A couple of cards!

Hello there! I'm here today sharing a couple of cards I put together using the ever so fun Simple Stories "Life In Color" range (again!) for Scrapping Clearly. I have said it every post but I really, really love this collection and sadly, it is running low but I plan to use every single piece!

When I first opened my box of goodies I was hit with the idea of PL pages and cards! It took me a little while to be comfortable to use up some of those papers on cards (we all have that same hesitant feeling when it comes to cutting into a brand new 12x12 sheet, yeah?!) but I did it and am super happy with the results!

Card #1

For this card I decided to go a bit feminine! I love, love, love that pink paper I have used on the card base and those butterflies are just adorable! The pink paper is from the collection pack and the butterflies are from the bits and pieces pack. That flair (isn't it just gorgeous!) is from the MME On Trend 2 collection.

I did do a little mixed media in the background, it was looking very plain! I added a light coat of gesso and then used some gelatos and the very technical packaging technique. Once that was all dried I went back in with some Heidi Swapp colour shine in butter (love this colour!) and then adhered all my pieces. I thought the card needed just a tiny bit of something else and pulled out the sequins from Cocoa Vanilla Studio in the "Made of Awesome" range - that blue matched perfectly!

And here is a little close up :)

For my sentiment I just went with one of those gorgeous clear stickers and kept it pretty versatile :)

Card #2 - and just secretly, this is my fave ;)

I love how this card came out! I started with the pieces from the bits and pieces pack - so the tags, the globe and that hello. I thought it needed something more so pulled out the 12x12 sheet that has all the polaroid designs printed on it and cut that out to add to my layers and also added a plain old paper clip where there was one printed. I used my craft knife to cut around the edge of the heart and do some tucking of the layers.

I found my piece for the background (that gorgeous yellow and white stripe), layered my cluster on top and thought "it needs something!" So, out came the washi strips, the clear stickers and the sentiment strip stickers (from the 12x12 sticker sheet in the collection pack). And, of course the stapler!

Once I had my washi down, I again decided it needed a little more so pulled out the trusty gesso, a red gelato and some water. I also knew I wanted to add a few more small pops of silver so out came the silver thread in the sewing machine!

One final touch! Since they were on my desk already, I first reached for the sequins and that yellow was PERFECT! I scattered a few and called it done!

Here are a couple of close ups!

Again, I am totally loving this collection and thinking I need to make some more cards with the bits and pieces I have left! 

I hope this has inspired you to maybe use your traditional supplies in a little bit of a different way! 

Happy scrapping!
Melinda
xx

PL Week 3 2016

Hi hi, I'm here today sharing my next project with you using the awesome Simple Stories "Life In Color" range!

So, I have jumped ahead in our PL album/s, I really wanted to do something current so I pulled out our week 3 for 2016 and got to work.

My process always starts in a notebook deciding which photo's to print and which stories I wish to tell. I then print my photo's at Big W while I do my food shopping. Photo's into pockets, cards with photos in pockets and then I get to play putting it all together!

I have lots of photo's to share today so I grab a coffee and take 5 ;)

First up, the double page spread using an K design on the left and an E design on the right.

I love this range and how it came together so easily for me!

Onto the left hand side

And some of the cards

A close up of the title card for the week. That chipboard clip is actually silver but, oh boy, silver is eve harder than gold to photograph!

I really love how this card turned out so I wanted to share a close up! I have used one of the 12x12 cut apart sheets that had the 4x4 cards pre-printed. I cut along one of the printed lines and tucked my photograph underneath. I added one of the clear coloured stickers to the printed label, did my journalling and added the date :)

And I just wanted for you to be able to see these cool clear coloured stickers again - love how they look on top of a photo - especially those paint brush strokes one!

And onto the right hand side :)

This card is actually in a flip pocket - I often use them to add an extra photo or story, so easy!

And the back side of the flip with a little embellishment and a fun collage from my oldest son's birthday :)

This week also includes a 5x7 insert - it's pretty simple but a story documented and some words written to my son :)

The front of the pocket - I printed the photo at 5x7 with a border and trimmed off alot of the border and then mounted it on one side of the patterned paper I wanted to use.

And the back of the pocket. I just ADORE this paper and did toss up using it behind the photo but decided I would see more of it if I used it this way :) Typed up my journalling, cut it up into strips and stuck it down with some wet adhesive. 

And YAY, extra space that I could do a little embellishing in! Some stickers from both the sticker sheets and the clear sticker sheets. Also a couple of strips of washi from the washi strip pack.

That's it for me for today! I have another PL spread to share soon so until next time happy scrapping!!

Melinda

xx

Products I have used: Collection Kit, Clear Stickers, Bit & Pieces, Washi Strips, Chipboard Stickers, Stickers

2015 Documented - Scrapping Clearly

Hi there! Today I'm sharing another lay out I made using the awesome Simple Stories "Life in Color" range. 

I have had so much fun with all these gorgeous goodies and had a lot of fun putting together our closing page for our 2015 PL album!

I will add here that I am still playing catch up on this album, hehehe, but was so inspired when I got my package I just HAD to dive in!!

There were alot of cut apart pieces in the Collection Kit that I knew as soon as I saw them I wanted to cut apart and use as they were so I pulled out my 3 faves and went ahead and started decorating!

I have used one of the cut apart cards here along with the alpha's from the sticker sheet in the same kit and some of the other stickers from both the clear sticker pack and the regular sticker pack (both of which have got so many delish goodies I had a hard time trying to decide on the pieces to use!!). I also added some stitching in silver - there are pops of silver throughout this whole collection and let me just say, I am so NOT over gold but silver sure has found a place in my scrappy heart!!

Again, a cut apart sheet paired with stickers and also this card has some chipboard stickers on it as well :)

Oh, and you probably noticed, I added some white and silver glitter enamel shapes from my stash!

When I saw this part of one of the cut apart border sheets I may have had to wipe away the drool. I don't know what it is about it but I just ADORE it and KNEW that I would have a hard time not using it as it is! So, I needed to fill the middle pockets of my page and voila - perfect size and the sentiment couldn't have been better!! This time just one sticker and those enamel shapes.

And just a close up of the 2 left hand pockets of the 4 :)

I do try to add in photo's of all 4 of us at both the beginning of the year's album's and the end. Normally it's either all 4 of us or 1 of each of us but I found some fave's from late last year, had them printed and added a couple of stickers to each and called it done!

I am super happy with how this turned out and cannot wait to get playing with some more of these goodies!

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping

Mel

xx

Guest Spot on Shimelle!

Hi there!!

A super quick post today to share some very exciting news! 

When Shimelle had a call for some guest designers last year I of course put my hand up! You can imagine my surprise and joy when I received a reply asking me to be a guest designer!

It's my turn up on the Shimelle.com blog today sharing my fun layout!! Head over to see my full creation on her blog along with the beatiful creation by Gina Lideros!

Here is a sneaky peek!

Anyways, I hope you like my page, I had so much fun putting it together!

Mel

Xx

When 2 Become 3

Hi there!!

Just popping in today with a super quick share of a page I created the other day using a fun free silhouette cut file from The Hip Kit Club which you can get here.

I totally got the idea of the cut file like this from this YouTube video by the very talented Raquel Bowman! I love how she has laid out all the hearts on the diagonal across the background and took the XO from the file I used, copied, pasted and resized. As I went I welded each XO to the last one :) Love how this turned out!

I cut the file on gesso'd white cardstock and then sprinkled water all over it with a paintbrush. While the water was still wet I sprayed some Heidi Swapp colour shine in both Navy and Teal onto my craft mat, added a little water to make it runnier and then sprinkled the mist all over the wet cut file. I love the watercolour effect I achieved and that there are still bits of white peeking through all over the file!

I have used papers from the Maggie Holmes Shine collection and also some of the florals from the Open Book collection (a couple of which had been digital files that I have printed and cut also using my Cameo). I added some tiny word stickers from a Tim Holtz sticker book I have and added some silver stitching to each. A tiny bit of journalling and some black Heidi Swapp colour shine as sprinkles to finish the LO off!

Here are a few close ups! I can't believe that this photo was taken over 6 years ago already - time sure does fly!

That's it for me for today! I had a heap of fun putting this page together!

Happy scrapping and happy Sunday :)
Mel

xx

Some fun challenges at Shimelle.com

Hi there

A super quick post to share today with 4 12x12 pages I have created this weekend to play along with the online crop/challenges Shimelle held last weekend on her website!

There was so much inspiration and I so wanted to get all of the challenges done, but, well, life happens and I got 5 done in the 4 pages. There is still 19 hours to link up so perhaps more but time will tell!!

My 1st page is for the "Use the 1st Shimelle collection" and also for the "scrap an older photo" challenge. This photo was taken back in 2012 :)

The next is for the "Colour blocking" challenge.

I wasn't really sure what I was doing here but used Shimelle's LO as inspiration and as a loose sketch. This has way less embellies than I usually use but I am really happy how it turned out - and another memory scrapped!

3rd, this is my fave <3, for the "choose a weekly challenge" challenge. I chose "scrap a selfie" and came up with this page. I love how this page turned out. I love the open "white" space. And personally, I just think it's a pretty page!!

My 4th share is for the "Use 3 photo's on 1 page" challenge for this week - not a part of the weekend challenges!

Again, my big boy - this time his 6th birthday - which was January 2016 and some rather hilarious faces my sister managed to catch on her phone as I totally forgot to take mine!!

So, that's it for me for now :) I had so much fun playing along, I'm certain that by now those of you that follow me will notice I really enjoy playing along with challenges!!

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!

Mel

xx

Ten - My 1st share for Scrapping Clearly!

Hi there!

I'm here today with my very 1st share for ScrappingClearly and honestly, I am so, so excited to be a part of this amazingly talented team! Thank you Kylie for inviting me along for the next 6 months!!

I have used the gorgeous Simple Stories "Life in Color" range to create my first layout, Ten - celebrating hubby's and my 10th Valentines together. By chance, our very 1st date was on Valentine's Day and here we are 10 years down the track!

I used this month's sketch as inspiration and as you can see I have flipped it so the main cluster is on the right instead of the left.

This gorgeous range was so much fun to work with and it can be found here in store. I added a little bit of gesso and some water colouring in the background along with some clear matt gel to follow along with the sketch. 

I just love, love, love the pops of silver throughout this collection!

I have added some black thread from my stash in 2 places and also used some silver thread to sew through a few elements on the page!

That flair badge is from the MME On Trend 2 collection and can be found here.

So, that's my share for today! I hope I have inspired you to play along with this fun sketch, remember, you have until the end of the month to link up!

I have already got to work on my next project and I cannot wait to share so until then happy scrapping!!

Melinda
xx