Cards with Cosmo Cricket Material Girl

The more I play with Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl, the more I realize how versatile this collection is.

This vintage design on the green paper can be so versatile. I used it on a card here that can be a friendship card, a birthday card, or just a hello card.





And I drew out the blues in this friendship card. I love the blue and cream floral paper. Gonna have to make an all blue cream card soon.





The stamp is from Stampin' Up! and the border punch is Fiskars.

It's been a busy month here. I hope to have more things to share soon. Have a great day!


~melanie~

Thanks Card on a Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone... or as I say on facebook "Happy Friday, Ya'll!".

I've been missing the past few Moxie Fab's Tuesday Triggers, but I'm happy to say I did one this week. Here's this week's trigger:



I was inspired by the color scheme and I tried to mimic the rose petals with lace and layered ruffles






Papers are from Basic Grey Koishi. Prima flowers, a doily, and some seam binding.

Off to eat lunch with a friend. Have a wonderful weekend!

~melanie~

Thanks and Congrats Cards

I got my order of the newest Webster's pages in last week. I couldn't wait for the 6x6 papers and stickers. This is what I made yesterday.


I used Webster's Pages 6x6 mini papers and alpha stickers, Stampin' Up border punch, seam tape from Etsy, Prima flower, 7gypsies sticker and pearl brad.



Supplies: Websters pages 6x6 paper, alphas and stickers; Stampin up Border punch, Pink Paislee Artisian Elements, and seam tape (from Etsy).

Another sunshiney day here. Thanks for stopping by!

~melanie~

Stitching a background

Last month, I fell in love with the Papertrey Ink Background stamps shown HERE (who didn't?) but with my work status (you know - returning to being a starving artist), my I had to tighen by budget. So, what's a girl to do? Hmmmmm.... I thought about it and decided to give my sewing machine a try. Yes, I machine stitched the diagonal strips. :)

Here's how it turned out.





I used Papertrey Ink's Blooming Button Bits stamps. The polka dot paper is from Collage Press and the border punch is from Fiskars.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~melanie~

My Obsession with Alice

As of late, I've had an obsession with Alice. I saw the new Alice movie last month and was "enchanted" with the artistry in the film...the costumes, the color (or lack of), the characters. It was all so "artsy". I wanted to see it again the next day, but didn't. Besides stirring the artist in me, I related to Alice in a strange way. Grown up Alice was "expected" to conform to society, she was expected to dress a certain way and marry a certain man and live a certain life. I tried this mold on for the past seven months. I took a corporate job, sat at a corporate desk, and brought home a corporate paycheck. But I was dying inside. After three months the artist inside of me was screaming to get out. Yet, I was so tired at the end of the day, that I couldn't physically do anything creative. After months of prayer and patiently waiting, I finally found my way out and couldn't be happier in my spirit.

The first thing I painted on my new journey - without consciously thinking about it - was - Alice. I was inspired by a recent issue of Somerset Studios magazine - their theme throughout the magazine was Alice. I picked it up on a recent trip to Texas, and I couldn't put it down. I also was inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts. But what turned me on to Kelly Roberts was this art post by Courtney Walsh. Courtney, you have no idea how much I was screaming on the inside while sitting at the corporate America desk bored out of my mind reading this post. I guess one just doesn't know how much we can effect the lives of someone else. Thank you for being the little white rabbit for me to follow. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the beginning of a journey.

So....I came home from our trip to Six Flags and opened my box of art supplies that the UPS man delivered the week before. (Yes, I haven't even opened the box because I knew once I did, there was no turning back) I followed the techniques in Kelly Robert's book and drawing from inspiration in the books and magazines, came up with this.







My main goal in this process was to "be free". I had to let go of any of my past artistic ways and just let things happen and deal with it. I used scrapbook paper (yeah - a new found use for my stash), a Martha Stewart punch, some stickers from a kit club (the butterfly), rubber stamp and ink, along with oil sticks, and acrylic paint. The words were an afterthought - I added them after I completed the painting shown below.

Which brings on my second attempt at mixed media collage. Again, here we go with Alice.







I used older Basic Grey papers, oil sticks, acrylic paint and a $5 12x12 multi-media canvas I found on sale. Love it when that happens.

Again, my goal was to practice the mixed media collage process again. I know that there is something unique to me that hasn't surfaced yet - a new set of series, but for now, I'm sticking with Alice. As I was thinking about my obsession with Alice, I was reminded of this song that I "found" when I was a nineteen. I found a tape (it was actually an 8-track tape and yes, I had an 8-track player in my car - so you can probably pinpoint the approximate year) that had this song on it. Want to hear it? It's worth the laugh because of the hair in the video. Here goes: Living Next Door To Alice

Thanks for stopping by today. Sorry to venture from my usually papercrafting posts!


~melanie~

Birthday Cards

I took a little bit of my "painting" time and made some cards yesterday - just to play! I DID receive a wonderful box of new scrapbook supplies from my favorite store, Emmas Paperie, right before Easter. There is nothing to motivate me more than new goodies!

I also picked up a copy of the new Paper Crafts Go to Sketches and LOVE IT. I used sketches from the book for my cards, although I did deviate a bit here and there.

I used the Basic Grey Kioshi collection on these.





I just LOVE the little birdie!



(Sorry - I had to remove this card!)


This is my first time using the scrunchy seam tape ribbon. I found it on Esty and used my flat iron (it's not just for hair) to smooth it out a bit.



All the rub ons used on these cards are from Karen Foster.

I hope you are enjoying beautiful spring weather. We have some long lost friends coming in from Michigan later this week. I'm cooking them some gumbo. Meanwhile, I need to get back to my art studio - I have another commission to work on. Have a wonderful week!


~melanie~