Welcome to Christmas in July – the month of good intentions of getting ahead of the festive crazies and prepare for a magical and peaceful time during the holidays. And with all the gorgeous Christmas Kaisercraft releases we can expect this year, it sure is going to be a glitzy affair! 

One that I am really excited about. I love the festive season mostly for its wreaths. Yes I am that girl that can have a million wreaths around the house all years long and still love them come Christmas time. So what better way than to create a little festive magic with a miniature wreath on a pennant that can welcome guests at the front door or be used on the fire place, heck anywhere that something can hang – this peaceful pennant can bring good cheer to all who sees it.

I started off by using the beautiful Silent Night Christmas paper to create a pennant base. Then added paper strips and punched borders to complete the look. On top of the pennant is a cut out Santa, more paper strips and a beautiful pennant created from the patterned papers and collectables pack.

step 1 - Punch a selection of leaves from the Kaisercraft Silent Night paper.

step 2 - On a pre-made circle element, add a circle of Tombow Mono Multi adhesive and place the leaves in a circle all around it. I used two different patterns and shades of green of leaves to create interest.

 step 3 - Add Tape Wormz foam tape to the back of another circle element from the collection pack.

step 4 - Adhere the element over the leaves on the base element. The dimension gives the wreath a beautiful 3D look.

step 5 - Create the pennant from a base paper. Add a strip of high tack tape to the top of the pennant.

step 6 - Adhere a strip of ribbon to the tape for a really permanent hold.

With the end of the year around the corner, more and more teenagers are planning some fun activities – especially the class of 2016. So instead of letting them head out on their own why not plan a fun and festive pool party for them complete with pink flamingos and lots of cool snack and sweet tubs? Today we share some fun ideas with you using a gorgeous range of scrapbooking paper as inspiration.

Start off the party with a fun invitation with a hint of the theme – complete with pink painted flamingos and lots of bright colours.

step 1 - Print the invitation onto white cardstock. Die cut flamingo out of white AC smooth cardstock. Use your Memento inks and All Purpose inks to add colour to the die-cut

step 2 - Use your Memento inks and All Purpose inks to add colour to the die-cuts. Add the ink to your craft sheet, then lightly mist with water. Use your Fantastix to pick up some ink and colour the die-cuts. Leave them to dry.

step 3 - Add some Brilliance gold ink to your craft sheet. Mist with water and pick up some of the ink with your Fantastix. Paint a layer of gold shimmer over your coloured flamingo die-cuts.

step 4 - Adhere a strip from the sticker border to the top of the invitation. Adhere the flamingo to the printed invitation. Use the same ink colours as before and a small paint brush to add ink splats to your invitation for some fun coloured effects.

step 5 - Punch leaves from your patterned paper and adhere to the side of your invitation. Scatter diamanté in between the leaves to finish off the invitations.

To minimize snack wastage, use small bamboo cups for small portions of food and chips. Decorate them with stickers, ribbon and die-cuts for a visual feast.

Use bright coloured paper straws and die cut flamingos to serve cold beverages. For the straws you can create a fun decorative element that won’t break the bank, but will certainly add to the festive feel and look.

 step 6 - Punch small circles from paper scraps.

step 7 - Fold the circles in half and adhere them together. Adhere 5 punched and folded circles together.

step 8 - Adhere the circle element to the top of a drinking straw for a fun festive element.

step 9 - Create your own umbrellas instead of buying them. Punch large circles from your patterned paper.

step 10 - Cut a slit into the side of the circle to the middle.

step 11 - Add some Tombow adhesive to the one edge and fold it over the other edge to form the umbrella.

step 12 - Die cut some flowers and assemble them using some fun brads.

step 13 - Adhere the brads to the umbrella. Use a bamboo toothpick as the umbrella rod and use large beads to decorate the top of the umbrella. Add them to some of the drinks, food cups and even cupcakes to add to the theme of your party.

A healthy and easy dessert option is to make coloured jelly in recycled glass jars. Fill the top of the jars with coloured sweets and treats. Decorate the jars with cut out flowers, stickers and twine. Serve with funky wooden spoons.

So get your thinking caps on and give the class of 2016 a fun and fond farewell as they head into the real world – time enough for just one last fun and festive summer pool party before all seriousness starts.
Products Used

Moms play such a huge part in our lives – and once a year we get to publicly acknowledge everything they do for us and how much meaning they bring to our lives. Whether it’s your birth Mom, spiritual Mom or adopted Mom, Moms everywhere need to hear how much we value and appreciate them – so make this day a really special one for your Mom. 

This year I am treating my Mom to a special mug with some vinyl lettering on it. And since white on white is one of her favourite things and I just happen to have white vinyl it all worked out perfectly.

Step 1 - Create a file in the Silhouette design software. I used a pre-designed one I had and love.

Step 2 - Insert the file onto the page. I added one for my card and one for my mug – both using white vinyl. Select the vinyl setting in the cut settings and cut the images.

step 3 - Use transfer tape or masking tape to transfer the images onto the surface you want.

step 1 - Fold your white AC cardstock to form a card base. Use a large stamp and stamp the grass image at the bottom of the folded card at the front using VersaFine Smokey Gray ink.

 step 2 - Clean the stamp and ink the same image this time using Memento Luxe Pistachio. Off-set the stamp slightly from the original stamped image and stamp it again.

step 3 - Clean the stamp and ink using Memento Luxe Angel Pink and stamp the image again slightly off-set from the other two stamped images.

step 4 - Die-cut star jasmine flowers from the Kaisercraft Cottage Rose papers.

step 5 - Use a burnishing tool to curl the flowers and ink the edges. Group the flowers together and fasten with a brad.

step 6 - Adhere the flowers to the card using Tombow adhesive. Transfer the vinyl word “Mother” to the front of your card. To highlight the white word on the white background, add a small amount of grey Memento ink using a paintbrush to the edges of your word to create a shadow effect. Finish off your card with diamanté and ink splats.

With all my crafting goodies, I am able to make this Mother’s day really special without breaking the bank. Try using what you have in your stash to make a special Mother’s day card or gifts for your Mom.

If you are planning preserve the memory of this year’s Mother’s Day, why not make a beautiful single page layout and pop it into a frame – a perfect reminder of the one who loves you unconditionally.

My inspiration for this layout was the beautiful scalloped tag I used on my layout. To find matching papers and elements was not difficult at all, and the range of Lady Pattern Paper papers worked perfectly.

I wanted a simple layout and made the papers the supporting stars to my photos. So I decided to punch the papers into a decorative edge using a border punch.

My photo was matted onto a Kraft patterned paper that acted as my neutral colour, and the blue and red my accents.

Use two different paper colours and designs to punch with a decorative punch.

I used this beautiful lace punch – and with stunning effects combined the teal and red paper by repeating the same pattern.

 And all I have to do is pop my single page layout it into a frame and have a perfectly preserved memory of my special Mom.

Today I am so excited to share some creative news with you.I have been invited to the second round of the 2016/2017 Kaisercraft design Team application process.
I have had a long love-affair with the Kaisercraft range of products and so to be a part of this team would be such an honour and a dream come true.

For round 2 I received a new collection of products to work with -  The Boho Dreams Collection. There's always the anticipation of will I like it OR will I absolutely love it - well I truly fell in LOVE with this one! It is perfection - from the beautiful papers and colours to the stunning stamp set and Collectables pack. So I started visualizing my creation immediately.
And since I love creating double page layouts this was a natural choice for me - but I have a million other projects I want to create with this stunning collection. But it is the techniques used on my layout that were inspired by the beautiful mists and stencils received in my parcel. And that is how my layout came to fruition...
I started off by visualizing a repetition of texture and colour with an informal look and that's when I decided to use the stencil broken into pieces as part of the main design to create flow and repetition combined with strips of paper and other embellishments to support the theme.
Here's how I did it...

step 1 - Add some modelling paste to a palette and mist with the iridescent spray ink.

step 2 - Mix the ink into the modelling paste using a palette knife.

step 3 - Apply the coloured paste to white cardstock through the stencil.

step 4 - Remove the stencil carefully and let the paste dry thoroughly. Once dry use your guillotine and cut several squares. Mine measure about 3x3cm.

Ink the edges of the squares and adhere them to the background of your layout. Cut some smaller squares and use foam tape to raise them for dimension. I start off by positioning my photos, paper strips, punched strips and other elements on my background. Once I am happy with the placement I start adhering everything. Only then do I add my embellishments and finishing touches.

step 5 - Mist the denim and peach mists onto a palette. Add some water in the one corner of the palette.

step 6 - Paint the feathers from the patterned paper using both colours of mists. I love how the mists add a slight shimmer to the feathers - a gorgeous effect.

step 7 - Add some white mist to the palette and paint another layer over the colours on the feather. The white tones down the colour and adds extra shimmer for a stunning effect.

step 8 - Cut out the feathers and layer them on top of each other.

Add a baker's twine bow and then a layer of dimensional glaze for some extra shine on the top feather. Adhere the feathers to your layout using foam tape.

Use elements from the Collectables pack together with beads sewn to the background, buttons, diamante and wooden elements to finish off your layout.

Here's hoping that the Kaisercrafters  will like what I have done with their products and I will become a part of this wonderful dream team - what a privilege that would be - to be trusted with their beautiful creations, and create some inspiring works of art - something for everyone to love and try no matter what your skill level.

wish me luck on this journey.... and thanks for popping by.