Posts from — September 2010

With only 1 day left in the month, we thought we’d treat you to our NEW October products – available from a Kaisercraft stockist from tomorrow onwards!!

Please make welcome the fantastic,

Candy Lane collection:

Candy Lane features bright pink, orange and lime patterns and prints featuring teacups, daisy’s and cupcakes for a sweet collection! This range includes 6 doubled sided papers, one die cut paper, two specialty glitter papers, mini journal tags, 6×6 paper pad, black and colour rub ons, clear stamps, layered printed chipboard and two rhinestone embellishment packs.

Printed/layered chipboard with rhinestones! (CB117 Printed Chipboard)

Cute cupcake rhinestone pictures!! (EM938 Embellishment Pack)

A cute Cupcake paper with “real”, aka Glitter frosting (PS120 Cupcake Die Cut Specialty Paper)

Super sweet glitter specialty papers:

(PS121 Treats)

(PS122 Tea Party)

View the FULL collection online - don’t forget the Clear Stamps, rubons, journal tags, Paper Pad and more!

Make sure you check back tomorrow for some fun projects and layouts!

And the next collection is,

Homemade:

Homemade features cool blues and warm patterns perfect for family, heritage and masculine projects.
This range includes 6 doubled sided papers, one 12×12″ Die Cut paper, two stitched speciality 12×12″ papers, mini journal tags, 6×6 paper pad, rub ons, stamps, printed chipboard, printed ribbon and an embellishment button pack.

Super cute Woodgrain buttons (EM936 Embellishment Pack)

Comfy Corner patterned paper (P574)

Colour Rubons (RB880)

Clear Stamps (CS764)

Printed twill (ribbon) (EM937 Embellishment Pack)

View the FULL Homemade collection online!

Let’s not forget Kaisercraft’s unique MDF wooden beyond-the-page projects and albums. October is no exception with four new projects released!

Everyone loves a cupcake and you will have no excuse not to put them on display with the new Cupcake stand (SB2091). The stand is easy to pull apart and store.  Use again or redecorate to suit a party theme.

Or why not decorate these cute Flying Ducks (SB2087) for your home?

Or how about some new storage options?

Chest of Drawers (SB2088)

Cuckoo Clock (SB2090)

Available from all participating Kaisercraft stockists from 1st October.

I had my supplies out this weekend to make a LO, and before packing them away, I decided to use my offcuts and a few pieces from the Hippy Girl 6×6 Paper Pad to conquer my card fear and make some long overdue Thank-You cards! The 6×6 Paper Pad is an awesome way to create quick easy cards without having the ‘guilt’ attached to cutting a brand new sheet of 12×12 Patterned Paper (Or maybe I am the only one who feels guilty doing that! LOL)

Team the gorgeous patterns of the Hippy Girl range with some of the co ordinating Die Cut elements, and you have a quick, super easy card!

I am now, slowly getting over my card making fear

Kirsty Piper; Thank You card. Hippy Girl 6×6 Paper Pad (PP828), Hippy Girl Die Cut Elements (DC324), Other: Ocean Grosgrain Ribbon R1609, Black Tiny alphas (MA513)

When I just started scrapbooking I thought that the process of creating a page was the hardest part, but I found photographing my finished layout more difficult because I was having a hard time capturing the real look of my page. The colour was off, the alignment was slanted, and the photograph looks so different from the actual layout.

LIGHTING

As I have tried several cameras I found out that the main key to get a good photograph of your layout is LIGHTING. Here are some tips that I have read and discovered:
•    The best time to photograph your layout outdoors is 1hr after sunrise and 1hr before sunset. This is the ideal time of the day because the sunlight is not that strong and the brightness is just right.
•    When taking photos indoors, take a photo in the afternoon when the sun is so bright. Find a room that has enough light. Make sure that the wall painting is white because colour rooms bounce back the colours to the layout.
•    You can also use a white cardboard to bounce the sunlight. Simply locate the sunlight in your room. Position the cardboard directly to the sunlight to bounce the light towards your layout.
•    If you want to use an artificial layout, create your own mini lightbox. You can find the instructions here. If I have time I definitely will make me one of those.
•    Never photograph your layout using your flash or putting your layout directly to the sunlight! This will create strong shadows or the light might bounce back on the photo of your layout if you have used a glossy photo paper.

POSITIONING

Positioning of your layout is very essential too. This will make it easier for you to crop your image later on using a photo editor software. Here are some tips on positioning your layouts
•    you can adhere your layout on a wall at eye-level
•    you can also use a photo stand
•    or simply place your photo on the floor (this is mostly what I do)
•    Before taking a photograph of your layout, imagine a grid on the view box of your camera. Make sure that the spaces on all sides are parallel to the layout.

CAMERA.

I think the best result is with a digital camera, preferably a DSLR camera like the Canon Digital Rebel. But if you don’t have one it is okay to use a regular digital camera keeping in mind that the quality is different when using a DSLR. With good lighting you can still get a very decent photo of your layout.
•    Set your camera to Auto Depth of Field setting and shoot. The auto depth of field keeps all elements equally important visually, which makes the text and photographs all stay focused.
•    Use a tripod if your speed is below 100 to make your photo sharp.
•    ISO must be set not higher than 400. The higher the ISO the greater chance of getting grains-look on your photograph
•    Instead of just taking one photo of your layout, take several. It’s easy to delete anyway. This will allow you to capture the perfect photo.

PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE.

After photographing your layout, it is still important to add some minor adjustment to your photograph by using some photo editing software. I actually use 2 software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Usually I use Lightroom to edit the colours because it has the capability to adjust the colours individually unlike Photoshop. If you edit a colour on Photoshop it will adjust the entire photo and make it all green for example. In Lightroom it only adjust the green colours thus you can make it more vibrant or pale. I do them first on Lightroom then I just do the cropping or cleaning (removing spots) on Photoshop.

Whatever photo editor software you use, just adjust the levels, brightness, contrast or colour balance to get your desired outcome. Crop it! I suggest you place your layout near you so that you can use it as guide as you do some adjustment. Make it look like as close to the actual layout.

“Got this from Mom & Dad last Christmas” layout by LG Belarmino – Kaisercraft Be Merry paper collection (P558), 6×6 paper pad (PP829), Die Cut Elements (DC325), Rub Ons (RB876 and RB875), and Printed Chipboard (CB114). Core Product: Mini Alpha Stickers (MA502) and Tiny Alpha Sticker (MA510). Kaisercraft Rhinestones (Green and Red) and Chipboard Alpha. Others: glitter, gold foil alpha from local bookstore, and punches.

You’re done! You can now upload your layout online!

Hope I was able to help you get an idea on how I photograph my layouts.

Lesley Cooper

Nick name: I don’t have one. Not one anyone is willing to share with me anyway!

Occupation: I am a Stay at Home Mum who also does Administration Assistant temp work. In my previous life (before kids) I was a Quality Manager for a brewing company.

What I can’t live without when I scrap: Neutral coloured cardstock and ink.

Where I find inspiration: Anywhere and everything. A quote, a photo, an ad, children’s craft and art books, a colour combination, some product, a story I want to tell.. I am always analysing things I see and hear and see if I can turn them into a project.

On my desk: My ‘On the Go Tote’, paper trimmer, bowls of little bits and pieces, craft matt and splatter matt

Playing on my ipod: I don’t own an ipod! I tend to listen to the radio which is tuned into the Classic Hits station  (music from the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s and now).

My favourite item in my scrap: My collection of stamps. I have quite a few!

Ahh confessions of a messy scrapper.

When I scrap I spread out, every surface is covered, even the floor! My scrap room has never been this tidy as it also has had home office stuff, camera gear, spare gear etc in it. For some time I have wanted to give it a major overhaul and having to showcase it on the Kaisercraft blog gave me the motivation I needed! Unfortunately I have now cluttered up another room which I need to sort! But it feels good to have my craft room sorted and almost organised. When we built this house over 8 years ago I had just started scrapping and all my goodies fitted in a long shallow plastic container! I had eyed up the ‘office’ for my craft room but I don’t think my hubby quite realised what that meant! We had been in the house only a couple of days and Simon, then 2, came in the room and grabbed the thickest most inky and permanent marker off the desk and bolted out the door. In seconds he had the lid off and managed to drop it inky end down right in front of the entrance onto the carpet. We never quite got that stain out but Ricky straight away got a child proof gate and put it on the door. Best thing he could have done and it officially became my scrap room.

Over the years that gate was invaluable keeping sticky fingers away from my supplies. The gate is now gone but the kids know they don’t go in there unless they ask.

My craft room has an assortment of storage and although I would love all matching stuff, what I have is functional. The metal bookcase, cabinet and 12 x12 drawer storage hold the bulk of my supplies.

Pictures below: From the doorway, this is the view of the back wall. In the metal bookcase I have green plastic baskets which stack on top of each other. They hold things like aphas, more stamps, extra inks, and bits and pieces. Patterned paper is stored in a variety of 12 x12 plastic envelopes / satchels I have collected over the years as well as 2 Cropper Hopper Vertical Paper Holders. Various other boxes hold a variety of different embellishments. The wire shelving holds a lot of my Kaisercraft product

Pictures below: On one wall I have a metal cabinet which has books and magazines in the bottom and then shelves of lots of messy mediums to play with, a box with some larger punches and some tools such as my Slice, Cuttlebug and Bind It All. The 12 x 12 metal drawer storage holds my cardstock, templates, embellishments, alpha stickers and other bits and pieces.

Pictures below: The blue set of drawers was actually from Simon’s baby room 10 years ago. It now houses tools, tape, inspiration and old books. The set of 12×12 drawers, hold some of many stamps, some manufacturer collections and a drawer of photos.

Pictures below: My desk is one I inherited from Ricky’s old stuff. It is heavy and solid but workable. I like to scrap with little bits and pieces and always have left-overs when I have finished a layout. To make cleaning easy and so I always have bits and pieces on hand I put them into the variety of containers I raided from my china cabinet. I find I am more likely to use things if they are within hands reach and in sight! The shower caddy in the corner is a new addition and helps keep it all tidy. I love my ‘On the Go’ tote as it keeps everything in one place and it is also so easy if I head off to a crop. On my wall is a corkboard which I can pin inspiration and deadlines on to. Also in the photo is a wall hanging I did as a class several years ago.

My space is a little ad hoc and things are in different places but largely I do know where everything is!

My Current Layout:

Last year we got my mother-in-law a gift card for her birthday.  I made a pretty special gift card holder for it rather than just give her an envelope with the card in it.  To this day, a year later, she still has it on her kitchen shelf!

With Christmas fast approaching, and knowing we will most certainly be giving at least one gift card out, I thought I would make one of these gift card holders again; but this time with a Christmas theme.

And the secret hiding spot for your gift card?

Voila!!

Layers of gathered ribbon provide the “frosting” with flowers adding a pretty touch to the cupcake.  Rhinestones for sprinkles with the occasional holly leaf added for an extra festive feel.

It’s a little bit more special than putting the gift card in an envelope, don’t you think?

“Christmas Cupcake” by Kerryn Lawson

Products Used : Tis the Season Reindeer Specialty Paper (PS116), Diecuts (DC326), Printed Chipboard (CB115) and 6×6 Paper Pad (PP830), Be Merry Bliss Specialty Paper (PS114), Grosgrain Ribbon – Lovely (RI605) & Natural (RI612), Paper flowers – Taupe (F603), Organza Ribbon – Natural (RI613), Clear Stamps – Christmas Sentiments (CS761), Pearls – Red (SB795) & Rhinestones – Lippy Red (RS405).

Other Products Used : Tinsel, bulldog clip, styrofoam ball, Stazon.

I wish I had come up with this idea, but I cannot take credit for it.  If you are interested in making one of these yourself, you can find the instructions here.  These are pretty simple to make, although a touch fiddly, but most definitely worth the effort!  Let us know if you have a go at making one, we’d love to see!