Fun with Maya Road!

Hello and happy wednesday folks!

It's been a pretty sombre week.
I took monday off in deference to the horrific events in Boston.
I will be making a page and showing it here on friday but basically this is a moment to pause and reflect-
to be introspective and respectful-
to cherish your loved ones and give whatever you can-
a moment to spread the light.

Talking scrap, it's been a busy couple of weeks for me.

I was trying to come up with two SPECTACULAR scrapbook pages for my Maya Road Guest designer application.

By "spectacular" I mean pages that do the product justice and showcase my ability to use MR products especially straight pins, stamps, mist droplets and woodgrain.

Without further ado here are the pages I came up with:

I found this print from my senior year in college- 1997! I spent my last semester in California and I remember how self conscious I was about my body. This was the only time I wore a two piece swim suit while there! Now I look at those photos and marvel at how thin and FABULOUS I was. I intended to use my Maya Road ledger stamps but when I saw the pure white rosettes I decided to go with a monochrome arrangement. I will be making another page for SURE!

Rosettes- I love them. I make mine using the Martha Stewart scoring board,
zip dry and mini paper clips to secure the ends while the glue dries.
Stapling also works but it's hard to staple smaller ones like these.

I could photograph the Empire State Building every day for a year and never get the same photo twice. This is one of my favorite things about living in Brooklyn hands down.
Here I was having fun with the indigo color trend and my Maya Road straight pins and wood buttons- can't have enough of either.

Once I stamped the background everything else just fell right into place- I LOVE it when that happens!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The calibre of talent that is out there is amazing.
Good luck everyone!
I hope to join you in a week or so. (toes are now crossed as well!!)

Michelle

Scrap Fx April Favorites Mini Hop!

Welcome to the Scrap Fx design team mini hop for April!

This month's mini hop theme is:

Favorite things!

Every month different members of the Scrap FX design team will be getting together to show you different ways to use chipboard in your paper crafts.

Favorites? Ombre. Yellow. cameras. Sunrays.
Summer. Sassafras Lass. Stitching. Misting.

The blog line up is:

Adrienne- Coloring My World

Cindy- Creative People (Don't Play By The Rules)

Elisabeth- Skrap-plassen

Michelle- My Analog Life- you are here- HIYA!

Scrap FX Blog

For my project I featured some of my personal favorites:

• Favorite paper brand: Sassafras Lass paper in a black and white stripe pattern. I love black and white stripes so much I have a divider just for them in my paper cubby. 
• Favorite color: yellow- it's cheerful and screams, "SUMMER!" my favorite season
• Favorite trend: sunray patterns and stitching
• Favorite technique: ombre effect using a gesso base and mist paints.
• Favorite page theme: my daughter Lola in an everyday photo- I don't scrap holidays often
• Favorite Scrap FX wordlet chipboard: The Words of Love piece because the words are still attached to their frame. I can snip the words out and use them individually in my Project Life album or as one piece for major impact on a page.

I started with some scraps from a Studio Calico print and pushed them around the page for quite a while.
Then I realized the scraps should resemble a sunray pattern. I painted the chipboard in an ombre pattern- something I've been meaning to do for months now. ONLY after I realized I was out of yellow Amy Tangerine floss did I think to use orange jute cord to stitch the sun. I LOVE the result! It's organic design process took three days to accomplish but I felt none of the stress/pressure I usually feel when making a page.

I used the following Scrap Fx chipboard items here:

• On tour/itinerary/sighseeing pack model number 2010180
• Words of love model number 2013050

So this journaling makes me laugh- did I really just journal about sweat???
My thinking was "The photos are pretty abstract here- let me add some meaning."
This was the result. I tried getting the traditional smily toddler shot, promise!
Lola rarely co-operates with my camera antics .
I got tired of yelling HI! OO LOOKY HERE! HEY PRETTY PRETTY GIRL!! SMILE!
 This type of photo is more interesting anyway. I hope she feels the same way.
If anything I can blame her for not looking up ever EVER when I was trying to get a cute shot.

Now hop along to the Scrap FX Blog and...

Have a GREAT weekend!!
Michelle

Blast from the past Tuesday- Learning from mistakes and using fabric scraps

Hello!

I was wondering where my time went this weekend.
I thought I had everything in hand.
Suddenly it's monday, I have to write a "What I Learned This Week" post and realized...
I have nothing to write about.

So today I'll share a project I made for a Creative Keepsakes article 2 years ago on using fabric on a layout.
The project never made the magazine for obvious technical issues.

I still like the ideas I had for this simple page but leaving the crease
on the fabric was a big mistake. Also? No journaling.
Normally I wouldn't add any because the story, my daughter playing in the park,  is obvious
but publish worthy pages need a good story- I needed to dig deeper and write it out.

Here I tried to add dynamism to the design with the photos but
the bright colors are distracting. The eye keeps focusing on that red rick rack.
I should have and added the rick rack horizontally and given more space to the
white grid for balance. 

The big idea behind this 2 page spread was that I used fabric from the dress my daughter had on in the photos since the dress no longer fit and I really loved the cheerful pattern.

I could have journaled about that!
That's the story!

One of the many reasons I ran out of scrap time.
We were having actual outside fun in 70 degree weather.
Oh the sacrifice!

Have a great week!
Michelle

Friday inspiration- Nolita Photo walk

Hello folks!

This week's photo inspiration post was brought to you by a recent walk through Soho and Nolita.

Hot little heavens for visual stimulation.

That sounds rather indecent.

If I get lucky I get to stand out front when I'm at work and make samples.
The idea is to try to capture a customer's attention and get them to see how they can
use the stamps and other products they buy while at the store.
I made both these cards in under 20 minutes using scraps I had on hand.
I rarely get to pick the colors I love most but a little orange helps both grey and teal pop.
Martha Stewart butterfly stickers, Studio Calico mist, Paper Source card stock and stamps. 

I just mean that there are so many museums and shops all close together that the streets are popping with ideas for the open minded crafter.

The ideas can sit in your brain for weeks when suddenly BOOM! an original page appears.

At least that how it works for me.

Case in point:

3 foot tall at marquee at sign.
I REALLY want to make one of these!

Big Boy gets several make overs.

This gorgeous bag hanging in a tiny shop in Nolita.
I didn't even try to go in and inquire how much it was.
The "feathers" are delicately curved sequins.

"Life isn't tragic, Love is being ignored."
Why this is fabulous: 1. They used Puffy
scrapbook stickers and brads. 2. Hello giant scrapbook layout!
3.This was a store window display.  4. It was over 6 feet wide.

Faces layered on top of each other.
This would make a great textile print.

Another mural I caught while the artists were still working.
No I didn't speak to them. Yes I regret it.

Wheat paste posters. 

Also?
I found a gif making app!
All you have to do is take a series of photos and open them in GifMill to animate- super easy to use.
The only drawback is that this is the final size of the file- it's crazy small!
Also- these won't animate of Facebook so you can't torture your friends with them (darn!)
Still...

Just imagine the tutorial possibilities!

Have a greet weekend. 

Go on and make something awesome!

Michelle

Hot Topic: Organizing your ever expanding stash for Project Life

Hello!

I've been having "fun" (undergoing self imposed torture) trying to organize my scrapbook supplies.
I suffer from the delusion that items are easier to remember and retrieve that way.
So far I'm failing miserably due to lack of space and an inability to decide how to organize.

My first attempt at paper organization is a compromise.
I am using manufacturer, favorite color and pattern categories.

I found a plastic bin that was 13 inches wide and three feet long.
Yes I have enough paper to fill it up entirely.
Yes I am aware this might be a problem.
At least now all the paper is in one place so I can retrieve it "faster" so far that just means
I leave paper everywhere as I try to decide which prints I want to use most

So far I have the following categories:

• grid
• woodgrain
• red
• yellow
• neutral (kraft, black, grey and white based papers)
• Sassafras Lass
• Crate Paper
• vellum
• cardstock

This all came about after a conversation I had several months ago with other scrapbookers right in the comments section of this very blog.
I made the bold statement that organizing paper into ROYGBIV is too time consuming and obsessive.

Then a favorite scrappy friend admitted she loves playing around by organizing her stash and that it it's her favorite way to get page inspiration.

Well alrighty then. I'll give it a go.

2x3 inserts- oh so cute!
And SO time consuming when you have to cut them out yourself.

I spent two hours shifting paper from one folder to another and admiring prints.
Not the best use of my time.
It's good to review what I have but the basic problem- too much crap- hasn't been solved.

Also- the first 4 boxes finally made their way over to Materials For The Arts- a great local charity that does just as the title says.

Enough yapping.
Here are my first 2 Project Life pages for 2013.

This took 3 days. Deciding what papers to use,  cutting the cards and printing the photos this project is a MAJOR challenge. Maybe you can tell- I had a printer mishap. The black cartridge was almost done but still had enough to print 1 last page. I used the photos anyway. Getting a dedicated Project Life kit is a great idea but then my PL will look like other people's- it's hard enough to get bloggy readers to pay attention as it is! One thing is certain- I LOVE looking at the final pages! It's so great to see these little bits of life all strung together! Yes it's a ROYAL PAIN but I love the final product.

I like this spread more- more color, more fun with Scrap Fx chipboard, and the colors matched a bit more since I stuck to Glitz Color Me Happy. I'm about to tackle another 2 spreads- think I'll just stick to 2 12x12 pages cut into pocket size- it might be a bit boring but you have to get into the swing of things with this type of project.

So- how do you organize your scrap space?

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle