Melissa Frances

Pretty Amazing

(Supply List: Patterned paper - Kraft Damask (PA392), Newsprint (PA379), Green Honeycomb (PA389) • Attic Treasures Sticker Banners (GN561) • Crepe Paper (GN303) • Resin Accents: With All my Heart (CX835) • White pom pom trim (GN532) • Other, non Melissa Frances supplies: From My favorite things stamps - Vertical Greetings II Die-namics and Stamp Set, Large Royal Rose Die-namics, Royal Rose Die-namics, 3/8" Rosette Die-namics, Mini Monarch Border Die-namics • White cardstock, ink)

Today's pretty layout is courtesy of design team member Sherrie Siemens. Here are her comments on it:

It has been a while since I have done a layout. One of the many perks of my photography hobby is that I now have more photos to choose from for doing a little scrapbooking! This is my daughter, Marie, sitting with a fresh coffee that I made her and letting me snap a photo of her looking out the window.

I combined one of the new and upcoming releases from My Favorite Things "Vertical Greetings II" set with some other previously released Die-namics and Melissa Frances C'est la Vie and Attic Treasures Volume 3 products.

All the flowers were made using Melissa Frances patterned paper and crepe paper and Die-namics rolled dies. The pleated paper border along the bottom was also made with a "Rosette Die-namics" that I didn't roll into a rosette.

Messy Hairdo - 5 lines combined!

We received this project from Filipino designer Wendy Kwok and were in love with the way she combined 5 of our Melissa Frances collections to make this beautiful layout.

When we design our paper collections we keep in mind that we want them to mix and match thereby giving more design options, but this layout truly puts our goal to the test! Here, Wendy combines papers from the Attic Treasures Vol.3, Vintage Posey, C'est la Vie, 5th Avenue, and original Attic Treasures Collections.

Wendy shared: My fave part of this layout is the layering of papers which shows how well the range of papers goes together

Thanks for sharing your creativity, and how the Melissa Frances papers can be mixed, with us today Wendy!

Layout with Crepe paper ruffle tutorial

(Supply List: Patterned paper - Little Girls Collage (PA388), Octavia (PA368) • C'est La Vie Sticker Banners (GN548) • Crepe paper (GN303) • Resin accents: Beautiful Butterflies (CX860), Resin Flower Applique (CX851) • Chandelier Drops, oblong prisms (GN525) • Other, non Melissa Frances supplies: White cardstock, 2 white velvet leaves, one pink flower, a decorative border punch) 



Today we have a great tutorial for you from design team member Steph Devlin. Her layout immediately caught my eye in particular because the middle/focal part of the layout reminded me of the union jack, which is a hot trend in home decor right now. Steph kindly took some step by step photos to share how she made the crepe paper ruffle for this project.

1.      When you take your MF Crepe Paper out from the packet, make sure that it is still folded over two or three times before cutting.
Cut into the paper at about 2" from flush and continue on to the reach the end.  Open up paper to reveal a long strip of crepe paper.

2.      Select the biggest stitch on your sewing machine.  Proceed to sew down the middle of the crepe paper.   If you don't have a machine you can hand stitch the paper in long  loose stitches, but the machine is definitely quicker !!!!

3.      This is roughly what your crepe paper will now look like.

4.      Hang onto the threads and gently push the crepe paper down so it starts ruffling.  Gently guide the ruffles down to the end of the thread and continue from the top again, repeat this process until all your crepe paper is ruffled.  You can control the appearance of your ruffle by how tightly you push the crepe paper together.

5.      Because this paper is so light, just double sided tape is all that is needed to adhere it to your project. It's so easy and the effect is just so pretty.

Have you tried to ruffle our crepe paper? If so, link your project in the comments so that we can see it!

8 Layout

(Supply List: Patterned paper - Little Girls Collage (PA388) • C'est la Vie Die Cuts (GN547) • Cream Satin Twist Rose (FF08) • Perfectly Pearl Cluster Brooch (BR007) • Tea Party Applique Set (CX811) • Other, non Melissa Frances supplies: white cardstock, decorative border punch, pearl rope, paper elements)

Today, from design team member Emeline Seet we have this pretty layout to share with you. Emeline says the following about this project:

I initiated this layout with the concept of a polariod photo in mind.

However, my 4R sized photo is too big , so I used a white cardstock to create a border to resemble a Polaroid photo frame.

First, I cropped my 4R photo to a size of 4" x 4".  Next, I matted onto a white cardstock. Leave half an inch at the TOP, RIGHT and LEFT side of the photo and leave 1.5" inch at the BOTTOM of the photo.

My favourite part of the layout would be the layered embellished flower and pearl broach.

Besides layering cut of motifs from pattern papers, I am inclined towards layering embellishments to create a full effect.

Thanks Emeline.

Baby layout featuring C'est la Vie

Today we have a lovely layout from design team member Anne Kristen to share with you. She used our brand new C'est la Vie Collection which doesn't overpower her lovely photo. We especially love how she intricately cut details from the pink "Un Billet" paper and incorporated them into the layout.


(Supply List: patterned paper: Vines & Blooms (PA384), Un Billet (PA381), Aqua Doily (PA385) • C'est la Vie Banner Stickers (GN548) • C'est la Vie Tag Collection (GN546) • Small resin frames - sold out • Other, non Melisa Frances supplies: 2 doilies, a scalloped edge punch, feathers)

Friends are Forever Layout

Today we have a stunning layout by new design team member Steph Devlin to share with you.


(Supply List: Patterned paper: Geraldine (PA369), Essie (PA366) • 5th Avenue Cardstock Die Cuts (GN442) • White Resin Curtain (CX852) • Other, non Melissa Frances supplies - seam binding, white acrylic paint with mask, friends are forever stamp and black ink, mini clothes pegs, small paper roses, pearls.)

Here's what Steph shares about this project:

I have often seen washing lines on layouts, and absolutely loved them, and decided to create this layout.  I thought that a combination of Melissa Frances Die Cuts, Stickers and Resin would be a beautiful shabby chic addtion to a washing line.  As you can see all the beautiful textures, images and hues look beautiful together all pinned to a pearl washing line.  The image of my girls, Emma (9) and Madison (4) is the first photo where I have been completely taken back to how quickly they are growing up.  Emma is becoming this beautiful young lady and Madison has all the signs of following in her sister's footsteps.

Thank you for sharing your project with us today Steph!

Please help us welcome Steph

Melissa and I are pleased to introduce the newest member of the Melissa Frances International design team here on the blog. We have been fans of this lady's work for quite some time and the timing finally became right to add her to our team.

Please help us welcome Steph Devlin who joins us from Australia! Steph has a talent for creating beautiful, ornate, delicate layouts and we look forward to having her share her talent here on the blog and in our upcoming catalogs and trade show booths.

Here is a beautiful project Steph designed for us which will  give you a taste of her style:




For this butterfly card Steph used our Granny's Pearl Brooch (BR009) with papers from our 5th Avenue Collection.

Here are a few layouts from Steph which feature our product line:



And you may have seen this one (which combines Attic Treasures Vol. 2 with 5th Avenue) in the January 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes:



Welcome to the Melissa Frances team Steph. We look forward to working with you!!
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I thought this might be a good time to discuss our design team on the blog. We are asked quite frequently how and when we will add new designers to our team. Many companies have contests, open calls, or re-hire design teams every year. That is not how we do it at Melissa Frances. We tend to send private invitations to designers whose work we have admired, or designers who have initiated contact with us expressing an interest in our team.

We receive emails weekly frompassionate scrapbookers and cardmakers who would like to join our team of designers. While we would love to accept each designer who contact us, we are simply not able to do so.

At this time, we do not anticipate adding any new designers to our team in the near future. However, we do keep all inquiries on file. We have contacted some designers a year or two later after receiving their initial inquiry once an openning became available.

If you love the Melissa Frances product line and are interested in joining our team, you are welcome to send an inquiry along with samples of your work to Carolyn (see contact info on the right sidebar). She keeps this information on file. Who knows, the next designer we may add to our team may be you!

New Attic Treasures Collection Vol. 3

Today we invite you to view our second new Collection for the upcoming CHA show. This is Volume 3 of our popular Attic Treasures Collection. Beautiful with cream, ivory, white, brown and little pops of muted color, our Attic Treasures embodies a classic look.


Here are the six papers available in this paper Collection:

And here, from our team, are some samples of this line in use:

Layout by: Carolyn Peeler


Layout by: Emeline Seet

Layout by: Karola Witczak

Let us know what you think of this Collection and you will be entered to win the Collection when it arrives in the warehouse. (We will close the comments on Feb 5, and the winner will be announced on or before Feb 8th.)  And if you haven't left a comment to be entered for the C'est la Vie giveaway, check it out here.

For those attending CHA, please stop by Booth #1991 to see these products in person and place your order!

More C'est la Vie

Thanks so much for all your kind comments yesterday. We are thrilled to hear that you love our new collection as much as we do. If you haven't already left a comment to have the chance to win some of this new collection, be sure to scroll down and leave a comment on this post.Today we are pleased to share with you a few of the embellishments that go with our new "C'est la Vie" paper collection.

First, we have our brand new banner stickers. Printed on cardstock weight paper, these stickers add a pretty touch to layouts and cards. See them in action on this great layout by design team member Evgenia Petzer.Evgenia combines our new Newsprint, Blessings, Un Billet and Vines & Blooms paper with the banner stickers as seen at right and our New banner borders. We especially love how Evgenia did such detailed cutting around the birds from the "Un Billet" paper so that she could add them to this layout.
Next, we have our newest cardstock stickers, in two different themes, Victorian and Diva:

Here is the retro set in use by design team member Rachel McAffee who combined red accents from our Deck the Halls Collection with the new Aqua Doily paper from the C'est la Vie Collection.



There are many more embellishments from this collection, but we want to leave a few surprises for our buyers at the CHA show ☺ Please check back tomorrow for sneak peeks from our second CHA release.

NEW C'est la Vie Collection launching at CHA

It is with great excitement that we begin to introduce the NEW Melissa Frances product launches for 2012. 

Over the next few days, we will be sharing with you our 2 new paper crafting Collections, along with the launch of a new division of our company. It is always exciting when we finally unveil what has been top secret for months. We hope that you enjoy our peeks - and be sure to read to the end as Melissa has kindly offered a blog giveaway with this post!

Today we would like to share with you our new Crafting Collection called "C'est la Vie" [definition: That’s Life]. 

C’est la Vie - Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. We all face struggles and obstacles. It is how we handle them that defines us. This collection celebrates life in it’s imperfect, inherent messiness. Like our Thankful collection, these papers will have part proceeds donated to www.breastcancer.org, Melissa's charity of choice.

Layout by Design Team member: Emeline Seet
Layout by Design Team member: Danielle Flanders
There will be 12 new papers along with many coordinating embellishments for this beautiful collection. Here is your full view of the papers:

This is a beautifully soft romantic line which we know will please long time lovers of the Melissa Frances brand.

This card features a few of our new embellishments for the C'est la Vie Collection. Can you spot them?
Card by Design Team member: Melissa Phillips

So, our question to you today is: Which patterned paper from the C'est la Vie Collection is your favorite?Leave a comment to let us know and we will randomly select someone to receive the C'est la Vie Collection when it arrives in the warehouse to ship!