Secret Garden Congrats!

Hello!

I forgot to share this card that I created for Barb's (SCS) Congratulations swap a few weeks ago.

I love my new SU! Secret Garden stamp set and dies.

I colored the flower with my Spectrum/Noir markers.

I like the clean look of this too. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

Blessings...

Melina

Are You a Butterfly Lover?

If not....then look away.....you're about to see lots of butterfly "eye candy"! *giggle*

I made these cards and "Candy" (accents) for a SplitCoast Swap I am in.

My friend Linda is the host of this great swap. I hope she likes my creations :)

 Here are my black and white cards. I used a Swirl Cuttlebug folder on the black card stock, added some white satin flower trim and some 10mm silver brads. I love black and white cards and really like how mine turned out. Oh, and the sentiment.....well, I thought since it was black and white that it could be used for a wedding/anniversary card. What do you think?

And here is the butterfly "candy" I created. Instead of sending 6 to 8 of the same pieces in a bag (We had to create 6 bags of 6 or more butterflies), I gave a variety! The larger butterflies and light blue one are cut with the Indie Art Cricut Cart. The 3 smaller ones are punched with the SU! butterfly punch. Then I sent 2 stamped images along. I like variety! :)

Now, I can't wait to see what I get back! Yea!

Until next time...

Blessings...

Melina

Are You Blue?

Hello Everyone!

How is you day going?

I hope you are well. Thank you for stopping by!

This week's Twisted Tuesday Challenge asks the question....Are You Blue?

Find the challenge here:

http://www.twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.com/2012/08/2tc19-are-you-blue.html

The Twist is we want you to try and use only 1 other color besides blue in your creation.

I think this trinket box I made for a special friend goes along.....my other color is brown/tan....

 This started out as a plain wooden box from Hobby Lobby.

 I got out the Modge Podge and went to work "pasting" on different papers.

 I love the glossy coat the Modge Podge added.

Then, of course, I had to add some bling.....well, a lot of bling and pearls!....oh, oh, oh, and flowers!

 Here's a close up of the flowers. I painted every so lightly the leaves to go along with the other colors of the box. The bright green just stood out too much. The flower/medallion in the background with the pearl middle is a piece cut from patterned paper.

So, for my first altered box.....I think I did alright and I am HOOKED! I gotta get another and make it for myself! :)

(the inside and bottom I painted dark brown and added some goodies for Lisa inside. :)

Until next time...

Blessings...

Melina

Two Firsts for Me

Hi People!

Thanks so much for visiting my little blog. :)

First off, I want to tell you that if you don't participate in the Twisted Tuesday challenge this week.....well you are just missing out completely! Because.....................IT'S A FREE FOR ALL! You can submit anything you like. Anything Goes!!! So go over and check us out. We want to see what you're working on!!!!

www.twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.com

I have been working on some different things lately.

One is a magnet bookmark. I found the tutorial on SCS. I also hosted a Secret Sister swap where part of the goodies you send your Sis had to include one of these darling things. Well, here is what mine looked like that I sent to my Sis:

 (above pic) Here's the front. I cut chipboard with my Spellbinders deckled rectangle die and then some DCWV cupcake paper and then distressed the edges. I added a cupcake image and some tiny chocolate rick rack trim.

 (above pic) this is the inside....shows the ribbon (attached with scor tape, folded under and adhered to itself then adhered to the shipboard) and magnets.

Here's the back. I just used my circle punch on the patterned paper.

I like how it turned out. Now, to make one for myself! LOL

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Here's one other "first" for me. I participated in a jar swap on FB. We just had to find a quart jar of some kind. Decorate it and add goodies to the inside. Here's what I sent my Sis:

I attached the lace with tape on the back so my Sis could remove it and use it if she wanted. I also included some of that lace in the jar. I added some brown tulle also.
The inside was packed to the top! I sent her lots of ribbon, trim, brads, flowers, punch outs, die cuts, tags, lots and lots of charms, buttons, stamped images and more misc. embellishments.

This was the decoration for the lid. I cut some cream felt to cover the gold lid. Then I die cut some fabric and stiff sprayed it. A button and some fiber finished off the flower.

I really enjoyed both of these swaps I was in!

Have a great day

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Chinese Forest?

Well, this is the card I made for the latest Forest swap over on SCS and the circles reminded me of beautiful Chinese lanterns. So, hence my post's title. :)

I love this color combo. It's very "Spring" and with temps in the high 70's today, I'm really feeling it!

Supplies

paper ~ whisper white, wild wasabi

stamps ~ circle circus, punch bunch

ink ~ tangerine tango, melon mambo

accessories ~ melon mambo pom pom ribbon, circle punch, rounded corner punch, scalloped circle punch, cardboard, silver brad, sponge dauber, 1/16 hole punch

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day :)

Until next time...

Blessings...

Melina

It was a Mystery

............to me what April was going to send us with our Mystery package last month. But, isn't this image a beauty?!

I'm a part of a Mystery swap group on SCS. Each month a different hostess sends out images, the same image to each swapper. When you get the images, you make 4 cards all the same with that image and mail them back to her. She then swaps them out and sends you cards back that other swappers have made using that same image. It's so neat seeing how everyone else used/colored the image.
April had also sent a roll of decorative tape for us to use on our cards. I used mine under the button....


I used Melon Mambo card stock as my base. Then a strip of Chocolate Chip and a piece of dp from my Stack 6 (DCWV) paper stack.
I have a few copics now. Mostly flesh colors and browns. I love them. I'm just trying to get the shading right.
I can't wait to get cards back from this swap :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Forest Friends Swap Card

Hello Lovelies!

Here it is the last shopping weekend before Christmas! Are you ready?! I know I'm SO not! ;0) It's really going to come down to the wire for us this year. But, I have no other choice than to be up for the challenge! What will be, will be...

Another thing that came down to the wire is getting these Forest Friends Swap cards out to my good friend Jeanette. I'm working around boxes so it's taking me longer to get to crafty things as far as time goes and it's like an obstacle coarse here! But, they did arrive, which I'm so happy and I can't wait to get cards back.


I found this great patterned paper at Hobby Lobby. I thought when I saw it that it fit the swap theme perfectly! I loved the earth tones in it too so to give the card a punch of color I used this coral red card stock (also from HL) for my base. I used more mustard with the sentiment and added a mustard brad. The flowers are from my stash along with the wide grosgrain chocolate ribbon. The hemp twine finishes the card.

Have a great weekend. Be safe!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

What a Cute Mystery Package!

I just finished a swap with my "Mystery Friends"! Each month one of the ladies hosts and sends out images. When we get the images, we make 4 cards with them and mail them back. The hostess swaps them out and sends us 3 different cards made by the other Mystery Friends using the same image! It is so much fun seeing how everybody used the images.

Jeanette sent us this cute little bear and fire images along with the sentiment.....


I love this little guy!
I added a snail brad and a card stock moon to finish the scene :-)
I colored the images with watercolor pencils and a blender pen.

Thanks Jeanette for such a cute Mystery package!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Crabby Paradise

Hello peoples!
How are you....I hope all is well! :)

I made this card for a swap I'm in on SCS. The Paradise swap hosted my Forest Ranger.


I used natural white as my base and a piece of dp made by Creative Imaginations. It's very fun paper. It has a plastic feel to it and it has some shimmer. The crab stamp is from SU!'s It's the Thought. I colored him with a real red marker but didn't color his sad mouth. I stamped him then drew on my own happy mouth. I mean he is in Paradise after all. He couldn't have a sad face! The leaf is from the SU! Paradise stamp set (how fitting). The ribbon is some that April (aprillower), hey girl, sent me. I used some misc. white brads to finish off my sentiment piece punched with the modern label and large oval punches.

I'm off to do some more crafting!

Until next time...
Blessings...