Welcome to October’s Counterfeit Kit Challenge Reveal & Blog Hop! I always look forward to the first of the month because it means a new Counterfeit Kit Challenge and lots of great inspiration from the Master Forgers. I am super excited to be the Guest Designer for this month.

You should have arrived from http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/. There is also a complete list of the Blog Hop on their website as well as at the bottom of this page.

Master Forger Tracey picked a fun, bright & colorful kit from Hip Kit Club – May, 2021. In her words she choose this kit because “it is full of beautiful bright spring colours. There are tags, labels, stickers and fun ephemera die cuts that are all singing out to be forged and scrapped. What really called my name in this kit is the American Craft Paper “Let’s Go” from the Buenos Dias collection, the fun colourful world map has me wanting to reach for some of my many travel photos, it made picking this kit very, very easy.”

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Inspiration Kit

Here are some pictures of May, 2021, Hip Kit Club’s main kit, papers, cardstock & embellishments.

As I was looking at the inspiration kit, several themes jumped out; home, flowers, labels, tags, hearts, banners & words about nature, books, comfort & moments. The bold striped paper on the right of the main kit is what first drew me in & so that’s where I started.

Here is my version of this month’s Counterfeit Kit Challenge: “Life’s Colorful Moments.”

Even though it is very bright, I think it also has a cozy home sort of feel to it. What do you think?

As you can see, it is quite a large kit with patterned papers, cardstock, cut apart sheets, stickers, die cuts, washi strips, enamel dots, journal cards, tags & labels. Let’s break it down so you can get a closer look at each category.

Here are the patterned papers:

While it’s not quite as bold as the striped paper in the inspiration kit, I started with the chevron paper on top because it has a lot of the same colors. This came out of a Heidi Swapp paper pad called “Serendipity” from 2013. I have a lot of really old papers – anybody else?

Several of the other papers came from the same pad, including the bright cut apart sheet. I also pulled in several pink papers & a pretty pink floral. The pink, yellow & green striped paper is actually a self-stick fabric sheet.

The cardstock:

It’s hard to tell in the picture, but I have a dark teal & light teal pulled from the striped inspiration paper and then a bright pink & yellow. On the bottom is a gold glitter paper that I am planning on making a forgery with for CKC’s Forgeries on the Fourth.

The stickers:

There were so many options in the inspiration kit – hearts, butterflies, nature, etc. I think I tried to include them all! I tried to keep to the colors as well as the themes but I did add in basic black letters for titles. There are also washi tape strips and enamel dots.

Cut-aparts, labels & tags:

And last, but not least, I have cut-apart sheets, pocket cards, a package of die cuts, labels & tags. More hearts, butterflies and florals with some word phrases, too. Several of these are from Simple Stories as I am always drawn to the feel of their collections.

As you can see, I went a little overboard but once I started it was hard to stop. These colors and motifs are definitely something I have a lot of in my stash and made this kit come together really well. I can’t wait to actually start creating with it!

Please leave me a comment and let me know if you play along with Counterfeit Kit Challenge. Now, go see what all the other talented ladies have made this month! Next up will be Julene.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge – http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/
Guest Machelle Willing – https://www.smalltownscrap.com/blog/ (you are here)
Julene –http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com
Juliet – https://www.instagram.com/julesd/
Kate – https://kateblue.blogspot.com
Leslie- http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Misty – https://craftysoup.com
Tina – http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
Tracey – https://3obsessions.blogspot.com
Laura – https://www.instagram.com/mrsp_scrapsandtea/
Cindy – http://cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com

Also, if you want to see more of my Counterfeit Kits, you can read these blog posts – October, 2020 and June, 2020.

Thank you for stopping by! You can also follow along on my Instagram page where I post pictures of some of my projects.

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Traditional

October 22, 2020

0 comment

October 2020 CKC Layouts

by Machelle Willing

Welcome back! Even though life has been busy, I managed to make a couple of layouts with my October 2020 CKC Kit “Memories of Home.” I am happy to have recorded more family stories to go along with the pictures. In the past I was only journaling the basics of “who, what, when & where.” Recently, I have been trying to write down the stories we tell when we are all together and may not be obvious from just the pictures.

Do you have those “remember when” stories that pop up when your family is together? Journaling does not come naturally to me, so this is something I am constantly working on. What are some prompts that you use to tell a story or start your journaling?

This 8×8 double page layout is about our first house as a married couple. After looking at quite a few houses that did not meet our expectations, we found this one & fell in love with it immediately.

When we went to put a contract on the house, we found out through the Seller’s Disclosure that it was next door to a bomb factory! You see, the house was outside the city limits and there was a huge field behind it. Somewhere in that field there was a bunker where they tested hand grenades, so every once in a while a siren would go off and then you would hear a muffled pop.

If you were in the house you could only faintly hear the siren. It never bothered us in the least and we lived there for six years. Now that is definitely not your average new home story!

October 2020 CKC Monthly Challenge #2

The next 8×8 layout is about my grandmother and something she always said to me growing up. Anytime I would go somewhere, she would tell me to “act pretty.” She wanted me to look nice but to ACT nicer.

I grew up to respect others and in today’s words Be Kind. She always wanted me to be respectful and friendly to everyone, no matter who they were. She knew it was better to be pretty on the inside.

This is something I still try to be mindful of today. I don’t like it when people look down on others because of their current circumstances or things beyond their control.

This double page layout was for the October 2020 CKC’s Monthly Challenge #2 – Trick or Treat. The second challenge this month was to pick three Tricks (something a little tricky to use) or Treats (something that you love to use) or if you wanted to combine Tricks and Treats then you needed to pick five from the list and incorporate onto your layout. Here were the lists:

Trick Treat

Hand Stitching Flowers

Eyelets Enamel Dots

Glitter Rainbows

Fringing Stencils

Mixed Media Stripes

Doodling Hearts

Rub-ons Woodgrain

So for the pages above I actually only managed to use four Treats – Flowers, Enamel Dots, Hearts & Woodgrain. I have enjoyed being the Guest Designer for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog this month & still have some of my kit left to work with. I am hoping to make some cards as well, so please be sure to check back in for that. Let me know if you played along with the October 2020 CKC and what were your Trick or Treats?

Looking forward to visiting again soon!

Machelle

UPDATE: Since this post I have put together a handout with 3 story starter ideas to help you look for stories that might not be immediately obvious from your pictures. You can check that out and download a copy from my post in March, 2022.

Scrapbooking Family

October 1, 2020

26 comments

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Reveal – October, 2020

by Machelle Willing

Hello everyone! I always look forward to the first of the month because it means a new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit and blog hop. I am so excited that I get to be the guest designer for this month’s challenge! I can’t wait to see how everyone interprets this kit.

The October kit is inspired by Shimelle Laine’s Best of Both Worlds Kit for September.

Scrapbook papers & embellishments; Shimelle Laine’s Best of Both Worlds Kit for September

* Image of Kit put together by Siri Astrid Reenskaug Fjortoft

In her unboxing video, Shimelle does a great job giving you substitutions in case you want to use your own stash (which we do!). You can watch that video here. This helped me in making my own kit & gave me an idea for a great starting point. I love how you can take a kit in any direction depending on what you choose to focus on – I have taken the type of content rather than the colors or motifs. Here is my version of this month’s Counterfeit Kit – “Memories of Home.”

“Memories of Home”

The piece of striped paper (middle, right) was my starting point for this kit. The red, orange, golden yellow & brown felt like fall & are the deeper hues I tend to use. There is also a pop of bright green & blue/teal to lighten things up. I love that she included woodgrain since this is another go-to pattern of mine. Here is a close up of just the papers:

CKC October Kit – Papers

I then added the tone-on-tone papers, red diagonal stripe and the floral paper is for fussy-cutting. The small heart pattern is from the same Simple Stories line as the main stripe. The cardstock is all scraps in the fall colors.

Next we have all the embellishments and extras to play with. I have quite a few cut-aparts from Jillibean Soup and journaling cards from Simple Stories. The stickers are bits and pieces that I would like to use up. I have 3 versatile alpha sets but reserve the right to add more if I need to. I also like to use my cricut to cut titles for my layouts. Finally, I added a stencil with flowers, leaves & a butterfly, ink pads to use with the stencil, enamel dots & some die-cuts that match the cut-apart sheet.

Scrapbooking cut-apart sheets and journaling cards; October Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit "Memories of Home"

CKC October Kit – Cut-aparts

Scrapbooking stickers, small word strips; October Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit "Memories of Home"

CKC October Kit – Stickers

Scrapbooking Alpha Stickers; October Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit "Memories of Home"

CKC October Kit – Alphas

Scrapbooking embellishments: stencil, ink pads, enamel dots, die-cuts; October Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit "Memories of Home"

CKC October Kit – Embellishments/Extras

So there you have it – “Memories of Home.” This kit has more embellishments than I usually add in but I feel that they all go together really well and some of them have been in my stash for a very long time. Be sure to check back in to see what I make with this kit & if you play along, please leave a comment or, better yet, a picture of your kit or projects!

Here is the complete list for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop – everyone’s kits are always different so make sure to check them all out!

Thanks for stopping by & I look forward to visiting with you again soon.

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking Traditional

July 8, 2020

2 comments

Creative Time with My CKC Kit

by Machelle Willing

Layouts Done!

It always feels good to complete layouts for my scrapbooks. I have spent some creative time with my Counterfeit Kit lately. These are all of one event for my Family album.

Scott’s aunts live in Illinois so we do not get to see them as much as we would like so when they do make it to Texas we all make it a point to get together. The bottom layout spotlights one of the places we love to go in San Antonio. Do you scrapbook places as well as people? We always take pictures of signs and random things, like the ceiling, in case I decide to make a page about a specific place.

I used some of my June Counterfeit Kit, Butterfly Garden, but also added some paper for a couple of backgrounds and several stickers. It feels good to use up stash I’ve had for a while as well as my stamps that I do not get out often enough.

There is my June round-up – and now on to July! The inspiration kit for the July Counterfeit Kit Challenge is the Garden Party kit by Sahin Designs.

Garden Party Scrapbook papers by Sahin Designs

Garden Party Papers

Garden Party Elements

Garden Party Pocket Cards

Now here is my kit, “Blush.” In going through my stash, I found that I do not have many black & white patterned papers, so I decided to make a mini-kit and use it to make a few cards. I will also pull in white cardstock for the card bases and possibly a border punch.

Mini scrapbook kit with patterned paper, cardstock, stickers, butterflies, doilies, enamel dots, flowers & stamps

July Mini Kit for Counterfeit Kit Challenge “Blush”

I was resistant about making a kit with my supplies because I like to have choices, but I found that it makes a great starting point & I can still choose to pull out what I need as I go. Sometimes, I just need that one piece of paper for inspiration and it gets me in the groove and I can make several layouts at a time. What inspires you to get started when you finally have time to sit down to scrapbook? Leave me a comment and let me know how you like to spend your creative time. You can also message me on my Contact page, I would love to hear from you!

Glad you stopped by and be sure to come back soon!

Machelle

Blog News Scrapbooking

Albums Scrapbooking Traditional

April 28, 2019

0 comment

(inter)National Scrapbook Day 2019

by Machelle Willing

There are lots of differing opinions on Scrapbook Crops. Some people absolutely love them (me!) and some do not, for a variety of reasons. A few reasons for attending would be to have uninterrupted time to finish a lot of pages or projects, visit with others who love the same hobby or maybe just to have some “me” time away from the responsibilities of home. Others do not like them because they prefer to scrapbook alone, do not want to have to pack & unpack their supplies or have had a bad experience previously.

Picture of me scrapbooking at a crop. Featured on the blog post National Scrapbook Day 2019; Small Town Scrap — Machelle (Me)

I personally love going to crops and retreats. I get ideas and energy from having others to talk to and seeing what they are working on. Of course it’s not always possible to find one close to you or the time to go, so a few years ago, I found a great alternative through a group on Facebook. Online Crops! There are several companies that do them now and I have tried a couple but the one I like best is Scrapbook Generation.

You get the benefit of cropping with others without having to travel or pack all your supplies! There are games, challenges and Bingo games; lots to choose from but you only have to do what interests you. It’s always fun and the reason I am bringing this up now is because starting tomorrow they are having a week-long online crop to celebrate National Scrapbook Day 2019 (always the first Saturday in May).

I will be participating and thought I would share the information in case anyone else wanted to join in. You do have to be part of their group page on Facebook, but I think it is worth it. They also have other challenges and giveaways on the page. Here is a link if you are interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sgscrapsquad/. One of the posts will tell you what to expect and there is a printable schedule of the games and challenges as well. (This is not an affiliate post or anything, I am just really excited to participate next week!)

I am lucky enough to also have a friend that scrapbooks and we try to also get together at one of our houses from time to time. It’s always challenging when we are at my house because I have a furry friend who wants to “help” hold the papers down.

Photo of my cat, Bo, "helping" with my scrapbooking. Blog post about crops on National Scrapbook Day 2019. — Bo (the helper)

No matter where you scrapbook, I hope that you are able to carve out some time to enjoy your hobby next week. Everyone have a Happy (inter)National Scrapbook Day 2019!

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Traditional