Reasons to Visit Melissa's Blog

You must check out Melissa’s blog. Why, you ask? Let me give you three good reasons:
1. Her awesome craftiness. You will know doubt be inspired by some of her amazing projects.
2. If you love ribbons, lace & projects with a vintage look, she will dazzle you with her beautiful handmade cards. She always makes the prettiest bows!
3. Her amazing blog giveaway! Just go to this blog link for more details & to check out her inspiring projects.
If you are a fan of Spellbinders, you will just love the giveaway! (hint, hint!) I know that I do!


Sign up to follow her blog and continually be inspired by her wonderful creations.

A Must-Have Set of Digi Frame Overlays/Art

   Check out this great new set of digi frames I just released at my shop at mygrafico.com! Use these greyscale frames by themselves or pair with patterned or colored papers to create lots of cool vintage looking frames. Add effects to create an embossed or engraved look of this beautiful hand-drawn flourish frame. A super tool if you are a scrapbooker, artist or photographer. The files are 8" x 10" with an approx. 4 x 6" window opening. They come with transparent windows and backgrounds so these are easy to place right over your photo. You can shrink the art to under 7" create your own brush file to color as you please and use at smaller sizes. All four files for just $3.50! Follow this link to purchase now at my digi shop! I will be creating a tutorial soon to show you how easy it is to add colors, patterned papers and your art or photos to these. So check back soon!

Project 365/Day 20 - Triple Heart Photo Valentine

When you get a project idea you like, why not make more, right? I have to say that my day 18 project prompted me to create more personalized photo valentines this year. This one is for my daughter Kylie. I have also really been taking advantage of rummaging through my scraps to create new cards from left over embellishments and papers. I used papers from an old Basic Grey mini stack along with some retired SU sheer organdy ribbon along with an epoxy sticker from KI Memories.

You can frame your photo, use it on a corner as I did here or punch it into a shape to add to the Valentine. I am putting my valentine’s greeting on the inside of my cards and focusing on making the outside all about the recipient. Have fun trying this...you can even make it into a mini scrapbook page!

Technique to try out: Want to create a crinkled vintage looking ribbon? Use your embossing heat tool with sheer organdy ribbon. Hold it close to the ribbon and watch it shrivel up. Don’t go too close or it will burn.

Velvet Chic Hybrid Card

I made this card for my Aunt Carole, yet another belated Birthday card mailed off! I am hoping that my new 2011 calendar with photos of upcoming birthdays will keep me ahead of things in the new year! LOL, probably just wishful thinking! 

I created this card using velvet embossed paper in black and ivory from Me and My Big Ideas Sassy collection, a pad I have been stashing for a while. I paired it with deep red precut cards that I also had stashed away...are you noticing a trend here? Yes, I am finally using my papers and goodies instead of storing them away for a bigger, better project. Are you guilty of that too? Now don’t be lying, I know most crafters do this. The frame is from my Elegant Frames digi collection for sale at Mygrafico.com and the verse was typeset and colorized  on my computer and printed out with the frame. I added distressed sponging in black and dragging using a black ink pad.

The background ivory textured panel was created using my Sizzix Big Kick with the Cuttlebug Divine Swirls Embossing Template. For added elegance, I folded a wide black satin ribbon between the layers and held the loop in place with an adhesive square. I assembled the card using my Glue Glider™ Pro with extreme adhesive. I found this to be a good choice in cartridges for this project due to the texture of the layers. To finish the card, I added a strip of adhesive pearls on top of the ribbon to make the black pop.

You can use this card design for creating cards for any occasion. This digital frame set is very versatile and always elegant! Don’t know how to use digital art, then use stamps to recreate this project.

Hope today you are living life creatively!