Author: Michelle

This month Get It Scrapped is exploring Visual Storytelling.  In an article that posted Monday I shared a layout using a timeline to share a story.  I loved seeing the deferent forms of timelines as well as the different spans of time they covered.  Some reaching well back into history and others, like my own, capturing a story that only lasted a minute or so. HERE

Two Headed Sand Monster by Michelle Houghton | Suppiles: cardstock; Bazzill Swiss Dots and Colorbok, letters; Basic Grey, American Crafts and Jilly Bean Soup, ink; Sharpie, kraft bubble; Maya Road

I think the hardest part of doing this particular layout was getting the photos the right size.  I printed them several times before getting them just the right size.  Once I got that, the page fell together very quickly, it really is a very simple design.

As I promised here are a few of the pages I completed in Las Vegas this past weekend.  I photographed several of them after they had been slid into an album so please forgive the reflection on the plastic sleeves 🙂  I am not going to include the supplies, but if you want to know about anything just ask!  Many of the pages are built primarily out of Jenni Bowlin kits and Freckled Fawn kits.

So there is the first installment, I really had so much fun!  It felt so good to be sitting near 2 dear friends, chatting, laughing (a lot), eating (a lot) and playing with paper all day!

Happy scrappy day to you!  More to come tomorrow!

Just a quick check in and then I will load up this week with art work!  I went to an super duper fun filled day crop with two of my very best friends.  Brenda Neff and I hopped on air planes and dropped in on our friend Tami Taylor in Las Vegas!  She was hosting the event and we helped her organize on Friday and then cropped all day on Saturday!

I got 20 pages done yes 20!  I am so glad I went mostly seeing Tami and Brenda but all the good food and spectacular scrapping time was pretty sublime as well.  The group includes a lot of amazing, fun, crazy scrappers and crafters.  It was truly a pleasure to be so warmly welcomed into their ranks for the weekend.

My plan is to share a few of the layouts that I completed over the next few days.  I have to say it was well worth the hour or two that I spent organizing my supplies and going through my embellishments and organizing,  most of the layouts went very quickly and although none of them are crazy fancy, most are pretty cut and paste, I do like them all.  There were none that made my teeth itch.  In fact a few are quite nice 🙂  So I will photo tomorrow and then try to share a few.

In the mean time Copic is adding it’s last few locations for the 2014 season and I have updated these in my Copic class listing.  You can find the link to them all down the right side of my blog.  Easy Peasy!

Happy Scrapping and Coloring!

Welcome all you blog hoppers!  I am thrilled to be participating in a Scrapbooker’s Blog Hop!  My very dear scrapping friend Christy Strickler tagged me last Monday.  I was honored and not a little humbled.  Christy is a fabulous scrapper and writes one of my favorite blogs to check in on!  She is consistently posting wonderful information and inspiration.

So on with the fun stuff:

What am I working on right now?

I am writing A LOT!  I am knee deep in writing 3 new classes; a Sketchbook Challenge that consists of 40 challenges, a refresh of Copic Craze a beginning level Copic class and a brand new Copic coloring class.  I am also busy coloring up new images for the new Copic classes for the 2015 class season.  I will be teaching all over the country this year for Imagination International Inc.  and I can’t wait to get started.  Sorry I can’t give you a peek at those yet, but let me tell you the new classes are AMAZING!

On the scrapping front I have been busy, busy!  I have managed to steal a few minutes to get some fun scrapping done on top of my assignments at Get It Scrapped. Here are a couple that I like.

How long does it take me to create a project?

It is completely dependent on what I am adding to the page.  I tend to add hand made touches to many of my pages and that can take time.  The pages above only took about 30 minutes a piece, but if I am doing a page with a lot of ink, doodling, hand stitching or something like that it can take up to 3 to 4 hours to complete a single page.  This page from a few months ago took closer to 3 hours with the inking, doodling and collaging of photos.

What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?

I am loving playing with wood veneers, trying new mediums like Paper Crafter Crayons, Gelatos and a Geli plate I was gifted about a year ago.  I just like playing in general!  And I have been LOVING getting my Copics flying again.  It has been way too long and I am so excited to be focusing back in on that part of my creating again!

How does my writing/creating process work?

A lot of my creating these days centers around assignments and projects these days.  Writing classes for Creative Passion, writing tutorials and Creative Team assignments at Get It Scrapped and now the new classes for Imagination International.  So many of my projects are starting with a specific focus.  If I manage to find a few free moments I usually start a new page with my photos.  I pick out photos that I love and next comes papers.  I lay out photos and papers to get a general feel of placement and then fun part, the icing on top!  I add the embellishments, the painting and doodling or splatters of ink.  Often i will take a phone photo of my photos on the papers then pull it all apart, add the fun artsy layers and then put it all back together again using my photo as reference.

How do I become inspired and stay inspired?

I spend a little time every week on Pintrest and Feedly, my blog reader, skimming through and saving ideas for inspiration.  I also LOVE both Masterful Scrapbook Design and Scrapbook Coach classes over at Get It Scrapped.  They both are a HUGE part of my creative process these days!  If I loose my mojo I just refer back to one of those or focus in on one of my current assignments/projects and I usually get the kick in the pants that I need from that.

What is my signature style?

Style wise I am an artistic doodler.   I don’t get it on every page but it is who I am.  My favorite work always includes doodling, inking, painting or something of that nature.

Several of my favorite blogs have already been featured along the Scrapbooker’s Blog Hop; Christy Strickler, Amy Kingsford, and Doris Sander, but you all would like to see someone new so here are two more scrappy friends that I love to check in on!

Tami Taylor

Sue Althouse

Both of these ladies have provided me with oodles of inspiration and besides they are both lovely women!  They will each share more about their process and doings next Monday, September 15th.

Happy hopping and thank you so much for stopping by!