Shimelle.com guestie and Blog Hop with A Flair For Buttons!

Happy Friday folks!

I have some fun updates today!

My guest post titled "5 Ways to finish raw chipboard" is up over at Shimelle.com.

Here's another sneaky peek:

For this title using Scrap FX "Lanky Alphas" (a personal favorite since they have huge
impact but take up very little space) I used Prima chalk ink in Teal, white gesso and
orange washi tape. 

Spray gesso and Liquitex Acrylic spray paint.
More techniques in Shimelle's blog.

Please jump over and leave a lovely comment telling me I'm either full of it because your favorite finishing technique is (fill in the blank) or flatter me whatever you wish.

ALSO:

The Flair For Buttons and Give A Girl A... team-up blog hop is happening right now.

There are prizes and 15% shop discounts involves so please head over to the Flair Buttons blog to join the fun.

You can use this code to get 15% at the 

A Flair For Buttons Etsy shop. 

Guess where I'm going after I finish this post? Not EVEN lying!

At Sea Flair- HELLO awesome blue anchor on stripes!

Vintage Travel- this ENTIRE pack- HOME! NOW!

I am SO excited to see Iron Man 3 today!

I am a total Robert Downey Jr. fangirl. 

Like wine, he gets more intoxicating with age.

Thank you for your continued support and scrappy love.

Michelle

Where in the world has Michelle been? Fun news!! Also? Shooting scrapbook pages in the dark of NYC apartments

HALLO HALLO!

I've been working on a big project and it required lots of my brain power just to keep calm.

What's the big news?

Tomorrow I will be featured over at Shimelle.com!!
WOOOOT!

My post will be called:

 5 ways to finish chipboard by Michelle Hernandez (or something in that vein.)

When I got a peamail from Shimelle three weeks ago I was completely gobsmacked (lol!- sister who lives in the UK- can you tell?).

I have ZERO idea who's looking at my work half the time so when ANYONE contacts me I'm all
"Wait... You sure you mean Michelle Hernandez?"

I suspect I have a very enthusiastic suporter out there- thank you!

While perusing Shimelle's blog I spotted a favorite scrapper of mine.

Please check out Ashley Oliver's (SoaphouseMama) Shimelle.com post:

5 ways other than journaling to incorporate pen work in your scrapbooking by Ashli Oliver.

I've never really talked about how I shoot my projects.

If you read regularly you know I live in what most people would call a closet- a square space about 400 square feet.

There are windows here but they face another building- this is New York- Apartment sunlight is for the rich and famous.

How do I usually shoot my photos?

This is very rare. I tend to shoot my projects in the fire escape because people WILL stare
when they see me hanging scrapbook pages up on waterfront concrete. I wanted a pretty city
scene for my Shimelle feature which required I shoot horizontal oriented staged project photos.
I love staging my projects but staging requires SUNLIGHT. I had to go outside-
and it was windy- so I dropped my original plan to shoot on an easel and went with this instead.

I was looking through my photos when I spotted this, the only photo where you see the
scrapbook page before the wind blew the easel down.
I credit ZipDry for keeping everything in place even as the page fell off the table 30 times.
Needless to say shooting 5 projects when they insist on FLIGHT is not optimal conditions for sanity.

Wait! I DID blog about this before!
Here is a card I shot in my fire escape (the ominous bars) using Crate Paper as a "floor"
since the fire escape bottom is also bars.
Major problem with this? You can TOTALLY have your project blown into the river from here.
I usually shoot everything in a box.

Have a great weekend.Nationa Scrapbooking Day is coming up!

Also? MOTHER'S DAY!
SO gonna SCORE (at Joann's)!!!!

Michelle

Friday photo Inspiration- store displays and ripped posters.

Hiya!

This is going up late because I'm totally riveted by the developing news in Boston.

The Breaking News coverage by Fox News 5 is a complete mess.

They pulled a news intern (Explanation: "She's from Russia") presumably because she would be an expert on Chechniya. (???!!!)

She's from the former Solviet Republic of Georgia and refused to join in their truthiness quest.

I changed the channel when they declared the brothers were illegal immigrants (untrue and reported correctly everywhere else- OOOPS!).

AnYwAy..
Here are my inspiration photos from this week's series of aimless inspiration walks.
I found the KEUUTE Allegria Boutique here in Williamsburg.

I didn't buy a thing.
I'm not the kind of Mama who pays 45 dollars for kid sized jelly shoes (I can get them for 5 bucks in Chinatown!) but if you are, AWESOME!
Go here! Be happy!

Felt embroidery hoops at Allegria Boutique on North 3rd.
This place is a DYI children's crafts fairyland. Swing by and be inspired! 

Pudgy owls!!! I loved the wall paper, the sofas- everything in this shop!

Paper houses- wrapping paper, candy, dime store jewels, cupcake cups- adorable!

I also swung by Anthropologie- the display staff in this store deserve art awards- really.
Great stuff on sale this week.
I bought one of those a green ceramic strawberry basket for 9 dollars- half price.

Giant wall display at least 8 feet across. LOVE the wall color!

Coral, turquoise, pink and woodgrain triangles on a mustard yellow
cracked plaster background- this HAS to be my next page!

Giant water color wire and paper flowers- gorgeous!

And my last series- ripped paper.
I love the look!

Keith Haring Brooklyn Museum exhibit from last year.
This BLEW MY MIND. Someone had the forethought
 to rip this chalk drawing off a subway wall and frame it as ART!
Can you BELIEVE IT? I . LOVE. New York!!!

I believe Pterodactyl Ptarty is a band. Excuse my ignorance but I have no clue.
I love the blocking here.
With a color palette change this would make a SLAMMING scrapbook page!

Not a poster but I love the neon pink on blue color.

Have a great weekend!
Stay positive!

Michelle

Friday inspiration- Nolita Photo walk

Hello folks!

This week's photo inspiration post was brought to you by a recent walk through Soho and Nolita.

Hot little heavens for visual stimulation.

That sounds rather indecent.

If I get lucky I get to stand out front when I'm at work and make samples.
The idea is to try to capture a customer's attention and get them to see how they can
use the stamps and other products they buy while at the store.
I made both these cards in under 20 minutes using scraps I had on hand.
I rarely get to pick the colors I love most but a little orange helps both grey and teal pop.
Martha Stewart butterfly stickers, Studio Calico mist, Paper Source card stock and stamps. 

I just mean that there are so many museums and shops all close together that the streets are popping with ideas for the open minded crafter.

The ideas can sit in your brain for weeks when suddenly BOOM! an original page appears.

At least that how it works for me.

Case in point:

3 foot tall at marquee at sign.
I REALLY want to make one of these!

Big Boy gets several make overs.

This gorgeous bag hanging in a tiny shop in Nolita.
I didn't even try to go in and inquire how much it was.
The "feathers" are delicately curved sequins.

"Life isn't tragic, Love is being ignored."
Why this is fabulous: 1. They used Puffy
scrapbook stickers and brads. 2. Hello giant scrapbook layout!
3.This was a store window display.  4. It was over 6 feet wide.

Faces layered on top of each other.
This would make a great textile print.

Another mural I caught while the artists were still working.
No I didn't speak to them. Yes I regret it.

Wheat paste posters. 

Also?
I found a gif making app!
All you have to do is take a series of photos and open them in GifMill to animate- super easy to use.
The only drawback is that this is the final size of the file- it's crazy small!
Also- these won't animate of Facebook so you can't torture your friends with them (darn!)
Still...

Just imagine the tutorial possibilities!

Have a greet weekend. 

Go on and make something awesome!

Michelle

Friday Inspiration- NYC photo walk-about

Hiya!

Yesterday was my day off.
Naturally I had a TON of errands to run so even though the day was freezing I decided to walk around and visit some of my favorite mural spots to see if anything new was up.

So. GLAD. I. did!!!

Here is what I found most inspiring this week:

BAST at Soho- not sure if the artist defaced his/her own mural- this was hella cool.

If you listen- the walls speak.

Ryan Russo's "Out Of Context" at the Charles Bank Gallery.
Acrylic spray paint and newspaper collage on canvas.

Meanwhile over at Nolita... (Kenmare and Bowery)

Crash AKA John Matos over at Bowery Mural
Also? POPEYE!!! TOO AWESOME!

Abandoned building across from
The New Museum has some of the best old school poster graffiti.
These are all letters cut out of ads.

Must go back and shoot this one again!

Detail of Ryan Russo piece- canvas was 8 x 8 feet.
Newsprint, paper, photographs- collage- amazing.

Layered oblong hexagon vellum over at the Anthropologie store window.

I freaking LOVE New York!
Michelle

Heart on my sleeve- a Scrap FX page for Die Scrapperin Magazine

Hi there!

I made this page for the August 2012 issue of German art scrap magazine, Die Scrapperin.

I got creative with the  "graffiti" theme because attempts to make actual graffiti on a page failed miserably- an inability to draft letters and draw are some of the reasons I got into scrapbooking after all.

I'm really drawn to artists who add hand-made lettering and paint to their pages so I decided to cheat a little on my first try.

Here is the result:

I wish I had access to that concrete background more often- it's a bench in out favorite restaurant.
I used Scrap FX chicken wire and a Flair For Buttons triangle and Project Life badges on this page.
The clear letter stickers are from Cosmo Cricket- I love them!

For this page I tried out color dipping which was a trend at the time- not sure if people are still dipping their table and chair legs into gold or neon paint but I really liked the look.

The photos are of some stenciled posters which were everywhere in my neighborhood last summer.
Most of the empty lots where I live have now disappeared- walls that used to display colorful posters and graffiti are gone.

I'm sure most people welcome the change.
Most of what went up was scrawled names and badly rendered drawings of naked women anyway.
But occasionally something went up that made me stop and stare like I was in a museum.
I'll miss those moments.
The spotless and impersonal building lobbies that have replaced the walls have no art or style at all.

One of the last empty walls in my neighborhood.
Good thing? Maybe
I tend to think life is more fun with some color in it.

A friend posted this on her facebook the other day.
It really made me stop and think.
I berate my abilities and worry about my "next step" too much.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

On Blogger followers, Google Friends Connect and redoing cards

Ok so after some searching on the internet for this Google Friends Connect dilemma- wait-
I don't want to lose anyone...
Google Friends Connect is the little "join this site" box there (pointing to the lower right of this blog) with all the friendly faces.
The box is staying but anyone who reads you on a different blogging platform (like Wordpress or TypePad) will no longer be able to follow you using that box)

NO SOUP FOR YOU! Un-blogger blogers!!

That means you'll be limiting your reader base. Time to diversify!

Some of my favorite blogers are using:
Blog Lovin'  
Networked Blogs apps 
or asking readers to follow via email.

See that teeny tiny box up there (pointing to the upper right)?
If you like what I do, sign up and get me in your inbox at least 3 times a week.

Some of you have "upgraded" to new Blogger formats and are now looking for more info.
Blogger has a website for that.
"Blogger Buzz"
Yay! Click on me! Get taken to a totally bewildering website and read for HOURS!

So I will keep looking and linking and talking to help ya'll out.
Us scrappy peeps gotta stick together!

Here is this week's project.
This is a redo of a card I made for fellow Scrap FX DT member Scarlett who sent me some much wanted Target washi tape at the drop of a hat She's SO AWESOME!

Materials: Washi tape and punchinella from Gauche Alchemy, flair buttons from
"A Flair for Buttons"on Etsy, Ormolu arrows tag (fave ever!), Bazill white cardstock.
I added the alphas from K & Co to give the card's sentiment visual clarity. The handwritten
 "thank you" was totally lost before. I also gave up that FABULOUS red arrow button. Scarlett deserves it. 

Lola and I are "collaborating" again.
She did the splashing and stamping on this card that is still "in the works".
Buttons from A Flair for Buttons- love that place!

It's wednesday- the most effective blog posting day of the week- have YOU posted today?
Write it up and POST mi gente!
Someone wants to read it!

US, SUPER MOON AND THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.

MUCH LOVE!
Michelle