February Counterfit Kit, "Down Under from Down Under"

Hello, friends, it's so good to be back!!
 . . . back in not-studying land . . . back in kids-at-school land . . . back in time-to-spend-in-the-craft-room land . . . back in blogging land . . . back playing at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge!
We're also back from a fabulous road trip to Tasmania, and while it's sad that the holiday is over, one of the good things about being a scrapbooker is you get to relive the holiday all over again as you put your album together.  Am I right?

My philosophy for a holiday album hasn't really changed since I completed this one back in 2011.  I'm not interested in creating a masterpiece from every photo (I'm having over 300 printed from the 1800+ taken).  What I am interested in is having an album that tells my story in a cohesive way, where my pictures are the star of the show.  I also want to be able to put it together reasonably quickly, not having it hanging over my head as an unfinished project when the next big family holiday comes along!

Early on in our holiday, Angus commented that Tasmania was "down under from Down Under", (it's the island at the bottom of Australia, get it?).  The name kind of stuck, so in honour of that, I'm naming this month's Counterfeit Kit "Down Under from Down Under":

If the photos are the star of the show, then who will the supporting actor be?

This great big pile of oatmeal cardstock, and some pocketed page protectors, that's who!  Way back here in one of my favourite "ten things" posts of all times, I wrote that I was preparing to start a pocketed "Project Life" style album, as a way of using up supplies.  I quote: "I figure my off-cut stash plus my Silhouette plus my stamps is really all the supplies I need. I already have a bunch of landscape-oriented photo protectors, so at the most I'll be buying some in other orientations, maybe some neutral cardstock and I'm good to go!"
I never did start that pocketed album, but my attitude on how to use them hasn't changed.  My photos can slot in super-quickly, I'll keep the title and journaling blocks pretty simple and uniform, and I'll break it all up with some "traditional" pages with some enlargements of my favourite photos.

Here's all the super pretty papers I've chosen.  While I've tried not to spend too much money over the last few months when I've been out of the craft room, I may have been swayed by a few (or 6!!!) paper pads that were on super-special.  So you might recognise some papers in there that are not-so-new to you, but brand new to me.
I think they include Studio Calico "Wanderlust", Basic Grey "Fact", Kaisercraft "Tropical Punch" and "Beautiful", Crate Paper "Flea Market" and Amy Tangerine "Yes Please".  I've also included a few sheets of coloured cardstock as much to challenge myself to use it as to extend the kit somewhat.
There's also some offcuts in coordinating colours.
I plan to divide them all up into page kits for the "traditional" pages as soon as my photos arrive (just a minute ago someone came to the door, and I was so sure it was going to be the mail man!!! But no, just some door-to-door guy).  That way I can spread the papers around, and the smaller left-over bits can go on the pocketed pages.

 I figured cameras and tickets make sense as embellishments, so I've cut out a bunch of them.  And those negative (or I guess they're the positive) shaped hearts and stars are pretty cute, too!
I'll probably add some washi tape and stamps as well.  I thought I'd finished my kit, but I had a bit of a "stop press!" moment when I noticed the wood veneer "sequins" in the inspiration kit, and decided to have a bit of a go on the Silhouette:

That's my first attempt, with my smallest camera and a ruler to show you the scale. I'll play around with the sizes a bit but I suspect some kraft-coloured "sequins" will be making their way into the kit sometime soon!

Well, thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you're finding some crafty time too, and I hope to see you again soon,  after the mail man has arrived!