Monday, October 26, 2009

Divine Influence!

Have you all seen the new fab and fun blog for some Divine Influence and inspiration? It is called none other than, The Divine Influence. A few weeks back, Leanne, one of 2 of the Divine Girls, had contacted me, and asked if she could showcase some of my work. I was thrilled and so excited to be asked. Well, today is my day to be showcased on their blog. You can see it HERE. I sure hope that you go and visit The Divine Influence blog. It is packed full of yummy inspiration from all around the world! Thank you Leanne! :)

We finally closed on the house on Friday! Whew! That was stressful! Now we have the stress of moving everything! Yippee!! LOL I can't wait until it is all finished! Thank you again for all your sweet warm wishes. It is what kept me going!! :)

Lastly, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite Christmas projects from last year! My favorite time of the year! Christmas will be here in less than 2 months! Holey Moley! Where did this year go??!

Wooden Altered JOY
Ice Skate Box (Inspired by Linda Albrecht)
Sleigh Box
I hope you all have a wonderful week! I will check back soon, during the move. I will be having a giveaway soon!! ;) So stay tuned for that!

Hugs and much love...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Yay...I'm finally published!!

Hi everyone! Boy, have I missed this blog and all of you! I am taking a break in my packing to share some exciting news with you all...yes, we still haven't closed...I'm so bummed..unexpected delays with the seller...but we should be closing this coming week...I'll keep you all posted. Thank you so much for all your sweet well wishes! They mean more to me than you'll ever know! Hmm...I may just need to have a giveaway soon, to show you all how much I appreciated it!! Fun!

I have finally been published in CardMaker Magazine! No getting bumped for advertising space this time!! Woo-Hoo! :) I have 2 cards in the November issue that is in stores now! I am so thrilled and excited! These are the 2 cards that are in there!

Happy Winter Snowflake Ornament/Card {Page 19}
Happy Birthday Star Card {Page 20}
If you want to know how to make them, check out the mag!! ;)

Well, I better get back to packing..ughh! I miss you all and will be back again real soon! I have a couple of Dirty Dozen projects I want to share with you! Stay Warm!

Hugs...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Moving on... {Good and Sad News!}

Sorry, I have been absent lately...so much has happened in the past couple of weeks. We have purchased a new home and are now in the process of selling this one. And I'm sure those of you who have sold/purchased a house, know what a daunting task it is! I am usually pretty easy going and always trying to think positive, but all of this has drove me crazy! While, it is a great time for us, and we are very happy, it is also very stressful! Always keeping the house sparkling clean, just in case, a prospective buyer may stop by! Not easy when you have an active 3 yr old running around and moving boxes everywhere! But none the less, we are truly blessed and happy! But here is the sad news, I have had to resign from all my design teams, temporarily! It was a very hard decision for me to make! I have worked so hard to get where I was and to have to resign was not easy. But like I said, it will only be temporary. I just couldn't do it all. It was getting too overwhelming not to mention I have had to pack up most of my supplies. But I will be back!

I will still post things on here, in between the move and I will let you all know how we are progressing. I have enjoyed posting here and reading all your sweet comments and I couldn't stay away from you all for long. So I will still be around here when I can. I still have one last project I have to do for Shimmerz Paints! There will be a release of some new colors on the 21st! Can anyone say Vintage!! Oh yeah! I also may have one last giveaway before I move. So stay tuned for that! :)

Before I leave you today, I just want to show you a couple of projects I made for the June Dirty Dozen gallery over at SCS. The theme was called "In the Beginning" So we could do something for a new baby, new home, new car, etc. My FAVORITE theme!!

This is a Godiva Chocolate box that I altered to give as a little welcome gift to a new neighbor. It uses some Clear Dollar and Lizzie Anne stamps, a wooden birdhouse, Shimmerz Paints and some papers by Pink Paislee, Basic Grey and October Afternoon.
This card was made using a stamp by Magenta, simply called Baby Carriage. Isn't it precious? I love that stamp!
And finally, this button tree. I think it would be a perfect centerpiece for a baby shower. I would also make a fun game. Can you guess how many buttons were used to make this??!
I will be back shortly, with a few more things from this fun theme. You all are the BEST! Thank you so much for all your support, sweet comments and friendship! I cherish every one of you! ;)

Hugs...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Nurture...Love...Grow. ♥ Free Butterfly Digi Stamp! ♥

Hi Everyone! Today is Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Day! And that means she is giving away a free digi stamp! And guess what? This week it is my turn to give one away! Lindsay is giving away this beautiful Swallowtail butterfly Digi Stamp! Just go HERE to download it!

The flowers on my card are actually part of a bouquet of flowers that I picked up at ACMoore for like 5 bucks. There must be a hundred of these beautiful flowers on there. They look alot like some of the new Prima flowers that recently came out only ALOT cheaper! I colored in the butterflies with my Copics and then added some pearls to them. The sentiment is a Melissa Frances Rub-on.

Don't forget that Lindsay is having an awesome sale at her Store. For every $5 you spend, you will get a free digi stamp. Most of her stamps are only $1 each, so if you spend $10, that's 12 digi stamps!!

Now let's go and see what the rest of the DT has in store for you this week! I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Janet
Olena
Kimberly
Tracey
Tamara
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Row
Melissa C
Leanne
Lindsay~Owner

Have a great day!

Hugs....

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's a JBelle Contest!!

All this month we are having a contest over at Jacksonbelle Embellishments! All you have to do is make a card, LO or altered item using the weekly challenge that will be issued every Tuesday on the JBelle blog. Then you must email your creation to jacksonbelleembellishments@gmail.com You must also put a link to your card on that week's post on the JBelle blog. Once we receive your card, you will be entered in a drawing for a gift certificate to the JBelle Store to use on whatever you want! There will be a first place winner for a $50 g/c, a second place winner for a $30 g/c and a third place winner for a $15 g/c! There will also be a goodie bag for ALL the winners as well! And a random winner out of all the cards linked to the JBelle blog will also receive a goodie bag! Lotsa stuff to giveaway!! Now here are the rules:

You have to use Inkadinkado, Stampavie, Prima or Basic Grey stamps. (Any stamps that can be purchased at the store) as well as use one of our Tuesday challenges! You can enter as many times as you’d like! As always, we will post coordinating Keywords for the challenges if you are posting on Splitcoaststampers. com, so we will all be able to see your card(s)!

Following the last Tuesday’s challenge (Sept. 28th), you will have until Thursday, Oct. 1st at midnight (EST) to get your cards to us! After that, the design team and Lindsey will need a few days to decide on the winners!! Make sure to check out the design team’s blogs and store blog each week for LOTS of inspiration using the weekly challenges!

Ok, so here is this week's challenge! It is to make a 1-layer card! I am so used to putting a couple of layers of papers on my cards, so this wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! LOL Here is my first one.

♥Happy Fall Ya'll♥ This one uses the Inkadinkado mini set called Fall!
♥Happy Thanksgiving♥ And this one uses another Inkadinkado stamp set called Harvest Expressions.
Good luck to everyone who enters this fun month long contest! We can't wait to see what you come up with! Here are the rest of the JBelle Rockstars!

AJ Otto
Heather Lee-Reppen
Jennifer Buck
Jill Dunn
Lynda Benden
Tobi Crawford
Trudee Sauer
Stephanie Hargis
Mitzi Koons
Loretta Lock
Jimmi Mayo
Bethany Paull
Michelle Philippi
Carly Robertson
Shemaine Smith
Lindsey Botkin~Owner

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Hugs...

Giveaway Winner......

It's time to announce the winner of my Giveaway! The lucky winner is.......



♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Alexa luvs to Scrap! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥


Congratulations Alexa! Please email me your snail mail addy to KeepsakesbyMelissa@yahoo.com You have until next Tuesday, if I don't hear from you by then, I will have to pick a new winner!

Thanks again for playing everyone! I will have yet another giveaway very shortly!

I'll be back soon with details on a fun contest by Jacksonbelle Embellishments where you could win a gift certificate to the store!

Hugs....

Monday, August 31, 2009

♥ Let's give something(s) away.....just because! ♥

♥♥♥♥♥Giveaway Now Closed!!♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥This Post will stay up top until end of Giveaway! Scroll down for New Posts! Thank you!♥♥♥
Let's do another giveaway! Not because it's my blogaversary, birthday or anything...just because! You know how much I love to give things away, don't ya??! So here we go....

~ Zutter ~ Dreamkutz Page Cutter Tool ( a cool machine to have!)
~ New! Kaiser Craft Chipboard Family Tree (so cute!)
~ Kaiser Craft Cupcake Album
~ Kaiser Craft Mini Album Bookshelf (Adorable!)
~ 1 8x8 October Afternoon Cherry Hill paper pack
And I may possibly throw in some more stuff! ;)

All you have to do is 1) Leave a comment on this post 2) Leave a link on your blog to my giveaway. If you don't have a blog, no problem! Just tell me how you will spread the word!

And if you want 2 chances, become my Friend/follower. (You don't want to miss all my giveaways, do you?)

My son will pick a winner out of a bowl on Monday, August 31st at 3pm est! So good luck to you all!

Lastly, I'll leave you with a fun little project I made for the May Dirty Dozen/Fan Club Gallery over at SCS. It is a little wire birdcage that I picked up in Michael's awhile back. I just added some ribbons, string pearls and some clear acrylic butterflies, that I also picked in Michael's in the wedding section. Add a little votive and a little stick pin with your message and it makes a cute little gift.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Hugs,

Shimmery Vintage...Want to win some Shimmerz??

Well, I didn't get to do my post on Saturday like I wanted to...another crazy weekend! I am also finding it hard to think and sit down to design things lately. My mind is somewhere else! But it's a really good thing! More on that at a later date! (and no I'm not pregnant! Not yet anyway!;) This past weekend Shimmerz Paints was the sponsor over at Triple the Sketch. You can see the post HERE. We had a fun sketch to work with. So this is what I came up with.

This card uses a beautiful stamp by Flourishes stamps called Peony. I "colored" it in with some Pink Poinsettia, Hotty pink and Celery Shimmerz. I used some papers by Melissa Frances and Bo Bunny(polka dots). The pink card base was sprayed with some Shimmerz Spritz in Truffle and then when the card was finished I gave it a quick spray of Baby's Breath Shimmerz Spritz for some added shimmer.

If you would like to try and win some Shimmerz, all you have to do is visit this post HERE on the Triple the Sketch blog and leave a comment with a link to your card, LO, tag or altered item using the same fun sketch that I used. As you can see, I turned it around a bit for my card, which you can too!Good luck and most of all, have fun!
I will be back later today with my giveaway winner! My son is itching to pull the winner out of the bowl!! LOL Good luck, you still have a couple of hours left! ;)

Hugs...

Friday, August 28, 2009

Autumn Memories.... A Fall Card

Autumn is right around the corner...it will be here before we know it...pumpkins...corn stalks...mums...scarecrows...my favorite time of year! And one of my favorite seasons to make cards for, besides Christmas. So why not get a jump start! All the new Fall themed products that has just been released are so beautiful. I couldn't wait to use them!

Here is a card I made using paper and a postcard from Pink Paislee's new lines, the Twilight and Amber Road Collections. And the Autumn Memories stamp is also from their new line of stamps. What beautiful collections...but what else would you expect from Pink Paislee! The pumpkins are made out of white felt. I just trimmed them out with pinking shears and then added some Marigold Shimmerz and then some Spiced Cider Blingz around the edges. I then added some more brown felt, green ribbon as the leaves, a button and some more hemp cord. Hope you like it?!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I usually don't do posts on the weekends, but I will have something for you tomorrow. Shimmerz and Triple the Sketch have teamed up this weekend for some fun shimmery layouts with their awesome sketch! So I will have the card I made here and on the TTS blog! Oh, and Monday my blog candy winner will be chosen! So good luck! See you tomorrow!

Hugs...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Shimmerz Paints meets Cornish Heritage Farms!

♥♥♥Scroll down for Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Post!♥♥♥
All this week, the Shimmerz DT is showing off their projects that we made with a swap with Cornish Heritage Farms stamps! They are such adorable stamps! Here are some projects that I made with them.

Snowflake Ornament using the Snowman and Puppy set.
You've Got Style, Baby! Card using The Lady's Future set.
All the details on these projects can be found on the Shimmerz Blog.

I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Hugs,

Creepy...crawly...spooky. ♥Free Digi Stamp♥

Today is Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Day! That means there is a free digi stamp to give away! All you have to do is visit the other DT members, listed below, and you will find a "spooktacular" digi stamp just in time for Halloween!

For my card I used the adorable Harry the Spider digi stamp. I colored him in with some Shimmerz paints in Lilac and Coal and then popped him up on the card with pop dots and some orange ribbon. The papers and post card I used are from the new Pink Paislee Halloween line called the Twilight Collection. I finished it off with some Melissa Frances rub-ons.

Don't forget that Lindsay still has her special ongoing. For every $5 you spend, you get a free digi stamp! You can visit her store HERE.

Now let's go and find that FREE Digi Stamp! Oh, and please, don't forget to leave some love for them too!

Janet
Olena
Kimberly
Tracey
Tamara
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Row
Melissa C
Leanne
Diana Stout ~ August Guest Designer
Lindsay~Owner

I'll be back later with some projects using Shimmerz Paint and Cornish Heritage Farms stamps! In the meantime, you can check out the Shimmerz Blog for other great projects using Cornish Heritage Farms stamps and Shimmerz!

Have a wonderful day!

Hugs....

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Christmas in August?? ♥MMSC16♥

Well, time is just going too fast! This is my last card as the August Guest Designer for the Midnight Madness sketches over at Priscilla Styles! What a great time I had! The Design team and Priscilla herself are just the sweetest people and they are so organized and work so well together as a group! They are amazing! Thank you for letting me share the fun with you girls this month! I had a blast!

Another great sketch to work with! I decided to make another Christmas themed card...my favorite! And I used my fave papers...Good Cheer by October Afternoon...I could use these papers forevah! I also wanted the card to have a 3-D look to it. There will be a tutorial up soon over at Priscilla Styles, showing how I made this card. The sleigh is a stamp by Flourishes...one of my favorite Christmas stamp sets! The snowflakes are punched by Martha Stewart! Yes, Martha punched them herself! LOL I just added a little glitter and pearls to them to make them sparkle like the rest of the card.

The weekly sponsor for Priscilla Styles is Michelle Perkett. She is a wonderful artist who believes that the world can always use more happiness, innocence, color and inspiration. You can visit her shop HERE for some gorgeous and wonderful Digi Stamps.
And don't forget the monthly sponsor is still Simon Says Stamp! Visit their store HERE for some great products at a reasonable price!
Here is this week's sketch! I turned mine around a little bit!
And here is the rest of the Midnight Madness DT!

Carolyn
Charlotte
Chris
Denise
Jane
Jeni
Jessica
Kimmie
Michelle
Phyllis
Priscilla
Shawne
Sonya
Sue

One last thing! A very dear friend passed away yesterday! Some of you may know her. Her name is Michelle Hale. We served on a couple of DT's together. Tragically, she was struck and killed by a car yesterday. I am so sad and shocked by her loss. She was one of those people that when you meet them, you're so glad that you did. She was the sweetest person! If you would like to send a card to her family, which I know they would appreciate, it can be sent here:

Hale Family
4213 Aley Dr
Beavercreek OH 45431

Remember to let your loved ones know how much you love them..life is so short and precious. You will be sadly missed Michelle!

Hugs...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sweet Love.... ♥MMSC15♥

This is my card this week for the Midnight Madness challenge over at Priscilla Styles! I used a digi stamp by Sunshine's Stamps, which is this week's sponsor. What an adorable image! great for an everyday card, or a thinking of you card to your sweetheart or even a Valentine's Day card! Check out all the fun and whimsical digi stamps that are for sale, HERE!

I used the digi image, called Burnie Toaster, on some papers by October Afternoon (cherries) and Webster's Pages. I colored in the image with Copics and added a little glitter to brighten it up.

What a fun sketch it is this week! I love the ribbons, or whatever you want to use, along the sides. Very clever! You can have lots of fun with this one! Just visit Priscilla Styles to join in on this week's fun!

And also, don't forget to visit Simon Says Stamp! This month's sponsor, for some great products! They have everything!!

Here is the rest of the Midnight Madness Design Team!

Carolyn
Charlotte
Chris
Denise
Jane
Jeni
Jessica
Kimmie
Michelle
Phyllis
Priscilla
Shawne
Sonya
Sue

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs,

Friday, August 14, 2009

A few more Dirty Things....

Well, tonight is my last reveal as a member of the Dirty Dozen ...whew!...6 months sure goes fast! This months theme is super fun! If you are a member of the Fan Club over at SCS, then stop by tonight at midnight, cst.(if you are still awake!;) and say hi!! The Dirty Dozen members have even done tutorials this month!! I made a fun project using Shimmerz paints and a mini chalkboard!! Here is a pic of it! Can you guess this month's theme??
And finally, I will leave you with a couple of things I made for the May Fan Club/DD Gallery. The theme was called "Art for every Woman"...it focused on anything feminine. Moms, sisters, anything frilly and fabulous {because we are fab, right ladies!!}

Art for every Woman card.
Shabby Chic Mom Frame
I hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you back here on Monday, maybe with a giveaway!!! *wink* Oh, and Congrats to the 2 new Dirty Girls!!

Hugs...