I am not a "wrapper".

A conversation with friends regarding wrapping gifts inspired me to create this tag.

I despise wrapping, but love making pretty tags to attach to the package!

For this one I used the George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge for the tag shape.

I layered paper from Creative Memories (Noel) and DCWV (Linen Closet).

Inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo and Tea Dye).

Spellbinders Labels Eight, Foliage, and Rose Creations.

Martha Stewart Deco Fan punch.

Diamond Stickles to give the flowers some extra sparkle.

That adorable Reindeer is from Lifestyle Crafts,

bling from ZVA Creative, ribbon from Offray, and stamps by Cloud9 Design.

A lot of work for something small, but more enjoyable to me than gift wrapping.

And this way, maybe people won't notice my less than stellar wrapping skills!

I'm entering this tag in the weekly challenge over at Sugar Creek Hollow.

Is It Summer Yet?

If you know me, you know I don't do cold. 

I love the sun, the sand, the WARM.

It hasn't been too terribly cold, but it has been incredibly wet lately.

Today I am sharing a recent layout of my son on one of our frequent beach trips.

I just love this picture of him.

I hope he always remembers how much fun he had.

It's funny to think this is the same kid who a few short years ago wouldn't dream of getting his face wet!

 

This layout is one of three projects that won me a ticket into round 2 for a design team spot. 

I won't name the company because I'm honestly not sure if I'm allowed to.

And I don't want to jinx myself.

Round 2 submissions were due today, so it's wait time.

You'll be seeing more from me now that all of my Christmas projects are complete. 

Once they arrive in the hands of their owners I will share them.

Have a happy Thursday!

*Paper is DCWV Citrus Stack, except the black polka dotted paper. I have no idea where that came from.

Non-Traditional Christmas

After a few weeks of making a horde of red & green cards,

I was ecstatic to find a new challenge over at Sugar Creek Hollow.

Create a vintage, shabby or primitive card using non-traditional colors.

Yes, please!

Here's what I came up with:

The stamp is from Stampendous and has a little bit of everything I love in it, from Santa with his toys and tree to the vintage postage stamp.  It's very versatile and I have been using it a lot!

Made good use of some new Spellbinders dies (labels 8) and re-purposed some ribbon scraps.

The ink is from Ranger -Tim Holtz Distress Ink : Rusty Hinge.

Patterned paper is DCWV : Cafe Mediterranean.

Thanks for taking a look and go check out Sugar Creek Hollow to join in the challenge!

12 Days of Christmas at Scrapbook.com!

Are you sitting down?

If you are a scrapbooker, cardmaker, or all around lover of crafty goodness you MUST check out these deals.

Scrapbook.com is practically GIVING AWAY some really great products for the next 12 days.

Great community, excellent customer service.

Here is a direct link to today's deal.

Offer valid while supplies last, so what are you waiting for?

Gift Card Holders

We've all seen these at the store. And we pay 4 bucks a pop for them. Well, no more!

My sister was at a crafty-fair-thingamajig and saw some, um, less than stellar examples.

So she shot me an email wondering if I could make some.  

Of course I can!

After scouring the 'net I found a wonderful (read: EASY) tutorial over at Two Peas in a Bucket.

They have a little template for you to print out and everything!

Do you love them as much as I do?!

*Giveaway* from Once Upon A . . .Sketch!

You have a chance to win this gorgeous album kit featuring

Melissa Frances 5th Avenue Collection...

Wow, right?!

CLICK HERE for guidelines and to enter!!! Good luck!

Believe

Happy Friday!

 I'm here with a new card and my first ever submission to
 Sugar Creek Hollow.

It definitely won't be my last!

I was pointed in the direction of
 Sugar Creek Hollow
 by some fabulous fellow card makers.

 They hold weekly challenges and invite anyone who loves this style to participate.

Their style is vintage, shabby, and primitive and I AM LOVING IT!

This week's challenge is Stripes & Spots and here is what I came up with :

Forgive the photo quality, it's a rainy day here in sunny south Florida!

The stamps are Cloud9 Design.

They just screamed "vintage" to me, so into my shopping basket they went.

I also made my very first stick pin - isn't it gorgeous? 

I may or may not have raided my daughter's bead collection for those beads.

(She has a bajillion of them, so I'm sure she won't mind.)

Thanks for taking a look at my card, 

and make sure to check out Sugar Creek Hollow 

if these challenges sound like fun to you!

(All papers used are DCWV.)

Heartfelt Thanks

To our veterans, past and present - I thank you.

To every service man and woman in every little corner of the world - I thank you. 

To your families, who love and miss you more than you can imagine - I thank them, too. 

Happy Veteran's Day!

Christmas Mini Cards with Spellbinders

Hello, my name is Melissa and I am addicted to Spellbinders Nestabilities.

 I mean really, what can't  you do with these dies?

 Today I'll show you how I make mini cards. (They'd also make adorable gift tags, wouldn't they?)

Let's get started!

You can use any die you like, I love Labels 3 and Labels 4 for mini cards.

The Eyelet Circles set is really fun, so I'll use that one for my example.

First, take a piece of 8 1/2x11 paper and score & fold at 4 1/4.

 This way you can make up to three cards with one piece of paper.

 I love using Kraft for these little cards because it's very versatile and sturdy.

Fold your paper in half and line up with the folded edge just inside the cutting edge of the die.

Make the "sandwich" compatible with your machine and let 'er rip.

That was it! It was that easy. An adorable little mini card that you can now decorate to your heart's content.

What is your favorite Spellbinders project?

$250 Lego Giveaway!

Just a little sweepstakes I thought I'd pass along.

 If you, like me, have a boy then you know they love few things more than Legos!

Good luck!

www.getsubmit.com/enter/sweepstakes_refer/209/1272

From Scraps to Treasure

Scraps. We all have them. Those odd little bits left over from layouts, mini albums, and other special projects.

What to do with them? If you're anything like me, it's a CRIME to even think about throwing them away.

I've compiled a list of things to do with the leftovers :

• If you have children, you know they love to use your "stuff". Make a special craft box just for them and fill it periodically with your leftovers.  Don't have kids? Give them to a niece, nephew (boys are crafty, too!), coworker, or neighbor.
• Bag them up and donate them to a preschool/daycare/church. They do a lot of art projects on a very limited budget. You could even take it one step further and make some die cuts out of your scrap paper.
• Have a crafty friend? Swap scraps!
• Scrapbook.com hosts a monthly layout challenge where you create a layout using ONLY your scraps. It's a great way to make a dent in your pile and kind of forces you to think outside the box.
• Banners are so popular on layouts. Use your scraps to make a few to have on hand.
• Make your own flowers. Yes, premade flowers are divine, but they are also expensive. You can find a bajillion tutorials online, so what are you waiting for?
• Make your own gift tags, cupcake toppers, greetings cards.

Wait. Did someone say greeting card? That's exactly what I did. I've been doing some Christmas projects lately and noticed my holiday scrap stash was reaching epic proportions. So I took a few pieces of random patterned paper, solid cardstock, pearls, paper alphas, ribbon, and my ever-present dollar store leaves & flowers and made a card.

I did use one "new" item for this card - the doodle twine from doodlebug design.

 Oh, it is FABULOUS. And, yes, I'll take one in every color.

So, what do you do with your scraps?

Thanksgiving Placecards

I was "hired" by a dear friend to make these placecards. Can you imagine . . . getting paid to play with paper?

 It's an absolute dream come true! I hope she'll send me a photo of her holiday table.

It was an easy, but somewhat time consuming process. I started with a 4x4 inch piece of patterned cardstock, scored and folded in half. I used a font downloaded from dafont.com for the names. Once all of the flowers were made and the branchy leaves were cut it was just a matter of glue. Lots and lots of glue. 

Products used : Spellbinders {Foliage, Rose Creations, and Labels Four}. Recollections Paper Pack {Night & Fall}.

 Stickles {Diamond}. Tim Holtz Distress Ink {Vintage Photo}.

 Those adorable leaves are from the Dollar Tree.

I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Board to make the box.