Scrap FX chipboard and vellum goodness

Hello scrap happy folks!
Today I want to share another vellum punches page.
This one uses Scrap FX chipboard.

I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to use this month's farm themed Scrap FX designs but then I realized- just because I'm a city girl doesn't mean I don't occasionally hang with farm animals!

Case in Point:

A visit to Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park! Scrap FX Rope Rings- (model number 2012090) and horse with flowers from the Horses set ( model number 2012087) and Funky Alphabet letters (model number 2010286). I've also used red grid tape from Gauche Alchemy, American Crafts Amy Tangerine sketchbook paper, Cosmo Cricket mini alphabets, Dear Lizzy clouds vellum and clear punchinella from Gauche Alchemy. The circles were punched with Fiskars Squeeze punches in XL, L and M

I also did some research- did you know Queens has a Farm Museum?
It's the oldest continuously working farm in the state! AWESOME!
We've decided to visit later this month- you'll see photos soon!

Some detail shots:

The rides on the carousel cost 2 dollars- I think the tickets are so pretty
they are worth the price all on their own! Love the rope circles design of the
Scrap FX frames- it's western themed but I think these can be used anywhere.

I wish Cosmo Cricket made more of these clear Tiny Type alphas!
They are so versatile! I've tried to get my handwriting to look this whimsical- all I get is messy writing. 

Also- there's a carousel horse design in the Scrap FX catalog and it's beautiful! (This one is model 2011135)

Sorry I missed you little guy- next time!
I have many carousel photos to scrap.

GRATUITOUS CUTE TODDLER SHOT:

Apparently when I'm not the one holding the camera my daughter poses for people.
Here she is at the Bronx Zoo. No I didn't take this shot. I NEVER get the diva pose.

OH! I have some scrap happy news!!!
I'm guest designing for Die Scrapperin- THE German art scrap magazine in August!

I'll be sharing space with art scrappers Muumka and Anna Maria Wolniak.
(Just to name a few- there are 5 other HUGE names- tune in to our Blog Hop in July!)
TOTAL SCRAP NERD NIRVANA!!!!
I'll try very hard to be worthy of such an honor- thanks Janna and Felicitas!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Picture Dodger! And The Halftone app

Today I was gonna share another awesome card with a "Thank You" theme but the actual card has taken a severe left turn from what I imagined so I am giving it another go and posting later.
But I will share this:

Picture Didger- GOTCHA!!!
Materials: DCWV turquoise graph paper (AAA! LOVE!), alphas from Glitz and Cosmo Cricket,  Little Yellow Bicycle word bubble (transparency I added a background to), Studio Calico rub-ons added stick side out, Smooch Black mist, Gauche Alchemy Red Mixed Media kit items, buttons from Sweet Tierney on Etsy.

I've written several stories on iPod photo apps- you can check those out in the resume page above. Then I found Halftone- or as I like to call it- the perfect marriage of new and old paper obsessions.

Faceless Halloween shots are now so much fun!

Back in my early 20s I was broke but spared what I could to buy comic books- specifically all "Batman" titles, anything with the name Neil Gaiman on it and "The Invisibles". I eventually gave up the comic habit but I've been looking for a way to add comic book quote bubbles to my photos ever since.

REALLY funny Dave! I am SO gonna get you back! COOL effect right? This photo was taken in almost complete darkness- the halftone pointillist comic print effect did the rest.

Well Halftone makes that super easy! It also has 12 different paper backgrounds, 9 different caption layout options,  6 different quote bubble designs, 21 different stamps (words like BAM! or Splash!) and over 20 fonts for your captions- it's amazingly powerful and can send a high rez version of your photo directly to other camera apps like Instagr.am or directly to your Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr accounts. Is that not fabulous? It is to me- I LOVE this thing!

Dignity and adult demeanor be darned! I'm having FUN! 

In also humming right along in my daily grace project.
Here are the last 2 days.

11.3.11 Grateful for helpful Abuelas and the smiles they inspire. 

11.4.11 Grateful for her feeling confident enough to leave...
yet always returning to take me along.

Muchos Smooches!

GOT COLLAGE SKILLZ?

My goal for today is to make you laugh. That would be the only reason to share the two hideous projects I made before I finally got to my Punky Scraps collage project for this week's challenge.

First is the final design which I like a lot and will be trying again as the resulting color is really exciting:

Failure is key
MATERIALS: WRMK card stock, tissue paper from Natalie Malik on Etsy, Alphas from Cosmo Cricket, coffee stain stamp from Cocoa Daisy, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and paint from Kaiser Craft.

Thank you so much Natalie Malik! I recently won her grand prize give-away which totally came at the right time.
Mostly because I got this:

Hand made "How To" zine from Natalie that totally saved my life last night.
Buy it if you'd like some great tips on collage with tissue paper.
Photo courtesy Natalie Malik.

A great handmade "zine" that taught me how to actually glue tissue paper without ruining my project. I also won two beautiful hand made bookmarks and a great pack of ephemera that included the tissue paper I used above.

If you want to see someone make modern and lovely collages with real technical mastery please visit Natalie's blog Awkward and Beautiful.

This is the first time I ever try collage. I avoid anything truly artsy- not because I don't like artsy stuff (I LOVE artsy) but because it requires a level of knowledge and control over technique I have not reached yet.

Before you think this is me beating myself up again please wait till you see what I did before Natalie saved my scrappy butt.

And NOW... The FIASCOS.

AAAAA! This is me trying to use some scraps left over from a cool previous project and having "fun" with textures and shapes. I like the colors and the repeated straight lines but this is a HOT summer mess.
Ok now for the real hum-digger.
Please block your children from seeing this.

This horribly BIOLOGICAL piece sprung from two thoughts:
Though number 1: I want to make a commentary on the images of women in fashion- I will sew the outlines, fill in the photos with paint and write "Not me, not now, not ever.. and that's ok" on it.

Before I could fully execute thought number 1- this happened:
Though number 2: OOO this glue would make for great texture!

EEEEEEEEWWW! Never should the two meet! I'm embarrassed to share it except this is supposed to be a real deal blog right? Hideous craft failures and all.

I would like to point out I'm not a complete hack. I recognize when something is too awful to show- except as entertainment here in this blog.

Now that I've either shocked you into silence or made you laugh derisively please head on over to Punky Scraps and join the October challenges. This week's is all about collage. I'm hoping you will learn as much as I did.

Current Favorite Toy- this is a family blog after all.

MuChOS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

3 King's Day & St. Valentine's Day in 1 page

Ah love- the very thing you strive for then spend your time questioning once you have it. Stop that! Be happy and present in your love! Speak it to your love object! Celebrate it in true ROCCOCO fashion. I have resolved to do just that in 2011.
Here is another Valentine's Day piece:

NOT generic.
Materials: We R Memory Keepers Gridlock paper, Sassafras Lass My Type (scallop heart), Cosmo Cricket  Tiny Type brown/clear & Paul Bunyan alphas, EK Success Sticko Retro Puffy alphas, Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses alphas, MAya Road Man chip board, EK 2" scallop heart punch, Prima Barcode clear 48mm tape, Hambly Studio pattern rub-ons- brown

Dave is incredibly patient, tolerant and empathic. He's also a true analytical personality so how he's attracted to an Emo nutball like me is a mystery. I'll be yammering away about the latest thing I took as an insult and he'll just look at me like: "Dude...." I frustrate him in my ability to squirrel out implied disses. He ignores most pesky things (me) with Tibetan Monk-like complacency. And unlike cheesy 70's chick flicks- he's perfectly willing to say (and mean) I'm sorry.

Here I used white Mister Huey under Sunshine yellow and THAT happened- see? It' like the 3D glasses effect only it's 2D and invisible to the eye here. I also used a Maya Road man that turned out to be 8 inches long which surprised and delighted me (that's what she said)- sorry.

The heart is an improvisation- the rub on never attached to anything- not the paper, not the tranny I was intending for it- nothing. So I punched it out the sheet and sewed (SPL???) it on. Then I thought- wearing your heart on your sleeve hmmm... David reserves that for only 1 person. Miss Lola. I love the string- hate how crappy the rub-on looks.

New camera keeps Lola from looking down in anti-flash anticipation.
Polaroid- very few film cartridges left- WAAAH!

Lastly, Dave got me a 3 King's Day present! 3 King's Day is celebrated in Spanish speaking countries. On the eve of January 5th, kids put grass under their beds for the camels of the 3 Kings who visited Baby Jesus bringing Myrr, Gold and- sommin' else.  Next morning they get 3 presents, 1 from each king. My parents used to celebrate it along with Christmas when we lived in PR but that stopped abruptly when we moved to NY and they paid NYC rent.  I was SUPPOSED to go with Miss Thing to the Parade in front of El Museo Del Barrio but I forgot- AGAIN. That makes it 10 years in a row I forget to shoot that wonderfully artsy event- SO not cool.

Lola helps. Fuji shoots

Anyway I got a Fuji Instax camera!!!! (They were sold out during Christmas) I mourn MOURN the loss of Polaroid. It's a huge hole in the heart of American coolness- not to mention US jobs.

So awesomely awesome I SQUEALED
 when I opened the package!

But thankfully the Japanese have risen to the challenge and taken the coolness and IMPROVED upon it (figures!) Thus the Fuji Instamatic with credit card sized instant photos in a nicely rectangular shape. Now if they would just put out a square shaped format I would be SO insanely happy! But I guess I'll get an app to do that...

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

M.

Nephews are AWESOME!

HOW did I make it to December 30th 2010 without doing making page about my precious, amazing, incredibly gorgeous nephews? Did I really work busily away for an entire YEAR without making one measly page on my babies?
Aaah the inhumanity... the self centered belly button gazing of it all!
I needed to right this injustice with the quickness!!!!

Unfortunately I didn't have good recent photos of them. Luckily my brother, Guarionex- AKA Pito, AKA Pete- for those who can't pronounce Pito- visited us on Thanksgiving.

Looks like they had tons of fun right?

On Black Friday they literally "did" Manhattan like tourist pros; Central Park's Children's Zoo, a Puppet show, The Apple Store, Toys R US on Times Square then the King Tut Exhibit. I didn't go- Lola would NOT have stood for it. My bro had his trusty iPhone and took these shots.

iPhone shots cropped to square size- love how grainy and
funkily colored they are!

CUTE!!!!

I'm seriously considering getting an iPhone just for the photo apps. I wouldn't bother with the phone service as I don't want to pay an 10 extra dollars for the same AWFUL AT&T service I get now. Ooooo! BURN AT&T!!!
This page is also for the Studio Calico weekly page challenge.

Materials: 

• Fiskars Star punches, medium & XL.
• Studio Calico Home Front "Odds & Ends" 
• Studio Calico Elementary "Atmosphere" 
• Basic Grey Kraft Basics "Tally"
• Cosmo Cricket "Ginger" 
• Sassafras Lass Dress Pattern Alphas
• Making Memories Sienne Reverie Alphas- Paper Reverie Collection
• Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type in yellow and clear/brown 
• American Crafts textured Foil Paper in turquoise
• New York City map (small paper strips)
• American Crafts chestnut paper
• Maya Road Banners chipboard (tiny heart)
• Brown star bling from Michael's
• Tasmanian Devil Band Aids from Lola's last doctor's office visit (I know- SICK).

This particular shot deserves it's own page- it's SO RAD!!!!

 WHAT is up with that painted seagull looking like it's about to dive bomb my bro? AWESOME!!!!
MuChOs SmOoChEs!!
M.