Project 365 week five!

Wow I can't believe I'm still plugging along with Project 365/Life.

I knew this would be a stress free project for me because I take photos everyday anyway. 

Project 365 just pushes me to go out and do more unusual stuff so I can put it in the book.

Normally I'd go to the Museum of Natural History but I would wait till summer- which is silly because it's INDOORS.

Project Life/365 week 5. A walk in the Bronx, Lola is sick, We are bored so we go visit the Brooklyn Bridge, Museum of Natural History butterfly pavilion and Lola finally starts sitting at her mini desk to draw. 

Lola LOVED her visit last week. She can't stop talking about the butterflies and now she sees them everywhere. We are going again tomorrow before they go away forever. Dave got her a dinosaur video he found for 4 bucks and now she loves dinosaurs too. 

Could we have an future scientist on our hands?

FINGERS CROSSED!

There are enough "starving artists" in this family.

At the doctor's office.

We didn't buy it, we just love it.

No more words today. :)

My Mom works for MNH. It's so huge I practically grew up there and STILL
notice things for the first time. Above? A Pterodactyl.

We went to First Saturday over the The Brooklyn Museum.  It's free.
Everything was great until we visited the feminist art gallery-
there was a special exhibit on "gender and sexuality".  I LOVED IT!
My Mother in Law was not pleased.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Michelle

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

Project Life (or 365) and why it matters

I'm seeing lots of scrappy goodies in all my CHA spying! So far I'm most inspired by what I see from Hambly- I love the bright color, the trendy prints. I'm also super excited by the new Crafter's Workshop stencils and Heidi Swap's Pink Paislee collections. (Office supplies in neon? LOVE!)
Quickie page made with a pad I found in Staples (while shopping for a new computer chair)

75 pages of these awesome mini goal pages- so ready for a mini book!

I wish this notebook was 3 by 5- it's PERFECT for Project Life! Alas it's 5 by 7 so I will be adding these pages to my Project 365 binder sans page protector.
Here are my 2 latest pages for 365.

Week 3- Lola turned to me one night after having spent 3 days indoors due to poor weather and asked- Mom let's go on an adventure. And pointed outside. She's TWO! I blame PBS! So I had a total brain wave- how do I make Lola's idea of an adventure more visual? A wheel of fortune! But mine is made from a View Master reel- (my latest obsession) This also covers visits and phone conversations with Grandma, the birth of a new niece and my visit to the Art Library.

Week 4- This week's highlight was a visit to The Highline Park- a park made on an old elevated train track. (!!) LOVE that place! I feel like I'm in some sophisticated European city without ever leaving the L line!  I also shot Lola eating sushi, journaling about our wonderful (not) trip to the Food Stamp office and the first snow day this season. 

I've been shooting every day and really wish I had pages that allowed for more detail- isn't that funny? I thought I would be hurting for "stories" but to an open mind (rather a blabber mouth) stories are EVERYWHERE. I'm seeing some debates on whether Project Life interests people outside the subject's immediate family.

After all, do you really want to see us brush our teeth?

Here's my theory- my own family doesn't care! Seriously! I couldn't get my Mom or husband to look at my binder come hell (pizza) or high water (beer) so I'm shooting just for me. In fact I think of my binder as my personal diary even if I post it online- here's why:

There are some very real reasons why doing a Project Life or Project 365 type projects is good for you-

1. Commitment and responsibility towards growth in your craft. Yes you can fussy cut, layer and embellish like a mad woman but can you finish an extended project? Why not? Things that make you go: hmmmm. Not a judgy HMMM!!!! Just Hmmm?

Week 1 (redo)- week one always bothered me- the canvas heart I thought was DA BOMB- well- bombed. 

So I took it out and you know what? It's fine! Still can't get photos of this page to focus!

2. Keeps you shooting. Do you think your life is boring? Who's fault is that? Sorry- it's YOURS. Make your life the FUN READ it is! No don't shoot the feet again! Don't shoot that cup of coffee- AGAIN. Find the individuality in your routine! Do you wiggle to top 40 songs while doing the dishes? HELLO? Put that camera on a timer! No kids? I already have one I want to see YOUR kidless life! Lots of kids? I only have one, wanna see how you manage yours! SHOOT YOUR STORY!

Squishy hats- I love 'em! Do you care? Probably not. But that's ok.

3. Gives you "ideas"- I will say it right here right now- your Project Life DOES NOT have to look like everyone else's! Does your LIFE look like fill-in-the-famous-scrapper's name here? NOPE! But does that make it less valuable? NOPE!!! You rock. You are unique and your story IS interesting- use your individual verve and humor. Be frank. Be introspective. I believe your kit can set you free! Just paint outside the lines a bit and you'll see! Uhhhmmm- channeling Dr. Seuss there for a bit.
I got several ideas making my latest page:

This first started as a chart, then turned into a "Ooo let's use that Studio Calico stamp!"
then I thought- here's something I haven't seen yet! I didn't even have to buy anything-
that's a scan from an old View Master reel!  Project Life keeps your creative flow going!

I really wish I had done a Project Life for Lola's first year- it would be SO AWESOME to look back on her first days now with full notes. A kit would have been PERFECT for me then too- I was so confused by all the scrap product choices to be made!

AAA! Look at that perfectly round head!! 2010

Ahh well. That's life.

A long walk- recorded. 

When you're ready. You're ready.

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Gauche Alchemy digest- a week of mixed media projects

It's FRIDAY!!! WOOOOOT!
This will be a quick post to tell you about what I've written up for Gauche Alchemy this week.
 Gauche Alchemy- Stuck?
The first article included a fantastic video by Cheryl on ways to used mixed media items in your regular scrapbook pages- it's a great "process" video that let's you see how Cheryl builds pages layer by layer.  I contributed this page to show off one of the latest kits- the Bare Nekkid Mixed Media kit.

For this page I used the Bare Nekkid kit which has already sold out but the smaller
Nearly Nekkid kit is still available and is just as full of beautiful neutral items.

I also wrote about ways to combat serious creative block. There are many ways to battle flagging mojo but the one I have to keep reminding myself to use is- keep working. Even if the things you make go straight into the garbage. (I throw out my duds quite frequently- it's the one thing I have no misgivings over). Even if you really would just like to sit on the sofa- do not. Get to work.

 Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Here's a GREAT quote from fine artists Chuck Close:
“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”

Before shot of a scrapbook page I really like but it still looks pretty bare.

I have heard some feedback from friends that it's hard to imagine how to use some of the more eclectic or 3D items in a Gauche Alchemy mixed media kit so a few members of the design team got together and made "before" and "after" projects to show how the mixed media color kits can really jazz up a scrapbook page. Here's the link so you can see the other projects: A very Gauche Before and After.

Items from Scarlet Red Mixed Media kit and some plastic grid material that came with the Black Out Mixed Media kit both of which include things like fabric, wall paper swatches, board game pieces, sequins, and all kinds of tiny objects that can be easily incorporated into any project- even flat scrapbook pages. 

This week Design Team member Maggi wrote up a fantastic post on using old corporate or junk mail magnets to make gorgeous DYI decorations. This will surely inspire you to just have fun with the process of creation:

Using fabric from the newest kit Gauche alchemy kit- Moshi Moshi,  punchinella and
items from various color kits, Maggi made the cutest DYI fridge magnet.
The hardest decision about her process? KEEP IT? Or gift it to a bestie?

So now that you are heading off into the weekend take a few minutes to consider how you can feed your creative soul. I am working on my Project 365 and making a few cards for Valentine's Day. What are you working on?

Which camera is the best? The one you have on hand.
This was taken with my lowly iTouch.

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Ormolu feature today!!!

I have a page featured over at Ormolu's blog today!!!
YAAAAY!
It's a great time for happy email as our little family is struggling with the January cabin fever doldrums. It's too cold to go outside and we made a promise to avoid all shops other than the supermarket. We're spending a lot of time at Trader Joe's...
I can't even scrap because Lola is so crazed with unspent energy she insists on climbing everything. Anything too small to climb becomes a trampoline. It's a dangerous time of year.
But I digress.
Here is the page:

This is one of my favorite projects! It was made for the True Xoxo Girls challenge blog. The border on the MMBI paper is so great! And HOW can you go wrong with those Ormolu kraft "Go Negative" die-cut tags? Throw in some vintage Sassy bits and you are good to go! I laugh when I see my bushy eyebrows in the BADLY PRINTED photo- perhaps it's time to get them waxed?

Please swing by the Ormolu blog and leave some love?
I was so CHEESED when I got the email! I love this brand! Swing by their shop and check it out.

We had our first snow last Saturday- it was perfect!
Just enough to stick on saturday and melt away completely on Monday- gotta LOVE that! 

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle