September Masters of Forgery Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Masters of Forgery blog hop! You should have gotten here via Lisa's blog. My last month on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge DT has been fun and a little bittersweet! Since I'm not an expert stamper, I really had to push myself to use my stamps creatively.

For the blog hop challenge, we were supposed to use our stamps in a "special" way on a layout or project. I was a little stumped on what to do. So, I decided to use my stamps in a couple of different ways, that are not the typical ways you might think of to use stamps.


First, I decided to use an old Halloween foam stamp for my Willy Wonka page. I liked the hat on the stamp, but did not want to use the rest of it. So, I masked off the part I did not want, and just stamped the hat part onto a piece of grungeboard. I then cut it out, and used it on my page. As you can see, I was a little sloppy with my masking, because my stamp ended up with a five o'clock shadow! I love stamping images, then cutting out to use on my projects. It's so much less intimidating than stamping directly onto the project!


Next, I stamped some twill ribbon to create the flower for my page. I love the way stamped ribbon looks, but hardly ever use it. I also stamped my journaling spot.

Pardon the terrible photos! I had my first day back at work today, and when I got home to take photos, my camera batteries were dead. I'll try taking better pics in the morning.

I hope you were able to come up with some creative ways to use stamps on your project! Thanks for stopping by! Your next stop on this hop is Meridy's blog. I'm sure she has something gorgeous to show you!

Stamp an embellishment!

This month at Counterfeit Kit Challenge we are having a ton of fun with stamps! Our third challenge is to stamp an embellishment to use on a layout or project. I admit, I'm not a huge stamper. Every time I work with them, it's really a matter of trial and error. I enjoyed trying some new things with my stamps this month.

I love the idea of tags! Tags are awesome because they can stand alone as a lovely project, which you can collect, or give away like cards. Or, they can be used on a scrapbook page!


I got the inspiration for my tag after seeing a photo of an ornate Victorian ceiling, which was covered by square panels. Inside each square was a cherubic (although creepy) face surrounded by wings. It was very cool, and I thought it would be fun to do something similar for this project. I have a beautiful set of wing stamps by Stampers Anonymous, which was given to me by my sister. For the face, I used a stamp I just got from Big Lots, which had a little vintage looking child's face. It's sort of creepy, like the faces on the ceiling. I stamped the face onto paper, punched it out with my 1" punch, then glued to a Tim Holtz grungeboard circle, which are miraculously the exact same size. That fit perfectly inside one of the bottle caps from my kit. I covered the surface of my image with Textured Effects. I stamped and embossed the wings onto yellow cardstock, then I went over them with some acrylic paint to make it even more gilded looking. I kept thinking of the words "Angels in the architecture..." from that old Paul Simon song, but that title was too long. Instead I used the nickname of Los Angeles, which is near the town where I grew up as a child.

I can't wait to see the amazing embellishments everyone made with stamps!

1000 sheets of paper????

Check out this giveaway!

Challenge #1 Stamp a background!

It's all about stamping this month at Counterfeit Kit Challenge! Our fabulous sponsor is none other than our own Master Forger, Sherri! She is giving away a stamp set from her etsy shop, which is a very cool and generous prize!

Our first challenge this month is to use stamps to create a background for a layout or card. Because of my bold paper choices this month, I struggled a bit with this one. I wanted a background that would not get lost with the strong patterns of my other papers. I also needed to make a card for my middle son, Joey, who turned 12 this weekend. I had a fun photo of him riding a unicycle, and decided to silhouette cut around his figure. I used a starburst stamp, and intended to create a mat to place behind the photo using the stars radiating out from the center. At first, I used a gold ink pad, and the image was too faint. So, I went with gold acrylic paint, which is not the most precise medium, but at least it showed well on my dark cardstock. After I got my stamped image down, I did not like the way it looked. So, since I was already feeling scissor happy, I cut out around all the stars, leaving a space intact in the center. I glued the center down to my card, but popped the ends up, so the appear to come right up off the front of the card. I also popped the image of Joey up. I cut out one of the fun images from the Graphic 45 paper, as well, to create this card. My son absolutely loved it, and all his friends were impressed, as well.


While I was on a roll, I made this page, using one of the stunning sheets of paper from my kit (Le Cirque). It begged to be cut into a frame, which I've seen done before, but I wanted to try something a little different. I was lucky enough to check out the free class a few weeks back put on by Miss Arts Papercrafting School, which was one of our former sponsors. It was called "The Secret Garden", and one of the examples was a gorgeous layout, which was cut in a similar manner, and popped up off the page. The designer, Stacy Cohen, used paper to create the ruffle around the edge of her cut out, but I used crepe paper, which seemed to go more with my circus theme. I found the perfect photo of my youngest son, Anton, last year at a local parade. His soccer team dressed up like clowns for the parade, but he wanted his face painted like a "sad clown". It was really cute, and I was lucky to get this shot of him with his face made up. Most of the items used were from my kit, except the crepe paper and Jillibean Soup alphas.


I am having a blast with my kit this month! It may be one of my favorite all time counterfeit kits! I hope you are enjoying yours, and can't wait to see your projects!

My last kit as a Master of Forgery :(

Sadly, this will be my last month as a Master of Forgery for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge! It's time for me to get a real job after sixteen years as a stay at home mom. I will definitely still participate in the challenges, if time permits!

This month's inspiration kits were by The Sweet Peach Crop Shop (September, 2010). I loved the soft blues of the main kit, but unfortunately don't have anything like it in my stash. I thought briefly about ordering some Sassafras Lass Indie Girl, but that's not really the point of this challenge. I was inspired by the Juicy Themed kit, which had a more bold vintage feeling to it.


I recently bought the Le Cirque line by Graphic 45. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use it. The paper is stunning, with beautiful vintage circus images and a dramatic color scheme. I thought I could do a lot with it because my kids are very active, and always seem to be doing something acrobatic. I combined some embellishments I thought would work with this themed kit. I have a ton of ideas floating around in my head, and can't wait to get working on it!

Patterned Papers: Graphic 45 - Le Cirque "Le Cirque", "Bohemian Floral", "Borders", "Wizards of Wonder", "Greatest Show on Earth", "Extravaganza", "Under the Big Top", "Flying High", "Magnifique", "Circus Parade", and "Dazzle and Delight".

Embellishments: kraft corrugated alphas - Jillibean Soup, Thickers "Bewitched", Cosmo Cricket tiny type, little paper bags & Basic Grey pearls (rak from Crysal), Le Cirque tags, wild cards - October Afternoon "Thrift Shop", ephemera Daisy D's, black velvet ribbon -Maya Road, bottle caps, chipboard buttons & vintage buttons - Jenni Bowlin.