this layout. I stared with my light blue/green pattern paper that looks like cardstock from the Sassafrass Indie Girl collection and embossed it with clear embossing powder using my Prima script stamp and a small swirly and flower stamp that I've had for a while. I then lightly inked some areas so you could see the embossing (I'm working on a tutorial on how to do this).

Here is a picture of my finished sheet of 12x12 paper:

(click to enlarge)

I used my brand new Cherish stamp by Martha Stewart and punched around the edges of my 12x12 paper. I just LOVE this stamp and has definitely become my favorite! I just love how it lets you create your own die cut paper in minutes!

Here is a quick close up of one of my corner:

Isn't that embossing just beautiful???? (Again, I'm working on a tutorial on how to do this so come back again very soon!)


I handmade my own paper flowers using scraps of cardstock that I had in blue and white. I stickled the edges with some Diamond stickles (my favorite!) and formed an embellishment  cluster in the left side of my pictures. I designed and cut my title from the blue cardstock that I used to mat my smaller die cut paper (also cut with my Pazzles). I finished that area with a handmade bling flourish using liquid pearls in white.

This layout was inspired by Birds of a Feather September Challenge which is to photograph and journal about your city. I just recently moved to Kissimmee, FL 15 mins away from Disney World so I knew I had to make a layout with all 4 parks in it. Behind each 2x3" picture there is a small tag that I made and wrote small facts about each park. Here is a close up:


This layout was also inspired by The (paper) Trailmakers inspiration picture #2. I was drawn to the brown, teal and white of the second inspiration picture found here.

I also made a brand new sketch for this layout and here it is for all of you to enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I really do appreciate it as well as the comments that you leave me! :)

tuesday...September Counterfeit Kit-My version

Well, it has been a while since I've participated in the Counterfeit Challenge so I checked them out yesterday to see the kit that they were counterfeiting this month and to my delight, they are counterfeiting Sweet Peach Crop Shop September Kit. The best thing about it is that I have those same pattern papers sitting around waiting to be used so I decided to give it a go.

Here is the kit that we are counterfeiting this month:

and here is my much smaller version:


I can't wait to start working with my kit! :)
Thanks for stopping by today!

thursday...3 sheets of paper/4 layouts (Part 3)

Good afternoon everyone!

I want to share with you the third layout that I made with the June Counterfeit Kit. If you remember my last post about the counterfeit kit challenge, then you know that I challenged myself to make 4 layouts using only 3 sheets of double sided paper. I designed 4 sketches and then cut the pattern papers with my Pazzles Inspiration and ended up with this very basic designs:


I finished the one in the bottom left and the top right and today I'm going to show you how I made the one in the top left side.

I based this layout on my sketch. I made this sketch for Creative Scrappers when I was in their Sketch DT and I finally got to use it!


Ok, let's get started:


Step 1. Even though I was planning on using the back side of the red/cream Basic Grey pattern paper, I opted for using the front since the pictures that I chose clashed with the bright red back. I glued down my reverse diecut paper unto cream cardstock and doodles around the edge with a white pen.


Step 2. I lightly distressed the edges of my brown cardstock mat and inked it. I printed my photo with a white edge because it saves paper since I like to mat my photos in white first. Since the original kit had small chipboard frames, I made my own using my black cardstock and did a witewash on it for a more outdoorsy and beachy feel.

NOTE: I'm working on a tutorial on how I made my own chipboard frames.


Step 3. I then gathered all of my embellies. I ended up making more of those Lili flowers using Lisa's tutorial in different sizes. I also added some leaves and a little sentiment that I printed on photo paper and cut out. I ended up having to make 2 more butterflies since I ran out. Finally, I added another chipboard piece to the one that I had originally in my kit to make the embellie area a bit more symmetrical.


Step 4. I then put everything together as seen above and that's it! My third layout is done!

Here are a few close up of the finished layout:





For my title, I cut out the words exploring Jamaica with my Pazzles Inspiration and then journaled directly on my layout using these words as keywords and my title. It's a different way of including journaling and a title to your layout!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate all the feedback that you give me on these 3 sheets/ 4 layouts challenge that I made for myself!

tuesday...Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop!

Welcome to the June Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop! If you came from Laurie's blog then you are on track but if you stumbled here, please go back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site to start the blog hop!

When was the last time that you scrapped about yourself? This month's blog hop challenge was to scrap about yourself using at least one "I" statement. For my layout, I used pictures that my hubby took of me when the two of us went exploring around our new city. I decided to make the layout from my point of view and included a little bit about my 'exploring' nature.

Here is my finished layout:



If you read my last post about the counterfeit kit challenge, then you know that I challenged myself to make 4 layouts using only 3 sheets of double sided paper. Having said this, I went to my drawing board (Photoshop CS4) and designed 4 sketches (and used some of my old sketches) to make my layouts using only these 3 sheets of paper. I cut the designs using my Pazzles Inspiration and this is what I ended up with:


These will be the basic designs of my layouts. I have already finished the layout in the bottom left corner. Today I'm going to show you how I made the one in the top right side.


Step 1. Using my Pazzles and the black Bazzill cardstock, I cut out a scallop border just like I did in my last layout.


Step 2. I placed it on top of my pattern paper to hide the edges. I distressed the patterned paper and glued everything down on a cream cardstock. I always like to mat my layouts in a white, black, brown or cream cardstock.


Step 3. I printed out my pictures, leaving a white border around it and then matted them on distressed brown cardstock.


Step 4. I then gathered all of my embellies. From my June Kit I pulled the three yellow/orange flowers, 3 of the butterflies that I had made, the journaling tag, and the denim flower. I had a few pieces of chipboard in my kit but decided that I needed more so I included a few more pieces. I also made three leaves from leftover green cardstock and printed out the word explore and cut it out to use in my layout.


Step 5. I then arranged all of my photos and embellies as shown and glued them down! For the title, I made my own thickers using craft foam and my cuttlebug. I also made my own butterfly trails using liquid pearls.

Here are a few close ups of my finished layout:







Thank you for taking the time to read through my quick tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it! To keep on hopping, please go to Rinda's blog!

Have a wonderful week!

monday...June Counterfeit Kit-My version

Happy Monday Bloggers!
Six months ago The Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog was born. I played along with them back in January and absolutely loved the outcome of this challenge (you can see my kit here and my layout here) but I got really busy soon after with the move to another city and stopped playing along although I've always been a lurker of the blog. Well, my life has settled down a bit more and I decided to play again this month.

This month the kit to be counterfeit is by Burlap & Buttercups, a new kit club. Here is their June Kit:


and here is my counterfeited kit:

(click image for a better look at my kit)

I decided to keep it small and manageable so I only chose 3 sheets of double sided paper and 6 sheets of Bazzill cardstock ( I like to use cardstock for my backgrounds). The original kit is a little too pink and girly for my taste so I focused more on the darker shades of colors and tried to match those (blue, red, green).

I pulled some bling, flowers, chipboards, and buttons from my stash and handmade some Jenny Bowlin inspired butterflies using my cuttlebug and some pearls. I also made some lilies using Lisa's tutorial (I might make a few more when I'm actually working on my layouts) because I thought they matched my papers. I printed out some journaling cards that I designed. I finished my kit with a handmade denim bloomer which again, I might make more of these when I'm actually working on my layouts. I did not include any letter stickers or Thickers because I want to use my Pazzles Inspiration for my titles.

My plan is to make 4 layouts with this kit. Do you think I can do it??? :)
Have a great day and week and thank you for stopping by my blog today.