Memories Always-Forever Blog Hop!!!

Welcome to our first Memories Always-Forever blog hop!! We are so excited to introduce our site and our Design Team to you!!

Memories Always-Forever (MAF) has been created as a place where members can rally together as a crafting community, showcase their crafting talents, share their ideas, learn, and participate in exciting challenges. Our Design Team is here for you - to provide inspiration, to answer questions, or even just chat!!

My name is Heidi and I am elated to be on MAF's inaugural Scrapbooking Design Team. In the coming months I hope to inspire you with my layouts (with a card or altered item thrown in there periodically, too!), tutorials, and challenges. For those of you who may not be familiar with me, I'm a challenge and technique junkie. I love the way a good challenge (or 2 or 3 or 4 or...you get the picture) pushes my creativity down paths I may not have trekked left to my own devices.

AND, I am a sucker for learning and sharing new ways to use all that wonderful papercrafting accoutrement we all collect but may not use often (such as embossing powders, paints, alcohol inks, etc.). Be sure to join me on the first and third Tuesday of every month in the MAF challenges forum for my Technique Tuesday Challenge. The first challenge begins this Tuesday, 8/4!!

You may already have been familiar with the projects I've shared thus far (you can click on any pic to see the original post), but this next one is new just for the Hop!

I thought it would be fun to make a layout using one of my all time favorite songs, "One Step Beyond" by Madness. If I could've figured out how to attach the song to this post I would've. It's just such a cool, get-off-your-butt-and-dance-already song!

I'm a big believer these days in making as many of your embellishments as you can out of what you already have. For this layout, I made the record by strategically brushing paper glass finish over some cardstock to imitate the grooves. (It's hard to see on the close up but the effect really shines through on the full layout pic above.)

And, since I didn't have any matte silver paper for the "hardcore" cross, I changed a black diecut to my desired color with some embossing powder.

This is a taste of the type of challenges I'll pose to you on MAF's Technique Tuesday Challenge.

Which brings me to my little blog hop mini challenge. Show me what you can do...alter the color of an embellishment on your layout or card. Get creative! Use embossing powder, paint, alcohol inks, whatever!

Then, go post your creation in the gallery at MAF with "Technique Tuesday Preview" in the title. Link your gallery post back to the comment section on this post by midnight EST Sunday night to win this blog hop candy!! (Be sure to leave me a way to contact you on Monday...an email or blog addy.)

Lots of yummy alterable goodies including some chipboard flowers, twill and ribbon, a complete die cut alphabet (Cricut Storybook Font) and a few shapes, some buttons (including some vintage ones), some aged dictionary pages, and a mini stamp set to aid in your altering endeavors.

BUT WAIT!! That's not all! The winning entry will be featured in MAF's FIRST Technique Tuesday Challenge coming to an internet near you this Tuesday!!

OK, I'm going to send you on your way now through the rest of the blog hop. There is some serious talent on this design team and you will not be disappointed. Be sure to make your way to the end of the hop where you will end up in a discussion on the MAF forums. Leave a comment about what you thought of the hop and you will be entered to win the BLOG HOP GRAND PRIZE:

Did you see ALL the stuff??!! AWESOME!

Thank you for starting your hop with me. If you weren't already a member on MAF, you will want to be after seeing all our Design Team has to offer you on this hop!

So, go! Hop on over to the next talented girlie on the list: the wonderful Miss Diana of Design by Diana!!

If at any point on the hop you happen to get lost or off track just check back on the MAF home page for the hop list.

Have a great weekend, a wonderful hop, and I hope to see all your amazing crafts linked up for my challenge!

Heidi

p.s. I promise not everyone in the hop is as chatty as me so don't let my long post keep you from hopping!!

Details: Paper - American Crafts, The Paper Co., Bazzill; Stamps - Technique Tuesday, Making Memories, Autumn Leaves, Studio g; Ink - StazOn, VersaMark, ColorBox, Zig Millenium pen, Marvy marker; Cricut Die Cuts; Creative Memories circle cutter; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Folk Art Papier Glass Finish; Stampin' Up! Crystal Effects; Embossing Powder - JudiKins, EK Success; Making Memories screw eyelets.