Bonjour, Vintage Photos!

Is it Wednesday already? Where has the week gone? As I mentioned in my last post, I started my new gig and I am loving it! So been very busy with my new beginning. :)

In the meantime, here is a simple project I put together using the Kaisercraft Bonjour collection.

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I have a stack of favorite vintage photos of my parents and I've been meaning to put together a paper bag album to store them. The Bonjour collection is perfect to compliment the photos because of the lovely vintage feel. I cut strips of Bonjour pattern papers and snipped the ends shaped like pennants. I also tossed in some doilies, sewed everything together, scattered photos on the pages and in the kraft bag pockets, tied the package together and just like that, a vintage photo album.

Hope you like what you see and don't forget to check out the Kaisercraft blog for more inspiration!

Materials Used: Kaisercraft Bonjour Provence, Paris, Madeleine, Paper Pad, Journal Tags, Lace Foam Tape; Other: sewing machine, doilies, kraft paper bags, EK Success border punch, Martha Stewart studded heart punch, Big Shot die-cut machine, Nestabilities dies, Whisker Graphics twine

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Beaucoup d'Amour: A Check or Money-holder Card

Happy Friday! Here to share a card made with the lovely Kaisercraft Bonjour collection again.


There's something incredibly romantic and lovely about the Bonjour collection. I created a tri-fold check or money-holder card. I wanted to just create some sort of balanced art and design in the front of the card that wouldn't be as contrived as the functionality of the inside check pocket. So I created an abstract lantern dangling from the negative of a punched heart which also served as the tri fold part of the card. I then wrapped the card in some red and white twine to finish it off.

Materials Used: Kaisercraft Bonjour Mairie, Paper Pad, Pearl; Other: sewing machine, Martha Stewart heart punch, Whisker Graphics twine

Hope you like what you see here and don't forget to check out the Kaisercraft blog for more inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

"Heart-Air" Balloon Card

I love me my hearts and hot-air balloons... why not fuse the two together and make something cute! I also love dimension... but dimensional cards are hard to get through the mail without them getting crushed. So today, I’m here to share with you one of my favorite ways to create a dimensional card but still have no issues mailing it.


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Here’s what you’ll need: shape punches, scoring tool, embroidery floss

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My favorite part is that you can flatten the card to mail it without bulk:

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And then your recipient can very easily fold the heart balloon right back up:

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Here's a quick tutorial:

  1. 1. Punch a few shapes (3-5) of the same size and score down the middle of each
  2. 2. Attach shapes to base cardstock with embroidery floss or a strong sewing machine down the scored middle
  3. 3. Fold the shapes up create dimension

It’s so easy and fun to make, so I hope you’ll try these kinds of cards too. You can use circle shapes to make circle ornaments or bubbles of all sizes. You can use square or diamond shapes to make dimensional kites. The possibilities are endless!

Materials Used: Silly Season Milk & Cookies (P728), Gingerbread (P729), Friends Rub-on (RB891); Other: Embroidery floss, Bazzill cardstock, EK Success and Martha Stewart punches

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

Embody + Quick Acrylic Paint How-to

I love designing my own layouts, but I also really love playing with sketch challenges. I enjoy the challenge of making the sketch mine... incorporating my design style and interpreting it with my own twist.

For what I had in mind, I rotated the Kaisercraft May #1 Saturday Sketch by 90 degrees clockwise. Here's the rotated sketch:

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Inspired by the Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch, super cute Paper Smooches Boob Tubes stamp set, and photos of my mom and I as complete mirror images when we were toddlers, I created this layout titled "embody". I love these pics of us because I embody all of her facial expressions and mannerisms. I am my mother's daughter. :)

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Here's a closer look at the heart pennant banner:

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The hearts are one of my favorite parts about this layout. I love the varying shades of pink! If you're interested in making your own painted heart embellishments, here's a really simple tutorial.

You'll need: KaiserColour acrylic paint, Kaisercraft paint brush and punched pattern paper

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I love KaiserColour acrylic paints!

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  1. Punch out hearts from different pattern papers
  2. Using a paint brush, lightly paint the hearts. Be light-handed so don't over-saturate the heart and cover the original pattern on the paper
  3. Let dry and affix to your layout!
Used: Kaisercraft pattern papers, Kaisercraft KaiserColour acrylic paints in Pretty Pink, Candy and Hot Pink, Paper Smooches Boob Tubes stamps, Close To My Heart alphabet stamps, EK Success heart Paper Shaper, Me & My Big Ideas rhinestone stickers, Wilton doily

This layout so happens to meet this week's Creating Keepsakes challenge to tell the story on one page. I'm all about single page layouts! :)

So whaddaya think?

Thanks for looking!
- KRAFTY pearl

Thanks for linking:

Blooms & Cartwheels in My Mind!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Cartwheels in My Mind challenged readers to use a torn book page in two projects so here's my second project.

This past Valentine's day, I received the grandest flower arrangement ever... and really, they were blooms that made my heart flutter. Unfortunately, I couldn't just whip out my digital SLR at work to take photos of them, so you'll have to excuse the fuzzy iPhone photo. I already find it a bit of a challenge to scrapbook inanimate objects and it's even more challenging when I have a sub par photo. But with the help of super cute Jillibean Soup Dutch mustard soup patterns and a simple layout, thanks to Pencil Lines sketch #232, I think I made it work. I tried to keep the layout relatively light and airy so it wouldn't overpower the already difficult picture. So what do you think?

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Used: Jillibean Soup pattern papers, alpha stickers; My Little Shoebox pattern papers; Studio Calico Mr. Huey mist; Martha Stewart studded heart punch and EK Success punch; DMC embroidery floss; Bic Mark-it markers

Here's a closer look: I used the Jillibean Soup alphabet stickers as a mask and created part of the title using Studio Calico's Mr. Huey mist in cream. By creating a faint mask for part of the title with cream mist on cream cardstock, I was able to keep the airiness in the title. I also cut and punched hearts out of the Jillibean Soup pattern paper and used as decorative/dimensional accents.

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As you can tell, I love hearts, pennants, and stitching in layouts. I especially love incorporating a mix of hearts in all different shapes and sizes. I used the Martha Stewart studded heart all over the pages punch as a window and slipped the torn book page behind it. I then used a mix of Jillibean Soup and My Little Shoebox pattern papers to create the rest of the heart pennants. I hand cut a few of the hearts from the Jillibean Soup pattern paper and punched the other hearts using a favorite, the Martha Stewart lace heart edge punch and my trusty EK Success heart Paper Shaper punch.

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Lastly, one of my favorite parts of this layout is the pleating here. Again, a simple touch to accent the photo without overwhelming it:


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On a another note, I'm doing cartwheels in my mind! The very awesome Cheryl of Cartwheels in My Mind featured my latest 'On My Window Sill' layout on the Cartwheels blog! Woweeee! In that same post, she shares a layout about her daughter and grandmother with very touching journaling, a very special photo, and very cute torn book page idea, you have to check it out! Thanks, Cheryl, for the challenge, inspiration, and feature!

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Thanks for looking!
- KRAFTY pearl

I ♥ Pockets! Don't you?

From envelopes to business card pocket page protectors, I love all kinds of pockets! I especially love to use them in layouts to organize and tuck in bits and pieces of journaling, photos, etc., like this:

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Used in this layout: Old business card pocket sheet (similar to this) cut in half; My Little Shoebox bird stamp, pattern papers; Stampin' up roller numbers stamp; Martha Stewart heart all over the page punch; EK Success border and heart punches; Adirondack pigment inks; Stickles; basic letter stamp set (love this one from Staples); 3D Dots; transparency; watercolor

Here's a closer look:

Hand cut pennants from cute My Little Shoebox pattern paper stitched together with embroidery floss and adhered to layout with 3D Dots:

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Punched hearts folded in half and secured with embroidery floss; LOVE the Martha Stewart heart all over the page punch! Used it to punch a 'window' backed by a pigment ink stamped transparency:

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Hand cut label shape by tracing MLS cardstock label remnant used as template; Stickle glittered embellishment to highlight the date of 5/7:

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Hand stitched details to secure page protector to cardstock; watercolored stamped MLS bird image:

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Don't you just love pockets too!?

P.S. I'm now on Two Peas in a Bucket, Scrapbook.com, and Flickr!

- KRAFTY pearl

Personalize Your Wood Grain!

I totally love the look of faux bois! And it's often used in card making and scrapbooking. There are lots of papers and cardstocks out there that have really pretty wood grain pattern:
  1. My Little Shoebox's Woodsy paper
  2. Art Warehouse's Wood Embossed Great Outdoors paper
  3. Karen Foster's Wood Pattern paper
  4. Creative Imaginations Real Wood Veneer paper
But this past Valentine's I really wanted something personalized for my card. So instead, I decided to draw my own tree and wood grain:

blog 1 - valentines day card


Notice anything within the wood grain? Here's a closer look. Do you see it now? Embedded within the pattern, I wrote 'i love you' in script!

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I loved the result so much, I decided to doodle another piece... 'i adore you' with 'you' centered in the heart:

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I also decided to put it in a shadow box as the main focal point but I could do so much more to it. (I bought a nice and simple Ribba shadow box from Ikea. Absolutely love these shadow boxes.) I could put a picture to the left of the heart. I could decorate it with more embellishments. The possibilities are endless.

What's great about drawing out your own wood grain pattern is that you can actually write camouflaged words or designs within the wood grain, really making the piece of art your own!

Here's a quick how-to:

I found the EK Success Zig Memory System Writer Dual Tip Pen Writer the most useful in drawing out my lines because of the sharp consistent point, though I also love doodling with Bic's Mark-It Permanent Markers Fine Point. But feel free to use whatever fine point pen you're most comfortable with controlling your lines.

First, start with your designs or words.

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Second, draw concentric lines around your designs and words leaving a fair amount of space between your lines. The lines doesn't have to be perfect because that's the beauty of wood grain patterns, they're not perfectly spaced.

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Third, continue to draw lines around your words or designs and let the imperfections guide you for a perfect faux bois doodle.

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And there you have it, a pretty piece of art personalized with your own message and design!

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So whaddaya think? Is it a cute personalized keepsake or what?

Until my next post!
- KRAFTY pearl

My Little Shoebox & Two Peas!

I love My Little Shoebox papers so I was happy to learn that Two Peas is running a MLS challenge and I thought, why not give the challenge a try! The Harmony collection reminded me of my small Momiji doll collection and inspired to create this layout, 'my sweet momiji collection'.

blog 1 - my sweet momiji full layout

Used in this layout: My Little Shoebox papers, cardstock, tag, and alphabet stickers. Martha Stewart punches and glitter. Fiskars trimmer and fingertip detail knife. Offray ribbon from Michael's.

Here's a closer look: I added glitter to the MLS tag to give it a pop of shimmer and dimension.

blog 3 - my sweet momiji top glitter details

By cutting down the height of some of the alphabet stickers, I gave it a less contrived and rigid look. I used Martha Stewart punches (love them) to create border strips and took the heart remnants to create a trail of hearts.

blog 2 - my sweet momiji top details

By stamping a polka dot background in a light pigment ink, I subtly lightened and added dimension to the paper. I also hand cut clouds and trimmed with light glitter.

blog 4 - my sweet momiji bottom details

So whaddaya think?

P.S. For too long, I have put off posting and sharing my layouts, so one of my goals for 2011 is just to share some of my work and ideas with the friends, family and other craft lovers like me, starting with this blog and my Two Peas gallery.

- KRAFTY pearl