Very Merry

I love and have been lurking enjoying for quite some time a scrapbook challenge blog called Counterfeit Kit Challenge.  They highlight a current subscription kit and challenge you to create your own out of stuff you already own and then post challenges and ideas of ways you can actually use your kit.  If you've been crafting for more than 10 minutes, then you know that you have a tendency to create a somewhat substantial stash.  I have been scrapbooking/card making for more than 15 years so, yeah, I've got plenty of a stash.  So, this challenge is right up my alley.

This month's highlighted kit is the November 2017 Cocoa Daisy Kit "Fair Isle":

There's lots of reds and greens and Christmas-y things.

Now, before I went to my supplies to pull my counterfeit kit, I said I wasn't going to do a Christmas-y kit.  I was sooo over and burnt out from Christmas that I wanted to take it in another direction.  But then I got to my craft space and realized two things:  (1) My goodness, I have a lot of Christmas photos to scrap, not including even more photos from this year that I haven't even printed yet; and (2) I already had the beginnings of a kit that fit the bill!  Score!  I usually organize by color, but I do organize some things by theme, such as Christmas.  I also will sometimes put together page kits when I'm just sorting and organizing and realize that things look good together.  Combine some of those me-made page kits, some leftovers from very old purchased kits, some recently purchased Project Life cards (that I like to use just on regular pages and cards) and voila!  My kit was born! I present to you my kit I call "Very Merry" (totally stole that from one of the PL cards you'll see in the picture):

I didn't pull a lot of embellishments or letters, so I may add more as I go.  I did include some punches, a Cricut cartridge, and some stamps that I'd like to see if I can use.  I want to make a more conscious effort to use my tools more this year in my scrapbooking and cardmaking.

Now, I don't think I'll end up using all of this kit, especially all of those PL cards.  There's just soooo many!  But, I wanted to include them so I have plenty of options.  I figure at the end of month, I can just put back what I don't use.  No harm, no foul.  But, if I have them out in front of me and in my go-to-kit-box, I'll be more likely to use them.

So, there's my first CKC kit!  And I'm already working on my first scrapbook page from it! :)  And you know the funny thing I've discovered?  I'm not as burnt out and over Christmas as I thought.  The pictures I'm scrapping are from my son's first (uh, many years ago as he is now 26 years old!) and it's been sweet.  Maybe it's just the stress of preparing for the holidays that I was actually burnt out about, and not the holiday itself.  Thank you for the realization, CKC! It makes me feel better. :)