Posts from — January 2010

Hi scrappers! Yet another sketch and not one, not two… but THREE layouts as inspiration from our talented Design Team!

From top to bottom:

‘Birthday party’ layout created by Pam Thorburn: Sugar sugar papers, ribbon, chipboard alphas, rhinestones.
Pam has used stitching just inside the edges of the centre circle

‘Tatoo’ layout created by Fran Tynan: Journal paper, brads, chipboard alphas, die cut elements, rubons

‘Perfect in every way’ layout created by Elizna Parsons: Garden arabesque papers, ribbon, paper flowers, rhinestones, rubons, clear stamps, brads

Don’t forget to share your creations into our January sketch gallery – you can win a $25 collection pack!

At the end of each month this year we will be selecting a winner from each sketch gallery to win a $25 collection pack of their choice (6 patterned papers, die cut elements, alpha stickers and rubon pack)!

See terms and conditions for more information.

You only have 8 days left – you gotta be in it to win it!!

And take note, digi scrappers – from today, you too will be included in the Saturday Sketch fun as we bring you brand new, original templates designed by our creative team girls.

Our first sketch, by Brittney, is a simple layout with plenty of space to showcase whichever cute paper you opt to use – simply choose your papers, elements and photos, drop them in the spaces provided and you’re all done!

We even have a sample layout using our Daydreams and Doodles mega kit, by Brittney, to demonstrate what you can expect to see when you’ve finished with this groovy little number.

Sandra also used the template to create this funky, bright layout using our new School Days kit.

And we also have an angelic layout from Carole featuring her daughter, Kimberlee, with her grandmother.

Show us how you’ve used our digital template for your chance to win two digi mega kits of your choice, valued at $19.98…that’s two collections you can use over and over again, just for uploading your creation here!

See terms and conditions for more information.

We’ll be picking a winner at the end of the month so start downloading the template and get scrapping – it could be worth free product!

It’s a tough job but someone has to do it…and it’s even better if that someone isn’t us!

Today we bring you three – that’s right, THREE – School Days quick pages, hot off the press and ready to be downloaded and turned into layouts in the blink of an eye!

Carole, our quick page master and digital CT member, couldn’t get enough of School Days, and decided to get even more creative than usual…so for your scrapping pleasure, check out the first her three quick pages now!

Now, we know this is fairly specific to pics of kids starting first grade (or prep, as we call it in Aussie-land) but we’re guessing there’s at least a few of you proud mummies out there who are already thinking about which pic would fit the layout best.

If your little one hasn’t yet hit first grade or has already moved past it, though, don’t write off the quick page…because here we have the exact same design, minus the mention of first grade!

Or, if you prefer scrapping with cheerful bright colours, try this gorgeous creation – colourful, packed full of cute elements and with enough space for some short journalling, this is our personal favourite and the one we’re already thinking about how to use!

We think this is about the sweetest thing we’ve ever seen…now all we need are some school photos to add and we’ll have our own memory-filled layout!

And speaking of layouts, check out this little beauty by Leah – it shows her youngest son, Ethan, copying his brother doing schoolwork.

This would have to be one of the best School Days layouts we’ve seen so far – the fantastic use of colour and perfectly-placed combinations on patterned and plain papers give it a very lively feel, and we can just tell how much Leah loves this collection.

She says School Days’ fun colours and doodles make it perfect for a “messier look” and worked well for journalling…we have to say, we agree. So darn cute!

Onto to something totally different with Chrissy’s offering, and here we have an alternative to kids and school-related themes. Chrissy thought about all the notebooks she has stashed around the house when she saw the notebook paper in this collection, and it fits perfectly!

To create the layout, Chrissy says she played with blending modes for the background paper and eventually chose “exclusion” as she liked the colour it produced. She removed the white background under the punched holes in the notepaper using the magic wand tool to select the white patches, which she then deleted.

And if that doesn’t go to show how School Days can be used for any kind of photo, not just school snaps, check out Brittney’s awesomely funky layout, which shows her daughter, Ali, learning which foot each shoe goes on.

We would NEVER have thought to darken the notepaper to a greyish hue to contrast with all the bright blues, reds and greens, but we LOVE it! Imaginative, innovative and commemorating what is definitely a rite of passage for lots of children – definitely a winner.

Brittney filled in some of the brushes but kept them a bit rough-looking, then added them to the paper as elements, almost like stickers. She layered strips of paper underneath her photos and clustered the elements all around to create a seriously striking and commanding layout.

We’ve really been impressed with what the CT has produced with School Days but more importantly, we want to know what you think…do you like the minimal number of papers and extra transparencies? Do the colours work for you? Have you enjoyed scrapping some of those special moments in your kids’ lives?

Or should we say plane??

Anaheim here we come!

Our products and papers designed, our stock has been ordered, our trade show booth packed and shipped, makes and takes designed (and booking being taken – nearly allocated), bags packed…..

Have we forgotten anything???

Are you heading to the show? If you are going, be sure to pop by and see us!

Our booth is bright, white and spacious – check it out, Booth #4143. One of Australia’s best known scrappers, Melissa Kennedy will be teaching make and takes. Be sure to say hi to the Aussie team; ‘The big guy/owner’ Mr Stephen Kaiser, Brenton – our export sales extraordinaire, Aaron – our warehouse manager, Brad – our friendly joinery manager and myself.

We’ll leave with you with a few of our favourite Kaisercraft projectsthat have caught our eye on the web lately!!

‘Strike your Pose’ layout, featuring Thrill Seeker collection, by Jules78 (Twopeasinabucket)

‘Gratitude’ card, featuring Marrakech collection, by Crisean (two peas in a bucket).

Birdhouse BTP, featuring Birdhouse BTP (SB2058) by  Kdsimmonds (two peas in a bucket)

‘Dakoda’ layout, featuring Lilac Avenue, by katronal (two peas in a bucket).

‘Jump!’ layout featuring Squadron paper collection, by Belinda (Kaisercraft Gallery).

This layout was an entry into our monthly sketch competition! Have a go yourself and you could win a $25 collection pack of your choice!!

‘Beach boy’ layout featuring Offshore collection by Belinda Spencer, (Kaisercraft Gallery).

Make sure you spread the Kaisercraft love, and you just might find yourself featured here on the blog!!

It’s that time of year again, and Kaisercraft knows how to help celebrate your little darling’s foray into the exciting world of school!

Whether you’re the proud mother of a brand new preppie or sending your experienced little learner back into the jungle of classrooms and playgrounds, we know you love nothing more than scrapping cute pictures of their special moments. And what could be more momentous than the first day of a whole new year, to be filled with play, knowledge and new experiences?

And there’s no need to worry about whether or not the School Days kit will suit your child’s school colours, with four papers in a range of colours and 12 – that’s right, 12 – transparencies that can be mixed and matched to any colour you require! Incorporating elements we’ve never released before, such as paper clips, push pins, bulldog clips and first prize rosettes, you definitely won’t struggle to perfectly complement your layout or hybrid project.

Check out our CT’s little pieces of gorgeousness below for inspiration on how to whip up your own School Days layout.

Kathleen utilised the collection’s cool notepaper to create a layout that looks as though it could have been torn out of any child’s notebook – if the notebook boasted such killer artwork, that is!

We’ve counted more than 10 little elements, ranging from paperclips and ribbon to brads and tags, but Kathleen’s has still managed to compress the content and leave plenty of “white space”, giving the layout a hand-drawn, doodly sort of feel. She’s used some simple brushes and swirly handwriting to add dimension and told the story with a simple title – we’re loving its fun feel and the fact she’s used non-school-related photos of Holly and Drew. Very cool!

Now, we seem to recall it’s been a while since we showed you a cool hybrid project from the digital CT, so today we have Sandra to thank for her initiative in playing around with Schoool Days. She used a 4×6″ photo album and basic stationary kit (including a pencil box, eraser, sharpener and ruler) from her local discount store and, in her words, “pimped these with the School Days kit!”.

On the top and inside of the pencil box, Sandra glued sections of paper; she then glued sections onto the ruler as well. She replaced the plastic wrapping around the eraser with a tag from the School Days elements set, measured the size and then created a grid in Photoshop Elements to make sure she had the right sizing. Sandra ‘stamped’  some brushes onto the tag and printed it, then printed one of the round elements to fit the round shape of the pencil sharpener.

For the photo album, she printed a section of paper, glued it on top of the album’s original packaging and prettied it up with tags, flower and paperclips. She also printed some round elements and glued them onto cardstock to give them more body, before setting an eyelet in each and lacing them through a small metallic ball chain and attaching it to the cover. Sandra finished it off with a ribbon, which she tied around the album.

And for inside? Well, you know the saying “a mother’s work is never over”, and in this case it’s true – Sandra then made some layouts using her son’s school pictures, including this little gem, for which she cut cardstock to 4×6″ and made mini layouts with scraps of printed papers and elements.

We are actually giving her a standing ovation right now while marvelling at how easy she makes it sound…what a fantastic idea for cute and unique school stationary! We’d love to know if anyone else is confident enough to try this project…be sure to post it in the gallery if you are!

And finally, we have an adorable layout from Donna, who used transparencies to create the background, including one which was set with Overlay blending mode and 25 per cent opacity.

Donna then erased the middle part with the eraser brush set to 50 per cent opacity and flow so it didn’t have hard edges or lines when erased. The second transparency is on the top layer with the same settings.

She made the ribbon swing by cutting different lengths of ribbon and adding drops shadows of varying lengths to create the illusion that her niece was actually sitting on the swing, and tilted the yellow paper just to add interest.

Donna says the rest of the layout is simply layering and adding drop shadows to create depth and varied dimensions.

For more awesome – and inspiring! – School Days layouts, check out our mega kit page here…we hope your little treasures are looking forward to going back to school and you manage to snap a few pics on the first day!

Here’s what you have all been waiting for… It’s time to announce the winners of the Q3 Blog party Challenges!!!

Drum roll please….

The winner of the layout challenge is no one but…

Belinda! Congratulations!

This inspiring layout has won you a ’Made with Love’ prize pack valued at $30!

Belinda’s creative ‘Stephen and Rory’ layout looks cool, grungy and features very fun and effective paint work!

Now to the winner of the Digital layout challenge…

Congratulations to Donna Hourigan!

Your fun and cheeky digital layout has won you two two digital mega kits of your choice valued at $19.98

Donna’s ‘Boys will be boys’ digital layout has a very ‘rough and tumble’ look to it, featuring ruched ribon,  funky brushes and a great choice of photos to coordinate with the collection.

And last but certainly not least! The winner of the Card challenge is…

Allara!

Congratulations, your beautiful card creation has won you a Lilac Avenue prize pack valued at $25!

This soft but bold card created by Allara is eye catching and really screams the sentiment ‘Let’s Party’

Can all competition winners please send us your name and contact details to competitions@kaisercraft.com.au to claim your prizes!!

Congratulations to all our winners of the challenges featured in the Q3 Blog party, as well as all the winners of the other giveaways that took place on the night.

Thankyou to everybody who entered the various compeitions held on the night, all your entries were amazing!

Thanks again to all those who attended the blog party!!

We hope you join us next time for plenty of more fun, excitment and inspiration!!!