Gauche Alchemy digest- a week of mixed media projects

It's FRIDAY!!! WOOOOOT!
This will be a quick post to tell you about what I've written up for Gauche Alchemy this week.
 Gauche Alchemy- Stuck?
The first article included a fantastic video by Cheryl on ways to used mixed media items in your regular scrapbook pages- it's a great "process" video that let's you see how Cheryl builds pages layer by layer.  I contributed this page to show off one of the latest kits- the Bare Nekkid Mixed Media kit.

For this page I used the Bare Nekkid kit which has already sold out but the smaller
Nearly Nekkid kit is still available and is just as full of beautiful neutral items.

I also wrote about ways to combat serious creative block. There are many ways to battle flagging mojo but the one I have to keep reminding myself to use is- keep working. Even if the things you make go straight into the garbage. (I throw out my duds quite frequently- it's the one thing I have no misgivings over). Even if you really would just like to sit on the sofa- do not. Get to work.

 Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Here's a GREAT quote from fine artists Chuck Close:
“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”

Before shot of a scrapbook page I really like but it still looks pretty bare.

I have heard some feedback from friends that it's hard to imagine how to use some of the more eclectic or 3D items in a Gauche Alchemy mixed media kit so a few members of the design team got together and made "before" and "after" projects to show how the mixed media color kits can really jazz up a scrapbook page. Here's the link so you can see the other projects: A very Gauche Before and After.

Items from Scarlet Red Mixed Media kit and some plastic grid material that came with the Black Out Mixed Media kit both of which include things like fabric, wall paper swatches, board game pieces, sequins, and all kinds of tiny objects that can be easily incorporated into any project- even flat scrapbook pages. 

This week Design Team member Maggi wrote up a fantastic post on using old corporate or junk mail magnets to make gorgeous DYI decorations. This will surely inspire you to just have fun with the process of creation:

Using fabric from the newest kit Gauche alchemy kit- Moshi Moshi,  punchinella and
items from various color kits, Maggi made the cutest DYI fridge magnet.
The hardest decision about her process? KEEP IT? Or gift it to a bestie?

So now that you are heading off into the weekend take a few minutes to consider how you can feed your creative soul. I am working on my Project 365 and making a few cards for Valentine's Day. What are you working on?

Which camera is the best? The one you have on hand.
This was taken with my lowly iTouch.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Inspiration is for Amateurs

This Chuck Close quote by has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw him on Charlie Rose last fall. He was talking about how as an artist he works through problems posed by his paintings. He enters and leaves his studio at pretty much the same time each day. Did I mention Chuck has a cognitive disability which doesn't allow him to recognize faces? And yet he is a fantastic portrait painter- now that is inspiring.

Today's page is about being a cranky assed beotch. I don't celebrate that I am a beotch- I just recognize I am and work with it. I won't change it- I have more important things to do. This page is for punkyscraps.blogspot.com. I LOVE that site! Go on there and check out their latest transgressive prompt. I always treated my photography as something that was fueled by inspiration not by effort. That's why I am so behind on technique. This is a scan of a gel transfer I made while still in photo school. Perhaps it's time I return.

Materials: Prima Pulse collection "Crew", We R Memory Keepers Teen Angst foil paper (cut outs),
Mr. Huey- white, Hambly tranny- turquoise wood grain, EK Success Abstract Flower edge punch,
Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch, Making Memories Shimmer Jigsaw alphas- brown,
MLS Black Diamond alphas, Gold gel pen, Bo Bunny clear frame, Creative Charms Pure Blossoms- Blue,
Inkessentials Glossy Accents

I wanted to share a really cool thing that happened this week- my brand new only used once Fiskars XL star punch got TOTALED by an American Crafts glitter paper a while back (UNcool!). I stewed for about a week then went back to 123stitch.com to reorder the punch and noticed Fiskars products have lifetime warranties!!!

My permanently closed punch- waaah!

I went to the customer service page on their site, uploaded a photo of my pathetic punch and literally 5 days later a BRAND NEW PUNCH arrived! How awesome is this company???? So I have upgraded my Fiskars rating to BUY ALL THE TIME- even if their punches are heavier and larger than EK ones.

WHAT I LEARNED BUILDING THIS PAGE:
1. How to punch that AC glitter paper? It's so darned thick! DUH! Rip out a layer of the backing to get it thin enough for punching.
2. You CANNOT write on Mr. Huey spritz no matter how long you wait for it to dry- you can write in random sprays but not on a layer of spritz sprayed specifically to make room for journaling- darn!
3. You CAN ink Bo Bunny acrylic bits! SO gonna get me some more!

Lola is ready for Chinese New Year.
Thanks Auntie G!!!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
M.