New M&M DT Members

This year will soon come to it’s end and we have had a fabulous time, meeting new folks, creating some really unique projects that we hope have in someway inspired you along the way!

Now, the New Year is coming up – 2015. We're anticipating a really great year, filled with joy, learning, sharing, and inspiration. There will also be opportunities to win some wonderful prizes, thanks to our generous sponsors!

The new year also means we have a couple of new Team members!

Mema's Crafts proudly introduces the newest 

M&M Team Members:

Barbara Bruder - I am single and retired. Love to stay up late and am usually crafting into the wee hours of the morning. I am a card maker at heart.  I have been stamping for 15+ years.

Currently I am on the Craft-Dee BowZ design team. I am also a past designer at Sparkle N Sprinkle, Art Impressions, Cornish Heritage Farms and Just Imagine Crafts/Kreaxions and was a guest designer at Crafters Companion. 

I also teach monthly card and technique classes at a local stamp store. Prior to 2010 I was a store owner for 6+ years and offered classes at the store as well. I have been immersed in the stamping industry for quite a while.

Kim Lamos - My name is Kim and I live in sunny Southern California. By day I am a K-8 teacher and by night I am a paper crafting machine.

I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. I came by it naturally since my mom and grandma were always making clothes and costumes for my brother and I, gifts for friends and family and just were all around craft dabblers. I have tried many different crafts over the years but I always seem to come back to paper crafting. I love to work with paper to make cards, mini albums and scrapbooking.

 
When I am not crafting, you can find me spending time with my family and friends, watching movies, reading the latest book for my book club or making memories at my favorite place; Disneyland!

!!WELCOME LADIES TO OUR M&M TEAM!!

We also want to show our great appreciation to those M&M Girls that have left us either for new adventures or just because of life events. It was a blast working with you all and please know that you will be missed!  So, a big Texas size Thank you and farewell to these wonderful ladies that were with us this past year.

I hope to see you all next year as we seek to learn, share, grow and just have fun here at Mema's Crafts.

Many hugs! and Happy New Year

Just Before Christmas

Hello everyone.  The countdown continues and Christmas is around the corner, so I think this may actually be my last post until after Christmas.

I wish to all of you a very Merry Christmas filled with laughter, love, family, friends and thoughts of the reason we share and rejoice in this season.

Here are a few last minute cards I created to cover any folks I forgot to count when I was deciding how many cards I needed. I knew I should have made a list but I didn't so these are my extra cards to avoid the embarrassment of forgetfulness.  I hope you find them enjoyable to view.

This first one is really attractive in reality.  The photo doesn't show the sparkle of the swirls, snowflakes and flourishes.

I embossed the folder, lightly rubbed an ink pad across the raised areas and then outlined everything with star-dust stickles.

I added a greeting and punched the bottom edge with a Martha Stewart snowflake border punch.

For my second card I was real excited to use my newest die from Memory Box.  I cut two corners (one white and one navy) and glued them together to form an outline around the navy cut.

I had a difficult time trying to keep the cutouts from falling out but with patience I manage to get it done.  I used a Versamark pen to color inside the outline and then I added Glitter embossing powder and heat set to give the corner a lovely shimmer and sparkle.

The sentiment and greeting was computer generated and printed directly on the card-stock. It looks very professional and using the computer I was able to match the font color perfectly with the card-stock.

Well tomorrow I think I'll be busy preparing our menu and making sure all ingredients are in the house so I don't think I'll have time to craft...but if I do find an hour here or there I'll be surfing to see what new thing I can find.

I'll see you next week after all the hype from Christmas has settled down and things began to return to normal.  So until then remember:

Final Card Collection

Well I've got to get the last of these Christmas cards in the mail but before I do I thought I would take time to post at least a few more so here goes nothing.  I hope you like them.

 Entering the following challenges:

That Craft Place - Christmas (12/19)
Christmas Card Challenge - Weekly #2 (12/19)
Digi Designs - Christmas (12/19)

Scribble and Scrap - Challenge #33 "Anything Goes" (12/19)
Craft A Scene - Winter Theme
Come and Get It Challenge - Merry Christmas (12/31)
My Time to Craft - Make A Scene (12/18)
Pink Gem Challenge - Anything Christmas (12/31)

Thanks to everyone who stopped by tonight

So until next time

Be Safe, Stay Healthy and Craft Happy

Hugs

Lesia

More Cards To Share

I'm back again with two more cards to share with you and to say that we will be drawing our first December winner in about 10 days so there is still time to enter if you'd like the chance of winning...its "Anything Goes" so why not join in the game.

Now on to my latest creations:

My first card was made using Stampin Up card-stock along with a scrap piece of DP from Paper Studio.

My embossing was a folder from Marianne Design and then I mixed a couple of Spellbinder dies to create the layers for my greeting.











I carried the color combination over to the inside and added a sentiment and a little embossing.

Both stamps are from Stampin Up but I can't remember the name of the set.





I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Imagination Crafts - Anything Goes
Get Creative Challenge - Christmas
Card Mania - Favorite Color Combo

The second card was an after-thought because I couldn't remember what project I had purchased the paper for so I decided to cut it up and make a card with it.

The DP is Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby and the greeting is actually from Jolee's 3D collection.

I used the remaining paper to finish off the inside of the card. The sentiment is a computer generated one and showed up really well on the tan paper.



Well there you have my latest creations which  I really need to get off in the mail.





I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Scrapbook Stamp Society - Anything Goes "Christmas"
My Creative Moments - Christmas or Winter
Crafty Boots - Christmas
Crafty Cardmakers - Christmas

Thanks for stopping by

Christmas Preparations

After all the festivities from Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas Deals I had a chance to get started on my Christmas card making.  I shared my first two cards as part of my December Challenge...if you haven't joined click the tab above and go ahead and play with us.

Now to share another Christmas card with everyone.  This card is a combination of 3 cards I saw on pinterest.  Each card had a element I liked so I figured out how to put all 3 elements together with my own idea and voila my card is born and here it is...what'cha think.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Sister Act Card - Challenge #86 (12/11)
Fussy and Fancy - Challenge #128 Happy Holidays (12/11)
Creative Corner - Winter Wonderland (12/06)
Chocolate Coffee Cards - Challenge #79 Use A Charm (12/11)
Brown Sugar - Challenge #123 Winter (12/10)

Before I end this post I want to remind everyone of my DT call currently in effect as well as our last challenge of the year.

Have fun...and hopefully the holidays will bring you joy, happiness and remembrance of the reason for the season.

Thanks for stopping by

Christmas Is Near

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and had time to celebrate the official start of the Holiday Season with family and friends. Now is when the signs of Christmas come to life, you know the hustle and bustle in the stores and on the streets.

The scenery changes from colorful leaves to the colorful lights around homes and along the highways at night. And then the sound of music fills the air along with smiles and hellos seldom heard throughout the year.

For crafters, this is the time to start creating those Christmas cards and home decor items that say Christmas is around the corner, and I am no different.

Here is the beginning of my Christmas cards for this year and be sure and check out our DECEMBER CHALLENGE by clicking the tab above.  Its "Anything Goes"  with the theme of "celebrate the holidays" or "cold winter days".  I'll get you started here and then you can check out what the M&M Girls have when you enter your project.

I always seem to forget to keep track of the paper and copics I use on my cards but for this card I think the following recipe is at least 80% correct.

DP:  Authentique and Paper Studio
CS: Kraft (from Hobby Lobby)
Copic Markers Reds: R35, 37, 39 Browns: E50, 53, 55, 57 Grays: T1, 3, 5

Image: Peppermint Tea (Stitchy Bear Digital Outlet)
Offray Ribbon and a doily from Bo Bunny Collection

Inside
Dies: Whimsy Circle and Statley Doily
The Greeting was computer generated and the sentiment came with the image from Stitchy Bear.  Card finished size is 6x6.

My second card I wanted to resemble the winter so I used embellishments that would go with the coldness of winter although I did add a few flowers (which would not be found in the cold of winter) silly me in fantasy land of crafting.

Anyway let me see if I can remember what all I did with this card.  The image is from Bugaboo "Kidz-Winter" and I colored her with copics. I used a Marianne Design Snowflake die and Tim Holtz Holiday Lamp Post die on the front.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the leaves are Cherry Lynn Designs.


The DP is Maja Designs Vintage Frost Basics collection. Kraft is the card base and the cardstock is Recollections. Adding Frosted Lace Stickles gave the card a little shimmer that looks really cute (can't capture on camera) and the snow ...well I'm still trying to get the hang of it.




On the inside I added the trees (supposed to be snow trees) but the snow hasn't started falling yet (lol). Oh of course the tree die is from Tim Holtz.










I think the copics used were:
Blues: B90, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99
Skin: E15, 13, 11,00
Hair: E21, 23, 43, 53, 55, 57
Browns: E40, 43, 44, 45

Well that's what I've got to share for tonight but I have lots more Christmas cards to go so its on and popping in my craft room.






Your comments are always appreciated so please take time to leave a comment and don't forget to join in our challenge.  I love seeing what others create and finding new ways to use old stuff.

As always

Until next time

Happy Birthday

Hello Everyone.  Sorry I have been incognito for the past two weeks but the weather is changing and that change played havoc with my health.  Regardless to how I try to protect myself I always seem to catch that dreadful cold and it takes me down for a day or two and sometimes more, but amazingly this old body of mine will not give up and so far I have won the battle in the end.

Today I want to share a birthday card that was inspired by my manager's daughter who is a little ballerina and the overall design was somewhat inspired by Tracy...thanks my friend.

The card size is 6x6 and I used some beautiful designer paper from MME (I think) I lost the pack. I used "Lil Ballerina" by Mo Manning and found the flower in my stash of Prima Flowers. 

I also added a bit of cheesecloth and some bling by Recollections.  My card-stock was Kraft and Bazzill. I used Memory Box Flag dies to cut out the greeting and added a Spellbinders corner die to finish it off.

She was colored with copics:

skin--E000, E00, E11, E13

hair--Y21, YR23, E33, E35

tutu--RV91, RV93, RV95

On the inside I layered the cardstock and printed smaller images in the corner.  Again I added corners from Spellbinders and added the greeting with Memento Pink.

This completes my card and I would like to enter it in the following challenges.

Papertake Weekly - Soooo Girlie (11/24)
Fab N Funky - Birthday Celebrations Week 2 (11/25)
Crafting for All Seasons - Challenge #90 Birthdays (11/24)
Party Time Tuesday - Challenge #190 Anything Goes (11/23)
A Crafty Mess - Challenge #1 Anything Goes (12/05)
613 Avenue Create - Challenge #98 Anything Goes (11/22)
Craft for the Craic - Challenge #10 Birthday (11/30)

The Two J's

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Mema's Crafts is looking for a few designers to join her team in 2015.  There are no strict rules and you are allowed to have fun.

There are 3 ways to let me know you're interested:
1.  Leave me a comment with a link to your email or
2.  Email me by clicking the Contact/Email Me button in the right sidebar or
3.  Just send an email to:  memascrafts2@gmail.com
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I'm still altering items and I have discovered that altering letters is something I totally enjoy doing so when I was asked to alter some letters for a co-worker of a friend of mine I was more than thrilled.

And to make it even better the daughters of the recipient of the letters was so impressed they asked their mom to get them an initial as well to match their rooms.

So of course I jumped at the opportunity to alter a couple of J's for her two girls; Juliana and JoAnna (JuJu and JoJo).  Given the color them and the girls ages I set off to create two letters ready to adorn a shelf or hang on a wall.

Although they did not turn out the way I had planned when I first started, I do believe they turned out exactly the way they should.  They represent the personality of the girls perfectly.

Lots of color and fun for colorful personalities.

The first one was focused on shades of purple with teal accents.  I added pearls because she is such a lady and the phone represents her being at the start of her tween years with popularity measured by number of calls you get. Dangling down the side is a couple of pearls and charms again for this growing diva.  I think the paper is K&Company and the flowers are all Recollections.

On this one I'm sure you can tell what the focus colors are; Black and Green.  For this little one I had to add lots of lace, bling, ribbon and anything girly.  She's only 4 but she knows what she likes and for this J her simple words and this is a quote "Its Amazing" so that means she liked it.  Just look at the grin on this little one:

So when you get photos with words of praise from someone so young then you can be sure that you did a job well done.

I adhere the letters to a base if I am doing initials where one of the letters have a curved base and to hang them on the wall I add a picture hanger (paper mache) or loop a ribbon on the back for chipboard or wood letters.

Well the little people have given me their thoughts but now its your turn to leave me your comments and thoughts.  And if you have any suggestions or ideas on how to display these letters let me know.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Mema's Crafts is looking for a few designers to join her team in 2015.  There are no strict rules and you are allowed to have fun.

Couture Style

Hi everyone, hope the goblins didn't eat anyone out of house and home (smiles).

I have gotten into altering things.  This includes boxes of all shapes, sizes and purpose.  Everywhere I look I can find things that need to be altered or given a face-lift as I like to call it.

I have acquired quite a collection and I continue to put things to the side for a rainy day.  Well it finally did rain a bit this week so I decided to work on one of my projects which happen to be another cigar box.

This one was unique in that it was already black.  I got from our local smoke shop for $3.  Perfect condition without the wood or cigar smell you sometimes find with these boxes.  What a treasure find this was for me and I think after its face-lift is complete it will be the perfect treasure or trinket box for someone else.

This is how a black cigar box starts out once the cigars are removed and placed in a humidor. 

Here is how it appears after getting a face-lift courtesy

of Graphic 45 Couture Collection and a whole lot of 

love and attention.

Both sides are wrapped with velvet ribbon and centered with a metal medallion for no other reason than it was cute.

A front shot of the inside that was once a tannish brown almost raw wood.

Lastly I thought I would give a quick view of the before and after together.

This is a unique one item only that is up for sale should you desire to have it as your own.

If you would like to purchase it click the Buy Now button below to be taken to Paypal where you can make your purchase.

This item has sold!

Farewell To An M&M

Well I've got another challenge starting up and the theme is Anything Goes so we're hoping to see lots of creations!

Mema's Crafts would like to say thanks to say a bittersweet farewell to Judith who is leaving the M&M Girls for life reasons, but she promises to visit us often. Good Luck and thanks for all your inspiration and fun creations.

Our first sponsor this month is The Stamping Chef with their feisty images and I have chosen one that I think represents my thoughts in saying farewell to Judith.

So allow me to take time to share my card that says it all.

The Stamping Chef Image "1000x Thanks"

Card Recipe:
Card Size: 5 x 7
DP: Simple Stories "24/7 Collection"
Computer generated sentiment on the inside
Spellbinders tags #2
Tim Holtz "from the heart" rubber stamp
Image: 1000x Thanks
Media: Colored with Spectrum Noir markers

Challenges for this Card:
Brown Sugar - Challenge 118 "Anything Goes"
Crafty Catz - Challenge 253 "Anything Goes"
Sister Act Card - Challenge 81  "Anything Goes"

That's all I have for today...although its daylight outside I think I really should start the day over with a nap.

Your thoughts are welcomed and comments are appreciated.

It's Halloween

In less than an hour the clock will strike midnight and Halloween will be upon us and then as the sun moves across the sky leaving a trail of darkness behind the goblins and bats and heroes with princesses and even the trolls and monsters will be all around.

"Trick or Treat" will be echoed throughout the streets and families will open their doors to fill little bags with goodies of chocolate and other sweet and tart treats.

So as I wait for these cute little monsters I finished creating another card to represent Halloween.  It isn't scary and the little witch is adorable...at least to me she is.

Graphic 45 2013 Collection "Happy Haunting" and the Spider Web Punch I purchased a while back and of course the distress ink is part of inventory.

Manged to complete the inside with scraps of leftover paper. I never throw anything bigger than a 2x2 away. You can always use it for something!

Supplies:
Graphic 45 "Happy Haunting" collection
Ink: Distress for inking the edges
Image: Mo Manning
Copic Markers
Bazzil card-stock
Spider Web border punch

Would like to enter the following challenges:

Sassy Studio Designs - DTBST #253 "Happy Halloween" (11/05)
Milk Coffee - Halloween Challenge (11/04)
Party Time Tuesday - Challenge #187 "Anything Goes" (11/02)
Simply Create - Challenge #73 Shop in Your Own Craft-Room

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Lesia

Don't forget to check to see if you are a winner in our October challenge and if you weren't perhaps you will have better luck in our "Anything Goes" November Challenge.  See you there!

Halloween Is In The Air

My fellow crafters...I have a question for you. Does it bother anyone to have individuals join your blog or follow your blog just to enter a challenge and then once the challenge is over they remove their follower status?

I try to follow everyone that is either following me or has participated in any of my challenges, therefore I am aware of the difficulty in viewing all the blogs that one might follow but to actually remove your name immediately following the end of a challenge...hmmm...it kinda makes me wonder. It has happened twice to me and I am hoping that it is common and not intended to be a direct insult or anything. So I thought I would ask you guys for your thoughts and insight.

At any rate I hope that I haven't said or posted anything distasteful and if I have please note that it was not intentional.

Okay, so do I have something to share? Well yes I do.  I finished the month of October for my Easel Calendar that I have been working on this year.  Only two more months to go!

I'd like to enter this layout in the following challenges:

We Do Doobadoo Challenge 17 - Halloween

Order of the Opus Gluei Challenge 194 - Ghostly Goin On

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

I also altered a Graphic 45 Matchbox with mini album inspired by Maria of "Paperiah".  Click here to view the original creation as well as more of her beautiful creations.  She also offer classes for her projects.  I just took one look and went for it.  This is the month of Goblins and such and I found the Happy Haunting paper collection perfect for this time of year. About 6 photos coming up, so be patient.

I stuck in a few photos just to see how this could truly be a mini album should I decide to give it as a gift to someone that is a Halloween fanatic (my opinion).

Catch The Bug Challenge - October Bingo (orange + witch)
Glitter and Sparkle - challenge 107 Use Some Orange
Anything But A Card - Challenge 40 Autumn Magic (colors of Autumn with the magic of Halloween)

That's all for today and thank you for stopping by if only for a minute or two.  We always enjoy the company.

Stay healthy, Be Safe and Create Beauty Where ever you are.

Hugs

Lesia

Crackle Meets Home Decor

Before I share my project I want to say thanks to the folks at Purpleglo Creations for selecting my entry as one of their celebration winners, and to QKR Stampede 
for selecting my entry as one their Top 5 picks.

Wow! I have discovered altered art and now I am looking for trash and treasures, and sometimes I see a treasure in what was once called trash. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not but it sure keeps me busy and I find that it is a bit cheaper.

Seems like everything I see I want to decorate or something...this sure is fun but I have to be careful because I only have one room in which to store and play with my crafting.  

Today I am thinking of Home Decor and decided to start with the easier things like tissue box covers and serving trays. The best thing is I discovered the Crackle Technique right before I decided on this venture and that was wonderful. 

 I've altered a lot of different things but here is one that I think turned out pretty good and I'm ready to share.

This a photo just to show you the tissue box before I decided

to beautify (smile) it with the magic of paper.

Here I covered the boring tissue box and whola

my tissue becomes a conversation piece and

I enjoy telling folks that visit where

the tissue is or they use the powder room and they

see it.  Of course after seeing it they want to 

know where I got it..and I just smile as I

tell my story of the boring tissue box.

Hopefully, on the closeups you can see how the crackle medium allows the base coat of paint to show through.  Additionally, the box is basically wicker white and I added a little sea-foam spritz for color.

Lastly, I added my embellishments, sealed everything and added the tissue.  It is now part of my home decor and blends in quite nicely.

If you get a chance and haven't tried the crackle medium, I recommend that you do and think of the many things that you can crackle for a different look.

Before I end, let me remind you that its not to late to join our October challenge.  A new winner will be announced on Halloween Day.  Just click the tab above to join or click here.

Thanks for stopping by

Lesia a.k.a.  Mema