It's Valentine's Day at Paper Issues!

Good Morning!

It's been an awful week- nothing but crap all around and the fact that it's only WEDNESDAY makes me shudder. You'll have to excuse me while I go back to quietly reading fantasy books, eating brownies and downing several Texas size mugs of tea. 

In any case I had to put my Brooklyn girl pants on.

I told myself- self- get a life- a real one- stop living vicariously through social networks.

And got on with my day.

Paper Issues has a new Valentine's Day link party going on. I ordered my Crate Paper Hearts collection pack from the Paper Issues store and I'm so glad I did- budget be damned. 

What I didn't know was that the pack comes with flat die cuts- not the usual chipboard. I actually like the die cuts better since they allow me to layer them in my own way. Unfortunately the collection doesn't have matching alpha stickers. I would have LOVED to have some woodgrain or burlap mini stickers to work with but I have a HUGE stash of Thickers that need using anyway.

Here's the page:

28 Months. (OMG! She's 36 inches tall! Where's MAH BAIIBEE????)
MATERIALS: Crate Paper Paper Hearts line, Sassafras Lass Paper Whimsy flowers, Hambly script washi, Thickers and butterfly embellishments from Midnight Rooster July kit (which I won from the Crate Paper blog- YAY!)

Using up my paper doily and my Stickles stash.

Layering with flat elements keeps the page from bulking up-  I already have a huge storage issue.
Those butterfly pins are SO darn CUTE!!

PS have you seen the Crate sneaks? I LOVE the new Storyteller line! The colors are hella cool and the prints are so eclectic! I can't wait to get my hands on it and get to work! I also LOVE the new Studio Calico wood veneer pieces and ALL the My Mind's Eye collections! Very excited about CHA sneaks!

Swing by Paper Issues and post your Valentine's project!

SNEEKY PEEK at my February True Xoxo Girl's page! What is it about Valentine's Day that makes me wanna scrap? I think it's the red / magenta color palette- one of my fave combos EVER.

Here I am trying out a new (for me) technique- reusing plastic embellie packaging as a snow globe of sorts.
The Instax photo fit this one perfectly.  Dave dressed Lola and posed her B-Girl style- she's too darned cute.

GRATUITOUS BABY SHOT!!!

Can you BELIEVE I put that outfit on her and let her out in PUBLIC? Poor kid.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!

Playing the numbers with Paper Issues and Punky Scraps

Happy Three King's Day! I missed the parade in Spanish Harlem again- 9 years and every year I miss it- no fun photos- I could CRY!

It's come to this- combining challenges from different design teams to try to get my craft engine re-started. I don't generally like to do so since each team I'm in deserves to shine exclusively but I thought I should start slow as one page is better than no page at all.

Over at Paper Issues the current link party has a numbers theme- click here to swing by and add your project.You have until January 13th. So far I see some great cards, 2011 mini books, 2012 calendars and birthday themed scrap pages- how about adding yours?

In this page I tried to capture the whirlwind day we had on New Year's Eve which  included 2 house visits, lunch at a fancy Italian restaurant, dancing with Daddy AND Lola's first "classic" tantrum with all the fist pounding, leg kicking trimmings. (David and I were so amazed we forgot to whip out the camera). We went to bed at 11pm and don't regret it one bit!!!!:

Celebrate 2011
Materials: Gauche Alchemy Scarlet Red Mixed Media Color kit and silver punchinella, Bazzil kraft paper, Ormolu fabric tab, Glitz woodgrain alphas, American Crafts Amy T alphas, American Crafts silver foil paper in gold, corrugated gold and red, Smooch spritz in Tin Foil

And over at Punky Scraps the challenge is all about Vintage Americana:

When I first saw this I immediately thought of circles, the color red, and a grid based photo montage. Since I'm currently reorganizing my entire apartment to regain some SANITY in my life, I didn't want to get overly ambitious and start looking for the vintage images I KNOW I have somewhere.

Not much you can do to "reorganize" an already over stuffed a 400 square foot space.
Dave put these two shelves up and revolutionized my work area- YAY!
Just don't look UNDER the desk. No seriously- don't.

I'm also getting organized for a go at the Project Life theme. I'm already shooting one photo a day for Project 365 so I thought it might be easy for me to make 1 page a week using all those photos. It's a wildly ambitious project but I think as long as I make the pages ATC size and keep away from the super expensive binders or project kits (considering my 2012 budgetary goal) I'll be alright.

Here are my Project 365 photos so far- nothing earth shattering as the weather is UGLY so we've been hiding inside all week.

1/2/12- Eating Bubbles, 1/3/12- learning the alphabet, 1/4/12- home made Pupusas for diner,
1/5/12 Winter Berries and the Empire State Building

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Favorite Project of 2011!

I love these posts!!! I like reading other people's posts and I like trying to choose just 10 projects for mine. This year I went for 12- 1 for each month.

This made me feel so much better about my "talent". My love of graph prints is in full effect and obviously I will NEVER be a clean and simple scrapper- even though I strive to be so.

And so, in no particular order:

Sketchy Thursdays January  GDT application page- I was so sad to see I had missed the deadline to vote!
Voting challenges are hard for me because I hate asking people to vote- it seems so conceited- not that I
mind voting for my friends when asked which is kinda two faced right? ;)

This page came outta NOWHERE and firmly established Sunshine Broadcast as my favorite collection
ever- how I'll miss Sassy! It got picked up by several websites- it's time for me to start submitting for pub calls- if I can keep the due dates straight!

This is also from a Sketchy Thursdays sketch- love the radioactive quality the colors took on when
I shot the page in blue tinged shadow.

From a sketch provided by a website I no longer remember- this was so FUN and I really love that
I finally used my apple picking shots from 2010.

This was made way back in January of 2010- it's messy and much more genuine than some of the forced stuff I do now.

Favorite photo of my Mom- she looks so beautiful here. I'm excited about her next step- her upcoming retirement- wish I could buy her a trip to Australia as a present.

Studio Calico winner for second week of June- Vee left a comment and I almost died-
she's one of my FAVE artists ever along with Emily Pitts and Sasha Farina. FANGIRL!

This was for my DT application for Elle Studio- naturally I got nowhere as it's a little naive but
I love the girlie colors and the photo- my Lola was so vulnerable at this point.

I made this for this year's Paper Issues Blog hop- it's about the culling of Canada Geese in NYC parks- something I deeply disagree with. I made this page in 30 minutes!!!! I STILL can't believe it.
By the way- there's a great Numbers challenge up this week- swing by and check it out: http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2011/12/weve-got-your-number.html

A page for the True Xoxo Girls November challenge- love the clean design of this and Ormolu is SO AWESOME! When they have a DT call I am SO applying! Check us out! http://truexoxogirls.blogspot.com/

This was a page for Punky Scraps- I used a roller to get the mist to spread evenly- this was the first time I actually made a PUNKY page for them. Swing by and check out this month's latest challenge: http://punkyscraps.blogspot.com

This is my first Gauche Alchemy project. I write for their website so I no longer have much scrapping time but I love their funky products check out the BLOG and ARTFIRE STORE.

Before I forget- Carmina of PasigMom fame has asked that I tell you 10 THINGS ABOUT ME.
Here goes:
1. I used to be eat cherries by the pound but I'm now allergic to whatever they put in them to keep the bugs away- WAAAH!
2. I like writing this blog as much as I like actual crafting.
3. No white hair yet but I see the frown lines and wish I had the moolah to pull a Nicole Kidman.
4. I love Terry Pratchett, zombie novels and Batman comic books.
5. I can be annoying. I am aware of the problem and work on it constantly.
6. I love the colors red and pink together.
7. I'm a paper hoarder- wish I could say I wasn't- really.
8. I use scrapbooking as a way to develop my photo skills and technological knowledge.
9. I've made more friends and had more fun doing this than any other hobby I have ever taken up.
10. I like plants. (smiling)


MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Giving Fall some LOVE!

I've had some learning time this weekend because the Grandmas are pulling baby duty- thank you both. I swung over to Cocoa Daisy and learned some new techniques for incorporating type and stitching onto my pages.
The result:

Fall In Central Park
MATERIALS: Crate Paper Peppermint paper, Making Memories foam alpha stamps and green lace, Hambly Rub Ons, American Crafts badge, Delights  and Amy Tan Fabric paper, camera paper clip and alphas. Easel by 7 Gypsies

I will be linking this up to Paper Issues Fall link Party that will post later today (11/13/11). Please swing by and link your own Fall projects when you have a moment.
Details Details...

This could easily be a page on it's own...
OFF TO THE SCRAP DESK!!! 

The cancelation stamp on the Amy Tan is from NYC! PERFECT!
Can you tell I made a spelling mistake and covered it up with stickers on that tag?

I REALLY wish I had bought some of those Amy Tan leaves but maybe it's best to use the beautiful Hambly run ons- bought those so long ago- luckily they haven't dried out. If you have a new NEED for Fall crafty stuff please swing by the Paper Issues online store (plug, plug, pluuuuug!!!)

TIP ALERT!!!! Don't bother aiming your heat gun at rub ons- you'll just end up with a "shrinky dink"- rather- a plastic raisin. Using double sided tape to get the "stick" to return is more effective- I recently had to do that to a Basic Grey "Obscure" sheet- you can see the results here. http://myanaloglife.blogspot.com/2011/10/appropriate-nightmare-on-halloween.html

I also completed this page for the Sketchy Thursdays challenge for this week:

Imagine Me and You
MATERIALS: Sassafras Lass paper and border stickers, Smooch Magenta and Sunburst spritz, Maya Road Apple Green mist and purple button, Bo Bunny acrylic swirls, Prima acrylic heart with Hambly rub on, "Imagine" Glitz alpha stickers,  "Adore" script chipboard from Stuff 2 Scrap.

Can you believe efforts to complete these 2 pages lasted about 7 hours over 3 days? Ms. Mojo is GONE- prolly jumping in leaf piles in the park.
Here's the actual sketch: (You still have time to link yours up!)

Some close ups:

I ADORE those Stuff 2 Scrap script chippies!
Too bad shipping from Australia is so expensive.

What's THIS? DOODLING??

I actually started on this page on Friday but I kept ruining it by adding and adding- the sketch is wonderfully spare and I really wanted to punk it up without JUNKING it up. I'm also glad I'm finally using my acrylic and rub on stashes- I stayed away after I found out how hard they were to shoot properly but now that I have my light bounce card and the 7 Gypsies easel I'm doing all kinds of crazy stuff!

I kept this box so I can mist projects-
Lola has decided it's her dinner table instead.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

31 days of Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween- What? You can't see the title ? It's on the lower left hand corner. 

At this time, last year, the wonderful link party website Paper Issues was born!


To celebrate, you get an extra 20% off in the Paper Shop!  Use code HAPPY20

It just happens that yours truly started blogging on October 31st last year as well. Angry that my husband had decided to work on a saturday and that the weather was so cold Lola was not able to join the Halloween Parade in Central Park, I declared Halloween over-rated.
Well not this year baby!
This year it's gonna be different!
This year Lola has her Candy Witch costume ready to go and we have tickets to the Museum of Natural History's Halloween party- it will be INSIDE so she'll have some fun.
Fingers crossed. No, triple crossed.

First edition- I  just added a great photo- the layout is.... beyond repair.

This page was made before Lola had a costume last year so I had some crazy black and white photo of weeds on there. I remember being so proud of this "creation". I redid the page for your amusement- yes I am aware it looks like the Micheal's holiday aisle threw up all over the page. Lola likes it- she keeps pointing at the googly eyes.

You're able to see Lola's SLAMMIN' orange and yellow tights here.

Love the layering in the tag.

Bottle with green flower soft- what the heck do you use
Flower Soft for anyway?

Swing by Paper Issues and join the link party fun.  For the next 31 days we will be celebrating Halloween and we hope to see you there!

AWWW! The polka dot pants with the pink hightop skips- I MISS those!!!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Weener Weener chikn' deener!!!

My apologies for the title I HAD to! The impulse was strong.

Hello friends- new and old.

Entires for the Paper Issues blog hop closed at 11pm yesterday. Thank you to all who took the time to jump through every single blog! At 32 blogs, it's a HUGE undertaking and we REALLY appreciate it. I took 2 days to do it myself.

The winners are slowly emerging across the land. Paper Issues will post all the winners later today as results come in but please revisit the blogs you joined right NOW- you just might be in for a surprise.

The winner for my lotza Prima and Petaloo flowers prize is Doris P! LOVED your blog title: http://needsareasontoscrap.blogspot.com/

Who needs a reason to scrap? INDEED!!! You, my friend, are a girl after my own heart!!!

Yay Doris! I know my work is a little wonky but I hope you will swing by often. I had a lot of fun reading your blog- your grandbabies are CUUUTE!
Will email you soon and you can send my your addy.

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

You know I have to add to this right? This girl CANNOT SHUT UP!

MINI TOOT!!
My work will be featured over at 2 Peas tomorrow September the 20th, 2011! WOOO HOO! I contributed a page for Jen Gallacher's "Stretch Your Sketch" Challenge which goes live on the 20th of very month. I hope you will swing by tomorrow and see what we did.

Here's a SNEAK PEEK:

Jen's sketch was a DOOZY- multiple photos and 4 large shapes.
I made 4  different pages for it and I STILL feel I could have done a better job.
Don't hold it against me Jen!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the blog hop! Don't be a stranger, ya hear!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Michelle

YIPEE! The Paper Issues Blog Hop!

Hello friends!

It's FRIDAY! (cue annoying Youtube video here) Woo HOO!
It's also the Paper Issues Tree Hugger Blog Hop!!!
Onto the show!!!
First one up:

The Call- of the Geese
Materials: Studio Calico Exclusive paper, Thickers and number border sticker, Bazzill kraft paper, Sassafras Lass Seamstress  Bouquet Whimsies, My Mind's Eye Stella Rose brads, Crate Paper buttons,  Maya Road leaf pin, corrugated paper from K & Company

This page was sparked by an environmental dilemma in my neighborhood- Canadian Geese are taking permanent residence in city parks. The York City Department for Environmental Protection started a culling program in 2009 after multiple bird strikes caused the crash of US Airways Flight 1549. Thankfully everyone on board that flight survived due to the valiant efforts of Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, but this very event spelled trouble for the expanding flocks in NYC parks.

And then there were none.

Miss Lola and I visited the East River flock every day this summer. We witnessed the mating rituals and then the goslings at play yet twice this summer, the geese suddenly disappeared. I'm glad I don't have to explain to Lola where they went which,  according to The New York Times, was food banks across Pennsylvania. That is a very sad thing as Geese are one of the few true wildlife species left in New York City. (I never count the rats... or the nightlife... Are those one and the same?)

So I put this quick page together (20 minutes! That's a record!) telling the story of how Miss Lola learned to say HONK!
Rather, how she learned to SCREAM: HOOOONK!

Ahh the hazards of quickly jotting down what comes to mind first-
this journaling could have been funnier...

Being two, Miss Lola has the stealth of a runaway wilder beast when she chases Geese around the park. These animals are LARGE. 6 foot wingspans and 25 pounds on average. I watch America's Home Videos! I know what happens when Geese get fed up. So it's full alert mode to keep her from getting winged.

We miss the birds. Dearly.
We don't miss their poop.
And we're very VERY glad for Captain Sully Sullenberger.
But we still miss the Geese.

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

Gratuitous card project! My Mom's birthday is coming up in October. Since she never reads my blog I can show you her card (That's a joke Mom- LOVE YOUUUUUU!)

Front- LOOOVE that AC orange woodgrain!

Inside- Bag from Canvas Corp, Stamp from Micheal's 

Onto the next blog in this hop!
Don't forget to leave lots of love everywhere you stop. The more comments you leave, the more likely you'll win one of the many cool Blog Hop Prizes!

Here's mine (perhaps soon, yours?)

Flower destash! 3 Prima flower packs (1 opened-sorry), 1 Recollections pack and 2 Floral Doodles packs
with jewel centers are coming your way if you win my give away.

All you have to do is hit that follow button on the left and leave a comment to let me know. What? You already "follow" this blog? Ok just leave me a comment- LOVE ya!

PS: The Paper Issues Etsy store has a discount code for ya! Now you can snatch up all the lovely new paper goodies you've been dying to get! Click on this link- HOP25... for a 25% discount

And now the beautiful, highly intelligent AND creative genius of:

Joanna

Or head on over to the Paper Issues Blog Hop to get the full lowdown on the hop.

She's breaking my crayons!!!!!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle
Joanna

Happy!

Summer is quickly waning and I already miss it. August is usually a slow month in the crafting world- families are taking long planned vacations or preparing for back to school. Almost everyone is too busy to skulk boards and troll blogs so thank you for visiting this lonely corner of the blogosphere- I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Happy
MATERIALS: Woodgrain embossed paper, white acrylic paint, fabric doily, Crate paper button, Pink Paisley journaling tags, silver circle tag and punchinella from GAUCHE ALCHEMY, Jillibean Soup corrugated clouds, Maya Road heart and acrylic pins,  Happy word Pin from Joann's, silver mini clip from Staples.

I was saving this page for publication submissions but I finally decided it should go to Paper Issues for their current link party: "Let's Ride". Lola is the embodiment of "Let's Ride". She has zero tolerance for waiting once she hears the words "out" or "park". The words can be uttered as part of an unrelated subject like this: "Dave we need to take the shoes out the front hallway". OOOPS! Then it's "LET'S GO!" "GO, GO, GOOOOO!" and very insistent finger pointing at the door.

AAA! Love that face!!!!

I remember when I was young and single (read- clueless), I would look at parents with pity in my eyes. They were dealing with fit throwing, punching, kicking, screaming, table cloth pulling little monsters and I would think them FOOLS for letting their children run wild. Well guess who gets the pity looks now? Miss Lola is fairly well behaved. I would never allow running, screaming or table wrecking but she does insist on sitting on Daddy's lap the entire time we are at a restaurant. Considering how hard the wood seats are for the high chairs we let her have her way- it's a small price to pay for peace and David has gotten very good at eating with one arm. We still get the pity looks, especially when I have to cut David's entree for him and Lola snatches up all the best pieces for herself but I always answer those with a knowing smile that says you'll see soon enough.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Make a SPLASH!

The gals over at Paper Issues are throwing a new link party and this one is all about MAKING A SPLASH!
What does that mean? I don't know! You show us!
Here's my interpretation:

Day 3
Materials: Me and My Big Ideas paper, Studio Calico alphas and tag, Elle's Studio notes and Enjoy the day tags, corrugated elements from Maya Road, handmade paper and seas glass from Italy (smile).

I had a hard time with this page. It went through 6 phases before I got to this design and it's still lacking. I used Glossy Accents on some some sea glass pebbles, stuck them any old where and called it a day. Is it just me, or do you also find that finishing a project gets you pumped and actually makes the next project better? That's exactly what happened here- the next page is much better- swing by tomorrow and see for yourself.

Come visit with us at Paper Issues and check out what other paper lovers have created- spread the love and show us your splashy pages.

MuChos SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Xoxo America!

It's been a great week! So great I don't want to scrap. Who wants to hang around in a tiny dark apartment when the weather has been so perfect?

THIS is what you do in great weather!

It's 4th of July weekend and we have no plans. Not having a car puts a great fat crimp in that department but the pay off is this- many humans have left New York City.  If you stay you can now enjoy a walk down Broadway without getting carried off by streams of harried workers. Or take the subway without wrestling people to get the baby carriage in and out the train car. We can even walk in and sit down at that cool restaurant that always has a long line in front of it - not that we can afford it but you get the idea. New York during 3 day holidays is AMAZING.

Water feature at High Line park has no one else wadding in it!

So I'll share a page that's been "in the works" for a while. This is my "first draft" for my July page for TRUE XOXO GIRLS! I forced myself to sit down and do this but didn't like the results after a couple of days. You can tune in on July 7th to see the final version or even better- join the fun!

True Xoxo Girls SNEAK (first draft page)
Materials: Sassafrass Lass stickers and flowers, Bazzill kraft,  K and Co transparent frame, American Crafts
numbers, American Crafts clouds paper (cloud template), GCD Studios "Be brave" paper clip

PAPER ISSSUES has a wonderful Fourth of July link party going on! Many of you make beautiful decorations and/or scrapbook pages for this holiday so go link them up! Plus- we have a whole new Creative Team to introduce!! I am SO happy to learn fave crafter Amy Baldwin has made the team! YAAAY!

Inside

Here's my project using October Afternoon's Rocket Age. It's a card for the hubster who will be turning 37 next week.

Materials: October Afternoon Rocket Age,
Fiskars star punch,
American Crafts gold paper

Happy 4th America!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Michelle