Cafe au Lait Book Kit Finished Photo journal

Hello crafters and creatives and welcome to my blog.

I created a book using my Cafe au Lait book kit printable about year ago and about a week ago I completed putting in photos to make it my most recent photojournal.

I used a long stitch binding from a Marion Smith project which I liked at first, however realised after using the book and adding pictures to it there was a lot of strain put on the binding. I would use coptic stitch in future. 

I hope you liked this project and as usual if you have any questions or comments leave them below.

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My New Blues

Hi there scrappers

Got a personal layout for you this time, I don't usually do layouts of myself. This was something to commemorate though, so I snapped a selfie and did a 12x12 layout.

Few years back I was diagnosed with Meares-Irlen Syndrome and have been wearing coloured glasses ever since. For the first 12 months I was going with the Irlen Spectral filters which while costly were doing the trick of helping me with my dyslexia, visual processing and reading, along with general anxiety due to photosensitivity. After a bit of research I changed to a much more cost effective alternative done through a local optometrist, Cerium Colorimitory. And wow did I get a much better result although a few months back I noticed some old symptoms crop up. I went and had my color retested and collected my new filters a week later. They were awesome!

I did the layout to remind myself how beneficial these filters are.

The background is a basic weave Kaisercraft cardstock that I used a Prima stencil and some "tinsel" Colour Shine from Heidi Swapp. I added a bit of stamping over the top of that in a few places with some kaisercraft texture stamps. 

The papers for the photo stack are some scraps from my Cafe au Lait collection available on my webstore. 

The cogs were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo and then stacked and glued to make them a bit more dimensional. They were then painted and stained and covered in Tim Holtz's rock candy crackle medium, which is so awesome. 

I then added vintage photo stain over the top to give that rusted aged look. 

To title the pages I pulled out some kaisercraft letters and embossing powders. 

I hope you like this layout, and thank you for reading.

Cafe au Lait: Another one for the boys

Hi there crafters, 

So another day, another birthday. Is it just me or is this year flying by really fast. 

I have created a very elegant masculine (yes those two words go together, at least they do in my head).

I have used my Cafe Au Lait collection again for this one but I added a few gears and wood ephemera.  The hot air balloon in from one of the older Kaisercraft collection which I cannot recall right now. So what do you think?

I even gave doing some typography a try, which came out rather well. 

Remember I do make custom made cards. You can email me or head over to my Etsy and "convo" me there.

I hope you like. Leave a comment or question and Happy Crafting!

Cafe au Lait: Vintage Layout "Times Gone By"

Hey Crafters, 

I am really loving working with this new collection Cafe au Lait.

Today I have a lovely vintage layout using some of the 12x12 papers which I had printed at a local print shop on A3 paper. This time I went with simple 80gsm paper, which surprisingly still held up well to what I threw at it.

The photo is of, I think, my maternal grandmother's extended family. I am not too sure as there were no names on the photo that I found in my family pictures. I really just like how the photo looked. 

I have used old music sheets stacked behind the photo with a couple old book pages as well. The Donna Downey Studio Damask Stencil in the background was done using Prima's Finnibair Art Extra Vagance Texture Paste - Copper Crackle with a bit of misting over the top. I had a few scraps of the Cafe au lait cardmakers set on my desk which I turned in to tags and tuck them in behind the photo.

The wood flourishes are Kaisercraft Wood flourish Ornate Corner which were painted with Tim Holtz Distress Paint- Antiqued Bronze which came up really well.

 

Product list.

Kerry-Jean Watson Papers-Cafe au Lait

Kaisercraft Weave cards stock- Coffee Bean

Kaisercraft Weave cards stock- Cream

Kaisercraft Wood flourish Ornate Corner

Prima's Finnibair Art Extra Vagance Texture Paste - Copper Crackle

Heidi Swapp Color Shine - Bronze

Donna Downey Studio Damask Stencil

Old music book pages

Vintage Accents-Vintage brads

Tim Holtz Distress ink- Vintage photo

Tim Holtz Distress Paint- Antiqued Bronze

Remember to leave question or comment and Happy Crafting!

Midori Fauxdori Insert assembly.

Midori Traveler Notebook enthusiasts I thought I would show you all how I go about making inserts/booklets for my Travelers Notebook size Midori.

So these are the 12x12 size digital papers of my collections that have been printed on A4 size paper. The cover was printed on 200gsm paper stock and the rest of the booklet is printed on 80gsm on both sizes.

Here is the Cafe Au Lait collection Booklet/insert

Here it is in the Fauxdori I have available in my webstore.

This is the same format but done using the Forgotten Meadows collection which comes up really pretty.

 

Here it is in the Fauxdori I have available in my webstore.

Both inserts added to the Fauxdori using the expansion band that comes with the single string fauxdori.

Now to see how I put the booklets together. 

GIVEAWAY

Hello eager crafters.

Today I have something special. A GIVEAWAY! Every one loves a give away.

So to enter, head over to my Facebook page and find this image. Like the page, comment on the image it and share it!

Now for what is up for grabs.

The entire Cafe au Lait digital collection. That means the 12x12, cardmakers set, 8.5x11, the book kit and ALL addons/alternate content. How awesome is that?!

The prize winner will be drawn on the 1 August 2015

To see the collection in all its glory here is a flip through to see what it is all about.

Cafe au Lait: Book Kit project

Hello crafters, creative ones and those just stopping for a read. 

I dedicate this blog post and project to the Swapp Family in Utah after their second eldest son took his own life due to depression. 

Remember: depression lies.

Cory is an example for what almost happened to me at the same age.

I have been working on the book kit from the Cafe au Lait collection.

This time I worked on a different style of binding, well not entirely different style. I did long stitch through plaster board mesh. Boy was that fun! Not! I had to redo the binding 4 times because I kept making mistakes. But in the end I was Successful! And it looks pretty awesome to boot. 

I kept the cover simple and plain because I tend to take my books/journals out with me. If they have stuff on the cover after a couple trips all of the prettiest would have been ripped off. So I went with a more practical approach. A Simple book plate from Tim Holtz

I used both the original pages from the book kit as well as the alternate ones that were released last week. Have a watch of the youtube video of the flip through to see how I did the pages. 

Remember to comment or leave a question and as always Happy crafting!

Cafe au Lait: Add-ons and alternated cover

Crafters!

So for anyone who liked the Cafe au Lait Book Kit, I have some add ons!

8 extra pages with lines 

And an alternative cover.

Stay tunes to see video of the alternate pages when I post the book kit project I have been working on.

Buy it! Download it! and print it at home! 

Crafting made convenient.

Cafe au Lait: Layout "Mischief"

Well Hello all, great to see you back again.

I have been very busy with this new collection, really loving it and I hope you are as well.

This layout is of a friend, and the title is very fitting. There's mischief in those eyes. He is a big kid and revels in the that fact, be he is very kind and caring man at the same time.



I have used the 12x12 Cafe au Lait collection for this layout which was printed on 80gsm and really held up to the texture paste and spray that I threw at it. The page I used that first glued to a cardstock backing to fill it out to the 12x12.

The "Mischief" title was cut using my cameo, love that thing but i just don't use it enough. I covered the title in some glossy accents for the final effect. The circles and compass rose are from Creative Embellishments which I just love. Adding the Keyhole just broke those circles up a little. All the papers behind the photo are from the cut and create page of the collection which are included in the Digital Paper Pack.

Please remember to leave any questions or comments below and happy crafting.

Cafe au Lait: A steampunk card

Hello crafters and passer-bys, I hope you are all well and looking for some inspiration.

I have another card in the Cafe au Lait collection which I made in a bit of a steampunk theme. Rather than doing is traditionally for a guy, I made this one for a girl.

 I used the cardmakers set for this card which, I feel, gives a good size to work with. The Kaisercraft bodice was coated in some antique bronze crackle paint and the gears in the background where given the old rust treatment. The one thing that I could not get to show up well on the photo was a layer of clear crackle I put down on the background before adding all the delicious elements. 

Please leave a comment or question below and HAPPY CRAFTING!

Here is a reveal of the collection Cafe au Lait

 

This is my Midori...

This is My Midori, there are many other like it, but this in MY Midori.

This is my #midori. There are many others like it, but this is my midori. #fauxmidoir #fauxdori #midoritravelersnotebook

A photo posted by Kerry-Jean Watson (@kerryjean) on May 27, 2015 at 6:13am PDT

I made myself a midori/fauxdori a while ago now and have been creating my own booklets/inserts. I am a big fan of Patrick Ng's Chronodex which makes a lot of scenes using as my planners for daily tasks. I ended up downloading and creating a Chronodex booklet using Patrick's planner printable which is created to fit the Midori Traveler's Notebook. After printing and prepping the booklet for folding and sewing I realised it is the same size as my digital papers when printed on A4 papers.

So of course I made a booklet out of my papers.

Cafe au Lait: Vintage flowers Card

Welcome all you creative geniuses and those who are curious.

Today I want to show you a new card I made with my new collection Cafe au Lait. It may look like a bit of a masculine collection however it is quite variable in what you can do with it. 

Here is a distinctly feminine card I made using the new collection.

I have used some of Prima's Art basic Copper Crackle Medium, which I just LOVE using. The three flowers are some of Kaisercrafts Large white flowers which I sprayed with water and then applied some small bits of color. I added some gold shimmer spray over the top and then left them to dry. 

I also had a few Silhouette die cuts in my stash that I added in the background and a couple vintage brads.

After putting everything together I then added some gesso over the top of the die cuts and flowers just to soften everything.

Here is a flip through of the entire collection

Cafe au Lait: A Man's Cards

Hello crafts and welcome to my blog again.

I want to share some cards I made with the new Cafe au Lait collection. I made this collections JUST in time for my brothers birthday which was last week. Here is the card I made him. 

This collection while not steampunk in its own right can be used to create a great steampunk genre card or layout. Add some airships, some gears and clocks along with some distressed edges and tada there you have it. I really like this card. 

Here is a flip through of the entire collection

Please remember to subscribe to both my newsletter and youtube channel and please feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have about this project or the new collection.

New Collection Cafe au Lait

Hello avid crafters and passer bys.

I have a new collection to share with you today.

The inspiration comes from the idea of vintage Paris cafes.

There are some lovely rustic and grungy textures with coffee cup ring stains on the corners. All giving the sense of sitting out at a cafe on the streets of Paris drinking coffee while reading through the newspaper or inspecting a map with the idea of adventure. Travelling to exotic stores and buying precious merchandise.

The collection comes in the usual sizes:

I am considering doing A4 for those who live in countries with sensible paper sizing.

For now here is the full reveal of this collection.

I have a number of ideas in mind for this collection, I would love to see that you do with it to.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!