tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22152917989951255872024-03-05T02:36:01.542-05:00My Analog Life Making Art,
Talking Life,
Living it UP!!!Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.comBlogger392125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-92083321954810037402020-02-19T14:52:00.000-05:002020-02-19T14:52:25.640-05:00Brown, black and Red- a love storyI don't know about you guys but I spotted a definite "trend" in my scrapbook pages for the last 10 years.<br />
I love Red.<br />
And I definitely prefer Kraft over white.<br />
Black, Brown and Red make for striking imagery.<br />
<br />
I have a whole socio-political theory for this preference.<br />
There is a time and space for those ramblings but this ain't it.<br />
I have no real way to articulate them properly.<br />
<br />
I'll just show you my pages.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4vNZ9MQRSPflFq1pWoaox9vO3U3vpZGlygbsrNOE1bzk910qpSBMkMZCIsVcqMRWhoGyfWPY0NhuFA8LUfaaUejR1pRyslQtYRFmpMxauvfWq9OwfFJ5jaaWSMun1ZxE7eA1I51sfbE/s1600/Pink_paisley_alphabet_page_mosern_scrapbooking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="813" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4vNZ9MQRSPflFq1pWoaox9vO3U3vpZGlygbsrNOE1bzk910qpSBMkMZCIsVcqMRWhoGyfWPY0NhuFA8LUfaaUejR1pRyslQtYRFmpMxauvfWq9OwfFJ5jaaWSMun1ZxE7eA1I51sfbE/s640/Pink_paisley_alphabet_page_mosern_scrapbooking.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this Pink Paisley clear acetate alphabet so much I managed to buy it THREE times without noticing. Luckily it was 3 bucks a pop at Tuesday Morning my new favorite scrap haunt. I'd love to keep up with the latest lines but I simply can't justify the expense anymore. The background paper is another holdover from 2016 Crate Paper. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfTYImtnmWY4XWhNCPGjC3DUEVk_3Ra1WFyKGaLcXDwKb26XtJIuY2URK0aZ2FkAml5btnzYpV6wPOTk9UgdTQf54TAhm2O6KH3TMhRCy7N898hYaTpkFlok_qBDZ6t3S4ygFNgK6na4/s1600/layout_journaling_stitching_Crate_Paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="554" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfTYImtnmWY4XWhNCPGjC3DUEVk_3Ra1WFyKGaLcXDwKb26XtJIuY2URK0aZ2FkAml5btnzYpV6wPOTk9UgdTQf54TAhm2O6KH3TMhRCy7N898hYaTpkFlok_qBDZ6t3S4ygFNgK6na4/s640/layout_journaling_stitching_Crate_Paper.jpg" width="435" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I ended up stitching the danged letters into the page- a process that took TWO whole assed hours because this clear plastic alphabet doesn't like any glue that I had on hand- it either popped out of showed through- a big no no.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">When we moved to Utah I didn't bring any furniture. I didn't pack much clothing. I didn't bring my Mac- something I deeply regret. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">I put my favorite paper bits, my negatives, photos and home decorations into 4x4 boxes and sent them over via railroad.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">The stuff stayed boxed up for 4 years. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">We left everything behind. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">It took 4 years just to come back to a spot that felt familiar. We lived in a basement. Then the world's awfullest rental. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Then we FINALLY bought a home.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">I cannot put into words just how amazing it is to become a home owner.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">Yes the taxes and the neighbors and the plumbing issue which is now your problem not the "Super's" - these are all hella stressful.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">But I am an advocate for moving the HELL outta of cities. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Find a place that speaks to you- a place with nature. A place with DIVERSITY- something Salt Lake deeply lacks but which can be found if you look. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">West ValleyCity is where it's my gente.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">I have Temples to at least 5 different religions just blocks away from my home.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">I found a Puerto Rican Plena group. We plan to learn. In Salt Lake City y'all.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Seek and find the "other".</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">We take up space everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">Another page:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpBzDrKgZoLqf1heilcvpOLl5fhRsk_cYJINhRItlMd78zll58FcW5lXTMEpN5-Vo_lCxMthi496EGb17PUN2qetRIXtwN5NwLFgYZP8M9cZ_1DkEasqhXUOKOFwT_QtiVpIk6Dxa08I/s1600/Corrugated_board_vellum_scapbook_vintage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpBzDrKgZoLqf1heilcvpOLl5fhRsk_cYJINhRItlMd78zll58FcW5lXTMEpN5-Vo_lCxMthi496EGb17PUN2qetRIXtwN5NwLFgYZP8M9cZ_1DkEasqhXUOKOFwT_QtiVpIk6Dxa08I/s1600/Corrugated_board_vellum_scapbook_vintage.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When living in a basement apartment you need to seek light or you WILL go crazy. We took road trips. <br />We saw many things and took up space in areas we were told we would meet with prejudice. Not so.<br />This is on the way to Great Basin National Park on one of the loneliest roads in America. Make sure your gas tank is full. Bring plenty of water and food. Watch for Butterflies. We spooked a flock of thousands and watched them take off in a cloud of yellow. Everyday magic.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYM6vzdXFoevKr6HKaYaiWl9wf9ygOHZazhsGDJJp2oYrNGiI7LQwwAy5HODcOzm6KEA8etDuchRjBAWeYcozpZF6a2PTRgnDD-b0RQPKUTJHia5dWwAev4gkP1Ez_DWdMSpl7RO2sJJ0/s1600/whoodchip_embellishment_paper_crafts_utah_road_trip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYM6vzdXFoevKr6HKaYaiWl9wf9ygOHZazhsGDJJp2oYrNGiI7LQwwAy5HODcOzm6KEA8etDuchRjBAWeYcozpZF6a2PTRgnDD-b0RQPKUTJHia5dWwAev4gkP1Ez_DWdMSpl7RO2sJJ0/s640/whoodchip_embellishment_paper_crafts_utah_road_trip.jpg" width="417" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The circles came from a Gauche Alchemy kit. The store is<br /> gone but I love the focus on using things that are already found.<br />Pretty sure the window privacy film is "non archival" but hey so is the color photo. </td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
I have no real answers. I'm not sure why I stick to this instead of expanding to Painting or Crochet or a dozen other cooler crafts.<br />
Some people just love paper.<br />
Some people just like to be outliers.<br />
Join us or let us be.<br />
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<br />Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-33265763591349302662020-02-13T16:28:00.000-05:002020-02-13T16:28:03.012-05:00Everyday is HalloweenHello scrap happy people.<br />
<br />
Today is the day before Valentines Day.<br />
I never pay attention to this holiday because it's stressful. Wanna eat somewhere nice? Did ya book reservations? Wanna buy flower? Pay a premium.<br />
Buy this. Buy that. Nothing which I would buy anyway.<br />
I am not a chocolate lover.<br />
<br />
My family just buys tacos from the local street vendor and watches a movie at home. The kid is always invited. She gets the heart shaped box because she is queen of our world.<br />
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One holiday I love and have started to spend big on is HALLOWEEN.<br />
<br />
The movies. The colors!<br />
The monsters.<br />
The LIGHTS! The decor!<br />
I love it all.<br />
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Some pages:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8Jxohj2AAJYUK7CdtGaJZCrzRpcpLU1287Y3WzRoyg7xGQy2S4K0XJaq2EUJW1atR6YCVZOheS6WwIDihrcIh6I6ceM23EA4r-eFG1rHV0HyhmKjcugJklDS_pOpp9k83DYADQAuWtE/s1600/Project_Life_pocket_page_halloween_witch_american_Crafts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8Jxohj2AAJYUK7CdtGaJZCrzRpcpLU1287Y3WzRoyg7xGQy2S4K0XJaq2EUJW1atR6YCVZOheS6WwIDihrcIh6I6ceM23EA4r-eFG1rHV0HyhmKjcugJklDS_pOpp9k83DYADQAuWtE/s640/Project_Life_pocket_page_halloween_witch_american_Crafts.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So this is American Crafts BOOtiful from 2016. That's how long I've held onto this paper. Sorry for the distracting hot spots I'm still very low tech with my cell phone and my window light.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3OvyJgJKUnE3ihPoeVWBu7mk0hkXzBwtXtjRyCOutcisUWgSfra7jF6bfucGhPcSFjeupXPGTsHDIwd5y83fnJVMotkMWe5g_G2Zssnkaegz1Y_ByDRw6Z3CV69RmoJFEsW2KN7603Q/s1600/BOOtiful_holographic_die-cut_paper_halloween_spider_web_holiday_craft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3OvyJgJKUnE3ihPoeVWBu7mk0hkXzBwtXtjRyCOutcisUWgSfra7jF6bfucGhPcSFjeupXPGTsHDIwd5y83fnJVMotkMWe5g_G2Zssnkaegz1Y_ByDRw6Z3CV69RmoJFEsW2KN7603Q/s640/BOOtiful_holographic_die-cut_paper_halloween_spider_web_holiday_craft.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">For 2019 I wanted to do Witch's Night Out with the kid and my nice. <br />I never found an outfit that fit what I imagined in my head. I found a BALLGOWN on <br />Poshmark for 15 bucks. It is GORGEOUS!! Layers and glitter galore! Naturally Lola hates it and <br />she hated me for making her wear it in public. She's 10 now. No more dress up. <br />Let's take a moment to grieve.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzTO0Aq5lb-4uzfolLExTNEwokcr8Dq0i0hqyIw_XQu-mapsNEV3bGNS7AvqT495n5vjq1eyS1MJGvdBghXSEYASAfydN1b22IvVHyKjq_9k1YrauZ9dQQXUDy7prVc49UqJe9XSi8-4/s1600/crate_paper_candy_corn_haloween_scrapbook_page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzTO0Aq5lb-4uzfolLExTNEwokcr8Dq0i0hqyIw_XQu-mapsNEV3bGNS7AvqT495n5vjq1eyS1MJGvdBghXSEYASAfydN1b22IvVHyKjq_9k1YrauZ9dQQXUDy7prVc49UqJe9XSi8-4/s640/crate_paper_candy_corn_haloween_scrapbook_page.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Crate Paper's Hey Pumpkin. I just got 1 sheet of chipboard stickers and some of the papers.<br />The design for this collection was so simple and modern I had to have it even if it was no longer the it thing to use.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01EmAboBJMKrEFThwKnMMUMHOYGuXfnaUlLigywvaEEQCUMkj7K1mfHlyiV-K6PnUFPYcGJgrSmG2gF0sfL7r5LPE7k8fPgvqRNIlsMZjfxQguHpjUXWUVADe0sIbJryYLeygH0C_MnY/s1600/Hey_pumpkin_tag_chipboard_layers_scrapbook_crate_paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1139" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01EmAboBJMKrEFThwKnMMUMHOYGuXfnaUlLigywvaEEQCUMkj7K1mfHlyiV-K6PnUFPYcGJgrSmG2gF0sfL7r5LPE7k8fPgvqRNIlsMZjfxQguHpjUXWUVADe0sIbJryYLeygH0C_MnY/s640/Hey_pumpkin_tag_chipboard_layers_scrapbook_crate_paper.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So dang CUTE! Orange, Yellow, Green Teal, Purple, Silver and Black- Halloween is totally my kind of color palette.</td></tr>
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In New York we would dress the kiddo up and buy her some candy. She was teeny and didn't want to be outside in the cold.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEmQZB4UOe4NwuW9RSleaYr7LB5tZ6PP51nPSuTFZEYwulNZrp_8eQ0uO22wvJKL88heP2jS23JKZoBiI5uwGwQUqh9lFRKHY39kesViFnUa8qg2yJWEjv_Z8k1ApTtPgHLdFWz6HFiY/s1600/2012_Duck_costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="611" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEmQZB4UOe4NwuW9RSleaYr7LB5tZ6PP51nPSuTFZEYwulNZrp_8eQ0uO22wvJKL88heP2jS23JKZoBiI5uwGwQUqh9lFRKHY39kesViFnUa8qg2yJWEjv_Z8k1ApTtPgHLdFWz6HFiY/s400/2012_Duck_costume.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012- Keep warm is the first rule. <br />She still cried when we took her out.</td></tr>
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Utah is a whole different thing holiday-wise. The more suburban family oriented landscape means we have plenty of costume required events to attend so October is actually our busiest time of year as I try to fit everything I want to photograph every week.<div>
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Some photos:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6Qo26BFcJFBacVwRjpz1EN-3wMFL5N-ARm5_o_CasdEdvXiBhzDSlevAE4VQq4UZdBTycub02uhjqcCEkGwIpyVoQEMFjtcwZYqdHQPT93fZEA789Crpdh_0VvA3it2jInzbTIavftM/s1600/Halloween_2015_sea_monster_warm_kid_costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="639" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6Qo26BFcJFBacVwRjpz1EN-3wMFL5N-ARm5_o_CasdEdvXiBhzDSlevAE4VQq4UZdBTycub02uhjqcCEkGwIpyVoQEMFjtcwZYqdHQPT93fZEA789Crpdh_0VvA3it2jInzbTIavftM/s400/Halloween_2015_sea_monster_warm_kid_costume.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 was supposed to be a sure fire winner- Sea Monster, Holographic, warm. NOPE. <br />She hated that the head kept flopping forward. Can you believe she wore this costume AGAIN this year? <br />I'd bought it 2 sizes too large. It didn't flop this time. Whew.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_m9KjIJMVED7Cm1OS9SH-IJURmj31l3IL6M3gsKDq34F8k9FW7DYycguYjpleTX8sfnKfLCW-utKZDQgv6-QujhrMa5GVArg4yas3khPqhqGh-jRlcLEUr1Jv-u2yNIJd2FrF9pYeeQ/s1600/Halloween_2016_Little_red_ridinhood_costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_m9KjIJMVED7Cm1OS9SH-IJURmj31l3IL6M3gsKDq34F8k9FW7DYycguYjpleTX8sfnKfLCW-utKZDQgv6-QujhrMa5GVArg4yas3khPqhqGh-jRlcLEUr1Jv-u2yNIJd2FrF9pYeeQ/s400/Halloween_2016_Little_red_ridinhood_costume.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2017- wait- I DID get her a girly short sleeved costume. Little Red Riding Hood. <br />Made her wear her coat for the actual Trick or Treating and she got SO MAD.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgXbJ4tELJg9fFDpmxEd-BgUYB1vxiNsOaisF1JNM6HbQLmmYwkcbhXRHe9UP3LemO9YylrrzbogRv2aRcwQ1_EJaRdRevG2O3hFisSrJpiL9GFNMbXCVVveaDNGpMG2BrKPWKW-NCJI/s1600/2019_Hippogriff_Buckbeak_costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="642" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgXbJ4tELJg9fFDpmxEd-BgUYB1vxiNsOaisF1JNM6HbQLmmYwkcbhXRHe9UP3LemO9YylrrzbogRv2aRcwQ1_EJaRdRevG2O3hFisSrJpiL9GFNMbXCVVveaDNGpMG2BrKPWKW-NCJI/s640/2019_Hippogriff_Buckbeak_costume.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2019- BuckBeak the Hippogriff. EXCELLENT CHOICE. <br />Spent 3 weeks freaking out how we would recreate a HORSE with an Eagle face. <br />Found a Crow mask, painted it grey and gold. Found a wolf costume and <br />had her wear that with claws I made out of craft foam. Kid next to her is best friend Harry- <br />the kid is kinda weird but he treats he well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mPRJkUilcE6TzeJiue1qmdeTO53Lr5d3gSus_ys7kSg4UwW0nNSKjXbtRdpDQYZgVeyhqggdY1CxUM9ERANH0GVlrebfYrYeKqMQ8-A3lG1tvQWdgvH42D-tZvZ_hcKqtNdNnZ4Y4DQ/s1600/DYI_buckbeak_wings_hand_made_costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="892" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mPRJkUilcE6TzeJiue1qmdeTO53Lr5d3gSus_ys7kSg4UwW0nNSKjXbtRdpDQYZgVeyhqggdY1CxUM9ERANH0GVlrebfYrYeKqMQ8-A3lG1tvQWdgvH42D-tZvZ_hcKqtNdNnZ4Y4DQ/s640/DYI_buckbeak_wings_hand_made_costume.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave made the wings out of card board ans paper plates. The wings actually FLAP- he used washers <br />on the joints so she could open the wings wide. This of course was not appreciated in school. <br />Her 6 foot wingspan played murder in the classroom.</td></tr>
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Then you have WitchFest which started as this small marketing event to get more shoppers to visit Gardner Village in West Jordan. I cannot stress enough how amazing this event is. GO. More than once if you can. Especially on Witch Parade nights Friday and Saturday.<br />
4pm in the afternoon has some of the most spectacular light I have ever seen anywhere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOl3HcYS0Os8ThaQ1X3Y15LQin6Cb3ObjL5qE4ywuFyVkmq1IpYaGNCCOs8KbpGP4MSKJdwUAaMAoGRf5lf7SBbbMp8RKNgR2j10CeiuJR5PGq0Q6YJlNst-n9d36AFu80whAxngChDyw/s1600/2017_WitchFest_utah_Gardner_village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOl3HcYS0Os8ThaQ1X3Y15LQin6Cb3ObjL5qE4ywuFyVkmq1IpYaGNCCOs8KbpGP4MSKJdwUAaMAoGRf5lf7SBbbMp8RKNgR2j10CeiuJR5PGq0Q6YJlNst-n9d36AFu80whAxngChDyw/s400/2017_WitchFest_utah_Gardner_village.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The costume that started the WitchFest madness.<br />This 6 dollar thrift store costume fit so spectacularly I feel like I have to one up myself every year. <br />She really liked this because it was light, the hat was not too big <br />and she just tucked the dress into her jeans when it was done- the fabric is that thin..</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL74g4lfW4sDiVZa39CqLENSN2pM7Ox3JjKCqFMWn2K4rVpVkGlCxFng1H_pWs109RYK4N4JPqFFtifFpFAREsQSFhyphenhyphenXaG3gMXW6ZeTquF7nR67l3osL9VGuFuTqZyqRUmWGKni0XItEA/s1600/WitchFest_Gardner_Village_kids_costumes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="510" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL74g4lfW4sDiVZa39CqLENSN2pM7Ox3JjKCqFMWn2K4rVpVkGlCxFng1H_pWs109RYK4N4JPqFFtifFpFAREsQSFhyphenhyphenXaG3gMXW6ZeTquF7nR67l3osL9VGuFuTqZyqRUmWGKni0XItEA/s640/WitchFest_Gardner_Village_kids_costumes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">2019 Kid and Niece. I buy the witch hats anywhere I find them. I prefer lots of layers, glitter, color and lace. <br />I come fully prepared with costume changes and money for snacks.<br /> The girls frown but I just keep taking photos until one of them does something smiley. <br />If visiting in October Garner Village WitchFest is a MUST.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq9jMABHXX1Y0MfNl8Ghs46WEh_4tpSbut1uIGtw_lZFTAPEf2Cf3n99nimtPgNhVpPHx7vq2D6glsgkHYkVF3ejK-oUvPfMROitElosVzFTFhfQBmW7JylWRqbKRGSoDw5eVXmA4WqA/s1600/20191025_203800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1059" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq9jMABHXX1Y0MfNl8Ghs46WEh_4tpSbut1uIGtw_lZFTAPEf2Cf3n99nimtPgNhVpPHx7vq2D6glsgkHYkVF3ejK-oUvPfMROitElosVzFTFhfQBmW7JylWRqbKRGSoDw5eVXmA4WqA/s640/20191025_203800.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kuwahara Pumkpin Patch is my absolute favorite. <br />Did YOU know there were smoke machines that ALSO made bubbles? <br />You you get smoke filled bubbles??? SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!<br />Just don't let them pop in your eye- that is NOT a good thing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqkWN5u-Sg7lMou_CVt4pqBiKnSLuOEPPh0-_zcW-AiCEEgufN50c_9NsyJGYvbHP5PsKRMeN9JunePkDfHSWyGisHZix10JS9yXxwDw8DWtwyIAvK4h-3XT0LcuvRcPODvclW8MglU4/s1600/Fall_aspen_utah_october.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1139" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqkWN5u-Sg7lMou_CVt4pqBiKnSLuOEPPh0-_zcW-AiCEEgufN50c_9NsyJGYvbHP5PsKRMeN9JunePkDfHSWyGisHZix10JS9yXxwDw8DWtwyIAvK4h-3XT0LcuvRcPODvclW8MglU4/s640/Fall_aspen_utah_october.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Salt Lake City in late September. You should visit. You won't regret it.</td></tr>
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It'd almost spring mi gente. Celebrate.</div>
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-71998552721234923932020-02-04T15:39:00.001-05:002020-02-04T15:39:40.469-05:00Buffalo Plaid Love with Echo ParkHallo party people,<br />
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I'm just now coming down from the glow I got watching Jennifer Lopez and Shakira shake their middle aged thangs at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show.<br />
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Shock and absolute awe was my response... then I burst out crying outta sheer unadulterated pride.<br />
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Being Puerto Rican has been an exhausting roller coaster of emotion the last 2 years.<br />
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I have SO MANY THOUGHTS but I'm giving myself some time to decide if I need to write about it.<br />
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Let's go to our scrappy safe space shall we?<br />
Crafting is my escape when the weather is too bananas to actually escape:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA0or5NVeWz2wVT5dYTNapGsUkTm8YsF4hUFXADArlsudRw_1mo9SmsPe63pESv9i4ALmOe7-kqcO4gCZ69PRoK6bLoeEuZdSfypSRTrXWn-A7Dy5eLcpomNav9fd9ohetfzoCekX41o/s1600/scrapbook_echo_park_flair_buttons_page_layout_crafts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="638" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA0or5NVeWz2wVT5dYTNapGsUkTm8YsF4hUFXADArlsudRw_1mo9SmsPe63pESv9i4ALmOe7-kqcO4gCZ69PRoK6bLoeEuZdSfypSRTrXWn-A7Dy5eLcpomNav9fd9ohetfzoCekX41o/s640/scrapbook_echo_park_flair_buttons_page_layout_crafts.jpg" width="639" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Echo Park's "Little Lumber Jack" is a collection intended for boys but my recent obsession with the pattern has spread to our wardrobe and holiday decor. It's very easy to match photos.</td></tr>
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I saw the Echo Park <a href="https://www.scrapbook.com/store/ecp-ll195016.html">Little Lumberjack Collection</a> and fell instantly in love with the Black/White/Red Buffalo Plaid theme.<br />
I've been redecorating for the holidays in plaid the last two years:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNhL9YksCKCEdmxAggkbT_RBONrXF9vkJ-OXc03pG6Pc5RNay-eNqUaqM4xz95plGDdQdQUKPr5mocTJGbon1Y_7a-Or5_LHIMIhhG0o61uQ17PKjLqZajfwRtwMpz5lEFQKJ5_ZK4FA/s1600/Christmas_decor_farmhouse_wall_buffalo_plaid_woven_basket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="417" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNhL9YksCKCEdmxAggkbT_RBONrXF9vkJ-OXc03pG6Pc5RNay-eNqUaqM4xz95plGDdQdQUKPr5mocTJGbon1Y_7a-Or5_LHIMIhhG0o61uQ17PKjLqZajfwRtwMpz5lEFQKJ5_ZK4FA/s640/Christmas_decor_farmhouse_wall_buffalo_plaid_woven_basket.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas in my wanna-be FARM HOUSE- a post about that at some point- LOL.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDJmpCrNGjLpF1IIZx0KI_-m8yQAf-ZAvoyGIGgrDBMdgBJk86zs9Jim1Vdk2LYZbd1ZYxRPFXfv1VCncIJDqsSuTnCUz039vhd9AfGaAbIcYtyS0xPTkL9CMrrfI_Yv8c7oVZgJ_Jbs/s1600/Thanksgiving_plaid_curtains_tablescape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1135" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDJmpCrNGjLpF1IIZx0KI_-m8yQAf-ZAvoyGIGgrDBMdgBJk86zs9Jim1Vdk2LYZbd1ZYxRPFXfv1VCncIJDqsSuTnCUz039vhd9AfGaAbIcYtyS0xPTkL9CMrrfI_Yv8c7oVZgJ_Jbs/s640/Thanksgiving_plaid_curtains_tablescape.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't find 84 inch long Plaid curtains- they are sold out everywhere!</td></tr>
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That Black & White check is everywhere so why not my pages?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD4hvVEZcm4id0JUKGxXBRahNLsgnTSXqZxANWWTUZ_kolU-jMGZD67I_1HOPT0LcwOQiyebmO6m3JPqK8Hu0RnwZ9DqdOKQvlndBOZpHbo3BjAFrrrYlZlZEZhENZaonYbcdHO9rH98/s1600/scrapbooking_journaling_painted_tag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="477" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD4hvVEZcm4id0JUKGxXBRahNLsgnTSXqZxANWWTUZ_kolU-jMGZD67I_1HOPT0LcwOQiyebmO6m3JPqK8Hu0RnwZ9DqdOKQvlndBOZpHbo3BjAFrrrYlZlZEZhENZaonYbcdHO9rH98/s640/scrapbooking_journaling_painted_tag.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Played around with painting the background but I'm still terrible at it. <br />I also can't stand the warping water causes on regular paper so it's a stencil and some pen work to the rescue.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0q1320YSzp-ItSNZ8HbDSMyGy22GF46UvtnnPF6wVbYNLO8mPvdEfm5DFFrM5ri0ZpBd2_zjx72jJdAiqxsgAoWmOVa9HNawWWbPC-QG3cl9LiLZAxOBUXmMp8NBaKwVEy1fh3kfsnk4/s1600/outdoor_paper_page_layered_crafting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="490" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0q1320YSzp-ItSNZ8HbDSMyGy22GF46UvtnnPF6wVbYNLO8mPvdEfm5DFFrM5ri0ZpBd2_zjx72jJdAiqxsgAoWmOVa9HNawWWbPC-QG3cl9LiLZAxOBUXmMp8NBaKwVEy1fh3kfsnk4/s640/outdoor_paper_page_layered_crafting.jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The collection has a lot of small detail pieces and lots of graphic pop- I really love it.<br />Here I added a Smash Phrases flair from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/106098661/smash-phrases-flair?ref=shop_home_active_730">A Flair For Buttons </a>on Etsy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5JfLGgvHYWJLJD-1k5tcwt4RSVo4_Y9DKe5p7JS2NQMs9HwS3U3fTcijfErHuVdq52u3ACyeeAztEBtFXEF1gOSf8w6dPfpQ6v_XRp-8dLb6yHtum4qpigiuCjSUaS1MrmUBUkiWdFw/s1600/banner_chipboard_buffalo_plaid_fall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="408" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5JfLGgvHYWJLJD-1k5tcwt4RSVo4_Y9DKe5p7JS2NQMs9HwS3U3fTcijfErHuVdq52u3ACyeeAztEBtFXEF1gOSf8w6dPfpQ6v_XRp-8dLb6yHtum4qpigiuCjSUaS1MrmUBUkiWdFw/s640/banner_chipboard_buffalo_plaid_fall.jpg" width="408" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still up to the same ol same ol- string all balled up because I can't be bothered to bring down my sewing machine and <br />sew on the page. <br />Pop dots to punch a banner out and this wonderful chipboard for this collection which I highly recommend for Girls. LUMBER JILLS UNITE!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxyRZ1CKBYk5hA6G1QPYNpfcXD2MHWMxZmr4jH-WY9Yupwl9Dzd5ihxCzgh3GIOSzZE8GtDkshw_m8ON5GuLgUgu-Rg_7BrE3EZ4BeygKsH_C-DLCpPcyy1OrBd7WZybj5afaL0cCOrU/s1600/IMG_20191225_170534_463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="491" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxyRZ1CKBYk5hA6G1QPYNpfcXD2MHWMxZmr4jH-WY9Yupwl9Dzd5ihxCzgh3GIOSzZE8GtDkshw_m8ON5GuLgUgu-Rg_7BrE3EZ4BeygKsH_C-DLCpPcyy1OrBd7WZybj5afaL0cCOrU/s640/IMG_20191225_170534_463.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us annoying the easily vexed with matching jammies this Christmas in TEXAS of all places. <br />I spent half the time talking to family I hadn't seen in over 20 years or drinking with my sister who can <br />drink anyone under the table. Don't try her.</td></tr>
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I'm still looking for Black/White check 84 long lined curtains. If you have suggestions where to find some, they are sold out everywhere, I'm all ears.<br />
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Hugs mi gente.<br />
Stay strong. Stay positive.<br />
MichelleMichelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-1863120291664481402020-01-28T18:03:00.002-05:002020-01-28T18:03:38.021-05:00All The Things, Not Really<div style="text-align: center;">
It's been 5 whole years since I last looked around this space.</div>
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Everything has changed- the paper crafts industry, how we communicate via Social Media, Politics (don't get me started). </div>
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Most of my favorite scrappers have stopped fussy cutting and gluing paper.</div>
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I couldn't sit down long enough to do it myself. </div>
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Who cares? I would ask.</div>
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But I still love paper and I still love taking photos. </div>
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My family moved to Utah 9 years ago.</div>
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We struggled for a while trying to get our footing on a vastly different cultural landscape.</div>
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We bought a new computer so I could get back into the swing of things but I relied on someone who made many promises about his tech skills- he promptly deleted all the photos on my old Mac hard drive. </div>
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Flickr became a paid space and I lost most of my digital archive.</div>
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On and on.</div>
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Thank goodness I got into scrapbooking and had many photos printed.</div>
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This is why the hobby is valuable. </div>
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No need to make it stressful. </div>
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I don't have an amount of pages I need to get done or an amount of photos I need to get into an album. I just take it one project at a time.</div>
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Some pages from like 3 to 4 years ago:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VzjoCYd3hH5VeNbnfewZmoqUXYFQlGvO145MiqNlps7lIn5LZo7gu-OmoSJmDcshl-NU5LOefcU8p6vMpUFlfz0WdDWHT8oEeXlirz8XySnhreHswPNrDnhiFGRXiuCJmVZ9gFo5j1M/s1600/Pocket_page_scrapbooking_elementary_school_first_grade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VzjoCYd3hH5VeNbnfewZmoqUXYFQlGvO145MiqNlps7lIn5LZo7gu-OmoSJmDcshl-NU5LOefcU8p6vMpUFlfz0WdDWHT8oEeXlirz8XySnhreHswPNrDnhiFGRXiuCJmVZ9gFo5j1M/s640/Pocket_page_scrapbooking_elementary_school_first_grade.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kid is now in 4th grade. 😁</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglAF-zoJJSRy3479OMNQhN2hzOpmTXdyisrD38LI9_TdZXj7BF5qFXGjHK4yU15GXkhERU41EVQpdqAam-QGyGdVwWB81MVXY7KiAP7hZanTzRwYmLPFyKll1Es1tnHYwHm4rGRMLG3wA/s1600/scrapbook_page_protector_american_crafts_camping_pocket_page_crate_paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglAF-zoJJSRy3479OMNQhN2hzOpmTXdyisrD38LI9_TdZXj7BF5qFXGjHK4yU15GXkhERU41EVQpdqAam-QGyGdVwWB81MVXY7KiAP7hZanTzRwYmLPFyKll1Es1tnHYwHm4rGRMLG3wA/s640/scrapbook_page_protector_american_crafts_camping_pocket_page_crate_paper.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">This we REALLY LOVE now: Camping and National Parks</span><br style="font-size: 12.8px;" /><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">You're gonna get a see a lot written about both.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ehgPUr0GU4FNYIXwe9KKz3mxHnX7_iG3293di04AQWg5zYYZfhf-ezeHeJA72hCjWSaBCp2rCcw8rc0dHEujOhtDfvbbkQ0Fr_HIyzjEecFNPKHxH_AgvyGSwlseSNxXYW6sLCY3Dgg/s1600/scrapbook_camping_utah_state_park_pocket_page_album_outdoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ehgPUr0GU4FNYIXwe9KKz3mxHnX7_iG3293di04AQWg5zYYZfhf-ezeHeJA72hCjWSaBCp2rCcw8rc0dHEujOhtDfvbbkQ0Fr_HIyzjEecFNPKHxH_AgvyGSwlseSNxXYW6sLCY3Dgg/s640/scrapbook_camping_utah_state_park_pocket_page_album_outdoors.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Utah is seriously beautiful. Brooklyn is exciting, current and beautiful but the quiet of the desert and the sight of fresh snow on the Wasatch Mountains has totally done me in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And I picked up another long term expensive & totally engrossing hobby:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Gardening</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmUscQCZij2R3CmPA6cUD8uBfW0FrddpgAA3H1NZq6VzTeamkkTyNkfq1t3GzSfJO1KxXxSbazUKufLxGYRmuX2pmAI6AmHwDHoofuubtu0lk4dCwLJHJKtKtGhbBn3NKIGob4IHUZB0/s1600/gardening_summer_harvest_heirloom_tomato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmUscQCZij2R3CmPA6cUD8uBfW0FrddpgAA3H1NZq6VzTeamkkTyNkfq1t3GzSfJO1KxXxSbazUKufLxGYRmuX2pmAI6AmHwDHoofuubtu0lk4dCwLJHJKtKtGhbBn3NKIGob4IHUZB0/s640/gardening_summer_harvest_heirloom_tomato.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was last Summer's final harvest after a full season of frustration. <br />Between bugs, too cold, too hot, too much water then no water for three months I was glad to get this. <br />Gardening is not for the Pessimistic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The kid:</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jOk17saBinwankt3rc3L8mqTv360vc2y22TDgxC8Nrh85vF6ZkJrjb9CGV1bYU1u7QT7f2byugN8rXBLySMxpeeBFvxd3aDShSB16C0ZQcDs0a_yoCZAMn_zykmoxp3S8xQinvUlyJI/s1600/kiddo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jOk17saBinwankt3rc3L8mqTv360vc2y22TDgxC8Nrh85vF6ZkJrjb9CGV1bYU1u7QT7f2byugN8rXBLySMxpeeBFvxd3aDShSB16C0ZQcDs0a_yoCZAMn_zykmoxp3S8xQinvUlyJI/s320/kiddo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5u5VuDOwqizwsSJPachAQ3DGN8xDiPBuebWZ8nGDHsJH_WhUsVVZARhnWi2_La5rcfjp0bDvlAsAwa5JtDg0HmszhsthX-RwXUXSWMyXwedikqOSMWyTR2Itu_VcQ_ZFdVyURI4w2ds/s1600/scrapbook_daughter_mighty_girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5u5VuDOwqizwsSJPachAQ3DGN8xDiPBuebWZ8nGDHsJH_WhUsVVZARhnWi2_La5rcfjp0bDvlAsAwa5JtDg0HmszhsthX-RwXUXSWMyXwedikqOSMWyTR2Itu_VcQ_ZFdVyURI4w2ds/s400/scrapbook_daughter_mighty_girl.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So that's the update. I'l be checking in more often now. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Maybe I'll even pick up some new web design skills so I can update this page. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Watch this space!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAC_Qd8SjLZfT9AOfRI4pOAivVojAe1IYVB7bktCsLw3pvY4HdFjxmbQnarNaMn0H_5Z2-4X9o4mwSvZ0u0QPsjMsGER1zkKf0O6lJJRiw07D1lTshM2cpvfPUylP62TtzgiOG2hyphenhyphenbi4o/s1600/IMG_20200111_161112_954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="990" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAC_Qd8SjLZfT9AOfRI4pOAivVojAe1IYVB7bktCsLw3pvY4HdFjxmbQnarNaMn0H_5Z2-4X9o4mwSvZ0u0QPsjMsGER1zkKf0O6lJJRiw07D1lTshM2cpvfPUylP62TtzgiOG2hyphenhyphenbi4o/s640/IMG_20200111_161112_954.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Salt Lake Park Marina is currently growing salt crystal formations usually only seen in Mars or Antarctica. <br />So go see them.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Michelle.</div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-48477464950033543522014-11-15T09:42:00.001-05:002014-11-15T10:05:12.238-05:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge- scrappy layersOur main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.<br />
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> .<br />
<br />
This month's challenge is issued by the creative Katherine Sutton. Katharine has a fabulous, eclectic style where she showcases all kinds of mediums and keeps the focus on her great photos. This month she has a warm seasonal challenge for us. Here it is in her own words:<br />
<br />
<b><i>" 'cos Autumn is all about layers of leaves and layers of jumpers (in the northern hemisphere) I would like to challenge you to add lots of layers to your page....this could be layers of paints, inks, stamps, papers, glassine paper, acetate....lots of lovely layers."</i></b><br />
<br />
My page started as a mass of pop dot clusters all over the page but I realized I wanted a more clean look because I wanted to display this page in my office.. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/15794203555" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Inspiration Elevator 10/14 challenge- layers by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Inspiration Elevator 10/14 challenge- layers" height="800" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5605/15794203555_b9eb6b175d_c.jpg" width="641" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papers, die cuts and chipboard are all Crate Paper. Flair is from A Flair For Buttons on Etsy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I lost my precious iPod Touch a couple of weeks back so I had very
little material to work with.<br />
Thankfully a friend who lost her entire
photo library last year (THE HORROR!!!) convinced me to back-up everything up into iCloud
so my photos are safe.<br />
I just don't have access to them till I buy
a new Mac device and since I refuse to pay outrageous data charges or buy a new iTouch with an inferior camera it's
gonna be a while before I can print my pix.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/15770525666" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Inspiration Elevator 10/14 challenge- layers by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Inspiration Elevator 10/14 challenge- layers" height="500" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8536/15770525666_8b479bf247.jpg" width="417" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Die cuts are the easy way to create layers. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month: here's a complete list of this month's participating designers! <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Katherine Sutton</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Lisa Moen</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lisaspiegel.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Lisa Speigel</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<a href="http://www.spsetc.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Jayne Morgan</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Christa Uttley</a> </div>
<div>
<a href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Wendy Robinson</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Why not give the challenge a try yourself? Then pop by our Facebook page and share with us what you created!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/15792322421" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Halloween 2014 by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Halloween 2014" height="320" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5615/15792322421_c3caeb23e3_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have a second back up- Flickr. So this fall photo is safe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Thanks for swinging by! </div>
</div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-54227792155119898172014-10-15T11:04:00.001-04:002014-10-17T13:31:51.755-04:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Scrapping lossThis week's Inspiration Elevator theme- surviving loss really speaks to me.<br />
<br />
As scrapbookers, journalists in our own lives, image creators via social media, we often forgo<br />
getting real for keeping things light and positive.<br />
There's something to be said for that, after all, those who love you already know your trials.<br />
<br />
But talking publicly about what's really happening in your life is also a fantastic means for catharsis. And for finding out how you really feel.<br />
Sometimes the most important stories are the saddest.<br />
Those are the stories that show personal heroism and tenacity- true character.<br />
<br />
Journaling, photographing, getting creative with talking about the hard times helps me immensely.<br />
The main benefit is in helping me work out how I truly feel.<br />
It keeps the negative inner talk to a minimum and helps me gain perspective.<br />
Most importantly, it makes those little moments most precious.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/15356273670" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Inspiration elevator- scrapping hard times by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Inspiration elevator- scrapping hard times" height="800" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3955/15356273670_a867d9d90b_c.jpg" width="616" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">As usual, I worked on this late at night so my lighting for the photo is way off- my apologies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">My page is about my marriage. Lately our communication has been fraught with negativity.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I wonder about the nature of our bond, is it strong enough to withstand all the external frustration we feel in our current economic and housing situation?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> Am I doing all I can to keep it strong? Could I lose the central relationship in my life?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">That second questions scares me because I've always thought my marriage was strong.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I waited a very long time and made sure I was emotionally ready for the marathon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">My page isn't about loss.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It's about the fear losing something precious engenders.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I realized love doesn't change in a relationship but it can take second place over ever changing challenges if you let it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I won't let it. And I made a page to remind myself.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and
YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth
and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.<br />
You can catch us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and share your creations there; we'd love to see how we have inspired you!<br />
<br />
This month we are thrilled to welcome back as a guest designer with our team, the artistic and genteel, Scarlett Salomone. Her creative works are as lovely as she is!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/14921731323" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Untitled by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="320" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3934/14921731323_e13125c09e_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
This month's challenge is issued by the talented Wendi Robinson. Her first time to issue a challenge for IE and it's a great one! Here is her challenge in her own words:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>LOSS... One thing we as scrapbookers do is post about lots of happy
things, wonderful moments, things that make us smile, and things we want
to remember. Too many times we avoid scrapping the not so memorable, or
sad times. Most of us have experienced a loss of some kind, whether is
be a loved one- sometimes it's expected, sometimes the loss comes too
soon and unexpected. Other times we lose a pet, a job, feel like we've
failed at a situation, or loss of a friendship. This time, let's scrap
those harder moments that come into our lives. Scrap about a LOSS of
some kind</i>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Wendi Robinson</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Katherine Sutton</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Lisa Moen</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scarlettsscrapoirs.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Guest Designer: Scarlett Salamone</a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Wonderful challenge Wendi!<br />
Swing by the blogs and see what the other designers have done to represent their personal challenges and triumphs.</div>
</div>
<br />
I hope you are inspired and take a swing at the challenge for yourself.<br />
Remember- little moments matter<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/15518211186" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title=" by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt=" " height="320" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5610/15518211186_aace8c3fd5_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guess which pre-schooler is mine?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-79713222616100663662014-06-16T14:17:00.003-04:002014-06-20T13:49:32.954-04:00Inspiration Elevator- public display scrapbook challenge<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Welcome to another month of Inspiration Elevator!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gdLiGqo_rsFhhuri5S1GUMeX_IVE26DysCdObGHAqeOkh1PRQykb7OGkm5RfBlMgjXOSDzB8BUSc97QCWfmtthQH8Hjr5Vkde_ms6t5ax3l8nEEhzNa-PggF_bkPe7bt4JJDDdnGG_M/s1600/Inspiration+Elevator.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gdLiGqo_rsFhhuri5S1GUMeX_IVE26DysCdObGHAqeOkh1PRQykb7OGkm5RfBlMgjXOSDzB8BUSc97QCWfmtthQH8Hjr5Vkde_ms6t5ax3l8nEEhzNa-PggF_bkPe7bt4JJDDdnGG_M/s1600/Inspiration+Elevator.jpg" height="200" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="133" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level; to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our<a data-mce-href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank"> blog</a> and catch us on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator?fref=ts" href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and Instagram (soon!) too.<br /><br />This month's challenge is issued by the innovative Michelle Hernandez. Michelle's style is about telling the story with a clean and simple, yet artsy approach, an awareness of current trends, and garnished with her use of chipboard and often neutral colours. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Here is her challenge for us, in her own words:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<em style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The challenge for June 15th is- make a public scrapbook page. You are making a page to go up at work or to give away to a family member to put up in their space. In your blog post you will tell us how knowing this page isn't going in a book or in your home changed your style. Did you go all out and make something that is 3D? Did you suppress your love of a particular color or product? How do you feel about the page being public- outside your regular audience of scrapbook lovers who read your blog or open your books at home?</em></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<em style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></em></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDzjrugMt2JYCbhugDx6tDPXmPDVOh-3_6fnRrXohcThQZTefNUz7IeamX3Xxoi3UyJQyhRWDrZtXgKBxowySCB1fO4A_TDG1rDpXuzTVo2JvSIwc6uFqfQSxtmpU4DJIKvGPAJxaPDs/s640/blogger-image-2041549772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDzjrugMt2JYCbhugDx6tDPXmPDVOh-3_6fnRrXohcThQZTefNUz7IeamX3Xxoi3UyJQyhRWDrZtXgKBxowySCB1fO4A_TDG1rDpXuzTVo2JvSIwc6uFqfQSxtmpU4DJIKvGPAJxaPDs/s1600/blogger-image-2041549772.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry for the fuzzy page- I work off my ipop and apparently Blogger doesn't like <br />
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When I thought up this challenge I had several family portrait projects in mind. Working on those made me realize how much my style changes when i'm working for someone else.</div>
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I tend to keep my palette low contrast and light. I also stay away from messy techniques and mediums because I assume most people don't want a page with lots of paint spatter or wonky layers.</div>
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I made this for a co-worker who loves the color blue. Yes, I know.</div>
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I wanted to keep design time to an hour so I used a single collection pack and made my layers neat so she wouldn't mind putting it up in her cubicle. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVPZjxJvvfP8SeOclVDM3nzo9VYu1tC67KmhrY6jM0pozRbo5OpfMGmSTDbSM6PTSomi-1Eg0B26QudZfWO-6bn_4swfO-N4noUVIQtgesjSN16nVwFHQSXUiuR7owEJb7nk11znLfrg/s640/blogger-image-1702784833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVPZjxJvvfP8SeOclVDM3nzo9VYu1tC67KmhrY6jM0pozRbo5OpfMGmSTDbSM6PTSomi-1Eg0B26QudZfWO-6bn_4swfO-N4noUVIQtgesjSN16nVwFHQSXUiuR7owEJb7nk11znLfrg/s400/blogger-image-1702784833.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My co-worker's cubicle is full of photos. She really liked her page- it's very different from her style<br />
but she assured me that was a good thing. WHEW! </td></tr>
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I used the Twenty 3 collection from Cosmo Cricket- arguably one of the most challenging color combos I've ever come across- orange, pink, mustard yellow and grey. Or as far away from blue as possible.</div>
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This page will match our office decor and hopefully be quiet enough to allow her to use any horizontal 4x6 family photo. I plan to make a second page for her in her favorite color but that will come later- picking and matching items is what usually takes me hours to decide.</div>
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Here's a complete list of this month's participating designers! We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month, then come on back and give the challenge a try yourself!</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> </span><a data-mce-href="%20http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/ " data-mce-style="text-align: center;" href="http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00e54ed62d65883300e54eeb01ec8834/post/6a00e54ed62d65883301a3fd1efca9970b/%20http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light", HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.spsetc.blogspot.ca/" href="http://www.spsetc.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Jayne Morgan</span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"></a><a data-mce-href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" href="http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Wendi Robinson</span></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: black;"> <a data-mce-href="http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.ca/" href="http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_self">Katherine Sutton</a></span></div>
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<a data-mce-href="%20http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" href="http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00e54ed62d65883300e54eeb01ec8834/post/6a00e54ed62d65883301a3fd1efca9970b/%20http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Lisa Moen</span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.lisaspiegel.typepad.com/" href="http://www.lisaspiegel.typepad.com/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Lisa Spiegel</span></a></div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/" href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Ann Jobes</span></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: black;">Guest Designer<a href="http://christyriopel.blogspot.ca/">christyriopel.blogspot.ca</a>- <a data-mce-href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank">C</a>hristy Riopel </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">We have a couple of regular artists taking a summer hiatus and look forward to the return of Joanne Burton and Christa Uttley in the fall.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><strong>Meantime, if you've wanted to participate as a guest designer with Inspiration Elevator, just contact team lead, Ann at ann jobes at bell dot net.</strong> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Now it's your turn to get creating about art you share publicly, and share your blog link at the IE blog. We would love to see what you were inspired to make! </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Thanks for swinging by!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Michelle</span></div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-77419307305416837712014-04-19T07:00:00.000-04:002014-04-19T07:00:00.931-04:00A Flair For Buttons Scrapbook extraveganza!<img border="0" id="276C53B0-7519-4351-B549-221B96F06B51" src="cid:276C53B0-7519-4351-B549-221B96F06B51" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="100%" />
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Hello and welcome to the A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop!!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1EYxF-LcHU/U0A7i68jIUI/AAAAAAAAGT8/bA8k7WfJIRU/s1600/spring+2014+blog+hop+banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1EYxF-LcHU/U0A7i68jIUI/AAAAAAAAGT8/bA8k7WfJIRU/s1600/spring+2014+blog+hop+banner.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm so excited to be part of this team.</div>
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I genuinely love Shelley's flair- the color- the variety of designs and themes.</div>
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I love to add the word flair as part of a title or layering patterned ones to add pop to an otherwise flat page.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/13512328123" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop page by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop page" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3699/13512328123_c036a986f5.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Flair For Buttons <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/181206548/script-words-flair?ref=shop_home_active_16" target="_blank">Script Words Flair</a> - <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/181219241/bright-and-funky-patterns-flair?ref=shop_home_active_12" target="_blank">Bright and Funky Flair</a><br />
I used American Crafts die cuts, wood veneer and enamel dots from Cocoa Daisy kits and <br />
paper from Crate's "DYI"collection which I bought for 5 bucks at TJ Maxx.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/13293514804" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Super simple. And no you can't have too many brads, buttons or flair on your page. #aflairforbuttons #preschool by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="Super simple. And no you can't have too many brads, buttons or flair on your page. #aflairforbuttons #preschool" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3778/13293514804_0c1d7360da.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this pre-school portrait photo. Not sure Lola's 12 year old self will agree but I still love it.<br />
A Flair For Buttons flair- <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/156293909/chalkboard-school-days-flair?ref=shop_home_active_1&ga_search_query=paper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chalkboard School Days flair</a>, and one of my all time most favorite sets ever <br />
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/169768039/paper-airplane-flair?ref=shop_home_active_2&ga_search_query=paper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paper Airplane Flair</a>.<br />
I love that fox sweater from Gymboree! Only now do I realize the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/161472141/fox-and-owl-flair?ref=shop_home_active_10" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fox and Owl flair</a> would have been perfect for this!</td></tr>
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It's been great being part of this team for the last 2 years. </div>
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Thanks Shelley for being so supportive!</div>
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On to creations by the rest of the team!</div>
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<a href="http://stilltraveling-differentjourney.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Erica Weinstock</a></div>
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<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a></div>
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<a href="http://simplebydesignblog.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396718584662_5978" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Joy Taylor</a> </div>
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<a href="http://lumpbumpandclump.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396718584662_5976" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Mary Ann Maldonado</a></div>
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<a href="http://purplemailbox.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Ashli Oliver</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.dianepayne.typepad.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Diane Payne</a></div>
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<a href="http://bestamped.wordpress.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396718584662_5973" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Els Brige</a></div>
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<a href="http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396718584662_5971" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Sherri Funk</a></div>
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<a href="http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396718584662_5969" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Daniela Dobson</a></div>
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<a href="http://scrappergirl.typepad.com/aflairforbuttons/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">{a flair for buttons}</a></div>
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Have a great weekend!</div>
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Michelle</div>
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com14Salt Lake City, UT, USA40.7607793 -111.8910473999999940.568390300000004 -112.21377089999999 40.9531683 -111.5683239tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-45385628509018956852014-04-15T11:00:00.000-04:002014-04-15T12:08:26.696-04:00Inspiration Elevator- Scrapping those SelfiesAh the maligned selfie.<br />
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I've dropped quite a few Instagram accounts because the content is almost all "selfie".<br />
Not just selfie which can be totally fun<br />
but exposed tatas selfie.<br />
Or duck face selfie.<br />
Neither says anything genuine- or rather it says entirely too much- all negative.<br />
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I think women should fully own their image.<br />
As story tellers it's crucial, we wield the camera and write down the details.<br />
If we don't make sure to turn that camera around once in a while we will be invisible in our own story.<br />
Regardless how we currently feel about our physical state, our children enjoy seeing us smile and celebrating life.<br />
It sets a good example to love ourselves as we are.<br />
Even better- it measures how far we've come when we've decided to change something.<br />
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This month's Inspiration Elevator challenge is- take a selfie!<br />
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I like scrapping selfies because they make the creative process easier.<br />
I can focus on my current feelings or on a story I want to tell- not on trying to find matching embellishments for a theme page.<br />
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The page below was all about my feelings on moving.<br />
I had some really cool chipboard and a neon pink Jet Blue luggage tag but that's it.<br />
I could have used some travel themed printed items but since my feelings were mixed up this seemed more appropriate.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9202098039" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="neon scrapbook page by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="neon scrapbook page" height="800" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/9202098039_9455de8975_c.jpg" width="597" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrap FX tags and chipboard. I used the PhotoBooth app to make a strip but since that's hard to print without<br />
Photoshop and a home printer I made it into a 4x4 on Instagram and used my local Walgreen's for the print.<br />
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What is Inspiration Elevator?<br />
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The purpose of the Inspiration Elevator challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to mature as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.<br />
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You can view all of the challenges at the <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator Blog. </a><br />
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This month we are celebrating our anniversary with a BLOG HOP!<br />
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So be sure to hop from blog to blog below as some of our designers are offering prizes! We also welcome <b>Katherine Sutton</b> as a guest designer to Inspiration Elevator! Katharine has Guest Designed for us and her fabulous style will inspire you to take your scrapbooking to a new level!<br />
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Now for our Challenge:<br />
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<i>It's a 2-part challenge since it's created by Christa and Ann!</i><br />
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<i>The
first part of the challenge is to use a selfie. We are all a part of
social media to some extent, so selfies are everywhere. "Call it another
trend in narcissism, or call it art, but the "selfie" has become a
mainstay of our virtual identity." </i><br />
<i>Here are a couple articles for taking a good selfie, if this makes you uncomfortable (as it does for me - A)</i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.bustle.com/articles/7142-how-to-take-a-selfie-pro-photographers-give-us-all-their-best-self-portrait-secrets" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.bustle.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>articles/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>7142-how-to-take-a-selfie-pro-p<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>hotographers-give-us-all-their<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>-best-self-portrait-secrets</a></i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-tuttlesinger/six-tips-on-how-to-rock-a_b_3750316.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>sarah-tuttlesinger/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>six-tips-on-how-to-rock-a_b_375<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>0316.html</a></i><br />
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<i>The second part of the challenge is this: </i><br />
<i>This month we'd like you to share
something about scrapbooking. It could be why you scrapbook, what you
love best, what you get out of it, your most amazing experience or,
where you see your craft/hobby/art in the future. </i><br />
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Remember to hop around to the other blogs and see what out designers have created and what prizes are up for grabs! (Be sure to read the instructions as each designer has her own requirements to win!)</div>
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<a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inkspiration_for_stamping/2014/04/inspiration-elevator-reveal-23-blogaversary-giveaway-story-of-my-scrapbooking-life.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> Ann Jobes</span></b></a><br />
<a href="http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Christa Uttley </span></b></a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Joanne Burton </a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"></a></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Lisa Moen </span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://alteredplayground.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Cathy Harper </span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Lisa Spiegel </span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Michelle Hernandez </span></b></a><br />
<a href="http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Katherine Sutton</span></b></a><br />
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<a href="http://christyriopel.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"></a></div>
I hope you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, and when you do, please share it using the linky tool on our <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator blog</a> and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page. We'd LOVE to see what you made!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9035886515" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="self portrait by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="self portrait" height="320" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/9035886515_cd6520d455_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is totally about my new haircut. Taken 2013.</td></tr>
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Have a great week!<br />
Michelle</div>
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-89922642288430967882014-04-01T19:16:00.000-04:002014-04-03T14:51:37.658-04:00Saying no to the Mommy Wars. And a scrapbook page.<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><b>****POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REFLECT FURTHER THOUGHT ON THIS MATTER.****</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My poor neglected blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a very long while since I felt I wanted to write anything. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvmPuar_BRRbpiGj6YUIEuGZTyCZ5iz7hbsZ96SbezcsEb-YRws8Ot8r3bFKYYJg4wLtb0VkO_RtJz0B5ULkSfDgf1Xv6XgA_V4M99eyb-zeWE9S6f4p1aaOTLzGx2CDAtIXM_HZ46Rk/s640/blogger-image--1574114448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvmPuar_BRRbpiGj6YUIEuGZTyCZ5iz7hbsZ96SbezcsEb-YRws8Ot8r3bFKYYJg4wLtb0VkO_RtJz0B5ULkSfDgf1Xv6XgA_V4M99eyb-zeWE9S6f4p1aaOTLzGx2CDAtIXM_HZ46Rk/s640/blogger-image--1574114448.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For <a href="http://debbiehodge.com/2014/04/ideas-for-scrapbook-page-storytelling-with-trendy-brush-script-elements/">Get It Scrapped- Scrapping with trendy scrip font elements</a>.<br />
Photo by my brother in law Luis Martinez.<br />
A Flair For Buttons The Good Life button, Water color paper, #6 round brush, Ranger Dylusions ink spray, My Mind's Eye enamel dots.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Currently, I'm inspired by the working Mom flap caused by Ms.Gwyneth Paltrow, consistent provider of "Let them eat cake" bon mots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Case in point- <span style="line-height: 20px;">In an <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/525210/gwyneth-paltrow-s-post-split-plans-actress-reveals-she-s-taking-a-break-from-acting-to-focus-on-her-kids" sl-processed="1" style="color: #00709a; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">E! News interview</a>:</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 20px;"> </i><i style="line-height: 20px;">"It’s much harder for me, <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I think it’s different when you have an office job, because it’s routine </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">and you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When you’re shooting a movie, they’re like, ‘We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,’ </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult."</span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as, of course there are challenges, </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but it’s not like being on set," </span></i></div>
<i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the what?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are we seriously comparing a voluntary million dollar temporary contract (negotiated by someone else) to a 9 to 5 job? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When she has live-in child care? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a personal assistant? (several actually)</span><br />
<br />
Or how about THIS one:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28.079999923706055px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“I am who I am. I can’t pretend to be somebody who makes $25,000 a year.”</i></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28.079999923706055px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Gwen- no one's asking you to pretend anything (although- it's your JOB.) </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28.079999923706055px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just, you know, get a freaking clue.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember a conversation I had with a friend a while back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was very unhappy because she had to leave her 4 month old to go back to a job she detested.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her job was creative and paid her enough to cosign on a mortgage to a home she loved. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her Mom and husband where pitching in to care for their new baby as both had flexible schedules.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever the sensitive and understanding friend I said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why don't you <i>just</i> quit that job?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lol- what an idiot I am.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was certainly NOT what I should have said (a listening ear is what she needed.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But but but</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder if that isn't a bit of tough love for a friend I admire and worry over.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Constantly carrying that much anxiety around is bad for anyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If something makes you that unhappy, why not switch things up?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was my point but you know- my brain failed to provide those actual words.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conversation went onto some pretty uncomfortable truths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's what real friends do- tell you the truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like when she said my not working for 3 years was a 'luxury".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hadn't "left work". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revelation!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was fired (woo that's the first time I ever admit THAT out loud in public!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But screw it- I can only run from my past for so long.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello? Living in Utah- I ran FAR.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I became a stay at home Mom. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was pretty happy.. and a little bored because Lola didn't talk- or really MOVE much.. so I started this blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I became a low wage earning full-time working Mom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No sad words from me on this state of constant compromise- it's just what I have to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neither qualifies as a first choice.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I grew into both my roles. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thanked my lucky stars for my "work break" and for the utterly random jobs that came after.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This journey has allowed me to see myself as more than a professional failure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being a Mom has allowed me to see there are many "wins" in life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frankly some are more important than others.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have SEEN, FELT and LIVED the financial bottom- what scared me most.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not scary anymore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't be shamed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But imagine if I had Gwinnie's horrible soul destroying job....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Schedules that change so I know this 14 hours a day work week isn't forever!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frequent travel! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kissing Robert Downey Jr. without causing marital strife!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Wait- maybe not. "Conscious uncoupling" and all that)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People to help with house cleaning, cooking and babysitting! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the kicker?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When working, all that help is paid for by my employer who's got a jumbo insurance policy covering my health and staff to ensure I am happy so I actually finish the job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I imagine I would be pretty sad indeed- while I play in my air conditioned personal trailer with my kids in between takes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh the agony.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6RqMcRoNm5VarS2cewYEiTq1LCxMCMP336NIJ1OhVFxMJX8LeFmJiqzNxIX2jkMDFlrJeQjFjoF-kEJPQUg8jK4Rvc-Y_UPy3PcdxS2zdq45w1qRo1S5vJuBqfAmuupo0koRCgGBHuU/s640/blogger-image-1404942475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6RqMcRoNm5VarS2cewYEiTq1LCxMCMP336NIJ1OhVFxMJX8LeFmJiqzNxIX2jkMDFlrJeQjFjoF-kEJPQUg8jK4Rvc-Y_UPy3PcdxS2zdq45w1qRo1S5vJuBqfAmuupo0koRCgGBHuU/s640/blogger-image-1404942475.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know what helps depression about staying at home all day? Not actually staying at home all day. My rule was breakfast, clean everything in 1 hour if it doesn't get done OH WELL! then get on out till dinner time.<br />
Needless to say I lost some weight.... and ate a lot of pizza for dinner. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hmmmm.. I wonder what <a href="http://kissing%20robert%20downey%20jr.%20without%20marital%20strife%20%28perhaps%20not-%20%22conscious%20uncoupling%22%20is%20the%20perfect%20lingual%20contortion%20for%20a%20big%20ego%20needing%20to%20make%20herself%20feel%20better%20about%20her%20divorce%29/">Blythe Danner</a> thinks about all this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps we should blame YOU Blythe? (or not! That's just MORE Mommy bashing!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There you were- a working Mom in the 70's. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You bring up your daughter to the best of your ability- (with hired help of course).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your daughter makes no apologies and lives quite happily thank you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is strong. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is successful- even if totally oblivious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's motherhood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No simple choices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No easy answers or the guarantee of healthy well-adjusted adult children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a lot of risk, a lot of judgement calls, and many many tests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somehow joy STILL manages to sneak in there!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And hope!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And laughter!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be dilemmas, drama, constant worry and pain no matter what you do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the words of a certain movie Moms love (and dread- due to incessant viewings)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let. It. Go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop killing yourself over your choices- your 'mistakes" (your blessings in disguise)- your past- your imagined future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is only </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOW</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop comparing yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop comparing others and spreading negativity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stop the complaint sessions where no solutions are sought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't get addicted to the negative</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as I have.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Motherhood is the best job a woman can have. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In my opinion- I haven't tried being a blonde 130 pound, 6 foot movie star yet)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it's not the ONLY job a woman should or could have.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Motherhood has a million iterations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why do we try so hard to find fault with that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must demand everyone get comfortable with the variety.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gwyneth is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comfortable, that is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She's all over the place in her happiness and delight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She talks about hanging out with Beyonce! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She eats squid sauteed in squid ink with famous tv chefs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She calls her divorce whatever it takes to make it sound enyoyable and holistic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She defines her own reality and gets on with living her life- beautifully.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't hate on her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Call her on her silliness. She deserves it (and ignores it- that's why she's so freaking happy)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of all get cracking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make some happiness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's YOUR turn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hugs mi gente,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michelle</span><br />
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-49570155209105299062014-03-15T10:20:00.000-04:002014-03-20T14:35:55.735-04:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Letter to your Teen Self.<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello happy people!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been sooo busy avoiding any and all crafty pursuits. My mojo is gone fishing for the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This latest Inspiration Elevator challenge freed me up a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started thinking about what I would write, how to make it relevant to my life today and to my primary audience (always Miss Lola) when suddenly the page's design mattered less.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a good thing as I usually get so wound up making an "original" design, my story (the whole point of making a page) takes a back seat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AHA!!!! Here is how the page appears when I link up to my Flickr! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also see everything else in my Flickr account... excuse me as I learn the internet.. again.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pnUXve46y5OEGfI3hq12cOwcV9HrTid6L-RcqhdHG-G15XdSsxEgg2WB7dNoDi4pLEt6ZEH2EntNV7OBSMCcCZKOUCFbxSJRuQjCwnvz8sTLb3fKqM4SZocdztoiiS_UyLpInrOLhnI/s640/blogger-image-1105495782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pnUXve46y5OEGfI3hq12cOwcV9HrTid6L-RcqhdHG-G15XdSsxEgg2WB7dNoDi4pLEt6ZEH2EntNV7OBSMCcCZKOUCFbxSJRuQjCwnvz8sTLb3fKqM4SZocdztoiiS_UyLpInrOLhnI/s1600/blogger-image-1105495782.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Here I'm using an iPod Touch and the AfterLight app to shoot and retouch my pages.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blogger seems to be compressing the files and rendering them incorrectly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You can try clicking on it to get a clear look- my apologies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I started off with the 2 A Flair For Buttons flair and a Crate Paper background.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I didn't want the page to look like one of my usual scrapbook projects so I resisted</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">adding a photo at first but I have a bunch of these under exposed Instax Mini shots</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">lying around- each of those prints costs a dollar so you better believe I'm using them all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically the text reads- don't sweat the failures- you get one thing right and it's the most important thing of all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was talking to a past and even MORE resistant version of me so I get pretty stark in my words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you think I'm overly pessimistic and broody at 40 you would have LOVED me at 16.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The teen years are hard for everyone, your moral values and ideals are mostly set in place but you fall all over yourself either trying to prove you are independent and grown up or running away from doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So without getting bogged down in the details (which my teen ear would have rejected anyway) I decided to give my past self some comfort. I'm not the walking error machine I was convinced I was. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was -am- pretty freaking great at figuring things out.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULlofOJvvdgHTmkLHuAqAZoYuYtkYiupSUMsuITLIEgvpUi6b8GkUHCUnbZjqH-PQi_v26fGJkEY-DpSmxEkRa3cUIc9hCGYqvnopDvt2rZhVfoUb9Sigs-pTn8Vb_rYOo_d4E-zbXfw/s640/blogger-image-1028107841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULlofOJvvdgHTmkLHuAqAZoYuYtkYiupSUMsuITLIEgvpUi6b8GkUHCUnbZjqH-PQi_v26fGJkEY-DpSmxEkRa3cUIc9hCGYqvnopDvt2rZhVfoUb9Sigs-pTn8Vb_rYOo_d4E-zbXfw/s640/blogger-image-1028107841.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I'm almost ready to give up the hunt for perfect design and just keep doing this in all my other pages.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Scrapbooking has gotten too complicated.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now a word from our sponsor:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and extend ourselves. You can view all of the challenges at our Inspiration Elevator Blog, <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our challenge this month was posed by the very talented Ann Jobes. Here's how she expressed this month's challenge:</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My daughter subscribes to Dance Spirit magazine and I sometimes browse through it, too. One of my favourite monthly features is an article that features a different dancer each month, some photos of that dancer, and a description of their current work, and (the best part!) a letter. The theme is a Letter to My Teenage Self. The content ranges, depending on the dancer and his/her experience, morals, ideals, etc. So this month's assignment is to write a letter to your teenage self. You can take any approach you'd like to this - scrapbook page, art journal page, canvas. However the prompt inspires you. And your content is of course up to you, as well. Some topics might be: what would you try to teach yourself? Or, what would you counsel yourself to do or not do? This does not have to be a page about regrets. It could be about congratulating yourself on something you did right that has contributed to who you've become today. </span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a photo of a recent magazine feature, if it inspires you:</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em> <a class="asset-img-link" href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed62d65883301a3fcd393d5970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Dancespirit1" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e54ed62d65883301a3fcd393d5970b img-responsive" src="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed62d65883301a3fcd393d5970b-320wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Dancespirit1" /></a><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed62d65883301a51183692e970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><br /></a></em>
Please visit the other Inspiration Elevator designers' blogs and see how they solved Ann's challenge:</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inkspiration_for_stamping/inkspiration.typepad.com/inkspiration_for_stamping/" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a> </span></b></div>
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<a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura Whitaker</span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisa Moen</span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cathy Harper</span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joanne Burton</span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jodi Wilton</span></b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michelle Hernandez</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We would LOVE to see you take up Ann's challenge this month, so if you do, please share it at our linkup on the Inspiration Elevator blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get writing mi gente!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pumpkin picking madness.</td></tr>
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-91985492022952918392014-02-15T11:41:00.004-05:002014-02-17T19:39:41.858-05:00Inspiration Elevator- Facing Your Greatest Life Challenge<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello!</span><br />
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So I've blogged plenty about my greatest life challenge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn't moving to Utah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that it's getting closer to spring I could ALMOST like it here.</span><br />
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My greatest life challenge was seeing my little girl look like this:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDEDehAzSmJkRE-8AIMHT8mp2Wl9yqB39lXjoM43SbyW7R0j-cZPLI8CJSj7UaaL4MAx9yG6Y7qTIIPiYVPRJbVAmHUacQTKyMqsNMg9SSNj9t3JKO4UPeaidqzw4jkPJf0STRuovxzY/s640/blogger-image--1223304783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDEDehAzSmJkRE-8AIMHT8mp2Wl9yqB39lXjoM43SbyW7R0j-cZPLI8CJSj7UaaL4MAx9yG6Y7qTIIPiYVPRJbVAmHUacQTKyMqsNMg9SSNj9t3JKO4UPeaidqzw4jkPJf0STRuovxzY/s400/blogger-image--1223304783.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lola was born 6 weeks early with a condition called Chylothorax where</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">liquid normally recycled though the heart and out the body drained into her lung</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cavities. Luckily her actual lungs had developed just enough to allow normal breathing so</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she spent three weeks in the NICU with tubes inserted into her sides to drain the liquid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was in constant pain and I couldn't hold her for the first 4 days for fear of dislodging the tubes.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss Lola- hyper active, able walk at 10 months old, curly headed and sleepy eyed, currently refusing to eat anything for breakfast- is perfectly fine these days.</span><br />
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In 2009 I found out I was having a baby and lost my job job all in the same day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To say I was shocked and awed doesn't explain the half of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And life has been crazy ever since.</span><br />
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Jobs we thought stable are now gone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neighborhoods that were affordable suddenly became the center of the cooliverse and filled with grocery stores selling exotic fruit vinegar for 20 dollars a bottle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moved to find new opportunities but found our backgrounds were still lacking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "Starting over" isn't fun- it's excruciating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hardest part is letting go of your expectations and your past.</span><br />
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So this is my page for the month:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTPIWA5HRCAP2B4ULJDr6OIljtpkIwyQNT0RFkA2HQHNdcxdBIgXf-eo0yG8IHtcaiCI7sxn8iejQz_ntmFHxYwSvTe55aTgyK25t0MHrwZvIWg6hwOk0Q_DX-DyCKN_JaGtHFI9srpg/s640/blogger-image--1358580652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTPIWA5HRCAP2B4ULJDr6OIljtpkIwyQNT0RFkA2HQHNdcxdBIgXf-eo0yG8IHtcaiCI7sxn8iejQz_ntmFHxYwSvTe55aTgyK25t0MHrwZvIWg6hwOk0Q_DX-DyCKN_JaGtHFI9srpg/s1600/blogger-image--1358580652.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For my page I chose to add the story to several tags behind the photo for a cleaner layout. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently showed Lola the hospital photos because she asked about the small holes under each arm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told her those marks make her very special as only 1 in 10,000 children are afflicted and survive birth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used Jenni Bowlin stamps, Basic Grey alphas. The wood alphas are from Recollections</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and the little wood hearts from Cocoa Daisy's January kit.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the group challenge:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and extend ourselves. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>You can view all of the challenges our Inspiration Elevator Blog,<b> </b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/inspiration-elevator/html-for-feb-15th-reveal/779087828787918" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">here</a>. </i></span><br />
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We are thrilled to welcome back Audrey Yeager this month as a guest designer. Audrey recently came into ownership of My Scraps & More online store, and has graciously offered a prize this month! Read on to find out how you could win!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Michelle Hernandez. Here's how she expressed this month's challenge:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Inspiration Elevator Challenge February- Phoenix Rising.<br />I'm going through one of the toughest times of my life right now. Huge changes, dashed expectations, embarrassing set backs- it's all overwhelming, all the time. I have the love and support of my family and my health- so it could be worst but still - it sucks.<br />My challenge for February:<br />Tell a story visually or through your journaling that speaks to your greatest challenge and most importantly how you dug yourself out. This should be a celebration of your faith, personal resilience and/or creativity. A story you'd like to tell your kids, grandkids or yourself when things get rough. "</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%3Ehttp://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/%3C/a%3E" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank"><b>Michelle Hernandez</b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inkspiration_for_stamping/2014/02/inspiration-elevator-reveal-if-we-knew.html" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></b></div>
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<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank"><b>Lisa Moen </b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Cathy Harper</a> </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog" target="_blank">Lisa Spiegel</a> </b></div>
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<b> <a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/2014/02/inspiration-elevator-february-2014.html" target="_blank">Joanne Burton</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/2014/02/inspiration-elevator-monthly-challenge.html" target="_blank">Jodi Wilton</a> </b></div>
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<b>Guest designer: <a href="http://audreysreflection.blogspot.chttp//audreysreflection.blogspot.ca/2014/02/inspiration-elevator-guest-designer-and.html" target="_blank">Audrey Yeager</a> </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We would LOVE to see you take up the challenge this month, so if you do, please share it at our linkup on the Inspiration Elevator blog. </span>
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Extra incentive? There is a great RAK this month!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So, how do you win Audrey's prize? It's simple - leave a comment! </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Audrey will choose one random comment from one random blog to win the $15 gift certificate to My Scraps & More. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much, Audrey!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swing by their blogs and check out how they met and beat their greatest monster.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Princess hair flipping lessons. 2/14/14</span></td></tr>
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Have a great weekend- even in 2 feet of snow NYC. (LOL- it's 60 degrees and sunny here in SLC- how's THAT for silver lining?)</span><br />
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Michelle</span><br />
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-4888140820469586392014-01-31T19:57:00.002-05:002014-01-31T20:31:44.054-05:00Aha! A new post. On friday! About scrapbooking.Hello!<br>
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This post comes to you via the HTML screen because the "compose" function doesn't work on PCs. ????</div><div>Fun times. </div>
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The wonders of modern blogging. </div>
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As you know I've dissapeared from this space for a while. </div>
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Mostly because the sound of my pathetic whining was getting on my own nerves. </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Also writing on a ipod SUCKS. Prolonged suckage. </span></div>
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So I'm testing this method out to see if it's gonna work.</div>
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So far no- I'm back on the ipod editing the huge block of text the html became.</div>
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Perhaps you missed me?</div>
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(aha ha, just kidding!) </div>
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Perhaps you find blogs terribly passé?</div>
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How rude!</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">But you can also find me on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. </span></div>
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What I do:</div>
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Pinterest- pin salads, quilts and inspiration for pages I'll never make </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">IG- post photos of Lola at home as I still lack a driver's license (laaaame)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Facebook- be reliably puzzled by my lefty political posts (and the occasional non controversial scrapbook page) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">But you're here so let's just hang.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This week I managed to finish a couple of pages. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I forgot to mention I'm the guest designer for January over at Jennifer Bowlin Mercantile. Doh!! It's a great kit. Feb's kit is already up. So buy both. Lol.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't think I would like this year's fancy name for purple "Radiant Orchid". But anything looks awesome with black and white. Sorry for uncropped pix- workng off my ipod here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI8ka0dmsIPO1UW_D-4uBN07qLEHKcETRCF23M5dIGXfZ5pTQKSwrY4bnL1giPTSWLTxBaMySZ7JuG8O7kSkdW-P9_DURcplojzEbn2U0kIHx6Vm-G-tLtFYUTBSXSan6coPpz3RXEGA/s640/blogger-image--382685749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheI8ka0dmsIPO1UW_D-4uBN07qLEHKcETRCF23M5dIGXfZ5pTQKSwrY4bnL1giPTSWLTxBaMySZ7JuG8O7kSkdW-P9_DURcplojzEbn2U0kIHx6Vm-G-tLtFYUTBSXSan6coPpz3RXEGA/s640/blogger-image--382685749.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And I finally scrapped this photo of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in full cherry blossom glory. Never thought I would use up those felt flowers but they look great here. Thanks for busting thd orejudice Jenny B. Lol.</td></tr>
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<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This weekend I will be going to my first crop EVER. Crossing my fingers I don't annoy anyone by singing out loud or focusing too much and not listening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I'm not the chat and scrap type- my brain isn't big enough to do both. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I'm bringing my paper, washi tape, glitter, some punches and lots of paint. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Fingers crossed! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I'll update you on how it went Monday. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sneak peek of my next Inspiration Elevator challenge.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Have a great weekend! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Michelle</span></div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-35203156522733706742014-01-15T11:40:00.001-05:002014-01-15T14:29:11.620-05:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge: 10 years from today<div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. You can view all of the challenges our new Inspiration Elevator Blog, "</span><a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">" </span></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /> Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Jodi Wilton . Here's what she had to say in her very own words: </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"My challenge for January. The New Year is always about bettering </span></i></div>
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<i>ourselves; looking into the future, and making goals (some attainable, </i></div>
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<i>some not so much). Scrapbooking is about recording the story and most of</i></div>
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<i> these stories are in the past, so we don't forget the memories we </i></div>
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<i>created. For this challenge I would like you to scrapbook yourself, your</i></div>
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<i> family, or a particular family member </i></div>
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<i>and where you (or them) would like to be in ten years time. The focus </i></div>
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<i>for this challenge is on the journaling. Your layout or art journal may </i></div>
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<i>be in the form of a letter to your future self. Your layout may or may </i></div>
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<i>not have any photo at all and be all about the journaling. Dip deep! </i></div>
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<i>Really think about what you can (or they can) accomplish! What are your </i></div>
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<i>dreams? What are your goals? Good luck ladies!"</i></div>
</i><br />This was a great challenge. I often thimk about the future but don't get very specific. I visualize a future where I own a home and plant a garden. Where my daughter wants to hang with her parents even if they are super embarrasing. Where my husband has the job he wants and the telescope he's been dreaming about for years now. </span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Im so sorry if this photo looks fussy- it's taken with my ipod and I can't figure out how to fix it- it looks clear when I check it out close up. A mystery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaql8G_HAq45t75kIq1ISQtwRhhVzeS8mY5ir-HMiiATTYNHjhydZxRvfRqPWlWqU4m0KpTsH5NywzMsbZdDGMob6Fps6UOvBvYZAj8dOgDycKODKnG5cbI5N6KHgSnM1RsLZPxfTUyVw/s640/blogger-image--1395215106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaql8G_HAq45t75kIq1ISQtwRhhVzeS8mY5ir-HMiiATTYNHjhydZxRvfRqPWlWqU4m0KpTsH5NywzMsbZdDGMob6Fps6UOvBvYZAj8dOgDycKODKnG5cbI5N6KHgSnM1RsLZPxfTUyVw/s640/blogger-image--1395215106.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An experiment in minimalism and restraint. Perhaps not my best page<br />
but it's exciting to try a new thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jodi Wilton <a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Michelle Hernandez </span><a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ann Jobes <a href="http://www.lovestnpaper.com/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://www.lovestnpaper.com/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Laura Whitaker </span><a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Lisa Moen </span><a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="6" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christa Uttley <a href="http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="7" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/</a></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Lisa Spiegel </span><a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="8" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joanne Burton <a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="9" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors="true">http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michelle</span></div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-22677333327172818232013-11-16T13:53:00.000-05:002013-11-16T13:53:23.242-05:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Christmas photo memoriesHello hello!<br />
<br />
Perhaps you've been wondering where I disappeared to for a month.<br />
<br />
I started a new full time job with a schedule I haven't been able to squeeze spare time from.<br />
<br />
I've wanted to get back to blogging and creating but this hobby sucks up time like no other.<br />
Or maybe that's just my process- I knew what I wanted to do with this page- I just needed 4 hours to do it in- lol!<br />
<br />
One of my all-time favorite Christmas spot is Macy's Department store in 34th street.<br />
We won't be in New York until Thanksgiving so I used a photo from last year.<br />
<br />
That's Lola scribbling a "Letter to Santa" from our visit to the store last year.<br />
She's literally just making lines but I LOVE the look of intense concentration on her face!!!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10887231956" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="inspiration_elevator_christmas_photo_memories_scrapbook_tag_water_color by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="inspiration_elevator_christmas_photo_memories_scrapbook_tag_water_color" height="640" src="//farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/10887231956_782def6705_z.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For this page I used some Studio Calico paper I got at TJ Maxx, wood star buttons from Prima,<br />
red tag from Cocoa Daisy and a star flair from A Flair For Buttons.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You may recall that the purpose of the Inspiration Elevator challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to mature as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. You can view all of the challenges at the Inspiration Elevator Blog.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10887406404" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="scrapbooking_stripes_layers_studio_calico_thickers_holiday_crafting by Michelle Hernandez, on Flickr"><img alt="scrapbooking_stripes_layers_studio_calico_thickers_holiday_crafting" height="500" src="//farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/10887406404_074304805c.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have a very odd ideas about proper/good parenting. <br />One of my biggest quirks is the tell no lies rule. <br />It's absolute and can land me in plenty of social hot water.<br />Lola has no idea who Santa is- funny how this doesn't seem to interfere with the magic<br />and meaning of the holiday. <br />Here she's writing "Santa" a letter. <br />She has no idea why but that doesn't take away from the fun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Misty Russell and her eclectic, artistic style to Inspiration Elevator this month.<br />
<br />
November's challenge comes from the very talented Joanne Burton. Here's the challenge she posed:<br />
<br />
<i>"November's Challenge: Back in Time. I love looking through old photos (or not so old photos!) and remembering the great memories that go along with them. Some pictures evoke a strong emotional response while others just bring a sweet smile to our face as we recall the details of when it was taken. With that in mind, I would like each of you to pick a favourite photo and go back in time! I want you to take your photo and actually revisit the place where the photo was taken. Then take a 'picture of the picture' in it's original setting and scrapbook your new photo. **If you are absolutely not able to revisit the place where the photo was first taken, then pick a favorite picture with lots of memories attached to it and scrapbook that. </i><br />
<br />
<i>In either case, I want you to journal the story behind your photo. Make your journaling and photo come together in such a way that we feel like we are back in time with you!"</i><br />
<br />
I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/">Joanne Burton </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/">Jodi Wilton </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/">Michelle Hernandez </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovestnpaper.com/">Ann Jobes </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/"> Laura Whitaker </a><br />
<a href="http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.com/">Cathy Harper</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/">Lisa Moen </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/">Lisa Spiegel </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Guest Designer <a href="http://www.myscraptherapy.com/">Misty Russell </a></div>
<br />
If you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, please share it using the linky tool on our <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/">Inspiration Elevator blog </a>and/or our<a href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator"> Inspiration Elevator Facebook page</a>. We'd LOVE to see what you made!<br />
<br />
Have a great weekend!<br />
MichelleMichelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-91806138380775473652013-10-15T11:34:00.005-04:002013-10-16T00:38:03.917-04:00Inspiration Elevator Challenge- NostalgiaHello!<br>
Today I'm bring a page I made for this month's Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Nostaligia.<br>
<br>
I have a different perspective on this challenge because I don't really scrap to capture moments or even record my life.<br>
I do it because I love messing around with paper and because it gives me a good reason to keep shooting photos- something I would otherwise forget to do in my normal day to day routine.<br>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10280061244/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="New York Memories Inspiration Elevator Nostalgia Challenge by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="New York Memories Inspiration Elevator Nostalgia Challenge" height="640" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/10280061244_4267bc5681_z.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basic Grey film strip paper- I'll need to get a couple more of this print. The flair is from A Flair For Buttons, chipboard and white laser cut tags from Scrap FX. New York flag from Reminisce. I also cut some leaves from vellum just for the heck of it. Since we put our things in storage and brought essentials with us when we moved to Utah, I don't have much in terms of items that are nostalgic but the printed film strips are good stand-ins- read below to find out why.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My page doesn't have a lot of journaling this month.<br>
I've covered the subject of Brooklyn longing so frequently in the last couple of months I really just wanted to make a page to match this summer 2013 photo I love.<br>
<br>
I am deeply nostalgic for my college days when I spent all day (literally) in the darkroom developing film and printing black and white photos for my next critique class.<br>
<br>
The photo is of a near perfect day in May.<br>
We walk the Brooklyn Bridge.<br>
Discover new parts of the park by getting lost in the streets.<br>
Finally, the sun is setting,<br>Saidy has brought her nephews and Lola finally has someone her own age to play with.<br>
The food truck tacos we buy are delicious. <br>
The salsa band playing outdoors in the park is so amazing we get up and dance in front of everyone.<div>Lola sits on David's shoulders the whole time.<br>
Then... fireworks!!! Someone is getting married and we get to share in their joy.<br>
And I cry<br>
I AM SO HAPPY!<br>
I know we may never get to come back to a summer concert in Brooklyn Bridge Park again.</div><div>I'm painfully grateful. <br>New adventures and perfect days await in Utah but nothing compares to golden evenings by the water;<br>
Lady Liberty waving her torch just a quarter mile away.</div><div>Quiet subway rides home</div><div>You fall asleep yet it is us who sit dreaming</div><div>This is home.<br>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10280191035/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Afterlight by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Afterlight" height="308" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/10280191035_11714632c6.jpg" width="500"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those banner stickers are from the Target dollar aisle- they've been on a roll lately with the kraft stuff.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Onto the official challenge~<br>
<br>
You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.<br>
<br>
You can view all of the challenges our new Inspiration Elevator Blog, <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br>
<br>
We are also pleased to welcome Denise Morrison and her stunning artistic style back to Inspiration Elevator.<br>
Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Lisa Spiegel .<br>
<br>
Here's what she had to say in her very own words:<br>
<i>"October is my favorite month of the year. Hands down. The temperatures
here in Southern California finally start to drop, we wear a light
sweater, maybe even a little boot. We pull out the scarves and the
jeggings and put away the capris and tank tops. Leaves begin to change
and we prepare for Halloween! My whole house is decorated, from top to
bottom, and it is no small feat. I even swap out my dishes and serving
ware in preparation for Fall and Halloween and I love to just keep the
festivities going all the way through the Thanksgiving and then holiday
season. My house will not return to "normal"
until January. </i><br>
<i><br></i>
<i>So, Lisa, tell us, how does this relate to a
scrapbooking challenge? Well, what I've found over the years is my
scrapping even changes over the holidays. I layer more. Reach for the
bling and really dig deep to embellish with meaningful objects. Journal
my thoughts and stories and feelings. Fall just make me nostalgic. So
here is the challenge. Create a layout that is nostalgic...the feeling
should be evident from the title, the visible journaling and the
embellishments you choose. </i><br>
<i>Choose deliberately and with purpose to tell
your nostalgic story. I can't wait to see how you interpret this
challenge!" </i><br>
I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:<br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/" target="_blank">Lisa Spiegel</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://want2scrap.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Laurel Seabrook </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Joanne Burton</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Jodi Wilton</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovestnpaper.com/" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Laura Whitaker</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Lisa Moen </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Christa Uttley</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Guest Designer <a href="http://kookaliciouslifeisyummy.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Denise Morrison</a></div>
If you feel inspired to play along with my challenge this month, please share it using the linky tool on our <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator blog</a> and/or our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator Facebook page</a>.<br>
We'd LOVE to see what you made!<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/8869707123/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="brooklyn bridge park BRIC concert by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="brooklyn bridge park BRIC concert" height="400" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/8869707123_075f78e967_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Normally dancers go in front of the stage but we had 3 toddlers to care for so we got up and danced<br>right in front of all these folks- and it spread. It WAS a good day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-82112786440797454452013-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:002013-10-07T08:00:09.448-04:00Skissedilla selected scrapper for OctoberHello scrap happy folks!<br />
<br />
It's been an eventful week for me and I am so glad to finally share this latest scrapbook page.<br />
<br />
I'm the featured scrapper over at <a href="http://skissedilla.blogspot.com/2013/10/sketch-228-and-some-changes.html" target="_blank">Skissedilla for October</a>. yay!<br />
<br />
Things are changing for the challenges- instead of a sketch a week there's only one a month.<br />
<br />
Skissedilla has a GREAT design team with plenty of raw inventive power- I suggest you swing on by and check it out.<br />
<br />
Here's my solution to this month's sketch:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10131697476/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Skissedilla sketch 228 selected scrapper michelle hernandez by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Skissedilla sketch 228 selected scrapper michelle hernandez" height="500" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/10131697476_acfccb896e.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved the sketch but I got caught up in the literal- how to make that sunburst pattern look fresh and new?<br />Silly rabbit- just make the page! The flair is from A Flair For Buttons. The chipboard from Scrap FX.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The actual sketch:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10131757095/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="skissedilla sketch 228 scrapbook page challenge by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="skissedilla sketch 228 scrapbook page challenge" height="397" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/10131757095_d53dd6fbf3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Challenge 228</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A close up:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10062098044/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Skissedilla October Sketch Challenge- Guest Designer Michelle Hernandez by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Skissedilla October Sketch Challenge- Guest Designer Michelle Hernandez" height="500" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/10062098044_fe0013252b.jpg" width="331" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whenever I get stuck I start cutting strips of paper. No matter how<br />bad the mojo is I always seem to respond to stripes on a page.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And here is the RAK up for grabs to one lucky winner:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10131738735/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Skissedilla challenge RAK flair buttons chipboard scrap FX by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Skissedilla challenge RAK flair buttons chipboard scrap FX" height="320" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/10131738735_797b72b44d_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some beautiful Art Deco inspired frames from Scrap FX and flair from<br />A Flair For Buttons and Bluebird Chic on Etsy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Thank you so much to <a href="http://skissedilla.blogspot.com/2013/10/sketch-228-and-some-changes.html" target="_blank">Skissedilla</a> for asking me to join the team for October- I was THRILLED when I got the email.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10131649975/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="October Fall pumpkin patch by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="October Fall pumpkin patch" height="320" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/10131649975_30ca02c9a8_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One great thing about living in Salt Lake City- farms everywhere-<br />on the way to the mall- the BIGGEST tomatoes , peppers and<br />cucumbers are there for the picking. We bough 3 bags of fresh produce for 5 bucks.<br />Can't beat that with a bat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hope you have a great week!<br />
MichelleMichelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-66917178441057513512013-10-05T06:00:00.000-04:002013-10-05T06:00:04.536-04:00A Flair For Buttons and DCWV Blog Hop!!!!Hello Hello HELLO!<br />
<br />
I am SO EXCITED to be sharing a couple of pages with you today.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">DCWV</a> was the first scrapbook brand I picked up back in 2009 when I started looking for pretty paper to make decorations for future Lola's room.<br />
<br />
Off to Joann's I went and there it was- cue angels singing- <a href="http://www.joann.com/dcwv-12inx12in-premium-paper-stack-mariposa/2217404.html#prefn1=isProject&start=64&q=DCWV&sz=18&prefv1=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Mariposa Stack</a>.<br />
Suddenly I had a million ideas that only needed a pair of scissors to bring to life.<br />
<br />
Since then I've had fun creating with their new Adhesive Fabric stack, <a href="http://www.dcwv.com/product_view.php?id=2083" target="_blank">The Colorful Life Stack</a>, <a href="http://www.dcwv.com/product_view.php?id=2293" target="_blank">The Snapshot Stack</a> and here's an oldie but still a favorite- Downtown Loft which is full of mod prints and Manhattan themed papers.<br />
<br />
The lucky DT members of A Flair For Buttons each got a stack to create with.<br />
I got The Glam Rock stack.<br />
<br />
I made this card:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10027913495/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DCWV Glam Rock stack card by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="DCWV Glam Rock stack card" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5495/10027913495_7a2a64eb78.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some pop dots, fussy cutting and 20 minutes later I had a party invite.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And this page:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10062031464/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop" height="640" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3754/10062031464_7d16a4d23b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love paper strips so this page came together quickly after I cut the foiled silver "belts" out. <br />I used flair from the following packs:<br /><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/101851788/rock-on-flair-1?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">Rock On Flair 1</a>, <br /><a href="http://etsy.com/listing/115928994/arrows-kraft-and-black-1-flair?ref=shop_home_active&ga_search_query=arrows" target="_blank">Arrows kraft and black 1</a>, <br />and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/160797592/dartboards-flair?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">Dartboards flair</a>- I will be ordering 20 more of those black and white striped beauties!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I did get a little stuck when I first opened my package because I have a 4 year old who's still listening to "Old McDonald" and "The Wheels on the Truck".<br />
So I don't have a rocking out photo to use- yet.<br />
Then I found that photo of Lola and her cousins and a page popped into my brain instantly.<br />
<br />
That's what I love about <a href="http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">DCWV packs</a>- you can use the themed packs for almost anything- all you need is scissors, glue and a couple of hours.<br />
<br />
Joining my today in this fun smash up are:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="yiv2521698754Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3061" style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://stilltraveling-differentjourney.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3060" rel="nofollow" style="color: #4040ff; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">Erica Weinstock</a></span><span class="yiv2521698754Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3008" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3058" style="text-align: center;">
Me! :)</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3055" style="text-align: center;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3054" style="color: #111111;"><a href="http://lumpbumpandclump.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3053" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff007f; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">Mary Ann Maldonado</a></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3007" style="text-align: center;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3052" style="color: #111111;"><a href="http://dianepayne.typepad.com/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3051" rel="nofollow" style="color: #80ff00; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">Diane Payne</a></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1380948264979_3017" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><a href="http://purplemailbox.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #a040ff; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Ashli Oliver</a></span></div>
Please swing by each blog to check out how we used our packs- I sure there will be a delightful surprise in each blog.<br />
<br />
Before I forget- here is the coupon code to get 10% off your next A Flair For Buttons order:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zC82CFlhrPM/Uk-hNV5L5gI/AAAAAAAAGE4/l_pjzJ7U4Wk/s1600/DCWV+COUPON+CODE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zC82CFlhrPM/Uk-hNV5L5gI/AAAAAAAAGE4/l_pjzJ7U4Wk/s320/DCWV+COUPON+CODE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Thanks for stopping by!<br />
Michelle<br />
<br />Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-83166557129480646252013-10-03T07:00:00.000-04:002013-10-03T07:00:02.112-04:00Skissedilla and DCWV & A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop sneak peeksHello!<br />
Been gone for two weeks. OOPS!<br />
There's lots of scrappy paper crafting going on in the background.<br />
<br />
This Saturday I'll be participating in the first ever DCWV - <a href="http://scrappergirl.typepad.com/aflairforbuttons/" target="_blank">A Flair For Buttons</a> blog hop.<br />
I made a couple of pages that took me out my usual color scheme so I'm excited.<br />
Here are two a sneaky peeks at my projects:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10062180353/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop Glam rock stack scrapbook page by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop Glam rock stack scrapbook page" height="334" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/10062180353_ceeea1f49e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I looked at the large record page on the DCWV stack FOR-EVER till this subject idea rose up.<br />
Whew! No need for a photo of Lola rocking out to Van Halen after all.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10062197943/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop sneak peek1 by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="DCWV A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop sneak peek1" height="400" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/10062197943_faf26c8d33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made a card- an actual CARD!!! And one I like- very rare indeed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then on Sunday, my guest designer for the October <a href="http://skissedilla.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Skissedilla</a> sketch challenge goes up.<br />
I'm honored to be part of this group which has introduced me to so many incredible scrappers.<br />
Sneaky peek:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10062098044/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Skissedilla October Sketch Challenge- Guest Designer Michelle Hernandez by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Skissedilla October Sketch Challenge- Guest Designer Michelle Hernandez" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/10062098044_fe0013252b.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used a butterfly punch garland I've had in my stash for over a year as well as my <br />
absolute favorite <a href="http://www.scrapfx.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2643" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mini feathers chipboard from Scrap FX</a>. My page won't be the only one <br />
posted either- it's gonna be fly mi gente.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been doing a lot of soul searching as of late.<br />
I write posts in my head but because I committed to a path of positivity (wait- is that even a word?) here I haven't been able to truly capture how I feel.<br />
How much do I reveal?<br />
How much detail do readers care to know?<br />
<br />
It's hard to find the middle ground between honesty and pure emotional detritus.<br />
So I'm keeping my trap shut for now.<br />
Frankly- how I feel changes so frequently shutting up is probably the best idea- when I figure things out I can tell it all with some perspective or just laugh at all the internal drama and move the effer on.<br />
<br />
Anyway if you have some time this weekend please swing by and say hello.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/10063883725/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Twilight pumpkins Salt Lake City farm by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Twilight pumpkins Salt Lake City farm" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/10063883725_b8f53c2588.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We stumbled across a pumpkin farm on the way home yesterday- lots of last minute Fall themed photos ensued.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Have a great week.<br />
Michelle<br />
<br />
<br />Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-25843816220767677992013-09-15T00:42:00.003-04:002013-09-15T01:17:32.020-04:00Inspiration Elevator challenge- what do you find inspiring.<span id="goog_1257155875"></span><span id="goog_1257155876"></span><br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Inspiration Elevator" height="160" id="Image1_img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOphwqTxEZd36xjZPT95URseCa9U5CzIp-AZiikkENqBIWovgMNTovwaVuOvXUteBWn-Ss6Z2AjVX5R8p2oJgeI0Z_7xrR-MfebZLpPItn4hCaoY5KBZD-GD-MK7pktiNk3fyYf2AFhdw/s180/IEbutton.jpg" style="visibility: visible;" width="107"></div>
<br>
You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. You can view all of the challenges our new Inspiration Elevator Blog, <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br>
<br>
Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Cathy Harper. Here's what she had to say in her very own words:<br>
<i>"I want to know what inspires you to create. As I was driving
home the other day from my trip back to Black Hills, I saw a really cool
billboard...clouds, the sun, and a few hearts. I immediately thought
how great the design was and how I could transform it into a card or
layout.(No, I didn't get a picture of it as it was the week of the
annual Sturgis Bike Rally and no way was I pulling off the side of the
interstate with all of that crazy traffic.) Even the other day, as I was
walking through Target, I saw a couple of cute Baby gift bags that had
great design principle that I could use as inspiration to create with
too! Then it hit me that this would be a great challenge for my IE
teammates. We recently had Sue's challenge where we were inspired by
another teammate and lifted their style..but I want to know what else
inspires you besides other designers cards and layouts. Are you a
Pinterest addict like me? And find great design ideas there or in a
magazine with a brilliant ad!? Find something inspires you, pin it or
take a photo and create your work from there...you must include a photo
of your inspiration and a link (if there is one) with your project for
the challenge!"<br></i>
<br>What inspires me?<div><br>My family. </div><div>This is central to my life because I grew up in a broken home where my father and mother, although very loving towards their children, fought all the time. </div><div><br></div><div>Eventually they divorced. I feel like I'm still dealing with the ramifications of their break up.</div><div><br><div>My husband and I met one warm summer evening in 1998. It was not love at first sight or anything like a romance novel.</div><div>It was like a kid's movie- "Up" to be exact.</div><div>We were fast friends and enjoyed each other's company immensely.</div><div><br></div><div>I like to say that one day I was watching him practice his salsas moves when it struck me;</div><div>"Damn! He's a sexy beast."</div><div><br></div><div>Funny how that goes- before he was just good 'ol Dave- best buddy- best pal.</div><div><br></div><div>Next minute I'm mauling him like a "twilight" vampire.</div><div><br></div><div>Good thing he was ok with that. </div><div><br></div><div>Ten years later (don't ask- it was New York- no one thinks they are ready to marry till they hit 40) we married.</div><div><br></div><div>11 months later Lola was born- early due to severe complications but alive, thank goodness.</div><div><br></div><div>These days our friendship and patience is being tested by every financial issue imaginable.</div><div>But the trust and respect is still there.</div><div><br></div><div>We won't break.</div><div>We won't surrender to self pity or blame.</div><div>We will make it through this.</div><div>Two best friends and the talking spark plug they made...</div><div><br></div><div>And their whole crazy Latino extended family.</div><div>What? Did you think we faced these problems alone?</div><div>Never!</div><div><br></div><div>Since I'm working from an iPod Touch I can't link to the website that inspired this page (thank goodness for copy paste or else I wouldn't be able to give you the blog hop list at all) but you'll find my favorite scrap blogs right there on my side bar.</div><div>This page takes inspiration from Louise Nelson's style.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEGxaqYmLhNkq92sdIpBPDr3zg2wheXKMutsZ7Lj0SM2JT41f5yZrQuc4K5ZPmUVUuWNCVSWZDNGRyB6YBoJzV23ql-EVBhZZZFmD0YeR6goj6zb1IF_WnjskYk96mlQnRMIf0YFz7Ag/s640/blogger-image--679229477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEGxaqYmLhNkq92sdIpBPDr3zg2wheXKMutsZ7Lj0SM2JT41f5yZrQuc4K5ZPmUVUuWNCVSWZDNGRyB6YBoJzV23ql-EVBhZZZFmD0YeR6goj6zb1IF_WnjskYk96mlQnRMIf0YFz7Ag/s640/blogger-image--679229477.jpg"></a></div><br>I couldn't find a family portrait small enough to fit area I was willing to cover in this page!</div><div>I really got to like how the magenta, yellow and blue-green paints mixed.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEFZbM30tlCa4x4-RH4almMHfSXbJxGjUpi7JtQRlidq-oWMm2UAD1BwsdtXsAcc1ayLzrbmATDmTXBMj7En9odKz1OtR_C57hLgbCxyEekq4q7IGxYqTwkVc8FgtcvdTspSAnckmrno/s640/blogger-image-326748975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEFZbM30tlCa4x4-RH4almMHfSXbJxGjUpi7JtQRlidq-oWMm2UAD1BwsdtXsAcc1ayLzrbmATDmTXBMj7En9odKz1OtR_C57hLgbCxyEekq4q7IGxYqTwkVc8FgtcvdTspSAnckmrno/s640/blogger-image-326748975.jpg"></a></div>The feather stamp and chipboard are from Scrap FX. Flowers from Prima and Petaloo. Acrylic Paint from Martha Stewart. </div><div><br></div><div>Please try to swing by the rest of the blogs linked below to see what the other Inspiration Elevator designers have created:</div><div><div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br>
<a href="http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Cathy Harper</a> <br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/" target="_blank">Lisa Spiegel</a><br>
<a href="http://want2scrap.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Laurel Seabrook </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Joanne Burton</a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Jodi Wilton</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovestnpaper.com/" target="_blank">Ann Jobes</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Laura Whitaker</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.kewl-beans.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Sue Sykes</a><br>
<a href="http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Lisa Moen </a><br>
<a href="http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Christa Uttley</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;">
If you feel inspired to play along with my challenge this month, please share it using the linky tool on our <a href="http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator blog</a> and/or our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InspirationElevator" target="_blank">Inspiration Elevator Facebook page</a>. We'd LOVE to see what you made!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br>
Until next time, keep doing what you love. </div>
</div></div></div></div>Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-19075887497232133482013-09-04T04:46:00.001-04:002013-09-04T12:25:17.385-04:00Project Life with no kit and no clueHello everyone,<div><br></div><div>I have GREAT NEWS! </div><div>I am returning to New York City- woo hooo!</div><div>The truth is that Dave and I embarked on a "business opportunity" with little planning or ideas on how to hustle in a new city. </div><div>We thought our optimism and willingness to work hard would work it's magic- "The Secret" wise.</div><div>Nope!</div><div>It's been stressful and frankly I value my marriage and Lola's peace of mind too much to keep testing either one.</div><div><br></div><div>The going critique is that I gave up too early but this is a marathon- I need a water break.</div><div><br></div><div>Without getting into a protracted "woe is me" story (since, frankly, taking off with no real business plan was dumb)- I seriously can't take the unpredictability of freelance work. </div><div><br></div><div>I'm pretty impulsive but I've never been a fly by the seat of my pants, take big financial risks for possible gain in the future kind of person.</div><div><br></div><div>So I'm retreating to NYC to take advantage of free child care (thank goodness for grandmas! Hello? Major underestimated asset!)</div><div><br></div><div>I also plan to take some business and computer courses and get me up to speed ' cause being a Mom for 4 years has totally altered my skill set- lol!</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway I managed another Project Life page this week.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWm3qImx8RABdzAk6p48QDZN-Zpu2Z2gtQ7sEdEIxyU30fy7EPA_UPePmAuq0UHCxsdUGvyDoS1Uz3v9tBiXVxEpRSRy6Zueg4tcuuSzsyT8-5fex0EQ-0J5pYf3DiqjbV3S_Uv0RJnY/s640/blogger-image-342046199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWm3qImx8RABdzAk6p48QDZN-Zpu2Z2gtQ7sEdEIxyU30fy7EPA_UPePmAuq0UHCxsdUGvyDoS1Uz3v9tBiXVxEpRSRy6Zueg4tcuuSzsyT8-5fex0EQ-0J5pYf3DiqjbV3S_Uv0RJnY/s640/blogger-image-342046199.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>I printed a bunch of tiny photos at Walgreen's and wanted to use them before I left.</div><div><br></div><div>I'll be glad to return to my own desk and computer again- next time I won't leave without them!</div><div><br></div><div>Here are some close ups of the gesso covered Kraft paper inserts from Scrap FX.</div><div><br></div><div>Scrap FX has a variety of mini chipboard designs available for "micro scrapping"-feathers, apples and these teeny oak trees are my current favorites.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYRPAvuJLwKlveQ_3Aqn1_jiW3_Ox2I5_b-jrREGktzzlf5OStrci2A_lRyrPlkWXmteHzpTxGKTdlB1QX4SwHlepMnJEB2zwA9s8dZZo_Z2BCuhT4PLImRZU5h23tNXDeql8XKLQPYo/s640/blogger-image-1153738464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYRPAvuJLwKlveQ_3Aqn1_jiW3_Ox2I5_b-jrREGktzzlf5OStrci2A_lRyrPlkWXmteHzpTxGKTdlB1QX4SwHlepMnJEB2zwA9s8dZZo_Z2BCuhT4PLImRZU5h23tNXDeql8XKLQPYo/s640/blogger-image-1153738464.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUctAHiFy6cZc2m2FxWzSSdF5uGGyVx2XRlsjhzndUlAZauSX-wnBFCvOebac_xRHCNIhsbOJdPXhGxd9HUTv8FkLdvo30CkYh-3UKNXH0KhtulGboTelRnHJpkhMxKHwPxTbb2SWJmhw/s640/blogger-image-1987941800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUctAHiFy6cZc2m2FxWzSSdF5uGGyVx2XRlsjhzndUlAZauSX-wnBFCvOebac_xRHCNIhsbOJdPXhGxd9HUTv8FkLdvo30CkYh-3UKNXH0KhtulGboTelRnHJpkhMxKHwPxTbb2SWJmhw/s640/blogger-image-1987941800.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt61onYHO7PtG-MnGv8Uyu-LMbQZHrHEuhRqFCrKIGWMfAtPuBz4SCvqgnMKNbJ3MCZA-Kd_vGz3RyYMalLNplegu5WpPBHAhhkXAuNhUhthgJ9uqiNzjmkuPfpk-yXSAP_dITFNqtHls/s640/blogger-image--2018886156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt61onYHO7PtG-MnGv8Uyu-LMbQZHrHEuhRqFCrKIGWMfAtPuBz4SCvqgnMKNbJ3MCZA-Kd_vGz3RyYMalLNplegu5WpPBHAhhkXAuNhUhthgJ9uqiNzjmkuPfpk-yXSAP_dITFNqtHls/s640/blogger-image--2018886156.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Why are these photos so blue? </div><div>I shot these very last minute as the sun was setting. No amount of ipod app digital retouching is going to take that bluish tint away. </div><div>I'll have to reshoot, but that's ok.</div><div><br></div><div>"Do overs" are my specialty.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcRzvAxWqRu8_gSEg7aMrdlfRpQFBIApYGKoGavYnEIRCPv3vGtralIYpokiHXaZXQzPSS11dLo2HM7lDgeOx_lvxRklYJ7q6u2oEU-nYEEYQlb_gD3vi9iRVcnHhjlqLnxjZd_1mJHI/s640/blogger-image--1682636411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcRzvAxWqRu8_gSEg7aMrdlfRpQFBIApYGKoGavYnEIRCPv3vGtralIYpokiHXaZXQzPSS11dLo2HM7lDgeOx_lvxRklYJ7q6u2oEU-nYEEYQlb_gD3vi9iRVcnHhjlqLnxjZd_1mJHI/s640/blogger-image--1682636411.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Thanks for stopping by!</div><div>Michelle</div>Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-86512081483605838122013-09-02T13:53:00.000-04:002013-09-02T14:17:04.946-04:00A simple page for Scrap FXHello and happy Labor Day folks!<br>
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The last couple of weeks I've been trawling galleries looking for inspiration.</div>
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I felt my pages were starting to get a little repetitive.</div>
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I came across <a href="http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=galleries&u=22729&m=list&size=1gallery%20on%20scrapbook.com" target="_blank">CFlattop's gallery over at scrapbook.com </a>and was incredibly inspired.<br>
I love how she reduces details to the essential and how she uses flashes of color to focus attention on her photos.</div>
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I decided to stop trying to make technique fireworks happen and start focusing on editing again.</div>
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Here is the resulting page:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGxTYcBSm-2L2NejUUfyZje_HC_QhhTlXsEJxYQ86f9v2UjVpy8I4UNdXHHeJ0TmdGxihfO1j71miILS9KRUAavR-pyBNTxTdIrGiJXFIA7VGtmY3tMR_Uxwbhw3nDFpYmgpWAEM3H5s/s640/blogger-image-791138897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGxTYcBSm-2L2NejUUfyZje_HC_QhhTlXsEJxYQ86f9v2UjVpy8I4UNdXHHeJ0TmdGxihfO1j71miILS9KRUAavR-pyBNTxTdIrGiJXFIA7VGtmY3tMR_Uxwbhw3nDFpYmgpWAEM3H5s/s640/blogger-image-791138897.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Please excuse the grease stain. I laid the page down on the table after<br>
I was done only to find half a peanut underneath.</div>
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Foiled in my quest for perfection yet again!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRs_KnisQ94omnOxuK4k3R9VpIK_irNnnSV0iXJ9VHvA5054TR06Yu8S5MXQj3pulYq23VPTpcWhWAM2AaarbOanflbxiGDuimEsWoHuaQgWowcUbOB6AXLUwsOuatlFxIfmHqkIHIGM/s640/blogger-image-1107095496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRs_KnisQ94omnOxuK4k3R9VpIK_irNnnSV0iXJ9VHvA5054TR06Yu8S5MXQj3pulYq23VPTpcWhWAM2AaarbOanflbxiGDuimEsWoHuaQgWowcUbOB6AXLUwsOuatlFxIfmHqkIHIGM/s400/blogger-image-1107095496.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">I used <b>Scrap FX Fern Flourish</b> and <b>mini wings</b> chipboard.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">I also used <b>Home 2 </b>and <b>Big Words</b> flair from <b>A Flair For Buttons.</b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">The card stock is from American Crafts and the stencil from</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">Stencil1. The feathers were cut from an Echo Park print.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDTylnPn8Ip_wcpes_HWcZuIwP3vPvFCn8X_sQ-e7gIIKVl-gLec8vW87ZqWVB_myVdLMQtHpbrKE3wgrk_CuvSrncSELdNkF9HiJuNDMTQHVlRTqDffg2Qx3HSfLFjzDaKPBGFONEA0/s640/blogger-image--716861623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDTylnPn8Ip_wcpes_HWcZuIwP3vPvFCn8X_sQ-e7gIIKVl-gLec8vW87ZqWVB_myVdLMQtHpbrKE3wgrk_CuvSrncSELdNkF9HiJuNDMTQHVlRTqDffg2Qx3HSfLFjzDaKPBGFONEA0/s640/blogger-image--716861623.jpg"></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">It's funny what we sacrifice in search of "progress".</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">My definition of forward motion doesn't include material things.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; ">It's</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; "> time with my family, being a Mom. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><br></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">Have a great day off!!!</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">Michelle</span></div>
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Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-11385707876246448212013-08-30T12:34:00.000-04:002013-08-30T12:48:04.555-04:00Using gesso and Scrap FX chipboard for Project LifeHappy Friday folks!<br>
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Today I want to share a page from my moribund Project Life album.</div>
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I readily admit my album currently holds 16 pages- 8 from 2012.<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAnwBmN5-t8i-v81INfJtZsuksy9nOkPY0MPQPu8yCDGmATAAV5VXrmUraxUC0SFZ7V9VFMFMu8PIvgrjAOO9xSpcnpLIzQuHB4RBrIzbNeVEt6HEQVVtUdVGtwD9T040ZwI9ShiRM3I/s640/blogger-image-1654233804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAnwBmN5-t8i-v81INfJtZsuksy9nOkPY0MPQPu8yCDGmATAAV5VXrmUraxUC0SFZ7V9VFMFMu8PIvgrjAOO9xSpcnpLIzQuHB4RBrIzbNeVEt6HEQVVtUdVGtwD9T040ZwI9ShiRM3I/s400/blogger-image-1654233804.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrap FX Triangle border stencil on the yellow washing tape, stripes flair<br>
from A Flair For Buttons.</td></tr>
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I love the idea of a daily crafty photo journal entry. </div>
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It's keeping up with the daily deadline and printing photos that's killing me.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKFp_tqjbv6rn_LhDY1ob6Ugwd5xlCBhSQpDn6G6fEpFWBZ9_v5kCq8E6FdJ7Snr1T6qXMWgFKfxWFf8AO6NoX9PJrDTdXrZncZyS56imStx6_vtsbwhzXwm02MGwWWxlU7FKrT3uX0w/s640/blogger-image--505631996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKFp_tqjbv6rn_LhDY1ob6Ugwd5xlCBhSQpDn6G6fEpFWBZ9_v5kCq8E6FdJ7Snr1T6qXMWgFKfxWFf8AO6NoX9PJrDTdXrZncZyS56imStx6_vtsbwhzXwm02MGwWWxlU7FKrT3uX0w/s400/blogger-image--505631996.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrap FX kraft 3x4 pocket inserts, Art Nouveau set C and the punchinella from<br>
a Scrap FX mini apples chipboard set.</td></tr>
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Especially now I don't have an actual computer just my trusty iTouch and the local Walgreen's 1 hour photo kiosk.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yr-2y_lJYLeW0StvX5_vInxNmSzE54ELjkTpaxvh48YywCYa-cJKoMe8uT-zoFrTr8s8VpNeA5BOsXB8ZzcJecxzAIKHgylkVPA82Itw7yESF8k_18lexNAkNrXNPMM-9w-KNc6fDwk/s640/blogger-image--1390916333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.234375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.234375); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yr-2y_lJYLeW0StvX5_vInxNmSzE54ELjkTpaxvh48YywCYa-cJKoMe8uT-zoFrTr8s8VpNeA5BOsXB8ZzcJecxzAIKHgylkVPA82Itw7yESF8k_18lexNAkNrXNPMM-9w-KNc6fDwk/s400/blogger-image--1390916333.jpg" width="400"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><font size="2"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);"> The page in planning stage. I printed the photos at<br>Walgreens so they are way too dark and contrasty.<br>Scrap FX chipboard and pocket inserts make for a great looking page but all white backgrounds are in<br>Vogue so I jazzed this up with some gesso. </span></font><br>
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<div>The less I worry about PL rules and make pages when I feel like it, the better the final product.</div><div><br></div>
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No dates, no random life detail photos no one cares about, no expensive dedicated paper kits that I drool over but never use.</div><div><br></div>
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I focus on the daily emotional moments (believe me- there are many in all families) and my journaling.</div>
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I hope you have an adventurous weekend!</div><div><br></div>
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Seize the Saturday and Sunday!</div>
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Michelle</div>
Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-30376996889594423442013-08-23T13:41:00.003-04:002013-08-23T13:41:39.761-04:00Pattern and layers- A Flair For Buttons postHello and happy Friday!<br />
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Today I want to share a page I made for <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/aflairforbuttons" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Flair For Buttons</a>.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Since I'm working without my beloved Mac I have no choice but to take images with my ipod and print to Walgreens.<br />
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.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9571241188/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Woo hoo! by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Woo hoo!" height="800" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2852/9571241188_f2c9f48a34_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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) </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9571251750/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Afterlight by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><img alt="Afterlight" height="375" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/9571251750_07a572ec82.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking flair buttons for this page was easy! <br />Deciding which ones to keep and which ones to use somewhere else was hard.</td></tr>
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Please swing by the Flair buttons blog and check out <a href="http://scrappergirl.typepad.com/aflairforbuttons/2013/08/no-more-floating-flair-a-banner-full-of-flair.html" target="_blank">Ashley's fantastic series: "No More Floating Flair</a>" 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!)<br />
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Have a great weekend!<br />
MichelleMichelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215291798995125587.post-7396482092141908572013-08-21T02:00:00.000-04:002013-08-21T20:04:09.006-04:00Nat Kalbach's Stand Up Bass Blog Hop<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Welcome to Nat Kalbach's <a href="http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/933" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stand Up Bass stencil</a> blog hop!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nat Kalbach designed a series of really fantastic stencils for Stencil Girl Products and asked some friends to help spread the word.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am so lucky to be included in this group!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's the blog line up:</span><br>
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<a href="http://wp.me/p3Cnxf-2ZU" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nathalie Kalbach</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1721545517029754840#editor/target=post;postID=5995124939054380922;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=link" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1377030264565_8164" rel="nofollow" style="color: #2862c5; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Louise Nelson</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://la-almohada.blogspot.com/2013/08/nat-kalbachs-standup-bass-stencil-blog.html" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1377030264565_8166" rel="nofollow" style="color: #2862c5; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carmen Sanchez</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://acolorfuljourney.com/?p=7361" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1377030264565_8167" rel="nofollow" style="color: #2862c5; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carolyn Dube</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://myanaloglife.blogspot.de/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1377030264565_8168" rel="nofollow" style="color: #2862c5; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">Michelle Hernandez</a>- U R Here! HIYA!!!</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1377030264565_8154" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.believedreamcreatewithmaria.com/2013/08/nathalie-kalbach-stencil-hop-stand-up.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maria McGuire</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wowwy wow wow right?</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> AND most awesome? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There's a give away!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Post a comment in each blog. Each comment is chance to win for a total of 5 chances.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NO you don't have to be nice- at least not to me- tell me how you really feel- I'm cool with that.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The drawing will be August 27th at midnight. Good luck!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I read a good quote this morning:<i> if you have time to complain you have time to do something about it.</i></span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"SO THERE!" Said my brain to my ego.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My page for this hop has everything to do with the self induced stress moving has caused.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A great opportunity landed on my husband's lap and he's happy- so no more complaining!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ACK! The loss of real pizza... and the subway... and The Brooklyn Botanical Garden.. (WAH!!!)</span><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9557743770/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Afterlight by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Afterlight" height="640" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9557743770_f01bbb68fe_z.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Temptations are a favorite song group. This song is actually a huge part of my childhood. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Along with Micheal Jackson, Prince and New Edition (and Menudo) you got a healthy dose of 50's flashback music. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every time I see this stencil, the first stanza of this song rings in my brain. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also made an art journal entry.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm NOT great at art journaling.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Entries never make this blog because they look like Kindergarten projects.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Actually I've seen plenty of pre-school projects that look better than what I do in my "journal".</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I enlisted help from an expert:</span><br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9556061953/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Afterlight by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Afterlight" height="320" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/9556061953_d453f5df13_n.jpg" width="320"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mom let me play with her washi tape! WHOOP! WHOOP!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Naturally I moved some of the paint off but it was her idea</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">to use the green and silver tape.. and to spill water all over the place.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The resulting page:</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chellaspix/9554972281/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Afterlight by MyAnalogLife, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Afterlight" height="426" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/9554972281_874314972a_z.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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 <a href="http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-9x12/view/932" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What's The Point stencil</a>. <br>I changed my scrap page after doing this. I added the yellow paint to the background and like it much more now.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
Your next stop on this hop is: <a href="http://www.believedreamcreatewithmaria.com/2013/08/nathalie-kalbach-stencil-hop-stand-up.html" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Maria McGuire</a></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have a great week!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Michelle</span>Michelle Hernandezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679879157645074185noreply@blogger.com34