Michelle Hartjes.....Love Life & Create!

Creations and Preparations for the Brisbane Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo

Creations have been flowing in my little craft room and I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the process. I carefully chose my products by frequenting my local scrapbooking store and checking out all the latest releases as they arrived. I fell in love with My Minds Eye's latest release by Rhonna Farrer - Be Amazing. My double page layout is predominantly focused on my two boys, but it can easily be adapted for girls, using the Be Happy range from the same collection, it has a similar feel in feminine colours. I have some really cool techniques to show you in this class that you will be able to use in many layouts to come. Here are some exclusive sneak peaks that are not on the scrapbook expo website!

This is the view of the left hand page.

I hope you like it, and I look forward to seeing you in my classes at the Scrapbook expo.  Bookings are open now at The Scrapbook and Paper craft Expo website.

Love Life & Create!

Michelle

Follow Your Heart...... Be Amazed

I can't tell you how much I really enjoyed working with this collection from My Minds Eye designed by Rhonna Farrer, it was just awesome to work with all the elements and it fitted the theme with my boys so well.  It is not always easy to create layouts for boys, but this would have to be one of my all time favourites I think.  I hope you will be inspired by my sneak peak below and come and book into my class at the Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo.  http://www.scrapbookexpo.com.au/Brisbane2012/app/pages/view/welcome92/

Love Life & Create

Michelle 

Brisbane Papercraft & Scrapbook Expo June 2012

Well where has the year gone, it feels like Christmas has just past and Easter is just ahead of us.  I have been very busy planning my classes for the Scrapbook Expo on in Brisbane over the June Long weekend. I am teaching two classes each day a Double page layout class and a Card Class.  I have a sneak peak of one of my cards for you, but we will make at least 4 cards in total in class.  

I have used the My Minds Eye Follow your Heart collection, Be Amazing, this is the same collection I used for my double page layout also.  I will post some sneak peaks of this in the next week.

I am so excited to be teaching and creating classes again, I really enjoy it so much and I hope to see lots of familiar faces at my classes in June.  If you are a store owner and are interested in having me teach at your store, please email me directly.

I look forward to posting some sneak peaks of my layout class very soon!  I believe class bookings will be up on the website very soon.  http://www.scrapbookexpo.com.au/

Love Life & Create

Michelle 

 

A day full of Inspiration

I am so excited to announce that I will be teaching a full day workshop with my dear friend Lynette Carroll for Stamp Antics on the 10th December.  The details and information on where and how to book are below.  I can't wait to see you all there!

Hi Everyone, This is what you have been waiting for.  Following is the information about our all day workshop on Saturday 10  December with the talented Lynette Carroll and Michelle Hartjes.  The Workshop will be held at "The Lounge" Gospel Hall 161 Preston Road,Wynnum West.  Classes will commence at 9.00am until 5.30pm.  The cost for the day for the 3 workshops (including kits) as well as a Bar-B-Que lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and with a few lucky door prizes thrown in will be $125.00.  Payment will be required at the time of booking, and there will be limited places available. If you wish to book in please email Jenny at Stamp Antics with your best contact details and she will call you for your Credit Card details,  or phone Jenny on 0412648594 to secure your place. You will need to bring along your basic kit which will also need to include mounting tape (especially for Lynette's class), workmat, as well as anything detailed in the class descriptions. If you have any friends who might be interested please pass this info on to them as well. This is Lynette Carroll  to read more about Lynette please go to http://lynettecarrolldesigns.typepad.com HOLIDAY TRADITIONS WALL ART Join me in this class as we create 9 Christmas Inspired Wall Art panels.  Each panel is constructed with layers of beautiful papers from the Lost and Found Christmas Collection from My Mind's Eye and then decorated with special Christmas embellishments.  In this class I will teach  you the basics for designing and crafting your own wall art  projects as well as making your own embellishments and adding special Christmas details with glittered  snowflake ornaments, silk poinsettia flowers, gold coloured pearls, vintage tinsel and glitter paint and vintage snow.   The panels in this class have been designed to fit inside a 12 x 12 frame, or you may choose to do as I did with my panels and display them in a larger frame with a mat. DOUBLE PAGE CHRISTMAS LAYOUT Create a double page Christmas layout with the stunning blend of “old” Christmas using the My Minds Eye Lost & Found collection. It is a beautiful mix of subtle glitter, music paper  and print. Using a traditional mix  of colours that will compliment you Christmas images old or new. Use a mix of techniques to create your embellishments, that will enhance your layouts for time to come. Bring one portrait and one landscape photo to compliment your layout, or these can be added later.                                                                                                             CHRISTMAS CARD CLASS                          Sending a handmade Christmas card to those special people in our lives lets us show them how much we care.  In this class you will complete two Christmas cards and will receive a bonus kit to take home with you.  We will be using die-cut pieces, embellishments and beautiful newly released Christmas papers.  Not only will you complete these Christmas cards, you will learn many cardmaking tips and techniques which can be used in future projects. Stamp Antics P O Box 8107 Wynnum North, QLD 4178 0412648594 http://www.stampantics.com.au stampantics@ecn.net.au

Love Life & Create

Michelle

Sew Vintage

This vintage inspired Creation started when I found this frame in one of my favourite stores, Vintage Era.  It was actually a tile trivet, but when I saw it in the store I saw a whole lot more. 

I created the background using Graphic 45 Le Cirque, and also used this to cover my Dress Form. I also blended a mix of Tim Holtz papers with Collections Elements papers and Imaginarium Designs chipboard. I can't tell you how much fun I had creating this project with the choice of so many fantastic products at my fingertips! 

 
I used Smooch to colour the dictionary page and to give it a little shimmer, then just folded it accordian style to make the skirt.

 
 

Love Life & Create

Michelle

My Travels...

I recently spent the week in Sydney working, and was so inspired and excited by walking through a park in Leichhardt.  Spring was really in full view and the sun was shining, and it really reminded me of how lucky I am.  I absolutely loved these beautiful blossoms, not to mention how cute this house was, it is not something we see where I live in Brisbane.

 
I also loved all the beautful roses in the same park, the ice pink one below was my favourite.  Next time you are out and about make some time to walk through the local parks and gardens, take your camera, and enjoy the view.

 
Love Life

Michelle xx

My Cake Pop creations

It's that time of year again when the birthdays come around and I turn my mind to cake creations.  This year I decided to try my hand at cake pops.  They appealed to my creative side, being so cute and pretty, with so many decorations and colours to choose from, not to mention the different flavours you could create for cake part!

So my research began, first the internet, then with friends, I borrowed Bakerella's Cake Pop book for some inspiration and guidance (I have now bought my own copy) Then I decided to try a friends Tim Tam recipe as well as the regular cake recipes that were in Bakerella's book.

I went online to order some supplies and Cakes Around Town had beautiful glitters, lots of different coloured chocolate melts and all the accessories I needed to complete my project. Their service was also fantastic, super quick and I got everything I needed! Another very valueable item was a block of styrofoam which I bought from the $2 shop, you will need this to hold the pops upright while the chocolate dries.

I made all my cake pop mixture and rolled the balls and refridgerated them all overnight before dipping in chocolate.  The Tim Tam pops were much easier to work with compared to the cake, they set a lot harder.

 
I used my set of Pastel Sundae glasses and filled them with clear beads to hold the cake pops upright! I also thought they looked super cute on the table in these glasses.

I hope this inspires you to give cake pops a try, they were certainly a hit with all the adults and children of all ages!

Love Life & Create

Michelle

Time treasured...

I really treasured my time at the Scrapbook and Papercraft Convention last weekend, for so many reasons.  It was the first show in many years that I have not worked, I said goodbye to Print Blocks earlier this year to move on and broaden my horizons. 

I was so genuinely happy to see all the wonderful people, customers, friends and associates that I have met working in this fantastic industry, it really is just like one big happy family.

My husband was diagnosed with Cancer a couple of months ago, and my life has been very busy working and looking after my family.  So I can't tell you all how much I appreciated this time to wander through the show, with my best friend and socialising and chatting with everyone.

I was so inspired when I came home from the show, I found myself back in my craft room and creating again.  This will take pride of place in my craft room. I created this using a combination of Prima flowers and Papers and Melissa Frances chipboard letters and background papers.

 
Always remember to dream!

 
I hope you enjoy my creations, I promise I will try to post more often, I have plans to teach some classes later this year.

Love Life & Create

Michelle xx

New Beginnings

With Christmas just past, and our New Year beginning, I too am looking forward to new beginnings in 2011 and exciting new things to come this year.  After 7 years at Print Blocks, I have decided it is time to look for new opportunities this year, and have begun my search for a new job.  However I know my love for this industry will not change and I will still continue my love of all things crafty!  I really enjoyed creating all my hand made Christmas cards, and decorating my house and table for Christmas day.

 

I loved this Santa, and had to carry him home from our Holiday in Hawaii, he just fitted in so well!

 
Decorating the table is also one of my favourite things to do for Christmas Day, I handmade all the favour bags on the Sizzix eClips, filled them with scratch-its and chocolates, then bought colour co-ordinating bon-bons and napkins!

 
Here are some pics of my Christmas cards, I used the Bo Bunny card kit, and the Fancy Pants card kit, and added some vintage pictures from Graphic 45 and Crafty Secrets.

 
 
I hope you have all had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you and your families all the very best for a safe, happy and healthy New Year!!

Love Life & Create

Michelle

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas with Sizzix eClips....

Christmas is everywhere at my house at the moment, I have been enjoying creating my favour bags for Christmas day.  With the new Sizzix eClips machine it made it so much easier to create these cute little bags to fill with goodies!  My colour scheme for Christmas is black and silver, so I created these favour bags for Christmas breakfast with this in mind.  The eClips machine cuts as well as scores which is so fantastic, and made creating these bags super easy!

 
While on a roll with creating the bags, I continued on with creating some Christmas cards for my nearest and dearest!  Hope you are inspired to make some cards for your loved ones, it really is a special way of showing you care.

 
 
I apologise if the photos are not to great, I am looking forward to getting a new camera very soon, these were taken on my iphone.

Will post more card ideas in the next few days.

Love Life & Create

Michelle