October 2023 - Forgery on the Fourth

Here's a reminder of our inspiration kit:

My Creative Scrapbook Kit Club - October 2022 Limited Edition

 This feature is all about the fun of having a go at making up your own embellishments or re-creating the papers as a way of getting the same look as the inspiration kit even if you don't have any of the original items. 

These tutorials are often so simple and easy that it really is a perfect chance to try out an idea or two. Make sure you share if you do, we love it when are motivated to give it a try!

Now it's time to see what our talented team have come up with - this is always such an inspiration for me. The Master Forgers often create things that would just not have crossed my mind.

 So talented, so resourceful, so inspirational!

Lots of watercolor & mixed media layered looks to the papers & a slew of ephemera & cut-aparts in our inspiration kit. 

Let's see what the Design Team has come up with!

Guest Designer Laurie created tickets, library cards and butterflies using stamps, punches, dies and inks.

 Do you love the stuffed full ephemera packs from 49 & Market like the one in this month’s inspiration kit? Try this!!! Make Your Own Ephemera Pack!    

While going stash diving for this kit, Master Forger Brandi realized was that a lot of collections have these colors in them, but nothing seemed to fit the kit as a whole pack … so she went through a dozen or so embellishment packs and pulled the pieces that matched her papers! To make this process a bit easier, pull aside a piece of paper to represent each color of your kit to quickly compare the ephemera, chipboard etc before adding it to the YES pile! This would also work if you wanted to use punches, dies, or even fussy cut elements out of pattern paper! 

Of course, MF Lisa turned to Pinterest where she tracked down a couple of interesting tutorials and links!

Fred, She Said  - Digital Designs has a great step by step tutorial for making your own distressed Prima style flowers!  You can find the blog post here

Fred, She Said - Digital Designs tutorial here

Jennie at "Live The Dream" blog created stunning cabbage roses using a Tim Holtz die. You could use any die for this or even cut your own freehand! These look great. You can find the blog post here.

Jennie at Live The Dream - tutorial here

The Shabby Horse has a great blog tutorial for making realistic, distressed leaves. You can find the blog post here.

The Shabby Horse tattered leaf tutorial here

The Graphics Fairy has the most gorgeous set of free printable postage stamps along with all sorts of ideas for making them look authentically vintage and stampy for your paper crafts! 

You have to check this out - just lovely! You can find them here.

Oh! My Fiesta In English! has a selection of free printable frames that could be a great stand-in for the frames in the original kit. All sorts of colours and designs, print them out, fussy cut and off you go! You can find the printables in this blog post here. Here's just one of many in the post.

Oh! My Fiesta In English printable frames here

Master Forger Misty got some watercoloring done, from the very simple coloring of die cuts...

To the very complex full pattern paper painting.

Inspiration image on left & my rendition on the right. It isn't perfect but I'm definitely proud of my accomplishment.

Here is what the rest of October will look like - don't miss a thing!

•  6th October - Mini Kit Reveal and Project Showcase - Inspiration for a smaller kit or project ideas.
• 12th October- Challenge #1 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
• 18th October - Challenge #2 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
• 24th October - Follower's Showcase - who has caught our eye this month.
• 31st October - Killing the Kit - focusing on using up the bits and pieces left in your kit.

You know that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcoctober2023).

 

Thanks for stopping by! 

July 2023 - Forgery on the Fourth

 A reminder of the inspiration kit:

Mercy Tiara Kits Feeling Groovy

 This feature is all about the fun of having a go at making up your own embellishments or re-creating the papers as a way of getting the same look as the inspiration kit even if you don't have any of the original items. 

These tutorials are often so simple and easy that it really is a perfect chance to try out an idea or two. Make sure you share if you do, we love it when are motivated to give it a try!

Now it's time to see what our talented team have come up with - this is always such an inspiration for me. The Master Forgers often create things that would just not have crossed my mind.

 So talented, so resourceful, so inspirational!

Lots of graphic papers and whimsical stickers & icons in the inspiration kit. 

Let's see what the Design Team has come up with!

Master Forger Leslie made a counterfeit of the star paper using straight stitches! She created an 8" black & white draft print of the star paper, pierced each intersection point of the lines, and flipped to the white side to stitch.

                                                

She also remembered a very retro-style 2009 Autumn Leaves stamp set & is creating some colored versions for titles/embellishments (not really happy with these colors...)

      

She also fussy-cut some of the cut apart sheet for embellishments.

Master Forger Lisa here! I went my tried and tested route and sourced some freebie printables from Pinterest!

These printable cards are simply divine and can be found over at the Tried and True blog: https://www.triedandtrueblog.com/retro-80s-cassette-tape-free-printable-card/ - there are also some other 80's printables at the bottom of the page. 

You might find these appearing in my own kit to be featured here in a couple of days 😉

Credit: Tried and True blog

Get Away Today blog has these "Guardians of the Galaxy" cassette printable boxes too: https://www.getawaytoday.com/travel-blog/guardians-of-the-galaxy-cassette-with-free-printab. 

You might not be looking to copy those cassettes because they featured in the movie but my, they are cute! I think I might well be printing these out too to feature as flat elements in my kit!

Credit: Get Away Today

Freepik has a new "icon" section which could be used to mimic the travel icon paper. You can find loads here: https://www.freepik.com/search?color=solid-black&format=search&shape=outline&type=icon 

But I'm guessing that we have some talented artists out there who might be tempted to create their own, hand-drawn icon paper! I'm NOT that talented but would love to see your artwork!

I Should Be Mopping The Floor has a free bundle of 80s inspired fonts which could be great to use on your projects. She also provides full instructions on how to install them. 

https://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2021/07/80s-font-downloads.html

Credit: I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Last but not least, I've used my Silhouette to do some cutting and a few print and cut files for the retro items (#412168 & #411544), the monstera leaves (#353802) and a cassette (#120431)! 

I may be making a mini kit but I have a lot of bits and pieces for it already 😉

Master Forger Misty was intrigued by this small tidbit of goodness from the Jen Hadfield sticker sheet in the inspiration kit...

She used a Concord & 9th popsicle stencil & die set to create her own sweet confections in her kit color palette. It was so much fun, she made plenty of "flavors," like blackberry and lime punch! While these popsicle are jumbo sized, she has a sweet idea to use them, so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you want tips and techniques for these, check out her video.

Here is what the rest of July's month of inspiration will look like:

•  6th July - Mini Kit Reveal and Project Showcase - Inspiration for a smaller kit or project ideas.
• 12th July- Challenge #1 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
• 18th July - Challenge #2 - To inspire you to get creating from your own kit.
• 28th July - Follower's Showcase - who has caught our eye this month.
• 31st July - Killing the Kit - an idea or two focusing on using up the bits and pieces left in your kit.

You know that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjuly2023).

Thanks for stopping by!

 

January 2023 - Forgery on the Fourth

 

We're back today to give you an idea or two of how to make your own embellishments or elements for your own January Counterfeit kit!

Let's just have a quick look again at our inspiration kit this month: 

Hip Kit Club December 2022 Main Kit 

This feature is all about the fun of having a go at making up your own embellishments or re-creating the papers as a way of getting the same look as the inspiration kit even if you don't have any of the original items. 

These tutorials are often so simple and easy that it really is a perfect chance to try out an idea or two. Make sure you share if you do, we love it when are motivated to give it a go!

Now it's time to see what our talented team have come up with - this is always such an inspiration for me. The Master Forgers often create things that would just not have crossed my mind.

 So talented, so resourceful, so inspirational!

 

Master Forger Tara created a forgery of the Faux Wood Stickers in the Hip Kit Club Embellishment Kit! She used her Silhouette Cameo and stacked the woodgrain on top of two layers of snowflakes. 

 You can see her process on her blog HERE.

Master Forger Julene recreated the plaid patterned paper!

Master Forger Misty recreated two sheets of the pattern paper from the inspiration kit. If you'd like to see the process, you can check out her video.

  

The rest of January is going to look something like this:

• 6th January: Mini-kit Reveal and Project Showcase - inspiration for a smaller kit or project idea 
• 12th & 18th January: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you to get creating from your own kit 
• 24th January: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month 
• 31st January: Killing Kits - an idea or two for using up the bits & pieces left in your kit box 

You KNOW that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcjanuary2023). 

 Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see your kits and projects this month.

Lisa! 

November 2022 - Forgery on the Fourth

We're back today to give you an idea or two of how to make your own embellishments or elements for your own November Counterfeit kit!

Let's just have a quick look again at our inspiration kit this month: Scrapbook Werkstatt October 2022 kit “Herbstzauber” (the kit is no longer available on the site but we have linked to the Scrapbook Werkstatt main page!) 

Scrapbook Werkstatt October 2022 kit “Herbstzauber” 

This feature is all about the fun of having a go at making up your own embellishments or re-creating the papers as a way of getting the same look as the inspiration kit even if you don't have any of the original items. 

These tutorials are often so simple and easy that it really is a perfect chance to try out an idea or two. Make sure you share if you do, we love it when are motivated to give it a go!

Now it's time to see what our talented team have come up with - this is always such an inspiration for me. The Master Forgers often create things that would just not have crossed my mind.

 So talented, so resourceful, so inspirational!

  

Master Forger Misty took the decorative buttons as her inspiration as is common for her. She just loves wood buttons! Starting with blank wood buttons bought from Amazon, she punched circles of pattern papers that match her kit, glued them to the buttons and topped it all off with some clear Nuvo drops. Well, topped some of them with Nuvo. She liked the look of them left as it too! The top left picture is a comparison of home-made vs pre-made. Can you tell which is which?

Master Forger Tara also created a forgery of the Cocoa vanilla wooden buttons in the inspiration kit! She has a video up on her YouTube Channel showing you how to create them!!

Lisa here with my round up of easy links and ideas!

Here is a link to free, downloadable vintage maps from Pillar Box Blue which could be a good alternative to the map paper in the original kit: here

I think if I had that ticket paper then I would fussy cut each of them out to use individually, so I looked around for some printables instead. Sweetly Scrapped's Freebies here has a great selection of FREE printable tickets in all shapes, sizes and designs - perfect for using as embellishments. Find them here

I found some cute cut files in the Silhouette Store to make your own sequin pack too.

Sequins by Sarah Hurley - ID 42718 

and Felicity Jane - ID 94265

Or how about these Silhoutte Store print and cut tickets by Lori Whitlock - ID 10500? They are adorable!

Or blast from the past Basic Grey - ID 59573.

I found this YouTube tutorial by Claire Daly featuring a way to make your own coordinating scrapbook alphabet letters á la Thickers. The products are all Stampin' Up but you could apply the principles to any die cut alpha and stash to produce exactly what you need. 

And here is another video by StylHarmony to make your own sequins using such a simple technique!

And of course, as always, we have a full month of inspiration to keep you inspired!

November is going to look something like this: 

• 6th November: Mini-kit Reveal and Project Showcase - inspiration for a smaller kit or project idea 
• 12th & 18th November: Challenges #1 & #2 - to inspire you to get creating from your own kit 
• 22nd November: An extra challenge to add a little extra inspiration this month!
• 24th November: Follower Showcase - who has caught our eye this month 
• 30th November: Killing Kits - an idea or two for using up the bits & pieces left in your kit box 

You KNOW that we always love to see your work, so please share your kits and projects with us. You can post them in our Facebook Community, or share them on Instagram (we are @counterfeitkitchallenge or tag us using #counterfeitkitchallenge and #ckcnovember2022). 

 Thanks so much for stopping by! We can't wait to see your kits and projects this month.

Lisa!