Whatever

Hi there and welcome to my blog today! I'm sharing another page using my absolute fave collection so far this year, Starshine by Shimelle :)

Another page from my besties and niece's birthday party back in January :) And both my niece and myself LOVE this very candid moment that someone happened to snap!

I started this page while on retreat at the beginning of the month and am so happy with how it came together!. Because I started at retreat I can't 100% remember HOW I created the water colour background but I am about 98% sure it was using gelatos! I have a bunch of the older gelatos that don't have the names printed on them but I used  a red and yellow that I got in one pack and I have also used Blueberry for the blue. As you can see I have used a piece of plastic packaging and the very easy packaging technique with the blue and yellow - letting the colour dry between as I didn't want green! After that was dry I went in with the red and a pipette to create big splatters and also a paint brush for some smaller in all 3 colours :) After that was all dry I went in with a star texture stamp and black archival ink from my stash and then some of the Bling Colour Paste by Colour Blast and a stencil.

A bit of a close up of the detail in the middle of the page. I had to ask around at retreat but I managed to find a piece of vellum (I can't believe I didn't pack any!!)  as I had an idea!! I grabbed my Singin the Blues and my Bling colour paste by Colour Blast and a fun stencil and just stenciled the pattern onto the vellum for the last layer behind the photo cluster and as it turns out - somewhere for the title to go! I used these fun phrase thickers in an older Dear Lizzy collection but this worked perfectly for my title! Both of my stencils are from Dusty Attic and you can find them here in store or if there is one in particular you are after Kylie can order them in!

I have used the "Voyager" (red with flowers) paper and also a paper from the 12x12 paper pad to back the photo. I did outline both of those with a black pen to give a little more definition to the layers as well. 

Once that was all assembled I went in with my embellishments but didn't want to add too much as the background had so much happening!

This cluster is to the left of the photo and you can see that I have used 2 clear stickers from the collection, some of those GORGEOUS acrylic stars (it was hard sticking those down, I'm kind of hoarding them!) from the acrylic shapes, one of the flairs (these guys are little and oh so cute!) and also some black and yellow thread from my stash for more added texture.

This little cluster is at the top of the photo and again, clear stickers (hard to see but yellow star near the top right), another acrylic star and one of those cute paper clips. Oh, and more black thread :)

And onto the very bottom cluster :) I have cut the "Together" from this piece of paper, added some thread, another of those adorable flair, another yellow clear star sticker and a 3rd acrylic star.

I used one of my border punches from my stash on 2 of the sides in a really messy way and then distressed them a little. I felt the page was lacking a little something so mounted it onto that star paper from the 12x12 pad (I used this same paper as one of the mats on my photo but cut out the middle as I had a feeling I would use this to mount the whole page) and then machine stitched all around the edge in a messy fashion!

That's it for me for today. I truly do love this collection and I am so pleased I got this story told. 

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!!
Mel

xx

A Creative Journey - Part 3

Hello and welcome!!

I've stopped in today to share with you my art journal spread for this month! I was lucky enough to play along in Audrey's beautiful journal and had so much fun with the "do whatever you feel like" theme!

Here is my completed page

And here are a couple of quick close up's!

I have used a bunch of different products in the background but started off with an all time fave colour combo of mine in mind: Colour Shine in Citron, Navy and Teal :)

A layer of gesso, some of that cool tape (I can NEVER remember what it's actually called!!), texture paste through a stencil, background stamping and then COLOUR using my mists and also a bit more colour using another stencil and some Colour Paste by Colour Blast in Singin the Blues!

I have also added some of the Tim Holtz distress crackle in rock candy and then added some drops of navy colour shine.

I grabbed a couple of wood veneer from my stash and embossed them using a white with sparkles embossing powder and also those fun star and chevron pieces made by Charms Creations :) 

I've got my next journal sitting on my desk awaiting some different mediums, what am I going to do I wonder?! The theme is "A day in my life" which currently would be chaotic!! Haha, school holidays ;)

Anyways, I will share when it's done. Perhaps even another process vid ;)

Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate the time taken and the comments left, they truly make my day each time I get that email!!

Happy scrapping!
Mel
xx

XOXO

Hi there and welcome to my blog! I'm here with you today sharing my take on the gorgeous sketch put together by the very talented Chloe for the July sketch challenge over at Scrappingclearly! Isn't it an awesome design!!

I have, again, used the stunning Bloom collection by Maggie Holmes and a gorgeous photo of my now 17 1/2 year old niece from my 2008 wedding :)

I have used that gorgeous "Moments" paper for my background which really surprised me! I thought I would use the other side but it just wasn't happening for me!

That sunburst was made using a Heidi Swapp stencil from my stash and a mix of Heidi Swapp colour shine in Primrose, Blush and (of course!) Gold Lame and then cut down from the 12x12 paper I started with. I have mostly stuck to the sketch but I did move the big cluster from the left to the right and found a white cardstock frame I had pre-cut which worked perfectly :) And, of course, more of that oh so pretty gold vellum!

I thought about adding something else for the title but ended up going with this gorgeous gold glitter piece from the ephemera pack. I just backed it with a sheet from the 6x6 paper pad - those bows are just adorable!! I made that fringe myself with my handy fringe scissors that I have had in my stash for years! That bottom layer is actually the branding strip from one of the papers and the black and white stripe is from another of Maggie's collections.

The sketch called for something up the top so I ended up picking this piece from the ephemera as it brought in both the gold glitter and the black. I also added some more of that fringed paper :)

As you can see I have scattered more of those gorgeous fussy cut butterflies from the "Flutter" paper. I needed a little extra something and after a little mucking about I decided on cutting out a couple of those little butterflies from the matching 6x6 paper from the paper pad.

Some sequins by Studio Calico - they are so shiny and pretty!! - and also some sprinkles of Gold Lame colour shine to finish it off.

A close up of where all the action is in the middle of the page! I just adore this photo of my niece and I can't believe that 8 years have passed so quickly and she is no longer this little girl but practically an adult!

And one more close up, just for good measure ;)

You can watch all (well, most of!) of my process of putting it together by following this link! This is only my 2nd process video so I hope you enjoy!

Make sure you load up your own entry for this fun sketch over on the Scrappingclearly blog or FB page for your chance to win a voucher to the store. Keep an eye on the blog too for all of the other girls' takes on the challenge this month!

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!!

Mel
xx

Love You To Bits Scrapbook page

Hi there! 2 posts in 1 day - I can hardly believe it!!

The other day on my Instagram account (m_sweetman) I shared a peek at something I was working on - well, really, I was just playing! I was inspired by a picture I found while googling rainbows :)

This picture in fact! I thought it would be fun to have a play and do my own rainbow. I love pink and blue but really am not a purple fan so I split my rainbow where the blue and pink would meet and came up with this!

As you can see I also added some fun texture using the gorgeous Faber Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel and LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out!

I have sat on the background for a couple of days not really sure what I was going to do with it and ended up putting this page together

I recorded my whole process for this page and you can see me go from one idea to this. I love that so much of that background is showing, it's so pretty and that gel gives such an awesome effect through that stencil!

Here are a few close ups

And if your interested in seeing my process you can go here https://youtu.be/tb6YZDttj8o and watch it! Please do bear in mind it is only my 2nd attempt at a process video so be kind!! haha!!

Anyways, that's it for me for today! I hope you enjoyed my post and my video!

Happy scrapping!

Mel

xx

Mum's Day 2016

Hi hi and welcome!

I have popped in today to share a layout I put together a little while ago using some of my left over stash of the gorgeous "Life in Colour" range by Simple Stories that I got from Scrappingclearly. I paired it with a super fun free cut file from Hip Kit Club and this was the end result!

I have used the Heidi Swapp colour shine in blush and butter for the very technical plastic packaging technique I used in the background and love how it all came together!

Just adore this flair and HAD to put it on my page! It's from the MME On Trend 2 collection.

I added in some silver stitching as you can see in the close up's above and also some black stamping, some clear stickers, some of the washi strips and a few paper scraps.

And just a couple more close up's of the main part of the page!

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you love the Simple Stories range as much as I do head over to the Scrappingclearly store here, Kylie still has some stock left!!

Happy scrapping!
Mel
xx

Mum's Scrap Room for Scrappingclearly

Hi hi and welcome to my blog today for this fun share with goodies from the Scrappingclearly store!

I was sent this gorgeous Heidi Swapp Marquee Love Chalkboard heart by Kylie and was totally in love straight away. It took me a little while to work out what I was going to do to it to pretty it up and make it more "mine" but when I worked out what I was going to do it all came together super quick!!

I am going to hang this on my craft room door and perhaps leave messages for my husband and children when I don't want to be disturbed while I'm tucked away in here ;) Or perhaps they could leave me little love notes ;) Haha!

Here are a couple of close ups

You can see here that I have layered up a flower from the Maggie Holmes Bloom ephemera pack and some of those totally gorgeous  butterflies I hand cut from the "Flutter" pattered paper.

I also added in some splatters from the ever reliable and so so pretty Heidi Swapp Colour Shine in Gold.

This heart is actually a DIY job :D I adore the layered hearts that came out in this collection and never got my hands on any (apparently the rest of the population also loved them!!) so I made my own. It was a very simple process! I started with a big heart die that I cut out of plain white card stock. I grabbed some of the patterned papers from the Maggie Holmes Bloom 6x6 paper pad and also this one from a scrap from previous project. I've also layered in some of that oh so pretty gold printed vellum and a strip from the washi tape booklet. After it was all stuck down I took it to my sewing machine and used some gold thread to sew along most of the lines and I really love how this turned out!

And finally, a photo of this light up in all of its glory :)

That's it for me for today!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and happy scrapping!

Melinda
xx