Jelissa Mei : MajaDesign

Baby Girl’s First Year Album

30 April, 2015 - Mini albums, Vintage Baby

Hello there Maja Design fans! I’m in today to share a baby girl’s first year album I made for my little girl who is arriving in September, using the beautiful new Vintage Baby collection.

Here is the album cover:

And some of the details:

I made an accordion fold for the inside pages, with one side using lots of die cuts from the papers and the other with ample space for photos and journaling. The idea is to keep the whole album as simple as possible so that I have plenty of space for her photos and recording of her milestones.

And here’s the video tutorial:

And that’s all I have for today. Thank you for dropping by!

Maja Design papers used:

Vintage Baby: 6×6 paper pad, Expecting Baby, Cherish, Precious, Bundle of Joy, Die Cuts, Ephemera Cards, Journaling cards Pink

Other supplies: Mediums (13@rts, Shimmerz, Lindy’s Stamp Gang), chipboards (Blue Fern Studios), flowers (Prima Marketing Inc)

Hello card

Posted by Jelissa Mei

16 April, 2015 - Cards, Vintage Autumn Basics, Vintage Summer Basics

Write a comment

Good day Maja fans!

Today I will be sharing a simple card that I made with some of the gorgeous papers from the Seasons’ Basics collections.

I had chosen a color scheme of orange, yellow and purple. Not very common but in the pastel shades they are found on the Maja papers, they actually compliment very nicely.

Here is the card I made for a friend:

Keeping the mixed media background work to a minimum because I want the designs on the paper to show up.

Simple stamping and heat embossing, which acts as a resist for the paint I added and also gives a beautiful contrast against all the colors. I also made little splatters of black paint to make the pastel shades even more outstanding.

Making a frame from an intricate die. While I glued the bigger piece down, I popped up the smaller inner piece for a more dimensional and interesting look. From there, I built up the more 3D parts of my embellishments so that the cluster looks natural and not intrusive.

And here is the cluster of flowers which I have lightly painted to match the color scheme of the papers. I also cut out little banners from the info strip at the bottom of the patterned paper I used to add not just layers but also direction as well. The chipboard I altered lightly with black paint and some black sand paste.

That is all I have for you today. Thank you for dropping by the blog!

Maja Design papers used:

1911, 1923

No. III

Other products:

Mediums – paints (13@rts), black sand paste (Liquitex)
Chipboard – Blue Fern Studios
Flowers – 13@rts
Frame die – Bo Bunny

Happy Days

Posted by Jelissa Mei

19 March, 2015 - A Gift for You, Layouts, Vintage Autumn Basics

Write a comment

Hello Maja fans! It is my turn on the Maja Design blog to share my latest creation. Today, I have a boyish layout for you.

What I did was to create a layout based on contrast. Generally we all like to use neutral and light colored backgrounds for our projects but a dark background like black can give a very outstanding effect. To make my dark background more obvious, I backed it up with a sheet of grey paper from A Gift for You collection. And to make my dark paper even more distinct without the use of any mediums, I distressed the edges so that the white of the paper shows and forms a natural border.

Now for some close-ups:

You can see more clearly some of the details I have in my mixed media background that added on to the contrast. I have subtle stamping in grey and bigger splatters of white ink. I also have gesso on the background but I didn’t want the white from the gesso to be too stark, so I wiped it down for a more toned down look. And on that part of the white, I made splatters of black ink.

The layering of my papers also used very neutral colors in order for the dark background and the amount of work done on it to stand out. The only color I have is blue which I used to match the color of my boys’ clothes (yes, their daddy is a boy too :D). My chipboards were embossed with two colors – metallic grey and black to match the tones of the whole page.

Keeping my embellishments simple and monotoned so that they don’t steal the attention away from my background. Even my title was simple with just a little bit of texture on it.

I had used circles on my page to keep the whole theme and flow consistent, and I wanted some bigger circles to create a direction that moves across the page from the left to the right. These bigger circles have to stand out from the busy background, but not so much that it becomes too obvious. So instead of using stamped white embossing powder (which can be too bright), I stamped using white gesso instead. Some parts of the stamp design come out very clearly, some parts are less obvious so the overall effect is that it does not over-power the background.

So these are the tips I have for you today to create something unusual from your Maja papers. Thanks for dropping by!

Maja Design papers used:

wrapped in old newspaper, my dear friend, when the snow is falling

No. XVI

1902

Other supplies:

Mediums – 13@rts matt paint (Cobalt Blue), Splash Ink (Black, White), Gesso, modeling paste
Chipboards – Blue Fern Studios
Flowers and trinket – Prima Marketing

Love is All You Need

Posted by Jelissa Mei

5 March, 2015 - Cards, Created Art, Nyhavn

Write a comment

Hello Maja fans!

I’m in today to share a card I created using the gorgeous Nyhavn collection. It’s a quick card that uses just one sheet of patterned paper. It’s so simple, you can apply the same tips to any card or project if you don’t have the entire day for crafting.

Here is my card:

For this card, I’ve used both sides of the “Romantic Lunch” sheet of paper. What I did was to use the neutral grey side as a base for the card, and layered it with the patterned and colored reverse side. It is from this colored side that I drew the colors for the chipboards, embellishments and background.

Some close-ups:

I have two chipboard designs here – the smaller flourish I left nude because there was already enough color on the card. The second chipboard with more flourishes and flowers was colored with Inktense color pencils, and bled with a small wet brush. I also distressed the edges of my layered paper with black paint using my finger.

While the colored side of “Romantic Lunch” already has a beautiful palette, more details can be added. I patted on gesso randomly, followed by mists in various purples and pinks. The effect is a subtle yet vibrant background.

To add the last few touches, I had a canvas frill with pearl strings running under my floral cluster.

And this is all I have for today. Thank you for dropping by, and have a good day ahead!

Maja Design paper used:

Romantic Lunch

Other products:

Mediums: gesso, black paint, mists (Pastel Lavender, Berry) – 13@rts, Derwent Inktense Color Pencils
Chipboards: Blue Fern Studios
Flowers: Prima Marketing, Wild Orchid Crafts

My Sassy Girl

Posted by Jelissa Mei

19 February, 2015 - Layouts, Vintage Autumn Basics, Vintage Spring Basics, Vintage Winter

Write a comment

Hello friends, how are you this Thursday?

Today it’s my turn on the Maja Design blog with you and I have a canvas to share. I made this for a family we often have play dates together with, and their daughter is really a sweet little girl.

Here is the project:

I based the colors of my canvas on the photo – there’s mostly blue from her dress, some green from the background and a little bit of pink and purple from her hair clip. I also emphasized the checkered square pattern because of her dress design, which also has the same pattern.

Some close-ups:

I made quite a few butterflies cut out from the Vintage Spring Basics collection and had them randomly over the page. To make them look more alive and dimensional, I folded them into half and glued down only the centre portion. My chipboard was painted with a few different shades of pink and green, and distressed with some white gesso for a white-washed look.

Another view of the same cluster, but you can see the layers of papers I’ve used and a mini tag I’ve cut out as well. I also tucked in pieces of die cut leaves under my flowers.

My main floral cluster, where I have layers of papers, chipboards, gauze, die cut leaves and the flowers. All the flowers were dry-brushed with gesso for a shabby look. You can also see some of the splatters I’ve done in my background and glass beads I’ve added to emphasize the overall “shape” of the main cluster.

So that’s all I have for you today, and I’m off to enjoy a 4-day holiday break with my family. Have a great weekend too!

Maja Design papers used:

9th of March, 2nd and 6th of May, Days to Remember

no. III

14th and 16th of December

Other supplies:

Mediums – 13@rts (paints), Rangers (Distress Ink)
Chipboards – Blue Fern Studios
Resins, flowers – Prima Marketing Inc
Wood cage – Maya Road