February is a RED MESS!! True Xoxo Girls Challenge

I love the color red.
I think anything can be improved by a nice red detail. A black jacket? Extra smart when paired with a red scarf. Pink looks more alive when paired with red- so do orange and turquoise.
Strawberries, cherries, apples- all red! Mother Nature is on my side.

Love Monkey- True Xoxo Girls Messy Challenge- February
Materials: Gauche Alchemy Pink Parts and Scarlet Fever Mixed Media Color kits (glitter hearts, little rubber monkey sequins and buttons), red punchinella, packaging from a Maya Road pins pack, Thickers in foam and fabric from Joann's, Tim Holtz brick pattern embossing plate, graph paper from Staples, Mister Hueys in Schoolhouse, Calico Cream, Piglet  and Cameo, Art-C heart doily and "today" stamp from Cocoa Daisy (GREAT SET!), Dooddlebug and Reminiscence brads

I long for red especially at this time of year when everything outside is brown or grey.
When I go and do laundry we have four loads- bleach pile, darks, lights and red/pink. It makes for fun loading at the laundromat- everyone just looks at me like whaaaaaa?
The red/pink pile is the largest.

Some of my favorite Hipstamatic app filters add pink or red to my photos.
The Lucifer VI lens adds a subtle red circle to the photo. 

Here I've used the Lucifer VI lens and Big Up film for the yellow/pink tape border.
Big Up border effects are random so I love when this combo comes up.

My husband knows to skip the hearts, flowers, chocolate and lace. (Especially the lace- I pugnaciously reject gifts with ULTERIOR MOTIVES)
He usually shows up with a fun red cotton sweater or shirt for me and something wacky for Miss Thang to play with.  When he put this outfit on Lola, totally alone and without my help, I was so very happy:

The Maya Road plastic packing fit the Instax print perfectly! I wish I had a bunch more so
I could make a whole series of these mini shakers!

I also tried something new (for me). Using recycled packaging on a layout. I usually throw these out but my fellow Gauche Alchemy DT members encouraged me to try incorporating them into a layout- this is my first attempt so it's a bit.. rustic... but I can see myself sewing these onto cards or using a few of them as wall decoration- the possibilities are endless and it was super easy to make.

Sneak peek at something else I'm working on for my Feb 13th
post over at Gauche Alchemy. The Hispstamatic Ben Watts Lens
gives this photo magenta edges.

The True Xoxo Girls Challenge for this month is MESSY! I used Gauche Alchemy Scarlet Fever color kit on this as well as some older paper from my stash. And I FINALLY broke out my Claudine Helmuth acrylic paints- which scare me with their pure and beautiful color intensity. Your challenge for this month is to SCRAP MESSY!
Go on- you can DO EET!

GRATUITOUS CUTE BABY SHOT!

Running away from Mom's "smile for the camera" request.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

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!

Why are Valentine's Day pages easier?

I went through major drama putting together Christmas pages but for some reason Valentine's Day is much easier- why? Could it be that Valentine's doesn't have all the intense need for perfection that Christmas does for me??? Anyhooo..
Head on over to Paper Issues- there is now an ETSY shop!!! The kits available are THE CUTENESS! And VERY affordable. I am awarding them a BESTIE for... BEST PRICE POINT/CUTEST EMBELLIES. I bought a mini kit within seconds of visiting the store- can't wait to break it open and PLAAAY!
Here's my version of Pencil Lines sketch 219 by Rina McClune.

Fierce Creature
Materials: S.E.I With All My Heart papers, Hambly Studio Pink frames tranny, EK Success Abstract Flower edge punch,  Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam- Big Apple, Basic Grey chipboard alphas, Basic Grey naked alphas, C-Thru ATC Kit Love brads, K and Co fabric flowers, ColorBok bling hearts

That is a favorite series of photos of Miss Thang doing her piggie face. She was wearing a "Princess" onesie AND stomping the ground like a sumo wrestler. My child is F.I.E.R.C.E!!! Two snaps and a bad-ass folded arm stare. Amada is the Lolster's second name. I was still recovering from the c-section and stuck to my hospital room. I was scared to death that she wasn't going to make it so I named her the first thing that came to mind- Beloved.

Pencil Lines sketch 219 by Rina McClune

Aren't those SEI papers FABULOUS???? When I got the papers I looked at them for a while wondering if I liked them (?!!!) they are so different from what I normally use. But I got over that with the quickness. I LOVE the pearl gleam and glitter details they have. As usual both sides are equally beautiful so I cut 2 of them up to try to get in as much heart cuteness as I could.

LAYOUT PHOTO NOTE- use a bounce flash to get detail from an embossed or glimmer paper without blowing out the highlights. This requires you get an expensive flash unit but you deserve it no? Here I used my Nikon SB-28.  The flash unit is pointing up so the light bounces off the ceiling and looks like it's coming from a skylight. I shot this in the middle of the night with no weird flash effects.

Total product freak out- wish I had scored some more!
Colors left to right: Private Meadow, Mermaid, Big Apple, Oil Slick,
Golden Goddess, Dirty Martini and Blue Suede Shoes
Missing- Pink Lipstick and Espresso Bean

I used some more of that Tattered Angels "Big Apple" Glimmer Glam here. It's a true red- not almost Pink, not Wine, not Magenta- RED- in your face RED. Glimmer Glam is super duper saturating. I brushed some onto some orange Basic Grey chipboard letters and not an ounce of original color is to be seen plus the glam stayed raised and gave the letters some dimension. I'm in loooove. The glam stuck to my paintbrush, my fingers, the dinner table and more importantly- the metal spoon I left on the floor. AH HAAAAA! Next up- my acrylic and metal stash- will it stay glammed? Stay Tuned to find out.

Piggie FACE!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
M.