Counterfeit Kit March Challenge:)

Well, now...it's ALREADY March 13th and this is the FIRST opportunity for me to really take a look at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog this month!  My "day" job has come with lots of demands this last week (and it's all good), but I've come home every night simply EXHAUSTED, and definitely NOT in the mood to sit in front of a computer for EVEN one MINUTE longer:(

...then...came the weekend, whoo hoo!  I started the day out by going to the beach with my son and two of my grandsons, only to find out that the camera I brought with me had NO memory card (because I'd left it attached to my computer, lol)...well, luckily we LIVE near the BEACH, and can go again for foto ops...AND my dear Sis is visiting next weekend, so I hope to have some awesome foto ops next weekend, too!

O.k., enough with the small talk...I've put a kit together based on this month's inspiration from Studio Calico.  I reviewed the base kit and the add on kits and decided to start with the 1st add on kit since it "spoke" to me.  Studio Calico put together a main kit and 5 add on kits this month.  Whew!  I definitely don't have enough time in my day to produce that much "art" so I've decided to just start with the add on...I'm not surprised that this is sold out on their site because it really rocks!

Here is the inspiration for my kit:

and here is my "take" on it:

Now, I've had MOST of these supplies in my arsenal for AT LEAST 2 years (some actually more like 5 years, I'm sure).

Here's a quick overview of what is in my counterfeit kit:

Patterned Paper:
My Minds Eye - Ooh La La "Simply Sweet"
Making Memories - Animal Crackers "Jack Varnished Dot"
K & Company, LLC - SK Beige Words Flat Paper
K & Company, LLC - Studio K Orange Plaid Flat Paper

Letters:
My Mind's Eye - Laundry Line, Natural "My Boy" Rub-ons
Thickers - Shoe Box (I plan to use my alcohol inks on these to match them to my project(s)

Other embellies:
My Mind's Eye - Bohemia various chipboard quotes
SEI - some left over rub-ons
Dimensional stickers (not sure what company)
SEI - sticker frames and tabs - Paisley & Petals line
Pink Paislee - 365 degrees borderlines
Ribbon - some SEI, other from my stash (not sure what brand)
Kaiser Kraft - Crystal flowers

I'm looking forward to using these Spring colors that I think can be made feminine AND masculine, making way for some AWESOME projects!

I hope you have time to play along this month!  Make sure to visit the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog for all of the luscious additional information, links to free downloads and tutorials, and for some well...just ALL AROUND amazing inspiration!

Putting Pen to Paper...

What an AWESOME and much needed CHALLENGE for me...ahhhhhh, I get to use my "word of the year" here:)

Putting Pen to Paper...I've always thought scrapbooking, for me anyway, is an EMOTIONAL JOURNEY through the MEMORIES of this WONDERFUL life I'm BLESSED with!

Now, I have to admit...I find most of my EMOTION in the fotos I take...I LOVE IT when one of my fotos exudes EMOTION...but alas, I also need to realize that those who VIEW these FOTOS may not SEE the emotion as I SEE it...possibly because they weren't there with me to EXPERIENCE the emotion firsthand, possibly because they SEE things in a different LIGHT...and quite possibly, it's because I'm just CRAZY WEIRD in how I SEE things, lol...

Sooooo....sometimes, WORDS are needed to BRING the story and fotos to LIFE...Not always ALOT of WORDS, sometimes just a few well placed words will do it...

BUT...what IF there are NO fotos to TELL the STORY you want to TELL?  What if you just want to TELL the STORY?...BUT to add the right MIX of EMOTION, how about if you just use EMBELLISHMENTS and ALTERED ART?

OH YES, BABY....this IS gonna be AWESOME!!!!!

I'm gonna put a little twist on the Pen to Paper Challenge over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog...I'm gonna TELL a STORY...and let the embellishments I chose help exude the EMOTION!  Whoo hoo!  I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED!

Now, the hard part...I can't show you my ENTIRE layout just yet...because, it's also going to be my SKETCH CHALLENGE project!

Without further adieu, here's a sneak peek:) 



You'll have to wait until February 28th for the full reveal...but trust me...it's gonna be chock full of "Frugal Goodness", so stop back:)

Frugal Flourish Bling:)

Don't you just LOVE all that bling out there in the market place?  The wispy goodness is just too hard to resist, isn't it?  But alas...what's a frugal scrapper to do?  Even though there are some AMAZINGLY affordable companies out there, I still find myself asking...how can I do that myself?

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, they have links to some great tutorials on how to make your own flourish/swirl bling for your projects, so be sure to check it out.  Here is a direct link to the post.

I have come up with one more way to make FRUGAL flourish templates for your crafting projects.  Now, I know this isn't rocket science, lol, and you may have seen this technique before, but since I have not seen it anywhere, I AM considering this a "Frugal Scrapper Extraordinaire" idea.

Using one of my flourish stamps, I stamped with black ink onto a piece of chipboard.  Then I took my trusty crop-a-dile and using the smaller of the two hole punches, I punched my way around the flourish, spacing the holes every 1/4" or so.  I realized that the "reach" on my crop-a-dile was a minor challenge when I got to the middle of the flourish, so I decided to loosely cut around the stamped image so I could more easily punch some of the holes.



Then I got out my trusty stickles and dropped just a smidge into each hole....and...VOILA...my very own FRUGAL flourish bling:)  Now you all know that the biggest complaint about stickles is how long they take to dry...so if you don't mind a more subdued blingy appearance, you can use the tip of a toothpick and dip it into some stickles you squirted out on your craft mat to drop into each hole in your template.

Whenever I use a toothpick to apply stickles, besides having more control over where it lands, it dries much quicker because there is much lighter coverage.  This is especially helpful with small projects like cards or tags where you don't want the bling to be too overwhelming anyway.

I did find that it was much easier to work from the back of my template because the stamped side was a bit distracting.  You can also consider the fact that now you can determine the direction that your flourish goes based on which side of the template you use.

I'm sure you could also use this template to place glue if you still prefer to add crystals or other bling to your project.

Once finished, just clean off any extra stickles (or glue) stuck to the template with a dry paper towel.



Of course, for those of you who are daring enough, you can also just "draw" your flourishes freehand with no template at all:)  I've tried it and it works fine...you can always practice on scrap paper first:)

Faux Metal Embellishments

I was inspired by a post I saw over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog where there were links to tutorials on how to make faux metal embellishments.

Now, I know that my "take" on it doesn't "really" qualify as "faux metal", but it's DEFINITELY a frugal approach to the ready made metal embellishments we all know and love:)

You really need to visit the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog and try their techniques for accomplishing great faux metal results.

In addition, feel free to try my idea:)  For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you may have seen me use this technique before.  On this post, I want to offer you another tutorial on how to make your own "faux" metal embellishments.

All you need to start with is a few basic items:

• A die cut (the shapes that are often metal work best)
• Chipboard
• Xyron create-a-sticker machine (size depends on the size of your diecut)
• Aluminum foil

For this demonstration, I'll use a few different methods that will give varying results.

For this first diecut, I made sure my piece of aluminum foil was no wider than the width of my xyron (in this case 1 1/2 inches)...remember for this to work properly, your diecut must be less than this width, too.



Once the aluminum foil is run through the xyron, gently pull it away from the waxy paper and apply it to a piece of chipboard that was cut just a bit bigger than the resulting die cut.

Next you just run it through your diecutting system and your done!  There are a few variations you can also use to get slightly different results. I've shown three different results below.



One was run through with a smooth finish on the foil.

One was run through the xyron using a piece of foil wider than the Xyron opening.  As the foil funneled in to the opening of the Xyron, it crinkled, thereby resulting in a crinkled diecut.  This is especially cool when working on Halloween projects.

The last one was run through smooth and then run though an embossing folder.

Bonus ideas:

• You can use the "insides" of the keyholes as photocorners.  Just pierce a hole in the round part and attach with a brad.

• You can use alcohol inks on your embellishments to change the color since aluminum foil is a non-porous surface.
• You can sand the tops (be gentle because the foil is thin) and then you can use distress inks on them to age them.
• You can add stickles, distress stickles, etc.

Enjoy:)