30 minute scrapbook page- maple wood veneer, stickers and plastic doilies.

Hiya!
I wanted to share this super quick page today because it's gotten lots of positive feedback in my instagram feed and via Twitter. (yay!)

I made this page in 20 to 30 minutes- more than half the time was spent putting the little white gel pen dots
 on that Scrap FX scribble frame! I used some Maple wood veneer and I must admit I was scared
 to paint it like I was planning- I love the idea of putting neon on these but without any experience
 I was worried about bleeding. The bottom doily is actually covering a stamp that went completely awry.

I've been talking to a lot of folks lately and hearing the same thing
"I don't read blogs."
These are young hip people who sited Reddit and Tumblr as their primary sources for info.
Neither are very good for my purposes so I am at a loss.

I love writing but most people don't have the time or inclination to read.
Have you found the same happening over at yours?

Materials: Glitz design film strip, A Flair For Buttons flat back pin,  frame from Scrap FX,
star clip from American Crafts for Studio Calico, stright pins from Maya Road. Plastic doilies from
The Chip Chop shop- a favorite Etsy store that is currently closed- sorry guys.

I love and really appreciate the lurkers, the commenters and the true believers who constantly cheer on my work and my constant blather- thank you so much!!!

Michelle

Hot Topic: Organizing your ever expanding stash for Project Life

Hello!

I've been having "fun" (undergoing self imposed torture) trying to organize my scrapbook supplies.
I suffer from the delusion that items are easier to remember and retrieve that way.
So far I'm failing miserably due to lack of space and an inability to decide how to organize.

My first attempt at paper organization is a compromise.
I am using manufacturer, favorite color and pattern categories.

I found a plastic bin that was 13 inches wide and three feet long.
Yes I have enough paper to fill it up entirely.
Yes I am aware this might be a problem.
At least now all the paper is in one place so I can retrieve it "faster" so far that just means
I leave paper everywhere as I try to decide which prints I want to use most

So far I have the following categories:

• grid
• woodgrain
• red
• yellow
• neutral (kraft, black, grey and white based papers)
• Sassafras Lass
• Crate Paper
• vellum
• cardstock

This all came about after a conversation I had several months ago with other scrapbookers right in the comments section of this very blog.
I made the bold statement that organizing paper into ROYGBIV is too time consuming and obsessive.

Then a favorite scrappy friend admitted she loves playing around by organizing her stash and that it it's her favorite way to get page inspiration.

Well alrighty then. I'll give it a go.

2x3 inserts- oh so cute!
And SO time consuming when you have to cut them out yourself.

I spent two hours shifting paper from one folder to another and admiring prints.
Not the best use of my time.
It's good to review what I have but the basic problem- too much crap- hasn't been solved.

Also- the first 4 boxes finally made their way over to Materials For The Arts- a great local charity that does just as the title says.

Enough yapping.
Here are my first 2 Project Life pages for 2013.

This took 3 days. Deciding what papers to use,  cutting the cards and printing the photos this project is a MAJOR challenge. Maybe you can tell- I had a printer mishap. The black cartridge was almost done but still had enough to print 1 last page. I used the photos anyway. Getting a dedicated Project Life kit is a great idea but then my PL will look like other people's- it's hard enough to get bloggy readers to pay attention as it is! One thing is certain- I LOVE looking at the final pages! It's so great to see these little bits of life all strung together! Yes it's a ROYAL PAIN but I love the final product.

I like this spread more- more color, more fun with Scrap Fx chipboard, and the colors matched a bit more since I stuck to Glitz Color Me Happy. I'm about to tackle another 2 spreads- think I'll just stick to 2 12x12 pages cut into pocket size- it might be a bit boring but you have to get into the swing of things with this type of project.

So- how do you organize your scrap space?

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Scraplift challenge! 1 hour "lucky" scrapbook page

Hello there!
I've decided to move my scrapbook "hot topics" post to sundays.
I suspect most of my readers don't want wordy posts on wednesdays.
If you feel otherwise please feel free to leave a comment!

Today I want to share a 1 hour project I made for the True Xoxo Scrapbook Challenge Blog.
I've been scrapping with these gals since the group formed in 2010.
I stick around because group leader, Lindsay, comes up with THE BEST challenge ideas!

Here's my page:

Materials: Studio Calico "Darling Dear" paper, Glitz filmstrip transparency (which comes with those
awesome mini windows! LOVE!), Heidi Swapp Teal mist, Sassafras Lass woodgrain alphas
and red alphas from Joann's. Teal tape from Target.

Xoxo has two scrap lift challenges a month.
The way it works is you swing by and pick a page to lift. Then link the page up.
Simple!
The winner of each month gets a GDT spot on the team which is nice since we get to chat.

The only family photo in front of a fantastic sunburst mural that is gone now.
Dave and Lola were complaining mightily so
all I got was this one photo. I find Lola co-operates with smiles more if she
sees what is happening in the camera- which makes sense, actually.

The March mid-month challenge theme was "lucky" in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

By PURE luck, I picked out a paper that had a teal title on it and some washi tape to match.
The scanner turned the teal green and I decided that was also a good thing.

The film strip comes from the AWESOME Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" collection which is one of my favorites this year.

What's this? Swing by the A Flair For Buttons Blog and read all about it!
(Please and thank you!)

Swing by True Xoxo and join the challenge.

Thanks for swinging by!
Michelle

What I learned this week: Stitching Letters

HELLO!
Welcome to my new blog series:

What I learned this week.

Do you like my five-second no Adobe Illustrator-experience-whatsoever series banner? (HA!)

Each Monday I'll talk about a new (to me) technique and all the mistakes I made during the process.

This week's technique was inspired by Sasha Farina's gorgeous stitched layouts for Studio Calico.

Candy colored vintage buttons, vellum paper "Bokeh" and my favorite Glitz line ever.
Materials: GLitz Design Color Me Happy papers, vintage buttons, Maya Road burlap heart and orange twine from Divine Twine.

I'm waiting for my Amy Tangerine letter stitch stencil to arrive.  (EXCITED!)
Till then, I'm using embroidery grid paper which is AWESOME... if you can draw.
This was a LOT harder than I thought but I've been promising to practice my penmanship for YEARS
so saturday night I put on Season 3 Sons Of Anarchy episodes on Netflix and got to work.

Since I was using thick twine (first mistake) many of the letters  required tape to
keep the twine in place.  

What I learned this week:

1. Use thinner embroidery thread and smaller needle for detailed jobs like this. I used a huge upholstery needle- easy to find in my mess but hard to use without punching through the paper.
2. Reinforce paper that has had string punch through with washi tape. 
3. Twine is not the best option for paper but looks FANTASTIC on burlap details or sewn through button holes.
4. The duo-tone twine blended right into the paper. Use a brighter or contrasting color for titles.
5. Stick buttons down with Zip Dry BEFORE you stitch them on a page.
6. Walk back and STARE at your layout BEFORE you stitch everything into place! 
7. The location icon that is the main focus of this page has a wonky right side because I was working right over the page and never spotted that the buttons need a little more curve there. 

Could be better but it's my first time. Loved this- will be trying it again!

What did you do this weekend?
Also what crazy technique would you like me to try out?

Have a great week!
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!

ARTastic Blog Guestie! YAY!

She Tried- ARTastic Challenge Blog July Guest Designer
Materials- Core-dinations Jeni Bowling collection, GCD Studios Brave Soul paper,  Glitz  Love games floral (fussy cut flowers), Maya Road heart pins, roses from dollars store, velvet posies from Making Memories

Upper floral cluster with fussy cut details

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great 4th of July. We stayed home as the fireworks can be easily seen from our fire escape even if they are on the West side on Manhattan- again. Why doesn't Macy's alternate Manhattan island sides?? Whatever- nothing would induce me to join the crowds at the bay this year. I love me a fireworks party but the train ride home is HECTIC.

Used a hand die cut from K & Co as a template and some clear
 film to make this "glove". I didn't use the die cut because it's pink and felt- the
 transparency also allowed the paper to show through.

I know you are all busy so here's a quick post with some fun news- I'm guest designing for ARTastic Challenge blog out of Australia this month. Yay! ARTastic uses paintings as the jump off point for scrapbook pages and the projects for this month are AMAZING (as is always the case).

This page is me talking to myself- sometimes you just gotta
keep on keeping on.

Please check them out and join the fun. ARTastic Challenges.

Fun 4th of July window display.

MuChOs SmoOcHeS!
Michelle