Gathering up the inspiration...and the ketchup!

I peruse the internet...a lot.  I enjoy many sites and blogs and file away lots of scrappy ideas for future layouts...sometimes on pinterest, sometimes bookmarked on my computer and sometimes just in my head.  Today's layout, "Please Pass the Ketchup!" was inspired from a few different places.

1.  The inspiration kit.  When I saw the splash of ketchup on the page with the food paper piecings, it reminded me of these photos and experience we had at Disney World.

2.  The October Afternoon blog.  I recently saw this tutorial highlighting these simple arrows.  These prominent symbols would definitively indicate the star of the layout...the ketchup.

3.  My scrap buddy, Pam (aka Whimsical Nature) as seen here.

Three times a charm...so arrows and ketchup it is!

It always amazes me how some willy-nilly stitching and paint splatters add so much interest.

If you've ever been to the Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, you'll understand the joke here.  The good thing is my family does really LOVE ketchup!

Be sure to keep your eyes open to all the ketchup (oops!) I mean inspiration around you!

Especially 4U

I know I'm biased, but I just adore these photos of my daughter.  These were taken when summer was fresh and new (actually, it may have even been before the official start of the season!).  I love the perspective of the main photo where she looks as if she could hand you the daisy right through the page and the fact that I can zoom in on the top right photo for a close-up with such clarity.  My previous camera wouldn't have yielded as clear results.  Anyway, these photos and my "Picnic Parade" kit seemed like a good match and I think the collection did them justice.

And a close-up of my paper bouquet...

And now for a round of "He loves me...he loves me not!"

Hidden Crafty Treasure in Montclair, New Jersey

If you are looking for crafting inspiration and the supplies to make your crafty dreams come true, you need to check out Rock Paper Scissors in Montclair, NJ.  A bustling suburb of New York City with a direct train line, Montclair offers a traditional main street (aka Bloomfield Ave.) with a combination of boutiques, eateries and practical shops.  At the end of the strip is a small, upscale shopping center and nestled in the back, with easy parking (no need to parallel park on a busy city street), is Rock Paper Scissors - Your Neighborhood Craft Store.  Rock refers to the extensive bead and jewelry making section.  Obviously, paper refers to the wide array of paper crafting supplies.  And finally, scissors refers to the beautiful selection of fresh and fun fabrics.  The high, soaring ceilings with exposed beams and pipes give this newly constructed shop unexpected character and interest.  Take a look for yourself:

Inspiration just oozes from every square inch of the shop!

And since I'm mostly a paper doll, I'll highlight those goodies, but I will sneak in a few others as well.

Lots of project examples and inspiration with product close at hand.

Embellishments, like these Prima Flowers, are nestled in baskets and bins making it an adventure to find your treasure.  I like rooting around for stuff like this as opposed to everything being lined up like soldiers on a rack.  However, if there is something you are looking for specifically and don't care for the thrill of the hunt,  the very helpful staff seems to know where every last brad and piece of chipboard is located.

A great selection of wood mounted and cling stamps along with their companion ink pads.

A treasure chest of bargains.  You'll find that RPS has lots of product, so when they need to make room for fresh new paper, they pass the savings along to us!  Lots of great Cosmo Cricket and Graphic 45 papers on special...to name a few.

Here's another example of some Maya Road product cleverly displayed on this adorable vintage chair.

And now, if jewelry making or sewing are your passion, here are few photos showing off their wide array of beads and textiles.

By now you MUST be feeling inspired!  I know I am every time I visit.  Rock Paper Scissors offers a variety of classes and workshops.  I only wish it were truly MY neighborhood craft store so I could partake in this haven of craftiness.  Living almost an hour away makes it difficult to attend these events, but you can be sure when my patterned paper and inspiration gets low, I make the trek to Rock Paper Scissors.

The Ants Go Marching - A simple technique for your layouts - Fingerprint Drawings

Well, if you stuck to the summertime/picnic theme of this month's kit, you may want to try an oldie, but goodie craft technique to add that personal touch (literally) to your layouts.  Remember making thumbprint drawings as a kid?  Caterpillars, ants, bunnies...just let your imagination run wild and you can turn your fingerprint into anything!  I actually used my pinkie to make the resident ants that seem to be present at every picnic.  It's pretty simple, but here's the process:

 First, I cut a strip of solid cardstock about 3x12.

Next, I used my Jenni Bowlin Jester border punch to make a fun edge for my whimsical border strip.

 Time to get your hands dirty!  I practiced a little bit first and found my pinkie to be the right size for the head, abdomen and thorax.

 Now just march down the strip making your ants!

I used a black marker to add 6 legs and the antennas.  Pretty simple and fun!

And here's how I incorporated the marching ants into the first layout of my CKC August Kit -

 Picnic Parade!

Hope this inspires you to either get your fingers messy with your inkpads or have a barbeque picnic at your local park!  Thanks for stopping by!

August Counterfeit Kit Reveal - Picnic Parade! - Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog!  Being a newbie blogger, this is my first ever blog hop, so I'm very excited to have some traffic at my little corner of the internet.  Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by.  You should have arrived from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog.   If not, be sure to check out the introduction here.  I am also super excited to be featured as the guest designer this month and found the inspiration digi kit, Summer Lovin' by ScrapOrchard to be right up my alley.  Lots of bright, vivid colors with crisp ginghams and bold, happy embellishments make the perfect combination to capture fun summer memories (or memories from any season, for that matter).  And while I am not a digi scrapper, this kit is a definite reminder that inspiration can be translated to any medium.

After studying this inspiration kit for a while...

I came up with my version of the August Counterfeit Kit:
 Picnic Parade!

Doesn't it just make you think of lazy summer days with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, kids on the slip-and-slide, the guys throwing horseshoes and the party-crashing ants?  Come with me in the backyard and let's take a closer look at the spread...

I didn't have any exact matches of patterned paper from the inspiration kit, but found plenty of papers with the same feel.  The Echo Park sticker sheet provides lots of banners, pinwheels, clouds and birdies that are featured in the embellishment-rich inspiration kit.  And that classic gingham tablecloth pattern paper would be perfect in red, but CKC is all about making due with what you have, so blue gingham paper will have to do the job.  I can live with that.

Can I offer you a cold drink from the cooler? Let me just move that washi tape, gingham ribbon, baker's twine and strawberry stamp out of the way first.

Next we have three baskets of embellies to add to the tasty fun. Tickets, ribbons, paper straws, ric-rac, bottle caps, and flowers all make perfect "condiments" to the "meat" of this kit.

  

 

You'll want to be sure to check out all the other fabulous takes on this month's kit by following the list below. Next stop: Jemma's blog.   And after you're finished hopping, you had better get busy assembling your own kit before the ants carry all of your supplies away!

Guest Designer: Lynnette  http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/  YOU ARE HERE!

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

Jen http://mypair-a-dice.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Libeeti http://creationswithlove-li-bee-ti.blogspot.com/

Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Susanne http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/

Bethany  http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

Oh and by the way...

CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE PASS THE KETCHUP?!

Scrapping in batches

Hello there.  It seems the pace of my summer has only increased, instead of slowing down.  The kids and their activities keep me busy in a different way than the school year.  It's all fun and it's all good, but it doesn't include much quiet time to myself.  Anyway, I've come to realize that I may need to scrap in batches to get anything done.  Kind of like when you don't have much time to cook during the week, so you whip up a batch of chili, sauce and a casserole on the weekend so you don't have to worry about "What's for dinner?" each night.  That's the approach I'm taking with my summer scrapping and of course, a counterfeit kit makes it that much easier to whip up a layout.  The last 2 days I've had some time to dedicate to scrapping, so I put together 3 to share with you.

 

I know that I don't HAVE to do beachy layouts just because my kit is named, "Seaside Villa", but I just can't help myself!  I'm thinking this should satisfy my scrappy appetite for a few days until I can get back to creating some more.  Actually, on second thought, I think my scrapbook appetite is insatiable!

Vacancy at the "Seaside Villa"

Summer is not my favorite season.  The oppressive heat bothers me terribly, but if I could spend all my summer days by the breezy seashore, then I think I would change my mind.  So, I invite you to join me at my "Seaside Villa" - my July Counterfeit Kit.  Based on Citrus Twist's June kit entitled, "Summer Boardwalk", my kit will transport you to ocean breezes, warm sand beaches and refreshing waters with cool turquoise patterned papers, warm neutral cardstock and little treasures found in the sand like hexagon chipboard shapes and wood veneer seashells.  Come dig your toes in the sand with me as we take a look:

Yes, this is in my kids' sandbox and yes, I did get a little bit of sand in my Thickers, but I think it was well worth it!

Here on the "boardwalk" you can get a closer look at my collection.  I followed the selection of cardstock pretty closely, along with the addition of the text paper.  I just love the turquoise colors, so I included several different patterned papers in that hue.  On the far left are 2 different wood grains and the obligatory chevron (I do love them, it just seems that they are always in there!) and a chevron mask for the off-chance I can't find some of that zig zag pattern.  The only exact match I had was the Mini Market stickers in orange, so in they went along with a light turquoise set of Thickers.  Here are some close-ups of my embellies:

Some orange chevron (there it is again!) ribbon, My Mind's Eye brads, and a stamp set with similar images as the original kit.

I used my Cricut "George" cartridge to cut out those blurbs out of ledger paper.

The Pink Paislee chipboard hexagons from their Nantucket line are just as quaint as their namesake.  I wouldn't mind my Seaside Villa in that location!  And some wood veneer shapes from Close to My Heart are a perfect souvenir.

Just love that vintage slide from Jenni Bowlin Studios and that "vintage" woodgrain boat and frame came from a stash swap over at Lain Ehmann's Scrap Happy membership site.  I think it is from My Mind's Eye from several years ago, but I loved the woodgrain.  Just goes to show you that if you hold onto stuff long enough, it comes back into style!

So, are you convinced to spend a few days at the "Seaside Villa"?  I wouldn't wait too long to book your stay.  Before you know it, there will be a "NO" on the vacancy sign.  Grab your scissors and your sunscreen and join me for an enchanted retreat.