Friday, March 16, 2012

Win, Win, Win!

I am an avid fan of the Paper Crafter's Library blog and website. It's a fantastic place to go to learn about anything and everything to do with paper crafting. They are now running a contest to win a year's membership (a $200 value!) Head on over the PCL to check it out!

This is a quick post today. I had not realized that it had been over a month since my last post :( I have been extremely busy with school (report card time is never fun), but that's done now, so I may have some time on my hands in which to craft! I will hopefully have some new projects to show you soon, but in the meantime go enter the PCL contest!!

Until next time,

Melanie

Monday, January 30, 2012

Presenting...

Scrappin' Sisters! These talented ladies have started a blog. There is not much on the blog yet, but I look forward to following it: scrappinsisters.wordpress.com Take the time to check out the gallery areas - they are 3 very scrap-savvy ladies and their projects are gorgeous (and for sale!) I met two of the sisters through events at Shelley's, but finally had a chance to see their work up close and personal at a scrapbooking convention this past weekend. They had a booth set up and were selling their items: gorgeous altered notebooks, home decor, tags, cards, scrapbook pages and more. They were also doing demos. I was only able to catch one, but it was pretty amazing! Flowers from used dryer sheets - you have to see them to believe them. Now I just need to buy the flower die and stop using liquid softener in the wash. Then I'll never have to buy flowers again!!

I also did a few demos this past weekend. I demoed glitter, i-rock, liquid appliqué and Sew Easy. It was a fun couple of hours, but with family feeling under the weather, I was glad I didn't have to stay all day.

Sorry, no pics this time, but I hope to post later in the week with a better update!

Until next time,
Melanie

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It's a miracle...

I'm posting again already! I think that being responsible for keeping Shelley's blog up to date will help me with mine :) I'm just going to do a quick post today to show off the cards I'll be teaching on February 11th for Valentine's Day.


The cards were inspired by the Paper Crafter's Library blog. Of course, I used what I had on hand, rather than go out and buy the specific items to make the cards, so they are makeovers, rather than copies. I have to admit though, that my favourite, the U Rock, is pretty close to the original!

Sadly, with school back on, I have school work to take care of, so that's all I have time for tonight!

Until next time,

Melanie

Friday, January 6, 2012

Happy New Year!

It seems I'm always playing catch-up with my blog. Being busy is not an excuse... being forgetful and (gasp!!) lazy is not an excuse either, but perhaps a valid reason!

I've recently taken over the blog duties for Scrapbooking at Shelley's. I am going to be posting there at least once a week, and will try to post here at the same time.

In the month of November, I went absolutely Advent Calendar crazy! I got an idea for creating my own calendar from scratch, and rolled with it. I loved how the first one turned out, so I went on to make 8 more, for a total of 9 calendars. With each calendar taking about 2-3 hours to make, it took me all month, but they were ready for December 1st! The girls each gave one to their classroom teachers as well as the music teacher and teacher librarian. I gave one to my BFF, and we kept the other 4 at home for ourselves (selfish, I know!) It was a lot of fun to make them, and even more fun to shop for the goodies to go inside. Here they are:

I made each box individually from paper or card stock, then wrapped them to make drawers. I glued the drawers together, then wrapped the whole thing in a paper box. I added numbers to the drawers, along with ribbon pulls, and decorated the final box. I love how they turned out! I may have to teach this class sometime during the year. It would make a lovely jewelry box, and of course, who doesn't need an advent calendar at Christmas??

I have also been busy designing for my classes at Shelley's. Here is the Hot Chocolate Gift Book I will be teaching on January 21st:


This project was inspired by Andrea Walford's blog. Hers used a 6" tube for the marshmallows, but all I had was a 12" tube, so I doubled the height and included 4 packets of hot chocolate. Here is a pic of the inside:


And finally, a close-up of the mug on the front. The whipped cream was done using liquid appliqué.

I hope you enjoyed today's post. Until next time!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Dusty Attic Laser Cuts

I love this new product from Dusty Attic. The laser cut chipboard and wood are gorgeous, and they really make for a great layout. In these two, I used the butterflies and the frame as masks, then spritzed Glimmer Mist all over some white cardstock. I then used the butterflies and the frame as embellishments. I used 3 colours of Glimmer Mist: red, yellow and blue. When all 3 are sprayed on the chipboard, the result is a beautiful bronze colour. Enjoy!



Thursday, July 14, 2011

New Class!

I'm doing a new class for Shelley called Quick Cards. It features the new cards and envelopes from Doodlebug. I love how quickly the card comes together. It's easy to dress them up, or just leave them plain and simple. They look good no matter what! Here is the series of 4 cards I'm teaching on September 28th. Please join me!

This card features a pretty pink card base, with embossed Gel-a-tins chocolates and a few self-adhesive rhinestones.


I really liked the effect of adding a photo to this blue window card. It also features studs from the i-rock product line, and a hand written sentiment.


A few self-adhesive rhinestones, a ribbon, a greeting, and you're good to go with this summery green and red card.

A sheer ribbon, computer printed greeting and some i-rock bling make this card an elegant choice for a summer wedding.

Catching up

I have been crafting, really. The problem is that I have been crafting for Shelley, not for myself, and forgot to take pics before delivering. I rectified the situation by going in to the store and snapping some pics of my art already on the walls. The result is not-quite-right photos, but at least I have photos now!

Here, you will see some layouts I did for display. I used a layout guide and turned it 90 degrees for the second page.


Next is July's Layout Challenge. As a designer, I don't get to enter the contest for the $50 gift card, but I do get to try to inspire you to create! I love the way this turned out. It's so nice to work with a series of patterned paper - it all comes together so well! The flowers are, for the most part, Prima. The butterfly is a Tim Holtz die from Sizzix.