Sending you wishes in a gift card Melissa Frances and Scrapbook Adhesives

Happy Holidays everyone.  My family’s culture is European so for us Christmas is not just on the 25th but we celebrate the full 12 days with gifts of gratitude.   Many of the ex Commonwealth Countries celebrate Boxing Day as the day you traditionally give small gifts to the tradespeople or staff who have worked with you through the year.  In Ireland they have St Stephen’s day and across Europe there are the fests of Le Jour des Rois and  dia de los Reyes Magos.

In the spirit of gratitude and giving I am sharing free tutorials over the next few days.  To say thank you for your support through the year and as a sampler of our workshops we have hosted in the past.  Today we are kicking off with a Melissa Frances supported by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L. 

 

This project has lots of layers of envelopes, tags, stickers, embellishments and trims that are the personalization and make your project  uniquely U.    A tag is a good base to build a gift card, with little pockets for the gift certificates and personalized with special messages that tell them what they mean to you.

 

Products

Ranger Craft Tag size 10 ( 8 ½” or 22cms)

Scrapbook Adhesives  E-Z  tape runner

Versa Color Inx Petal Pink

Thin ribbon to tie off the tags

Grey felt tip pen or copic

 

Melissa Frances Products:

Green Honeycomb paper

Holiday Notes paper

Green velum envelopes

Tags and die cuts from Holiday Notes, Hopeful, Vintage Treasures, C’est la Vie

Resin frames and a heart

Green pompom trim

This is a classic and  pretty project that does not take much time to finish.   One of my favourite time savers is to use the right tools or products, like Scrapbook Adhesives tape runners.   Their velum tape is very clear or hardly shows at all. All of the Scrapbook Adhesive tapes hold really well on all kinds of surfaces. Even the fabric pompom trim holds firm with Scrapbook Adhesive tapes.

Directions:

Cover the jumbo tag with Melissa Frances Honeycomb paper.

Cut the countdown date strip from Melissa Frances Holiday Notes and attach to the left side of the tag. Add pompom trim behind the tag on the left side.

This post card tag is from Melissa Frances’ Christmas Collection but there are lots of postcard images in the Melissa Frances range of papers and tags, if you wanted to try something different.

The Melissa Frances velum envelopes come with plain white tags.  You can use these as a template to cut colorful tags from matching papers.    Or use some of the tags from C’est la vie, Hopeful, Vintage Treasures, or the Holiday collection.  This is a great place to add special messages that tell the recipient how much they mean to you.

To build up the postage corner, there is a small tag from the Hopeful collection, recycled postage stamps and a Dec 25 tag cut from the Holiday Notes paper.

One of the things I love about the Melissa Frances resin trims is that they take colour so well.  Because we want this to be a quick project I rubbed them down quickly with a light touch of the petal pink ink and set it aside to dry.  Then to give the details emphasis, another quick wipe accented the details nicely when the 2^nd coat dried a deeper shade.

 Start building the envelopes in the left corner, biggest envelopes first, pointing to the right, another on top of that pointing up. The large envelopes are just the right size for gift cards.  Finish with a tiny tag and the resin heart.

A good trick for bringing a collage together is to hand draw  stitching around the edges of all the trims and envelopes with a pen  or doodle lines. That tricks your eye into seeing everything as being connected. 

There you go, a quick and easy gift card holder with personality.  Would love to see you soon in one of my full workshops that include introductions to mixed media techniques on the My Creative Classroom website.  This is a little peek from one of the Mail Art workshops.

Psalm 71:14

"As for me, I will always have hope."
Started working on the calendar and schedule for the next few weeks and realised 2013 is almost over. It has been a blur of all kinds of events around here but focusing on the future and appreciating all beauty that does surround us. Sharing a photo for fans of Sky Watch Friday from the beautiful north coast of New South Wales were we could almost call this a room with a view.
Putting the finishing touches on a new workshops as well, including this gift card holder for the holiday season based on a jumbo tag with lots of special little details.

The class is part of the My Creative Classroom offerings, lots to choose from for all kinds of crafters. Have a wildly creative weekend friends!

Sharing a video clip from time lapse photographer Louie Schwartzberg and TEDx on the topic of living with gratitude that can't help but make you smile.

 

It is that time of year .... the holiday music has started.

Dreams do come true

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." Walt Disney

click to enlarge a dazzling colorful sunrise

Having a fabulous time catching up with friends in sunny southern California and getting ready for a big week with the CHA Craft and Hobby Association event. Early mornings in southern California bring crisp cool starts and amazing colorful sunrises. Click the link to Sky Watch Friday to see what other bloggers from all over have found in their skies to share. 

One of my mail art creations using Crate Paper's new 14 collection, with a pretty candy color party theme.

"Memories are simply moments that refuse to be ordinary" Diane Keaton

click to enlarge a colourful morning sky





Life is full of moments but some stick in the memory banks.  One of the things I like about Sky Watch Friday is appreciating the little everyday moments that are sometimes quiet and simple  or when Mother Nature decides to toss the whole paint box across the sky for us to enjoy. Click the link to see what bloggers from all over have found in their view of the sky to share this week.

Really excited this week that Australian Simply Cards magazine featured my interview with Stacey Caron of Spellbinders. What a treat to talk with a female entrepreneur who enjoys what she is doing and creating a great life for herself.

Pursuit of Happiness

click to enlarge a busy sunset sky

"Some pursue happiness - others create it." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pretty much sums up this sunset that got really busy, there were paragliders and birds all competing for the last breezes of the day.  For me any day on the beach is a happy day.
Click the link to Sky Watch Friday to see what other bloggers how found in their view of the sky to share this week.

 

Congratulations to Susan Brown on her 5 year blog anniversary, we are celebrating with a altered spoon project. 

This was a fun project, had the most amazing discovery after starting the golden honey with metallic ink and topcoating with Tattered Angels Rockin on Sunshine Glam, the paint lifted the metallic in the ink and it was a pool of glittering goodness swirling about.

Click the link to Susan's linky party for lots more fun spoon creations. I'd appreciate your votes :)

Think that bee theme inspired me for the weekend, sneak peek at our projects for the upcoming Mail Art workshop on My Creative Classroom.

Beautiful Spectacles

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"When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody notices, don't be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps."  John Lennon But fans of sky watching and nature do take the time to notice and share.  Click the link to Sky Watch Friday to follow what hundreds of bloggers from all over have found on their horizon.

Tim Holtz June tag project, lots of inking and misting and distressing

Dreams can come true

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney

 

click to enlarge and early evening moon from the beach

Love the lighting this time of year in the off hours the angles make for some fabulous views and the full moon this month sure put on a show of its own. Be sure to check Sky Watch Friday to see what hundreds of bloggers from all over have found on their horizon to share this week.

Am very excited to share the news that this month's Aust Simply Cards magazine featured my interview with Melissa Frances and creative inspiration from Carolyn Peeler. It was really nice of them to let me write their stories.

Working on the Tim Holtz May theme of stamping on tissuepaper.

Impact

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you."   Jane Goodall

 

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The recent full moon threw all kinds of fun light conditions during the week and love the way the evening light spotlighted the sea eagle coasting on a breeze above a fisherman. No doubt the eagle was eyeing potential fishing cast offs while hanging gliding.

Click the link to Sky Watch Friday to see what hundreds of bloggers from all over have found in their sky to share this week.

This weekend's creation was inspired by the Tim Holtz May workshop, working on sewing tissue paper is great fun and can see lots more creative adventures with this theme.

Welcome

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”  Emily Dickinson

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When ever I spy palm trees on the horizon like this it makes me think of wonderful vacation destinations, unfortunately these are the road to  the office.  Happy Sky Watch Friday to all my friends, click the link to see what others have found in their sky to share this week.

Am back on to ATCs again, love the space of a little canvas can still pack a lot of creative ommph into a busy weekend.  A fabulous opportunity to learn about Silks from Dion linked here.

She really knows how to make a little pot of paint sing with colour.

Today is a gift

“Today is a gift,  I will honor it by fully living in it”   Maryanne Radmacher-Hershey

 

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One of the rivers on the north coast that I really enjoy spending time, enjoying life and the great outdoors.  Happy  Sky Watch Friday  to all my friends and click the link to see what bloggers from all over have found on their horizon to share.

ATC using lots of glowing Luminarte paints, makes for a great theme to build a card from. Happy weekend everyone.

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"For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it.

For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it.

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it."  Ivan Panin

Happy Sky Watch Friday everyone. This week I am sharing a couple of sweet birds waiting about for the tide to turn. Click the link to see what bloggers from all over are sharing this week.

This month's altered book group theme is to use clothes pins, am having fun exploring Luminarte paints.

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity." Joseph Addison

click to enlarge a magical sunrise

Over the last few weeks I have been on the road, meeting new friends and sharing lots of smiles.  Click the link to Sky Watch Friday and see what other bloggers from all over have found in their view of the sky to share this week. My view out the air plane window has lots of distortions but the colours were fabulous.

I love to play with new colour combinations and the new Creative Imaginations ATC range.

Optimism

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic and we’ll change the world."  Jack Layton  

 

A great quote from a Canadian politician who beleived we all have the power to make a difference.

Click the link to Sky Watch Friday to see what bloggers from all over the world have found in their sky to share this week. Updated to confirm the bird is a Cormorant or yes in deed a shag on a rock.

Adding a link to our post on the Tattered Angels site with lots of tutorials about colour and paint techniques.  Another favorite company is Ruby Rock-It by a great little Aussie company Fynmark.

They will have a design team call in the USA shortly and well worth having a look at, there is a fair bit of me in both their galleries. One of my favorite design teams is the gang at Helmar Adhesives, lots of fun and creative ideas on what you can do with glue. This is my contribution to their sketch challenge for September.