Fort Fun Together - A Boy Page by Melinda

Hi there and welcome to the ScrappingClearly blog today!!

Melinda here with you and I am sharing my first make, not only for the month, but for the year.

I hope the New Year finds you well and ready for lots of scrappy inspiration from all of us here!!

Kylie sent me the very awesome Pink Fresh Studio Boy's Fort collection and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it!!

Here is my first page with this awesome collection, I am beyond happy with how it all came together!

There is also a process video available here if you'd like to see how this page came together for me!

To create my background I started with Marshmallow cardstock paired with 3 different

Distress Oxide Inks - Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans - and the packaging technique;

adding extra water when needed and drying off between coats. 

I love how the colours sit on top of each other without changing the colours

- you can really see that in this close up of some splatters!

I added some stamping using black archival ink and a couple of texture stamps randomly across my mixed media.

I used papers "Wowsers", "Bold" and "Game On" to layer messily behind my photo

adding extra dimension between my photo and the papers with tags.

Time to work on the title!

The name of the collection reminded me of the photo I chose,

which in turn helped me pick a title.

I have built my title with the Boys Fort Mini Alpha Stickers and also some alphas from

the Teresa Collins Signature Series which I have used some Fossilized Amber to colour

- this colour is a great match with those mustard-y yellows in the collection!

I left just enough room for a little journalling under the title!

With the main part of my layout done I pulled out some embellishments

and used some of the Printed Veneer Stickers (these are AWESOME!),

ephemera pieces, and also some of the Phrase Stickers, to embellish.

My very final touch were some black splatters using my Roadbase Colour Spray by Colour Blast

and some black marker, outlining the big alphas in the word fort.

With some of the shadows in the photo, plus the journalling and the black phrase stickers,

I felt it was just what I needed to finish the page off.

That's it for me for today but I will be back again

sharing more "Boys Fort" inspiration!!

I hope the start of your 2018 has been fab,

I can't wait for some more play time!!

Happy scrapping!

Melinda

Ooh La La with Melinda Sweetman

Hey, hey and Happy Boxing Day!!
I hope that however you spent yesterday you had a fabulous day surrounded by those you love!
If your celebrations (like mine!) continue on for a bit longer, I hope you have the very best time
and manage to sneak in some scrappy time!

Today I am here sharing with you a page I created using the Pink Paislee C'est La Vie collection.
I absolutely love this collection and have kind of been keeping it for a "special" occasion
so every now and then I pull it out and have a play!

I don't know what it is about this paper but I love it!
Simply adore it, so I decided to go with that as my background.
I have used some Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink in the background
with the packaging technique for a little colour and texture!

A couple of paper layers behind my photo as a mat (which are Papers #2 and #8).

I knew straight away I wanted to use the acrylic mirror words for my title,
so I also decided to add a little gold in the background with my Bling Colour Shimmer Pot.
I love the colour but also the way this paint dries if it's a bit thicker,
it's almost like a puffy dot of colour!!

I grabbed the "feeling fancy" piece from the Cut Apart Paper #1,
and the floral acetate tag from the ephemera pack, and layered them up next to my photo.
I've also used a plain white die cut I had on my desk as a layer, and then I found a scrap of this paper
and fussy cut a few butterflies for my finishing touch, along with some gold sequins by Studio Calico.

This page is a little "not me" because, as you can see, there is no journalling!

It's not often I have a page with no journalling but sometimes I don't need to add any.

In this case, I have other pages that go with this event

and this is just a photo of me that I really like, I feel pretty fancy,

and the cut apart sums that up along with the title!

That's it for me for today and in fact this year.

However, I will be back VERY early in the New Year with another share!

I will be playing with the Pink Fresh Boys Fort collection

and cannot wait to pull it out and find time to play!

Wishing each and every one of you a very happy New Year,

may 2018 be YOUR year and may it be filled with lots of love and laughter,

and of course, LOTS of scrappy time ;)

Melinda

x

December Daily 2016 - Catch Up with Melinda

Hello there ScrappingClearly fans!!
Melinda here with you today sharing some more of our 2016 December Daily album. 

As I have been working on this years album I have pulled out all of my Christmas supplies
including the gorgeous Pink Fresh Oh Joy Collection that I received last year from Kylie!!
Follow the link and you can find all of the bits still available!

I have 5 pages to share with you today, all of which are pretty simple but, all tell a December story.
I am loving how this album is coming together so far!

First up, I'll share the pages exactly as they sit in my album,
then I'll give you a close look at each page with a bit of "this is what I did/used" with each!
I hope you enjoy!

Up first was our day 16, on the left, and day 17 on the right.
I do still need to finish off the back of day 17, but it has a friend's child
and I didn't want to share without permission. 

The next pages I have to show you are for day 19.
Yep, you did read correctly, I jumped from 17 to 19.
All good however, I know where I have gaps but, I have all my photo's printed
so it's easy for me to go back and complete!!
If you are struggling with your own DD (current or past!) this year,
I have found having the photos at least printed and in pockets helps immensely!

And the last page I have to share is the back of our day 19 - Santa photos.

So, here are the close ups and some more info!

Day 16

First day of our school holidays last year and Pixie our Scout Elf decided it was a good idea to have a movie day!
I'm not loving how that photo ended up getting cut where it did but it's in the album
and I can always re-crop and change it out if it bothers me that much!

For this page I have used some of the gold foiled phrase stickers, some of the Oh Joy Puffy Stickers a 3x4 card I cut from the 6x6 Paper Pad and also a 3x4 card cut from the B side of the Oh Joy 12x12 Winter Wonderland Paper.

I wanted that house with the 16 to pop a little so I grabbed a small white doily and my Bling Colour Shimmer Pot and painted away. With the leftover paint I added splatters on the grey card and also on the 6x8 facing page.

Day 17
This one started with a piece cut from the Oh Joy 12x12 Winter Wonderland Paper cut to about 5 3/4" x 7 3/4" and mounted on white cardstock. I've used 2 of the Oh Joy Acetate Die Cuts and for my number have used some red alphas from my stash.

Day 19 (page 1)

I simply printed my 2 photos at 3x4 and slipped them straight into the pocket. The bottom 6x4 card was cut from a sheet in the Oh Joy 6x6 Paper Pad.

 I've used some number stamps and a punch from my stash on one of my offcuts from the paper pad to stamp out the day and used a pop dot to adhere on the O in season. Journalling, a phrase sticker and a stamp with gold ink and done!

Day 19 (page 2) 

I always like to include individual photos of my boys with Santa as well as one of the 3 of them.
This is one of my most fave traditions and I've loved seeing the way they react to Santa and how their belief changes and grows each year! This was pretty simple as well - I printed this at 5x7, grabbed a page protector, used some washi and re-punched some holes. A couple of really quick embellishments including another of those punched stars.

And last but not least, me and Santa! I do at some point include a photo of me with Santa.
I love the magic and wonder that go hand in hand with believing and how that believing turns into magic for others. Again, a couple of super quick embellishments including an Oh Joy Puffy Sticker, and calling it done!

I am loving how this album is coming together and can't wait to get a "proper" start on this year's albums as well. Like I said, I've printed my photos up to Thursday and know what stories I will be telling. I will stumble a little when I get to Saturday, I had my Aunty's wedding which was great but also my niece babysat my boys and I got a few great photos from her!! Decisions, decisions!! Haha!

I hope you are having a fabulous December regardless of whether you document each day or just your faves. Remember to pop over to the store, you can do a really quick search for "Christmas" and all the Christmas goodies will pop up! In fact, I've already done it for you, just click on the "Christmas" above and it will take you straight to the search results!!

I will be back again on Boxing Day so have a fabulous Christmas, enjoy your day however you may spend it and stay scrappy!!

Melinda

Don't Grow Up - Layout by Melinda Sweetman

Hey, and hello, fellow scrappers!
I cannot believe we are in December already but here we are and
here I am with my first share for the month!

Again, for this post I am sharing in detail one of my takes on one of the 10th Birthday challenges
and this was a little bit of a struggle for me as I chose the "Use the ScrappingClearly Colours" on your project. Which happened to be 85% pink and with 2 boys it can be tricky!
I did however get permission from my almost 8 year old, and off I went!

Here's my page, and though it probably is not 85% pink I really do love how it came out!

And here, if you are interested, is my process video.
This one is short and sweet, this page practically put itself together for me!!

I started with a white cardstock base and a photo of my big boy from his 7th birthday party in January this year.
He just looked so grown up!! I knew IMMEDIATELY that I would use the "Don't Grow Up" puffy stickers for my title from the Boys Rule collection.

I wanted to do some stamping so grabbed my Arrows stamp set by 49 & Market and my Black Archival Ink and got to work stamping some of those gorgeous arrows in the 2 corners.

I added in some splatters using a range of Colour Blast Colour Shimmer Pots. The colours I have used are (lightest to darkest) Blush, Punch, Lipstick and Fire Engine.

While that dried I dug into my paper scraps box and pulled out the first 2 pink patterned papers I found,
which were this one from the Maggie Holmes Bloom range and this one from the WRMK Crush range.
I cut them slightly bigger than my photo to use as photo mats. I also distressed the edges of both patterns.

I wanted to get as much pink on the page as I could so I dug into my little bowl of "too big to go into my boxes" ScrappingClearly stash and pulled out one of these gorgeous Heidi Swapp bulldog clips. I have had these in my stash for AGES and haven't been able to find just the right place so I was super happy to get one on this page
- it looks adorable!

I knew that I had some giant acetate numbers left in my C'est La Vie ephemera pack
so I checked that the colours for the 7 would work and voila, pink and white!! Winning!

While I was in that box of goodies I saw these awesome black vellum word stickers with gold
and added a few of those.

My final touch were some enamel dots, again in pink, with a few white stars thrown in too!
Oh, and of course some journalling, in pink as well, and my date stamp.

This layout came together really quickly for me after I knew that my boy was ok with me using pink on his page and, I've already said it, but I really love it!!

I hope I have inspired you to create with your stash and while you're at it maybe you should check out our December challenges in the FB group - ScrappingClearly - both will give you the chance at an awesome $30 store voucher!

And our special Christmas challenge, which could bag you a WeRMK sewing machine!!

This one is due by midnight Sunday 17th, here.

Until next time, happy scrapping!!

Melinda

xx

Top 10 ~ Art Journalling with Melinda

Hello fellow blog lovers, Melinda here with you today with an art journal page!

This spread was inspired by the recent 10th Birthday celebrations for ScrappingClearly - once again Happy Birthday!! - and to be specific, Birthday Challenge #1 - List Your 10 Favourite Things.

Here's a little peek at what I created and to be honest with you, when I started
I just grabbed some paint and set off! 

If you'd like to see my whole process just click on the play button below and you can follow along right in your browser otherwise head over to the YouTube channel and subscribe so you are the first to know when one of us uploads a new process video!!

I recently stocked up on some of the GORGEOUS new Dylusions Paints and HAD to bust them out to play! 

For this page I have used Rose Quartz, Peony Blush, Bubblegum Pink and White Linen. I used a combination of a brush/brayer and my fingers to spread the colour around, starting with the lightest and adding more colour
where I felt it needed it.

I added some stencilling with the White Linen and a Tim Holtz stencil. Next I added some stamping using both a grey and black archival ink and a mix of stamps from the 49 & Market "Arrow", "Gabi's Line Stitch" and
Darkroom Door "Arty Circles" stamp sets.

At this point I felt it was too bold so I grabbed my White Linen again and spread it over most of the 2 pages in a really thin layer, so you could still see all the different layers I created, and let that dry.

I hand cut some circles from an old book and stuck them down with some Matte Medium. Then outlined them with a Stabilo Aquarellable Black Pencil and activated with a small paint brush and a little water to blend the harsh black out and the edges of the circles in a little. To tone down some of the book paper I again grabbed my White linen and used my finger to smear some colour over some of the circles - which picked up some of the black and tinted the white grey and I really love what it adds to the page!

I also used the same brush and my pencil to flick black splatters around my page.

I added in some textured details using another 2 Tim Holtz stencils - this time mini layering stencils - using both the Dusty Charcoal Colour Paste by Colour Blast and also the Bling Colour Paste.

I finally came up with an idea - I would write my 10 favourite movies. I typed up the list on my computer and printed it out, adhering the standard printer paper to some white card stock off cuts then outlined all the strips in black ink.

I used these gorgeous Hazel thickers for my title and decided to pop half up the top and half down the bottom, where the extra details were. Love the addition of the gold!

And here is my finished Top 10 Movies Art Journal spread!

I had a lot of fun playing along with the challenges I managed to participate in, and now have 3 more things documented. If you have something new I really recommend pulling it out and having a play, who knows, maybe what you purchased is just the right thing for one of our monthly challenges and you could win a $30 gift voucher just by having fun!

Please head over to the FB group to share your creations and purchases, and also be inspired by, not only the Design Team, but also all of our lovely customers who share away in there!

Until next time, happy scrapping!


Melinda

Merry & Bright ~ A Scrapbook Page with Melinda

Hey, and welcome to the blog today!
Melinda here with you sharing my take on the dramatic and bold November mood board,
once again designed by the very talented Peg!!

I was drawn immediately to the colours (as I'm sure you worked out already!) and decided that it would be the perfect time to scrap last years Santa photo of my boys. Here's a little refresher of the mood board.

I've used a white card stock base as I knew straight away I wanted to randomly spread some black gesso on my page in 2 places - one for my main photo and the other as a smaller embellishment cluster to the side. When my gesso was dried I grabbed my Bling Colour Shimmer Pot by Colour Blast and my biggest round paintbrush to add splatters. I love how the gold pops off the black!

I used a couple of paper layers behind my photo, Peppermint Stix (the text side) 12x12 paper by Heidi Swapp and also the Joyful Christmas 12x12 paper by Pink Fresh Studio from last years Oh Joy collection, cut to size and distressed the edges using my scissors (I couldn't find my tool!).

I have grabbed 2 tags from the Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co Tags Ephemera pack (and chopped off the bottoms) to also layer. I also used a punch from my stash to cut a couple of labels to use - one from one of the tag off cuts, and the other from one of the patterned papers, to add into my layers.

My title came from the gorgeous Oh Joy Gold Acrylic Stickers sheet - however a note - be super careful as you pull them off - the delicate ones are fragile!! Love the way it pops on that black!

My final steps were my journalling using a white gel pen and some splatters watering down some white gesso and using a paint brush (one of my new ones by the way, I picked up in the store here during the Black Friday sale!!) to splatter all over (I actually remembered to cover my photo!!).

I really love how this page came together! Better than I had expected in fact.
You have until the end of the month to get your own challenges completed and loaded up into the mood board FB album or sketch album in the ScrappingClearly group.
I hope you get some time to play and go into the draw for a voucher to the store!

Until next time, happy scrapping!

Melinda

xx

WK28 2016 PL Style with Melinda

Hello ScrappingClearly friends!! Melinda here with you sharing another PL spread - this one however is from our 2016 album, yep, 2016!!

Again, trying to get it done and in the album! I've used the really pretty Citrus Bliss Collection by Pink Paislee paired with a few other bits and pieces from the store and love how light and airy the whole spread has come out!

Here is the left hand side; well, technically, this is the front of the page protector. I allowed myself the freedom of doing single pages if and when needed so somewhere previous in the album was a week on single spread and I just "went with it".

And the right hand side/back of the page protector

I've tried to keep it simple yet interesting and am happy with the end result! Here are a few more close ups!

There is a process video available for this if you'd like to see my page come together! Just click on the play button below and you can watch right here in your browser or jump over to this link and you can see all the videos available on the ScrappingClearly YT channel!

So, that's it for this post, I am very much looking forward to jumping into my ScrappingClearly stash to play along with both of the challenges this month and sharing here on the blog! Until then, happy scrapping and keep sharing over in the FB group, we all love to see what fun things you do with the goodies from the store!!

Melinda

Products Used:

Pink Paislee - Citrus Bliss - 12x12 Paper Hello (cut aparts)

Pink Paislee - Citrus Bliss - 12x12 Paper Lemonade

Pink Paislee - Citrus Bliss - 12x12 Paper Fresh

Pink Paislee - Citrus Bliss - 12x12 Paper Sour

Studio Calico - Lemon Lush - Chipboard Heart Stickers

Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Alpha and Label Stickers

Tim Holtz - Mini Distress Ink Pad - Hickory Smoke