Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category

Our Christmas preparations continue with a Hanging Tree decoration styled with Kaisercraft papers.

My daughter Merley (aged 12) created this fabulous Scallop Hanging Tree decorated with papers from the Kaisercraft Home for Christmas collection. All the presents, birds, words and even the Christmas pudding were cut out from the papers. Merley has also added some Kaisercraft Pearls and highlighted some parts with Crystal Lacquer.

The separate parts of the tree were joined with some matching ribbon offcuts and the presents were hung from the bottom with thread.

Here is a list of the products used on this project:

• SB2079 Scallop Hanging Tree
• P296 Egg Nog paper (Home for Christmas collection)
• P297 Kris Kringle (Home for Christmas collection)
• P298 Santa’s Delivery (Home for Christmas collection)
• P299 Sleigh Ride (Home for Christmas collection)
• SB786 Pearls – Rose
• SB784 Pearls – Ice Green
• CL-01802 Crystal Lacquer Set
• Ribbon offcuts

I know it’s a bit early but I’ve decided to get into the spirit of Christmas, so my first Christmassy project this year just had to be the Holly Wreath made with some of the papers from the Be Merry Collection.

After separating and lightly sanding down all the pieces of the Kaisercraft Holly Wreath (SB2078) I arranged all the Holly leaves on the circle frame and, once I was happy with the layout of them, I then thought about which papers to use on the leaves. I decided that I wanted to use more than one colour of paper on the wreath and that I definitely wanted to incorporate the very cute reindeer from the fabulous Chirpy paper.

I used the back of the Chirpy paper (P559) to cover the largest of the three pronged leaves and then used a brown ink pad (IP708) to stamp with the Script Background stamp (CS752) over them. On the smaller three pronged leaves I used the Cheer paper (P558) and on the large long leaves with the berries I used the green side of the Happy paper (P560). I finished the edges of the all of the leaves using a brown ink pad. I then cut out some berries, approximately 25mm across, from a scrap of red card and used Crystal Lacquer on them. I also cut out two large Reindeer, two smaller reindeer and one Christmas Tree from the Chirpy paper, finished them all with a coat of Crystal Lacquer and then added some red Rhinestones (SB711) for a little sparkle.

The next bit may seem a little obsessive but its a great way of making sure you are happy with the final effect. Once all the pieces were decorated I rearranged them back onto the wooden inner circle and took a photo of the finished wreath. I then took a couple more photos removing a few pieces each time. I then used the pictures I had taken to reassemble the wreath, gluing each piece with PVA adhesive. Once all the leaves were glued down I used foam pads to attach the Reindeer and the Christmas Tree.

The finished wreath is a modern looking take on the traditional Holly Wreath. For a slightly different look, here is the Kaisercraft Star Wreath (SB2064) I made last year using the papers of the Belle Collection.

After a recent holiday to Italy to visit relatives and learn more about my Italian ancestors I was inspired to make the Kaisercraft Family Tree as a way to display images of past generations of my family.

I wanted a fairly traditional, slightly European look for my Family Tree so chose the Duchess collection highlighted with stamped elements from the Peachy Keen collection.

Once all the MDF pieces of the Family Tree (SB2059) were separated and sanded down I painted the trunk and branches of the tree in Kaisercolour Raw Umber acrylic paint (KC032). I covered the front and back of the tree canopy with the Empire paper (DS204) from the Duchess Collection (the tree is fairly large so one sheet is needed for each side). I then randomly stamped the canopy using the Script background stamp (CS752) and the Flourishes clear stamps (CS721) and inked round the edge of the canopy with a Brown ink pad (IP708).

I am loving using the Peachy Keen Clear Stamps (CS739) at the moment, so decided to use the cute little birds and leaves on the Family Tree. I stamped about 10 of the leaves using the Kaisercraft Forest and Sepia Ink Pads and then cut them out. I also stamped the little birds in various colours and then cut out the wings and body separately and layered them to give the birds different coloured body parts.

Once I had chosen my family photos, printed them, cut them out and stuck them on the cameos, I used the frames from the Heiress paper (DS201) to finish of the cameos. I also added three small Chocolate Pearls (SB792) to the bottom of each cameo. For the centre of the tree I cut out a frame shape from a piece of scrap card and added the word “Family” in the middle.

Finally I arranged the leaves and birds on the tree and stuck them all down using foam tape ensuring that they neatly framed the cameos on the tree.

My Italian themed Family Tree now provides a long-lasting reminder of my trip to meet my relatives and my Italian family heritage.

The recently released Hippy Girl collection from Kaisercraft is excellent for showcasing girly photos so I decided to use it to create a beautifully feminine frame for one of my favourite pictures.

For this project I used the Kaisercraft Large Square Frame (W106) which can be either hung on the wall or freestanding. I started by covering the whole frame with the reverse of a sheet of Sunshine (P551) from the Hippy Girl collection and then cutting out the central aperture. To finish the edges I gently smoothed them with the flat file from the Kaisercraft File Set (T307) and used a Jade Ink Pad (IP717) to hide the whiteness of the edge of the paper.

To add some background texture to the frame, I’ve used the Hippy Girl Clear Stamps (CS749) with the Jade Ink Pad to add some stamped flowers and leaves along the bottom and right hand side of the frame. I added a couple more lightly stamped flowers at the top left and then stamped over the flowers with the Script Background Stamp (CS752) which is an “endless” stamp so I could create quite a large area in the top left corner.

Now the time consuming bit – but if you like cutting out then this is the fun bit. I cut out a selection of flowers from two of the Hippy Girl papers – the Earth paper (P550) and the beautiful Delilah glitter paper (PS112). I gently curled the petals and applied Crystal Lacquer to some of the non-glitter flowers before layering some of them together and applying Hot Pink Pearls (SB787) and the occasional Red Rhinestone (SB711) to their centres. I also cut out some leaves from the Earth paper which I layered onto a piece of acetate to give them some rigidity and to add some extra dimension.

I then arranged the flowers and leaves in the bottom right corner of the frame. At this point it’s a really good idea to spend lots of time arranging things exactly as you want them without using any adhesive. Move them around until you are absolutely happy and then take a digital photo of the finished arrangement to work from when you stick them down for real.

I’ve used double-sided tape and foam to stick everything down and made sure that I’ve given the flowers a really three-dimensional look with lots of layering. I’ve finished the frame by using a flower from the Hippy Girl Printed Chipboard (CB113) layered with a couple of flowers and some more pearls in the top left of the frame. The photo is layered on the leftover centre piece of the Sunshine paper I used on the frame and a leftover corner of the reverse of the Earth paper I cut the flowers from.

Hopefully I have inspired to create something equally girly with the new Hippy Girl Collection. This simple project used only three sheets of paper from the collection and hopefully shows how beautiful effects can be created with a small amount of material, a pair of scissors and a little patience.

As soon as I saw the Kaisercraft Beyond-the-Page Journal I thought what a wonderful “book of lists” it could make. So recently I finally got around to creating a Tea at Elsie’s themed Journal of my own.

The Kaisercraft Beyond-the-Page Journal (SB2071) comes with front and back covers made from MDF and 100 lined pages. The front cover features a stem and leaf design although, as you’ll see below, I chose to modify it a little when I made mine.

I started by covering the inside of the back cover with the Peppermint paper (P500) from the Tea at Elsie’s Collection and the outside of the back cover with the reverse side of the same paper finished with a couple of strips from the Ceylon paper (P499).

I then covered the outside of the front cover with the reverse of the Ceylon paper and cut out two of the leaves and the stem from the cutout design. After that I covered the inside of the front cover with the Peppermint paper although I didn’t cut out any of the leaf shapes. For the design on the front I cut out several flowers and leaves from Chamomile paper (P496), coated them with Crystal Lacquer and arranged them at the top of the stem. I also cut out a single leaf shape which I coated in Crystal Lacquer and arranged it alongside the stem to give a deeper, more dimensional effect to the flower design on the front. I also filled the “embossed” leaves with Crystal Lacquer to add a little more sparkle.

Along the side of the front cover I added some strips from the Ceylon paper and some more cut out and lacquered flowers from the Chamomile paper. I then finished the front with some Latte Pearl Strips (PL505) and Latte Pearls (SB715), some lettering from the White and Black Mini Alphas (MA502) and, on the inside front cover, I added a journal block using the reverse of the Peppermint paper and some more lacquered flowers.

I finished the edges of the Journal by lightly colouring them using a Kaisercraft Sandstone Ink Pad (IP710) and used some Kaisercraft Stone coloured Book Rings (M017) to complete the journal.

I now have a beautiful and very useful “book of lists” to take pride of place on my desk.

Beyond-the-page offers a great way to match bits of home decor with the colour theme in your house. These coasters where made to coordinate with the scheme in a chocolate and cream coloured room.

I’ve used the Kaisercraft Round Coaster Pack (SB2056) and painted all the edges and the base in Kaisercraft Raw Umber Acrylic Paint (KC032). I’ve then just used circles of the Pine Arbour (P445) and Elm Point (P442) papers from the Prairie Lane collection. I’ve finished some of the coasters using a stamp from the Prairie Lane Clear Stamp set (CS732). By the way, each coaster has different colours on each side so that I can mix and match them.

I’ve finished the edge of the base with a strip of Prairie Lane paper and a few bronze rhinestones (SB776).

A project like this is a great way to start out with beyond-the-page – it’s quick and easy and you cannot really go far wrong.

Here are a couple of cards I’ve made recently to show how versatile Kaisercrafts Prairie Lane Collection can be. While the colours of these papers can be quite masculine, they can also be used to create some very feminine effects.

The card on the left was made using part of the Sunny Grove paper (P440) while the card on the right features parts of both the back and front of the Spring Acres paper (P444).

In both cases I’ve added bronze rhinestones (SB776) and sed a stamp from the Prairie Lane Clear Stamp Set (CS732) to create a frame for some simple words. I’ve also created a multi petal flower using two colours of Kaisercraft paper flowers, Blue Ice (F615) and Ivory Cream (F602), and highlighted it with a brown Kaisercraft Ink Pad (IP708).

I’ve seen a couple of examples of the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar finished in a non-Christmas design. So, with a daughter who loves to collect anything to do with fairies, I decided to use the Advent Calendar to make a fairy themed trinket box with a difference especially for her.

I painted all the MDF parts in Blossom Kaisercolour Acrylic paint before sticking them together with wood glue.  I then gave the whole thing another two coats of paint to cover up any errant glue. I’ve used a single sheet of the Sparkle paper (P364) from the Airy Fairy collection layered over a piece of Wisteria coloured Bazzill cardstock in the centre of the calendar. I’ve then layered the largest three fairies to give a 3D effect and applied loads of rhinestones and a coat of Crystal Lacquer for some sparkle.

The drawers on the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar are made of chipboard (that is, extra thick cardboard). I used double sided tape to hold them together after folding them into shape. I could then simply remove the backing from the tape, rub a glue stick over any exposed bits of the chipboard and then stick the paper on the outside of the individual drawers. Each of the drawers is covered in strips of the Sparkle, Fantasy and Whimsey papers from the Airy Fairy collection and I’ve finished them with a few rhinestones and Airy Fairy Brads. I’ve also drawn on some “stitching” on the front of each of the drawers for extra effect.

My daughter uses the drawers to store her jewellery and “lucky stones” – it’s the perfect trinket box for her pink and lilac bedroom.