Counterfeit Kit Challenge | PLOAW Week 10

There are lots of scrapbooking kit clubs out there - I´ve even subscribed to a few in the past. The problem is, most scrappers already have enough ´stuff´ to last them a lifetime. Not to mention it can get a bit pricy to subscribe, especially if you live overseas.

Enter the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog.
Their goal: to encourage you shop your own scrapbook stash to mimic a pretty club kit.
The benefits: you save money and also put a dent in your existing pile of supplies. In addition, you´re challenged to think outside the box to come up with substitutes for items you don´t have, sparking a whole new wave of creativity plus you most likely come across items you forgot you had in the first place.

This idea inspired me when I posted the PLOAW challenge for week 10, which was to create your own scrapbook kit. For weeks I´ve been thinking about how to go about this challenge. Then, when I was surfing the web recently, I came across CKCB again and noticed their challenge for June: instead of picking a specific kit, create your own kit with a select number of items.
The list of items to include was taken form the Two Peas National Scrapbook Day video by Shimelle Laine and consisted of:

10 sheets patterned paper

8 sheets cardstock

2 alphabet sets

2 stamp sets

4 journaling spots

3 types of "choose your own" style embellishments (flowers, border strips, ribbon, anything you like)

1 roll washi tape

1 "old" embellishment

1 messy item (paint, embossing, mists, etc)

1 other item of your choice 

While checking out past challenges on the blog, I found the challenge for March in which a kit from Birds of a Feather was picked as inspiration. The main colours were yellow and blue, and I decided to make my own kit based on this one too, but using the list above a guideline.

Here´s my kit:

I used:

10 sheets of different patterned paper in blue, yellow and neutral tones

8 sheets cardstock in a total of 7 colours

2 alphabet sets - a large script one in blue (Websters) en a small one in cream (Making Memories)

2 stamp sets - different backgrounds from 1 set (unknown brand) and chevrons (Lawn Fawn)

4 journaling spots - by Tim Holtz, Making Memories, from a random paper sheet and from a set by Every Jot and Tittle at Etsy.   

3 types of "choose your own" style embellishments (flowers, border strips, ribbon, anything you like) - blue baker´s twine, ornate brads (old ones from making Memories) and a selection of stickers in blue and yellow tones.

1 roll washi tape - grey grid

1 "old" embellishment - dismantled silk flowers 

1 messy item (paint, embossing, mists, etc) - clear embossing powder and 2 colours stamping ink (Distress in Scattered Straw and Faded Jeans)

1 other item of your choice - glassine envelopes

ETA - and here are 4 pages that I made (so far):

You Story Matters

The person behind the Layout A Day challenge (a.k.a. LOAD), Lain Ehmann, has a new class: Your Story Matters.

Most scrappers take photos and make pages about pretty much anything - except themselves! The idea of this class is to get the scrapper into their scrapbooks. And the best part? You get to pick how much (or how little, as the case may be) you are willing to spend to participate!

I signed up for last year's YSM class but ended up not making any pages. Let's see how I'll fare this time around...

PLOAW Week 24

I posted the challenge for week 24 yesterday, a few days into EURO 2012. Needless to say I took my inspiration from the tournament: make a page about football and/or using the colour orange.

A few years ago, I participated in Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class at BPC. All of the pages were either in 12x12 or 8,5x11 format, while I normally scrapbook on A4-format.
Because I still love the topics I scrapped about during the class, I've slowly but surely started to re-do them on A4-format. That way I could keep my Design Your Life album intact, but also include these stories into my 'regular' A4 albums.

You can see some of those pages here, here, here, here, here and here.

Here's another one I've redone just yesterday, and since I've used orange accents I'd say it meets the challenge ;-)

The original at 8,5x11:

The A4-version:

Granny Square throw

With all the scrapbooking I've done lately, you'd almost forget there are lots of other crafts out there as well ;-)

When crocheting became "hip" again last year, I set my mind to making my own granny square throw. Once I'd found some yarn that I liked, I looked for a nice pattern to make a red polka-dot throw.

The nice thing about granny squares: they're managable. You can make as few or as many as you want in an evening. If you'd wanted, you could even bring some yarn and a hook with you and do some crocheting when having coffee with a friend, while waiting at City Hall or during a subway ride...

Having said that, I made a start but am nowhere near finished:

Nine down, approximately 141 left to go...

Free Photoshop Class

Been wanting to learn more about how to use Photoshop and/or Photoshop Elements?
JessicaSprague.com is currently offering a free online class: The Photoshop Top 5: Five Techniques Everyone Should Know.

The class runs from 18-23 June, and you will need to register to participate.

PLOAW mini album

With LOAD 512 under my belt, I'm taking a bit of a crafting break - it's cost me a lot of energy, so I need some time to regroup...
This means that I'm a bit behind on my PLOAW pages. To make up for it, I borrowed an idea from my scrapbook friend and fellow PLOAW-ster A., who's collected all the challenges so far in an art journal.

Instead of only journaling about the challenges, I wanted to include the final result as well. Since I scan in all my pages anyway, it was quite easy to print them out to include in my mini-album.

I used a small A6-size Hema slip-in photo-album, printed out the challenges on craft cardstock and added the printed LO on the other side of the page. I used some Thickers letter stickers on the spine and ta dá,  there you go: a cute little PLOAW mini album!  

Looking back on LOAD 512

I've made it! But, let's face it, I'm exhausted! It's quite an excercise to stretch your creative muscles every.single.day.

Nonetheless I'm so glad I did it! This is my 4th LOAD now and for the first time I have not forfeited a single challenge! For some reason these challenges really worked for me - how different it was last February when I had so much difficulty with most of the prompts... All I can say is "Go Me!", haha!

And here is what 31 days of scrapbook pages looks like:

The next LOAD is in October. Due to other commitments I will not be able to participate for most of the month. So another "YAY" for getting it done this round!