Friday, August 30, 2013

Using gesso and Scrap FX chipboard for Project Life

Happy Friday folks!

Today I want to share a page from my moribund Project Life album.
 I readily admit my album currently holds 16 pages- 8 from 2012.

Scrap FX  Triangle border stencil on the yellow washing tape, stripes flair
from A Flair For Buttons.
I love the idea of a daily crafty photo  journal entry. 
It's keeping up with the daily deadline and printing photos that's killing me.

Scrap FX kraft 3x4 pocket inserts, Art Nouveau set C and the punchinella from
 a Scrap FX mini apples chipboard set.

Especially now I don't have an actual computer just my trusty iTouch and the local Walgreen's 1 hour photo kiosk.

 The page in planning stage. I printed the photos at
Walgreens so they are way too dark and contrasty.
Scrap FX chipboard and pocket inserts make for a great looking page but all white backgrounds are in
Vogue so I jazzed this up with some gesso. 

The less I worry about PL rules and make pages when I feel like it, the better the final product.

No dates, no random life detail photos no one cares about, no expensive dedicated paper kits that I drool over but never use.

I focus on the daily emotional moments (believe me- there are many in all families) and my journaling.


I hope you have an adventurous weekend!


Seize the Saturday and Sunday!
Michelle
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Friday, August 23, 2013

Pattern and layers- A Flair For Buttons post

Hello and happy Friday!

Today I want to share a page I made for A Flair For Buttons.

I started with the fantastic circles pattern in the background and quickly decided I liked this pattern with the b/w chevron. After that is was just about playing around with window and pop out details.

The photo in this page is a good reminder- having fancy filter apps to add titles and effects on your photos is great but if your original image was already low rez, adding effects to the image will only highlight it's lack of focus.

Since I'm working without my beloved Mac I have no choice but to take images with my ipod and print to Walgreens.
It's an awful substitute to printing images at home where I tweak everything in photoshop but that's how I'll have to work for the foreseeable future.

Woo hoo!
I'm finding great American Crafts product bargains at TJ Maxx (Amy Tangerine, Studio Calico, Dear Lizzy) and Tuesday Morning (Crate Paper and Cosmo Crickett) 

Afterlight
Picking flair buttons for this page was easy!
Deciding which ones to keep and which ones to use somewhere else was hard.

Please swing by the Flair buttons blog and check out Ashley's fantastic series: "No More Floating Flair" where she talks about different ways to incorporate flair into your layouts without making them look totes random (a particular issue with my pages- lol!)

Have a great weekend!
Michelle
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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Nat Kalbach's Stand Up Bass Blog Hop

Hello!
Welcome to Nat Kalbach's Stand Up Bass stencil blog hop!

 Nat Kalbach designed a series of really fantastic stencils for Stencil Girl Products and asked some friends to help spread the word.

 I am so lucky to be included in this group!

 Here's the blog line up:

 Wowwy wow wow right?
 AND most awesome? 
There's a give away!
Post a comment in each blog. Each comment is chance to win for a total of 5 chances.
NO you don't have to be nice- at least not to me- tell me how you really feel- I'm cool with that.
The drawing will be August 27th at midnight. Good luck!

 If you joined last week's typewriter hop you know that I'm a scrapbooker and former New Yorker now trying to survive the suburban jungle that is Salt Lake City. (lol)

 I read a good quote this morning: if you have time to complain you have time to do something about it.
"SO THERE!" Said my brain to my ego.

 My page for this hop has everything to do with the self induced stress moving has caused.
I thought I loved change but apparently that's only so when I get to choose what the change is. (and as "change" means staying in Brooklyn- like moving to North 6th street)

 A great opportunity landed on my husband's lap and he's happy- so no more complaining!
ACK! The loss of real pizza... and the subway... and The Brooklyn Botanical Garden.. (WAH!!!)
Afterlight
The Temptations are a favorite song group. This song is actually a huge part of my childhood. 
Along with Micheal Jackson, Prince and New Edition (and Menudo) you got a healthy dose of 50's flashback music. Every time I see this stencil, the first stanza of this song rings in  my brain. 
Sorry for the super cheese-o-la journaling. I wrote the first freaking thing that came to my head- it's hard to reveal how negative my thoughts have been- especially when being GRATEFUL is how I should feel. 
I also made an art journal entry.
I'm NOT great at art journaling.
Entries never make this blog because they look like Kindergarten projects.
Actually I've seen plenty of pre-school projects that look better than what I do in my "journal".

 I enlisted help from an expert:
Afterlight
Mom let me play with her washi tape! WHOOP! WHOOP!
Naturally I moved some of the paint off but it was her idea
to use the green and silver tape.. and to spill water all over the place.
The resulting page:
Afterlight
I was throwing the left over bits of paper in the garbage when it struck me that they looked sort of like Picasso collage bits- if he went in for pink and cute. I also used Nat's What's The Point stencil.
I changed my scrap page after doing this. I added the yellow paint to the background and like it much more now.
Your next stop on this hop is: Maria McGuire

 Have a great week!
Michelle
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Stencil Girl Blog hop sneak peek AND blog hop WINNERS!

Hello!

I am SO SORRY I forgot to pick a winner for last weeks A Flair For Buttons blog hop!
OOPS!
The winner is Staci of  This Black Butterfly!
YAAAYYYY!!!
Thanks for being a long time supporter Staci. I hope you love and use your flair right away!

If you'd like to know who the winner was for the Scrap FX/Ruby Rock It hop please tune into the SFX blog here.

 And the SNEAK for Stencil Girl Products:

Art journal page. I also have a scrapbook page. Swing by the see what Nat's
amazing team of mixed media artists did.
Wow- that's 4 blog hops in 5 days!!
BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Hope you are having a great week!
Michelle
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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Scrap FX / Ruby Rock It scrap mash up blog hop!


Hello and welcome to the Scrap FX / Ruby Rocket 2 day blog hop!


Each day, there will be 11 - 12 blogs to visit using our gorgeous products!

Here are FRIDAY'S Day One's participating designers:

It wouldn't be a blog hop without some serious scrappy swag! 
Check it:


Here's how you can win: 
** Visit each participating designer's blog each day on the hop &  leave a comment.  
Please make sure you include your email address in your comment so we can contact you if you win.

For additional chances to win:  
Head over to Facebook and  *LIKE*  us and leave a message telling us you came from  the blog hop.  
The deadline to leave comments for prizes is 11:59pm EST, Monday, August 19th.

Winners will be announced on Ruby Rock-it and Scrap FX blogs on Tuesday, August 20th!

If you get lost along the way, you will be able to find a complete list of participating blogs each day here at Scrap FX and over at Ruby-Rock-it!

There will be new eyes reading here so let me introduce myself.
I'm a former Brooklynite with a love of chipboard, modern design and vellum.

I don't usually scrap themed pages so this post is a welcome change for me.

I made this page in anticipation of my daughter Lola entering pre-school in September.
Scrap FX / Ruby Rock It blog hop. Back to school page.
I used Scrap FX arrow boxes, funky stars and black tags in this project.
I LOVED working with Bella embossed with stickers!
I tend to think stickers are "for kids" but clustering, cutting apart
or layering rids them of their totally random design reputation.

The two black instant film frames on the top right are misfires from my Fuji Instax camera.
I plan to photograph the classroom and Lola with her teacher and place the photos there.

I had so much fun I made a second page on the same day (unheard of for me):

I used Scrap FX hexagon buttons and light bulb chipboard designs on this page.
HELLO AWESOME RED ALPHABET PAPER!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Since this is actually a page about a future event I used an old photo. When I get a good shot of Lola in her new classroom, I'll switch it out.

But wait!
There's more! (Lol)
I also made a camping mini book with the collection.
I had a hard time finding a good photo collage app for this project.
If you have one you like using please let me know int the comments!
I used Scrap FX Manilla book accessory pages,
Let the good times roll wordlet,
scribble circles, diamond buttons and mini trees chipboard.
The Bella Fundamentals camping collection also has great embossed stickers and
fun patterns. I was able to cut and assemble into this small book.

Thanks for stopping by.

Next stop on the hop is: Linda Auclair

Have a GREAT week!

Michelle
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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Stencil Girl Products typewriter stencil blog hop.



Hello!

I'm totally excited to be participating in this FAB blog hop for Stencil Girl Products!


On the eye candy menu today:
Michelle Hernandez (you're here- woot!)

I hope you swing by all the participating blogs to see how each artist used Nat's fab stencil design.

LOVE the styling of this design! A+ Nat!

It wouldn't be a proper blog hop without a GIVE AWAY.
One lucky reader will win a typewriter stencil on Nat's blog.
You can increase your chances by leaving one comment on each participating blog.
Deadline is Tuesday August 20th.
Good luck!

Normally I'm a fairly traditional Mommy scrapbooker but every once in a while I'll bust out a mixed media project to keep things real. (Ha!)

I love the hand drawn styling of this stencil so I put together a fairly abstract canvas using papers from Cosmo Cricket's 2wenty Thr3e line. 

Materials: light molding paste on Nat's Stencil Girl Products typewriter stencil, gesso to adhere cut paper to the canvas and water color pencils to give the background some depth.
Believe it or not this took me all day. !!!!
I wanted to make something inspiring I could stare at when I'm having a off moment (which is all the time).
Questions swirled in my head.
Should I include a famous quote? 
Do I add a photo?
Do I go for lots of white space or fill this baby up?

Going abstract scares me because it's quite challenging to make the work relatable but I've always found the genre incredibly invigorating and thought provoking so I decided to put my inhibitions aside and see where this took me.

I also made a quick card with bits from my first attempt:
This is on it's way to you Nat! Thank you and congrats on this new venture. 
You've put a wonderful new tool into my paint stained hands!

This is the last stop on the hop.
I hope we gave you something to think about and admire.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing!

Michelle
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Friday, August 9, 2013

Flair button love! A Flair For Buttons blog hop.

Good Friday morning folks!!

Welcome to the A Flair For Buttons blog hop!!!

Shelley's designs keep getting cooler!

Swing by the A Flair For Buttons Etsy shop to see the variety.

You can use the ILOVESUMMER13 coupon code to get 10% off your next order.

If you leave a comment on each blog you will also be entered to win a free pack of flair. 
I just completed the hop- the projects will make it worth your while- promise!

It's been a fun week for me.

I stayed up all Wednesday night reading a modern sequel to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" called "Mr. Darcy's Daughters" by Elizabeth Aston- it was a page turner.

Then last night I saw Erica Badu totally blow up her usual smooth jazz hits on stage and a long held regret of mine was finally put to rest.

Back in 2004 I had tickets to her show but bailed because "Who was Erica Badu?" Who indeed.
I kicked myself for the following 10 years or so.

But there you have it- proof.

Life is full of second chances.

In honor of a good lesson learned, I decided to give my paper stash a second chance.

I also finally let go of flair I was hoarding for my dead as a door nail Project Life album.

Here's my project for the hop:
I had a hard time with this concept! I wanted to play with layers. The page got remade several times before I decided this was the final. I love the idea of frames and paper strips so I may try this concept out a few more times.
I used the following flair for this page:
 My Life Words 3 pack (turquoise so you)
My Life Words 2 pack (turquoise today)
Phrases 2 pack (royal blue totally rad)
Some close ups:
I didn't bring my typewriter or sewing machine with me for the move and I've sorely missed both. Here I was just going back to basics- fussy cutting and bending the items so they gave depth to the page.

I wish I had gotten the yellow "today instead". Next time I'll just get that phrase in all colors-
it's so versatile. Charity race we walked (ha!) was named "Color Me Rad". This button was
perfect for the theme page.
Please take a few moments to swing by the all the blogs participating. 
The level of creativity and innovation exhibited by this team is truly inspiring.


I hope you have a fantastic creative weekend.

Get out there and kick regret's butt!
Kicking life's butt is a family affair.
Michelle
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