Skissedilla and DCWV & A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop sneak peeks

Hello!
Been gone for two weeks. OOPS!
There's lots of scrappy paper crafting going on in the background.

This Saturday I'll be participating in the first ever DCWV - A Flair For Buttons blog hop.
I made a couple of pages that took me out my usual color scheme so I'm excited.
Here are two a sneaky peeks at my projects:

I looked at the large record page on the DCWV stack FOR-EVER till this subject  idea rose up.
Whew! No need for a photo of   Lola rocking out to Van Halen after all.

I made a card- an actual CARD!!! And one I like- very rare indeed.

Then on Sunday, my guest designer for the October Skissedilla sketch challenge goes up.
I'm honored to be part of this group which has introduced me to so many incredible scrappers.
Sneaky peek:

I used a butterfly punch garland I've had in my stash for over a year as well as my
absolute favorite mini feathers chipboard from Scrap FX. My page won't be the only one
posted either- it's gonna be fly mi gente.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching as of late.
I write posts in my head but because I committed to a path of positivity (wait- is that even a word?) here I haven't been able to truly capture how I feel.
How much do I reveal?
How much detail do readers care to know?

It's hard to find the middle ground between honesty and pure emotional detritus.
So I'm keeping my trap shut for now.
Frankly- how I feel changes so frequently shutting up is probably the best idea- when I figure things out I can  tell it all with some perspective or just laugh at all the internal drama and move the effer on.

Anyway if you have some time this weekend please swing by and say hello.

We stumbled across a pumpkin farm on the way home yesterday- lots of  last minute Fall themed photos ensued.

Have a great week.
Michelle

Stencil Girl Blog hop sneak peek AND blog hop WINNERS!

Hello!

I am SO SORRY I forgot to pick a winner for last weeks A Flair For Buttons blog hop!

OOPS!

The winner is Staci of  This Black Butterfly!

YAAAYYYY!!!
Thanks for being a long time supporter Staci. I hope you love and use your flair right away!

If you'd like to know who the winner was for the Scrap FX/Ruby Rock It hop please tune into the SFX blog here.

And the SNEAK for Stencil Girl Products:

Art journal page. I also have a scrapbook page. Swing by the see what Nat's
amazing team of mixed media artists did.

Wow- that's 4 blog hops in 5 days!!
BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Hope you are having a great week!
Michelle

Friday Inspiration and Get It Scrapped sneak peeks.

Hello!

Oh how I wish I were going to the Create and Connect show in Vegas!

I don't know how good I'd be at talking people up when I only know them from their blogs.
It'd probably be as awkward as my entire Junior High School experience.

But a girl can dream.

Lately I've been attacked by fears of inadequacy.
Acknowledging that perhaps I'm not meant for the big CHA attending design teams.

I love what I do but it comes very hard and takes a long time.
I feel like Molieri in that Mozart flick whining about why I was given the ability to recognize and appreciate great talent but not actually express it.
Now please don't write in assuring me I'm crazy (but thank you.)

That usually me feel like a fool begging for praise.
 I'm slowly realizing many of my emo posts are just that- pleas for attention.
YIKEZERS!!!!!

I think I have talent but I'm so frequently stuck many times it feels like I'm forcing the work and not enjoying the final result.

In any case I'm just putting feelings into words so I can move on hopefully.

Here are some photos from my first month in Utah.

My sister says it looks like I having a great time.
I say- don't mistake good photos for a good time.
My New York photos were ghetto but I was happy and free to move- something I took entirely for granted.

Here I'm just treading water- waiting, waiting, waiting. 

And I'm incredibly resentful about it.

Truth.

I missed Manhattanhenge. So sorry.

Yellowstone.

Random camera misfire I love.

Old Faithful. This baby is HUGE! HUGE!

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.

Wasatch Mountain Trail (Utah)

Right after I took this shot the sky opened up and started to hail.

But going up was great- we just need to know when it's time to leave.

Thanksgiving Point has TWO Tyrannosaurus skeletons, a Stegosaurus, a Supersaurus (!!) AND
most important- a sand pit.
We became members.

Some sneaks of projects made for Get It Scrapped. 

Do you receive Masterful Design or Get It Scrapped newsletter emails? 

If you need prompts or ideas for what do on your next page I think this is one of the best websites for it.

Swing by and check it out.

Get It Scrapped

I have fallen in love with GCD Studio papers. Not even sure which ones I have but I love them all.

For an article on technique trends. Not sure what made me add real leaves to the layout but they 've held up very well.

Final shot. Perhaps a tad over processed.

Snapseed is a great app- took a while to figure it out but I got the hang of it. 

Next step- learn to lay off the white balance and contrast controls.

Running through the sprinklers.

Well at least someone is having fun. 

Michelle

Friday inspiration- Brooklyn Museum

Hark I hear the weekend call!

First order of the day- scrapbook!

I will put on "The Office" and watch season 8 all over again while drinking Brooklyn Lager.

I live literally 2 blocks from Brooklyn Brewery but have never gone to one of their famous tastings.

I am alone for the first time in months right now so I have to do all the things before Grandma brings the little one back.

Here are the things I found inspiring this week:

Brooklyn hand embroidered pillow cover on a FABULOUS chevron covered chair.
So there's a link right there for the museum shop.
It's 149 dollars- too rich for my blood but gorgeous right?

5 Points in Long Island City may be getting sold and leveled to
make way for more condos. If you're in New York take the 7 train and
swing by- it's worth it. 

These gorgeous machine stitched pillows are also
available but not on website. Sorry I didn't get the artist's name.

The Elizabeth Sackler Wing at the Brooklyn Museum has
an exhibit on quilting. It is my assertion that if quilts are
feminist statements of art so are scrapbook pages.
Discuss amongst yourselves.

Awesome diamond shapes at Urban Outfitters made with plywood
and light strips.

The El Anatsui exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum ws smaller than I expected but amazing.
He's got all kinds of interesting and theoretical things to say about why he makes giant
rusty metal or mixed media quilts. I just think they're awesome.

A new park has opened up next to East River State Park.
It's so pretty! And you can also play soccer in the new fields.
Love it!

And I got to meet Natalie K.
Who has a FAB new line of stencils with Stencil Girl Products. Woot!!!!

AAAAnd a sneak peek of two projects that will go up on the Scrap FX blog this sunday at 7pm (Monday 9am Aussie time.)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Michelle

How do you follow? And a Sneaky Peek my latest Scrap FX post

Hello peeps.

I just wanted to give you another heads up that Google reader- that fabulous run down of all the blogs you follow will be going away July 1st.

I just wanted to know- how DO you follow you fave blogs now?

I have several ways you can keep track of me-

• You can follow via email (most reliable)
• You can follow via facebook using the app Networked Blogs
• You can follow using BlogLovin' which sends you an emailed run down of all the blogs you follow AND which you can import your full reading list into (I did this last week- super easy)
• You can click links I send via Twitter or just check out my latest photos on Instagram

or

Julie Fei Fan Balzer suggests another option called Old Reader  It's still in Beta stage but it looks promising.

I'm trying to figure out how to import my blogger list but it's asking for some "OPML file" so I'll need a few more days to figure out What The What that means before I join in.

Right now I'm getting email updates from bloglovin' but those are super easy to ignore.

Random tech news! 

Flickr has expanded it's storage space to 1TB!!
If you- like me- tend to take 50 to 100 photos every 2 days consider using Flickr as a second back-up option.

Oh yes. You DO need that!

In my former life as a photo editor, I had 2 professional photographers lose years worth of photos from their archives when their back up external hard drives crashed.

One guy had 3 back ups- all failed when his computer contracted a nasty virus via an email a friend sent (not on purpose).

Back up yer files!

Michelle mayhem news!!!

I am recording a new Paper Clipping Roundtable today with Shimelle and personal craft goddess Dina Wakely.
I'm getting the willies just thinking all the outrageous things I'll be saying.
I don't have full control of my lips when I'm in awe.
Crossing my fingers writing my answers down NOW will help curtail my usual blathering THEN.
Tune in for the madness this week.

And last but not least
SNEAK PEEK at my latest Scrap FX post!

A 30 minute last minute "Oh my goodness I LOVE it" page.

A struggle for a week and I STILL hate it but whatever it's done and
I learned from the experience" page.

Have a great week.
Let's all keep Oklahoma- all our friends in the midwest- in our thoughts and actions this week.

Michelle

Spraytastic Flair For Buttons sneaks and photo watermarks- yea or nay?

Happy Friday folks!
Mother's Day weekend is here.

We have no plans- everything gets mobbed here so we are thinking maybe we just go with the flow and get some pizza- stressing over crowds and reservations right now defeats the purpose.

I made a page which is up over at A Flair For Buttons blog.

Some sneaks:

Scrap FX cityscape border chipboard with silhouettes of a lot of different
recognizable buildings including what I think is  nuclear power plant?
I trimmed it- there are no nukes in Michelle's scrap world THANK YOU.

A Flair For buttons has lots of funky new chalkboard buttons.
This one is from the Chalk Words Flair pack- super cute.

Today is the last day you can go get your poster made by Project Inside Out NYC.

If you have some time swing by Times Square- 47th street to be exact.
Some waiting in line is required.

The images will end up on a website and possibly in a book but if your pose is as goofy as mine you are sure to remain perfectly obscure.

My thought was- I want to look fun and spontaneous.
This happened.
oh well.

I've been debating if I should add watermarks to my images for a while.
I think most watermarks are pretty ugly but how else do you let people know where to get a product they see if you don't have the info directly on the photo?
Especially if they first see it via Google image search or Pinterest.
What do you think?
Yea or nay?

Pretty flowers in an outdoor cafe after the rain- romantic no?

I wish I had taken more photos!

I made this one with the website www.watermark.ws
I have no idea if it's a legit.
For all I know they've collected my photo for sale in some random image gallery.
I don't recognize the suffix- a bad sign.
What country is ws???
I'll let it go for this experiment's sake but I need to do more research in the future.
This website requires the image be 500dpi or lower so I can't use this for my scrapbook pages.
There are also many options for images taken on your smart phone.
My favorite?

iWatermark is an app developed by a photo journalist that allows   

you to add watermarks in your iPad or smartphone.  

There are a few ugly designs included but also a lot of font, style and  

color options for you to make your own text based mark. 

Best of all, you can save the actual mark as well as the 

marked photo so it's easy to have different mark styles for different uses.

Have a great weekend- take it easy- it's YOUR day!
Michelle

Everyday Stories blog hop WINNER

HIYA!!
I'm SO evil!
I'm forcing you to read my actual blog post to find out who won the Everyday Stories blog Hop e-book prize.
Don't worry- it's a short post.

It's a crazy week around here!
Tomorrow Wednesday, May 3rd starting at 6pm I am part of the SCRAP FX blog hop! 
Woo hoo!
You'll have 2 chances to win scrappy goodies if you follow or leave a comment.

Some photos:

GRAND PRIZE- what you get if you follow each blog in the hop
100 dollars worth of chipboard goodness, most not available in the US yet.

Wedding Theme mini pack
What you get if you are a followers (new or old) of My Analog Life

SNEAKY PEEEEEK!
I'm so in love with my project- it's meant to be a gift for Mother's Day- I may have to keep it.
I am a Mom after all!

 Miae is the lucky winner of the Everyday Stories e-book prize on this blog! YAAAYYY!

To everyone who swung by for yesterday's Everyday Stories blog hop- THANK YOU!
I hope to see you again!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

NEVER wishy-washy for Japanese washi (TAPE)

Imagine my great sadness as I perused Japanese crafting sites and saw all the pretty patterned washi tape I could not have because it was from far far away and would require insane amounts of lucre to import.
Ah the agony.
The despair of unrequited material love!
Well NO MORE!

BOO YAAAH! Green, turquoise and RED glorious RED grid tape!

Gauche Alchemy has got washi to satisfy even the most VORACIOUS tape appetite!
Some photos:

Look familiar? That's right! And it's TEN DOLLARS!!!!!
Numbers washi tape

Pink Combo Pack- look at that stripped one!! LOVE!

Red Combo Pack- my favorite!!!!

Yellow Combo Pack- this one wins the pleases everyone award- there is the
warning stripe for the Momma's of boys, the cute red dots for those who love candy
 and the NEON ONE for crazy folks like moi.

Now HAVE AT 'EM Crafty peeps!
Do not wait! A little birdy tells me they are selling so fast they are setting company records.
Don't miss out!
I have a post coming up on the Gauche blog showing THIS in full:

 That's Gauche Alchemy washi and punchinella!!!

GRATUITOUS CUTE BABY POST!!!

Uses for washi- making this pattern on your latest project...
Laughing 2 year old not included.

CHELLS OUT!

SPRING with Cosmo Cricket!

63 degrees today, 67 tomorrow?
Too awesome!!!
I'm so excited I could BURST!

I had a very busy scrap week.

I made this for an upcoming True Xoxo Girls challenge but it doesn't fit the challenge parameters so back to the drawing board it is.
The March challenge is finding inspiration on Pineterest. (click through to see for yourself)
Swing by and submit your page.
The winner gets a GDT spot on the team.

This page started as a design experiment with shapes. It was supposed to be really graphic but the further I got into it the more I realized it wouldn't attract an the audience that way so I added the pearls and Cosmo Cricket swirls- now I think it's too much of everything.
What do you think?

Materials: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love swirls, black board butterflies and Heart in the Dark alphas, Crafter's Workshop basket weave template, Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam in Mermaid, ZVA pearls and rhinestones swirls, K and Comapny Smash tape, Ek Success parenthesis stamps

Detail shots:

I have a guest spot coming up over at Do More With Less, Yvonne Yam's fantastic personal blog. I love Yvonne's highly innovative style and her ability to use messy techniques on perfectly crisp and clean modern pages- she's an inspiration.
I will be talking about the Neon trend and showing off a card and page project- feel free to swing by March 20th.

Sneaky peek!!! Do More With Less- March 20th

My page is still messy- I'm working up to a more clean style.

I am also trying to make my blog more relevant to my readers.
What do you like to read about?
What are your blogging pet peeves?
What would you like to see more?
I've been at it for over a year and feel like I've hit a rut. Fell free to give me your 2 cents and I will try to implement everything as best I can.

GRATUITOUS TODDLER SHOT!!!!

Sure! Get comfy why don'tcha?

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle