Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Letter to your Teen Self.

Hello happy people!!!

I've been sooo busy avoiding any and all crafty pursuits. My mojo is gone fishing for the moment.

This latest Inspiration Elevator challenge freed me up a bit.

I started thinking about what I would write, how to make it relevant to my life today and to my primary audience (always Miss Lola) when suddenly the page's design mattered less.

This is a good thing as I usually get so wound up making an "original" design, my story (the whole point of making a page) takes a back seat.

AHA!!!! Here is how the page appears when I link up to my Flickr! 

You can also see everything else in my Flickr account... excuse me as I learn the internet.. again.

Here I'm using an iPod Touch and the AfterLight app to shoot and retouch my pages.
Blogger seems to be compressing the files and rendering them incorrectly.
You can try clicking on it to get a clear look- my apologies.
I started off with the 2 A Flair For Buttons flair and a Crate Paper background.
I didn't want the page to look like one of my usual scrapbook projects so I resisted
adding a photo at first but I have a bunch of these under exposed Instax Mini shots
lying around- each of those prints costs a dollar so you better believe I'm using them all!

Basically the text reads- don't sweat the failures- you get one thing right and it's the most important thing of all. 

I was talking to a past and even MORE resistant version of me so I get pretty stark in my words.

If you think I'm overly pessimistic and broody at 40 you would have LOVED me at 16.

The teen years are hard for everyone, your moral values and ideals are mostly set in place but you fall all over yourself either trying to prove you are independent and grown up or running away from doing so.

So without getting bogged down in the details (which my teen ear would have rejected anyway) I decided to give my past self some comfort. I'm not the walking error machine I was convinced I was. 

I was -am- pretty freaking great at figuring things out.

I'm almost ready to give up the hunt for perfect design and just keep doing this in all my other pages.
Scrapbooking has gotten too complicated.

And now a word from our sponsor:

You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and extend ourselves. You can view all of the challenges at our Inspiration Elevator Blog, here. 

Our challenge this month was posed by the very talented Ann Jobes. Here's how she expressed this month's challenge:

My daughter subscribes to Dance Spirit magazine and I sometimes browse through it, too. One of my favourite monthly features is an article that features a different dancer each month, some photos of that dancer, and a description of their current work, and (the best part!) a letter. The theme is a Letter to My Teenage Self. The content ranges, depending on the dancer and his/her experience, morals, ideals, etc. So this month's assignment is to write a letter to your teenage self. You can take any approach you'd like to this - scrapbook page, art journal page, canvas. However the prompt inspires you. And your content is of course up to you, as well. Some topics might be: what would you try to teach yourself? Or, what would you counsel yourself to do or not do? This does not have to be a page about regrets. It could be about congratulating yourself on something you did right that has contributed to who you've become today. 

Here is a photo of a recent magazine feature, if it inspires you:

Please visit the other Inspiration Elevator designers' blogs and see how they solved Ann's challenge:

Ann Jobes 

Laura Whitaker

Lisa Moen

Cathy Harper

Joanne Burton

Jodi Wilton

Michelle Hernandez

We would LOVE to see you take up Ann's challenge this month, so if you do, please share it at our linkup on the Inspiration Elevator blog.

Get writing mi gente!

Pumpkin picking madness.

Inspiration Elevator- Facing Your Greatest Life Challenge

Hello!

So I've blogged plenty about my greatest life challenge.
It wasn't moving to Utah.
Now that it's getting closer to spring I could ALMOST like it here.

My greatest life challenge was seeing my little girl look like this:

Lola was born 6 weeks early with a condition called Chylothorax where
liquid normally recycled though the heart and out the body drained into her lung
cavities. Luckily her actual lungs had developed just enough to allow normal breathing so
she spent three weeks in the NICU with tubes inserted into her sides to drain the liquid.
She was in constant pain and I couldn't hold her for the first 4 days for fear of dislodging the tubes.

Miss Lola- hyper active, able walk at 10 months old, curly headed and sleepy eyed, currently refusing to eat anything for breakfast- is perfectly fine these days.

In 2009 I found out I was having a baby and lost my job job all in the same day.
To say I was shocked and awed doesn't explain the half of it.
And life has been crazy ever since.

Jobs we thought stable are now gone.
Neighborhoods that were affordable suddenly became the center of the cooliverse and filled with grocery stores selling exotic fruit vinegar for 20 dollars a bottle.
Moved to find new opportunities but found our backgrounds were still lacking.

 "Starting over" isn't fun- it's excruciating.
The hardest part is letting go of your expectations and your past.

So this is my page for the month:

For my page I chose to add the story to several tags behind the photo for a cleaner layout. 
I recently showed Lola the hospital photos because she asked about the small holes under each arm.
I told her those marks make her very special as only 1 in 10,000 children are afflicted and survive birth.
I used Jenni Bowlin stamps, Basic Grey alphas. The wood alphas are from Recollections
and the little wood hearts from Cocoa Daisy's January kit.

Here is the group challenge:

You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and extend ourselves. 
You can view all of the challenges our Inspiration Elevator Blog, here. 

We are thrilled to welcome back Audrey Yeager this month as a guest designer. Audrey recently came into ownership of My Scraps & More online store, and has graciously offered a prize this month! Read on to find out how you could win!

Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Michelle Hernandez. Here's how she expressed this month's challenge:

"Inspiration Elevator Challenge February- Phoenix Rising.
I'm going through one of the toughest times of my life right now. Huge changes, dashed expectations, embarrassing set backs- it's all overwhelming, all the time. I have the love and support of my family and my health- so it could be worst but still - it sucks.
My challenge for February:
Tell a story visually or through your journaling that speaks to your greatest challenge and most importantly how you dug yourself out. This should be a celebration of your faith, personal resilience and/or creativity. A story you'd like to tell your kids, grandkids or yourself when things get rough. "

Michelle Hernandez

Ann Jobes 

Laura Whitaker 

Lisa Moen 

Cathy Harper 

Lisa Spiegel 

 Joanne Burton

Jodi Wilton 

Guest designer: Audrey Yeager 

We would LOVE to see you take up the challenge this month, so if you do, please share it at our linkup on the Inspiration Elevator blog. 

Extra incentive? There is a great RAK this month!

So, how do you win Audrey's prize? It's simple - leave a comment! 
Audrey will choose one random comment from one random blog to win the $15 gift certificate to My Scraps & More. 
Thanks so much, Audrey!

Swing by their blogs and check out how they met and beat their greatest monster.

Princess hair flipping lessons. 2/14/14

Have a great weekend- even in 2 feet of snow NYC. (LOL- it's 60 degrees and sunny here in SLC- how's THAT for silver lining?)


Michelle

Aha! A new post. On friday! About scrapbooking.

Hello!

This post comes to you via the HTML screen because the "compose" function doesn't work on PCs. ????

Fun times. 

The wonders of modern blogging. 

As you know I've dissapeared from this space for a while. 

Mostly because the sound of my pathetic whining was getting on my own nerves. 

Also writing on a ipod SUCKS. Prolonged suckage. 

So I'm testing this method out to see if it's gonna work.

So far no- I'm back on the ipod editing the huge block of text the html became.

Perhaps you missed me?

 (aha ha, just kidding!) 

Perhaps you find blogs terribly passé?

How rude!

But you can also find me on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. 

What I do:

Pinterest- pin salads, quilts and inspiration for pages I'll never make 

IG- post photos of Lola at home as I still lack a driver's license (laaaame)

Facebook- be reliably puzzled by my lefty political posts (and the occasional non controversial scrapbook page) 

But you're here so let's just hang.

This week I managed to finish a couple of pages. 

I forgot to mention I'm the guest designer for January over at Jennifer Bowlin Mercantile. Doh!! It's a great kit. Feb's kit is already up. So buy both. Lol.

I didn't think I would like this year's fancy name for purple "Radiant Orchid". But anything looks awesome with black and white. Sorry for uncropped pix- workng off my ipod here.

And I finally scrapped this photo of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in full cherry blossom glory. Never thought I would use up those felt flowers but they look great here. Thanks for busting thd orejudice Jenny B. Lol.

This weekend I will be going to my first crop EVER. Crossing my fingers I don't annoy anyone by singing out loud or focusing too much and not listening.

I'm not the chat and scrap type- my brain isn't big enough to do both. 

I'm bringing my paper, washi tape, glitter, some punches and lots of paint. 

Fingers crossed! 

I'll update you on how it went Monday. 

Sneak peek of my next Inspiration Elevator challenge.

Have a great weekend! 

Michelle

Inspiration Elevator Challenge: 10 years from today

You may recall that the purpose of this challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. You can view all of the challenges our new Inspiration Elevator Blog, "http://inkspiration.typepad.com/inspirationelevator/" 

 Our challenge this month comes from the very talented Jodi Wilton . Here's what she had to say in her very own words: 

"My challenge for January. The New Year is always about bettering 

ourselves; looking into the future, and making goals (some attainable, 

some not so much). Scrapbooking is about recording the story and most of

 these stories are in the past, so we don't forget the memories we 

created. For this challenge I would like you to scrapbook yourself, your

 family, or a particular family member 

and where you (or them) would like to be in ten years time. The focus 

for this challenge is on the journaling. Your layout or art journal may 

be in the form of a letter to your future self. Your layout may or may 

not have any photo at all and be all about the journaling. Dip deep! 

Really think about what you can (or they can) accomplish! What are your 

dreams? What are your goals? Good luck ladies!"

This was a great challenge. I often thimk about the future but don't get very specific. I visualize a future where I own a home and plant a garden. Where my daughter wants to hang with her parents even if they are super embarrasing. Where my husband has the job he wants and the telescope he's been dreaming about for years now. 

Im so sorry if this photo looks fussy- it's taken with my ipod and I can't figure out how to fix it- it looks clear when I check it out close up. A mystery.

An experiment in minimalism and restraint. Perhaps not my best page
but it's exciting to try a new thing.

Jodi Wilton http://luvalotland.blogspot.ca/

Michelle Hernandez  http://myanaloglife.blogspot.ca/

Ann Jobes http://www.lovestnpaper.com/

Laura Whitaker http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca/

Lisa Moen http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.ca/

Christa Uttley http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.ca/

Lisa Spiegel http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Joanne Burton http://scrappingoutsidethelines.blogspot.ca/ 

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Christmas photo memories

Hello hello!

Perhaps you've been wondering where I disappeared to for a month.

I started a new full time job with a schedule I haven't been able to squeeze spare time from.

I've wanted to get back to blogging and creating but this hobby sucks up time like no other.
Or maybe that's just my process- I knew what I wanted to do with this page- I just needed 4 hours to do it in- lol!

One of my all-time favorite Christmas spot is Macy's Department store in 34th street.
We won't  be in New York until Thanksgiving so I used a photo from last year.

That's Lola scribbling a "Letter to Santa" from our visit to the store last year.
She's literally just making lines but I LOVE the look of intense concentration on her face!!!

For this page I used some Studio Calico paper I got at TJ Maxx, wood star buttons from Prima,
red tag from Cocoa Daisy and a star flair from A Flair For Buttons.

You may recall that the purpose of the Inspiration Elevator challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to mature as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. You can view all of the challenges at the Inspiration Elevator Blog.

I have a very odd ideas about proper/good parenting.
One of my biggest quirks is the tell no lies rule.
It's absolute and can land me in plenty of social hot water.
Lola has no idea who Santa is- funny how this doesn't seem to interfere with the magic
and meaning of the holiday.
Here she's writing "Santa" a letter.
She has no idea why but that doesn't take away from the fun.

We are thrilled to welcome guest artist Misty Russell and her eclectic, artistic style to Inspiration Elevator this month.

 November's challenge comes from the very talented Joanne Burton. Here's the challenge she posed:

"November's Challenge: Back in Time.  I love looking through old photos (or not so old photos!) and remembering the great memories that go along with them. Some pictures evoke a strong emotional response while others just bring a sweet smile to our face as we recall the details of when it was taken. With that in mind, I would like each of you to pick a favourite photo and go back in time! I want you to take your photo and actually revisit the place where the photo was taken. Then take a 'picture of the picture' in it's original setting and scrapbook your new photo. **If you are absolutely not able to revisit the place where the photo was first taken, then pick a favorite picture with lots of memories attached to it and scrapbook that. 

In either case, I want you to journal the story behind your photo. Make your journaling and photo come together in such a way that we feel like we are back in time with you!"

 I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the incredible Inspiration Elevator designers have created:

Joanne Burton 

Jodi Wilton 

Michelle Hernandez 

Ann Jobes 

 Laura Whitaker 
Cathy Harper

Lisa Moen 

Lisa Spiegel 

Guest Designer Misty Russell 

If you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, please share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page. We'd LOVE to see what you made!

Have a great weekend!
Michelle