Melissa Vining

Love This | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hello everyone, it’s Melissa here and I’m so happy to be back with another layout that I created with the beautiful Storyteller collection.  I just adore the navy blue tones in this collection and really wanted to feature them.  I found this unusual cut file by Just Nick Studio that enabled me to feature a large piece of the patterned paper and decided to use Spring Fling instead of my usual white cardstock.

I decided to scrapbook a recent photo of our daughter Brielle with the first broccoli that I harvested from our vegetable garden.  I backed the cut file predominantly with papers from the A5 Paper Stack. I machine stitched around the circle three times with white thread, and I love the texture that it adds!

For my title I used the Foam Title Stickers.  “Love This” was perfect for this sweet photo! I added splatters in gold shimmer to add something extra to my page.  I did this before I added the embellishments.

I embellished with lots of Die Cut Ephemera, and I especially loved adding the tag with twine hanging from one of the cut file leaves. I distressed the edges of lots of the ephemera pieces, I guess this is one of my signature design features.

I wrote my journaling on a die cut ephemera ticket.  I also added a fussy cut floral that was left over from a pervious project. It always feels so satisfying to use up scraps! Of course I was so happy to get a couple of Wood Buttons onto my page too!

I hope I inspired you to cut your cut files from patterned paper!

Have a great rest of your week!

Melissa xx

Beautiful | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, It’s Melissa here and I’m back sharing another layout that I created with the beautiful Storyteller collection!  I just love that this collection is so versatile for documenting all the stories I want to tell.  For this layout I was inspired by the beautiful cameras in the collection, and I decided to scrapbook a photo of my daughters from Mother’s Day last year. I used Cross It Off for my background, and I just love the gorgeous woodgrain pattern.

The camera cut file I used is from Just Nick Studio, and was perfect to recreate the camera with florals. I love the navy blue in this collection and used Ditsy Daisy, Brighter Days, and Little Love to back the cut file.

I used lots of flowers and leaves from the Floral Ephemera pack to embellish the camera.  I bent up the petals and used lots of dimensional adhesive to keep them from laying flat. I also used one phrase from the Accessory Stickers.

I added my journaling on a piece from the Die Cut Ephemera pack and I tucked it into the floral cluster.  I love that my journaling is contained!

I selected the phrase “So Beautiful” from the Foam Title Stickers.  They sat so perfectly across the camera. My final touch was to splatter with gold shimmer which is so lovely on the woodgrain background.

I hope I’ve inspired you to take inspiration from the icons in the collection.

Have a lovely weekend

Melissa xx

This Story | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, Its Melissa here and I’m back today to share a layout that I created with the beautiful Storyteller collection for our current Tell a Story theme!  If you’ve followed my work for a while you’ll know that the story behind the photo is just as important to me as the photo!  So for this layout I carefully selected a photo that had a big story I wanted to tell.  The photo is of Ava at her first Pediatrician’s appointment when we first moved a year ago.

I had a lot to write for my journaling on this layout.  So I went into my stash to find lined paper to ensure that I wrote straight! My background paper is Spring Fling and if you watch my video below you’ll see that this isn’t the paper I started with.  I added white acrylic paint splatters to make it more painterly.

I added some distress oxide ink using the packaging technique to provide some distress and interest onto the lined paper.  I love how it looks against the mixed media look of the blue background paper.

I backed my sweet photo of Ava with three papers from the A5 Paper Stack.  I distressed all of the edges and went with an lining them up unevenly.  I embellished with a cute banner from the Die Cut Ephemera, and I created my title with two of the Chipboard Stickers.

Other embellishments I used are Chipboard Stickers, Accessory Stickers and Wood Buttons.  I added twine from my stash and machine stitching helped adhere the lined paper and added texture.

I adore the sweet camera ephemera pieces, and was thrilled to get on onto this layout.

You can watch my process video below.

Have a lovely weekend!

Melissa xx

 

Sweet Heart | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, Melissa here and today I have another layout that I created with the gorgeous new Storyteller collection!!  For this layout I really felt like hand stitching so I selected several of the Pocket Cards to stitch over the printed design.  My photos are from Brielle’s 8th birthday in April of this year.

Whenever I use several of the pocket cards I go with a grid design to feature as many cards as possible.  For this layout I chose two cards that were patterned paper to house the photos, and the other four cards feature beautiful design elements that could be further embellished. I used Little Love for my background because I love the beautiful yellow and subtle pattern – perfect for featuring all of the cards. The “Love This” card was calling out for me to hand stitch around it.  I pierced holes around the edge of the words, and then stitched with the full 6 threads of the skein. Simple yet effective.

For the card with lots of adorable hearts, I stitched around the edge of each heart with 3 threads of the skein.  This resulted in a thinner stitches (due to less thread), and I think was more appropriate to the smaller design.

For the card housing my journaling I stitched around the speech bubble in navy blue thread to match the colour on the card.  I love how the stitching looks, and I embellished with a Die Cut Ephemera phrase and a butterfly.

For my title I used two of the Foam Title Stickers and for my embellishment I used several Chipboard Sticker buttons, Die Cut Ephemera Butterflies, and Puffy Heart Stickers.  I love how this finished my layout and I even surprised myself by not adding any mixed media, not even splatters!!

I hope I’ve encouraged you to use the pocket cards and embellish them with stitching!

Thanks for looking

Melissa xx

Lovely You | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, It’s Melissa here and I’m so happy to be back with you today focusing on Foam Titles. I just had to create a layout with the beautiful new Storyteller Collection which just happens to have Foam Title Stickers.  Foam Titles Stickers are perfect if you struggle with coming up with titles for your layout.  You can use them as words on their own, or combine them to make phrases.

I started this layout knowing that I wanted to use Ditsy Daisy because I love the navy blue plaid!  I wanted to feature it and placed it on the right side.  I matched it with a smaller piece of the other side of the paper which has small flowers. I distressed the edges of both papers and machine stitched for texture and interest. I did some mixed media on the white background paper and onto both papers with ink via the packaging technique and I also splattered pink ink.

I backed my photo with a pink paper from the A5 Paper Stack. I embellished my photo with a banner sticker from the Accessory Stickers.

I really wanted to use some of the Die Cut Ephemera for my embellishment, and featured the gorgeous banner by popping it up on foam dimension. I selected two of the Foam Title Stickers and a heart for my title and I love how the black pops on my page!

Other embellishments I used were Puffy Sticker hearts, Wood Buttons, Chipboard Stickers.  I used a Die Cut Ephemera piece to lead into my journalling.

 

I created a video of my process which you can watch below:

Have a lovely rest of your week!

Melissa xx

Happy | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, new product is always so inspiring and today I’m thrilled to share my first layout made with the amazing and gorgeous Storyteller collection!! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but the first cut into a new collection is always the hardest for me, and Storyteller was no exception.  I looked at my Instagram feed and saw that the child to get a layout next was Brielle.  She turned 8 in April and I decided to create her birthday photo page.

I started this layout by fussy cutting lots of clusters and single flowers from Spring Fling.   I just love fussy cutting, and I especially love the look that the extra time and care to cut creates. I used my Envelope Punch to create an envelope from Little Love, which is one of my favourite papers in the collection because I adore the navy and small hearts! I embellished it with the flowers, an Accessory Sticker and a Chipboard Sticker.  The “8” is from my stash.

I created my watercolour background with a navy distress oxide ink, followed by gold shimmer mouse through a stencil.  I just love how it turned out!  The packaging technique is a perfect mixed media look when you want something a little random and not too perfect!  The butterflies in this collection are adorable, and the butterfly below is from the Chipboard Stickers.

 

I used one of the Pocket Cards tucked into the envelope because I loved the sentiment, and I loved the fun design feature it added!  I distressed the edges of the card and machine stitched around the outside. It was fun to embellish too!

I layered my photo over the envelope and then added more fussy cut flowers, an Accessory Sticker and a Wood Button. I backed my photo with two layers of the same pink paper from the A5 Paper Stack, and of course I distressed the edges!

I created my title with a word from the Foam Titles, they just make it so easy! I added a distressed and machine stitched piece of Brighter Days to add some interest at the bottom of my page, and to write my journaling.

Thanks for looking! I hope I’ve inspired you to create with Storyteller!

Melissa xx

This Kid | No Limits Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, its Melissa here and I’m so thrilled to be back with you sharing another layout that I created with the amazing No Limits collection.  I don’t know about you, but I am loving creating layouts for my girls with No Limits!  Our youngest daughter Ava was born with a kidney condition that was discovered when she was only 4 months old. She’s doing really well with it now that she is older, but she is monitored with scans.  This layout is about the first scan she had since we moved towns.

For this layout I wanted to use a floral cut file with the gorgeous Eclipse paper.  The cut file is by Paige Evans, and was perfect to feature papers from the A5 Paper Stack.  I didn’t intend to create a monochromatic flower, but the papers worked together so well, and I love how it looks contrasted with the dark tones of the Eclipse paper.

I embellished with Chipboard Stickers, an Accessory Sticker, and Wood Epoxy Buttons.  I also splattered with white mist.

For my title I used two of the Die Cut Titles that were perfect for my story about Ava!! She had asked the Radiographer for a lolly and was given a lollipop and a small tube of lollies.

I created a process video which you can watch below:

Thanks so much for joining me today.

Melissa xx

Epic Adventure | No Limits Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, I’m so happy to be back sharing another layout created with the amazing No Limits collection.  My assignment today was to create a layout with either multiple or shaped photos. I decided to create with multiple photos so that I could feature three of the nested frames from the Chipboard Stickers.  My photos are from last weekend when my 8 year old daughter played her first netball game.

I used the Big Bang paper because I love the large star with all its rays.  I handstitched the outline of both stars in corresponding thread to make it stand out, and to add interest.

All of the three fames are chipboard, and I selected my photos intentionally to feature action photos in the smallest frames that were taken at a distance, and then printed small to fit the frames.  All three frames fit nested within each other.   This one is the largest and is polaroid style. I embellished on top of it with Accessory Stickers.

The next frame isn’t probably meant to be used as its more a separator between the two other frames.  But I though it was perfect, and I don’t like to waste product!  I embellished with a Chipboard banner.  This photo also shows my title which I easily created with two words from the Die Cut Titles, which I popped up on dimensional adhesive.

The smallest frame is also the thickest, and once again was perfect for an action photo. The “Be Yourself” is cut apart phrase from

.

I embellished with lots of chipboard stars, Wood Epoxy Buttons, Accessory Stickers and Puffy Stickers.  I love how all these elements look scattered amongst the frames, and radiating out from the star.

I created a process video which you can watch below.

I hope I’ve inspired you to scrapbook multiple photos, and use No Limits to documents sports.

Take care

Melissa xx

Memory Planning | Daydream Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, It’s Melissa here for Throwback Thursday! Today I have something a little different to share with you.  This year I’m doing Memory Planning in an attempt to limit the number of 12×12 layouts that I create, and to streamline my documenting process because not every story needs a big layout of its own.  I’m using a Memory Planner by Heidi Swapp and the gorgeous Daydream collection. This collection works so well with the Planner.

   

The Memory Planner paper has the lines, days of the week, dots beneath the days and the “week of:” printed on it.  I stamped the numbers and the week details.  Aside from the washi tape, everything else I used is from Daydream. Here is my left side page.  As you can see I used lots of Die Cut Ephemera to embellish my page.

I added an interactive element that I made with papers from the A5 Paper Stack.  Here is the inside:

Here is the page on the right side. I used my sewing machine on several elements to add texture.  I stitched before I adhered these elements so that the stitching wouldn’t go through the page.  The edge of my  The rainbow is a cut apart piece and was perfect for my journaling.

I have more journaling hidden under my interactive piece on this page.

I loved getting the rainbow ephemera piece and an Accessory Sticker onto my page, so perfect for my beach photos!

I love that Daydream is so versatile and can be used for lots of different memory keeping projects!

Take care

Melissa xx

EMO | No Limits Collection | Melissa Vining

Hi everyone, Its Melissa and I’m back today with a new monochromatic layout created with the amazing No Limits collection.  For this layout I decided to create a layout about our nearly 8 year old daughter Brielle.  One day she came out all dressed in black and as a joke told us she was Emo!! We laughed as we didn’t know she even knew what that was!

I used Spark for my background, and I love the brick and mixed media details on it.  I added embellishment moose (applied with my bone folder), and blue and black splatters.

I hand drew the letters on Orbit and I love that they are uneven and aren’t perfect.  I distressed the edges, used some translucent glimmer paste (which I applied with my finger) and popped them up on foam dimension.  I tied white twine on the top of each letter so I could string them from the top of the page.

I backed my photo with blue paper from the A5 Paper Stack, and distressed the edges.  I embellished my page with Die Cut Ephemera, Accessory Stickers, Puffy Stickers and a Wood Button.  I never intended to make this layout monochromatic, but as I added more and more elements I just couldn’t resist using predominantly blue.

I created a video of my process, which you can watch below.

Thanks for looking

Melissa xx

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