I have a thing for black and white photographs, call me strange but I feel they tell a different kind of story. This is one of the first photo’s for which I did the processing and developing myself, it was a 400 film and not ideal for portraiture (A bit too grainy) but I love it anyway.

So… armed with my whopping 10×8 photo, I had to set about creating a minimalistic (yet not bland) layout in a masculine theme. I had already decided on Basic Black when I was swishing the photo through its solution and after a little playing around, I decided on Bordering Blue from the Rich Regals colour family.

Journaling this page was the most important part for me so I wrote my wish in a short letter, I have seen this style of journaling on strips of cardstock so many times and i felt that being such a simple page it would bring balance to it. In the journaling I have used a combination of hand writing with a Basic Black  Stampin’ Write Marker and both stamp sets Everyday Flexible Phrases and Expressive Flexible Phrases  inked with Classic Basic Black.

 One of the things I love about Stampin’ Up! is the way every thing co-ordinates and for those times that you don’t have just the right Designer Series Paper, with a bit of cardstock and stamps you can make your own. I have used the Sanded background stamp with the Classic Black ink pad to add texture to the Bordering Blue strip. I like to lay the large background stamps wood side down for inking and then I layer the carstock and some scrap paper on top, I then use a bone folder on it’s side and use it like a squegee to get an even ink coverage.

The same technique was used for the “wish” accent. I used theDefining Alphabet for this and have embossed the lettering for a bit of razzle.

The Ingredients List

Stamps:

• Sanded background
• Defining Alphabet
• Everyday Flexible Phrases
• Expressive Flexible Phrases

Cardstock:

• Basic Black
• Bordering Blue

Ink:

• Classic Basic Black
• VersaMark

Other Bits:

• Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker
• Bone Folder
• Embossing Buddy
• Embossing Powder - Black
• SNAIL Adhesive

Wamest wishes for your day.

Melanie Packham

Ahoy Matey is just the cutest stamp set for little boys off on a pirate adventure. Unfortunately my Billy didn’t like the jaggered pants and kept taking them off, so he went to Shinade’s party as a cowboy instead…. but that’s another page. I had to put a DVD on just to get this one photo. The photo was calling for a bright and black colour scheme with loads of distessing.

I have stamped with black Stazon ink onto  Natural Ivory cardstock. To colour in I used the  Watercolour Wonder crayons, they took me a while to get the hang of them but I am loving the results that I am now getting and the Aqua painters coming in a set of two different sizes, gives me the flexibility to create a wash background and to pick-out the finer details of the image. I then sponged ink around the edges and used the blade of my scissors to distress them, I also gave the ends of the Matey’s Map a more scrolly look.

And what would a pirate page be without a brass buckle? I’ll freely admit that I am totally addicted to Hodgepodge Hardware and Twill Tape, as my blog grows you’ll probably figure that out for yourself. 

The Ingredients List:

Stamps:

• Ahoy Matey
• Matey’s Map - Stampin’ Around Wheel

Cardstock:

• Real Red
• Basic Black
• Naturals Ivory

Ink:

• Jet Black Stazon Pad

Sundries:

• Twill Tape
• Hodgepodge Hardware
• SNAIL Adhesive
• Glue dots
• Stampin’ Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by, warmest wishes for your day.

Melanie Packham

Hello and welcome, I have started this blog to share with you, my thoughts and creations that blossom from being an Independent Demonstrator with Stampin’ Up!

The purpose of this first post is to fulfill my legal obligations of giving recognition to the copyright and trademark registrations that Stampin’ Up! have made just for us. So here they are:

• Aqua Painter-TM
• Bold Brights-TM
• Color Coach-TM
• Color Caddy- TM
• Crystal Effects- TM
• Definittely Decorative-TM
• Earth Elements-TM
• Embossing Buddy-TM
• Forget-Me-Not Keeper-TM
• Greetings Glue-TM
• Hodgepodge Hardware-TM
• Powder Pals-TM
• Rich Regals-TM
• Simply Scrappin’-TM
• Simply Sent-TM
• SNAIL Adhesive-TM
• Soft Subtles-TM
• Stampin’ Around-TM
• Stampin’ Dimensionals-TM
• Stampin’ Emboss-TM
• Stampin’ Glitter-TM
• Stampin’ Ink-TM
• Stampin’ Memories-TM
• Stampin’ Mist-TM
• Stampin’ Pad-TM (or Stampin’ Pads-TM)
• Stampin’ Pastels-TM
• Stampin’ Scrub-TM
• Stampin’ Spot-TM
• Stampin’ Write-TM
• The Tearing Edge-TM
• Two-Step Stampin’-TM
• Two-Step Stampin’ Logo
• Watercolor Wonder-TM

So yes, it is quite a list but Stampin’ Up! have named these exclusive products just for us and that’s pretty special. Thanks for your time.

Warmest wishes for your day.

Melanie Packham