Twilight bracelet - Esme :)

I promised a picture of the bracelet I got for my birthday but I have not successfully had a moment to photograph it yet! If lee is not hogging the camera then I am busy full of flu trying to meet deadlines.

Here is a pic from the interwebs anyways:



and in the process of finding that I have stumbled across so much that I want to buy right now! This is SO mine:



I can't wait for New moon to come out. I might have to read the collection for a third time now just to trully embed each line into my memory :D

This bracelet is so special to me because Esme is the gentle soul that truly loves and cares for people, the mother of the family. She is also the perfect companion to Carlisle as they are such clear soulmates (Do vampires have souls?) and when Lee handed me the present, he told me that this was perfect for me because I am his Esme. I am trully happy and in love right now, enjoying wearing my beautiful new bracelet and enjoying being in my own fairytale.

If this bracelet can also make me thin then I am going to cry.

Just kidding :)

Do you like the new blog look? I got a new name too. I felt like the words, 'random' and 'musings' were on every single blog I had visited and it was driving me insane! 'Home is where the He{art} is' just came to me so naturally and I love it. It's weird to have a change after two years :)

Off to do some scrapping now.. Maybe I might show you some soon!!

xx

Fathers day cards and home for the holidays..

After a rather stressful year it was amazing to be surprised by my husband with a romantic break to celebrate our anniversary. We dropped the kids off at my parents and instead of embarking on a 3o mile trip home we behaved like teenagers and I jumped on a most luxious bed in a beautiful hotel down the road where we used to go once upon a time.

Sorry about the blurry picture but it was late at night when I actually remembered to get my camera out LOL It's amazing how memories come flooding back when you visit places.

Anyway, I am home now and I did promise you some work to ogle!

I was recentely set a task to create a pop-up layout but I wanted to try my hand at the mechanics and different techniques before diving in! As a result, I have an awesome little pop-up card tutorial to unleash on you:

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stampin_studio/2008/04/pop-up-card-tut.html

Here's what I managed to create:

And a video of the card in action (tilt head sideways!)

Over on a different forum I set everyone a challenge to prepare for Fathers day. I have been lousy lately at crafting so I thought I would make some cards!

These are a matching pair, both for Lee's dad and one will be from us whilst the other is from the children. I have left the inside of theirs completely blank so that they can put their own personal messages in:

(personal messages will no doubt be some erratic looking stickmen)

It is always hard to make cards for males, so when I was faced with making an anniversary card for Lee I was a little stumped. We celebrate so many occasions for so many years that the ideas are running out now!

When he sees a Gorjuss Girl with the little skull in her hair he says it looks like me (I wish) so I chose that as a base idea:

I have been meaning to try Promarkers since there was a 20% off coupon a few months ago and it never happened! I finally used them here for her hair, cheeks and face. I love the way the strokes blend into one another and the end result is a cleaner, professional result. I can't help missing my watercolours and own artistic license though, and think I am definitely not converted.

And alas I must leave you again.

Before I depart, I really have to share and laugh about our adventure out for dinner last night. We had planned to go to this amazing Indian restaurant where we first went 6 years ago, when we arrived it was dreadfully busy and the only available car parking space was too far for Lee to walk. We decided to go on a drive and find somewhere new. Lee knew the way to somewhere.. and around half an hour later with a completed tour of Shropshires thinnest country roads.. we eventually ended up at the Wrekin?! In the end we went to the exact pub eatery we go to every single time we go out haha!!

The food was amazing though. Holy cholestrol Batman!

Now you have evidence of two amazing events. Husbands can still be romantic and spontaneous.. and Mel still crafts ;)

Look out for more soon! I totally forgot to photograph my new Twilight bracelet Lee bought me for my birthday.. watch this space :)

Today I am greatful for my amazing friends. I have had the best fun this past month and the positivity is just breeding itself evermore. A special thank you to sunshine - you know who you are ;)

Mel x

P.S - There are now watermarks on my photographs of work due to law changes, I won't bore you but basically it is for my protection ;)

Interior obsessions and belated wreaths!

What can I say about my absence? YET AGAIN! Life keeps throwing so many surprises at me and I am a girl that likes to fulfill all of her commitments so they have been taking my spare time lately.

That and obsessing over homemade interiors! I have always loved antique finds and cream vintage resin pieces or ironmongery.. it really excites me in ways that make me fall in love all over again with craft and the beauty of design. Many people had told me to watch Kirstie's homemade program but I resisted. One boring night I caught up on every single episode and was hooked.

I have tried to avoid updating my home because we are so close to moving but suddenly I feel such an urge to nest and make it our own. As an artist, I have my own style and I want to make my mark on things so that our interior feels right for me and my family. A home that makes our hearts smile.

Anyway, onto the obsession quenchers! EEK!

I picked up this gorgeous little vintage style pot in Au Naturel for just 1.50 in the sale and found one to match perfect for 2.00 in B&M. I like the quirky mis-matching.

Totally cute, right? I have seen that exact pot for 8.00 at BHS which makes me wonder if perhaps they have the same suppliers or are indeed the same goods rebranded? Food for thought indeed. In this shot I have my cake stand that is currentely being used for fruit as it has been a while since I made cupcakes (Watch this space.. i'm going glitter icing crazy!) I have a few of these dotted about for holding embellishments in my craft space. They just make me smile!

Anyway, the kitchen ones are to be updated with these:

http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/bhsstore/63823

Isn't that just beautiful! I am definitely going to invest in the whole range!

It was a beautiful hook set which started it all off a fortnight ago and now I am eyeing up kitschy and vintage finds all over the place! I went to put the hook onto my door and look what I found there:

How on earth did I not notice this before? Obviously Christmas is a friend in our house LOL Anyway, I wanted to pop the hooks up to see how they looked and decided to display some of Emily's new 'finds' of her own from H&M. She is so cute now she has her own style:

The black tutu has already been used in a mini photoshoot and she insists on wearing her Hello kitty rainmac even when the sun is shining! Definitely my gothic princess, I love being her mummy :)

Look at those metal roses.. *swoon*

A little dude came to see me today in the kitchen. I love leaf cutters. They look so robust and are the most vibrant beautiful things to look at. I am fascinated with exotic looking animals in England, it's amazing to see such stunning nature:

I suppose I best leave with a pic of my new stash delivery so that something is scrapbook related!!. I am currentely on a 'no-spend' ban but this was ordered a good few weeks ago LOL I have got to use it soon. It has been so long since I scrapped for myself.

Well that is all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed a little tour of my front door haha!! I promise that tomorrow I shall upload pictures of my latest craft projects. They have been few and far between lately but I am slowly starting to get the mojo back!

To see my current work, check out:

http://creativitylifemag.blogspot.com/

and scroll down to the princess of pink, Melanie Marshall (tis me!)

Must go get some sleep now.. i'm getting old.. 26 yrs old sunday ;)

xx