Melissa Frances

Bingo Card...

by Ingvild. The front of this gorgeous card features a page from our Bingo album, and Ingvild has added oodles of femine touches to make a beautiful card...

Friendship Card...

Ingvild created this beautiful card with tons of detail inside and out...she had a clever idea to use pages from our Postcard Album to make the base for the card...

Altered Hearts...

by Ingvild Bolme...

 

Meet our Guest Designer, Ingvild...

Earlier this year, we featured a guest artist, Ingvild Bolme...because of email issues, we were unable to share all of her projects. We are going to redo her feature because we know you'll want to see all of her beautiful projects!!!

Name: Ingvild Bolme 

Blog Address: www.ingvildbolme.com

Where were you born, and where do you currently live? I was born in Stavanger on the west coats of Norway and have grown up and lived my whole life in a place called Madla just outside of the city. This is where I have my heart and all my childhood memories, and I really wish my daughter to grow up here too. It’s a beautiful place with amazing nature and the ocean near by, and it’s not too far from Stavanger, which is Norway’s 4^th largest city (only 10 minutes drive away).

Tell us about your family: I live together with my dear Esben, and together we have our amazing little daughter Iselina that is 4 years old next month.  Esben is a very loving and caring man, a man who beside taking care of his family also loves to take care of his house, his cars and motorcycles. I myself are a student at the moment, study graphic design besides being a busy mum who scrapbook a lot ;o) Iselina is our treasure in life, our sunshine. She wakes up happy early in the morning, is happy and active through all the day, and makes sure we all are busy and happy trough the day too. She is able to make us smile even on the worst days, and she put a whole new meaning into our life. She already loves to scrapbook too, and has lots of the same interests as her parents. Love animals, love to draw, love nature walks and so on.  We all spend a lot of time together, and miss each other just after one day apart from each other. I have a beautiful family, and I tell them every day how much I love them and appreciate them for who they are.

Pets: I really love animals, all kinds of, and have done so all my life and always had dogs. But right now we have a cat called Spooky (he got his name because we asked for a girl cat but we were spooked later when we found out he was a boy…)

Favorite Magazines: I really don’t read many magazines, but if I do, I love all kind of scrapbooking and interior decor magazines.

Favorite Smells: I love the smell of newborn babies, even newborn puppies ;o) Love the smell of a fresh and clean house newly washed, and the smell of vanilla or strawberry candles burning. I also really love the smell of nature, especially after a rainy day.

Favorite Movies or Books: Because of my ADD, reading books are pretty heavy stuff for me, so I don’t really read books. But I like to watch a great movie, and I love thrillers like Seven or action/drama movies like Braveheart and Gladiator, everything with actors like Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Russell Crowe and so on…

What time do you wake up in the morning? I’m really a person who loves to sleep and probably needs much sleep too. So if I have the opportunity, I would love to sleep until 11-12, but that don’t happen often. But usual I get up with my daughter around 7 in the morning to get her to kindergarten before I go to school which starts 8.30.

Favorite TV shows: Love to watch Idol and other talent programs, especially in the start when it’s actually funny too. Or else I just love to watch CSI, Cold Case and other series like that.

Favorite Season: Since I don’t like it too hot or too cold, both spring and autumn are my favorites seasons. I like the temperature then, and the great outdoor light and the nature gives so many beautiful moments, especially for photographing.

Do you collect anything? I collect scrapbooking supplies and embellishments. Actually there is nothing else but that I collect, but I am a real collector on that part! ;o) There is always something I “need”, and I can never get rid of the old stuff that I have “just in case I need it one day”.

When and how did you get into scrapbooking/papercrafting?  I discovered scrapbooking by an accident in 2006. I Googled the word scrapbooking and found out that this had to be something for me who had loved photography, design and drawings all my life. So I went to the LSS and bought a plastic bag full of embellish and papers, and went home and made my two very first layouts that weekend. I knew right away that I had found the craft for my life, and it has been like that since. Totally addicted.

What music/food/drinks/television do you like when you’re creating?I love to listen to the radio to hear different kinds of music, or I just put on one of my mix CD’s with lots of favorite music on that I have listen to for years now. If I don’t feel inspired or creative, it often helps to just put that CD on. I also love to have a cold Red Bull by my side when I scrap.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style? I really don’t like to put my style into a special category, because I like to vary my style a bit after what I scrap for or pictures I’m going to scrap, and I try to let that lead my to choose style. But I am addicted to embellishments and different techniques, and lots of details. So no matter style, you will probably never see anything “clean and simple” from me. So I like to call my style “maximalist” and detailed, and if the opportunity allows me to, I love to scrap vintage and romantic.

Where do you find inspiration? In everyday life, ideas in my head when I wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning, from the pictures I’m going to scrap or the products I’m going to use, but mostly from my beautiful little daughter and to watch her grow up and experience life.

Do you like to crop with others or scrap alone? I get really easily distracted, so even though its social and very nice to scrap with others, I like to scrap alone so I can really relax and focus on what I’m doing.  Scrapbooking is my “escape” from busy days, so I enjoy having that time for my own and just enjoy staying in my “creative bobble”.

What do you prefer to create (cards, scrapbook layouts, altered projects)? I like it all, but prefer scrapbook layouts simply because of the time I use on this craft and because I have too many family pictures waiting and there is never enough time to scrap enough of them. When I scrapbook layouts I put all the time I use on this craft into something special for my family, treasured family pictures and memories, and the layouts will stay in our family albums for all time. But I also love to create cards and altered projects in between.

What is one scrapbooking tool, you can't live without? My vintage edge rasp. I can never scrap anything without it. I’m also addicted to craft knife and inks.

Here is a layout Ingvild created...and watch over the next few days to see the rest of her projects...

Wishing You...

Spool Snowflake & More Cards...

by Danielle Flanders...

Blog reader, Mariska, from Holland, sent us images of these great cards she created...

and Shazi sent us this beautiful card...

Christmas Star...

by Sherrie Siemens...

Christmas Cards & a Christmas Tree...

We are always thrilled to see papercrafters from all corners of the world using our products. Yana, from Ireland, has been kind enough so share some of her amazing creations with us today! Yana created these great cards and Christmas tree using some of Melissa Frances' older Christmas papers and embellishments...

 

Enjoy the Little Things...

Sherrie Siemens used one of the Melissa Frances Backer Boards as the base for this fun little project...

Christmas Tag & Snowglobe...

by Karola Witczac...

We also received this beautiful project from our blog reader, Lisa Pace. She taught an amazing class where they created these fun snowglobes featuring little cottages (and Melissa Frances papers) inside...