I am so excited to see what spring time projects our Stampin' Friends have crafted! Weren't Lynn's projects great? She was asked to present for Stampin' Up! at our convention called OnStage in Hartford, I believe, and I was asked to present in Ft. Worth! So fun! I am taking two of my projects from there to give you a sneak peek into the Stampin' Up! annual catalog that will be out on June 1.

The suite I presented was called Delightfull Detailed and you can see a picture I took of the products in the suite below. The laser cut paper is so pretty and has a Whisper White and Very Vanilla side to it- so it coordinates with any projects! The larger open floral work piece looked intimidating to me, until I realized it actually held up pretty well as a mask!

So I used it on a piece of our Shimmery White cardstock and spritzed some blue re-inker and water all over, let it dry, and viola! A beautiful backgroun for this card. The ribbon is so pretty and so is the new in-color Grapefruit Grove card stock behind it.

I used a Memories and More card from the Delightfully Detailed Memories and More card pack for the sentiment, trimmed to two inches wide and punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper punch. Boom. Card done! Springy for sure.

For my 3D project I knew I wanted to use the bellyband piece of the laser cut paper but what I didn't know was that if you cut an Acetate card box in half, the two halves will slide together to make a tighter smaller box. Love it! I put a large piece of dark chocolate in there with some of the crinkle filling from the spring catalog and tada!

​I do love that the sentiment "I Love You" fits in the Classic Label punch. And did you see? It's in Blackberry Bliss ink on Mint Macaron paper!!! My two favorite colors are BACK!!!

I must say... the new Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon ties terrific bows and will actually lie flat for shipping-- that's my kind of ribbon! Want a yard of it? Comment below and I will personally pick a winner to get a surprise sampling of my suite in the mail!!!!

Don't forget to keep hopping and let's see how spring is looking where they are...

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

I had so much fun with both my groups of stampers last week! We made three cards that centered around love, ate some Girl Scout Cookies, and had some great conversation! Plus, everyone got a cute little treat holder and I showed them how easy it is to make with a 4“ x 4“ piece of designer series paper and one strip of Tear n Tape!

The first card features the eclipse technique and stamping a whole lot of hearts! This design was copied from Ronda Wade and adapted to fit a card front. You simply stamp, then cut out the letters, and raise them with mini-dimensionals!

The second card featured the free Party Pandas stamp set and the free Tutti Fruitti card pack from Sale-a-bration. It was a quick and easy card which everyone loud and everyone placed a qualifying $50 order to get those stinkin cute Party Pandas!

The final card featured a fun cutting technique with a heart framelit and the Big Shot. We then sponged the outside with three colors and stamped with another free stamp that from Sale-a-bration!

I hope these cards inspire you to create something sweet for those you love!

happy crafting,
Melissa

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am so excited that I was asked to participate in A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop for this year! As you might, or might not know, this blog hop was started after Sara released her very popular Paper Pumpkin box last April, and it has gained tons of momentum... I have been an avid subscriber to Paper Pumpkin since box #2 and just love it! I have been a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! for over four years and Paper Pumpkin was my mainstay, my go-to, for easy projects, as a busy wife, mom, and full time college administrator! So... here we go...

​This month's kit is SUPER cute! I love the non-traditional colors for Valentine's day and the fact that you can use these pocket cards as treat holders (perfect for the Fun Dip that my daughter wants to give her classmates) but also as pretty little cards or giftcard holders-- great for the rest of our friends and family!

I don't know if you follow Paper Pumpkin on Facebook, but if not, I highly recommend it-- they have been put out little teasers in the shape of inspiration boards and they are super cute! And did you see everything in your box? Holy wow! It was stuffed!

So, without further ado... ​My alternate card for this month (that my subscriber's will be getting all the supplies for this weekend) is below. I played off the Flirty Flamingo in the kit and just had to die cut a heart out of the pocket for the card, plus I made my own patterned DSP paper with the stamps! 

And I really love the little enamel dots in the kit-- such a cute embellishment! (I know, you can see the adhesive behind the vellum, but in daylight, it's not so noticeable and I really love stamping on vellum! Just let it dry for a long time!)

Now, the alternate project came about because I had a heart shaped hole in one of my pockets... Also, it's tough to get a cute Valentine's for my hubby that isn't too mushy, so drumroll please... Here is my photo pocket frame! I think he will keep this on his desk for quite some time to come!

This is one of the cutest pictures of our daughter Marianne (almost nine years old) and our dog Cassidy (over 12 years old)! I used the tiny repeated hearts die from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and the Sweet & Sassy Framelits for the big heart, and the Lots of Labels Framelits for the tag!

I hope you have loved my alternate card and project for this month's Paper Pumpkin box. And remember, the best way to earn free Sale-a-bration items is to get a pre-paid subscription for Paper Pumpkin (since you know you already love it) and then earn those free items! Plus, once you subscribe you can buy refills of previous months' kits, like this one!

Make sure you keep hopping along below... I am #4, so hop on over to Lori Mueller with the next button and then keep hopping to see tons of cute projects! 

Sara Levin
Jenny Hall
Kimberley Morris
Melissa Thomas (you are here!)
Lori Mueller
Kelly Acheson
Maria Willis
Audra Monk
Tina Riddle
Rick Adkins
Jennifer Hill
Monika Davis
Carolynn Sander 
Melissa Davies
Rachel Tessman

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

Welcome to the 2018 Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! I am so excited to be hopping for another year with these wonderful artists! We have added a few new hoppers to our ranks, so be sure to check out the fabulous work of Jenny Hall, Katja Ettig, Jessie Holton, Sandra Mastello, and Kim Jolley! 

This month it's all about love... and I am in love with Brusho. If you have been following my blog the past month it is all I can talk about. I promise I will quit soon... lol! But seriously, I love Stampin' Up's new watercolor crystals. They make me look like an effortless artist!

​​And for this month's card, I took an embossing folder, tapped some Brusho in there, smooshed a piece of shimmery white cardstock in there, and voila! A delightful card that I am going to give to my husband, because I just love him. He has the patience of a saint. (The font and embossing folder are from the new Petal Passion suite!)

For my project this month, I wanted to recreate something that I made for Jonathan and I several years back-- it's a little place to write notes to one another. We take turns writing love notes and it's a way to fill our "buckets" when we might forget to say nice things to one another or are in such a rush around the house...

​I used the Petal Passion Memories & More Card Pack, some free Sale-a-bration Shimmer ribbon, and an IKEA frame, plus a chalk marker I got at Tuesday Morning.

I hope you have loved my projects (I am #9 on the list) and that you continue to hop along and see what everyone else has created! This is a terrific bunch!!! 

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

I am so excited to be participating in Kylie's international blog highlight contest. If you came here via her page, make sure to vote for my project, and if you came here because you are one of my loyal followers, please make sure to vote for my project on her site here!

(If I am in the top 10 then I am featured in a special international blog hop later! Fun stuff!)

For this month's projects Kylie wanted to feature all the new beautiful spring products in the Occasions catalog and the free items you can earn in the Sale-a-bration Catalog! I have managed to feature four new products-- two from each catalog!

As many of you know, I have been playing with the new watercolor crystals, Brusho, for weeks now, and I just can't get enough! You can see my latest Facebook Live video here or my previous blog post here!

For this card, I used the Decorative Masks meant for embossing paste, laid them down on our watercolor paper, sprinkled the Brilliant Red, Gamboge, and Yellow Brushos, then spritzed with water.  I left the mask on the sheet of watercolor paper to dry overnight and the next morning when I lifted it, the image was still there!

Then I die cut "Celebrate" in black and silver foil paper (free Sale-a-bration item with a $100 order, Celebrate You thinlit dies) and layered those on the top, along with the Tutti-Frutti Adhesive-backed Sequins. All of this was attached to another free Sale-a-bration item, the Tutti-Frutti cards and envelopes, 16 of them, which are free with a $50 order!

Here is another closer angle of the card...

I hope you have loved my card! Don't forget to vote for it on Kylie's page! 

And I will be doing a Brusho class to go (similar to my Watercolor Pencils class last spring) where I post videos for you to follow along with. At this point I have discovered 14 different techniques and ways to use Brusho so if you are interested in the class- let me know below 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

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 to the Stampin Friends Blog Hop! This month's theme is one that I love but also find super challenging! We have to do black and white and some accent color...  If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Twila’s blog. ​Don’t forget to click the Next button at the bottom to continue on the hop with Kirsteen's blog. 

This month we have three guest blog hoppers. Make sure to check them out too!​
Bibiana Cameron
Maria Willis
Lana Staab

I have been so excited for all the bumblebees in our catalogs right now! Stampin' Up! must know how much I love bumblebees because my name, Melissa, means honeybee in Greek! So I have always loved them. I used Crushed Curry as my accent color. And gold, of course. 

There are some sweet details you are going to want to see. The background was made by spritzing watercolor paper with water and then stamping the Watercolor Wash background stamp making the "honey". The bees were cut using the Dragonflies thinlits and then I made them glimmer with the Wink of Stella Brush. I used the Pop of Paradise DSP paper with the black and white zigzags. The details are just too sweet, right? 

So, who's hopping this month? Quite a few accomplished crafters! Click the next button or see the full line up below, plus scroll down to the bottom to see a giveaway I am doing.
​

1. Barbara Welch
2. Elizabeth Jeanne
3. Kathie Rotti
4. Lynn Streifert
5. Lana Staab
6. Raquelle Clifton
7. Steph Jandrow
8. Twila Davis
9. Melissa Thomas (you are here!)
10. Kirsteen Gill
11. Cindy Slack Waldroff
12. Maria Willis
13. Kim Lamos
14. Bibi Cameron
15. Andrea Tracy-Tucker

Thank you for much for hopping with us! If you comment below I will select a winner to be sent a special little treat in the mail. And keep coming back to the blog-- I still need to show you Marianne's birthday party treat boxes!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

​Welcome to the Stampin Friends Blog Hop! I am so excited to be invited back for another year of hopping! I apparently took a long winter's nap and have finally emerged from my cocoon. I promise to blog more this year!!! This month’s theme is love or Valentine's. If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Stacey’s blog. ​Don’t forget to click the Next button at the bottom to continue on the hop with Kim’s blog. 

​Let's get into my projects! I was inspired by some 3x3 notecards we made at OnStage Local in Phoenix this fall... I am also super excited about the Watercolor Pencils (so much so that I am doing a class on them in February)! And the project is something that I am going to adapt for my daughter's birthday in a few weeks-- at the movie theater!

This cute  box is made with the Popcorn Box thinlit dies and the coordinating stamp set. I was working on treat bags for my daughter's 8th birthday party when I got inspired. (Marianne is so excited to have a "movie party"!) I also used the Stitched Shapes Framelit dies on the black cardstock. I think this looks super sophisticated-- make sure you come back next week to see how I convert this into kiddie cute!!

I really do love heat embossing... Don't you? I stamped the edge in black, then heat embossed the gold, then punched out the inner circle. The white vines were made with the white craft ink-- I have learned to be patient with letting it dry and it really comes out great!

​Don’t forget to click Next to follow along on the blog. See below for a list of all bloggers and a giveaway that I am doing personally!

Charlestonians are delighted about this year's new Stampin' Up! catalog! Want to know why?

Pineapples, pineapples, everywhere!!!

Pineapples are a symbol of southern hospitality and there are two gorgeous pineapple stamps in the new catalog! I have featured both here on a recipe book for a coworker (as a bridal shower gift)!

I did some clear embossing on our shimmery cardstock and then watercolored around the pineapple for a soft look. Then I embossed in our new Copper Embossing powder! SO PRETTY!

Below is a view inside the recipe book. I had purchased some recipe cards from Mary & Martha and the color scheme was green, crumb cake, and orange. I found that an old Project Life by Stampin' Up! set actually matched quite nicely so I ran with that! Everyone from the office contributed a recipe to the book (and her mom and future mother-in-law)! It was a sweet gift!

My pineapple craze did not stop there. Then I made the card below for a team swap (don't you love the new Emerald Envy color??)! If you want to learn how to make this card-- come to my class later this month: 

​https://www.facebook.com/events/1204161366282968/ 

If you need a catalog-- let me know! And everything is live now-- so shop away! In fact,  when you place a $50 or more order with me using this hostess code (SASVBBEG) I will send you a box with stamping goodies worth at least $25! (This is good until Sunday, June 12th!)

Happy stamping,
Melissa