Author Archives: CraftKatie

Celebrate Spring with a Garden Journal Card

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For this double card I used Bo Bunny’s very lovely Garden Journal paper collection. I embellished with flowers (& leaf) by Scrapberry’s and Prima Marketing, and a gorgeous Garden Journal brad in the center of one of the flowers.

The words “Dikke kus” on the front of the card are Dutch for “Big kiss”, which I die-cut from the design paper with a sentiment die by Crealies.

I matted the insides as well, and created a spot for writing a personal message from one of the solid design papers.

 

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The Easiest Mini Albums Ever Made

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Creating mini albums can be quite a lot of work, demanding precision, dedication and, above all, time. Which is why I decided to go the other way this time, and set out to create what I wanted to be the easiest mini albums ever made, while still deserving of the name mini album. I wanted to be able to finish them within 2-3 hours, while not needing a lot of materials and tools. Also, they needed to be able to hold a reasonable amount of pictures.

Today I’m sharing the results of my experiment – which were a success for these mini albums are in fact so simple that no tutorial is required! The only things you need are the materials and some tools:

  • double-sided design paper
  • very light-weight chipboard (or heavy cardstock)
  • paper trimmer
  • wire binding tool like the Cinch or the Bind-It-All.

The largest of the albums will hold up to 68 pictures, the smaller one about 25.

Just watch the video and you’ll immediately know what to do to make these 🙂 Have fun!

 

 

The card I created with the leftovers:

Laugh Love Forever – a Ma Cherie Butterflies Layout

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Hello everyone!

This week I’m sharing a layout with you, for which I chose the beautiful Ma Cherie collection by Kaisercraft – with its soft burgundy color scheme, full of lovely florals. Of this collection, the Exquisite sheet, covered in absolutely gorgeous butterflies, simply demanded to be fussy-cut – even though that’s not my favorite thing to do.

The layout is centered around my mother, who as an Autumn Type was the perfect subject for this project since she can really rock an ocre jacket like no one else, especially when standing next to her own Burgundy & Gold acryllic painting 🙂

Materials used:

  • Kaisercraft Ma Cherie paper collection, 12×12 sheets: Darling, Exquisite and Glamour
  • Kaisercraft Ma Cherie Collectables die-cuts
  • Kaisercraft paper blooms (Ruby)
  • Kaisercraft flowers (Sepia)
  • Kaisercraft clear stamp Scallop Lace
  • Petaloo Penny Lane Garden collection, Mixed Blossoms – Antique Rose
  • Bo Bunny clear stamp Curly Q

Enjoy the show & tell video – and don’t forget to check out the lovely close up pictures below!

 

Altered a frame with metallic (red copper) paint and some flowers

On the wall, next to one of my other layouts! 🙂

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Summer is coming! Two cards to celebrate!

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This week I’m actually posting from beautiful Gran Canaria (one of Spain’s Canary Islands just off the southern coast of Morocco), so I’m at least really feeling summer’s Promise of Bloom 🙂

Because of my holiday there will be no video this week, but I will share two very Summer-spirited cards with you.

My tip for you this week is one of Affordability & Frugality: the design paper you’re using does not have to be expensive, nor of ‘Brands of Renown’ so to speak, for you to be able to create some lovely cards!

For instance, the paper I used here was somewhere in the obscure dollar bin of a very affordable (and therefore not the hippest) line of shops in the Netherlands. So the paper may be brandless, but applied well it is able to remind us of a festive summer garden party nonetheless!

So, don’t skip everything that has no brand worth mentioning, but go treasure hunting and see what you can come up with! For some inspiration, check out the other projects that I created with paper lines belonging to those Cheap & Brandless Ones… 😉

Enjoy, and see you next week!

Card 1: Two bi-fold doorlets, held together with a bow

Doorlets opening up to the journalling spot inside – on which I wrote a personal wish to my aunt 

Card 2: Tri-fold card with magnetized closure

Opening up to a journalling spot inside. Just like card 1, this card can stand on its own when opened.

 

Endless Little Memories – a Micro Folio Album!

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As you may know if you’ve browsed through my blog, I really like creating so-called micro projects, especially if there’s an actual Big Sister, i.e. an original regular-sized project that has inspired me to create a micro version.

My Endless Little Memories micro folio album is such a miniaturization, for it was modelled after my Neverending Memories folio album. I used Prima Marketing’s 2011 Romantique collection, and the results are cute-cuter-cutest! 🙂

Of course you won’t need as much material as you would with the larger version. For instance, I only needed 14 sheets of 15×15 cm (6×6″) design paper for this unique little micro folio!

If you’d like to create one yourself, please check out my Etsy shop for the tutorial, which explains the step-by-step proces in 77 pages with 208 clear pictures.

Anyway, here’s the video & pics!

 

 

Antique Bazaar Altered Desk Organizer

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I found a great wooden desk organizer in one of our home decor stores, and I bought it to alter it. It was already painted white so I chose Kaisercraft’s Antique Bazaar, a collection that would go well with the white wood of the organizer.

The rounded shape of the organizer’s compartments presented a special challenge, especially on the insides and with the split compartment on the left – for which I had to create a very specially shaped mat:

Materials used

So, here’s the results!

Don’t forget to check out the pictures below!

 

Be Your Creative Self – an 8×8″ Page Gatefold Keepsake Album

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Hi you all!

I’m so happy to be able to share my latest mini album design! It’s an 8½ x 8½” (22 x 22 cm) gatefold keepsake album, which I’ve titled Be Your Creative Self –  which sentiment is totally inspired by the paper collection I’ve been working with: World’s Fair, the glorious 2015 collection by Graphic 45.

This is a luxurious gatefold keepsake album, a square one this time – the others have all been in portrait mode. Its pages are a little bit larger than 8×8″, so that you can work with those great 8×8″ design paper pads.

This Be Your Creative Self album contains twelve interactive page layouts, including the inside covers. It has a magnetized closure and has a very crisp and clean cover, no embellishments at all, to really showcase this magnificent paper line.

It was a heck of a job to get it done, but soooo, so much fun! If you’d like to create this great album yourself, a tutorial is available on Etsy, with over 400 clear pictures of the step-by-step process!

Enjoy the video and pictures below, and let me know what you think in the comment section!

 

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Reprisal: Neverending Memories Folio Album, with pictures!

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When I showed you my Neverending Memories Folio Album back in February 2015, I hadn’t filled it up with pictures yet. Recently someone bought it from me and asked me to fill it with pictures of their dogs. Which means I can now show you how a folio album such as this one can look with actual photos inside!

If you’d like to create this folio album yourself, you can do so relatively easily and with only one 12×12 inch design paper collection (plus cardstock of course), with help of the tutorial in my Etsy shop (120 pages with 430 pictures of the step-by-step process).

So here we go, hope you feel extra inspired by this picture-filled folio album!

 

 

 

Condolences Card: Color is the New Gray

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I remember the time, not too long ago, when almost all condolences cards were rather stark. Most had only small illustrations on a large plain of white, and always in black and gray-tones. Then, slowly but steadily, color was added. First came the browns, with a few small and very tasteful autumn leaves, then here and there a flower creeped in.

Nowadays many condolences cards show more colors than just blacks, grays and browns. Only a few years ago I would probably be hesitant to send a rather colorful condolences card to someone, but I have to admit, since I have been the recipient of several of those when my father passed away, to my own surprise I appreciated the colorful ones very much. This is not to say that the more traditional cards are not a good choice of course. It’s just that my own personal experience in this area has convinced me not only that it’s okay to use color, but that it may actually add to the card’s (admittedly limited) effect.

So here’s an idea for a condolences card for scrappers and card makers: create a card of color, which requires only one sheet of double-sided design paper; do not embellish it too much, just let the paper speak for itself.
For instance, I decorated my card sparingly with only two stamps, some die-cuts and a swing-tab. Some folds and cuts did the rest.

All in all a very simple yet stylish choice for a condolences card. Meanwhile I truly hope you won’t need to send out many… though unfortunately we’ll probably all have to at least once or twice in our lifetimes.

If you’d like to add a very personal touch of comfort by creating this 1-sheet condolences card yourself, you can follow the clear instructions (with 63 pictures) in my tutorial.

Curly die by Crealies:

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New Spring Home Card

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Don’t you love spring? With nature – sometimes tentatively – stretching all of its green arms out to the sun, and the first flowers showing us this year’s latest Spring Colors (yes they’re the same as last year’s Spring Collection, but then again, that was gorgeous and absolutely worth the annual re-runs! 🙂 ).

So I was very happy to create this super springy New Home card, using the 2014 colorful spring collection by Webster’s Pages, called Nest. Which I also used to create my Springtime Dreams Keepsake Album, so if you’d like to see more of this collection go check out that album!

I also used some vellum on the inside of this card, for some added interest, using the same technique as I did with the aforementioned Springtime Dreams project.

So let me know what you think!

 

 

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Family Tree Mini: Remember This Moment Forever (filled with photos!)

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For this Family Tree Mini I used Echo Park’s Reflections paper line, which I combined with a sheet here or a few die-cuts there of two other collections, which I mention in the video.

The album sports a belly band and ten interactive page layouts, including the inside covers. The page designs are based on my Life’s a Picnic mini album – it keeps amazing me how great a difference the simple use of another paper collection makes for the tone & atmosphere of your mini!

As a bonus I filled it up with pictures – for this was part of the commission – which I know always helps viewers to get a better idea of how such minis can be filled with pictures and the effects you can add by die-cutting, glitter-gluing and stickering 🙂 .

In case you’d like to make an album like this, please check out my tutorial on Etsy – which gives you all of these page designs except the family tree page, plus four more! As for how to make the final page – the actual family tree page – simply watch the video, and/or the video of my own personal Family Tree Mini, in which I explain the (very simple) creative process.

 

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Mini Layout with Ma Cherie

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Today I’m sharing a little layout with my lovely mom as its center of attention 🙂 .

I used Kaisercraft’s wonderfully feminine and slightly oriental Ma Cherie paper collection for this fun little project, which has a chipboard base and measures only 6×6 inches (15×15 cm) instead of the usual 12×12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm).

This smaller size makes it a very practical gift, for not everyone has room in their homes and hearts for a relatively large addition to their interior decorations – especially when the gift is a complete surprise. A smaller size is a lot less threatening and – more importantly – a lot easier to assign a nice little spot to somewhere in their house.

On the creator’s side, the small size makes for the perfect opportunity to use the 6×6″ (15×15 cm) cutaparts that sometimes come with collections, like the Fine sheet in this Ma Cherie paper line.

I used the top-left cutapart of the sheet called “Fine” for my layout

I embellished my mini layout with some Ma Cherie Collectables die-cuts, some flowers from my stash and some Stickles. I also fussy-cut two butterflies from the Exquisite sheet of the collection.

Exquisite

All in all I was very pleased with the end result – and more importantly, so was my mom! 🙂 So enjoy the video and pictures, and feel free to let me know what you think!

 

Curled up the lower left corner, added the word “treasured” that I cut from one of the sheets, then decorated the rest of the corner with some flowers and die-cut leaves. I also added two Collectables die-cuts right above the curled up paper.

Added a simple hanging mechanism, which I got in a home improvement store (very affordable!)

 

 

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