Using my March Kit and Seeing Stars

This past weekend my daughter celebrated her 7th birthday so a little photo shoot was in order.  She is head over heels for American Girl dolls so it seemed appropriate that Caroline should be in the pictures as well.  The dolls cost a pretty penny and some of the accessories are through the roof!  What a lucky girl to have one and the chance to choose another for her birthday!   Thinking of lucky 7 and lucky stars reminded me of the Whimsical Musings prompt to be inspired by stars.  While this isn't a scientific connection to the stars, I thought the layout did fit nicely with Lisa's prompt.    In my tucked away journaling, I write about how lucky my kids are to have so many blessings.  I remind them to appreciate and take care of what they have and not lose sight of the important stuff like PEOPLE.  And while things are great, it's the love and relationships in our lives that hold the most meaning.  I think they do get it, but it's always good to remind them :)

Here's my lucky layout using my March Counterfeit Kit, "Chalk and Talk".

Be sure to count YOUR lucky stars, too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge #1 - Using Watercolors

I seem to be one step ahead of the game!  If you remember, last month I did a tutorial on watercolor heart paper.  I used every last scrap of that paper while creating lovey-dovey pages with my February "Love Birds" kit.  Well, that's okay to use watercolors again because they are easy, fun and inexpensive to play around with.  While not necessary, I did purchase some thicker watercolor paper to prevent sogginess, but regular cardstock works just fine with just a little bit of care.  The texture of actual watercolor paper also provides a nice effect.

I kept my technique rather simple just creating subtle blocks of color and drips of paint.  Here's my layout using my March kit, "Chalk and Talk".

Some on-trend stars in turquoise and green tie in nicely to my subtle watercolor mats.

The mini canvas of watercolor provides a nice contrast to the black and doesn't detract from the real beauty in this layout!   <3

Remember, you can join in the fun by creating a watercolor inspired layout for our Reader's Blog Hop.  More details on the CKC blog.  We would love to see your creations.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge March Reveal

Welcome to a new month of stealthy scrapbooking as we rummage through our supplies to assemble copycat versions of an inspiration kit.  Our adventure begins over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog here and you should have arrived here via Leslie and her fabulously creative kit.  The whole line-up, including our guest designer is listed below.  Welcome Elaine!  Hope you have fun this month!

This time around we are looking at Cocoa Daisy's February offerings as seen here.  There are many varieties from which to choose your inspiration...art journaling, project life, straight up scrapbooking.  And even if you don't do one or the other, don't feel you can't draw your inspiration from any of the choices.

With chalkboard art being so on-trend, I was drawn to this one entitled, "Mood Board".  Here's the inspiration:

 I love the chalkboard art scrap supplies so much that I've also taken a stab at creating some as a home decor piece that I change up seasonally.  Here's my creation especially made for my kit along with this month's collection of goodies appropriately named...

Chalk and Talk

I took some color inspiration from the sheet of tickets and receipts in the inspiration for my papers.  Since this was an add-on, there was a limited number of papers and I knew I would need more to meet my scrappy needs throughout the month.  Here's an up-close look:

Here's a look at some of the embellishments I added.  Of course, I had to raid my MME Chalk Studio stash as well as this fabulous piece on the end from DCWV Vintage Collector series, but not everything needs to be chalky.  I am desperate for some better weather and brighter colors, so pops of lime green and pink give me hope for warmer days ahead.

I stuck with black and grey letter stickers to drive home that chalkboard feel, but I can't wait to use that new turquoise Heidi Swapp Color Shine to add that WOW factor to my layouts!

My handy dandy printer's tray wouldn't fit into my vignette, but it was still worth photographing to show you all the goodies.  

Flair, wood veneers, journaling cards, baker's twine, ribbon and even polka dot crepe paper will make interesting additions to a page.  I highly recommend a little tray like this.  Bits and bobs get used and it is so much fun to fill each little compartment.

So, let's re-cap.  Lots of black and chalkboard accents coupled with pops of color make a kit that should put you in a good mood.  I'm not sure I'm enough of a chalkboard artist to be writing menus in restaurants, but it is fun to play at home.  Try it...worst case, you just erase it.  And better yet, try assembling a chalkboard art kit with supplies you have - even if it's just black paper, a white gel pen and some papers with a punch of color!

As promised, here's the blog hop order:

Guest Designer : Elaine http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk

Angela http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Julene http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au/

Lesley G. http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk/

Lisa H. http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Leslie http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/

Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Millisa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Stephanie http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca/

Want to play along?  Post your kit over on Mr. Linky on the CKC home page in the sidebar.  You'll be glad you did!