Documenting December 2014

Hi there!!

Yes, you read correctly!! Documenting December 2014!!

An original idea by the name of "December Daily" created by the amazingly talented Ali Edwards. For more info head over to Ali's blog here. This is my 2nd year participating and I have been looking forward it, well, since last December!!

This is a post to outline what I'm using this year because I think that all the goodies I am using deserve their own post!!

I have been asked by the lovely Michelle over at The Stamp Spot to be a part of her Documenting December DT this year and will be predominately using her main kit, her red add on kit and her teal add on kit :) They can all be found here over at Michelle's store. And for a run down of the gorgeousness in the kit head over to this post on her blog.

I had already decided on my colour scheme (if truth be told last year!!) so when she told me she was creating a kit that was kraft, white and gold based my heart leapt with joy!!

I was so excited to receive my goodies that I unpacked them all and have popped them into the cane basket I will be using so the photos I share of the kit/s are the 3 combined.

Please be aware that the tree veneer and the red candy stripe acetate 3x4 you can see in the picture above snuck in to this pic and are not included in the kit from The Stamp Spot - I think either little 2 year old hands or 4 3/4 year old hands had a bit of a play when I wasn't looking and I haven't had the chance to re-photograph!! Again, please head over here to see the full contents of The Stamp Spot's kit :)

Aren't are the bits and pieces just gorgeous!!

I also purchased the Very Merry Freckled Fawn December Embellishment Kit through Michelle too and have picked through it and separated out the pieces I will use. This is available here.

The album I am using is actually one from the Studio Calico DD kit from last year that I purchased locally from someone that didn't use it last year. I have altered it somewhat and LOVE how it came out!!

This album started out as raw chipboard with the stars embossed and the red fabric spine :) Some masking tape, scrap paper, white and also gold spray paint and hey presto, a star embossed, gold December Daily album!!

Prior to being asked to join Michelle's team I had started collecting some supplies, which now I'm not sure I will even use - oops!! But I will pop these into the same basket I have my other kits in. Funnily enough I picked out some of the papers that Michelle had already included in the kit!!

Above are the paper pieces I have collected over the last couple of months and have added to my kit.

And above are all the non-paper bits and pieces including stamps, sequins, enamel dots (both round and star shaped!!), buttons and other self-adhesive rhinestone pieces.

The only other items I will be using are some white and kraft coloured cardstock that I purchased as 12x12 sheets and have cut down to 6x8, 6x4 and 3x4 sizes, some black archival ink and more than likely some gold embossing powder.

And here is all my bits and pieces in my cane basket, including my album!!

I have managed a little start to my album cover and here is a sneaky peek!! I can't wait to share it with you in it's entirety! Until then, if you are after some ideas for organisation of your own supplies for December head over here or here to see some of Michelle's awesome tips and ideas :D

As always, thanks for stopping in and happy scrapping!!

Mel

xx

Thinking of You Kit

Hi there!!

Just thought I would pop in and share a card I made with the gorgeous Kit from Saturated Canary for an application for a Guest DT spot over on Krista's blog. Sadly I didn't make the call (wow, some crazy talented people applied!!) but had a heap of fun and stepped out of my comfort zone completely! Kit is gorgeous but normally an image I would reach for and this was a 1st time effort playing with watercolours for my background.

So, here is my card

My copic colours are as follows:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 and R20

Hair: E51, E53, E55 and E57

Clothes

Blue: B21, B24, B26, B29 and 100

Cream: E40, E41, E43 and E44

Brown: E70, E71, E74 and E77

I have used a kraft coloured base for the card, some Amy Tan woodgrain paper and some watercolour paper that I have actually painted. I am so happy with the way those watercolours turned out!! It took a couple of go's and a few YouTube videos but I got there!! As you can see I have stitched with my machine around the papers. On the right hand side there is a strip of Heidi Swapp paper that I have used a lace doily Martha Stuart punch on and some gorgeous vintage looking lace. All my paper layers were inked with walnut stain distress ink and a blending tool.

Here are a couple of close ups

As always, thanks for stopping in and happy scrapping!

Mel

xx

When I Grow Up I Want To Be...

Hi there lovely followers!!

I am a few days late this month with my share and link up for the gorgeous Inspiration Board Challenge over at D-lish for October as I have been sick but finally feel like I am on the mend!!

So, without further ado here is the STUNNING board that I got to work with for this months challenge as part of the Inspiration Team

It just has to be said this board is "Simply Fabulous"! I totally love it and though it took me a little while to work out exactly what I was going to do for the challenge this month I found myself continually looking at it!! Haha!!

After umming and ahhing for a few days I remembered that I have not yet scrapped any of my photo's from my 30th Birthday back in 2010 and my colour scheme matched almost perfectly to this board! My theme was "When I Grow Up I Want To Be..." and we had guests come dressed up as what they wanted to be when they grew up. And lots of kids party food. And lots of fun!

Here is the layout that I came up with using both the colours and the sketch for inspiration :)

I have used a bunch of D-lish goodies on this page including the pinkfresh studio coloured arrows, D-lish enamel dots, D-lish wood veneer, lime doily, aqua tulle (a bit hard to see on the left of the photo), the black chevron bag - perfect size to mat my 6x4 photo! and the label on the bottom right with the date!

That big pink star is actually one of the many many stars I had painted to decorate our home for the party, so please I held onto them!! I have also popped my invite into the bag :) Oh, and that spotty vellum was left over from the invites too ;)

And a little close up of some of the detail

So, as always, thanks for stopping by!! Remember to head on over to the D-lish blog to join in the fun this month!! 

Melinda
xx

Suck it Up!

Hello there friends!!

Just a really quick post today to share a layout I made over the weekend on my glorious 3 day retreat!!

I am entering this into the Scrap The Boys September Challenge - Domesticated!! I had the perfect photo for this theme as soon as I read what it was so had an idea for the whole month and only just got around to scrapping it!!

Here is my LO of my littlest guy vacuuming...... in the nude!! Cause, why wouldn't you??! Haha!

Thank you so much for stopping by, had so much with this and some help with the title which is just so fitting with the story!!

Happy scrapping and thanks for stopping by!!

Mel

xx

Some exciting news and a 1st Birthday Card!

Hi there!! I'm back again today!

I have some exciting news to share with you and along with some crafty goodness!

The announcement was made yesterday that I had been chosen to be a part of the D-Lish Scraps Inspiration Team for Spring!! 

To say I am excited is understatement, I am totally thrilled and so excited to not only be doing some work for this awesome store but to also be working amongst some very talented ladies!

Here is the link to this month's inspiration board that I used to create my 1st project for D-Lish - Pink Lemonade.

And here is a copy of the inspiration board

I was totally inspired by the colours and those gorgeous icing flowers on the cake and created a 1st birthday card for a very good friend of mine's little girl!

And here is the card

This gorgeous image is from All Dressed Up and coloured with my copics.

And a close up so you can see all the gorgeous D-Lish goodies

All the flowers, the leaves and those gorgeous gold metal beads are from D-Lish along with that super cute chipboard butterfly that I have coloured up using copics and sprinkled with some frantage :)

Thank you so much for stopping by and I can't wait to share next creation for D-Lish with you all!!

Mel

xx

My baby turns 2 & Tiddly Inks Challenge# 139

Hi there!!

I am here today to share a card I made for my baby's birthday. 

My littlest little guy turned 2 on the 27th and I honestly can't believe just how quickly that time has flown by!!

For some reason super heroes has been his thing that I picked for him pretty early on though I dont think he either knows or cares, but hey, that's a Mum's prerogative ;) I have used the super cute "My Batty Hero" for his card to continue along the super heros theme! You can find him over at the TI store here in digi form :)

Here is his card - which I had a heap of fun making!!

My copic colours are as follows:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11 and E04

Hair: E41, E43, E47 and E49

Black: C3, C5, C7 and C9

Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15 and E13

Silver: C0, C1, C3 and C5

I also used a white pencil for the highlight in his boots and mask :)

I have used a white card base and some yellow textured cardstock (pretty sure it's from Stampin Up) and some Heidi Swapp paper (the black with white stars) from her Believe collection. I pulled out an adhesive chipboard red star from a Studio Calico pack and used a gold 2 from the Maggie Holmes Flea Market ephemera pack - I have set myself a challenge to use ALL of that up!! That little wooden tab is from an Aussie company called Flutterby Desgins. Love them!!

I am entering this into the Tiddly Inks Challenge# 139 - Anything Goes :)

As always, thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping!!

Mel

xx

PL Week 13 & The Fabulous Heidi Swapp!!!

Hi there!

Only 1 week to share with you today, I only have the one photographed!

So here we go!

Week 13. For this week I drew inspiration from a challenge I entered on a FB group. I can't remember all of the requirements but it had to use red and lime green, doodling, enamel dots and and a square photo. I began by choosing a photo and then came up with my bits and pieces and ended up with this little card

I have used the Bella Blvd Family Range. Love the colours and the hearts, just worked perfectly!! After putting this card together the rest came together pretty easily as I purchased the collection pack which comes complete with the papers, 12x12 alpha sheets and some sticker sheets.

Here is both pages together

And the left side

And the right

This week was a bit special for me as it included the Spotlight trips that Heidi Swapp made! I have had to include 2 inserts for this week as I had too much to include about seeing Heidi again!! Haha, I'm such a fan girl but she is just so genuine and sweet and funny!!

I actually chopped down a BH Design G page so it was just the 2 6x6 pockets but also found that I had to incude a flip!!

Here is the front of the 1st insert with myself and the fabulous Heidi!
I have used a 3x4 card from the Maggie Holmes kit for Heidi to sign, sprayed some seam binding in similar colours and also used some paper from Amy Tan :)

And the flip flapped with some journalling on the back and also more journalling on the inside of the hello make and take card we did on the day.
In between the 2 cards of the flip (where the ribbon is) is more journalling!! This was added in WAY after the fact!! My biggest little guy (currently 4 1/2) saw my instax print of myself and Heidi, picked it up and said "Mum!" to which I said "Yes, Jacob?" "Mum, that's Heidi Swapp!!" To which I have to admit I squealed a bit, giggled and said to him "Yes, Jacob, it is!"

Here is the back of that insert

And yes, Heidi signed on my book "I love you Mel!! Make Pretty Stuff" Eeeep! 

And like I said I needed to do 2 inserts so here is the 2nd front
Pretty sure this is the Happy kit

And the back - again the Happy kit :)

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and happy scrapping!!

Mel
xx