Scrapping Everyday Photos with Kaisercraft's "A Touch of Gold" (Artfull Crafts)

Hello friends!  I was up on the Artfull Crafts blog yesterday discussing how to scrap everyday normal photos with a collection like Kaisercraft's new A Touch of Gold.  This collection is very much centred around Christmas and special occasions, but I choose to use it to scrap a photo of my Brielle sleeping.

I used white cardstock for my background, and stated with that lovely triangles paper.  When I have a paper I really love I make sure I feature it uncovered in a big block.  I layered my photo with some papers and a doily, and then built my layout from there.

Look for ways to be creative with your title.  I cut the word "LOVE" from one of the patterned papers, and then just added gold glitter foam thickers from my stash.

The "Love Peace Joy" is a Christmas sentiment, but also perfect for a sleeping baby!

Using my scallop border punch helped bridge the gap between the patterned paper and the cardstock.

You can purchase the collection in the online shop here.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your day!

Kaisercraft "Say Aloha" Layouts (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning! I'm up on the Artfull Crafts blog today sharing two layouts I made with the Kaisercraft "Say Aloha"collection.  This collection is a tropical and fun with bright colours and of course the most trendy bird in crafting right now - the Flamingo!  

My first layout is all based around the die cut "Be A Flamingo in a flock of Pigeons" and I immediately though of a photo I had of Sam and Azaria taken last June.  They both decided to randomly put their googles on and posed for a quick iPhone photo!  I applied gesso behind my layers and then used the packaging technique to apply mist.  

This die cut from the Collectables was also perfect for this page.

Here is a close up of that die cut!

The "These Moments"title is from a leftover piece of paper from one of my Hip Kits (I can't remember who the manufacturer is), but it was suitable for the colours, photo and theme of the layout.

My second layout is of my oldest daughter at school athletics last year.  I had already scrapped the event, so for this layout chose to write my journalling as a letter.  This month we are using toilet rolls in our crafting, so I decided to use a roll with some paint mixed with mist to create layered circles on my background.

Once the paint was dry I layered up some labels that I cut out of the 6x6 paper pad with a die on my Cuttlebug.  I focussed on using pink and green.

All die cuts are either from the collectables, or from the punch-outs at the back of the 6x6 paper pad.  I love that Kaisercraft include these in their pads.

I layered up die cuts and some special embellishments around the photo.

I outlined all of my label die cuts, and the edge of the white cardstock.  The background paper is an old piece of Echo Park Paper from my stash.

My daughter had specifically told me she wanted the large silver bling embellishment on her page.

I added some watercolours in complimentary colours around the layout, and added some stamping at the end.  Of course I had to add some India ink to tie the page together.

Thanks for looking!  You can purchase the Say Aloha collection in the shop here.

Scrapbooking School Photos (Part 1)

Good afternoon!  Earlier this year our oldest two kids had their annual school photos taken.  I though I'd do a series on how I scrap these photos, because I read in one of the Facebook Groups I'm in that people often find them hard to scrap. 

One of the reasons given was that school photos are often "awful".  This may be for a number of reasons, such as difficult colours of uniform or backdrop, bad poses, or just plain difficult photos.  I've found the opposite for school photos, and I think thats due to the uniform being navy, grey (for boys), blue and white - very easy colours for the scrapbooking Mum to embellish!  It also helps that our photos are taken outside.  (All credit of these photos goes to Des Ellery Photography).

For this photo of Azaria I used my March Hip Kit, and started with the beautiful Crate Paper (Craft Market I think) floral, which was begging to be watercoloured.  Being a beginner painter, I chose a small number of the flowers to paint with watercolours.  Of course I had to use my new notebook edge punch on the vellum, then layered another paper under my photo.

I kept my embellishment very simple and to a minimum to let the water colouring feature and let Azaria's photo shine.  The cluster below includes an exclusive flair badge, exclusive die cut ampersand and a cork heart.

I layered some paper under the "Beautiful" wood veneer to help it stand out.  The "^" shapes are made with a punch I've been neglecting.  

I absolutely love the Crate Paper Craft Market mini words - yes you heard me say that after I've been struggling with word stickers for months!

So the rules I've applied on this school photo layout are the following:

• Keep it simple.
• A non-themed selection of products works well for a non-themed scrapper like me.
• Use one main beautiful piece of paper to assist in keeping it simple.
• Keep embellishments to a minimum.
• Gold accents in three places help provide continuity.
• Vellum helps soften the paper layers, and assists in integrating the photo with the page.
• The notebook edge from the punch adds a "school" feel.
• The doily provides some relief from the very liner square cuts of paper and horizontal design.
• A kraft cardstock helps tie in the natural feel of the photo - being shot outside.

Thanks for looking, I'll be back again with another school photo layout soon!

Hand Stitching Tutorial (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning! I'm on the Artfull Crafts blog today with another layout made with the beautiful Kaisercraft Telegraph Road.  This time I decided to make a clean-style layout featuring the majority of patterned papers from the collection on a white cardstock background.  I punched out a heap of circles from the 6x6 paper pad, then arranged them in a grid.  I layered my photo and one of the 4x6 cut-apart cards, and then placed the entire layout on a piece of patterned paper from Crate Paper (Flea Market by Maggie Holmes) to create a border.  

I kept the embellishment simple too, with some wood veneer hearts, a Paper Bakery flair badge, and white tag which I stamped and embellished, and some grey ink splatters.  My journalling explains that my daughter and I went shopping to buy her some new winter clothes, and of course she had to pick pink jeans with white hearts!  I will admit that if there had been adult sizes I would have got a pair too!

As my sewing machine wasn't cooperating I decided to hand stitch around the cardstock, to both assist in adhering the paper, and to create a feature in itself.  The following tutorial explains my process:

1. Measure and pencil in an even line around the cardstock then pierce holes at even distances apart ( I did this freehand).   

2. Erase the pencil lines. My favourite eraser to use on cardstock is an electric eraser from Smiggle:

3. Select the embroidery thread you wish to use:

4. I use washi tape to secure the thread on the back of my layout, this saves having to tie knots.

5. Back-stitch around the perimetre of the layout using the pierced holes.  This is painstakingly slow but so worth it.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I love the extra texture that machine and hand stitching adds to my layouts, and it ensures that my layers are secure.  You can purchase the Telegraph Road Collection in the shop here.

Thanks for looking, see you in March!

Melissa 

Home Decor Christmas Frame Tutorial (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning!  This week is all about Christmas gifts over on the Artfull Crafts Blog, so I made this home decor piece with a $5 frame that I purchased from The Warehouse.  Sequins are so trendy in the crafting world right now, so I knew I wanted to feature them!  Here is the frame in our lounge, amongst our other Christmas treasures (which Azaria rearranged yesterday while I was in the shower!):

The following photos show how I made it, step-by-step.

1. First up I selected a large wood veneer star, and covered it with gold glitter using Glossy Accents.

2. I just love this patterned paper from Heidi Swapp's Believe Collection called Pepermint Stix.  I cut it to size, and then placed double sided adhesive around the edge.  

3. In order to really make the sequins pop I needed to tone down the paper so I layered some vellum over the top.  I made sure that the adhesive would be hidden inside the edge of the frame.

4. Being a bit of a perfectionist meant that I wasn't too keen on free-handing the sequins, so I made this tree template and traced around it with a pencil.

5. The final step was to glue the sequins down with Glossy Accents, making sure that I erased the pencil lines as I went up the tree. I used sequins from Teresa Collins.

And here is a close up of the finished frame.  I contemplated adding a trunk, and a word with letter stickers like American Crafts Thickers, but I decided I love the simplicity of it just like this.  I love how the gold sequins shimmer and shine!

Thanks for looking, and head over to the Artfull Crafts blog to play along with our Christmas challenges!

Have a great day

Melissa x