Time to Create ...: 2015

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Kaisercraft Masculine Card and Merry Christmas!

Captured Moments Male Card by Alicia McNamara

Over on the Kaisercraft Blog yesterday there was a post featuring Masculine cards from the Treasured Moments Collection. This is a very feminine range, so the challenge was to create a male card. This was the card I created...

Kaisercraft Holy Night Nativity Scene by Alicia McNamara

Today on the Kaisercraft Blog its a trip down memory lane featuring favourite Design Team Christmas Projects from 2015. This little Nativity Scene using Holy Night was the one they chose of mine. I would like to take this moment to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas together. I hope you have some time to relax and enjoy Christmas day : ) xx

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Kaisercraft Captured Moments - BeYouTiful Layout

Kaisercraft Captured Moments Layout by Alicia McNamara

Hello Blogging Friends,

How are your Christmas preparations going? I'm knocking off my Christmas To-Do List slowly...little steps seem to get the jobs done eventually. My focus this year is on a stress-free Christmas...I still have a few little projects to complete including my Heritage Album I'm still working on...I think this is going to be one of those never-ending projects!

Over at the Kaisercraft Blog the Design Team ladies worked with this Golden Frame Specialty Paper PS437. It is a beautiful piece of paper and has been used in many gorgeous ways by the Team. This was my Layout. A little photo of my Mum in the smaller gold frame and lots of lovely rose collectables and butterflies.

I will probably pop back on here before Christmas...until then good luck with your last bits of present shopping and celebration preparations : )

Monday, December 7, 2015

Kaisercraft Design Team Takeover with My Year My Story

On the Kaisercraft Blog today there is a Design Team Takeover! Its a post with lots of extra projects created by the team. Today I'm sharing the creations that I added in using the "My Year My Story" Collection. I’m onto my second package of this Collection”. (Yes, I’ve been back to my local Kaisercraft Store on the Gold Coast to stock up on this range!) Today I’m sharing a Layout and a card. Firstly my Layout – it is featuring a recent photo of my beautiful niece at the beach. This girl is a country girl…but she has a real love for the beach when she gets the opportunity to visit it. I have been lucky enough to share these rare beach days with her over the years. Last week we had a special beach meet up and lots of photos were snapped of all of us having a lovely catch-up time together. The colours of the photo fitted in perfectly with the pastels in the “My Year My Story” collection. Can you spot two new dies I treated myself to this week…the pineapple and the bicycle…they are so cute! I layered the bicycle onto some white card and popped it up on mounting tape. I spritzed the flowers myself with Kaisermist to coordinate them in to the colours in the collection.

"Smile Always" Kaisercraft My Year My Story By Alicia McNamara

I made a cute little banner in the top corner of the layout. I used the twine that comes with the Kaisercraft Tag packs. I popped a little tag in too, just behind the photo. See that little heart in the banner? That is the cutest little die cut ever! I used it in my card below as well. Its a new favourite : )

Kaisercraft Products Used:

"Today - Just Enjoy It" Kaisercraft My Year My Story By Alicia McNamara

Now onto my card…this card is made using the same collection, but it showcases a totally different colour scheme, with black highlights instead of the white. I added some of the new glitter tape which gives lots of sparkle. The yellow polka-dot-paper is from the Paper Pad. I spritzed it with Yellow Kaisermist. The paper pad has lots of blank white pages waiting for a spritz of Kaisermist colour…you can make them any colour you like!! I do love Polka dots.

I added lots of layers and some doodling to create a whimsical feel for this card. I used some Epoxy stickers to embellish. I like the sentiment…”Today – just enjoy it” its quite blunt really lol! But a great reminder to enjoy every day and live in the moment. I’m always conscious of reminding myself about enjoying the moment so I quite like it. It could also work as a birthday card, especially with the balloon. You are going to love crafting with the “My Year My Story” Collection. It is so versatile and can be used in so many creative ways : )

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Thanks for visiting : )

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Kaisercraft December 2015 Card Challenge

Kaisercraft Captured Moments December Sketch Challenge by Alicia McNamara

This month the Kaisercraft Monthly Challenge is a Card Challenge!! Just create a card using the following Sketch as inspiration, with at least 80% Kaisercraft Products from any Kaisercraft paper collection. This was my take on the sketch using the Kaisercraft "Captured Moments" Collection.

You can turn the sketch upside down, turn it on it’s side it’s up to you. Your card can be of any Kaisercraft paper collection. You can enter as many times as you like!! Once done, link your card by creating a blog post on your personal blog or take a photo of it on your personal Facebook page and link to the Kaisercraft Blog. The deadline: Comments with linked entries for each monthly challenge will close on 31st December at 11.59pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time UTC +10/Daylight Savings Time UTC +11)

The prizes:There will be 4 prizes, each prize is a – 6 1/2″x 6 1/2″ paper pad with matching Collectables of your choice.

1st PLACE (voted as the best card)

2nd, 3rd & 4th PLACE: (Random draw winners – EVERY entry is eligible)

Winners will be announced at the beginning of January 2016.

I would love to see some of my card making buddies enter...Carol and Maxine you should both enter a card!! ; )

Friday, December 4, 2015

Kaisercraft "Treasured Moments" and "My Year My Story"

Treasured Moments Layout By Alicia McNamara

Hello Friends,

I'm so happy to be back with you again for a fresh new month of Kaisercraft Inspiration! Its been a week since my last post and in that time I have been very busy making projects with Kaisercraft's gorgeous two December ranges "Treasured Moments" and "My Year, My Story", two totally different collections. First up I'm talking "Treasured Moments" with some Heritage Layouts for my Family Tree Album and a Beyond the Page Trinket Box. Then I'm switching to "My Year, My Story" and Planner preparation for 2016! It is December! We are onto our last weeks for 2015...before long we will be making resolutions, starting our new planners and getting ready for a fresh year full of wonderful things : )

Layout One - Cherished Memories Always

Firstly, I'd like to share some Heritage Layouts. The layout above is a photo of my Grandmother and Grandfather on their wedding day. You may remember my Heritage Album project I have been working on for a few months now. These two pages are going into the Album. I made them very similar because I want them to be a double spread layout in the album. Both photos are from the wedding day.

In the first Layout I used the beautiful paper P2009 Wonder. I spritzed the page with some Antique Gold Kaiser Mist and layered papers from the 6 1/2 Paper Pad and little bits cut from P2012 Timeless.

I embellished the layouts with Collectables, die cuts and pearl brads. I added some stamps to the background page peeking out from under the layers.

I spritzed some Butterfly Wooden Flourishes with Antique Gold Kaisermist and popped them in as well. The wooden texture adds a little variety.

Layout One Kaisercraft Products Used:

Layout Two - Time is Precious

In my second Layout, the photo is a lot lighter in colour tones than the first. This photo is of my Grandmother and her bridesmaid.

I followed the same style as the first layout with lots of layering of papers underneath the photo and a mixture of embellishments.

This is my favourite die of the month:

DD547 Decorative Die Circle Vines

Have you seen it or have you purchased it yet? Its a must-have. Track it down...you will love it. Can you spot it in all my creations this month?

Layout Two Kaisercraft Products Used:

Beyond the Page - Small Trinket Box

My third project is this gorgeous Small Trinket Box. I had a lovely time painting this in gold and decorating it with the lovely papers in the Treasured Moments Collection.

Treasured Moments Small Trinket Box By Alicia McNamara

I added some gorgeous Kaisercraft Blooms to highlight the pink tones in this collection.

I inked the edges of the butterfly with gold paint.

This is a lovely and easy Beyond the Page Project. It would make a perfect Christmas gift.

Small Trinket Box - Kaisercraft Products Used:

Calendar pages - My Year My Story

Finally today I am sharing some Calendar Pages I have made for my 2016 Planner using the My Year My Story Collection.

My Year My Story Calendar Planner Pages by Alicia McNamara

I used 12 calendar rectangles and layered them onto some of the blank pages in the Planner. I decorated each background page with different papers from the collection.

I added the word (January, February etc) stickers on top of the new and gorgeous Kaisercraft Glitter Tape! Have you seen it yet? It is oh so sparkly and comes in a huge range of colours!! The glitter tape matches in perfectly with the colours of the My Year My Story papers.

I used the My Year, My Story Clear stamp set to stamp out all the numbers and the "hello" sentiment in black ink. I do LOVE the "hello" sentiment!

I spent lots of time doodling around the borders of the pages, the tape, the collectables and the stickers. I was trying to create a whimsical feel to the pages.

I made some little tabs to help me find the start of each month easily. I wrote the names of the months on the little tab stickers and attached them to folded over papers. I really love the modern, bright colours in this collection.

I didn't photograph every month as I thought it would get a little too repetitive, but here is December...the last month of the year.

These pages are just a starting point for the planner and I do hope to add bits and pieces to these calendar pages as the year progresses. Also I might even colour in those cute little collectables! This was a time consuming project I must admit...12 months of the year...there is a lot of them lol! But once you have the basics are done you have a whole year to embellish as you please. The wonderful thing about the Kaisercraft Planner a is that it is totally customisable. With the My Year My Story collection you can make your planner as simple or as decorated as you like and it will be totally original!

Calendar pages - My Year My Story - Kaisercraft Products Used

Enjoy the gorgeous December Collections...so many lovely project possibilities with these two ranges.

Happy Crafting,

Monday, November 23, 2015

Fly Away and Sail Away with Kaisercraft November Inspiration

Kaisercraft Provincial Cards By Alicia McNamara

I'm so happy to be sharing some creative projects for the month of November! Today I'm talking cards, a Beyond the Page Project and some new Kaisercraft Planner inspiration . I'm jumping around today between the two gorgeous November Kaisercraft collections, Provincial and Sail Away.

First up lets talk card making! I made two cards featuring the Provincial Collection.

I love the different colour combinations in these two cards. It is hard to believe these cards are made with the same collection. I love the brightness of these papers...the freshness of the blue and the green teamed with the white. These cards follow a similar sketch with the horizontal strip across the middle of the card. It is a very simple sketch, but can be prettied up with embellishments and it gives the papers an opportunity to shine.

Until I joined the Kaisercraft Design Team I was never really a fan of the metal dies...not because I didn't like them, more so because I just had never really used them. I only had a couple and some of the ones I did have I had to spend hours popping out the holes with a pin after running it through the die cutter. It took so long, I wasn't really keen on using them. Now I cant get enough of the Kaisercraft dies! I love them. They are quick and easy to use and produce fantastic results every time! My growing collection is such a valued part of my crafting goodies. I don't want to create without them. On the card above I used five different dies. I love them because they can be used with any papers to match any creations that you are making. They are an excellent investment that can be used over and over again. I certainly "overuse" them! Each month I seem to find a favourite and use it on nearly every creation I make! Can you spot the dies I've used in these two cards? Here they are below...

This second card features a quote for the centre sentiment, some leaves underneath and a die cut doily. Then it is very simply embellished with some paper blooms, some twine and a die cut butterfly.

Kaisercraft Supplies used for Provincial Cards:

Other: Twine

Kaisercraft Sail Away Cards by Alicia McNamara

I was really low on my male birthday cards and needed four for this month's birthdays to send out to family and friends. I thought Sail Away would be perfect for some Male cards. I don't send Bon Voyage cards out very often, so I grabbed a "Happy Birthday" sentiment stamp from the "A Touch of Gold" Collection to team up with the gorgeous nautical themes in "Sail Away".

Hot Tip: When you make a bulk set of cards, repeat the same design and just change each card slightly to suit the materials that you have available. This saves you having to come up with a new design every time and allows you to use up your stash as well.

I started these two cards with the Nautical Embossing Folder. I folded my base card and embossed the whole card. The Kaisercraft embossing folders are the perfect size for your 4x6 cards. You want have any gaps around the edges from the embossing folder being too small like you get with some other brands. I loved the nautical look of the arrows on the white card. It provided a clean and fresh background for the navy and blue papers. I inked the edges in black ink.

EF231 Embossing Folder 4x6 - Anchors

I chose two rectangles to overlap on the front of the card. Then I stamped the sentiment onto plain white card, cut it into a banner shape and used a black pen to add some stitching around. I popped up some collectables on mounting tape and added a row of Square Steel Epoxy Stickers. Then I repeated the whole design for another card.

I like to keep my bulk cards clean and simple. Especially when I make masculine cards. With some clever die cuts from Kaisercraft you can have these cards whipped up in minutes without having to stress over how to embellish a male card. These are the die cuts I used that made these cards super easy and super fast to make:

DD705 Interlock Circles | DD545 Ship | DD731 Sailing Collage C6

These three cards all followed the same design. I stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment onto the wood panelling paper from the 6 1/2 inch Paper Pad. I chose two papers to fill the top and bottom half of each card. (For some of these papers I used the Decorative Die - Sailing Collage.) I used the interlocking circle die to layer over the base papers and then stapled the wooden sentiment over the top. Finally I embellished with a few collectables.

Lastly I made this card with the gorgeous Ship die cut. I love this die! It is such a great size, its all you need for a lovely simple, masculine card. I also love the map paper at the back. I inked all the edges with Dark Bark ink for a bit of rustic contrast.

Kaisercraft Materials for Sail Away Male Cards:

Other: Stapler and staples

This card makes me want to sail away...and these balloons make me want to fly away! Any destination suggestions?? A remote tropical island sounds nice, would you agree?

Kaisercraft Sail Away Beyond the Page Hot Air Balloons by Alicia McNamara

This is my Beyond the Page project for you this month..the Hot Air Balloon Wall Art. I decided to keep to a blue and white colour scheme. I do love the freshness of blue and white. The balloons matched in perfectly with some cloud wall decals I borrowed from our toy room. The hot air balloons are a quick and easy project. A little paint and some 12x12 paper quickly has these balloons ready to fly.

I embellished with some stickers, die cuts and collectables.

I really love how you can personalise these Beyond the Page projects to make them suit your home decor by using colours and papers that appeal to you.

Kaisercraft Products Used for Hot Air Balloons:

So after a little sailing and a little hot-air ballooning I'm going to leave you with some Planner inspiration. Have you purchased your Kaisercraft planner for 2016 yet? This is a must-have product to keep you organised and inspired for the new year. The decorating I did this month really was very relaxing and a little break from the every day. I admit to being pretty new to the whole planner thing. Although I have often kept a diary, calendar or organiser, I have never really got into art of decorating of it. I'm not sure if there are any rules to planner decorating...if there are any I don't know them! I just had fun using the beautiful Provincial Collection to decorate to my heart's content.

Kaisercraft Planner and Provincial Collection by Alicia McNamara

The Provincial collection is full of beautiful and inspiring quotes. I used a lot of these on the pages in my planner.

Then I embellished with collectables, die cuts, stamps and stickers.

The Kaisercraft planners come with 9 clear plastic pockets which are perfect for adding photos into your planner of the people and things you care about.

CL500 Kaisercolour The Wild Flowers Colouring Book A5

Can you spot my colouring in on the photo below?? On the back side of my plastic pockets I added some colouring in I completed from the Kaisercolour Wild Flowers Colouring Book. I coloured the flowers and butterfly to match the colours in the Provincial Collection. A little bit of relaxed colouring...good for the mind and soul they say. Your planner is the perfect spot to store your finished coloured masterpieces!

Lastly, I'm leaving you with a little quote "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much" surrounded by a cluster of Kaisercraft goodness...may we all keep this in mind as we head into the busy season coming up. Fly away or sail away to your planner or your colouring-in book if the Christmas preparations are getting just a bit too hectic for you (I'm taking my own advice right now!) I'll see you again soon with more inspiration.

Until then, happy crafting,

Alicia : )

Kaisercraft Products Used for the Planner:

Other: Twine