Lovely in Lilac with Queen & Co.

Good morning friend...I hope you have a cuppa & are ready for some new inspiration?

For todays card I decided on a purple & lavender color scheme. Isn't it pretty?? The combination of purple papers from the Delightful Dots paper stack & lavender & lilac pretty bits from Queen & Co, make crafting handmade cards so worth it. 

Happy for You by Kim Watson

A watercolor wash on the base card grounds things nicely, on top of which I placed the flower shaker. I selected a variety of purple colored, coordinating items, then filled the shaker & decorated the card. The beauty of Queen & Co products is that as different they are all, they work so well with each other to create the most gorgeous beautiful projects! 

The result is a fancy, sophisticated card with loads of bling appeal.  

Products used:  Foam Flower Shaker kit, Diamond Toppers, Sequins, Tiny Bubbles, Bitty Beads. Petite Posies, Button Posies II Purple, Donuts, Sunflowers

I appreciate you joining me today!

Have a super crafty day!

~Kim

Fill Your Shaker Shape with Flowers!

Hi everyone!

Kim Watson here today with a card created using the uber cute Foam Flower Shaker kit. I did something a little different with this set...instead of the traditional topper filled shaker...I filled it with flowers & diamonds. Hello, tell me that isn't the best combination for a special friend in your life??

Hello by Kim Watson

For this card, I created loose shaker box with clear windows both sides. Before closing the underside I filled the shaker with sparkly diamond toppers giving the card gorgeous sparkle & shine. A variety of mixed media techniques on the base card using texture paste, gesso, ink, gold paint & stencils creates the perfect canvas for my trendy flower shaker. 

I took a mixture of NEW Pom flowers, separated the layers and clustered them flat underneath the shaker. The cluster creates a little multi-colored mat and a GORGEOUS focal point. Gold yellow, Petite Posies scattered around, add subtle bling & texture. 

Products used: Foam Flower Shaker kit, Diamond Toppers, Pom-pom flowers, Petite Posies

I'm glad you stopped by & I hope you found this inspiring!

Have a happy crafty day friend!

~Kim

Capture those Insta photos with Fancy Pants Designs.

Is your phone full of everyday life photos & ordinary stuff, shot on the fly? 

Oh boy mine is...& I am always on the look out for ways to capture a whole bunch of them in one go, on one layout that isn't a double page. 

This was the result, x12 photos- woohoo! By arranging the photos in a square frame & leaving a square free in the middle filled with patterned paper & a few pretty accents from the Office Suite Collection from +FancyPantsDesigns; creates the feeling of space.  

Insta 2013 by Kim Watson ( in hindsight, I might change 2013 in the title to the name of the month when the photos were taken & rename it Insta July, just too lazy to retake this photo) 

Supplies: Insta 2013 by Kim Watson: Patterned paper, Tags, Stickers, Gold Foil paper, Sequins, Vellum Paper: Fancy Pants Designs; Adhesives: Tombow, Thermoweb, Adhesives by 3L; Tools: Fiskars America; Metal Dies: American Crafts, Little B Designs; Other: Typewriter

Don't you just LOVE those over sized patterned die-cut alphas? 

Gold die-cuts & small shapes scattered around the page & effect of the soft colors on the graphic black & white stripe, has a great fresh feeling! Fancy Pants Designs Gold foil paper is the best substrate for die cutting with metal dies! I used Amy Tan & Little B Designs here.

Hands down this page design as my new favorite way to capture an overview of an entire month's photos.

Looking for the Office Suite collection?

You can get it online here: 

• A Cherry on Top
• Scrapbook.com 

Happy Monday to you all!!! 

DIY: Flower techniques for Spring

Happy Spring to all my crafty friends living in the Northern Hemisphere. We are enjoying Fall weather here in Cape Town, which is bitter sweet for us all. It means shorter days & chilly nights with the bonus of less wind...so  I suppose there is an upside to having summer hijacked :D

In honor of Spring, I have a page of our DD to share using a few handmade flower techniques you might find inspiring. This happy color palette, teamed with fresh, candid photos of Cassidy, make for a lovely addition to her teen scrapbook album. 

Your Life by Kim Watson

Supplies: Cardstock: +Bazzill Basics Paper ; Patterned paper: +Heidi Swapp , My Minds Eye; Frame, Brag Card, Stickers: +Fancy Pants Designs  ; Die Cuts Accents, Chipboard: Simple Stories; Ink: Heidi Swapp; Adhesives: +TombowUSA , +Thermoweb, +Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L ; Metal Dies: +primamarketinginc . , +Little B  ; Manual Die-cutting machine: +Spellbinders Paper Arts  ; Other: Sewing machine

For the layout, I clustered handmade flowers around the photo arrangement, creating drama, as well as drawing the eye towards the title, then up to the photos & around to the journaling.

Torn paper & stitching flower: 

Pipe Cleaner & Button flower:

Layered die-cut flower & Leaves:

Stitched leaves & Flowers:

Bought Flower:

Here are a few details about each flower:

1. Rough rose made with torn paper strips & machine sewing.
2. Pipe cleaner daisy.
3. Layered patterned paper flower with felt & button center.
4. Peony created with metal dies.
5. Real paper bloom from Prima for a splash of yellow.

NOTE: All leaves are created with metal dies.

To further support my idea of a flower garden, I machine stitched leaves & swirls onto my background page, adding subtle texture & interest. 

I am so glad you stopped bay!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Scrapbooking idea: Honour your ❤ Mother ❤

It was my lovely Mum's birthday this weekend. She is generous, kind hearted & we appreciate her so much.

It sparked a simple scrapbook page, where I mentioned all of her qualities in a creative way. One centrally placed photograph, lots of white space, some hand doodled flowers & understated texture. I love how this page turned out.

Mother by Kim Watson

Supplies: Cardstock: +Bazzill Basics Paper  ; Patterned paper: +studiocalico , My Mind's Eye ; Corrugated Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper, Resin Flower: +Fancy Pants Designs ; Wood Veneer, Enamel dots, Washi tape: +Freckled Fawn ; Chipboard, Labels: My Minds Eye; Brads: +Simple Stories  ; Flowers: +Bazzill Basics Paper ; Flair & Glitter tape: +AmericanCrafts; Ink: +Ranger Ink ; Adhesives: +TombowUSA , +Thermoweb , +Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L ; Metal Dies: +Spellbinders Paper Arts , +Little B , +Technique Tuesday ; Manual Die-cutting machine: +Spellbinders Paper Art; Other: Sewing machine

Arranging doodled flowers & vines around the photo, frames it beautifully. Corrugated cardstock adds visual interest to the white color scheme.

The corrugated background perfectly showcases the floating jewels. These act as anchors for the character trait journal strips as well as being symbolic of Mothers everywhere being treasures.

A few gold splatters, finish it off nicely!  I appreciate you stopping by!

Have a wonderful day friends...now go HUG your Mum!! ツ

Channelling your scrappy heros!

You have scrappy heros right? I know I have plenty!

Today I wanted to show you how one can successfully lift/ channel someone without a direct copy. For this page I incorporated x2 lifts into one page, with fun results. I used inspiration both from layout, accents placement, color & photo layout ideas.

Many thanks to the very inspirational designers who's pages I used for this demonstration.

Wilna Furstenberg

Yuki Shimada 

 The Things You Do by Kim Watson

You can clearly see evidence of both pages in my final page above. 

Supplies used: +Fancy Pants Designs-Me-ology collection, +Echoparkpaper-Basics patterned papers, +Thermoweb adhesives, +TombowUSA adhesives, +Ranger Ink inks. 

 I used the idea of paint strips like Wilna did & added die cut numbers, with ombre paper underneath for interest. 

Using multiple dies I created a selection of custom made badges as accents on the page. 

All dies from +MFTstamps, check out their on-line store, where you can purchase any of the dies shown below. 

Die-namics High Rise numbers

Die-namics LLD Accent It - World Traveler

Die-namics Pinking Edge Circle STAX

Die-namics Happy Hellos

 Thanks for stopping by!

Pocket Scrapbooking + Metal dies.

Have you tried incorporating the ever trendy pocket scrapbooking vibe into a regular scrapbook page?

For a recent blog hop with Fancy Pants Designs & Taylored Expressions I did just that, using some of their amazing metal dies!

•  ‘Pocket & Pages essentials die set’
•  ‘This way to Smiles‘
•  ‘Twiggy Branch’
•  ‘Basic bow’

Hello Gorgeous by Kim Watson

For more info on the fantastic Me-ology collection, check out Fancy Pants Designs!

Going Native + a Tutorial

Do you know Technique Tuesday has the most awesome metal dies & stamp sets?? I created this card using some of them. Inspired by a talented Aussie scrapper, Lizzie...I thought I'd try my hand at going Native. 

You are so Totally Awesome card by Kim Watson

Finished size: 6x4"

Supplies: (Cardstock card blank: DCWV, Plain cardstock: Stamping Up, Spray Mist: Ranger, Wooden button: Bella Boulevard, Sentiment Stamp: (You are Awesome) Technique Tuesday, Chalk Ink: Prima Marketing, Pen: Tombow USA, Metal 'awesome' die: Technique Tuesday, Manual die-cutting machine: Spellbinders)

If you are wondering how I created the snazzy, native-vibe, triangle border.... see below. It was as easy as a hand cut triangle from cardstock, used as a stencil & some fun inks from Prima.

How to create the colored feather: 

•  Cut a feather shape from cardstock, it doesn't have to be a work of art. Wonky makes it authentic.
• Mist onto your craft sheet, I used magenta, turquoise & yellow.
• Turn your feather over & press the right side into the mist...smooshing it a bit.
• Carefully pick it up & allow to dry.
• Now get all primal & decorate the feather with ethnic style patterns.
• Attach to front on your card with a big wooden button & twine. 
• Finish up with your stamped & die cut sentiment and you are all done!

These are the die & stamp set designed by Ali Edwards I used if you want to grab some for yourself.

Glad you stopped by! 

FREE cut file + Making magic!

Love this girl (can't believe how fast she is growing up), love these colors... love technology!

Getting loose with a large oversized painted ink title & cutting it out with my Cameo. I don't know if it is perfectly balanced...but hey...we get so bogged down trying for perfection in our scrapping, that we plain old forget how to just have fun.

Well I had fun with this page!

Those cute feathers are metal dies from My Favorite Things...check them out HERE>>

...thanks Laina Lamb for sending them to me X

Magic is Something You Make by Kim Watson

I have a FREEBIE: download here>>  for you too..... my 'big painted title', in a couple of file types.
(NB: For your personal use only!)

ENJOY!