The Art of Scrapbooking™ by Melissa Samuels

Tutorial Thursday: Distressed Valentine Card

Today I made a little Valentine card using My Mind's Eye Love Me 12x12 kit pack...

and my new favorite tool, Prima Comfort Craft Distressing Tool...

This tool is so awesome because it has a fine & rough rasp surface, metal distressing brush, edge scraper and bone folder!!!  AWESOME!!!!!  Okay, sorry....I'm a little excited....back to the tutorial...

I cut out my pieces for my card from the paper, and popped out some of the diecuts from the accessory sheet that came in the pack.  I used the rasp to file down the edges where the paper was perforated, and used the fine sander on top of the tool to rough up the entire surface of the paper.  Love the look of this!
I used the brush on the tip of the tool (hidden in the cap) to do detail distressing of the heart.  I then inked everything with Antique Linen Distress Ink.
For those of you who are bow-challenged (there's no shame in that!!) you're going to love this!   I cut 2 pieces of ribbon (Maya Road Signature Ribbon Pack Red), tied them in a knot, and adhered it to the card with 1/8" Scor-tape.  Trim your edges, and instant faux bow!
I added some Maya Road Heart Trinket Pins for embellishment, and done!
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In store news...

We are taking PRE-ORDERS for the Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Marker Canister Set of 37!  If you would like to reserve yours click here.  Pre-orders save 10%!!!!  They are expected to ship sometime in February.

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If you missed my 2012 Calendar Class yesterday on UStream, here is the recording.  For some unknown reason, the show recorded in 2 videos.

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

Lazy Day Art Journal

Hey Guys!!!  A couple of weeks ago I had a few girlfriends over for a crop!  We had a blast.  It was awesome to relax for a bit, and just play.  I worked on my favorite thing in the world, an art journal page!  I started by collaging, then I did some painting, Glimmer Misting, and inking.  The stamped phrase is from the Tim Holtz Good Thoughts set, one of my favorite sets!  Such inspirational and uplifting phrases.  I added a Tim Holtz Glassine Pocket for catching wishes:)  I plan to go back and do some doodling/journaling around the outside edge to finish it off.  Until then, I thought I'd share what I have:

I made the flowers using McGill Paper Blossoms Punches!  I can definitely see how these punches can become addictive.  FUN!!!

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And, today at 2pm (EST) is my live UStream 2012 Calendar Class!  I hope you can drop by and say hello!  Click here go to my UStream Channel.  Here's what I'll be making:

Kits are available in my store (click here), but the UStreams are available for everyone!

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Denise Phillips is announcing the winner to her ATC challenge today on her blog.  If you entered, or you're just curious to who won, hop on over there and check her out!

http://birdnutsmixedmedia.blogspot.com/2012/01/and-there-are-winners.html

Tutorial Thursday: Hydrangea Using Paper Blossoms Punches

Hey Guys!!  You probably know by now how much I love making handmade flowers!  So, you can imagine how excited I was when I first saw McGill Paper Blossoms Punches.  It's an entire line of punches that are dedicated to making gorgeous flowers.  You can make a rose, peony, lily, begonia, pansy, sunflower, and the list goes on!!  I thought I would start simple and easy, so I made a hydrangea using the Mini Petals and Birch Leaf lever punches. 

 

Here's a how-to video by McGill for making the hydrangea.

After I made my flower, I glued it on top of one of the stacking boxes from last week's Tutorial Thursday (click here to view post).

I hope you enjoy!  To see more punches and how-to videos click here!

Valentine ATC's by Denise & Challenge

Hi Everyone!!!  Today I have a special treat for your eyes!  My very good friend, and talented artist, Denise from Birdnuts Mixed Media has put together some wonderful ATC's just in time for Valentine's Day.  She has a little tutorial, 5 gorgeous ATC's, and a fabulous challenge waiting for you!!  Here's a little excerpt from her blog meant to tease you!  

"In case you don't know what an ATC is, 

here is my knowledge on the subject. 

An ATC is an 'Artists Trading Card'.

Artist Trading Cards are for the sole intention for 

trading with other artists, and are not for sale.

There are a plethora of websites on the Internet just for the fun of making and trading ATC's! 

And, I believe the only rule in making ATC's is that they 

are to be exactly 2 1/2" wide x 3 1/2" long.

And that's the only rule!

You can use any medium in art you wish to make 

an ATC, as long as you have them the correct size!"

Intrigued yet???  Go visit her blog at http://birdnutsmixedmedia.blogspot.com to view her entire post, and enter her challenge!!!!!!  She'll be giving away all 5 cards, so run over there for the details!!! 

Card Made From Scraps

I decided I was way overdue for making a card!  I used some of my scraps from my Tutorial Thursday project (click here to see tutorial) to make this sweet little card that I'm going to use for Valentine's Day.  The paper, chipboard sticker, and Flower Market flower is Prima's Romanitque collection.  The clear hearts are by Prima, and the pink lace is My Mind's Eye Blush.  I hope you enjoy!

Tutorial Thursday: Oval Stacking Box with Romantique

Hi Everyone!!  It's Tutorial Thursday time!!  Today I'm making a Melissa Frances Oval Stacking Box with the very romantic Prima Romantique collection. 

These cute little boxes come in a set of 3.  I'm using the middle size box.

First, trace the top of the box on the back side of your paper.

Cut 2 strips out of 8x8 paper that are 1 1/2" wide to cover the sides.  I'm using Prima's Romantique 8x8 paper pad.

Adhere the first strip along the side.

Line up the second strip with the first, cover the rest of the side of the box top, and cut off the excess paper.

Adhere the traced cutout from step 1 to the top of the box.

If needed, trim any excess paper, and sand lightly for a nice finished edge.

Ink all the edges and bottom of the box with Distress Ink (I used Antique Linen).

Embellish, and you're done!  Easy peasy!  I use Prima Lace, Prima  Avon Roses, Prima Gillian Flowers, and a BoBunny Etc Trinket to decorate mine!

I thought this would make a great gift, especially for Valentine's Day.  Fill it with candy and a small card.  Who wouldn't love that?!  ENJOY!

2011 Year In Review (Part II)

This is Part II of "2011 Year In Review."  Click here to read Part I from yesterday's post.  These are posts from the second half of the year that I picked as favorites.  It was tough to choose, but here they are.

TO READ THE ENTIRE POST CLICK ON THE LINK UNDER EACH PICTURE.

 JULY 2011

Happy Shabby 4th  What's not to love about a shabby project?!

The Art of Scrapbooking Retreat Hosted by yours truly!  What a blast!  A very memorable weekend.

CHA Summer 2011 Bob & I had the best time in Chicago!  We were able to meet lots of great people, watch fantastic demos, shoot some product videoes, and celebrate our anniversary all in one trip.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Little Moments, Big Memories Book  Love this mini album!!  It started as a personal album for a family trip, but I ended up doing a kit.

Burnt Edge Canvas ATCs Tutorial You know I love anything Halloween.  I did a later post on how to use these adorable ATCs on a layout. 

OCTOBER 2011

Spooky Haunted House  This was a sandcastle mini I turned into a haunted house.  LOVE it!

NOVEMBER 2011

  Cloth Paper Scissors Pages  Getting published in CPS was definitely a hightlight of the year.  What a great honor!

Flower Tutorial & Christmas Book   Another passion (obsession) of mine, flowers!  Great tutorial, and my crazy popular Christmas book that sold out 4 times!

DECEMBER 2011

Week of Ornaments:  Day 3 Farmhouse  Cute, cute, cute!
Week of Christmas Ornaments:  Day 4 video tutorial

2011 Year In Review (Part I)

Happy New Year, Everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and spent lots of quality time with family and friends.  I had a wonderful Christmas & New Year.  I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent with my family, and felt so very fortunate for them.

Now that the new year is upon us, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the year past.  2011 was a year of exciting adventures, and growth both personally and professionally for me.  It was only January a year ago that I dedicated myself full-time to my business, and wow, what a journey.  I can't help but think my poor husband must have thought I was crazy running a scrapbooking business in the middle of an economic recession, but I feel a little like "Field of Dreams"..."build it, and they will come."  And, you guys did!  I have met so many wonderful people that share my enthusiasm for scrapbooking, papercrafting, and art.  The friendships I have formed with people that I have so much in common with has just been the highlight of my life. You guys have forever touched my heart, and I am so very grateful for that.

I cannot begin to tell you how passionate I am about creating.  It's what I think about when I get up in the morning, when I go to bed at night (sometimes the very wee hours of night), and when I wake up at 2am!  To me creating is an introspective process, healing, happiness, joy, and  an act of love.  Writing isn't necessarily my "thing," but I can tell a story through an art journal page, or mini album.  Sometimes I flip through my 12x12 scrapbooks, and think, "Oh my goodness, this is my entire life's story right here on these pages in front of me!"  It's so gratifying, and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I can reflect back on all of the great moments in my life just by sitting down and opening a few books.  Hopefully, when my children are all grown, they too will enjoy and appreciate the time and effort I took in preserving our memories. 

It is that passion and enthusiasm that has brought me to this point in my life.  I often have people ask me what the key to success is.  I couldn't begin to suggest I know the answer to that very large question.  However, if I had to hazard some type of guess, it would be 2 things #1 passion, and #2 a heck of a lot of hard work :)

On the professional front, some interesting facts about my growing business in 2011.  We have shipped to every state in the US, most US territories, and over 20 countries.  We've sold over 15,000 products.  We started the year with a product offering of 260, and have grown to almost 2000!   Our average monthly growth rate is over 20%.  We've tripled our server service, become PCI compliant, and redesigned our website to make browsing easier.  We streamlined our shipping process to print labels quicker to meet our growing order demand.  And, something I am extremely proud of, I am still able to review each order, read comments (my favorite part of order processing), and write personal notes on each order (with only an occasional hand cramp LOL).  The list goes on and on....

Since it's the beginning of the new year, I thought I'd take this opportunity post some of my favorite blog posts from 2011.  Because I have so many favorites, I thought I'd break it up into 2 posts.  Be sure to come back tomorrow for the second half of 2011 in review. 

TO READ THE ENTIRE POST CLICK ON THE LINK UNDER EACH PICTURE.

JANUARY 2011

A Card to Start the Day One of my favorite cards, probably because of the mixed media elements, and kraft envelope.

Getting Organized In the New Year, January 6, 2011.  I may need to reread this post.

FEBRUARY 2011

Grand Finale Week of Cards  I love this card, and made it on vacation at the cabin with the family.

Gypsy Journeys Portfolio  One of my most popular kits.  I had so much fun designing this kit, and teaching the classes.

Springtime Canvas  A favorite project because I LOVE working with canvas

MARCH 2011

Spread Your Wings Mixed Media Album  Another extremely popular kit that I ADORE!  It's everything I love in one book.

APRIL 2011

Treasured Memories Layout

JUNE 2011Birthday Cards I created these as a class for a retreat I held.  I keep thinking I really should do a UStream because these are one of my favorite sets of birthday cards I've designed.