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Sunday 9 January 2011

Manufacturer in the Spotlight - KaiserCraft

Who doesn't love Kaiser Craft? They have now been around for over 21 years! It wasn't always what it is today....grab a cuppa, sit back, relax and I will tell you the story of Kaiser Craft.....

Stephen Kaiser started a little part-time job in wood working to support his (in his own words) meat pie habit during high school. Then around 21 years ago while operating a joinery business, he was asked by his wife to manufacture some small wood products to sell in her craft store. Seeing a niche opportunity, Stephen soon expanded to manufacturing plastic stencils and added other products such as acrylic paint to the company’s core range. Before long, word spread, and the Kaisercraft brand was soon in demand among Bunnings and Spotlight stores Australia wide. (excerpt taken from the Kaiser website)

In 2005 Kaiser Craft changed direction and started bringing out Scrapbooking Products.After a while they had a great design team and their monthly releases started. They had 4 double sided papers in the collection + matching epoxy brads. Their core range also started expanding including paper flowers etc.



Above is part of the Sakura Park Collection, released in 2008 ( I think! correct me if I'm wrong)


In July 2009 Q1 was released.






Q1 was very impressive. I must say this is when I really fell in love with Kaiser. I liked them before....but now I get excited everytime new collections are released as the Kasier designers NEVER disappoint. They are not always exactly to my taste....But that is because Kaiser has such an eclectic selection of collections - I am yet to find someone who doesn't like any of them.

Kaiser only released 3 Q's as it was too much for 1 month, and then you had such a long break in between releases.

2 collections are being released per month. Each collection includes 6 double sided heavy weight paper, 2 speciality papers, coloured rub ons, black rub ons, printed chipboard, die cuts, clear stamps, 6" paper pad, journaling tags. Occasionally somthing may be added or subtracted to suit the collection being released. For example  After 5 only had black rub ons.

Their Core Range includes: (sorry if I miss any!)
  • Mini Alphas as well as standard sized alpha stickers
  • Acrylic Paints
  • Album Rings
  • Mini ink pads (and only $2 each!!)
  • Card and Envelope Packs
  • Rhinestones (in 24 diff. colours)
  • Rhinestone Strips
  • Rhinstone Flourishes
  • Pearls (in 24. colours)
  • Pearl Strips
  • Pearl Flourishes
  • Grosgrain ribbon packs
  • Organza Ribbon packs
  • Paper Flowers (3 sizes per pack)
  • Paper Blooms (new release!)
  • Mini Acrylic stamps
  • Crochet Doilies
  • Wooden Flourishes
  • Chipboard Alpha
  • Brads
  • Lace Ribbon packs
  • A selection of tools
  • Quote Rub ons
  • and I'm sure there is more...but without my catalogue in front of me I can't remember :)

The 1 thing Kaiser was always big on (and still is!) is wood items. There are so many to choose from. And all at a very affordable price. In fact I find all of Kaiser is very affordable. There are a group of ladies who have signed up with me to receive every new Kaiser release. They receive:
* 2 of each double sided paper * 1 each of the designer paper * all the matching embellishments (excludes 6x6 paper pad - this is an optional extra) the average cost of the kits are $50.00. (So $100 per month if you would like both) Let me know if you would like to sign up for the kits.

I get side tracked too easily...back to the wood. Kaiser's wood products include bins, storage boxes, paper racks, albums, recipe stands, Christmas decorations and so much more!

Mini wooden handbag - great to use as a desk pencil holder

This tree has proved to be extremely popular. They come as raw wood, sand and paint and voila a jewellery stand! They are only $18.95

Decorate your kitchen in style with these great items!

A great memento for kids for their year at school

Recipe card holder

Tags. The designer made these into maths tables. Love the idea!

Looking for some Kaiser? Visit us in store or here.

Nearly forgot to mention the most important facts....they are an Australian company. All the workshop magazines are printed in Australia, and all the wood items are made in their own joinery. All other items are designed in Australia.

Kaiser is still a family owned business and they support many charities. They own / help run many orphanages in Pakistan and the Philippines. Further info can be found on their website here. Check out the user gallery - many many great ideas! Also their blog is full of inspiration and that can be found here.

How about a bit of blog candy? Answer the question below in the comments section and next Sunday a random person will be chosen (using random.org) to win a kaiser bag of goodies valued at $25.

What is your favourite Kaiser collection?

1 comment:

Jen said...

Thanks for that info, it makes a great read. What a great company and I love that they give so much away as well.

I can't pick one collection, I love them all!