Counterfiet kit BLog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Counterfeit kit blog hop

If you are following the hop you should have arrived from Gabrielle's blog- if you not you might want to start at the beginning which is here at the Counterfeit kit site or here which is Meridy's blog- the first stop on the hop!

As your probably on the hop I don't need to explain all about the Counterfeit kits challenge but I do need to explain about my LO-

This Lo is about my Great Aunt and my Great Grandfather- the photo was taken on her wedding day in 1946 which is why it's called "Father of the Bride". Photos of her husband haven't really survived ( as the marriage didn't last long) but I love the picture as it captures so much

edit- better just say she found love again later with the man we affectionately called Lelly so please don't be sad about the first break up- I think they rushed into things after the War

I Love

- her huge - very typical of the 40s- bouquet

- her glamorous look

- his flat cap in hand

- the church- where I got married as well

- the look on My Great Grand father's face

I made the flowers myself from three punched flower shapes per flower- they are very easy to make but not so easy to put in a page protector

The frame at the top is from the reverse side of the spotted paper- gutted from behind the
mats

and I stuck in a Hambly frame and the chair paper- this is my big problem with this challenge- I take the photo of my kit- post about it and then keep finding bits to add to it that are just perfect!
This Months kit to counterfeit was by Scraps of Darkness- a glamorous mix of pink, red and black, rhinestones, damask and flowers- this is what I came up withAnd this is the sketch by Scraps of Darkness

And now hop on to the next stop

That's Susanne's blog- find her here

and if you get lost at any time ( and it's possible because there are a lot of stops) here's the list

1. Counterfeit Kit Challenge

2. Meridy

3. Gabrielle

4. Karen - you are here already!

5. Susanne

6. Michelle

7. Kylie

8. Lori

9. Milissa

10. Angela H.

11. Angela

12. Tricia

13. Kim

14. Christy

15. Melissa

16. Sherri

17. Marianne

18. Jemma

19. Denise

20. Debbie

21. Missus Wookie

22. Stacey

23. Glinda

24. Laurie

25. Margie

26. Marlynn

27. Dawn

28. Debbie

29. Crystal

30. Bethany

31. Ruth

MY Lucky Star

The challenge this week at Scrap it With a Song is Madonna- battle of the decades

The design team is split into two and we each have a different Madonna song to inspire us- mine is LUcky Star

I found this one tricky because there really isn't much in the lyrics so i just went for the obvious LUcky as my title- I kind of used the lyrics as my journalling- it says

"I'm the luckiest by far- when you smile at me wherever you are"- it's not right but it fits

I have been waiting for this paper to arrive for a few weeks now- I knew it would be perfect for this challenge- I added some punched out stars and a rocket but I'm slightly worried it looks the the flag of the European Union- see!

Changing Faces

A quick post to get this in on time- using the sketch from PUnky Scraps

I tried this border so many times and gave up each time

first I tried to use misters to create the heart border and then stick the small hearts in - and failed

then I tried to paint it and put the small hearts in - and failed

then I punched the hearts through the border- backed it with white and put the small hearts in - finally I was happy with it

The photos are just a few small ones that were laying on my desk- one from 2007. one from July 2009 and two from December 2010

It is Nancy's 4th birthday today so its quite fitting to make a LO a bit like this- maybe I should be organised and do as proper one - not just use what I can find laying around!

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This is what happens in half term

This is what happens in half term when my son NAGS me and I can't run away to my craft room AKA the Spare room because I have three children in the house

Knitting- at least I can sit in the chair and keep an eye on the kids and still craft!

Arthur has been on at me for weeks to knit him a hedgehog- well this week I got round to it. After finding two rather complicated knitting patterns on the internet I gave up and just started knitting- this was the result- he has no legs but I like his pointy nose and the large round bottom end that he has!

Black Swan

An up to date title for a vintage photo

I have no idea when or where this was taken but I must be about three or four at the time

I don't remember the occasion or the place but I do remember that coat- I remember the leather strip down the front and trying to do up the buttons- I remember the feel of wearing the coat as well - very heavy

This Lo is for the SEI link party using their sketch for the month

I used some SEI Moonrise paper for this
I added this photo- because although the lighting was poor the light on the paper looks very pretty
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A sketch bonanza

1. Sassy Lil sketches

This Lo doesn't have a photo but a scan of the birthday card I received on my fourth birthday card from my first friend. Her Dad drew me the card- its us talking over the back fence in our garden- that's how we met- we are still friends 34 years later- all be it by e-mail and facebook.

I'm the one in the cowboy hat- aged three it was my must wear accessory- I remember people trying to persuade me no to wear it- there's only one photo of me in it and my sister was just a baby so there's only this card and my memory to go on!

Find the picture here

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2. Design Dollies

I'm quite proud of the title on this one- all but one of the letters is not as it seems- the p was a d, the a was a q, the u was a v and the e was a w!

The photo on this LO shows Arthur at an exhibition we went to last summer- as you entered there was chance to take a photo of you arrival but if you stood by the button to press you ended up right at the edge of the photo- this was us waiting for our turn which is why Arthur is looking surprised and we are blurred. The actual people whose photo it was are at the side under the title!

I didn't intend to have the circles on here but Arthur punched them out for me and wanted them on his picture

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3. Creative Scrappers

This one ended up a little different to the sketch- I decided to add more strips of paper and then draw a "stitched" circle on the top. It's called "Smile little boy" using the strip from the bottom of a piece of Echo Park little boy paper!

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Me and the hat

Ohh the complications of trying to add this photo to my other post- gave up- stuck it here instead- find out why its here here

and rest

Pencil Lines latest sketch was a great opportunity to use up a few scraps from my scrap draw- everything I used here was a scrap even the backing lined paper has a large chunk taken out of it. Don't get bored with the hand cut titles there are more to come! 141/365

lets go fly a kite

This was flat until someone sat on it! I was trying to get a good picture by taking it downstairs to photograph it in the garden- put it down on the sofa and voila! and still I don't get a very good photo!

At the weekend we went to Zeeland for a bit of a break - we ventured onto the beach once because Stanley was desperate to have a go with a kite he has had for years but not used- grey skies, grey sea grey coat and grey beach do not a great photo make but I like the LO even though it looks a little duller here than in real life.

I used some Echo Park Little boy papers- love all the spots and polka dots- and a hand cut title- my new fave thing

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Twisted pins!

Twisted Sketch 89

I'm now a member on the Design team over at Twisted sketches but we're divided into teams and do alternate weeks- I can't resist joining in on my off weeks as I love the sketches.

The twist this week is pins- so if you look closely you can see three bead headed pins holding the paper flowers onto the LO.

The metal butterflies are from a a pair of earrings that I bought very cheaply- each earring had nine of these lovely little butterflies on!

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Find the sketch here- go on - go have a look

a wild goose chase

I love entering competitions and challenges where I might win some stash- I make a Lo that I'm happy with- enter the competition and then realise that every one else's LOs are much better than mine I have no chance of winning! LOL. I'm doubly sure this is the case this time as The only paper I had to use for this challenge is rather old!

Crate paper have a sketch challenge ( to win some of their new CHA releases- how can I resist?)

but I find it hard to get hold of over here and I've used up almost all of the Restoration paper I had so it was back to the Prudence line for this LO about Nancy's last day of Play school on Friday- I was nearly in tears as I took this picture of Nancy and her teacher but she couldn't wait to get out of the door. 139/365

And because two of the sheets I used were in my Counterfeit Kit kit I'm using this Lo for their latest challenge- paper piecing- I hope this counts- the flowers use the same punch three times and are layered up and the title is traced and hand cut and overlapped !

squeezing the last moments

Next week is half term and that means three children at home all day plus the temperature has dropped and spring looks a long way away again.

So with that in mind I'm squeezing in the last moments of scrapping time before my time is not my own and I feel guilty about sneaking off and scrapping ( if the sneaking off is even possible)

With that in mind I've whipped up a quick version of Shimelle's latest sketch

Her version uses a preprinted die cut paper and I don't have any so I made my own and then painted the edges to make it look more like a printed version. I added three smaller photos instead of two so that I could leave more of the paper on show and I used free printable spots for my border at the top (they are available from UK Scrappers digital downloads section)

I kept the position of the title and the journalling the same but I put my journalling on strips as the paper was so dark

The LO is from Arthur's birthday this week- an explanation of why he has a bought cake not home-made- but then I had just made 20 cupcakes for him to take to school for his friends!

The sketch

melancholy is incompatible with bicycling!

Show us your Stuff has an interesting twist with their challenge blog- they want you to add something home made to your LO

This time they had a sketch to use and they wanted you to add a quote as well as the hand made element.

I started making the LO , made the flower and then went looking for a quote because quotes really aren't my thing on LOs but then I found this beauty- so perfect for the LO- "melancholy is incompatible with bicycling"- just perfect for the pictures of Arthur free-wheeling through the puddles on our cycle ride! He did it every puddle he came to so I had to stop and get ready to take these photos as he came splashing through. He even went back to go through again! LOL
This is the sketch

Dutch Spring

This is my latest design team LO for Journalling Junkie

the challenge is about season- of any kind those in the year but also season of your life- such a lot of possibilities with this- why don't you join in?

As the snow drops are out in my garden i think spring is on its way so here is a
spring Lo of a photo of the bulb fields from last year

the journalling reads

One of the nicest things about living in the Netherlands is the bulb fields in the spring-Its so nice to drive along and see a splash of colour in the fields- the beautiful stripes of tulips or daffodils adding a much needed dose of colour
photo April 2010

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two sketches!

This Lo is for Sketchabilities - if you look at the LO and the sketch I think I have embellished it less than the sketch intended- I've changed the small photos for journalling blocks with my title on as well.

The photo is Arthur's legs- he's quite short for his age (now six) so I was relieved last month to find the age 2-3 trousers were finally too small for him- I had to take a photo to commemorate the momentous occasion before I made go and change!

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This Lo is for Creative Scrappers - I started out with a much more elaborate plan in mind with the circles and then I went and looked at the Design Team LOs and found my idea was there already so I had a little rethink and started again. ) I'll keep the circle idea I had for another time!)

I just used some old Anna Griffin stickers for the circle element but changed things round a bit by journalling outside the area instead of in it- i'm pleased to have used up the stickers but kinda wish I'd stuck to my original plan
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changing Scrappiest!

I often look at double page sketches and think- hmm if only it was a single page sketch or how can I make this into a single page sketch. This time though- very rarely it was the other way round

The sketch at the Scrappiest this week has two photos on it- I found out these photos of my sister and Nancy but i had three of them- I couldn't decided which ones to use so then I thought how can I change this into a double page LO

This is the half of the LO based on the sketch

This was the sketch.

And this is how I changed it- this is the second half with the extra photo
And here are the two halves put together
Sorry about the shadow across the photo but hey there is sun today so I can't complain ( although Nancy is refusing to get dressed and leave the house so maybe I can)

Priceless Moment!

This one is for Stuck! I have a few photos of the time last Christmas when Nancy painted her face with Chocolate. I started this LO using the photo you can see below- then as it came together I came up with the title "Priceless Moment" and realised you can't tell this is a priceless moment from the picture.- So I unstuck the photo matted it onto some card and made a flap so that the other photo is underneath and you can reveal the priceless photo of Nancy wearing Chocolate Mascara! 131/365And here is the chocolate mascara!
And here is the sketch!

Get Picky and use up the stash

If you end up here from the blog hop- sorry- try HERE instead!

but these LOS do use my COunterfeit Kit kit

I really love the idea behind Get Picky- that you need to get more than one photo on a LO- this week I used their sketch twice- each one a little different

This one uses five tiny ( and very bad ) photos of Nancy which is why it is called "Picture Imperfect" I love the colour combination of pink and aqua and a few more of my handmade flowers! 130/365
It was Arthur's birthday this week so I printed off some pogo prints todat and whipped up this. I tend to do a very simple birthday LO every year with the birthday cake picture and the title "Turning..." this year it is "Turning 6" 129/365

Both LOs use the same sketch and here it is

And both LOs use up some of the kit I made for Counterfeit Kits- they have the idea that we have enough stash to make our own kits that are similar to all the kits you can buy if we just use our imagination.- then they give you inspiration to use it here

You can see my original kit here

And if you haven't yet hop over to Scrapbookers Anonymous and have a go at their latest challenge- they want you to use up some Xs from your stash in whatever way you can

Love

Scrap Our Stash challenge this month is Love ( what else can it be in February!)

I thought about scrapbooking one of my wedding photos for this ( but we've been married for almost 12 years and I haven't got around to scrapbooking it yet so why start now plus I'm protesting because my husband NEVER buys me anything for valentines day not even a card. Its also Arthur's birthday the day after and I don't get anything for that either_ If I still had my Mum I would buy her a gift on my birthday!) Anyway rant over onto the LO.

I chose to do a LO about the birth of my daughter- she's also a February birthday- its called "love at first sight" and shows the first three picture of her within a few minutes of her birth-

I love Hambly papers as well but they are quite hard to get over here so when I have some I feel i need to save them for something special or use them very carefully hence the small photos and lots of white space. The colour of this doesn't show to well in the photo- its a velum paper but the weather was wet so I had to lay this on a bin bag to photograph it (hence the black border)

My first twisted sketch

How exciting - this LO is my first submission for the Twisted Sketches Design Team. ( Sketch 88) the twist this time is soft.In case you can't work it out the soft element is the large Easter bunny posing with my children- the picture was taken at the Keukenhof Gardens here in the Netherlands- it only opens for a few weeks in the spring and only has spring bulb plants on show. It's beautiful if you get there when everything is properly in bloom. ( we didn't I'll need to try again this year!)

The sketch is over on the Twisted website- click HERE to go and find it

Song- everyday love

Scrap it With a song time again- The challenge has moved to bi- weekly instead of weekly but don't think you'll be missing out- instead of one song a week the team are doing two songs every two weeks- we're divided into two teams with a song each and you can do one, two or combine the two if you feel up to it!

My song for this week is This Everyday Love by Rascal Flatts- Now I'm sure I was expected to produce something in keeping with that Valentine's time of year but the line that inspired me was " Just another normal thing I've come to expect"

I despair everyday at the state our house gets into - I seem to spend hours tidying but never scratch the surface of the mess- so that's what the Lo is about- the everyday mess that my house is in- the floor of the lounge, the heap at the bottom of the stairs which is the default place for my three to put things if they are "taking them upstairs" and the pile of rubbish that comes out of the boys school bags on a daily basis.

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I'm done- should I worry?

This Lo is for Pencil Lines latest sketch-

It's about Nancy- she starts school soon and at the moment at home she hardly eats anything for her lunch - last week I took a photo of her plate once she had finished- two bites of sandwich, one bite of cucumber and one of cheese- I'm envisioning a chat with the teacher not long after she starts " I'm a little concerned about how much she eats at school- we can't get her to eat anything" we shall see how it goes!

this is the sketch

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