HKMC Retreat Reveals - Kaisercraft True Romance

Hi all,

This paper line features beautiful soft colours, flowers and birds. Very romantic and soft, although it doesn't have to be for romantic photos. For my sample layout, I used a father/daughter photo instead.

Sky High

This collection let me indulge in my flower obsession to the max. Lots of fussy cutting and flower layering. The filigree frame was cut from a Spellbinders frame die, painted copper and clear embossed to give it a metallic effect.

I cut out thin black circles which adds a simple but effective contrast to all the pale colours and help balance the page. I love the jewel branches which I stuck in and around the flowers.

Here, I dangled the bird cage from a hand-sewn chain.

Lots of fussy cutting, flowers and doilies enhance the papers.

Extra Elements: Spellbinders frame die, copper paint, clear embossing powder, Prima and Petaloo flowers, Petaloo butterfly, Prima canvas alphas, Magnolia Stamps wired crystals, doilies in various sizes, black cardstock, lace trim, pink ribbon

Hope you enjoyed seeing the reveals. Next post, I'll show you the layouts I got through at the retreat itself.

See you next post,

HKMC Retreat Reveals - American Crafts Mayberry

Hey all,

On to the sample layouts I did for the paper line reveals.  This was part of the retreat class pack which was handed out to all participants. Funnily enough, I'd already done another layout with this collection in May, which was part of  a My Creative Scrapbook kit I received.

Country Walks

This line is full of beautiful bright colours and patterns with a summery feel. The photos were taken during a long walk around a loch in Scotland this summer. Well done, Miss C for keeping up for the whole hour.

Look at those colours on the scalloped strip. I also love the little tickets - so versatile.

For the faux canvas paper, I added gold embossing powder over a floral stencil to add a little texture and interest.

Extra Elements: American Crafts Thickers, Prima Floral Stencil, Fancy Pants chalkboard tags, gold embossing powder, Studio Calico wood veneer pieces, buttons and die cut leaves, white acrylic paint

Gorgeous Smiles

I love how this collection has such a variety of colours and patterns; gingham against flowers, numbers against chevron - and it all works so well together. When I saw the flower paper, I knew which photo I wanted to use with it, and I'm sure you can see why.

For the background, I added molding paste over the same floral stencil I used in the first layout above. I then splattered on a dark pink ink and a "tea cup stain" effect with black ink in strategic places. The black chalkboard tags were stamped with white acrylic paint.

I edged all the papers with black ink to make each layer stand out.

Extra Elements: Prima floral stencil, Black Soot distress Ink, pink spray ink, Fancy Pants chalkboard tape and tags, American Crafts thickers, light molding paste

Next post:  Kaisercraft

See you soon,

HKMC Retreat Reveals - Luminarte Silks Tags

Hi there,

What a great time we had at the retreat this week. Twenty hours of hardcore scrapbooking and learning techniques and testing out new products. As I posted previously, we had fun using the Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glazes to create some wonderful tags, which could then be used on layouts.

There were several new faces as well as old, and it was wonderful to see all the layouts that were created. I think the downside (not really), is the amount of yummy and irresistible home baked goodies and snacks that were brought in. Completely ruined my diet!!

Now, to reveal those layouts and tags I gave you a sneak peek of previously.

Luminarte Silks Tags

The team made tags to showcase the different properties and uses of the Silks glazes. I made five (including the middle one, where I used the same techniques as this project, so I won't put that down here again).

I brushed Sunburst over the whole tag and let it dry. I then dabbed gel medium over a flower stencil on areas I wanted to keep yellow. After letting the medium dry, I brushed Pink Azalea over the whole tag, using a kitchen towel to rub excess glaze off the parts I covered in medium. This will reveal the yellow. I then repeated the procedure with the gel medium over stencil in empty areas and let that dry. This time, I brushed the whole tag with Boysenberry Silks before wiping off the excess yet again. I then edged the tag in Sapphire On Ice. The fan was done with Ginger Peach and Carmen. The bird in Boysenberry and Sky Blue. The leaves in Teal Zircon.

I used Ice Silks to stencil on the clouds. I then watered down Pink Azalea, Ginger Peach and Sunburst before brushing it across the tag ombre style. I then used Carmen Silks with an arrow stencil. The butterflies were done with Teal Zircon and Sky Blue.

With this one, I brushed Boysenberry, Sky Blue and Key Lime Silks over four quadrants of the tag. I then added the chevron with Nutmeg Silks before stamping on the circles. The stars were coloured with Sunburst Silks. For the quote tag, I inked up a stamp with white acrylic paint and stamped on chalkboard paper.

For this tag, I used Pink Azalea Silks over a chevron stencil on a white tag. I then dripped Key Lime over it and let it dry. I then blended in Tumbled  Glass distress ink over the whole tag. The Silks act like a resist, so the blue will not alter the pink too much. After adding the text stencil and alphabet stamp, I layered on the film reel, butterfly and title tag - all coloured with Silks (Ginger Peach, Sapphire On Ice/Pink Azalea and Key Lime respectively).

You can see how vibrant the colours turn out and the viscous texture brushes on so smoothly, you won't see brushstrokes. I love how you can layer on colours without adulterating the colour underneath (when dry) and how you can mix and blend colours (when wet). Have a look at this blog for more Silks projects and tutorials.

On to paper collections and sample layouts next.

Thanks for dropping by,

Last Retreat Paper Reveal - Fancy Pants Memories Captured

Hey there,

Less than 10 hours to the HKMC Autumn retreat and I have one more paper line to show you. This one has actually been on sale already at the shop, but it's nice to do some sample layouts to showcase the papers.

It's also been a while since I entered one, so I am also submitting this layout for the My Creative Sketches September sketch challenge. Here is the original sketch.

 Watch The Birdie!

 We had a great time this summer in Isle of Wight and Miss C was such a pro at mini golf. She even got a hole-in-one on one of the holes! Chalkboard effect papers and embellishments are very popular right now and the black/white contrasts very well with any colour.

 I wanted a single punch of bright colour against the paler colours of all the other papers, so I added a small heart to add a visual focus. 

I got the cute little resin butterflies from a shop in Sham Shui Po, and the colours match this paper line perfectly.

The "Birdie!" was cut with my eClips. I remember I'd heard this phrase used in golf (meaning one under par) and it's also a saying by photographers to get kids to look at the camera. Pretty spot on title, really.

Products Used

Patterned papers from Fancy Pants Memories Captured collection

Cardstock in black, grey, blue and fuchsia by Bazzill Papers

Mini title letters from Jillibean Alphabeans

Resin butterflies and sequence sourced locally

Now, time for some sleep. Have a long day tomorrow at the retreat and can't wait to have lots of scrapbooking fun.

Thanks for dropping by,