Join the Melissa Frances team at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Portland, OR March 9-10. We will be teaching several workshops which you can find here. We are looking forward to meeting friends, old and new!
See you there!
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February 2012
February 29, 2012
February 27, 2012
Thinking of you card
This beautiful card by design team member Danielle Flanders combines our Attic Treasures Vol. 3 with the hydrangea paper from our C'est la vie Collection. Danielle has also showed off her love of stamping on this sample too. Check out this post from Danielle to learn more about the stamps she used.
February 24, 2012
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!
February 22, 2012
Attic Treasures Vol. 3 Notebook Tutorial
(Supply List: Patterned paper - Attic Treasures Vol. 3 6x6 paper pad (GN560), Alma (PA197) • 5th Avenue Chipboard Accents (GN445) • C'est la Vie Sticker Banners (GN548) • Alphabits Stickers (GN568) • Her Majesty Crown Resin accent (CX821) • Scalloped rectangle Chipboard Backdrop (GN322) • Cream Pearl embellishments (GN297) • Other: sewing machine and white thread, white and cream cardstock by Bazzill, Glossy Accents by Ranger, Rock Candy Stickles by Ranger, cream acrylic paint and paintbrush, sandpaper, white seam binding, chipboard scalloped border by Fancy Pants, Vintage white button, Zip Dry paper glue)
Today we have an easy and adorable notebook project for you designed by Sr. Creative Director, Carolyn Peeler.
This notebook uses the Melissa Frances scalloped rectangle backdrop cut in half for the cover.
- Before adding the patterned paper to the chipboard covers use cream acrylic paint to cover the raw chipboard about 1" all around the edges.
- After the paint is dry, use sandpaper to rough up the edges a bit for a great distressed look.
- Take the Fancy Pants chipboard border piece and repeat steps 1 & 2 on it.
- Using your finger, spread Ranger Distress Stickels in Rock Candy on top of the painted border area on the covers and on the Fancy Pants chipboard so that it has a subtle shimmer.
- Once the stickels glue was dry, use our new Attic Treasures Volume 3 6x6 papers to cover the front and back of the cover pieces.
- Trim the Fancy Pants chipboard border piece so that it is the same height as the patterned paper, and then glue it to the left side of the cover.
- Using the bind-it-all machine, put the holes through your cover pieces.
- Using a sewing machine, sew a vertical line down the Fancy Pants chipboard piece, directly to the right of the bind-it-all holes.
- The super sweet vintage photo front and center on the cover is cut out of the Madonna Collage (PA393) patterned paper. After cutting it out, mount the photo on chipboard, then top it with Glossy Accents by Ranger to give it a high gloss finish.
- Glue the chipboard accents from the 5th Avenue Chipboard collection above and below the photo.
- Adhere the initial of the person for whom you are making the notebook to the center of the lower 5th Avenue Chipboard accent. Using your sewing machine, stitch a horizontal line at the top and bottom of the sticker as seen on the sample.
- Tie a double bow with white seam binding and adhere it right above the top chipboard piece. Glue a button to the center of the bow.
- Glue the crown resin accent to the top chipboard accent as seen on the sample.
- Place the flag sticker below the chipboard accent. (note: we trimmed the flag to make it shorter) Using your computer and a typewriter font, print whatever saying you want to put onto the flag. Cut out saying once printed and glue to the flag.
- For the inside of the notebook, cut some white and ivory cardstock along with Alma patterned paper (a great neutral graph paper) 4" x 6" and bind it all together with a Bind it all machine.
We hope you have a ton of fun making this project!
February 21, 2012
February 20, 2012
Stamping and Melissa Frances
These beautiful cards, featuring our 5th Avenue 6x6 paper pad (GN444) and our sold out Attic Treasures Vol. 2 6x6 paper pad, were sent to us by talented cardmaker Nina Brackett. Nina is invloved in product design for stamp and die companies and we think her stamps and our papers make a perfect duo - wouldn't you agree?
February 17, 2012
Come take a class with Melissa!
Melissa Frances and her team will be at the Scrapbook Expo in Anaheim, CA Feb. 24-26. Melissa will be teaching 8 workshops while the rest of the team runs the booth where you can find our "Timeless, Vintage-Inspired" product line. We hope to see you there!
February 16, 2012
My love...
(Supply List: Patterned paper - Ebony (PA362), red houndstooth - sold out • White flower pick (GN517) • Heaven Sent Wing resin set (CX815) • White ribbon Collection (GN301)• Rub-ons - sold out • Other: Resin, white and red acrylic paint, vellum, doily, button.)
We hope that you each had a wonderful Valentine's Day and were able to celebrate with those you hold dear. Fabienne Pernot, our design team member from France is back after a break while she moved and waited for internet to be installed into her new home. We are thrilled to share her projects again with you as she has such a detailed style. Here is a Valentines card she made combining papers from our 5th Avenue and Home from the Holidays collections.
One of the things I always notice with Fabienne's projects is how she does the little dots around the borders of her projects. This technique is quite popular in Europe as Karola also frequently uses this technique. Hmmm....something for this North American paper crafter to try. What about you, have you tried this technique?