Time to Create ...: September 2015

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Kaisercraft DIY Family Tree Scrapbook Album

Hello!
This is Part Three of my September Creations for Kaisercraft.
See Part one here.
See Part Two here.

Lets imagine you have all your Christmas cards sorted...what will you craft next? Why not dig up some Family Heritage photos and start your own Album with the Generations Collection? I am in the process of making a Heritage Album for my Mum. I guess the thing to remember about these albums is that they don't have to be rushed and completed in a small time frame. (This is me telling myself this lol!) They can be a work in progress. It has taken me a considerable amount of time to collect photos for this album. I also signed up for a free trial on Ancestory.com.au and spent two weeks learning as much as I could about my Family Tree. You might be like me and find there is much to discover about your family that you really had no idea about. I was surprised how much I could find out about and how far back the records do go without too much searching. Finding photographs has proven to be a little more difficult than I first anticipated and you can see in my Family Tree I am missing some of my Mum's great-great grandparents. I was amazed at how excited my family members were that I was collecting stories and photos...people really do value the preserving of memories. I was also surprised at how little most people in my family knew about our ancestors.

For me, I guess the most important page from this collection is the "Our Family" Family Tree Page. Once I completed that page (minus a few photos) I felt I had really made some progress. Then I worked on a few additional layouts to add into the album with appropriate headings like the "Mother", "Father" and "Family"pages (Check the Kaisercraft blog this weekend to see my Family Page). There really are some gorgeous papers in this collection and so well-suited to older photographs.

Layout #1 - "Our Family" Double Layout

I used the Family Tree pages from the PP227 12x12 Paper Pad to create a Family Tree Layout.

The first page has three photo spaces I used a picture of my Mum, because that is who I am doing this Family Tree Album for. Then the tree branches off to spaces for the central person's Mother and Father photographs. I printed out names and dates for each person onto paper from the pad, cut them into a banner shape and layered them onto the lovely brown paper from the pad.

I inked a SB725 Wood Flourishes - Curls in Bark ink and stamped a flower onto some of the blue paper from the pad.

I just wanted subtle little decorations around the page so I used the Botanicals CS225 Clear Stamp - Fly Free to add a few dainty flowers and butterflies around the page in Bark ink.

The second page of the Layout goes into more details of the Family Tree. The first horizontal strip is the Grand-parents. The second horizontal strip is the Great-Grandparents. I have names and dates of these Great-Grandparents, but am still waiting to hopefully find their photos. The photo spaces get smaller in size as you progress along the tree.

Again I printed names and dates and made banners to identify the people in the photos.

I added lace and a little more stamping. Embellishing simply with Chocolate pearls.

Kaisercraft Products used:

Other: Cream Lace, Sizzix Die Stampin' Up Top Note

Layout 2 - "Father"

This Layout is one of my specialty pages for the Album. I used the Geo Tile Template and some Antique Gold Kaisermist to add a pattern to the background paper. I rounded corners in this Layout and inked everything with Bark ink.

I sprayed die cut swirls with Antique Gold Kaisermist to create a vintage look.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other: Sizzix Die Corners Fourish #2, Sizzix Die Stampin' Up Top Note

Layout #3 - "Mother"

Another specialty page for the Album. This will sit opposite the "Father" Page. All these layouts have been made with flat embellishments to enable them to sit flat in the album. For the background in this Layout I sprayed the Antique Gold Kaisermist through the Butterfly C6 Die. Then I taped the edges with Washi tape. My Grandma actually had a dressmaking model to fit her body so she could fit dresses as she was sewing them, so I thought this collectable of the dressmaking model was a nice addition to the layout.

I love this new flower die from Kaisercraft: DD543 Fairy Flowers. I think it comes out next month so keep an eye out for it. I cut two of the die in different papers and layered them together.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other: Sizzix Die Corners Fourish #2, Sizzix Die Stampin' Up Top Note

I hope to continue my work on this Album throughout the rest of the year so keep an eye out for some more Heritage Photo Layouts from me over the next few months.

Have you enjoyed my creations this month? If you do use any of these ideas let me know! I would love to see your work.

Happy Crafting,

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Kaisercraft 10 DIY Christmas Card - Part Two

Hello!
I'm back today with Part Two of my 10 DIY Christmas Card Ideas.
Today its Christmas Cards in untraditional and pastel colours using the very beautiful Silver Bells collection.

Design 5 - "Merry and Bright" Card

This card is a three-fold card. I haven't made one of these before, and I don't think I followed the instructions exactly...but, I still love how it turned out. I started with a piece of card measuring 27 cm x 15cm. I scored and folded at 4, 10 and 16cm. Then I folded it in a concertina fold. I decorated each of the folded card faces and embellished with stickers and collectables. There are some beautiful borders included in the SS293 Sticker Sheet for Silver Bells. I love scalloped borders. I especially love that pink lacy scallop : )

To keep the card closed I tied a pink organza ribbon around it. (You can see the ribbon in the picture. I just slid it off to open and photograph the card.) This card is something a little different and fun. I like to let the papers do all the work for me in fancy-folding cards. I think its a great way to showcase pretty papers. I trimmed a snowflake in half to embellish the front with a small collectable snowflake and a pearl.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Design 6 - Gift Wrapping

I will be certainly using the gorgeous new EM 425 Silver Bells Gift tags when I wrap my presents this year!

They are so lovely...perfect for using on a card or project, but also perfect for adding to a wrapped present. I altered this little box to look like a present...a cute little Christmas decoration that could sit on the mantle piece or under the tree. I simply covered the box with paper, tied some organza ribbon, added a tag, a snowflake and lastly a mini paper bloom. Super quick and easy!

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Design 7 - "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Blue Card

This card is a fun and creative card to make that involves paint, glitter and embossing. I managed to get lots of crafty mess everywhere when I made this one!! I started with a blank piece of white card and used T625 Geo Tile Template to create the background. I painted mine with silver paint and then added glitter to the wet paint. Once the paint was dry I cut a rectangle measuring 8cm x 12.5 cm for the front of the card.

For the card base I used white card stock and added the beautiful P1929 Wonderland paper to cover the base card. I adore this paper, I love the light blue colour and the silver snowflakes. I used 3D mounting dots to layer the stencilled silver and white background on top of the base card. Then I silver embossed baubles from the stamp sets onto blue paper from the 6 1/2 inch Paper Pad. I cut these out and added them to the front of the card with mounting tape. I tied silver organza ribbon bows and attached these with a hot glue gun. Then I popped little blue pearls on top (use the hot glue gun again for this because nothing else seems to stick very securely to the organza ribbon).

It turned out to be a very pretty and sparkly card in the light. The photo above captures some of the sparkle.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other products used: Heat gun, silver embossing powder, glitter, glue gun.

Design 8 - "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Pink Card

This card is the same design as the one above but I used a different template for the background (T624 - Festive Quarters) and black ink instead of silver embossing. I think the black ink gives the card some extra definition, but it would be pretty with silver embossing too. I love the way embossing looks, but I am not a fan of the mess it makes lol! I manage to get that powdery stuff everywhere!! The CS237 Clear Stamp Set is a beautiful addition to your Christmas Craft stash. Its very versatile with baubles, snowflakes and Christmas sentiments. I can't decide which is my favourite stamp in this set. I have certainly loved stamping the baubles onto coloured paper and trimming around them. I can imagine a glittery stamped snowflake background, instead of using a template, would look very pretty too.

Kaisercraft Products Used

Other products used: Glitter, glue gun.

Design 9 - "Merry Christmas to You" Card

This one you might have seen earlier this month on my blog and the Kaisercraft blog (see the post here).

This card was made to showcase the stamp set and the paper pad and it is all about the layers! I concentrated on making lots of layers with the papers from the pad and embellished with some snow flake dies, an organza ribbon and some pearls. I decided to heat emboss the sentiment in silver again. I felt this card really called for the special treatment. I love the pink paper with the silver foil snowflakes - it is divine! I distressed some of the edges to add a little shabby chic feel to the card as well and inked them with the gorgeous Kaisercraft pink ink.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Corner Punch

Design 10 - Bulk Set of 12 Cards

Last design for Christmas now!! Are you still with me? If you would prefer to make a set of cards using the Silver Bells collection, you could use my bulk card recipe. Or modify it to suit your own design.

I began with white card stock for the base card. I chose random papers for the background of each card (I used leftovers from the 12x12 papers but you could easily use the 6 1/2 Paper pad instead, the designs are just a bit smaller.) The colour scheme in these cards can be chosen to suit your preferences. I made a variety of colours to give some different examples. Attach a doily to the background of each card. Then find the 2 pages from the 6 1/2 Paper Pad that are full of little Christmas pictures. Cut them out individually and layer them onto a tag and then again onto the doily. Add a Christmas sentiment sticker and embellish with a snowflake and a mini paper bloom.

Super easy! Create these in a range of colours or stick to a pink or blue pastel theme.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

If you missed Part One of this Post go here to read all about it. Come back tomorrow for the third part of my September Creations for Kaisercraft - all about my Family Heritage Album I am making for my Mum.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day : )

Friday, September 25, 2015

Kaisercraft 10 DIY Christmas Ideas - Part One

Hello! Its my day on the Kaisercraft Blog today! I have been busy, busy, busy creating lots of things this month. Today I am starting my three part post that covers my creations for September. I have had a lovely time playing with the three amazing Kaisercraft Collections it has been a lot of fun! This post is Part One of 10 DIY Christmas Ideas... I hope you enjoy : )

DIY Christmas cards can be fancy...or they can be kept really simple...it depends on how much time you wish to spend on making them, how many you are sending out and your own preference of style of card. Do you prefer a more elaborate design, or do you prefer quick and easy? Today I am going to share with you several designs ranging from elaborate to simple. There is something for everyone in the post...even the kids can put the simple designs together!!! You could get started on Christmas cards this month and have them ready to send out on the first of December!

Firstly lets look at Traditional Colours. Home for Christmas is perfect for the crafter who loves traditional coloured Christmas cards in reds and greens.

Design 1 - "Warm Wishes to you this Christmas" Card

This first card features the DD318 Card Creations Snowflake Card Flip Die. This die is so useful for making cards that look a little different to the normal folded base...they look impressive and different, but they are so easy to make. (The instructions on how to cut and fold the card stock comes with the die.) I did not use the snowflake part of the die in this card, but I certainly have used it in many cards featured tomorrow. This is a recommended purchase! To be honest I have always struggled a little with Christmas embellishments in the past...normal flowers just didn't feel quite right to me...well this little die has saved me this year! It pops out so easily the T330 Die Release Tool and fills up lots of space on your card or layout and looks so cute! I think the best thing with a die is that you just never run out of it!! You can make as many little snowflakes as your heart desires in any paper or colour you like! : )

DD318 Card Creations Snowflake Card Flip Die

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other products: Green Ribbon

Design 2 - "Peace on Earth" Card

This is a clean and simple card using P1942 Warm Wishes and a dove from CT838 Collectables with sticker sentiment. I must say I am loving these Stickers that Kaisercraft have brought out. If you are not a confident stamper these stickers are perfect for you!! I admit to being a little nervous when stamping straight onto a card...I am always scared I will mess it up by not stamping properly. You never have this problem with Kaisercraft stickers. They give a perfect result every time! Also the edges of the sticker aren't really that obvious...in the picture above you would never know I used a sticker. I personally love that you can't really tell its a sticker...nobody knows my secret then of sometimes I'm too scared to stamp!! Lol! There are ten different types of stickers available.

The one I used on this card is ST921 Seasons Greetings.

There is something about this card that I just love. It has a simple elegance to it. I think it is the sentiment and the dove combined it makes me feel peaceful just looking at it : )

Kaisercraft Products Used:

CD651 Kraft Cardstock | ST921 Seasons Greetings | P1938 Eggnog | P1942 Warm Wishes | CT838 Collectables

Design 3 - "Merry Christmas to You" Card

This card was very simple to put together. To make it buy three pages of P1945 Warm Wishes Paper.

Simply cut the poinsettia flower out of the first sheet and the framed sentiment out of the second sheet. Then layer the fussy cut flower on top of the flower on the sentiment with Mounting foam and add a green ribbon. Then layer the framed sentiment on top of the framed sentiment on the third paper with mounting foam and adhere the base to a folded card base. Very, very simple and quick to make!

Kaisercraft Products Used:

CD651 Kraft Cardstock | P1945 Warm Wishes x3 | T302 Mounting Foam

Other products: Green ribbon

Design 4 - Bulk Set of 12 Cards

What if you wanted to make a bulk set of Christmas cards to send out to close friends or family? This set of twelve can be made in about three-four hours. You can proudly send out a Hand-Crafted card, and it wont take you all year to make them! This set of cards features P1941 Season.

This page is perfect because it gives you 12 quotes for the front of each of your Christmas cards. I simply cut them out, rounded the corners and layered them onto Kraft card stock. Then I cut 12 base cards from Kraft card and chose a paper to cover the front of the card. I rounded the corners of the bases to match the sentiments. Then I cut some burlap and attached it vertically to the front of the card. I cut a slit in the top fold of the base card and threaded some ribbon through to layer on top of the burlap. Finally I used Mounting foam to layer the sentiment onto the front of the card. I inked the edges of all my papers and card with IP723 Vintage ink. If you are short on time, don't worry about inking the edges or rounding the corners.

Kaisercraft Products Used:

Other products: Burlap | Corner punch

Pop on over to the Kaisercraft Blog today to see more...or tune back in here tomorrow for Part Two of my 10 DIY Christmas ideas. Tomorrow is Silver Bells!
Thanks for stopping by : )

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Family Heritage Layout - Kaisercraft Generations Collection

Over at the Kaisercraft Blog today the Design Team are sharing Layouts using the "Generations" Collection. I made this Layout using a photo of my mum and her two brothers taken a long time ago!

The papers in the Generations Collection are perfect for Heritage Albums. I am in the middle of making a special Heritage Album for for my Mum with lots of photos from the past. It has inspired me to research my Family Tree and collect lots of old photos. It has been a very interesting project and I have learnt quite a bit about my ancestors. I will be sharing more layouts from this album later this month.