Everyday is Halloween

Hello scrap happy people.

Today is the day before Valentines Day.
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.
Buy this. Buy that. Nothing which I would buy anyway.
I am not a chocolate lover.

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.

One holiday I love and have started to spend big on is HALLOWEEN.

The movies. The colors!
The monsters.
The LIGHTS! The decor!
I love it all.

Some pages:

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.

For 2019 I wanted to do Witch's Night Out with the kid and my nice.
I never found an outfit that fit what I imagined in my head. I found a BALLGOWN on
Poshmark for 15 bucks. It is GORGEOUS!! Layers and glitter galore! Naturally Lola hates it and
she hated me for making her wear it in public. She's 10 now. No more dress up.
Let's take a moment to grieve.

This is Crate Paper's Hey Pumpkin. I just got 1 sheet of chipboard stickers and some of the papers.
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.

So dang CUTE! Orange, Yellow, Green  Teal, Purple, Silver and Black- Halloween is totally my kind of color palette.

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.

2012- Keep warm is the first rule.
She still cried when we took her out.

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.

Some photos:

2015 was supposed to be a sure fire winner- Sea Monster, Holographic, warm. NOPE.
She hated that the head kept flopping forward. Can you believe she wore this costume AGAIN this year?
I'd bought it 2 sizes too large. It didn't flop this time. Whew.

2017- wait- I DID get her a girly short sleeved costume. Little Red Riding Hood.
Made her wear her coat for the actual Trick or Treating and she got SO MAD.

2019- BuckBeak the Hippogriff. EXCELLENT CHOICE. 
Spent 3 weeks freaking out how we would recreate a HORSE with an Eagle face.
Found a Crow mask, painted it grey and gold. Found a wolf costume and
had her wear that with claws I made out of  craft foam. Kid next to her is best friend Harry-
the kid is kinda weird but he treats he well.

Dave made the wings out of card board ans paper plates. The wings actually FLAP- he used washers
on the joints so she could open the wings wide. This of course was not appreciated in school.
Her 6 foot wingspan played murder in the classroom.

 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.
4pm in the afternoon has some of the most spectacular light I have ever seen anywhere.

The costume that started the WitchFest madness.
This 6 dollar thrift store costume fit so spectacularly I feel like I have to one up myself every year.
She really liked this because it was light, the hat was not too big
and she just tucked the dress into her jeans when it was done- the fabric is that thin..

2019 Kid and Niece. I buy the witch hats anywhere I find them. I prefer lots of layers, glitter, color and lace.
I come fully prepared with costume changes and money for snacks.
 The girls frown but I just keep taking photos until one of them does something smiley. 
If visiting in October Garner Village WitchFest is a MUST.

Kuwahara Pumkpin Patch is my absolute favorite.
Did YOU know there were smoke machines that ALSO made bubbles?
You you get smoke filled bubbles??? SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!
Just don't let them pop in your eye- that is NOT a good thing.

This is Salt Lake City in late September. You should visit. You won't regret it.

It'd almost spring mi gente. Celebrate.

Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Scrapping loss

This week's Inspiration Elevator theme- surviving loss really speaks to me.

As scrapbookers, journalists in our own lives, image creators via social media, we often forgo
getting real for keeping things light and positive.
There's something to be said for that, after all, those who love you already know your trials.

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.
Sometimes the most important stories are the saddest.
Those are the stories that show personal heroism and tenacity- true character.

Journaling, photographing, getting creative with talking about the hard times helps me immensely.
The main benefit is in helping me work out how I truly feel.
It keeps the negative inner talk to a minimum and helps me gain perspective.
Most importantly, it makes those little moments most precious.

As usual, I worked on this late at night so my lighting for the photo is way off- my apologies.
My page is about my marriage. Lately our communication has been fraught with negativity.
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?
 Am I doing all I can to keep it strong? Could I lose the central relationship in my life?
That second questions scares me because I've always thought my marriage was strong.
I waited a very long time and made sure I was emotionally ready for the marathon.
My page isn't about loss.
It's about the fear losing something precious engenders.
I realized love doesn't change in a relationship but it can take second place over ever changing challenges if you let it.
I won't let it. And I made a page to remind myself.

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.
You can catch us on Facebook  and share your creations there; we'd love to see how we have inspired you!

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!

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:

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.

Wendi Robinson

Katherine Sutton

Lisa Moen

Ann Jobes

Guest Designer: Scarlett Salamone

Wonderful challenge Wendi!
Swing by the blogs and see what the other designers have done to represent their personal challenges and triumphs.

I hope you are inspired and take a swing at the challenge for yourself.
Remember- little moments matter

Guess which pre-schooler is mine?

Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Christmas photo memories

Hello hello!

Perhaps you've been wondering where I disappeared to for a month.

I started a new full time job with a schedule I haven't been able to squeeze spare time from.

I've wanted to get back to blogging and creating but this hobby sucks up time like no other.
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!

One of my all-time favorite Christmas spot is Macy's Department store in 34th street.
We won't  be in New York until Thanksgiving so I used a photo from last year.

That's Lola scribbling a "Letter to Santa" from our visit to the store last year.
She's literally just making lines but I LOVE the look of intense concentration on her face!!!

For this page I used some Studio Calico paper I got at TJ Maxx, wood star buttons from Prima,
red tag from Cocoa Daisy and a star flair from A Flair For Buttons.

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.

I have a very odd ideas about proper/good parenting.
One of my biggest quirks is the tell no lies rule.
It's absolute and can land me in plenty of social hot water.
Lola has no idea who Santa is- funny how this doesn't seem to interfere with the magic
and meaning of the holiday.
Here she's writing "Santa" a letter.
She has no idea why but that doesn't take away from the fun.

We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Misty Russell and her eclectic, artistic style to Inspiration Elevator this month.

 November's challenge comes from the very talented Joanne Burton. Here's the challenge she posed:

"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. 

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 hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:

Joanne Burton 

Jodi Wilton 

Michelle Hernandez 

Ann Jobes 

 Laura Whitaker 
Cathy Harper

Lisa Moen 

Lisa Spiegel 

Guest Designer Misty Russell 

If you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, please share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page. We'd LOVE to see what you made!

Have a great weekend!
Michelle

A Flair For Buttons and DCWV Blog Hop!!!!

Hello  Hello HELLO!

I am SO EXCITED to be sharing a couple of pages with you today.

DCWV 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.

Off to Joann's I went and there it was- cue angels singing- The Mariposa Stack.
Suddenly I had a million ideas that only needed a pair of scissors to bring to life.

Since then I've had fun creating with their new Adhesive Fabric stack, The Colorful Life Stack, The Snapshot Stack and here's an oldie but still a favorite- Downtown Loft which is full of mod prints and Manhattan themed papers.

The lucky DT members of  A Flair For Buttons each got a stack to create with.
I got The Glam Rock stack.

I made this card:

Some pop dots, fussy cutting and 20 minutes later I had a party invite.

And this page:

I love paper strips so this page came together quickly after I cut the foiled silver "belts" out.
I used flair from the following packs:
Rock On Flair 1,
Arrows kraft and black 1,
and Dartboards flair- I will be ordering 20 more of those black and white striped beauties!

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".
So I don't have a rocking out photo to use- yet.
Then I found that photo of Lola and her cousins and a page popped into my brain instantly.

That's what I love about DCWV packs- you can use the themed packs for almost anything- all you need is scissors, glue and a couple of hours.

Joining my today in this fun smash up are:

Erica Weinstock

Me! :)

Mary Ann Maldonado

Diane Payne

Ashli Oliver

Please swing by each blog to check out how we used our packs- I sure there will be a delightful surprise in each blog.

Before I forget- here is the coupon code to get 10% off your next A Flair For Buttons order:

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Where in the world has Michelle been? Fun news!! Also? Shooting scrapbook pages in the dark of NYC apartments

HALLO HALLO!

I've been working on a big project and it required lots of my brain power just to keep calm.

What's the big news?

Tomorrow I will be featured over at Shimelle.com!!
WOOOOT!

My post will be called:

 5 ways to finish chipboard by Michelle Hernandez (or something in that vein.)

When I got a peamail from Shimelle three weeks ago I was completely gobsmacked (lol!- sister who lives in the UK- can you tell?).

I have ZERO idea who's looking at my work half the time so when ANYONE contacts me I'm all
"Wait... You sure you mean Michelle Hernandez?"

I suspect I have a very enthusiastic suporter out there- thank you!

While perusing Shimelle's blog I spotted a favorite scrapper of mine.

Please check out Ashley Oliver's (SoaphouseMama) Shimelle.com post:

5 ways other than journaling to incorporate pen work in your scrapbooking by Ashli Oliver.

I've never really talked about how I shoot my projects.

If you read regularly you know I live in what most people would call a closet- a square space about 400 square feet.

There are windows here but they face another building- this is New York- Apartment sunlight is for the rich and famous.

How do I usually shoot my photos?

This is very rare. I tend to shoot my projects in the fire escape because people WILL stare
when they see me hanging scrapbook pages up on waterfront concrete. I wanted a pretty city
scene for my Shimelle feature which required I shoot horizontal oriented staged project photos.
I love staging my projects but staging requires SUNLIGHT. I had to go outside-
and it was windy- so I dropped my original plan to shoot on an easel and went with this instead.

I was looking through my photos when I spotted this, the only photo where you see the
scrapbook page before the wind blew the easel down.
I credit ZipDry for keeping everything in place even as the page fell off the table 30 times.
Needless to say shooting 5 projects when they insist on FLIGHT is not optimal conditions for sanity.

Wait! I DID blog about this before!
Here is a card I shot in my fire escape (the ominous bars) using Crate Paper as a "floor"
since the fire escape bottom is also bars.
Major problem with this? You can TOTALLY have your project blown into the river from here.
I usually shoot everything in a box.

Have a great weekend.Nationa Scrapbooking Day is coming up!

Also? MOTHER'S DAY!
SO gonna SCORE (at Joann's)!!!!

Michelle

Custom Engagement Scrapbook- Getting Hitched in New York City

Hello there!

I can now reveal the pages I made for a client's engagement scrapbook last November.

I wanted to give plenty of time for Dan to pop the question to his girlfriend, Jess.

You are going to LOVE this story!

Dan had saved bits and bobs from dates and trips abroad with Jess for over 9 years.

Now he wanted to pop the question by putting them in a custom scrapbook of their lives together.

Opening page- I used some Crate Paper Valentine's paper I had for a while.
I tried to keep things simple as possible since I knew many
eyes with different points of view would be looking at this book.

Dan met Jess on a band camp (BAND CAMP!!!!) trip in 2003 when they were both in High School.

They then attended George Washington University together (where they had great spots to see President Obama's first inauguration), and moved to New York City upon graduation.

Jess is a great photographer so Dan and I had plenty of material to choose from.
We decided 2 page spreads built around specific themes would be the best way to incorporate
everything. For this high school themed layout, I used the pops of red and blue in the photos
 to guide my journaling sticker choices and picked a dark color to match the next page.

High School Prom was very important to Dan. He saved the tickets all these years.
I built a page around the ticket colors and used silver alphabet stickers to give the page some pop.
Fussy cut roses from defunct manufacturer Paper Truck made their way into the page.
 I loved the look so much I made myself a page using the left over flowers.

 When I think of college my brain immediately goes to blue jeans and notebooks
so I used those prints as the main elements for this part of the spread. The blue
jeans paper is Bo Bunny and the notebook paper from a Me and My Big Ideas print.

This page went over HUGE with Dan. I was so excited because I really loved it too.
Prints from My Mind's Eye and Studio Calico were used to make the rays.
The stars were made with EK Success squeeze punches.
 Basic Grey chipboard alphas finished the page.

The book also had to have several pages detailing their favorite activities together and a special spread for their families who would naturally want to share the book.

The 2 page family spread turned into my favorite. I love the bright pops of red and you can't fail with tile letter stickers and grid patterns.

I really hadn't used my collection of stickers before this project.
Now that I had a specific audience I suddenly understood how to use them properly.
So there's a tip: if you're out of ideas, choose someone specific to design for  and make the page
in a way you think would please them. You'll be surprised how much you'll love the page.

I stuck to high quality materials for this project- Crate Paper pagers, letter stickers from American
Crafts, Elle Studio and Ormolu mini journaling cards, October Afternoon journaling stickers and
embellishments from Studio Calico. I also reinforced everything with Zip Dry glue since
I've had letter stickers fall right off the page just as I hand over a page more than once.
When in doubt- double the amount of glue in a project.

I had so much material to sort through I was actually worried I wouldn't be able to fit it all into 10 pages so the project expanded to 15, then, 17, pages. 

Next up are the rest of the themes Dan wanted covered: travel, city life, friends, sports and one page I love above all....

Dan saved 9 years of movie and broadway show tickets which we decided to make into a background for a page containing a tiny photo of the couple.

I've seen scrapbook paper with ticket themes before but never one made with actual tickets.

I matched pages in most of the 2 pages spreads but I associate travel with freedom and fun so
I just used a tiny amount of the green stripe paper on the orange page and brought orange to the green page with some My Mind's Eye enamel dots. 

These two have been EVERYWHERE! That map washi tape is AWESOME!
It brings to very different pages together perfectly. I wanted this book to look like
it had been put together over time so I didn't pick one collection or color scheme for it.
I love the look of matching books but I think they can look rather static and dated if they have
too many pages. Then again, sticking to a color palette and single pack of paper is more
economical- something to think about if you are putting a book together for someone. 

This city life page also worried me since the photos where from all over the place.
When I realized many of the photos had water in them a title popped right up and
the rest was easy. Journaling spots from Ormolu did most of the design work here.

Jess has a HUGE collection of Instagram photos- it was hard to pick just 6 for this layout but
I wanted to give the page some breathing room.  This was actually the first page I made and it still looks unfinished to me.

I showed Dan a stack of papers and his eyes crossed- too many choices! But he thought Jess
would really love this rainbow chevron print from Pebbles. I cut out a frame for the outside layer,
flipped to the b-side and layered navy flower print in between to get this super simple and fun page.

Personalized Baseball cards!!! HOW COOL! I love this page! Light blue
looks AMAZING with bright red and yellow. An arrow badge from A Flair For
Buttons on Etsy and actual baseball tickets finish this page.

Dan had football tickets, photos of baseball games and specifically mentioned the Dodgeball team
he joined with Jess. I was stumped! Do I make three additional pages? I decided to put
them all in one page and leave plenty of white space for  journal specifics like names,
dates and memories from each event.  

Awesome right? My husband and I are now saving all our tickets so I can do this
for my own book!

 I think I scared Dan a bit by tearing up and repeatedly expressing my enthusiasm and gratitude for being asked to be part of this project.

Designing for someone else can be risky- especially since design work can be so style specific- but I quickly got over any reservations by keeping things simple and choosing prints and colors almost everyone loves.

I recently got an email from Dan, Jen said yes (YAAAYYY!!) and was thrilled with the book.
I was so happy to hear they (and their extended family) liked the book.

They had so many cute couple shots! I saved them all up for this page and imagined Dan popping the question.
Jess you are one lucky lady to have such a thoughtful and romantic fella!
 Congratulations to the both of you!!!

Thank you SO MUCH Dan (and you too Jess!) for trusting me with your memorabilia and telling me your personal love story- that alone was worth the meeting!

MucHoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Michelle's picks- CHA Winter 2013

HIYA!

The irony of me picking new crafty stuff just as I clean out my old crafty stuff does not escape me.
But yet again I am drawn to manufacturer blogs like a moth to flame.

Here are my personal MUST BUY picks for this term:

1. Crafter's Workshop stencils by Ronda Palazzari.
Dina Wakely's Eyechart and Julie Balzer's  leaf  stencils are all coming home as well.

2. We R Memory Keeper baseball size card punch.
I was JUST wishing I had a 3x4 punch for easy Project Life cards in prints I choose.

3. Cosmo Cricket's Summer Love paper- awesome graphic prints!

4. Prima paper clips- I pretty much want all styles available.

5. Studio Calico confetti size shapes veneer. LOVE!!

6. Krylon glitter sprays and this lil 3 oz guy in red, yellow and silver.

7. Wow! Glitter embossing powder 3 packs

8. Jenni Bowlin feather chipboard and mini book clear stamps

9. Webster's Pages "Sweet Notes" overlays by Allison Kreft

10. Anything with diagonal stripes in red or black/white.
 

I will be cherry picking like crazy since I'm not too excited by the papers in most of the collections I see. 

Some of my favorite brands have complete fallen off the design map this season.  

Perhaps it's a sign of the times, not a single company seems to be taking any risks right now.

It's all muted colors and motifs from past seasons- lots of cameras, banners, doilies, chevrons and circles.
 

Where did all the stars go?
And when did speech bubbles become so popular?
I like them but SHEESH! There's only so many I can put on a layout!

Also-
What's with the anchors? Unless you have a yatch or are on a cruise vacation those are random!




Ok time to dish- What are your favorites?

Lemme know! CHA hasn't even started so I know there are other fabulous products out there waiting to be discovered.

Chelles out.