Design Team Introduction - Melissa Vining

We are excited to introduce our new Design Team over the course of the next few days. Please head to the blog to see the official announcement and read to the bottom of the post to find out how you can win a share of $150 worth of celebratory prizes!

 Today we welcome Melissa Vining!

Hi everyone! I'm so honoured and blessed to be here, and very excited to be sharing my favourite hobby with you!  I'm originally from the North Island, but have lived in the South Island for over half my life!  I live in beautiful Queenstown, with my husband of 10 years (next month), and my 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter.  You'll get to know them over the next year as they are my favourite subjects to scrapbook!

How were you introduced to scrapbooking?

After my sister in law showed me the baby scrapbooks she created for her girls I wanted to make one for my son.  I'd already taken a photo of Sam every month from when he was born, and when he was 18 months old I went to the Warehouse and purchased some products to start.  I dabbled in scrapbooking for the next few years, but in the Summer of 2012 I discovered the online world of scrapbooking, and beautiful products, and have been hooked on it as a hobby ever since.

What inspires you for layouts, projects, cards?

I find inspiration everywhere, it may be the typography on a menu, art, a quilt, song lyrics, and of course my photos.  I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest too, not necessarily from other people's layouts, but by the things I've mentioned that get pinned.  Other times I will get a vision in my mind of what I want to create, so I either create it, or sketch it out for later.

What other projects do you like to work on besides scrapbook pages?

I also make mini albums, cards and the occasional beyond the page project.  I enjoy the smaller size of a card, and its always good to give handmade cards and gifts.  I did December Daily last year for the first time, and it's probably my favourite album to keep looking at.  I made a real conscious effort to take a photo with my iPhone everyday, and I used Instagram photos.  I made my cover from plain chipboard, which I painted with white acrylic paint.  I kept the front cover simple as I wanted to feature the lovely woodgrain thickers.

What is your favourite scrapbooking brand and why?

I'm unable to limit this question to just one brand, as I love American Crafts and Crate Paper equally! I love American Crafts for their modern products; the colours and imagery on their products are gorgeous! I especially adore everything by Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine.  

I love Crate Paper because of their eclectic vintage mix of products.  I especially love their ephemera die cut packs which are great for layering. 

Here is one of my favourite pages using Crate Paper.  The photo is of my daughter when we were camping in January.  I used a photo overlay, and I created the whole page based on the sequins escaping from the frame into a sky of bokeh.

What scrapbooking tools/products can you not do without

My must-have tools are my paper trimmer, scissors, double sided tape and sewing machine. However, I have learnt that I can still craft without my trimmer, and often hand cut my paper layers. Of all the products available, the product I love and can't do without is patterned paper!

What is your current favourite technique or embellishment?

My current favourite technique would have to be layering papers behind my photos to create dimension and interest.  It also makes my products go a long way, and 6 x 6 pads are great  to layer with as they have scaled down patterns.

What do you hope to improve on this year?

I really want to see how far I can push my creativity.  I've just started using watercolours, and I love the added dreaminess and soft texture they add to a page.  Having no painting experience means trial and error, but its certainly fun to experiment.  

Here is a page that I created that combines watercolours, stamping, layering, ink splatters and machine stitching.  It was taken with a disposable camera at our wedding, and is my husband (far right) and his best man and groomsman.

What advice can you give to people just beginning to enjoy scrapbooking?

Never ever compare yourself (or your style) to other people, especially the big name scrapbookers.  Its taken me probably a year to fully embrace my style, and although I love reading blogs and looking at other layouts posted on Pinterest (I pin a lot) or online galleries, I always try to make sure my layouts and projects are true to my style.

The most important thing is scrapbooking is to have fun and make time to be creative!  I'm a very busy person, but finding time to create (and spend time with God and exercise) greatly enriches my life!

I'm very excited about the coming year! Make sure you follow this blog, and like us on Facebook!  Liz has awesome monthly challenges on this blog, so make sure you play along! Come and visit my blog to see more of my work.

Be blessed!

Melissa x

HOW TO WIN PRIZES!!

   All competitions below close on midnight Satuday 24th August.

• Head to our Gallery, scroll along the hallway, click on the portraits and welcome the girls. Comment on any projects that you LOVE! (Each comment puts you in a draw to win a $50 prize pack). 

• Follow the Artfull Crafts Blog and follow the girls on their personal blogs. Leave us a message (on Facebook or email) letting us know you've started following, and we'll put you in a draw to win a $20 gift voucher).

• Answer the 3 questions below on our Facebook Page or as a comment in this blogpost to go in the draw a $30 prize pack.

1) How many cats are lazing around down the Gallery?

2)  Name someone who was on last year's team, who is staying on for another year.

3) Name the person whose style most closely matches yours.

• Finally, head to Saturday's blogpost and say goodbye to the team we are farewelling. (Each comment put you in a draw to win another $50 prize pack.)

Have a fun time checking out the new team, and don't forget to share the New Design Team blog link on your Facebook Page!