"Leaf" It Up to SEI...

TGIF! I was out of the country for a friend's wedding for a few days last week, so it's been a bit quiet here. But I've got lots to share in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

I love SEI... why? "Leaf" (har har) it up to SEI to manufacture sturdy and crisp pattern papers, cardstocks, and die-cuts, they're awesome! Here are two simple anytime cards made primarily with the SEI Homestead Collection.

First, I made a simple card using the fall foliage die-cut leaves. I absolutely love the clean yet crinkly shapes of the leaves, so to play off of them, I created a homespun design using strips of scrap paper to create a banner. To echo the banner shape and organic feel of the card, I also created a simple banner with the handwritten sentiment of "thankful for you". This is a super easy, fun, and great way to use up scraps!


Materials Used:
SEI Homestead Collection pattern papers, die-cut leaves, Silver Valley button; Other: doilies, Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine, Mark-It Permanent Markers

Then, I made a red envelope as a gift to one of my friend's newborn's 100th day celebration. In the Chinese culture, whenever there is a new born celebration, a red envelop is always in order. They're most popular during the Chinese New Year celebration when married adults hand them out to children of family and friends.

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Here I used a single strip of 4"x 11.5" pattern paper. The Homestead Cedar Chest is perfect with its naturally red and gold tones. I scored the paper every 3 inches, with the last rectangle's width to be only 2.5". I snipped a little from the top of that last rectangle and sewed it down. I decorated it a little more using scraps of coordinating pattern papers, closed it up, put it in a clear envelope, and just like that, a homemade red envelope.


Materials Used: SEI Homestead Collection pattern papers, die-cut leaves, Silver Valley button; Other: doilies, Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine, Mark-It Permanent Markers, Making Memories Slice die-cutting machine

Hope you like what you see here and don't forget to visit the SEI blog to check out what the rest of the design team created!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Have You Found Your Costume Yet?

Halloween is just a few days away, have you found your costume yet? I reflected on the group costumes my friends and I have worn in the last few years and decided to make a layout from them.

pearllui-kaisercraft-13thhour-layout-halloween-600

The Kaisercraft 13th Hour collection is perfect for Halloween photos. One of my favorite patterns is the Midnight pattern paper. I particularly love the dimension in the design, weaved between the branches are purple and orange patterns. Since the paper is so awesome as is, I wanted to keep the layout simple but echo the dimension. I drew a moon eclipse, cut it using a craft knife, then slipped a printed acetate sheet beneath it to create some more dimension, and lastly added the title "Halloween", created from the Slice machine. I then clustered the photos in a 2x2 grid using various matting techniques.

Materials Used: Kaisercraft 13th Hour Midnight, Evening (front and back), Clocks Acetate, Rhinestones; Other: Fiskars Craft Knife; Making Memories Slice

Visit the Kaisercraft blog for more Halloween inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Good Times: Beautiful Aruba Wedding

Happy Tuesday! Here to share a new Kaisercraft collection. Bonjour is seriously gorgeous!


I am in love with the Bonjour collection. The rich dark tones balance the pale pastel pinks and greens, such a lovely combination! The colors were perfect to compliment photos taken recently at the wedding on the lovely island of Aruba. I wanted to include some memorabilia including a thank you card from the bride and the wedding program, so I created a deep pocket using foam tape.



Materials Used: Kaisercraft Bonjour Madeleine (front and back), Paper Pad, Journal Tags, Foam Tap. Other: business card pockets, sewing machine, Making Memories Slice

I love pockets so much that I also sewed on some business card pockets to create a brief flippable picture to reveal two more photos. This is one of my favorite ways to hold more photos and create interactivity on my layouts.

You have to check out the new collections Kaisercraft's October releases!



Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Christmas in September

While fall is still days away, Christmas and the holiday season are already on my mind. To help get a head start, Kaisercraft released some awesome collections perfect for the holidays. The December 25th collection is traditional with vintage designs and classic reds, greens, and golds. While the Silly Season collection is fun with funky pinks and chartreuse greens.


Here, I'm sharing a layout using the December 25th collection.


One of my favorites from the collection is the Foil Specialty Hark pattern paper. It's hard to tell but it has a nice metallic shimmer of foiled accents on the stars and angels. The gold is perfect to compliment the pretty lights of the Rockafeller Christmas tree in my photos.

To add some contrast to the vintage feel of the papers, I added bright punches of red in form of the satin ribbon and red & white twine. And to further play on the gold lights, I chose one of the gold polka dot pattern papers in the 6.5″x6.5″ paper pad to create the title using Making Memories' Slice.

Materials Used: Kaisercraft December 25th Foil Specialty – Hark (PS162), Paper Pad (PP850), Collectables Sticker Sheet (SS109), Journal Tag (JT625), Lace in Cream (EM927)
Other: Graphic Whiskers Twine, Making Memories Slice, Kate's Paperie Satin Ribbon

Hope you like what you see here and don't forget to visit the Kaisercraft blog for more inspiration from the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

A Timeless Dream

Vacations are always on my mind, a timeless dream, if you will. Here's a layout using Kaisercraft's, appropriately named, Timeless collection.


The Timeless 6.5" x 6.5" paper pads and rub-ons are gorgeous. The paper pads come in a lovely black & white deck and a vintage deck. The pattern papers have very classic, timeless and versatile designs on them. For my "Dream" layout, I thought I would go for the black & white patterns to contrast with the lovely pastels in my photo.

I used the Slice cut the title out of one of the pattern papers in the deck. I then applied a mix of navy and spearmint acrylic paint to it as well as the mini journal tag. I created the same effect with the punched flowers, applying a mix of pink and yellow acrylic paint. To create some additional depth and texture, I dry impressed polka dots around the flowers.


I then added some finishing touches by tying some white twine around the mini journal tag, and applying rub-ons, pearls and pearl brads.



Materials Used: Kaisercraft Timeless Paper Pad - Black & White (PP855), Timeless Mini Journaling Tags (JT629), Timeless Rub-ons; Pearls in Blush (SB716), Lush (SB717), Bliss (SB718); Pearl Brad in Pink Ice (EM932); Other: twine, Martha Stewart punch, Making Memories Slice