Holiday Craftiness

     Now that all of my handmade gifts have been distributed, I can write some blog posts about some of my craftiness! Today I thought I'd share a project that I made using my Silhouette.  

     In my opinion, part of the fun is seeing how it all came together. I started with a 10"X20" blank canvas that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I painted it a teal color which I knew my gift recipient would like! I then used a clear, glittery paint to carefully make a thin border around the edge as well as made a few "swishy" strokes to give the canvas a little more dimension. 

After that was done, it was time to get my Silhouette busy. I chose some subway art by Echo Park from the Silhouette online store. I did have to edit it just a bit to make it cut better for the size that I needed. 

The most tedious part was peeling away the excess vinyl to leave only the words left. It was a process but listening to some of my favorite Christmas songs passed the time quickly. 

Once the words were clear of the excess vinyl, I used my transfer paper (best invention ever) to lift the words off of the backing to adhere to the canvas.

I had to press carefully and very, very firmly to get the vinyl onto the canvas. It really didn't want to adhere very well because of the paint and the fact that it was canvas so this took patience for sure. The result was exactly what I was hoping for though!

I added a couple of little retro type snowflakes in the corners and then declared it complete! Thankfully, our lack of snow and cold weather allowed me to take a photo outside so that you can get a feel for the true colors of the project. I am happy to say that my gift recipient liked my gift. 

     I made a few other things as well and hope to have a post about those projects soon. I'd love to know what you made for friends and relatives for Christmas! Leave me a comment and a blog link if you have one, I'd love to check it out! 

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Love These Ladies

     Somehow, along the way, I got incredibly blessed and have had the chance to have some very wonderful women in my life.  Not only that, I got the chance to know them well.  My great-grandmother passed away soon after I had my first child.  Which means that my oldest was held by his great-great-grandma.  How amazing is that?  So, the fact that my daughter knows her great-grandma, regularly spends time with her and has many memories made with her, makes me amazingly happy.
     I had been wanting to get a photo shoot done of all four generations of women for a while; my grandma, my mom, me and my daughter.  I had thought about going to a portrait studio but one day we were all at my house for an event, we all had on similar colors so I brought us all to the backyard and took this picture.  I knew immediately that it would be my four generations scrapbook page!  The photo was taken in May but I just scrapped it this week after seeing the gorgeous sketch from Kristy Lee over at Scrapbook Steals!  Here is the page:

I used the My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose collection: Mabel.  I really loved the colors for this photo and I was happy with how it all came together!  I know that I will treasure this page in years to come.  

     I just took my grandma Christmas shopping and out for lunch a few days ago. We really get along well and have fun together.  At 82, she is spry and active as well as good company. Today, my mom has off of work and she & I are going to meet for lunch too! I can't wait, I love spending time with her. I am also hoping that she will want to come to a couple of thrift stores with me.  My friend Misty recently posted on her blog about some treasures she found for the holidays and I could use a few more stocking stuffers for my kids! I've never thought of checking out thrift stores before but seeing what Misty all got made me want to check it out.  

     I hope that you all have a great day!  If you'd like, leave a comment telling me about an influential woman in your life.  I love reading comments.  Thanks for stopping.

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Still Scrapping

     My poor, neglected blog! I have not posted anything new on here for a while. I was beginning to feel bad about it but then realized that, while it brings me (and hopefully you), some happiness, it is not crucial to world peace or anything ; )  Either way, I am glad to be sharing some of what I have been making lately!  I was in a very crafty mood this past weekend and spent a bit of time in my craft room.  I had several cards that I wanted to make so it was card making day! Here are the fruits on my labor, photographed in poor lighting (I had to take a photo before I could mail them out and it was evening)!

 This card was inspired by a sketch at Sweet Peach Crop Shop. The card turned out a bit differently than the sketch but I fell in the love with it anyway! My first time using washi tape! My kids thought that it looked like bicycle tracks! I loved the vintage feel of it.  I used Basic Grey Hopscotch for this card, as well as some i-rock gems and Pebbles rub-ons.

 These cards were made based off a card that I had seen online (I can't recall where), using the doily in this way.  I loved the look and actually made an anniversary card for my parents similar to this one but I forgot to photograph it before I mailed it!  It was fun to make each card personal in its own way. 

I had to use up the remainder of the doilies in some way so I created this pretty little Christmas tree with them. I love spending the holidays with my family so I mailed this one out to my parents as an early Christmas card.  

For my last card, I used my woodgrain embossing folder and embossed some kraft paper. I then used one of the cute little Lawn Fawn stamps that I won to stamp the sweet little bird.  I colored him in with my Bic Fine Tip markers (which I also won a while ago) and made a little hole for him to peek through.  I kind of love it : ) 

Thank you for stopping by today.  I have a few layouts that I'd like to post too.  So, who knows, perhaps I will post more than one thing this week! I hope that you are getting in the holiday spirit!  I know I am!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Note to Self

     I always seem to have the need to make a note to myself to remind me of various things.  Especially lately, such as this week when I completely spaced on helping in my youngest's classroom...but we won't talk about that right now : /.  When my friend Kristy, over at Scrapbook Steals, asked me if I'd like to create a memo board for the steal being sold today, my first thought was, "I need a memo board!"
     Since (someday) I plan to have a pink, black and white scrap room, I thought I'd use Echo Parks "Be Mine" collection that I picked up for my dream craft room projects.  I had received some fun Teresa Collins Blingage when I went to Salt Lake City for the Scrapbook Steals Crop in October, (SO FUN...I think I'll do a blog post about that later : ) and that added the extra little somethin' that my memo board needed.

Ideally, I'd hang this on a white or bright pink wall but since my perfect scrap room only exists in my mind, my poorly lit bedroom wall will have to do.  The black portion is magnetic and all I did was attach a big, flowered brad (minus the hooks) to the magnet provided.  The beauty of the board (made by Boulder Innovations) is that it can be a hanging board or a free standing board.  My only suggestion is that you check to be sure that you have the board oriented the correct way before adhering your paper.  Thankfully, I wanted mine to hang on the wall but had I wanted it free standing, I would have been out of luck!  Oh, and as for my memo...a girl can wish can't she?  I miss my friend!  However, flying to Utah for a shopping trip isn't in the plans right now, lol!  

     If you have a chance to pick up the steal today on Scrapbook Steals, I don't think you will be disappointed.  So much fun!  Now, off to dream about my scrap room some more!  Thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Soon enough...

Mid-Week Mojo Creations: Topaz #1-10

     A quick blog post to put all of my creations for the mid-week mojo's in one spot!  Here we go...

#1:

 #2:

 #3:

 #4:

#5:

 #6:

 #7:

 #8:

 #9:

 #10

Frogs & Peanut Butter

     I love participating in the DCWV Stack-a-holic Challenge when I can.  I love the sketches that Erin chooses and it is always fun to look through my stacks to see what I can come up with.  My layout today used The Playtime Stack.  I hadn't seen this particular stack around here so when I came across it, I decided I needed it!  It is (as you may expect) very playful and fun.  I used some Thickers as well as some Basic Grey ribbon to add a punch of color and some WRMK brads for a little blingage.  I am thrilled with how it come together (and quickly I might add)!  The only thing that I would have done differently is perhaps putting some pop-dots behind some of the rectangles to give it a little more dimension.  My favorite part is the little bee that I added at the last minute and then hand stitched his little flying trail.  

Here is a close-up of the frog to show his dimension on the page.

 And a close-up of the little bee!

     One thing that I really liked about this sketch was the location of the journaling.  I wasn't sure if I would like it where it was located on the sketch.  As it was finished, it really grew on me though.  Something a little outside of the box for me!  Hope that you like the layout as well.

     I had asked a few posts ago if anyone would like to see some baking and I got a yes!  Since baking is my other hobby, I thought I'd share some of my creations here as well.  Pinterest has been the perfect place for me to find new recipes lately.  It is fun to see what others think looks yummy!  I found a recipe for a Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Peanut Butter frosting and I thought it looked delicious.  I was not disappointed!  Here is a photo of the cake (not mine). 

Mine cake looked the same but the frosting got a little thick.  I think I'd add less powdered sugar next time.  I will also warn you in advance, this is not a light cake in any way!  Tons of buttery goodness!  If you'd like the recipe, click on the photo of the cake and it will bring you to the Tasty Kitchen site : )

Let me know if you make it and how it turns out.  Thank you for stopping by today!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Mustache Anyone?

     I will be the first to admit that when I saw this mustache craze sweeping through the scrapbook world, I was skeptical.  How does one scrapbook a mustache?  Then, they just kind of grew on me!  (Figuratively, not literally of course.)  I had realized a while back that I really prefer a man with facial hair.  A good thing considering my hubby has always had some!  When I took this picture on vacation this summer, the idea of a mustache page came to mind.  So, I created this page for the mid-week mojo over at scrapbooksteals this week.  

     The darker black paper is covered in various mustaches and it is from Hambly Studios.  I wish it would photograph a little better.  Most of the cuts are done on my Silhouette along with some ek success mustache stickers I found at Hobby Lobby this week.  I also found the printed kraft paper at Hobby Lobby.  That 50% off of all paper packs or pads just about did me in!  I did get some good stuff though.  

     For my next layout I am trying to determine how to use a title that I have in my head with a great picture and accompanying paper.  I think I may need to shop my own selection and see what I can come up with!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

    

Birthday Cards With Some Philosophical Nuggets Thrown In Post

     My baby turns seven next month.  (And just to note, I accidentally typed "three" just now instead of "seven," what does that tell you?)  Where do the years go?  Some days fly by.  Some days tick by with each second on the clock but the years, they just gather momentum and surge on.  I really have been trying to live in the moment that has been given to me.  I have become a big addict fan of Pinterest lately and I love finding something on there that inspires me.  Sometimes it is something creative, sometimes it is something that speaks to my heart.  Recently, I found this...

This is what I need to try to remember on a daily basis.  Enjoy the ride.  Easier said than done when I am chasing around most nights.  But, I need to remember that I wouldn't be chasing if I didn't have these three little people in my life so that alone makes me grateful!  Enjoy the ride.  Yes, I think I will : )

     Yes, I will get to some crafty stuff too!  I created my son's birthday party invitation based off of his most recent interest which is China.  He loves anything to do with China.  The food, the culture, the clothes, the animals, the language, you name it, he wants to know about it.  I thought it would be fun to have a Chinese themed birthday party.  I kept it very simple and used my Silhouette to get the shapes I wanted.  (Just to note, there are very limited cute panda cuts on the Silhouette).  

The inside has all of the necessary information along with Happy Birthday written in Chinese across the top.  Thank goodness Google knows how to do all of those kind of things!  He loved it and when he found out we were having Chinese food at his party he jumped around and hugged me saying thank you over and over.  Gotta love all of that enthusiasm!  

     My oldest was invited to a birthday party this weekend and since we got the "oh so original" gift card for a gift, I wanted to jazz it up a bit.  I made a tri-fold card based off of a card sketch by Kristy Lee at scrapbooksteals.com from a looonnnggg time ago.  (I can't find the link right now, I will link it later if I can find it).  

I was going to use Basic Grey Life of the Party but decided that I would hoard that for a bit longer.  Instead, I went with Bo Bunny It's My Party collection.  I was excited that there were pieces that worked with exactly what size I needed.  After I chose my papers, I referred to Kristy's card and realized that I chose the same papers as she did for her card.  A coincidence I promise but I thought it was rather funny!  For the inside of the card, I cut a little gift card holder on my Silhouette.  I then used some American Crafts rub-ons to say Happy Birthday on the outside of the gift card holder. All in all, I was happy with how it turned out.  And, it gave a little something extra so the gift of a gift card! 

     My plan to try to make all of my cards rather than purchase them is going rather well.  I wonder how much money I have saved doing that?  And, I get to use up some of the paper that I have been keeping on hand as well!  Winning all around.  

     Lastly, I've been baking a lot lately and I am wondering what you'd think about me throwing in some recipe blog posts here and there?  Craftiness and baking?  I don't know if I could contain myself!  Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~Melissa  

Home Team

     My youngest adores baseball.  I don't know how many countless hours he spent outside this summer throwing up the ball and hitting it with the bat.  He has his own roster in his mind, who is out injured, who has been traded, etc.  It is the first thing that he wants to do every morning.  Even on mornings like it has been lately at 43º!
     We got to several baseball games this year and he enjoyed every moment.  There is something about going to a game with a little boy that just warms my heart!  The really fun thing is that my parents are taking him to a game all by himself at the end of the month, just like they did with the older grandkids when they were his age.  I think it will be a fun time for all of them.  I love traditions!
     I created this layout using the sketch from Kristy Lee at scrapbooksteals.com.  I changed it up a little to get the look that I wanted.

I feel that using Basic Grey's Oliver collection was really a perfect choice for this page.  I love how the green is carried out throughout the layout.  I cut the baseball border on my Silhouette, as well as the baseball.  I liked the fact that I didn't feel compelled to use the team colors as I sometimes do.  Overall, I am just really happy with how it came together.  

     I have a feeling that I will be scrapping more baseball pages as the years progress if the love of the sport continues as it has!  Hopefully I can keep creative with my layout about his favorite sport!  Thank you for stopping by today.

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Baby Love

     I seriously can't get enough of scrapping my sweet baby nieces.  I haven't been able to scrap baby girl layouts in a really long time considering my "baby" girl isn't a baby anymore!  I actually try to spread out my layouts of them so I don't do too many back-to-back.  They are just too cute!  The layout that I finished today us interpreted from a sketch at Sketch Savvy.

     At first I wasn't sure if I chose the right papers.  I thought that Echo Park's Little Girl might be a little more appropriate.  After I was finished, I liked it better though.  I ended up using the My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy collection.  The only thing I am not sure about is the pretty butterfly on the right.  Too pretty and not cutesy enough?  Let me know what you think.  

     Here is the sketch that I based the layout off of.  My favorite part is the upper right hand corner with the little pennants.  I put the girls' initial in each little pennant which officially made it my favorite part of the layout!  The sketches at Sketch Savvy are really fun and seem to fit with my style!  I am hoping to do more of their layouts soon.  If you happen to use this same sketch, post a link.  I'd love to see what you create!  Thank you for stopping by today!  

Scrap Happy~Melissa

And the Winner is....

*******Misty!*******
Mistylynn said...

You've been so busy!!! I love love your bird boy layout...and yes, I need to get my twine out of baggies for my sanity's sake :)

September 10, 2011 9:24 PM 

Misty, please send me your address at gr8dehne@gmail.com and I will happily get a little something sent out to you!  I just hope that you don't already have what I send you ; )Thank you everyone who left a comment!  I love reading them!  Please check in again soon!
Scrap Happy~Melissa

For the LOVE of Twine, New Layouts and a Giveaway! (Whew!)

     Hello!  Welcome to those of you who may be stopping by from the Scrapbook Steals blog today!  Thanks for taking a moment to check out my blog.  I hope that you become a follower and share some of your thoughts and ideas with me!
     (For those of you who just happen to be stopping by, just to fill you in...It is no secret that I love my bakers twine, particularly from The Twinery.  I have been lucky enough to get my hands on some of it already and have used it numerous times on my layouts.  Today, I have the chance to share some of my creations on the Scrapbook Steals Deal of the Day Site along with a storage idea.  Check out my blog contribution over there today and also enter to win some of this amazing stuff for yourself.  You will thank me later! : )
     Twine has quickly become one of my favorite embellishments to use on my craft projects.  It really adds that little finishing touch that is sometimes needed.  With so many different colors in my collection, I found that I needed a way to keep them from getting tangled.  After a several tries at various storage, I found that clip-style clothespins work really well for me (zipper close baggies however, not so much)!   I just thread the end of it through the metal clip and start winding the other end up. The last bit of twine at the end of the neatly clips into the "clippy" end for easy access.  I also write the color on the end so that I know what to re-order when I run out (and because the names of the colors are so fun).  

     I have created a few projects using twine (which you may have seen already on scrapbook steals) and I thought I'd share them here on my blog as well.  There are many possibilities of what to create using Twine.  My favorite way to use it is for banners on my pages.  It adds the color that I want but doesn't add too much bulk.  On the first layout, I also used the twine to do some stitching across the green border.  (Additionally, this photo was taken by my 6-year-old!)

 Here is another with a little twine banner in the corner...

And one more with twine wrapped around the bottom...

     It is also fun to use the Twine as the main feature of the project as I did in this card.  I do believe that this is one of my favorite cards that I've made!

     I thought it would be fun to share a few more general projects with you today as well.  I have been able to get some great scrapping time in recently.  I wish I could say that it happens while the kids are at school but I'd be lying.  I have a difficult time scrapping when my house is messy.  Therefore, my days are still spend cleaning and my evenings give me a chance to get crafty!  I need to figure out a way to make those daytime hours more creatively productive!  

     My first layout is one that I got inspired by from something I saw on Pinterest.  I love Pinterest because it gives me the chance to quickly peruse layouts that I find inspiring and then go and create.  A wonderful, inspiring place.  If you are new to Pinterest (essentially an online bulletin board), and need an invitation, let me know!  Here is the layout...

I used some Basic Grey for the above layout of my son reading to my niece.  I added a few clouds just on a whim and I think that is the part that I like the most!  I am still looking for a cloud punch but for now, cutting them out by hand is working pretty well!  

For this layout, I used a Mid-Week Mojo sketch from Kristy Lee at Scrapbook Steals as a springboard for my layout.  I had just bought the Portrait collection from Crate Paper and I thought that this picture would look really good with it.  I have been into cameos lately so that is really what sold me ; )  (On a side note, my Hobby Lobby recently started selling Crate Paper, Echo Park and October Afternoon!  Guess who will be visiting more often?!)  

My last layout was created using a sketch from Sweet Peach Crop Shop.  I had this adorable picture of my twin nieces and it was too cute to not scrap!  I used a lot of Sassafras Lass on the bottom and crepe paper for the little ruffle border.  I could seriously scrap those babies every day.  I love being an auntie!

     One last thing, why not do a little giveaway of my own today?  Become a follower and leave a comment telling me something that inspired you somewhere online today and I will send you out a little something (A surprise perhaps? Maybe some twine, maybe some stamps, etc.)!  You have until Sunday, September 11th at 8pm CST to leave a comment and I will choose a random winner at that time and post the winner here.  I am so glad you joined me today : )

     I hope that you were inspired in some way!  I'd love to have you stop back sometime.  Thank you for stopping in!  

Scrap Happy~

Melissa

Twinery Giveaway!

     I *love* twine!  It is such a perfect finishing touch on so many of my layouts!  One of my favorite places to get twine is from The Twinery and they are having an amazing giveaway!  Please check it out...

Click on the picture to take you to their blog!

Would anyone like a craft room

full of our baker's twine???

(well...maybe not an entire craft room...but close...)

We're giving away TWO full sets of our Ultimate Twine Bundle - that's a full spool of each color, folks! 

And we're giving away not one, but TWO of them! 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Birthday Fun

 One of my goals lately has been to start to use up some of the paper that I have before I make any more purchases.  While I am not committing to that 100%, I have drastically cut down on what I have been purchasing.  It is hard since scrapbook paper really does bring me joy, but I have *so* much and really need to use the wonderfulness that I have!  

     I love to work from a sketch and the August Stack-a-holic Template Challenge from DCWV was a fun one this month!  I pulled out my Dots, Stripes and Plaids stack and got to work on a layout from my daughters birthday party in July.  I thought that the papers were fun for the celebration feel that I was looking for.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my interpretation:

     My favorite part of the layout (although small) is the upper right hand corner.  I love the little "e"!  I used Glossy Accents on it to give it a little dimension and shine.  I have several more pictures of her special day so I hope to scrap those soon as well!  Thank you for stopping by!

Scrap Happy~Melissa

Back in the Groove

     I finally feel like I am back in the scrapbooking groove!  The last few weeks I have felt that I was struggling to find the time to scrapbook.  Although I don't scrap chronologically, I always felt that there was new product to try and new photos to scrap and just was feeling...behind.  However, when it comes down to it, I scrapbook to preserve, create and inspire.  That is what I want to remember.  With that in mind, here are two projects that I completed recently.
     The first project is a layout that I made for a fun little scrapbook group that I belong to.  The challenge was to create a layout using no patterned paper.

     This layout was inspired in several ways.  I've seen the monochromatic look on several layouts recently and wanted to give it a try.  I am sure that the layout itself is something I tucked away from somewhere.  Sometimes I think we are inspired by something and then it is recalled in the sub-conscience when creating.  The tag above the journaling is actually from a Converse item that we purchased and it really inspired the look of the layout.  Sometimes I think that creating an "older boy" layout is difficult so when this one came together as it did, I was quite pleased with the results!  

     My second layout uses a collection that I fell in love with...October Afternoon Rocket Age!  I was not sure which photos to use with it until I took these of my youngest.

The layout itself was inspired by a Pink Paislee layout that I saw recently. I love my little toothless boy (who just lost another tooth tonight!) and I couldn't wait to scrap his pics!  It was funny how this one came together since I literally had the title, the layout and the whole "look" of it, ready in my head for over a week!  Sometimes I just need to sit on an idea before it comes to be!  

     Thank you for taking a look at my layouts today!  I have another just about done so I hope to have that up soon too! 

Scrap Happy~Melissa

  

I'd Appreciate It!

     Hello to you, my 35 blog followers!  I was hoping that you could help me out.  I created this layout

(click to view larger)

for the American Crafts Summertime challenge on their Facebook page.  The layout with the most "likes" (votes) is the winner for the challenge.  If you are so inclined, I'd really appreciate a vote for my layout!  Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150252534959630&set=a.10150252534689630.343145.44105314629&type=1&theater&pid=7280167&id=44105314629

Thank you for stopping today and for your vote!
Scrap Happy~Melissa