Kaisercraft Design Team Call Out Post

This post runs through the projects that I am submitting as part of my entry to try out for Kaisercraft's Design Team!  I would so love to be on the team for a year, to challenge myself, and to have a decent excuse for staying up so late at night!
Without further ado, my 8 projects :

1: Beautiful Simplicity - Chapter One

As soon as I saw this printed Acetate, I knew that it would be perfect for scrapbooking some wedding photos. I love the simplicity of printed acetate - this layout virtually put itself together.
I chose the paler green "Reflect" paper for the background, and layered up two photos from my wedding day.  I really loved the quote "Nothing is worth more than this day", so I layered that (cut from the "Belief" paper).  Finally, I placed my printed acetate sheet over the top of it all, and used a couple of tiny spots of glue to hold it in place - making sure that the glue spots were only placed where it would be concealed by the printing.

Materials used: Strength (PS149), Reflect (P668), Belief (P671). Other - Kindyglitz (Crystallina), Clear Craft Glue. 

2: Kaisercraft Memo Board

I created this as a gift for my Sister In Law - I love to give gifts that are handmade, and useful! Firstly, as with all Kaisercraft kits, I sanded the edges using fine sandpaper.  I then gave the edges a good coat of pink paint, and left it to dry.  For the base, I chose to use the Apple Spritz paper.  I applied this using mod podge, and then carefully trimmed the excess away with a craft knife and the round file from the Kaisercraft set.  (If you like doing off the page projects, the file sets are well worth the investment!)
I then covered the little shelf with bits and pieces from the Candy Confetti sheet, and attached that.

 I wanted to add a bit of interest behind the notepad, so that once the notepad was used, the board would still be pretty and useful.  I added a rectangle of the pink (Candy Confetti's reverse side), with rounded corners, and over that, I used some of the gorgeous colour rubon's.  These are all but hidden when the notepad is place, but when it's long gone and forgotten, the rubons will add a sweet little bit of detail.

I desperately wanted to use some of the printed and layered chipboard on this project, so I chose the hot pink and orange flower, and trimmed off one of the petals to allow it to sit on the little protruding edge of the shelf.  It wasn't quite enough, so I added the centre of one of the other flowers, which I layered on foam tape for extra dimension.
To finish the board off, I trimmed the hot pink scallop from the Candy Confetti paper, and used that to back the area where I wanted to fix in the screw hooks, and trimmed the edges of the top section with pearl strips, for a bit of bling.
I enhanced a few spots here and there with a little bit of glossy accents too (especially under the key hooks), not only for looks, but to make that section a little bit more durable.

To finish the project off professionally, once I had screwed in the hooks, I filed the tips off the screws where they protruded through the back, and gave the back a light coat of paint.

Materials Used : Bubblegum Hills Collection - Apple Spritz (P632), Candy Confetti (P635), Rubon, colour (RB898), Printed Layered Chipboard (CB124). Kaisercraft Other - Memo Board (SB2037), File Set (T306).

3: Chanteuse "Love" page

I have been trying to document some family history, and this paper screamed out to me to be used for this gorgeous shot of my late Grandmother on her wedding day. (wasn't she beautiful?) 

I then carefully trimmed the centre section out of the paper (it's called "Rondo" and is a specialty die cut paper), making sure I kept the flowers intact. The deep brown of the "Con Brio" paper was ideal to anchor the whole design, so I used this as the base of the layout.
I then positioned the photo, and the frame over the top, and stuck it all down.

As the photo was A4 size, there was a small gap on one side of the frame.  I used a piece of the timeless collection paper "newsprint" to both hide that, and to add a feature block to place the title on. I distressed 3 edges of this, to give it a slightly aged and worn feel.
I also inked a wooden flourish in a brown that matched the Con Brio paper, to use as my title.  Using ink rather than paint allowed the timber texture to show through.

 

 Once everything was all stuck in place, I added a few extra flowers cut from another sheet just to add a bit of interest below the title.  I also edged the frame, and covered the word "Love" in glossy accents - I really wanted to give it the feel of an old fashioned, carved picture frame. 

For this layout, I have a small amount of journalling on the back of the layout, which is always a good option if you either don't like your handwriting, or adding a journal block just doesn't look right.
I love the softness, and the romantic feel of these papers with vintage photos - it really adds a timeless elegance to a beautiful photo.Materials Used: Chanteuse - Con Brio (P637), Rondo (PS142), Staccato (P638).  Timeless - Newsprint (P654) Love and Cherish wood flourish (FL319).  Other - Brown Versacolour Ink, Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

4.  I do believe in fairies, I do! I do! I do!

This layout features the Kaisercraft Magic Happens collection.  It's all fairies and butterflies, and just perfect for some pretty pics of the girls.
For this layout, I've chosen a sheet of purple bazzil basics cardstock as my base.

I chose 4 different sheets of paper from the 6x6" paper stack, and trimmed them down to 4x4", making sure to save the scraps to make some cute little cards from!  I arranged these squares into a block, and inked the outside two edges of each one before sticking them in place.

I got my hands on this nifty little paper piercing tool online.  It makes stitching evenly really easy - still time consuming, but much neater than just winging it.

 

I really like Kaisercraft rub ons, (they always work!) so I chose to use the rub on border that says "magic, dreams, wish, believe" to add a bit extra to the page, and placed it as shown.
Then using one of the phrases from the diecut sheets in the 6x6" paper pad, I wrapped a little bit of green tara vine around it, and stuck that down in an freeform curve.  

I took another sheet of paper from the 6x6" block and popped out one of the bracket die cuts from the back of the book.  I used the bracket to lightly draw the outline of a shaped block. I stamped one of the flourishes from the Magic Happens clear stamp set onto the printed side of the paper with a glue pad, and then sprinkled some pretty lilac superfine glitter onto it.  This is a great technique to bling up some paper in a subtle, yet effective manner.

Next I trimmed my photos down, to about 2.5x4", and rounded the corners using a corner rounder punch.  To add a bit of dimension, I used foam tape to raise the shaped block up, and adhered my photos on top of that. 

Last but not least, I used one of the journal tags from the little booklet  added my journalling, and then using my needle, poked a hole and threaded some leftover thread through it, and tied a little bow.  To finish the bow, and to stop it coming undone, I added a little dot of Glossy Accents to it.  As I don't want my text to clutter this layout, it can be slipped in behind the patterned paper!

 A beautiful little layout for pictures of two beautiful little fairy girls :)  Materials Used: Magic Happens: Paper Pad (PP838), Journal Tags (JT614), Rubons (RB896), Clear Stamps (CS772). Other : Bazzill Cardstock, DMC Vareigated embroidery floss, Lilac Superfine Glitter, Green Tara Vine. 

5: La Di Da Layout!

This double page layout uses the Kaisercraft La Di Da range  - It's been out for a little while now, but the colours and funky design lends itself to being used for a cute little layout of my girls.

To begin, I cut out a full page of the little shapes from the "skip" design, and half a page of the green shapes from the "sing" design.

I wanted to create a whimsical, layered, textured cluster of elements at the bottom corners of the layout with these, so I kept them in a safe place (after having to wrestle my almost 2 year old for them, when she decided they were HERS!)

To put the layout together, I ran a strip of the Kaisercraft Lace along the top, and then adhered a fat strip of the green and white polkadot "skip" paper just overlapping that slightly.  I matted my photos, and then arranged them a little wonkily along the strip. I then messed around a bit, layering up the little cutout pieces, before I decided how I wanted them to sit.  After that, it was as simple as sticking them all down, using foam tape here and there to add a bit of texture.  To finish, I used a rub on to title the layout, and journalled on a tag from the "Bubblegum Hills" collection (which I layered a few flowers from la di da over the top of, to make it match a bit more). I also added a little strip of "Sing" paper, down the left hand side, to add a bit of balance to the layout.

I really wanted to add a bit extra texture, so I thought I'd try out the new "Polystyrene Posies" from the Chanteuse collection.  I love the little fluffy one, it reminds me of grass seeds in the long grass. :) I also added a tea dyed doily on the right hand side, just to add a little bit more texture. 

Materials Used : La Di Da - Skip (P472), Sing (P475). Kaisercraft Other - Polystyrene Posies -Chanteuse (EM960), Crochet Doilies (EM947). Lace Pack (EM926) Other : Inkssentials Glossy Accents, Purple Bazzill Cardstock, White Bazzill Cardstock. 

6: Party Animals Cards Set

This set of sweet cards was made with the Party Animals collection.  I burned the midnight oil last night because once I got started on these little guys, I just couldn't stop!
The fun colours and cute little animals are perfect for children's birthday cards, but also, as shown with the penguin Congratulations card, are great for cards for the young at heart too.

Have a grreat day!-

This card is a very simple card, using the journal tab as the main embellishment.  I added a bow of orange organza ribbon, and a tab from the 6 1/2" paper pad.  Inside the card is a cute little tiger cut from a sheet of paper in the paper pad as well.  I edged the tab with kindyglitz, and glossy accented the tiger and the star, to help them stand out a little bit more. 

Happy Birthday circus top card - 

This card features stamped and embossed accents, watercolour painting and hand drawn detail, using a Sakura glaze pen.  I wanted this card to have a whimsical, children's storybook feel. I love how the little zebra is jumping out the doors of the big top!

Congratulations Penguins - 

For this card, I stamped two penguins and embossed with black embossing powder. I watercolour painted in the beaks and the top hat, and then cut the penguins out, snipping off the top of the top hat for my lady penguin.  I used an orange card base, and the pale blue and white spotty background paper from the paper pad, and perched my two little penguins on a die cut scallop from the same paper pad.
To create a girly little fascinator for Mrs Penguin, I gathered a small scrap of soft tulle, and attached it to a small rose, and glued that over the top of where the top hat used to be.  I finished the card off with a "congratulations" rubon.

Happy Birthday Spinner Card - 

This card gave me heartburn! I was so anxious to get it right that I almost put it in the too hard basket! I'm glad I didn't though, because it's just so sweet.  I used the smallest of my Spellbinder Scallop Dies to cut three windows in the front of the card, and through the patterned paper. I then cut 6 circles from the foiled paper in the 6 1/2" paper pad,   and using some orange embroidery floss, stuck them back to back (with the inside animal upside down, so that when the card is opened, they're up the right way).  Once these were in place, I glued the patterned paper down over the top, making sure my animals were centred, and the strings were taut.  I added a doodled line around the edges of each scallop cut out, and also around the edge of the patterned paper, and used a Happy Birthday Rubon to finish. 
Last but not least:

Happy Happy Happy Birthday! Elephant card - 

I used a slightly uneven gate fold card for this base - One side had to be slightly longer to accommodate the cute little elephant.  I used a deep orange bazzill for the base, which I cut at 4 1/2" wide x 12" long, and then folded in to suit my elephant.  I cut the elephant from a sheet of glittered paper in the paper pad, and outlined him with a sakura glaze pen (black).  I stamped the balloons onto an offcut of the yellow spotty paper that I used as a background for this card, and watercolour painted them in, as I also did for the bunting.  While I waited for that to dry, I carefully lined up where I wanted the balloons to sit, and stamped the balloons down on the yellow background.  I also very carefully stamped the bow onto the elephant's trunk, and drew in a string wrapping around the bottom of his trunk (to make sure the balloons don't fly away!) Once the painted elements were dry, I carefully cut them out, and attached the pennants first, trimming to fit the gatefold.  I carefully lined the balloons up with their stamped underlay, and added a shiny coat of glossy accents.
I gave the elephant a little red party hat (stamped and painted from the pennant stamp), and added a few little rhinestones to bling it up a little.
I finished with the words "Happy Happy Happy Birthday", which I cut from a rubon set.
Looks like I'm set for the next few birthday parties now! :)
Materials Used: Party Animals: Journal Tags (JT618), Paper Pad (PP842), Clear Stamps (CS776), Mini Clear Stamp - Penguin (CS956). Mini Alpha (MA504), Rhinestones (SB700), Rubons - (RB811, RB838). Other : Bazzill basics cardstock, Orange, deep orange & sage. Tulle offcut, Green Tara rose.  Faber Castell Watercolour paints, Sakura Glaze Pen - Black, DMC embroidery floss, orange, Spellbinders Petite Scallop Dies. 

7: Craft Room Sign

This project has been on my mind for a long time now.  I've been wanting to do a sign for the door of my craft room, but wanted it to be something a bit more "special" and textural than I'd done in the past.

When I saw the "Marmalade" paper from Kaisercraft's Nan's Favourites collection, I thought that it would be perfect for my craft room.  (It ties in beautifully with my gorgeous red chair!).  The "Dress Form" paper from the Timeless collection anchored my theme of handmade, so I squirreled my chosen papers away, while I collected bits and pieces to complete the project.

I used a 12x16 inch stretched canvas as my base, which I painted with two coats of red paint.  I trimmed my Marmalade paper down to leave a 1/2 inch border all the way around the page (I needed to cut a strip from a second sheet of paper to make the patterned paper continue across the width of the canvas).  I then distressed the edges of the Dress Form paper, and inked them with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain).

 As a base for my flowers, I wanted to tie in the red theme again, so I used two large red Green Tara flowers, which I then topped with a bunch of Kaisercraft paper blooms. I chose the Buttercream pallette, and "pinked" some of them up with some My Tattered Angels Glimmermist (Vintage Pink).  Across the bottom, I used some vintage crocheted lace - my mother in law brought up a huge roll of this lace for me, that she'd been hanging onto for 20 something years!  I ruffled this along the bottom edge, to add a girly touch to the hanging.
A swirl of chocolate pearl flourishes, and a few pink sprigs from the Chanteuse Range of Polystyrene Posies, and I was almost done.

I had been busting to use one of Kaisercraft's dress forms for ages, so it was an easy choice to use this as the centrepiece of my floral flourish.  I trimmed the lower corner with a broken dangly earring (reuse, recyle and all that!) and now only have one thing left to do...
My title...

It makes me smile just looking at it!

 Materials Used: Nan's Favourites - Marmalade (P613), Timeless - Dress Form (P654), Chipboard Alphas - large (CB105), Kaiser Colour Red (KC009), Pearl Flourish - Chocolate (PL509), Manequins Wooden Flourish (FL335), Polystyrene Posies (EM960), Paper Blooms - Buttercream (F629).  Other - Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain, Green Tara Large Red flowers, My Tattered Angels Glimmermist - Vintage Pink, Broken earring, Vintage Lace. 

8: Dolls House

This has been by far the most ambitious craft project I've undertaken.  It's taken a few months, chipping away at it here and there, but I'm finally done with it!  And I'm so excited to share it with you all!
Won't you join me on a little tour? 

Here's what I started with... a $10 dolls house from Cotton On Kids, and a whole stack of dreams!

 The shingled roof, each shingle inked and attached individually by some crazy lady...

 If you look closely, you just might see a little kitty peeking out the bay window!

 

And another little kitty pouncing on a flower on the little tiled front porch.

Home sweet home... 
I love the colours of the English Rose Collection - they worked perfectly with the romantic feel of the house.  All the roof is shingled in "Thelma" paper, while the walls are wallpapered in the soft tones of "Lillian".  The windows and doors are cut from "Thelma", and the frames are from the reverse of "Estelle".  The tiles on the front porch were punched out of scraps of "Thelma", and coated in glossy accents to give it more of a tiled feel.  Planter boxes were created from bazzill cardstock, with a few antique copper brads for good measure. All the painted surfaces were mixed from different shades of Kaiser colour paints. 
Believe it or not, in the roof alone, there is 7 sheets of Thelma paper!

Materials Used: English Rose - Thelma (P597), Lillian (P599), Estelle (P598).  Kaisercraft Other :  Polystyrene Posies (EM960) Kaisercolour Terracotta (KC034), White (KC001), Dusty Pink (KC013), Eggshell (KC035).  Other : Inkssentials Glossy Accents, Green Tara Flowers & Ferns, Bazzill Cardstock, Francheville Brads.

I hope you've enjoyed my collection of projects!
x Rita