Scrapping through your mistakes- a Scrap FX and Ormolu scrapbook page

Happy Monday morning folks!
Today I am sharing a page I did for Scrap FX using Ormolu products.
In case you haven't heard- Ormolu is having a DT call.
I applied.
I just love their products SO MUCH! I had to throw my hat in the ring.
Last terms' team was amazing but hope springs eternal and all that.

Page up:

Materials: Echo Park Boy's Life paper, Scrap FX  Mixed tags- kraft model# 2012042 K, Playground chipboard model#2012295, Playground alphabet- small Model# 2012306, Ormolu Bungalow Dots & Spots, Fact or Fiction Flappers, Line and Letter Storytellers and Bungalow Flappers.

My article for Scrap FX was all about mistakes made while this page as under construction.
I love the final product but even I must admit- my "mask" technique needs some work
Case in point:

A fine mist right over Lola's face. Does it bother me? Yes. Will it bother me a week from now?
We'll see. I'm already thinking it's no biggie but don't bother sending this in for publication without reprinting that photo.

Also- I need to work on my penmanship.

First draft off the page!!! This is a mistake of pure sloth.

Tonight I have some time to scrap again.
I will be using those new Studio Calico droppers and lots of gesso.
I've been making so many clean and simple pages lately I miss getting my hands dirty.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I sure did!

We visited the Empire State Building for the first time ever- I KNOW!

Michelle

On creativity and the impulse to "make something"

"I just want to make pretty things even if nobody cares".
Many of us have pinned that pictogram onto our boards or put them on our Facebook page.
It captures how we feel when people question our paper crafts hobby.

I've always felt this saying was a tad on the defensive side.
I make things that are pretty and I make things that are... complicated.
I'm proud of both.
I'm also proud to say I am creative- even if no one cares. Laughing!

When fellow scrapper Laura swung by my blog on Moday and commented she wished she could think outside the box more often I wanted to think about my reply.
Mostly I wanted to give encouragement.
And I wanted to say something that would help us both because many times I feel like I lack the creativity gene that so many scrap happy women seem to share.

This page marked a huge departure from the "norm" for me. I'm using pink.
I'm trying to keep things simple and the page thin enough to fit in my 12x12 scrapbook album
I haven't used since 2009. (!!!)  So while this isn' going to win any innovative design awards I love
 it and it's actually hanging over my desk as a reminder that I can and should stop using brown
and black in my pages so much! Plus? HELLO GREEN RIBBON! LOVE!
Materials: Cocoa Daisy September Kit, May arts Ribbon, Pink Paislee wood letters,
October Afternoon and Echo Park papers.

As I told Laura- the act of waking up in the morning and breathing can seem like a crazy out of the box act of pure creativity some days- especially when everything is going pear shape.
So the question is this:
Are you ready to own it?
Your creative talent and unique voice, I mean.
Can you, will you, stand by your impulses when everyone else is insisting "NOPE! That's not how you do that!"
It's a hard road to take.
If you have a lot of friends who also scrap or sew or share your creative pursuit, it can be even harder to stick to your very specific and interesting story.
But I happen to think it's the road you take- the trip- the adventure-
THE RIDE
that actually matters.
So here is the advice I have Laura (who's blog: Who's This Chick? is CRAZY FULL of gorgeous scrapbook pages! Laura you OOZE creativity!)
I changed some parts up because I wrote it so fast I made a bunch of grammatical errors but it's basically the same thing.

I believe everyone is creative! Living life is a series of problems posed and overcome- how you solve that problem and how happy you are with your solution? THAT'S creativity!
I believe the key to personal creative development is being committed to your story. 
That doesn't mean spending thousands of dollars on scrap stuff. 
It doesn't mean taking tons of classes (although education is key).
It means constantly looking at the visual problems your pages pose and saying to yourself- how can I do this differently? 
How can I tell my unique story? 
Stick to scrapping exactly what you know, feel and love and TRUST me- you'll start seeing how creative you actually are.
I'm by no means an expert but I feel like I've come pretty far considering I stared scrapping in late 2009. I've never taken a class. I have no scrappy local friends- everything I do I learned from reading blogs online and thinking "What if I do THIS instead?"
I think my "creativity" isn't a talent but simply not being satisfied with my work and trying out new things.
What I try to do- even when I use sketches- is tell an authentically "me" story and try to do at least 2 things differently with each page- placing the elements of the sketch in different places, using colors I normally wouldn't use or materials I love that the sketch artist omitted.
Lastly, I think you could improve your feelings of creativity by just keeping a running journal of things you tried that you loved. Just noticing things like "I love this ribbon" or "I love pink and light blue together."  can lead to further exploration and a development of a unique style.
Do the same for things you love in other people's pages and you'll see how you'll develop your own "visual language" and start getting all kinds of ideas about what you want to do in your own work.
Swing back and lemme know if it worked!

So with that I'll share this weeks "Photo Inspiration":

A pattern on an "Old Navy" t-shirt- LOVE! Actually scrapping this now!

This is someone's front door! It's welded iron! LOVE the layering!
Will be trying this  (on paper) soon!

Magazines are a great source of inspiration!
Subscribe to at least 1 that isn't scrap or craft related. You don't  have to read it-
just look at the pretty pretty layouts!

I got in some trouble for taking this photo of the Muccia Prada exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum- don't care- those colors and pattern combos are FABULOUS!
There are museums in your state- visit them!

What do you think makes for a creative person?
What do you do to spark your creativity?
Write it up below- I can always use more tips!!!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Cocoa Daisy Kit Club and me? We're like this! (besties!!)

So there you have it- the news I've been trying to hold back for weeks
I'm the September Cocoa Daisy Guest Designer!
Woo hoo!!!

FOR REALZ!!! Cocoa Daisy kit madness was the most fun I've had in weeks. Visiting
the Zoo with a toddler in 90 degree weather is NOT fun- no really- it's not.

When I got the email from Emily Pitts a few weeks ago let's just say I was... surprised.
With equal parts ecstatic and scared.
I actually questioned whether they had the right Michelle.
After all- THIS Michelle is known for her blabbering, bumbling and being completely overwhelmed.

GRINNING!

Well not THIS month!
I scheduled everything down to the last minute.
Zoo visit? Done! 3 hours!
Work? I handed in a list of all the days I needed off for the entire month of August.
Family? They were warned NO UNPLANNED VISITS!
I got all my work for other DTs done early.
I said "no" to anything that would interfere- family movie night? NO!
Mall visit? NOOOO!
But I said yes to Lola's walks because nothing hurts more than looking back and thinking I should have said yes to this face.

GAH! Look at the CHEEKS! And the SWEET LITTLE NOSE!
Who can say no?

And then I got my kit.

GOTCHA! Can't show the kit- sorry! Tune in the 28th. Cocoa Daisy Kits.

I locked myself up in my scrap room for 2 entire days.
I was gonna kill my first kit!

I'm usually really freaked out by patterns but this October Afternoon
Woodland Park prints was BEGGING to be mixed with the Echo Park bracket print.
And the May Arts diagonal stripe ribbon? Who would have thought I would love green so much?
That's the great thing about this kit- the unexpected details.

And I'm very happy to say I did it!
4 pages and 1 great card I gave to my husband for our anniversary.
Woo hooo!
I've been part of several kit clubs and received many"color co-ordinated" kits.
My first move was always to pick the kits apart and use only the embellishments.
But not this time.
I would have never thought the serene blues and greens of this kit would fit my style so well- they really really do.
I also got the "His" add on as well- you're gonna love these combos PROMISE!

These Pink Paislee alphas- I've passed them up several times as "too large".
WRONG AGAIN! They are AWESOME!

Needless to say I think you should swing by and check out the kit.
I particularly like this month's kit stamp- it's freaking awesome.

See? So simple! INGENIUS!!!

To those of you who told the folks at Cocoa Daisy to swing by this lonely corner of the scrapiverse- thank you!!!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

A lesson on teaching- A Flair For Buttons post with a story

Happy Monday!
A rare day off for this girl.
I'm such a mess.
Yesterday I showed up to work at 10am.
The store doesn't open till NOON.
I thought it was saturday.
FUN.
TIMES.
Today I will share a page I made for A Flair For Buttons and a story about my first adult crafty teaching experience using the Zutter Bind It All to make a mini book.

Materials: A Flair For Buttons pins, Scrap FX hexagon Insta frame chipboard, Echo Park Take Note papers, Studio Calico doily rub-ons, stamps from Cocoa Daisy.

I've taught unruly 3rd graders in Detroit. In July. There was no air conditioning.
I've tutored english as a second language to sleepy 6th graders in Littleton, Colorado.
NOTHING prepared me for the trouncing I would receive at the hands of an adult student with a determination to leave with a perfect project.

Here's the thing (and I've said it a MILLION times before) perfection is a false pursuit.
At least on the first try.
I'm not trying to avoid blame here.
I gave the wrong directions on making covers using the Zutter Bind It All.
You have to insert the cover board into a "notch" when punching to get that perfect 3/16ths of an inch overage.
You bet your booty I won't be forgetting THAT again.
I was so freaked out by how angry my student was, I passed up a chance to teach the GOLDEN RULE.

Michelle's golden rule is:

If you MUCK it up

EMBELLISH.

I muck up entirely too often.
When I do,  I move on to the next step.
If I let myself get caught up in mistakes I would NEVER get anything done or learn anything new.

LOVING July's Cocoa Daisy stamp sets! So GLAD I have a sub!
The ampersand is a fave from the June kit.

But this tough customer wasn't having ANY of it.
She paid for this class and it "wasn't her fault".
Never mind she was holding everyone else up and spreading some major bad mojo.

"Did Michelle put the kibosh on this situation?" you may ask.
NOPE!!!!
My brain was buzzing with all kinds of evil judgements on my failure.
I actually had a flashback to failures of the past and re-lived the range of emotions I felt then.
Isn't it awful how we savage ourselves in our heads?
It's totally counter productive.
While you are busy kicking yourself and feeling awful, life goes on.
Instead of you being the "hero" of your story, you become your own victim.

Hipster Braniac flair button- FUN!

In my case, two students figured out how to make the cover correctly and offered to help Toughie McMuffin punch out a new spine.
And Toughie says:
"They should pay YOU to run this class. You are the expert."
DOH!
I never said I was an expert.
Plus?

Later, when I was going over the disaster with a co-worker (who was there for training and wasn't allowed extra materials) we realized we could have cut a 2 inch strip of card stock in a matching color, added it to the edge and punched through that to get the correct alignment.
DOUBLE DOH!!!!

Everyone liked the the mistakes cover better- it was more "creative" and looked like an actual book.

If I had just kept calm I would have hit on that solution but you need to keep your head from getting into a self-flagellating rut in order to have the flexibility to think creatively.

Lesson learned.

Smiling. It's good.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

No time! NO time! A True Xoxo Girls 1 hour scrap CHALLENGE!

It's SUMMER TIIIIME!
Free concerts in the park!
The pools are open!
The beach (and the latest tawdry best seller) are calling!
You have football matches, the US Open- the OLYMPICS to watch!
Who has time to scrap?

We do! We do!
True Xoxo has the challenge for you!
You have one full hour to make a page.

Here's mine:

I took 1 hour and 17 minutes to finish this page. I blame the Studio Calico stars- the package always manages to walk away while I am mid design. I had no plan and luckily I won the "Take Note" collection in Echo Park's last blog hop so all I had to decide was WHERE to put all this stuff? My only regret? That I put in that journaling card- it distracts from the design. The photo and sticker speak for themselves.

Close Ups:

A Flair for Buttons Here & Now flair pack.

I hear the the SC veneer stars are incredibly hard to come by?
 I got mine on pre-order from Stop and Scrap and it took them 4 months to send them over.
I'm currently waiting for the summer release- let's just say I'm on pins and needles.

Go on- steal away for an hour and join the challenge. You have until July 31st!

TRUE XOXO GIRLS 

Challenge 31- I don't have time for this!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Views from the Renegade Craft Fair- 2012

Hello! Wow Wednesday! I'll have to get better at writing my posts ahead of time because this was supposed to be my Monday morning post- oops! Still adjusting to my new life/work/art schedule so I just have a project sneak and some photos of the Renegade Craft Fair.

No kittens! No 5 socks for the price of 1 packs! No sweet floral prints or hand painted flower pots!
This is a craft fair for those who like neon, typography and ironic t-shirts. LOVE IT!

A was most awesome event. Not a cheesy project in sight.

One thing I noticed right away is that the vendors seemed a little... underwhelmed by the crowd?
I personally went 3 times on sunday and I saw a lot of people looking but few actually buying.
I think many of the price points where high even for NYC.
That may have been an issue for the usually broke Brooklyn Hipster crowd.
I'd like to think it's because "we" spend our money on sky high rent but every day I pass crowded bars selling 10 dollar pints of "craft beer" so lets be real.
Most Brooklyn Hipsters have other priorities.

This pair had me pulling out my wallet- $275 for him $250 for her so I had to leave them at
their stall- so very sorry nonetheless.
The Art & Craft of Mimi Kirchner

This was one of my favorite stalls. I really wish I had just sprung for something.
This Chicago based artisan made beautifully rendered NYC photos transfered onto wood blocks.

blandonconner.com

One thing I gladly paid up for was the chance to work my own silk screen machine to make my very first ironic t-shirt.

HA! Thanks Gowanusprintlab.com! I even signed up for a class. (woo hoo!)
I've wanted to make my own Brooklyn themed pillows for years!

The weather was gorgeous but the sun was so bright it felt great to be inside the
booth messing with paint. I am positively hooked!!!

Here are a couple other things we did that day:

Free photo booth (from Magnolia photobooth Co.) I guess you can rent these for parties?
 They had a super friendly attendant, lots of fun props you could use and great color photos.
One thing we needed was a flash. Since the day was so sunny the flash was disabled and
we had no idea when the camera was taking the photos.

Peebeo was there with lots of paint, Ed Roth Stencils (LOVE!) and ceramic squares
 for you to make your own wall decoration.
Mine broke on the concrete floor- and I can't even blame Ms.Lola for it. (waaaah!!!)

So I didn't get the name of this artist- those are hand cut modern paper lace designs making up a map of Brooklyn. TOO FABULOUS!! I didn't do anything but DROOL after her gorgeous creations.

I stopped taking photos- I just felt so BAD for the vendors!
I don't think Williamsburg, Brooklyn is a good place for this type of event right now.
A lot of the people here are young and struggling through the economic downturn.
Or maybe everyone just needed more time to learn the fair was being held inside the park?
I wanted to run and buy something from each stall- not a healthy mindset for someone so broke.

This page is coming up over at True Xoxo Girls in July!

A sneak of the July True Xoxo Girls challenge- we had 1 hour to make a page.
I took exactly 1 hour and 14 minutes (I lost my SC mini stars halfway through the process)
Can you saw AWKWARD pose???
 I blame the lack of a flash to let me know when the last photo is taken and the next one is up.
(yeah ok Michelle)

A parting shot:

Love you BK! MUAH!!!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Art House Co-Op- join the fun!

In March art House Co-Op based here in Brooklyn put a call out for flat, non-glitter using, 4 by 6 postcards to be exchanged.

At first I had a real hard time with the "flat" part. I tend to use depth as a way to add visual interest to my layouts so this was a hurdle indeed. Then I became fixated on glitter just because they told me not to use it- how dare they? Mostly they just hate how it gets everywhere.

Then I got stuck on the whole "art" versus "craft" internal debate. I wanted to create something that was abstract and try some new techniques. I will admit I was worried my postcard would underwhelm the more experienced image makers that usually participate in Co-Op projects.

But the best way to learn and grow is to fall flat on your face,
so:

Materials: water color paper, Punchinella from Gauche Alchemy, yellow tissue paper, Tim Holtz newsprint tissue paper and Tiny Attacher, word stencil from Retro Art Cafe, alpha stamps from Image Tree, camera from Echo Park This and That, Ek Success Smash tape, flying bird punch from EK Success, Recollections feather 

This was such a freeing experience I will be trying it again in April!
I've joined the Chronicle challenge which requires you fit a visual representation of an entire day into a 4 by 6 card- cross my fingers!

Off it went literally at the last possible moment.

This is my favorite one from the bunch.

This is the one I sent off. I hope whoever gets it, likes it!

 GRATUITOUS BABY PHOTO!!!!!

Our Easter weekend concentrated on the hubster's final exams but Lola did
manage to find this one easter egg. She was ecstatic.

MuChos SmOoChEs!

Punky Scraps and Echo Park- so BFFs!

We interrupt this random pre scheduled post to announce I am now part of the Scrap FX design team!!!
YEA BABY! BOOOYAAAAA!
UUUA UUUA! UUUA UUA!!
awkward dancing.
smiling
YAYYY!

Now back to my usual blathering.

****************

I'm trying to ignore current tv news and political smack talk lately as it just makes me rave unattractively.
There are eye ticks and references to obscure literature involved.
Mostly because I have definite ideas about women's issues and feminism...
Wait- did I lose you?
I DISTINCTLY saw eyes glazing over!
Did I REALLY just write the word FEMINISM in my SCRAP blog?

Don't worry I won't  flail burning under garments in your general direction.
I will leave all political implications at the door where you may pick them up and RUN WILD in the streets with them.
Mostly because it's late, I'm tired and there's a really good episode of "Ghost Whisperer" I wanna watch.
Let's relate on a more personal level.
After all, we all want the same things:
a long healthy happy life, true love, pizza, the occasional trip to the scrap store and the latest Echo Park line.
This one:

This has GOT to be the COOLEST print this season!!!
Echo Park's This & That line- pure awesomeage!

Woodgrain, Scrabble tile and Dymo tape alphas?
It's a dream come true!

The only thing is that Echo Park has randomly assigned a gender to this FABULOUSNESS and printed the word "boy" all over it. BOOO!
I'm using it anyway!
See?

A page for this week's Punky Scraps Sketch challenge.
Materials: Echo Park This & That paper, stickers and brads, Gauche Alchemy punchinella,
SC Mister Huey in white and Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

This week's page was a little difficult- mostly because I didn't want my page to resemble to sketch exactly so I got stuck trying to improvise.
I decided to not over think and just started adding fun bits to the page.
I like the result. It could use more white space but it was fun to make so I'm ok with it.
The sketch by Marie Mison:

Deceptively "simple"!!

There is also This and That "girl" line and it's flowery and red and pink all over.
That palette would normally send me into a buying frenzy but the "boys" line is so much cooler!!!  Mod cameras! Teal and turquoise! Film strips and woodgrain together!
Imagine what some red and pink cameras would have looked like!!
ACK! Missed opportunity!!!
Let me distract myself with my latest "find" a "vintage" alphabet rubber stamp set from EK Success.

Oh what's DIZ? Only my latest obsession.
These are rad to the max! More to come
#everystory (hint!)

Oh and I forgot to blog about it but waaay back when I was cool and there's a movie showing at Lincoln Center PROVING so!

More on this come Project Life Monday. Promise!

Swing by and give the Punky sketch a try.
I really love how my fellow team members interpreted the sketch.
Can't wait to see how YOU tackle it!

MuChos SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Weddings on the BRAIN!

Ahh June! The scent of flowers in the air and the need to shop for just 1 more pair of shoes- you have a great excuse! You have a wedding to attend! YAY! The media is trying to convince us that the average American thinks marriage is passe. Do NOT fall for it! Marriage for ALL I say!  Where else will you get to dance the Electric Slide with your 90 year old Great Aunt AND your 5 year old nephew????

Dave and I celebrate 3 years this July!

MATERIALS: Echo Park For The Record paper, Scrap FX scrolls, Paper camellias from my wedding stash- bought 300 of those babies and still have a few, K & Co flower and leaf die cuts, Pink Paislee Daily Junque number tag, Prima Hydrangea petals,  EK Success daisy edge punch

I LOVE me a wedding! And so does Paper Issues! For the next couple of weeks you can upload all you wedding projects- go go GO! And don't forget to stop by the Paper Issues shop to pick up some verily well priced bits for the mini books you'll invariably make (or MEAN to make- ya'll know how it is).

Here is a quick detail shot:

This is last year's page- one of my favorite pages ever.

2nd Year anniversary. Our wedding colors- green and white
Materials: Basic Grey basic paper, Prima flowers Ek Success and Fiskars punches
Did you notice Lil' Lola on the edge there? Too cute!

Go on to Paper Issues- you have lots to share I'm sure!!! Who doesn't love a June (or July) wedding???? Congrats To CHERYL and to Leticia (my sister)! Wish I could throw down for mine again- there is nothing more awesome than donning a huge white dress and declaring your love in front of all your friendz and famz! (And then dancing for 5 hours straight)

Letty's dress unveiled!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Michelle