April Blog Hop!

Welcome to the last stop on the hop!  If you have joined somewhere along the hop, make sure you head over to The Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog for the list of blogs on the hop.  This month was SO full of inspiration that I had to do more than one project for the hop! 

My first inspiration came from Melissa (The Scrappy Jedi) and if you click on that link, you will see what inspired me so much!

I loved the simplicity of the layout....plus it gave me a great excuse to get out some sprays and get a bit messy!  The banner on Melissa's layout is adorable...and so easy to recreate!  I tried doing my title several ways, but was happy to be able to pull out one of the playing cards that I put in my kit...I think it makes the perfect touch.

Of course I HAD to browse through Sherri's Blog and found a fun card that would let me play with my new Mother's Day Boquet Cricut Cart (look here to see the card I used for inspiration).

It was VERY hard for me to cut this cute BG striped paper.  I had to close my eyes when I did it.  LOL  Oh well....there is always new paper to love!  I wanted to add some interest to my flower without inking, so I faux stitched the layers and the leaves.  I really love the bottom layers of borders...and laughed when I realized that I have the EXACT same punches.  Great minds shop alike!

Thanks for joining us on our hop!  We can't wait until next month!

Photo motherload!

I generally don't try to fit too many photos on my layouts, but I found a sketch that completely inspired me to make TWO layouts this past week. 

Here is my inspiration sketch (Sketch Support):

Here is what it inspired me to create (with my Counterfeit Kit, of course!).

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE these journaling spots that I have been creating for the kits...really helping me to get my story down!  I am so happy that I was able to get so many memories down on paper with this sketch.  

Song Bird Prarie (Mini Challenge #1: Memorabilia)

I have a nice fat accordian file folder just stuffed with bits and pieces of things I have saved (tickets, brochures, cards, kids drawings, tags...).  I had a great time riffling through them all for this challenge (and lost a few things in the process that the kids wanted back LOL).

One of my favorite trips with my husband was to a bed and breakfast for one of our anniversaries.  I already made a mini album of that trip, but found some bigger memorabilia and thought they would make a great layout for our larger album.

I used a wonderful sketch from PageMaps found HERE.  I posted the main layout on our Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, but here are some peeks and an explanation of how I made my bird.  :)

In my kit I had added some Sticky Back Canvas and had used part of it to make some birds (free handed).  I have tried to stamp on canvas before and didn't like how it came out, but I jumped right in to give it another go.  Here is how I added color to my bird (shown on the wing):


I decided to use a complementary color to go with the body of the bird.  I used a sponge to dab on some buttercup yellow ink.

I picked a honey color to do the stamping and used a background stamp from Autumn Leaves.

I love the sticky back!  So nice to not have to add adhesive and makes it really easy to layer!  I added a gem for the eye and am really happy with how it came out.  My six year old immediately asked to make one, too, and happily showed me a purple bird that looked very similar to mine.  :)

Hope you enjoyed the peek...and hope you look at my FULL layout at our blog.  (There will be some other great layouts from our DT there as well!)

I did a quick card based on a Sketch Support Card Sketch (found HERE).  I was wondering what to do with my branch from my kit....and this sketch seemed perfect for it.

Mostly from my kit.  Added: Card base, black cardstock scraps, teal scrap, Thanks stamp, bling for eye

Altered Calendar

I love doing layouts and cards, but I have really been working at trying to do at least ONE different thing each month.  Here is what I came up with for this month...

My daughter is in Kinder and loves telling me what the date is (since they go over it often during the afternoon class).  She is excited to put this in her room so she can keep track all by herself.

I forgot how much I dislike working with Modge Podge.  LOL  I have no patience for that sticky stuff.  It was necessary to help protect it from eager little hands, so I did it and it came out great (always does, but I still don't have to love using it, right?).  I did add some scrap paper (blue and green) for the numbers and months because I thought using patterned paper would be a bit busy for those.

How is your crafty month going?  I am getting a BUNCH done!

Best layout yet!

Sometimes it is hard to not pepper my daughter with advice when she wants to scrapbook with me.  She is extremely independant (hmmmm...wonder where she gets that from?) and pretty much wants me to stay out of it!  LOL  I printed off some photos for her yesterday and before I could suggest that she had enough for several layouts now...she glued them all onto one 12x12 paper.  LOL  Guess I need to print her more pictures.

(And my son was not impressed that he has a crown on his head in the photo...he gave her a mini lecture about things boys like and things girls like.  LOL)  She was pretty impressed with her layout and declared it her "best one yet!"  That's my girl!   She also learned that you cannot corner round ribbon.  I still need to get my corner rounder unstuck.  UGH!

My take on the April Counterfeit Kit

Once we saw this kit...it was LOVE at first sight!  The colors are so much fun and there are some great homeade touches already in the kit!

Presenting....

A Little Birdie Told Me

By a new club:  Front Porch Kits!

This is the brain child of Tracy Pounds (of The Little Blue House) and Lollie Chessie

They have uber creative ideas for projects...and you definitely should check them out live on their U Stream channel!  They are a fun, super friendly and wonderfully inspiring group of ladies!

To get the link for the kit AND to see my take on it (in all it's glory) you will need to pop in at The Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog .  Be ready to be inspired!  Everyone's take on the kit is really fun!

Here are some close up shots of  my kit and my complet list of products:

Papers:





Embellishments:



Here is the orginal kit list with my substitutions:

Printed Papers

Fabric Store - For the Record (Echo Park) Cosmo Cricket/Girl Friday

Borders - For the Record (Echo Park) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/weather vane

Banana - Sophisticates (Bella Blvd) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/Patchwork quilt

Four Birds - Its the Little Things (Fancy Pants) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/meadow

Feathered - Its the Little Things (Fancy Pants) Heidi Grace

Chlorine - Sophisticates (Bella Blvd) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/Wildflowers

Headed South - Its the Little Things (Fancy Pants) Heidi Grace

Gerber Daisy - Its the Little Things (Fancy Pants) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/LadyBug

Stamp of Approval - For the Record (Echo Park) Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/Petticoat

Fancy Pants It’s the Little Things Spring Fever Basic Grey/Urban Prarie/Monarch



Cardstock

Black Prismatic (Bazzill) Black Cardstock
Butter Creme (2) (Bazzill) Cream Cardstock

Sunfowers Medium (Bazzill) Yellow Momenta Cardstock

Blush Red Medium (Bazzill) Red Cardstock

Kraft (Bazzill) Kraft Cardstock



Embellishments

Ribbons/Trims (24 inches each) in Teal, Pink, Cream Crochet (May Arts) lace Random ribbon/lace

Tropical Rain Glitter Mini Sampler (P K Glitz) Random ribbon/lace

Chartreusse Glitter Mini Sampler (P K Glitz) Martha Stewart Glitter

Heart Art Acetate (P K Glitz) Made myself

Journal Card Variety - Its the Little Things (Fancy Pants) Made myself

Mega Bottlecaps (2 large & 1 small) (Maya Road) floral embellishments (Recollections)  Skipped

2 Fabric Remnants (Moda) Random Fabric

1 Burlap Square Sticky Back Canvas/Cross Stitch Canvas

4 yarn remnants Skip

Button Variety (Buttons Galore) Buttons from my stash

Googly Eyes Skip

Feathers Skip

8 Birds with wings (Front Porch Cutz by Lolly) Sticky Back Canvas birds/aida cloth

1 Tree branch (Front Porch Cutz by Lolly) Cricut Winter Woodland Cut

Chipboard Alphas - Noah (Maya Road) Momenta Stickers

Chipboard Flowers (Maya Road) Random mix of chipboard flowers

Chipboard Tags (2) (Maya Road) Random mix of chipbaord tags

Flower Sprigs & Leaves (Front Porch) Cricut cuts

Hank the Plank (Front Porch) Wooden Calendar

Felt butterflies in teal and black (Creative Impressions) Cricut Storybook Cart

Assortment of silk flowers in coral, teal and white skip

Birdie Journal Block (Fancy Pants It’s the Little Things) Playing cards to alter


So what do you think?  Lots of fun stuff, right?  I am also excited because this is the first month for our Design Team!  They have been rockin' it out for us and we are really proud to have them on board!  You are in for a treat!  Keep an eye on the Counterfeit Blog...lots of great things coming up!

April Counterfeit Kit

It is THAT time of the month again!!!

Time to reveal the kit we are going to counterfeit for Apirl!!!

Head on over to Counterfeit Kit Challenge to see which kit we picked!

Tomorrow I will post MY kit!  I know you can't wait!!  LOL