What I learned this week: Postal rates, Dubstep and Indigo color madness!

Hiya and happy HAPPY monday folks.

WHY is it happy?
'Cause it's FINALLY SPRING, yo!
Sweet!!!!

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK:

Postal rates. (ARE BANANAS!)
I recently posted a package to the UK.
UPS wanted 115 dollars (not a typo) to send it "express".
Never mind I didn't NEED express service.

The US Postal Service wanted 16 dollars for 10 day delivery.
Ok! I can swing 16 dollars.
But there is no tracking on the package.
ie: they can dunk the box in the Thames.

I'm all for paying fair price for services but, dude, you have to do your job.
If I send something I expect it oh I don't know.. ARRIVE.
It WOULD be nice if it arrived without it looking like someone went Dubstep on it.

What? Never heard of Dead Mau5?
Yeah me neither, but this Dubstep gif is AWESOME!
I first heard of "Dubstep" from my nephew who loves this music so
much he write status poems about it on Facebook.
Not EVEN kidding.

ANYWAY.
I did manage to get some pages done.

Indigo blue is IN.
Here's a great reference story Design Sponge: Current Obsession 

What I started with Bockingford 140 lb water color paper  in grey.
The paint splatters went completely wrong and I loved it.
Dave thinks this looks like Jimi Hendrix looking up into the sky.

I bought the Liqitex on clearance this week at Michael's for 99 cents.
I've had the Tattered Angels in my stash for over 2 years.
They are on clearance in a lot of stores.
I resisted to urge to buy more even thought I love it.

1. Crate Paper's "On Trend" collection has a lot of indigo, emerald and grey- all are "hot" right now. Try not to kill me for combining trends and mixed media art- it's the scrapbooker in me.
2. Tattered Angels mist in Sapphire is really watery so it starts wonderfully dark and gets nice and sparkly towards the end of a drip. I used the tip of my paint brush to spread the paint out when it splattered in the "wrong" area.
3. Liquitex soft body paint is great for mixing and it goes on real smooth on chipboard.
4. Tattered Angels "Glimmer Glam" in Blue Suede Shoes. The cap has a brush built-in so you can paint, splatter and wash with abandon. The glitter gets a little annoying- wish it were smaller grained.

Now I'm seeing Indigo everywhere!
This is a neighbor's front door.

Have a great week!
Michelle

Inspiration Friday- Brooklyn Botanical Garden (and an art journal page)

Hello!

This week has run right past me laughing!
I barely had time to notice all the beautiful things so I could share them with you here.

Last night I was trolling Pinterest again.
I'm trying to figure out how to organize my boards since I have so many.
How do you pin?
How do you categorize it?

Here is a very quick page I came up with on the theme "summer heat/ summer sun"
Can you tell I'm SO over this lingering winter weather?

Don't ask my why I combined Tattered Angels "Frozen Lake" with Cosmo Crickets Twenty Three
collection paper and grey water color paper- it just "felt" right.

 The stencil set is from Michael's- 5 bucks and AWESOME!
I also scored on metallic Faber-Castell gelatos at TJ Maxx.
5 dollars for mixed media packs that included water color pencils and PITT pens.

We also visited the Brooklyn Botanical Garden which I put on my "flower watch" every year.
This year the trees have budded but none have flowered,
It will be a few more weeks before I get good Sakura photos.

I did take a couple of shots:

The Magnolias are still budding but the Chinese Camellia tree is in full bloom.

Many of our favorite trees have survived Hurricane Sandy. 

Tiny pine cones from the Japanese Pavilion.

Japanese Pavilion, Brooklyn Botanical Garden
First "winter" type shot I've ever taken.
I think I'm going to swing by and get a snow shot next year. 

Bonsai. It's amazing this tree is alive and thriving on a plate.
SO inspiring!

Sorry I cut the top off. 

Have a great weekend!
Michelle

Fun with neon washi tape!

I was perusing Pinterest yesterday and a bunch of JBS Design Team pages jumped out at me.

Apparently the March Papercrafting kit includes a B side print that looks like it was covered in yellowing masking tape.

Then I saw this page by Amanda Jones and immediately ran to my scrap desk.
This was the result.

I used the sun from the Scrap FX  travel embellishment pack model #2012190
and the urban stencil model # 2012348

This didn't require a lot of my prized, out-of-production MT neon pink washi tape.
I mixed in a few of my other pink tapes to give the page a little texture.

I got this materials photo idea from Yvonne Yam who also has a
GREAT tutorial over on her blog Do More With Less.
I used the following apps for this: Hipstamatic, PicTapGo for the dreamy
 exposure, Camera+ for the border and Phonto for the words.

I also used a tiny bit of Zing! neon yellow embossing powder.
I still have their old version which is more mustard than neon and I rarely use it.
This new one is bright and very pretty.

Funny thing about neon- it's really hard to photograph.
The scanner couldn't handle this page at all- it made everything almost white.

A few weeks ago I was asked to participate in Noelle Hyman's Paperclipping Roundtable.

My nervousness got the best of me and I spent more time telling rambling stories than discussing the subject at hand- challenges in everyday scrapbooking.

I now have an answer for Noelle's very perplexing question-
How to scrap everyday moments if your routine stays the same or if your family spends a lot of time in front of a computer?

Used with permission- sort of.  ;)

One of my answers clearly should have been: "follow" your family members and take a screen shot when they post something funny, cute or memorable.

Thanks for swinging by!
Michelle

What I "re"learned this week! Project Life is FUN!

Good Monday Morning folks,

Over the weekend I had several amazing conversations with people I deeply admire.
I spent so much time talking I didn't really have time to scrap.

Now it looks like I'm about to embark in one of the most exciting periods of my life.
Some friends and I have formed a group called

"The Mariposa Creative Collective"

Basically a monthly meeting where we hold each other accountable for our creative goals- whatever they may be.

• If you are a New York City scrapper or creative type send me a PM via Facebook and will add you to the group. I plan to post thought provoking articles and our meeting notes there for everyone to discuss in between face to face meetings. 
• If you have a small business you are trying to get off the ground send me a PM and we can consider you as a guest speaker. Any entrepreneurial activity is fine. Creativity is boundless.

We meet once a month and discuss our goals for the month.
We hear a speaker and have a hen session about what's current and creative ways people have found to make money- it's a GREAT way to get inspired and get CRACK-A-LACKING!

It's exiting because, for once, I feel like I have feedback on this crazy journey I'm on.
It will help me focus and perhaps stop all the internalized negativity creating alone can encourage.

I did manage to finish my first 2 Project Life spreads for 2013 this week.

I have sneaks because the pages will be going up over at the Scrap FX blog tomorrow and I want them to get full "splash" effect.

Need a quick finish option for naked chipboard?
WASHI TAPE, BABY! Just trim the edges after you stick it onto the design.

Scrap FX has a whole new design team.
I'd love for you to swing by and check out what they bring to the table.

Scrap FX newsprint frame finished with Prima chalk ink in "Attic Dust" grey.
Prima chalk inks quickly cover chipboard- primer isn't needed.

What I learned:

• The most important thing a creative person needs, other than supplies, is SUPPORT. 

I can't say this enough! Put the love out there first. Really. Love and compassion first.

Judgement and anger have their place but you only get what you put out.

• Punching the corners out of your PL inserts is a drama all on it's own.

DON'T use this punch. Are you laughing at the photo?
Switching from large to small corners in one
 punch is a great idea! But this design lacks a "window" so you
 can see where your corner end up before punching- BIG problem.
 That shape isn't consistent either- you can't "mess up" on PURPOSE.
Fiskars has a GREAT customer service department but they can't fix
bad product design. Consider me schooled.
PS- I still love Fiskars and buy all their other products.
Me and this punch? Enemies!

• From a fellow "Lifer" came the thunder striking idea to just take my journaling cards with me wherever I go. Write down what I feel when I feel it. The photos can stand on their own.

It's totally out of focus but I love my genuine smile.. and my hair.
LOL!

Thanks for your continued support of this blog!
I love that you swung by!
Michelle

Friday Inspiration- Photo App Discovery!

Hello!

Thank you to my Scrap FX teamie Sparkling Gnome for letting me in on the coolest app yet- Lenslight.

I've had a week to play around with PicTapGo (another photo app) and have decided it rocks!
It's so easy to lighten or brighten photos on this app!

Michelle's top five all time favorite Apps:

1. Hipstamatic- for it's "Jane" lens and it's "Big Up" film that has yellow, pink or black borders.
All the photos below were originally taken with Hipstamatic and processed in another app.

2. Instagram- for sharing (I actually don't like IG filters at all- most are too dark)
I took this image during that magical time when the evening light turns gold.
The photo was enhanced using my new fave app- Lenslight.

3. PicTapGo- for fast and easy (and controllable) image editing.
This photo used to have bright pink borders from my Hipstamatic app.
The "Montecito" filter made it all dreamy and over exposed.

4. Lenslight- for funky light effects you can fade or change color.
I've been looking for a way to add "rainbow" washes on my photos for a while now.
There are "Bokeh" effects in many different shapes- they can be shifted around the screen and the color can be changed- pretty versatile- it has one major problem though-
the filters all degrade your already pretty low smart phone photos. Use sparingly.

5. PicFX for Bokeh you can layer.
This filter REALLY degrades imagine quality.
Keep that in mind when using it especially if you are
thinking of submitting your project for publication.
Magazines like to see clean and very crisp images.

My scrap space organization project is still under way.
I've been buying mists for 4 years now.
I used to keep items in different spots so it was easy to lose track of how much crap I have.
Then I ran out of space.
Ikea Rikka picture ledges to the rescue!

Estimated count: 28 bottles a shelf- 3 shelves= 84 bottles!!

Shock and awe!!! Many of these are still new and unused!!!
I had them in the bottom of an organizer and forgot they were there.
Hoard much?
Yet there is an explanation.
New colors come out every 6 months.
Simply buying each new color from 3 different manufacturers- Studio Calico, Tattered Angels and Ranger gets you these many bottles in 2 years.
I haven't bought any of the Tattered Angels chalk colors I want.
And now I CAN'T.
Because it's very clear- I bought too much already and need to use it.

New York City Manholes!!!
I've taken over 30 images of these the last couple of days.
I love their awesome radial patterns!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle