Our October Guest Designer is ...

Hello, it is Melinda here and ready to be part of Tracy's fabulous blog for the month of October as guest DT.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Tracy for having me and hopefully I can bring a little piece of myself to the blog that may challenge you to try a new technique, use a new product or inspire you with a different approach. Let's see how we go!

Tracy, asked me to browse her store and select what products to use, however I was having trouble choosing as it was like being a child in a candy store... eventually I asked her to make the decision for me and I'm so glad she did as she chose products that I wouldn't normally have picked for myself.

This allowed me to step outside my comfort zone and push myself from a different angle and use a product I had rarely had the opportunity to use before... October Afternoon!

The Seaside range is so nostalgic, brings back all those memories of beach holidays as a kid and the gorgeous frilly swim-suits we used to wear.

Products used:

Kraft card stock

October Afternoon 'Seaside' - On The Shore patterned paper

Core'dinations aqua and navy card stock

October Afternoon 'Seaside' Alpha Stickers

American Craft 'Giggles' foam thickers

AdornIt Tiny Etched Natural Alpha Stickers

Yacht Charm

Balinese Natural Wooden Button

Cotton Embroidery Thread

I kept my layout farely simple in its approach as I wanted to showcase the Seaside On The Shore paper because it speaks for itself with the gorgeous drawings of children playing on the beach under soft cloud drifts.

Not to mention the paper's 'flip-side' with its adorable navy and aqua polka dots.

I also played around with some hand stitching to accentuate the cloud-line that I fussy-cut from the paper itself.

My favourite technique (at the moment) is quilling and I have used it to create a rolling wave strip across the layout that joins the two different papers and blends them together by incorporating the two main colors of aqua and navy.

I tend to go for a chunkier approach to my quilling so have simply used Core'dinations cardstock.

To add a nautical touch to the layout I decided to border the right hand side of my photo with an accent of cream thread tied through one of the gorgeous new Balinese Natural Wooden Button and also dangle a cute Yacht Charm from the thread.

The little charm is part of Tracy's October FREE Gift of the Month.'

Another fun approach to any layout is 'double mounting'.

I have double mounted a little yacht within the patterned paper by fussy cutting a direct copy of the boat from another section of the paper and using foam mounting tape.

This technique creates a little bit of added interest and dimension to your work.

A LITTLE BIT OF RECYCLING...

Who doesn't love to recycle? I have made a concerted effort lately to make a card using left-overs from my layouts as I finish them so that I don't have a box full of scraps that I never seem to use again.

I've also been doing a spot of Spring cleaning lately and have managed to gather lots of clothing that can be recycled into flowers, especially.

This card is quite simple and took no time at all to put together and even better, used up the majority of my 'layout leftovers'.

I created a lollypop flower using a circle of denim (cut from my little man's jeans that he had outgrown) and left over paper from my layouts.

Add a rub-on sentiment, a couple of quilled leaves, a button and bow and finish it off with some bling.

Well I hope these two projects have given you some inspiration to rush out and grab the October Afternoon 'Seaside' collection and perhaps to attempt of spot of quilling or hand stitching on your next layout.

Happy Scrapping...

Melinda