Twig & Petal

A little late off the starting blocks for Novembers kit, but I'll pull a couple of double shifts at the craft desk and be caught up in no time.

This month the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog threw me for a loop with their open-ended choice of kit.

"This month, we are going to change it up a bit and let YOU pick what to counterfeit!  With collection kits and coordinating embellishments so popular, we thought it would be a great idea to let you choose a collection from 2012 and find (or create) papers and embellishments from your stash to mimic the new collection. "


With more variety, I become indecisive. Just give me chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, and I'll know which one to choose. Give me 47 flavours and I'll be reading the list three times over before can commit.


My own attempts to locate and choose from the vast super-scrap-market on the web left me dizzy with the possibilities. Forgetting which isle I had been down and where I had seen this kit or that collection that I thought I liked, I took a break and came back to CKC for the Master Forgers' blog hop. Here I could see what each of the design team member had come up with . And from this, still a plethora of possibilities for me, I was able to choose one kit that for me, had the right essence about it.


My inspiration came from  Jemma at Just Jimjams. She chose Crate Paper's Storyteller collection from last winter's CHA, released in February 2012. A poke around the Crate Paper site and I decided that Storyteller was the right one for me too.

When I assembled my papers and then the embellies I looked to mimic the colours and energy. A literal translation of the die cut sheet would result in a travel oriented kit. Not particularly conducive to the stories this stay-at-home gramma likes to record. So I pulled items with texture and patterns that would feel right at home in the original kit. The result is "Twig & Petal" A lovely balance of masculine and feminine. Blossoms and woodsie. Older stash and a bit of newer stash.

Papers:
Echo Park, For the Record, Fancy Floral
Fancy Pants, All Fall, Spelling (B side)
Red Chevron passed to me by a fellow paper lover, to shut off my whining about being unable to source any chevron locally.
Yellow with etched floral; K&Company, from that big pack of 300, picked up at Costco.
Multi floral; muk (manufacturer unknown) from the massive ebay purchase in my early scrappy days.
Ancient map; muk, ebay stash 
My Mind's Eye, Abbey Road, Lucky Me "Sisters" Forever Rings
Red, graphic floral;muk, ebay stash
My Mind's Eye, Penny Lane, Free Bird "Peace" 
Bo Bunny, Et Cetera, Back to Basics
Multi strips, muk, ebay stash
Deja Views, Home Collection, red with stitches,
Blue with wrought iron pattern, muk
Red Plaid, muk, ebay stash
Partial sheet, sand, muk, ebay stash
October Afternoon, Sidewalks, Kick the Can
Light blue, swiss dot, muk, ebay stash
7 gypsies, Westbourne
Blue and green patterned cardstock, muk from a kit found at Winners.
two textured, red cardstock, muk
 (If anyone is familiar with any of my "muk" papers, I would appreciate a comment as to who the manufacturer is.)

Such a delightful combination. I am chomping at the bit to get at them and see what layouts they produce.  But, oh yeah, there is all the fun stuff too.

The emblellies for which the providence is known, are:
Brads, Kaisercraft
Paper flowers, Prima Marketing, Creative Memories, Bazzill
Die cuts, My Mind's Eye
Mini Tags, K& Company
Black dotted washi, Smash
Journal Card, My Mind's Eye
Cardstock and Acetate die cuts, K& Company
Wood Flourishes, Kaisercraft
Alphas, Authentique, Classic Type and CTMH, Silhouette

To recognize Jemma's influence and acknowledge her role in this, I have included a sheet of cork numbers, muk, but tres chic. Go to her blog here for her entertaining take on numerals.

Also in the mix are brads, ribbon, paper and fabric flowers, buttons, die cuts, washi, two partially used alpha sets, all lacking their original packaging and name of manufacturer. Back in the beginning, it was my habit to discard of the wrapping, post haste. Now I am not so eager to loose the packaging. Sometimes it comes in useful. Repurposed onto a page, or to keep rub-on from drying up. Or even if just to give credit when publishing photos and layouts (hopefully avoiding any copyright infringements).

The complete kit looks like this:

My desk looks like this:

But not for long.

Thanks for dropping by. Double thanks for comments.

Bird in the Hand, wrap up

The first time I played along with Counterfeit Kit Challenge, in July 2012, I finished my "homemade" kit in a matter of days. I had so much fun with compiling the products and scrapping with it, I didn't want to wait until the next month to do it again.

Solution? Make another kit. So I perused the CKC archives and found inspiration to create "A Bird in the Hand" This kit has stepped in, between the regular monthly kits, for the past four months. And finally, I can declare it completed.

There is something so satisfying in working with these kits. Assembled from your own stash. Scrapping within the suggested parameters of the colours and style. Drawing inspiration from it until the last piece has been working into a layout. The feeling of accomplishment on "declaring" it finished. The numbers prove it is a winning formula for me. Another 20 layouts completed using "A Bird in the Hand" This brings my total layouts, using CKC kits, to 125.

They are all in the flikr photostream for easy viewing. Here are a few of my favorites:

Geez Dad, before you blow, can we call Grampa and get a second opinion?

And to finish up the bits and snips:

Faux "Project Life" journal cards.

Product packaging was used as the base in many of the cards in the second photo.
Have been using up the ends of the kits for a few months now. And the cards work their way onto layouts. There are other uses for them too. Book marks, gift tags, "Honey Do" lists. lunch box notes. 

Thanks for stopping by. Double thanks for comments.

XX

Paper Whites

 Delicate beauty.
                                                                        Heady fragrance.

Such a pretty thing to have on the counter.