Kaisercraft April Inspiration

Hello blogging friends : )

Today I’m sharing some Colouring projects, a sweet Mini Album using Cottage Rose, and a Card and Layout using Sea Breeze.  Its no secret that the Kaisercraft Collections for April are AMAZING!! It must be something to do with what an awesome month of the year April is ; )

Project One: Feather Colouring

I have really been enjoying a little quiet time colouring at night.  I have been trying to use Social Media a little less…I have prioritised all my favourite feeds (like Kaisercraft) so I see them at the top of my feed, because I was finding myself going onto a Social media site for a reason and then getting caught on there half an hour later.  It became kind of a habit for me, where I found myself reaching for my phone too many times during the course of the day.  Now that my feed is prioritised, I don’t need to reach for my phone thinking maybe I’ve missed something,  so I have been reaching for my Kaiser Colour Colouring Books and Gel Pens instead.  I have found this to be particularly relaxing at night after dinner.  The research does promote colouring as therapeutic in reducing anxiety, creating focus and bringing about mindfulness.  I have to say I have found it to be very relaxing and calming and I tend to forget about the world when I get absorbed into a colouring a page.

I do love the colours in this gorgeous picture of a feather…so bright and tropical.

Kaisercraft Products: CL502 Free Spirit Colouring Book | CL101 Kaisercolour – Gel Pens 24pk |

Project Two: TeePee Colouring

I chose earthy tones to colour this Tee Pee from the Kaisercolour Free Spirit Colouring Book.  Isn’t it amazing how the combination of certain colours has such a different impact!

I made a YouTube video a few months ago where I explain the Kaisercraft Gel Pens and it has been very popular.  I have had a few questions about where you can purchase these pens online in Australia and in the US and you can find this information in the comments below the video on the Youtube site.  If you are wondering, these pens do not leak through to the other side of the page of your Kaisercolour Colouring Book.  The paper in the Kaisercolour books is a lovely thick, high quality paper which enables you to colour both sides of the page without any trace of colour leaking through.

Kaisercraft Products: CL502 Free Spirit Colouring Book | CL101 Kaisercolour – Gel Pens 24pk |

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the video last time I’ve popped it in again here:

Project Three: Cottage Rose Mini Album

Some friends of mine, that I love very dearly, had some gorgeous photos taken of their family when they welcomed their first baby girl into the world.  The photos really are beautiful and the colour scheme of the photos pink, grey and white, goes so perfectly with the Cottage Rose Collection.  I asked for permission to use some of their photos for a few of my crafty projects including this Mini Album.

I found a little tutorial for a Mini Album on YouTube by a very talented lady, Anna Kommenda and I thought I might give it a try.  You can watch the Tutorial yourself right here to make your own.  It was actually very easy to make the basics of the album, it was the decorating the pages of the album that took me most of the time to create the project.

When you open the album the pages are in a concertina fold.

From a bird's eye view the top of the concertina fold looks like this:

Aren't those teeny, tiny toes so cute!

When you stretch out the concertina fold you have two sides to decorate.  One side I decorated was this one above.

And this was the reverse side.

Now for a few close-up photos of each individual page in the album...

I personally adore the photo below of this gorgeous little girl wrapped in her grey blanket.

I tried to balance a photo on one side of each page and a sentiment or a word on the other side.

This "Always in my Heart" sentiment is from the Cottage Rose Clear Stamp Set.

Another one of my favourites...this photo is just adorable!!  I love that little white bonnet.

Then it all folds snuggly back into its little album.

Kaisercraft Products: P2073 Crochet | PP995 Paper Pad | SS311 Sticker Sheet | CS254 Clear Stamps | CT854 Collectables | EM405 Paper Doilies | F641 Paper Blooms - Dusty Pink | F656 Mini Paper Blooms - Fuschia | CS257 Background Script | DD368 Decorative Die - Square Vintage Frame | DD757 Decorative Die - Large Flourishes | DD725 Decorative Die - Butterflies C6 | DD547 Decorative Die - Circle Vines | DD349 Decorative Dies - Oval Ornate Frame | PT226 Glitter Tape - Steel | SB701 Soft Pink | LDB1054 Wooden Shapes - Love | BRB606 Organza Ribbon - Pink | 

Other: Close to My Heart Ink -  Steel | Lace tape |

Project Four: "Smile" SeaBreeze Card

This is a simple little card made using the gorgeous Sea Breeze collection.  This would be suitable for any occasion.  I adore the colour scheme in this collection.  I hope to have more of a play with this over the next few weeks.  I have another Kaisercraft monthly post coming up on the 28th of this month.  I hope to show you a few pictures of my new craft room and some "Sea Breeze" projects so stay tuned for that post as well : )

Kaisercraft Products: P2021 Raindrop | P2019 Lake | P2016 Waterlily | P2024 Whirlpool| CD501 Square Card Pack - White | CT853 Collectables | F631 Paper Blooms - Sea Breeze | SB792 Pearls - Chocolate |

Project Five: "A Friend is a Gift to Treasure" Layout

This was a layout I made for CHA and it is featured in this month's current Kaisercraft Workshop Magazine.  The photo is from our wedding day which is now fourteen years ago.  I'm the one in the middle of a beautiful bunch of ladies who were my bridesmaids on the day and are all still very precious people in my life.  These ladies are all now married and have children.  I look back at these photos and marvel at what a snapshot in time it is.  I'm really glad I scrapped this photo because its a special one to me.

Full instructions can be found on the Kaisercraft Website here if you would like to recreate this layout.

Kaisercraft Products: P2016 Waterlilly | P2018 Waterfall | P2019 Lake | P2022 Swirl | P2023 Splash | P2024 Whirlpool | SS310 Sea Breeze Sticker Sheet | CT853 Sea Breeze Collectables | Decorative Dies DD527 Modern Doily | Wooden Flourishes SB725 Curls | FL342 Funky Butterflies | FL440 Hearts | Glitter Tape PT229 Ice Blue | Epoxy Stickers ST908 Sea Breeze | ST909 Natural Paper Blooms | F627 Coconut | Pearls SB792 Chocolate | Small Ink Pads IP719 Black | IP724 Bark | IP726 Island | IP727 Lagoon |

That's all from me for today.  I hope you have a lovely day and get to sneak in a little crafting time with Kaisercraft's amazing April collections.  Don't forget to enter our sketch for this month which you can find on the sidebar at the Kaisercraft blog.  If crafting doesn't fit into your busy day, maybe open your Colouring Book tonight after dinner and relax the night away.

Until next time,

Kaisercraft Tuesday Tutorial

Hello beautiful Kaisercrafters! Alicia here with you and today its Tutorial Tuesday.  I am sharing three tutorials; A Beachy Layout,  some February Journal Planner Inspiration and a video on the new Kaisercraft Colour Gel Pens and Colouring Books!! Its an exciting post! So make yourself a cup/glass of something, relax…and take a look!

Tutorial One – Beachy Layout

The gorgeous Coastal Escape Collection is perfect for scrapping all your lovely beachy photos from Summer.  These are the steps I took to make a layout of my beautiful niece at the beach.

Step One – Choose your photos and your Colour Focus

 I just happened to have this lovely photo already printed and waiting in my cupboard for the right papers.  This little girl lives in the country and doesn’t make it to the beach very often at all…but she does have a real love for the beach and on this particular day she was having a lovely time collecting shells.  She just so happened to be wearing a blue dress which stood out to me as a dominant colour in the photo and the sand, her skin tone and her hair colour were all neutral colours surrounding the blue of the dress.  Also there are some lighter blue flowers in her dress so I chose three colours for this layout; a dark blue, a light blue and a neutral sandy colour.  I chose papers to reflect this colour scheme from the 12×12 collection and the 6 1/2 inch Paper pad.

Step Two – Have fun with some Kaisermist!

Now I don’t use Kaisermists in every layout, but in this case I chose one of the lovely Gloss papers that Kaisercraft make and they respond so well with the Kaisermists.  I chose three Kaisermist colours to use; Aqua, Turquoise and Denim.  I sprayed these randomly onto the paper and then waited a few seconds before spreading over the sprayed areas with a tissue.

Step Three – Choose a Border

I decided to mat my gloss paper and photo in a matching design P2053 Shells.  This gives a coordinating border on both pages.

Step Four – Make some Strip Banners

At the moment I am quite obsessed with something horizontal on my layouts…I don’t know if you have noticed, but I tend to often use some straight horizontal lines.  For this layout I thought I would make some thin banners.  I cut my banners from P2059 Water which is the perfect paper for this and another banner from P2055 Netting.  I inked them in IP727 Lagoon ink and positioned them across the middle of the page.

Step Five – Layer your Papers

I ended up choosing another paper to add in the PS442 Woven Die Cut.  When I layer my photo and papers I alternate between mounting tape and double sided tape for the layers to create a variety of depth in the layout.  I also only place one strip down the centre of each paper not around all the sides.  I do this so I can easily add in little layers as I go or if I don’t like where I have placed the paper I can rip it off quite easily and reposition it.  I wanted the photo to be centred and straight, but I chose to angle all the other layers. (I also inked the edges with Lagoon Ink.)

Step Six – Add some Die cuts and Collectables

I chose the gorgeous new DD747 Circle Scribble Die to add to this layout.  I cut it in half and positioned the two halves on either side of the photo.  I chose a sticker from ST928 – Life and mounted it on paper and then again on a banner (to keep with the banner theme) and layered it on top of the photo.  I chose some collectables (a shell and a star fish) and layered them between the paper layers on my page.  This is where it is helpful to not stick down all the edges of your papers because you can slide little die cuts in here and there to see how they look.

Step Seven – Add some Texture

When it comes to embellishing a layout (or a card) I like to include embellishments with a range of textures.  If you have all die cuts or just all collectables it can be a bit too much paper (in my opinion).  So I like to incorporate some different surface textures for example a ribbon, a paper bloom, a wooden flourish etc.  In this photo above you can see one embellishment cluster where I added another die cut, the gorgeous new release DD757 Large Flourishes, some paper blooms, a couple more collectables (with edges inked) and some lovely shells from the FL574 Flourish pack – Sea Life.  These little wooden flourishes are a must-have for your ocean layouts and cards!

I made a second cluster of embellishments in the bottom corner of the photo where I used DD550 Decorative Die – Coral, cut from two different papers, some more collectables (a shell and the boat steering wheel) another paper bloom and some more wooden shell flourishes.  I chose shells to accentuate the shells my niece is holding in the photo, but in the pack there are all sorts of lovely flourishes including boats, star fish, fish and anchors.

Finally I added a shell and coral die cut behind the title for my page and a silver paperclip.

And that is the finished layout!  I have listed all the supplies you will need below:

Kaisercraft Products: P2059 Water | PS443 Sea Shells – Gloss | PS442 Woven – Die Cut | PP991 Paper Pad | CT850 Collectables | FL574 Flourish Pack – Sea Life | IP727 Ink – Lagoon | ST928 Clear Stickers – Life | F630 Paper Blooms – Iceberg |DD550 Decorative Die – Coral |DD747 Decorative Die – Circle Scribble | DD757 Large Flourishes | KM105 Kaisermists – Turquoise | KM106 Kaisermists – Denim | KM 116 Kaisermists – Aqua |

Tutorial Two – Journal Planner Inspiration for February

I don’t know if you are like me, but January went a little too fast for me, and before I knew it February was here!! My January birthday cards still aren’t sent out : ( and my Journal Planner was not ready to go for the month.  This month I wanted to think simply…I felt last month in my planner things were a little too busy and my eyes were struggling to find my appointments amongst all  the lovely decorations I had done ha ha! So due to less time and me craving for a more simplified approach, I have prepared a tutorial for decorating your planner using a simple approach and the gorgeous Coastal Escape Collection.  I hope you enjoy it : )

Step One – Add Glitter Tape

I love adding some glitter tape to my planner…it gives such a lovely sparkle and its so easy to apply.  Simply apply a strip to the top section of each planning page.

Step Two – Strips for the Centre

 Cut strips for the centre of your planning page.  Attach to the middle and hole punch the holes.

Step Three – Design the Opposite Page

   In keeping with my “simple” design for February I decided to cover this whole page with one paper.  Then I used the quotes from the dividers to layer onto P2055 Netting paper and attach to the page.  You could easily add some stamping or collectables to these pages as well to decorate them a little more.

Step Four – Time for Embellishments!

 I used two dies; DD368 Square Vintage Frames and DD757 Large Flourishes along with some quotes from the Collectables to layer onto a strip of paper down the side of the planning page.  I cut the die flourishes in half and taped them behind the quote.

Step Five – Glitter Mist and Stickers

 Finally I added a gentle mist of Aqua Glitter mist and a sprinkling of stickers from the CM604 Sunkissed Captured Moments Kit.  Reminding myself not to get carried away here.  I want to be able to see my appointments remember!  I wrote the dates in with the Black Glitter Kaiser Colour Gel Pen.

I went back and added a little PS442 Woven Die Cut for a bit of texture…and thats February complete! Ready for a new month now!!

Kaisercraft Products: P2052 Palms | P2053 Shells | P2055 Netting | P2056 Sea Grass | P2057 Coral | P2060 Discovery | PS442 Woven – Die Cut | PP991 Paper Pad | CM604 Sunkissed Captured Moments Kit | KM116 Kaisermists – Aqua | DD368 Decorative Die – Square Vintage Frame | DD757 Large Flourishes | PT229 Glitter Tape – Ice Blue |

Tutorial Three – Kaiser Colour Gel Pens and Colouring Books

Have you coloured with the new Kaiser Colour Gel Pens yet or bought yourself a Kaiser Colour Colouring Book? This video talks you through these new products and shows me colouring a page in the Mystic Treasures Colouring Book.  It is always confronting listening to yourself on video…but bear with me here…

Kaisercraft Products: CL101 Kaisercolour – Gel Pens 24 pk | CL510 Mystic Treasures | CL502 Free Spirit | CL515 Folk Dance | 

If you have any questions about these tutorials please fell free to ask in the comments below or on the Facebook page.  If you decide to give one of these tutorials a go I would love to see your interpretation! Please let me know so I can pop on over and see your work.

Thanks for your time today, I look forward to seeing you again next month : )

Alicia xx