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Memory Planner | May 1 – 9 2021 | Traci Reed Designs OBG: Hearth & Hollow

Hey & hello my scrappy friends!!

Yes, it’s Melinda and I’m writing a blog post on my own blog 😂 Doesn’t happen often but I thought this would be the easiest way to share this project as I don’t have a process video!

I’m playing with the gorgeous Hearth & Hollow collection by Traci Reed Designs for this months Oldies but Goodies post which means that you can get 50% off this collection for a very limited time!

I pulled out the few bits & pieces I hadn’t used yet from this collection, plus printed all of the 3×4 cards and a few extras. I’ve matched some distress oxide inks: Victorian Velvet, Fossilized Amber & Weathered Wood, added a Rose Gold ink pad & a couple of complimentary alphas.

I’m working on a few pages in my 2021 MAMBI Big Happy Planner. Specifically, 1st to 9th May.

I’ve worked out where are all of my photos are going (I print them on sticker paper to the right size) and stock those in place leaving room for journaling.

Which is often tucked under or behind something, I just LOVE the interactive pieces!!

With my photos & places for stories in situ the FUN begins!! I basically just flipped through my supplies and when I found the “right” piece/s stuck them down.

I pulled in a number of different stamp sets to use with my inks and layered my stamps with all of the fun stickers and cards I’m using.

I really LOVE the travellers notebook signatures that Traci includes in her collections so I chose a few of those to print on my sticker paper so they are as wide as the columns in my album. You can see the 2 rainbow striped ones on the left & the blue one with all the critters is the same!

I took a tonne of photos so I could capture all of the details!! Lots of fun patterns & beautiful colours layered together and I just love these pages!

Did you notice on the photo with both pages the “extra page” I included?? I simply stuck 2 3×4 cards back to back and then punched holes to pop it into my album!

And the right page also has lots of beautiful patterns & layered details!

And more fun interactive elements. The stitching here creates the middle of an “open book!”

And I’ve also included another of the TN signatures, this one was cut down to fit the space I had left.

I am thoroughly enjoying working in this format and especially love that with digital elements I can print them as many times as I want at whatever size I want!!

Make sure if you love this gorgeous collection you head over to the Traci Reed Designs shop RIGHT NOW, so you can grab it at 50% off!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my share today and if you have any questions at all please drop them here!

Mel xx

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Scrap the Boys | November 2020 | Cousins Happy Together

Hello, hello my scrappy friends and a big welcome to my blog today, the 1st of November! Can you even believe it?!?

And this month we have a fun sketch challenge for you all! I don’t know about you but I just love a sketch, especially when my mojo is taking a holiday!

As soon as I saw this sketch I was drawn to my stash of Elle’s Studio goodies!! Those labels, circles and stars down the right just screamed “Elle’s Studio” at me!

I’ve used lots of different products but started with the May and June 2020 kits, specifically the “Summer Fun” Paper Stack for that blue block of pattern on the right hand side. From there I chose my colour scheme and pulled out all of the yellow, blue, red bits and pieces that fitted with the sketch/layout design.

As usual, I also have a process video for you which I hope you enjoy! Just hit that play button below 🙂

So, make sure you head over here for the rest of the DT’s inspirational shares and over here to the FB group to upload your take on this fun sketch! I’ll leave you with a few close ups!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with my next share! Until then, happy scrapping!!
Mel
xx

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March 2020 Homemade Kit | Creations | 7 layouts & a card

Hello once again my scrappy friends and welcome to my blog!

Today’s share is to show you all of the things I created with my March 2020 Homemade Kit – in total 7 12×12 layouts and a card!

First up you can see the video flip through below – it’s long, so grab a cuppa or vodka 😉 The card is not in the video, I was inspired after filming lol


And onto my creations!!

First up was this one for Scrap The Boys March 2020 Challenge

You can see my process video below

Next was this fun page using drippy water colours and a tonne of ephemera pieces and stickers! 

Again, process video is below

Third was this page, inspired by a class I am currently doing with Shimelle


And you can see more close up’s of this on this post on my blog.

Fourth was another layout inspired by Shimelle’s class.

As hard as it was to use it, I love that I used that gorgeous rainbow stripe paper! 

Next up was this page – Seek Adventure In Books.

This page was created by following along with Sue Plumb’s class that was created for a Cyber Crop and you can see her video here.

I did create a process video for this one and you can see that by clicking below!

VIDEO COMING SOON I PROMISE!!

Layout 6 was created while I was Zooming with a scrappy friend actually! I had a lot of these blue and green papers left so decided to create a stack with most of what I had left.

The paper layers were topped with these fun & silly photos of my youngest and this fun cut file I had cut previously from CUT to YOU!
And finally, with mostly scraps left I created this layout, again featuring my youngest.

The “Sun Kissed” title was perfect for this photo!! I kept this page pretty simple. A few layers behind my photo, some Heidi Swapp Colour Shine in Gold smooshed onto my background and a loose vertical line of butterflies.

I really, really love the end result!

As I mentioned, I threw together a card after I turned off the camera!

A few simple layers, a giant butterfly and a few of my left over ephemera pieces.
I am really pleased with just how much I got out of this kit!! 

I did learn a couple of lessons too which I can use for future kits

– I added in WAY too many embellishments/stickers
– Though this kit was created using a rainbow stripe pattern paper as the base it became very blue/green
– I do love a bigger variety of coloured/patterned papers

So, I shall apply these lessons to building my April kit!
Which, by the way, you can find here on Khristina’s blog!

I hope you enjoyed my shares and I can’t wait to build and create and with Aprils kit!!

Until next time, happy scrapping & stay safe!!

Melinda

xx






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Anna’s Craft Cupboard | Annabelle Acrylics Feature | November 2019

Hello my lovely blog subscribers and welcome to my blog today! It’s been a little while between posts but I just wanted to drop in quickly and share all of my November Anna’s Craft Cupboard shares in one place!!

This month I featured lots of the beautiful Annabelle acrylic pieces available exclusively through Anna’s and here they are!

First up this fun page “You Have My Heart” featuring Annabelle with the oh so fun “Squeeze The Day” collection by Bella Blvd

You can see the full blog post on the Anna’s blog here

And my process video is below

Next was this very mixed media page using a cut file to hand stitch around and some Lindy’s products for the mess “Sprinkles & Fairydust”!


Blog post is here on the Anna’s blog

And video is below!


3rd up was this page “But First… Coffee” created using the Vicki Boutin Wildflower & Honey collection and again more Lindy’s for my background.


The full blog post is over here on the Anna’s blog

While the process video is below


Warning!! This video goes on a bit of personal journey tangent 😉

And lastly was this page “You & Me Silly Selfies” pairing Annabelle with Pink Fresh Studio’s “Just A Little Lovely” collection.


Blog post can be read here 

And my video is, again, below.


I hope you have enjoyed my shares for Anna’s this month! I really loved playing with those gorgeous acrylic pieces and digging into my Anna’s stash of purchased and left over goodies! So fun!

Until next time, happy scrapping and thanks for stopping by!

Melinda

xx 
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STB October 2019 | Super Awesome

Hey my scrappy friends and welcome to my blog today!! My share today is for the Scrap The Boys October challenge.


I just love sketches so was excited when I saw that this was the challenge for this month! Here is my take


You can see I have stuck very closely to the sketch but yet still made it a definite “Melinda page”


I jumped into my Cocoa Vanilla Studio “boy” stash, specifically to start with my “Boys Rule” collection which I just LOVE!!


I’ve used papers Happy Go Lucky, Good Times and Straight & Narrow for my 3 biggest background pieces and just love that pop of lime green in the middle!


This was all looking way too clean for me so I grabbed a couple of stamps and some black Versafine ink and stamped in a couple of pieces on my background layers. I’ve also added some splatters using green, blue and a grey.


I’ve used a couple more paper layers, one scrap from a 12×12 and some from the 6×8 paper pad. I added in a few ephemera pieces for layers as well.


My title pieces came from the CVS You Rock collection and so too did the film strip tucked into my layers.


I added in my journalling to one of the cut aparts from the 6×8 paper pad, right where the middle photo is on the sketch. And finally, some enamel shapes sprinkled around. So excited, I FINISHED a package of something lol


Unfortunately, due to some stupid tech issues I have no video for this page but I still hope you enjoyed!! Touch wood, all my tech issues seem to be sorted now so more videos coming soon!!

Make sure you head over here for the other girls’ takes on this fun sketch and to enter your own page for this months challenge. Remember, I may have followed the sketch very closely but if it inspires you in another way just go for it and enjoy the process!!!

Until the next time, happy scrapping!
Mel
xx





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Anna’s Craft Cupboard | Bella Blvd – Squeeze The Day | September 2019

Hello my scrappy friends and welcome to my blog today!

I know it’s been a little while and my sharing has not been particularly consistent but we have had a lot happening around here and I am doing what I can when I can and enjoying the process.

You may have noticed that my blog in general has just gotten less use, especially if you have been around a little while. There are reasons for that and one of those is simply that sharing on my blog is not my favourite platform to share on as I don’t get much feedback and it doesn’t really start any conversations with other creatives!

If, however you follow me on any of my other social media platforms you will have seen that this month I am up on the Anna’s Craft Cupboard blog again. I got to play with the fun Bella Blvd Squeeze The Day collection and have created the following layouts


First up was this fun pun page created of my youngest “Orange You The Sweetest”


You can find the full blog post on the Anna’s blog here
And the process video is below


Next up was another very bright and messy page “Fruit & Vegemite Lunches”


You can find the full blog post on the Anna’s blog here

And, of course, the process video below


Third was another dark background! I just love the way the bright colours pop off the dark background pattern paper. And a title from the Annabelle acrylic collection “Full of Sass”


Blog post on the Anna’s blog is here

And YT process video is below


And finally this bright and happy page “Love You” using another Annabelle acrylic title


You can see the complete blog post on the Anna’s blog here

And YT process video is below



I think in every video I mention that I didn’t choose this collection, Bri did but I love it! The bright bold colours and themed icons really had me scratching my head for a little bit until I decided to just run with it! Hence, my first page “Orange You The Sweetest” lol

You can find the Bella Blvd collection over here in the Anna’s store.

And all of the Annabelle acrylics live here in the store.

If you’d like to follow Anna’s on their social media profiles here is a list for you with all clickable links!

Store: http://www.annascraftcupboard.com.au
Blog: http://www.annascraft.com.au
Anna’s Craft Cupboard Community FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/annascraftcupboardcommunity/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/annascraftcupboard/
And if you don’t yet follow me on all of my socials I’d love for you to join me! Again, links to follow!

Blog: http://www.melindasweetman.blogspot.com
FB page – To The Stars and Back: https://www.facebook.com/tothestarsandbackms/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m_sweetman/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsr3iyOFoYPK46t1imtGX7w
As always, thank you ever so much for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed my shares for this month for Anna’s and I look forward to sharing more creations as I make them!

Have a fantastic scrappy day/weekend/night!
Melinda
xx
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STB September 2019 | You Make My {Heart} Smile

Hello my scrappy friends and welcome back to my blog today!! 

My first share for September is for Scrap The Boys and this months challenge is all about the flowers! 


Now, if you had told me only about 2 years ago I would be using lots of flowers on my boy pages I would have laughed at you but, oh boy, I just LOVE this page and love, love, love all those florals!


I have used another cut file from CUT to YOU paired with the gorgeous Paige Evans Whimsical collection. I chose this collection because I didn’t get much of it but I did make sure I grabbed the gorgeous floral ephemera pack which I have both been busting to use and hoarding lol


I had this sweet photo of my oldest boy with his new cousin and thought this was a perfect match for this challenge and this collection so printed the photo the right size to back the heart in this cut file.


I used a little bit of mixed media in the background using the packaging technique after using a little bit of white gesso. I’ve used 2 Shimmerz paints in a yellow and an orange-yellow. 


And then I layered up those gorgeous florals. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to which florals I chose though I did try to make sure that I didn’t put the same colour on top of the same colour and I did intentionally only choose the florals without the white border.


You can see my process video either on my YT channel or simply hit play below

Make sure you pop over to the STB blog for ALL of the gorgeous inspiration provided for you by the amazing DT and that is also where you can link up your take on this month’s challenge!

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

Melinda

x



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STB August 2019 | Superheroes In Disguise

Hello my scrappy friends and welcome back to my blog again today!

Today’s share is for the August 2019 Scrap The Boys challenge. 

This month we have this striking mood board to play along with. What does it say to you? What will you create?


I immediately fell in love with the colour palette, the stripes and for some reason the skyline made me think of superheroes so I pulled out a photo of my oldest wearing a bubble wrap cape!


I picked up the gorgeous Heidi Swapp Wolf Pack collection a little while ago so I had been busting to crack into that and this mood board just worked perfectly!

I’ve used 2 of the pattern papers as my main back ground. 


I created the word “Superheroes” in Silhouette Studio and backed that with papers from the 6×6 paper pad to form part of my title. Finishing my title off with some Doodlebug flat alphas and some AC “Happy Life” mini thickers.


With the big title I didn’t feel like I needed to add too much more so a few stickers, some tangled silver thread, my journalling and some stitching around the edge and my page is done.


Oh, I forgot the silver and white ink splatters!


You can see my process below or head over to my YT channel if you’d like to watch over there!


Anyways, it’s now almost the end of the month – oops, I forgot to push “publish” so I do hope you’ve had time to play along!!

Until next time, happy scrapping!
Melinda

x

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K+ August Challenge | Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Hey, hey my scrappy friends and welcome back to my blog today where I am sharing my first make for August which is for K+ Challenges!


The challenge for August is Rock a bye and be inspired by Nursery Rhymes!

For some reason it took me ages to settle on the rhyme I wanted to use when really it should have simple! This quote is up on my youngest child’s bedroom wall lol


When the Nursery Rhyme came to me this page come together super quickly as I knew I wanted to scrap this photo of me with my newest nephew, Hugo. I chose soft, baby blues and stars (of course!) and got to work.


I love all of the tone on tone blues (mostly the same product too!) on that Kraft cardstock!! Here are a few close ups of my page!



And you can see my process over on my YT channel here or you can simply click play below and enjoy!



I can’t wait to see your take on this fun challenge this month so make sure to head over to both the K+ blog and FB Community to share!

I hope you have enjoyed and I’ll be back again soon with another share! 

Until then, happy scrapping!!
Mel
xx
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STB July 2019 | Travel Fun

Hello my scrappy friends! Another day and another post, yay!

This is for the adventure/travel STB prompt for July and I have actually scrapped someone other than  my children lol


Here is my page and I really love the end result! And yep, that’s hubby in the photo. Without a child lol


Again, Gwen from CUT to YOU has sponsored us with some cut files and here are the 2 I’ve used.


As you can see I have welded the word Travel from the Adventure Awaits file to the Fun from the Summer Page Builder file and also cut the word adventure from the Adventure Awaits file. All of these were cut in smooth white card stock.


I decided to keep my background fairly monochromatic using blacks and greys with stencils and the packaging technique. I’ve also used stamping on my title/word pieces for a little extra interest.


I’ve pulled the colours from the photo (red and blue) and used those as embellishments and layers around my photo.


You can see this page is awaiting journalling on the right hand side and that is hubby’s “job” as it was his trip and his experience. I really don’t often get the chance to include any of the other people’s voices in my layouts as I have a story I want to tell to “go with” the photos I’m using!
So, make sure you head over here for my process video


And over here for the STB blog and all of the other DT girls awesome inspiration pieces! I can’t wait to see what you create this month!

Until next time, happy scrapping!
Melinda
xx