A big shout out to Janet for putting this blog hop together! (Candy and I had a blast sitting with her at CentreStage in Salt Lake in November!) I was excited to start playing with all the new Occasions Catalog items and the new Sale-a-bration items this past week! Seriously, who doesn't love free stuff?

​For my project today, which I featured at my Customer Appreciation Event, everyone got to play with TWO new free stamp sets-- Lots of Lavender and Amazing You. Adding the copper embossing is what really put this project over the top. Plus, one customer told me that her aunt can't see very well anymore but loves getting cards- so the embossing was a great way for her to "see" the card!

 Sale-a-bration rocks, right?? Well, I am also excited to announce a new shopping incentive with me-- Sea to Sea Anchor Club. For every $30 in merchandise, you get 1 anchor. Once you reach 8 anchors, you get a $25 shopping spree on me!

(This works in increments of $30, so $60 gets you 2 anchors but $50 only gets you 1... Tax and shipping aren't included but I am including product based classes-- like a kit class or Brusho class later this spring.) Plus, check out the Shopper Perks button above for even more incentives to shop this year with me!

So, don't delay-- place an order with me as your demonstrator-- I would be honored to earn your business. I am blogger #45 so continue hopping along to see 49 other amazing projects featuring Sale-a-bration items!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome back to Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! I can't believe this is the last on of 2017! It has been a pleasure and honor to hop with these talented ladies for the last two year! Don't forget to hop and check out everyone else's projects! Our theme for this month is New Year's related and I can't wait for you to see what's been brewing in my mind...

We have been privileged to visit friends' houses for the last several years for New Years Eve, where the kids run wild, we play games, and do small fireworks. There is nothing like a sparkler to me. So this card is inspired by those and I use Brushos for it. It takes a bit of playing to get the effect you want, but it's worth it! 

In the Occasions Catalog (or spring catalog as I call it) Stampin' Up! is releasing a line of five Brusho crystal colors that are fun to play with! You pin-prick three to five holes in the top of the containers and then just shake the color out, like salt- sparingly. In this case, I wet the watercolor paper first and then sprinkled them on so they would "stay" a bit better where I sprinkled them. Look for more blog posts over the next few weeks as I experiment with different techniques!! (This was the hostess stamp set from the Holiday catalog called Seasons of Whimsy that I have loved playing with! Sad to see it go in a few weeks...)

My 3D project was inspired by a few more spring catalog items, including the silver gable boxes, the Yay You hostess stamp set, and the Sweet Soiree Specialty Paper! Doesn't it look like champagne bubbles? I can't wait to gift our hostess on New Year's Eve with these two bath bombs! And what is so simple about these boxes is that it is just a 12x12 sheet of paper that you trim off a 2 inch wide piece and then score in half. Then it magically wraps around the box and fits like a glove! So cool! Good job SU on designing these to be easy to use!

Don't forget to comment below and keep on hopping along! Everyone has terrific projects this month!

And if you comment below on my hop with what stamp set you want to use the Brushos with then I will draw a name to win a sampler of embellishments from me from the spring catalog! Woohoo!

I want to wish you all a happy holiday season, a restful winter break, and I can't wait to see you in the new year. I've got some big news to announce so stay tuned!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome to Day 6! EEEK! A full week of giveaways and fun! May it never stop!! Today I wanted to show you the pillow gifts I brought with me for everyone in the house at OnStage in Salt Lake City (plus one team member who was staying at a nearby hotel)! 

These bags already look fabulous with the shiny gold stripes but then add a simple tag topper and bam! Awesome-sauce! I was using the Christmas Around the World DSP stack again because I love it and I stamped the sentiment from Merry Little Labels in Real Red, added a Garden Green scalloped oval and a little banner in Real Red- tada!

Pillow gifts are a really sweet tradition that Stampin' Up! has where you give your roomies a sweet gift (generally each day you room together)! We took turns in the house gifting one another and it was so fun! Want to see what's in it?

Perfectly Posh goodies! And this one can be yours! I will be selecting someone from the comments and will send them this goodie bag in the mail! I will say that I love using Perfectly Posh because it is cruelty-free, naturally based, and many are vegan. Plus, everything is under $25. I joined for the discount and I do have a few people who purchase from me so if you are interested you can check it out here. Also, through Nov 30 if you use the code THANKFUL you will save $5 at check out!

I have really loved making little gifts around the Posh products, like these Chunk (bar soap) samples below and our new Fizi bath bomb line. I sell the Fizi's direct, so if you want some, let me know! I have gussied these up for Thanksgiving (and have a cute one planned for Christmas) so message me! 

For the chunk, I used the Merry Little Labels stamp set again but this time with Rich Razzleberry ink and then sponged the back of the Foil Snowflakes with Pacific Point to match the wrapper. For the Fizi's I used a previous Paper Pumpkin kit that has been super popular at craft fairs before. 

So, today I am out at the Copperas Cove Pet Supply Store for a special Relay for Life event called Bark for Life. I am so happy to support this sweet town and the American Cancer Society. I am out here representing Posh and Stampin' Up! but I wish I was at home crafting... 

So, don't forget to comment below and let me know if you have questions! Plus, check out the other posts this week and make sure you get entered to win the big prize!

Happy crafting,
Melissa

Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's blog hop is all about being thankful-- both at Thanksgiving and year round with Thank You cards & gifts of appreciation! I love the cooler mornings-- so much so that I am teaching my classes outside today (I teach Ethics & Problem Solving to Freshman in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas)! If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Twila’s blog. I always love her projects! 

So, both of my projects this week were used with the new Stampin' Blends alcohol markers from Stampin' Up! I loved the alcohol markers we had before and am so happy that SU worked hard to perfect the marker design and function. They are very smooth and make blending colors a breeze. And they will be available to customers on November 1st! I will be hosting a "Stampin Blends Color Club" which will allow you to acquire the entire collection for about $45 per month over 3 months with a Fall collection, Winter collection, and Spring collection! Join my mailing list if you want more information!

Once I got these markers in my hands, I couldn't stop coloring! I grabbed every open line image I had and just kept stamping and coloring! But then I remembered that I just got the Just Add Color Designer Series Paper for free (with the buy 3, get 1 free deal this month) and that there were lots of cool images to color in there... So, this card was born... The sentiment is from the Painted Harvest stamp set.

And then I tackled the Basket of Wishes set with its cute pumpkins and squashes to make a cute gift bag full of sweet treats for our Thanksgiving hostess! A family friend always hosts our two big extended families and we just love the Twilleagers and all that they do to support and love on us. So this bag of treats would be welcome! I love the gold tones on the bag and then in the ribbon and clip. 

​Sue Lovejoy was the winner of last month's blog hop which was the gorgeous Hello Life Project Kit! This month's kit is equally stunning- I loved this one and still have the largest star as one of my favorite Christmas decorations: Many Merry Stars!! ​You must comment on ALL blog hop posts with the hashtag #SFbloghop2017 and what you love about our projects by Sunday, October 22nd! Easy, right?

So, comment below and keep hopping on over to Sue Vine's blog! We have a great lineup of projects for you this month!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's blog hop is all about Fall!! If you are like me, you welcome the cooler mornings and the opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee on the porch without melting...  If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Maureen’s blog. Wasn't her stuff cute?? This month we have brought back the PRIZES for commenting and hopping with us (see below)! 

But first, let's talk. Is it "autumn" or "fall"? LOL! This past weekend I made fall themed nameplates for all my retreat attendees and one was named Autumn so I knew we could start a good debate here with that prompt! (I used the ever popular Eclipse technique on these.)

But first, my fall card. This summer I participated in a swap with other demonstrators from around the country and received a cool Gatefold Shutter Surprise card and once I saw the Painted Harvest sunflower- I just knew I had to recreate the card! It has been so popular at my classes, retreat, and training events. 

What makes it pop is using Peekaboo Peach and Crushed Curry on the sunflower and then Wink of Stella to bring out the beautiful colors!

If you want to watch the video on how to make this, I did a Facebook Live video one night recently for our team... It makes it a lot easier to understand how to put together! So you can watch it on my page here!

But the measurements are:
5 1/2 inches by 8 1/4 inches card base in Peekaboo Peach
Scored at 1 3/4 inches on each side to gate fold towards the middle

Outside Painted Harvest DSP strips are 1 7/8 by 5 1/4 inches.

Tangerine Tango inside window: 2 3/4 by 6 inches, cut in half at 3 inches. Then score in at 1/2 inches to made the side anchors. Cut in on the middle to make the "window". 

Middle inside piece is Very Vanilla cardstock that is 3 inches by 5 1/2 inches.  Painted Harvest piece is 2 3/4 inches by 5 1/4 inches. Once that piece is adhered, cut out a circle with the circle dies that is 2 3/8 inches. Then flip it over and stamp the sunflower on it.

Cut small Very Vanilla circle to go on inside of card with Early Espresso inked sentiment that is 1 7/8 inches. 

Cut a Tangerine Tango scalloped circle that matches the 2 3/8 inch circle and mount the sunflower image on it.

The belly band is strip of Tangerine Tango that is 1/2 inch by 8 1/4 inches.

My 3D project is a cute little soap sample holder! I sell Perfectly Posh (which is a natural based pampering line) and we have "Chunks", which are HUGE bars of body soap. This chunk is named "Where you Bean All My Life" and features cocoa seed butter, coffee beans for a touch of exfoliation, milk, and sugar, so what better way to package them up than with Stampin' Up!'s Coffee Cafe suite and some Autumn Harvest Paper! I did use the woodgrain paper from Coffee Break Designer Series Paper stack and some Lemon Lime Twist cardstock (2 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, scored at 3/4 in, 4 1/2 in, and 5 inches) which really brightens this project up!  

So, what are you waiting for? I am #3 below (Melissa Thomas, Sea to Sea Stampin) -- comment on my post and get HOPPING!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's blog hop is NO RULES!! If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Steph’s blog. Wasn't her stuff cute??

So, with no rules, I decided to work with what I had in front of me-- which was the brand new Paper Pumpkin box that just came in-- Positively Picturesque! This kit is so cute and I cannot wait to make the cards in it (four notecard and four standard size). But instead I worked on my add-on project for the month and used the font stamps to finish a card that I had started on a few weeks ago. The summer is tough y'all. Marianne being home has been a blessing and curse. I love having more time with her but whew, am I behind. Anywho... this is the kit...

So, for the card, I had used Stampin' Up!'s new embossing paste to make fluffy clouds which I knew would have a hot air balloon flying past them... But I absolutely loved the sentiments and fonts in this Paper Pumpkin so I used them! That THANKS stamped so clean and pretty it looks like it was printed...

What I love about this card is that the colors are mainly new in-colors, with Power Pink, Berry Burst, and Tranquil Tide taking front stage while soft sky hangs out in the background! Plus, those clouds are so fluffy and cute with the embossing paste!

So, the next project is actually what I am sending to my Paper Pumpkin subscribers. Why do I send them an extra project each month? Because I am thankful for the role they play in helping me stay in business as a demonstrator! Plus, who doesn't love getting happy mail?

When I saw the title of this month's project I immediately thought of framed art/photos. Therefore I decided to make mini paper frames for them. Once you know how to make one you can scale them up or down. (I was even thinking these could make cute Christmas ornaments!) 

Want to make one? Take a sheet of cardstock and decide the width of your frame. My piece was 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches and I wanted a skinny frame so I did 1/4 inch. Score on each side at those increments, times four. So for mine it was at 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, and 1 inch. Therefore making four event spaced score marks on all sides coming in. Then, on only two sides opposite each other make one more mark that same increment inwards but only from the top two tick marks in. See the picture below. You will need to cut the four corners out (of the 4 x 4 squares) and the two squares plus an angle portion. This gives you the right angles at the corners. (Watch this video or come follow my Facebook page where I do lots of FB Live videos-- come follow me!)

​I recommend that you staple the ribbon to the cardstock before you work on the rest. Then adhere any background DSP to the middle. Then adhere Tear n Tape to all the outside edges and fold in the two straight edges first. Then the angled edges should fold on top. Finally, decorate as you wish! 

I hope you have loved my card and 3D project! It was so fun to get back to crafting after a break for a few days-- we even went to the Senior Center this week and I did my Silver Stamping class there with Paper Pumpkin! So fun! 

Make sure to check out all the awesome crafters below-- you are at Melissa Thomas #6-- so keep on hopping to Maureen's blog and throw us some LOVE in the comments!!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Last weekend our upline, Candy Rattray (Top 100 Global Demonstrator),  hosted her quarterly demonstrator training and asked me to be a Table Captain for the event. This entailed tackling a suite from the new catalog and I decided to tackle the Pick a Pattern suite from pages 40-41. You might recall a few other projects that I have posted about recently, like my fancy fold Crafting Forever card below and my Paper Pumpkin Add-on Project Post-it note holder.

Below is my swap card for the event...

These were the cards that I put on my display board. 

We changed up how we did the event (BTW you can come when we do the next one-- we do allow customers to come!) and I hosted a table where five people visited the table and made two projects with me! It was so fun to meet and chat with everyone... 

I love this stamp set and matching paper-- I believe it has something for everyone (dinos, flowers, cameras, mushrooms, woodland animals/camping, and art supplies)! Let me know if you have questions or need dimensions for anything!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

 Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's blog hop is May flowers or sympathy themed-- so I went with flowers-- all the way!!!!  If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Lori’s blog-- who just happens to be our guest hopper this month! I can't wait to see what she has created! 

In the spirit of my blog post from last month, let's use up that Designer Series Paper (DSP)!! (If you missed it, last month I did a OWS- one sheet wonder)!  This project also takes one whole sheet of DSP and makes a super fun class project or a sweet present! The purse tote for cards was shared by a fellow demonstrator, Terri Gaines, at our convention a few years back and I have loved it ever since. 

I can't find the instructions online anymore but I did have a printed copy that I took a scan of and upload below. One of the unique features of this project is that it requires the diagonal plate for the score board, which some of you might have. We don't currently sell it but you might be able to find it at a craft store... 

Want to see what's inside? I made some super simple cards to use up some retiring colors- Macaron Mint and Watermelon Wonder plus some more DSP that is retiring. 

And now, on with the blog hop! You hopefully came here from Lori Mueller  and are headed to Barbara Welch's blog! I can't wait to see what these ladies have cooked up for this month... Plus, keep coming back to my blog for more sneak peeks of new catalog product (or scroll down)...
​
Happy crafting,
Melissa

Do you recognize these burgers? Of course you don't... Because they were supposed to be macaron cookies from the Just Keep Swimming stamp set.

I felt that they would make super cute burgers and they did! (I got inspired at our craft retreat a few weekends ago because they served us the best burgers at CYJ!) The buns are Delightful Dijon, the lettuce is Cucumber Crush, and the beef patty is is Cajun Craze (stamped off once)-- just in case you want to re-create!

Want to see some other creations with this stamp set and the Ombre stamp pads? I love that this stamp set was made with intentionally skinny images to fit the small slices in the Ombre pads-- and since it's all retiring- it's all on sale!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

​Welcome back to the blog hop for Stampin' Friends in 2016! Hopefully, you just arrived from Robyn's blog-- isn't she terrific? Make sure that you keep hopping on over to X's blog- I can't wait to see what she has designed for this month! Plus, keep reading for a chance to win a bunch of new crafty goodies!

This month we have three guest blog hoppers. Make sure to check them out too!
Twila Davis
Robyn Rasset
Cindy Waldroff

This month's challenge was a loose theme-- summer fun!! Normally, this would be easy for me but this month we are moving back to Texas so I am super overwhelmed. But I am determined to not slip in my commitments and this lovely blog hop is one of them!

For the card, I got inspiration from Texas and the sweet fireflies there! I actually stamped the fireflies on the white tissue paper that comes sandwiched between the window sheets. Then I backed it with a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock to give the jar a bit of glow. Put this on the mounted on the Serene Scenery  Designer Series Paper Stack piece of paper and you have a classic summer card!

Look at the copper embossing!! Isn't it gorgeous?? And with the Cucumber Crush cardstock and the beautiful Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper-- it just pops! I love the touch of Linen Thread too as it picks up the Crumb Cake color from the DSP. Look how well the tea packets fit in this box-- and they match the green color (Green Tea Chai)!!

​Would you like to win 12 different awesome craft goodies? Make sure you comment on each person's blog with the hashtag #SFJulyHop by Sunday, June 24th at midnight! Each comment using the HASHTAG gets you another entry in the drawing!
​So where are you on the hop? Here is the list of all the Stampin' Friends blog hoppers, including our guest hoppers!​

1. Steph Jandrow
2. Kathie Rotti
3. Melanie Coverston
4. Cindy Waldroff
5. Carolina Evans
6. Christine Pennington
7. Robyn Rasset
8. Melissa Thomas (you are here!) 
9. Elizabeth Jeanne
10. Twila Davis
11. Lynn Streifert
12. Siara Acdal

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​Or just click the previous or next buttons below! 
​And as always...
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Happy crafting,
Melissa