Counterfeit Kit Challenge May 2012

I found out about The Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog last fall thanks to Brenda or Van or maybe Heather?  I've been very intrigued by the challenge and started following their blog.  The whole premise of the challenge is a kit or kits will be provided for inspiration each month and I am challenged to create a counterfeit kit with the supplies I already own.  Yeah, this really fits in with me.  There is a reason why I chose the blog title, "Want Less, Create More!" I spent last Friday night organizing my craft supply closet - I no longer had an excuse not to participate.  My supplies were organized and I had just had a mental refresh of all my papers and other goodies.  

This months kits were the April 2012 Studio Calico kits.  I decided to counterfeit the Monmarte kit.  It seemed liked a good first time kit to counterfeit.  The kit is technically an add-on kit, so there wasn't a lot of items to overwhelmed me.  Seeing some of the previous kits and how many items were packed into them has really intimidated me.  In addition I was really drawn to the green, pink, and a little bit of yellow packed into this kit.  

Here is my kit:

I know, I know it's a lot of stuff, at first I was going to just keep it simple and small and use it only for card making.  Then it grew as I was collecting supplies.  The first thing I did was go through my paper collections and choose the pattern paper.  There are pieces from My Minds Eye's Quite Contrary, Cosmo Cricket Togetherness, American Crafts' Classics, and Basic Grey Wisteria Collections.  Some of the pieces are not full sheets.  I then selected some very basic colors from a Recollections neutral pack.  I plan on counterfeiting the tags with the white and Kraft cardstock and the Cricut cartride Elegant Edges.  I matched two of my Up & Up decorative tapes to the papers.  I added two packs of Thickers and some small alphas too.  I also pulled a handful of buttons in coordinating colors.  I wasn't done counterfeiting yet.  I use twine or string on pretty much everything, so I had pull some.  While I was pulling the twine I noticed a collection of brads that coordinated.  I also added an OA sprinkler and a Mr. Huey.  Lastly, I added a couple of clothespins.  Whew, I was done or so I thought.  I just realized the Monmarte kit included a stamp.  Duh, I even thought about what stamps to add.  I am going to just grab stamps as I create this month.  This is my first month, so I think I can let that slide.  

I cannot wait to start creating with this kit.  I enjoyed mixing up collections and manufacturers.  I need to be more comfortable combining products and this is a great and easy way to start.