Stencil Girl Products typewriter stencil blog hop.

Hello!

I'm totally excited to be participating in this FAB blog hop for Stencil Girl Products!

Today we are featuring Nat Kalbach's typewriter design for Stencil Girl.

On the eye candy menu today:

Nat Kalbach

Martha Richardson

Maria McGuire

Corrine Gilman

Michelle Hernandez (you're here- woot!)

I hope you swing by all the participating blogs to see how each artist used Nat's fab stencil design.

LOVE the styling of this design! A+ Nat!

It wouldn't be a proper blog hop without a GIVE AWAY.

One lucky reader will win a typewriter stencil on Nat's blog.

You can increase your chances by leaving one comment on each participating blog.

Deadline is Tuesday August 20th.

Good luck!

Normally I'm a fairly traditional Mommy scrapbooker but every once in a while I'll bust out a mixed media project to keep things real. (Ha!)

I love the hand drawn styling of this stencil so I put together a fairly abstract canvas using papers from Cosmo Cricket's 2wenty Thr3e line. 

Materials: light molding paste on Nat's Stencil Girl Products typewriter stencil, gesso to adhere cut paper to the canvas and water color pencils to give the background some depth.

Believe it or not this took me all day. !!!!

I wanted to make something inspiring I could stare at when I'm having a off moment (which is all the time).

Questions swirled in my head.
Should I include a famous quote? 

Do I add a photo?
Do I go for lots of white space or fill this baby up?

Going abstract scares me because it's quite challenging to make the work relatable but I've always found the genre incredibly invigorating and thought provoking so I decided to put my inhibitions aside and see where this took me.

I also made a quick card with bits from my first attempt:

This is on it's way to you Nat! Thank you and congrats on this new venture. 

You've put a wonderful new tool into my paint stained hands!

This is the last stop on the hop.

I hope we gave you something to think about and admire.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing!

Michelle

Light molding paste fun with Scrap FX stencils.

Hello!

It's been raining everyday here in sunny Utah. 

I'm loving it!

Rainy humid 100 degree days remind me of New York which I miss terribly.

Want to know something weird?
Lightning scares the bejesus out of me!

I'm not used to seeing actual ray strikes.
How weird is it to see multiple rays lighting up the sky!
And cloud to cloud lightning?
FREAKY!!!!
I'm used to seeing lights and maybe the occasional zig-zag in the sky directly over head- seeing the whole thing from sky to land makes me jump and scream every single time.

AND? ALSO???
I saw a dust devil!
Wait- no- I saw THREE!

We were on the highway heading home after the Yellowstone camping initiation/ hazing ceremony
(98 degrees during the day- 30 degrees at night- wooooot!- Also- bears.)

FIRST my sister in law's car was almost pushed off the highway by a flying tire fragment from a truck's tire blow out.
Just as we got over it, I look out the window to the fields and hello
MINI TORNADO!!
TWO!!!
LOOK! THREE!
AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Oh no worries I was assured- those are just caused by dust and wind currents.
WHATEVER!!!
GET. ME. HOOOOOME!

So anyway it's been awesome- nature is so amazing
especially when you witness all it's glory while sitting nice and warm at HOME.

Here is a page I made despite serious lack of spark, mojo, focus, IDEAS

Water color paper is awesome. I messed the back up so I just turned it over and started again on the back. I painted a sunny circle and then pushed bits of paper around for hours till I got this configuration.
Materials: Scrap FX urban stencil, Crate Paper The Pier paper, American Crafts Thickers Glits gold alphabet stickers, flair from A Flair For Buttons, canvas hexagons by Studio Calico, Martha Stewart gold and turquoise paint, Paper Studio ATC pack. Flowers by Making Memories- stashed since 2009- glad to be rid of them finally.
Photo by Saidy Lopez.

I was casing Pinterest (yet again- I spend so much time pinning I leave no time for blogging- exactly ass backwards.)

I saw two pages by Denise Morrison which blew. me. away.
Check out her bloggity blog- Life Is Yummy

Denise was using light modeling paste on transparency material to add texture and see through stencil patterns to her scrapbooking.
ZOMG! GENIUS!!!
SO. MANY. IDEAS!

One of the reasons I rarely use modeling paste on my pages is because it takes a while to dry and it's so expensive I really don't want to "make a mistake".

One note- find a glue that works on plastic or get ready to be annoyed.

HELLO genius technique!
Using it on a transparency means I get to layer it wherever and if I make a "mistake" I can scrape it off and start again or move the piece somewhere else on the page.
Before you ask- yes it sticks- and no it doesn't crack even if you staple over it.
It's really a great solution!

Here I am trying it out with the Scrap FX roses stencil- LUSCIOUS!!

What's more- molding paste takes color mediums beautifully- that's what it's meant for after all. (Sorry my no art practice just history background means I just stumble on this stuff randomly through other blogs- you probably know more than I do)

I'm in looooove!

July snow and shorts. Yes. it's Utah. Cottonwood Canyon- Cecret Lake Trail.
I wonder why it's spelled "Cecret".
I'm thinking some gold miner got it wrong and no one bothered to correct it in 200 years.

Chells out!

What I learned this week- Scrap FX orchid stencil MADNESS

Hallo folks!
This week I was all about the procrastinating!
Delayed the cooking.
Delayed the cleaning.
Delayed the scrapping.
Everything on my to do lists got put on hold!
Why?
I'm tired and "thoughtful" bloggin is HARD yo!

This post alone? 2 hours!
Between the writing, the copy editing and the photo uploading- blogging is time consuming.
Not complaining- just saying- content= life hours= expensive.
Life hours- the most valuable thing we rent.

New header! Better? I'll have to go hunting for "learning" photos.

This post almost didn't get written.
But I made a promise to myself I would learn and put the learning into action this year- not just coast by on scrappy shopping binges.
(More on THAT this wednesday for the Hot Topic post)

Last week I used the Scrap FX engineering stencil and got some funky effects using chalk and Tattered Angels Gold mist.

This was the FABULOUS background result:

Why not try it again? This time with this gorgeous flower stencil?

Scrap FX orchid stencil item #2013031

I didn't take photos of my experiment this week. Why?
I forgot!
Mostly because this page happened over a couple of days- I was experimenting with different kinds of white ink.

What I learned:

1. I don't like Heidy Swapp Color Magic resist paper. Too unpredictable. I have a whole pack so I will give it another try but so far? IXNAY.
2. Check and DOUBLE check your paper strips before you sew them down- invariably they are crooked. Invariably when you think you are fixing one, it's the other that's wonky.
3. People REALLY like all white pages. Like as in LOVE- as in you can throw up all your white items on the page and STILL get 50 likes from your IG followers on it. I'll never understand that- color is so wonderful.
4. Prima Attic Dust chalk ink is awesome. AWESOME.
5. Most white acrylic ink will not show on misted paper. I should write up a whole POST on all the white ink I've tried to use. I JUST realized my white paint markers are OIL based DOH!!! That may explain why they don't work over acrylic. Back to the drawing board I go.
6. I ruined several .2 Micron pens by using them over mist paint backgrounds. 3 dollar pens! So obviously there needs to be more investigation into that. Back to Dina Wakely's Art Journal Freedom I go.

Sorry this week's post is wack.
I promise to take photos for next week's post.

Yellow and purple- not a bad color combo...
maybe I'll try to "rescue" this page as well.
Those Crafter's Workshop cameras will have to get the boot though.

Hope you have a GREAT week!
Michelle

December Daily Album- Hanging with Louise Nelson and talking crafts and art.

Hello happy people!

I had THE BEST SUNDAY EVER.
I got to meet my art/craft/scrap HERO.
Louise Nelson.
EEEEEEE!!!!
I can't EVEN begin to tell you how nervous I was.
First of all I made her wait at the station for EVER because I didn't plan an exact pick up location
YIKES!!
Then I talked her ear off.
It's what I tend to do when I'm nervous.
I then walked her around with no visible aim.
Thankfully she sees things and was able to take photos and do a bit of shopping all the while listening to my ever present chatter.

It was great to meet a serious artist face to face.
I'm not gonna front.
Most scrappers have a problem with the word "artist'".
Their thoughts or words:
"Give me a break! IT'S JUST PAPER.
Your work isn't original, you are using other people's designs.
You do this for FUN. You do this for a HOBBY.
Calling it art is pretentious."

Blah blah Blah. Whatever.
The first step to making life truly yours is to take yourself and what you do SERIOUSLY.
Who set the rules for what is art?
Why should there be ules fro creativity and self expression?
As Sara Bareilles so aptly puts it:

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?

Rule breakers have ALL THE FUN.
They get stuff done.
They sometimes fall off cliffs and get arms stuck in collapsed caves (I saw that movie!) but mostly they are happy.
They are living life on their terms.

For many reasons this concept of positive of self definition and vision is threatening to some people.
It's been my experience that the loudest negative voice is usually the unhappiest, the most fearful and the least productive.
So who are you going to be?
The troll deciding who is or isn't an artist/good person/fill in the blank?
Or the cool chick who travels the world, gets things done and kicks life's butt?
I know who I want to be!!!!
Thank you Louise for great conversation and some major food for thought.

Onto my December Daily Album:

 I found these OLD Making Memories polka dot circle stickers
while destashing! WOO HOO!

Took a risk with Heidy Swapp mists after watching Janna Werner's
Creative Jumpstart video. You should join- it's a GREAT series and it's FREE.

Made this page after watching Louise's Creative Jumpstart video then I got
her invite via email to have coffee and PINCHED MYSELF!!!!!!
DREAM COME TRUE!!! Not EVEN joking!

OOPS! Skipped a page! WIll upload later.

Scrap FX chipboard with glitter embossing powder- LOVE!

My favorite Studio Calico Mask.

 I switched color halfway through my book. Because I can.
I really like Kraft and silver.
On December 16th I went to a Sandyhook Memorial at McCarren Park here in
Brooklyn and I really needed to reflectthis in my mini.
When my daughter asks why she has to go through metal detectors at school I will tell her.
It is reality, one she must comes to terms with now.
That very thought is a tragedy all on it's own.

As I near number 25 the pages are getting simpler.
Sorry for the fuzzy photos- something happens when Blogger compresses files
 I don't know how to fix it.

Another page inspired by a video I saw at Nat Kalbach's
Creative Jumpstart Summit- swing by and join!

I also want to wish President Obama the best of luck in his next 4 year term.

I voted for him twice because I believe in his vision and I stand by his plans for the next 4 years.

I will also keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. first and foremost today. 

His words. 

His call to action. 

His passion for truth and fairness for all.

He represented the best of the American dream because he helped expand that dream.

I am but one.

A small ant in a giant world. 

Dr. King helped me realize I have purpose 

I am but one yet I have power 

I am but one yet I have dreams that deserve to be pursued and treated with respect and honor.

And sometimes I get to bask in the presence of greatness.
Life is good.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle