Copic In The Craft Room

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Michelle — 3 Comments

September Photo a Day part 2

Here is my next batch of photos from the Get It Scrapped photo a day challenge for September. If you would like to see the full list click HERE and join us in the forums to play along.

11 – The Joy Luck Club

Can you see the joy?

12 – The Happiness Project

I am busy de-cluttering my house one shelf, or drawer at a time. This junk drawer got attacked first and is now making us all happy!

13 – “Small acts of kindness and love.” – Gandalf

This is a shredded napkin. It makes me laugh because this is what my mother does to napkins she shreds them. I had a very nice lunch with my husband this week at a favorite restaurant and at the end this is what I had left of my napkin. It reminds me of my Mom AND my wonderful lunches with my amazing husband double love!

14 – “A person’s a person no matter how small” – Horton

Yep creepy crawlies for fishin’. Not a person but certainly a small critter.

15 – Divergent

This really cool fire hydrant was beside our little fishing pond out in the middle of a big grassy property. Really right in the middle! So random!

16 – Rear Window

Here is my kitchen window. This is the rear window that is mine, I am here A LOT!

17 – The language of flowers

These flowers are from my youngest daughter several years ago. They came to me as a mother’s day gift in a little Styrofoam cup. They grew and grew, we thought we had lost them then they came back, more than once. We will be very sad if they ever finally give up.

18 – Let’s pretend this never happened

Yes. That is a waffle in the trash can, a burnt waffle. Pretty much regularly in this house I burn a waffle or a cookie. I just try to juggle one too many things while cooking and the treats pay the price. The girls are always up for “let’s pretend this never happened” though. Thanks girls!

19 – Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Not sure which is which but this is them!

20 – Rot and Ruin

We buy A LOT of produce in our house and eat most if not all of it every week. But every once and a while we have something go bad. The poor blackberries didn’t quite make it to the end of the week this week.

21 – “Reading is a gift” – Owen Meany

This girl knows it, she has a passion for it. I am sooo very glad!

One group left to go! Hopefully I will have them for you next week.

Have a great end to your week!

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Michelle

Ransom Titiles

There is a lot of new scrapbooking ideas at Get It Scrapped this week. I recently had a layout posted with an article about including ransom titles on your layouts. Here is what I created:

2 Wild and Crazy Girls by Michelle Houghton | Supplies: cardstock; Bazzill Basics, patterned paper; Echo Park and My Mind’s Eye, buttons; Button’s Galore, ink; Sharpie, letters; Pink Paisley, American Crafts, Heidi Swapp, Creative Imaginations, Basic Grey and Sandylion Essentials

The layout itself is based on a sketch in Debbie Hodge’s Scrapbook Coach class Criss Cross. I had a great time finding all my old random and pulling them together for my long title. Because of the “wild and crazy” title the embellishing became very minimal with just a few buttons and doodles with a Sharpie paint pen. Every time I put buttons on my page now I am compelled to put thread through the holes. Emily Pitts says she thinks they look like little eyes staring at her when they are not filled and now I can’t get that image out of my head ha ha. I shared a tip in the article as well, when I did this title I actually put all my letters lightly on a sheet of clear plastic first so I could see how they would all fit together without committing to the series. When I found the combination I liked I transferred them all to my layout.

Check out all the other beautiful ransom titles HERE

Have a great Tuesday! I will be back tomorrow with more September Photo a day pics!

Posted on September 15, 2013May 28, 2014 by Michelle

New Class!

I have a brand new class at Creative Passion! Here are all the details! Click on the image above to take you to the sales page.

This class is for beginners and intermediate students who are ready to start coloring images on their own.

In this new one of a kind workshop, we will be focusing on where to put your shading and learning why it goes there. During class homework students will be asked to work in multiple mediums, Copics could be one of the mediums you choose but you do not have to own any markers to learn, gain knowledge and participate fully in this class.

What will I learn in this class?

This class will be concentrating on the basics of shading and adding cast shadows to images. We will be using primarily simple shapes and forms to practice on during class assignments. Your lessons will include:

Week 1: Terminology, the “where” and the “why” of light
Week 2: Basic Shapes
Week 3: Transferring to complex shapes
Week 4: Adding color

Shading--PromoImage

How will this help my art?

Shading for Copic Artists –

Become more confident adding shading and dimension to your own images and stamps.
Learn how to start combining color families in your shading to add even more depth and interest to your coloring

If you are brand new to Copics make sure to first check out Copic Craze or a similar beginning Copic class so you know how to use your markers.

Shading for Art Journalers –

Learn how to help shapes take on a three dimensional look
Add shading on figures to give them more character and life

Shading for Painters –

Learn to add dimension to still lives
Add shading to portraits and figure studies

Shading for Sketch artists –

Take the guess work out of where to put shading
Learn how to place cast shadows

Your class will include:

4 PDF lessons you can print and/or save to your computer to come back to as often as you want
JPG images of grids and basic shapes to print that will help you with class assignments
4 videos that will compliment and expand on the written lessons
A private forum and gallery where you can get one on one help from Michelle and input from classmates

Register today and come back to the basics to learn how light works, how it will look on different shapes and forms and how it affects the area around an object.

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Michelle — 3 Comments

September photo a Day Part 1

We are at it again at Get It Scrapped! We are doing one more photo a day challenge for the month of September. (Doris says we are not doing them every month) BUT we are having great fun with them, at least I am. This month we focused in a little more and all the prompts are literary based. Needless to say I have not heard all the quotes, read all the titles or even know where all the references are from but in true form we get to just play along and interpret as we go:-) You gotta like that kind of game! If you would like to play along or even just get the list for yourself here is a link to the forums where you can find it HERE

And here are my first pile. After a little brainstorming with my parents this weekend I think I am caught up or even a touch ahead we’ll see as I put them in he he.

1 – “A Boo Radley Moment” from To Kill a Mocking Bird

I though for sure I read this at some point but after my Dad’s book in a nutshell version I am pretty sure I made it through a masters degree never having read it! So my mind stuck on the “boo” not knowing it was a character in the book and I have this photo of some silly Halloween cards I am going to give my girls and John in their lunches at Halloween. (now my Dad says this could work as it could symbolize the small gifts and note exchanged between Boo and the children in the book so double yeah for me!)

2 – The Hunger Games

So this is our 6.99 special to go along with Lori’s Halloween costume but very fitting for the title don’t you think? I did see the movie on this one so I at least know the story line. Think in a couple years might read it with the girls. We were not quite ready for this one yet.

3 – “Riddikulus!” Professor Lupin

I through this suggestion out there. The girls and i read the whole series aloud last summer ande fall, watching the movies after each book we finished. We still use Professor Lupin’s pronunciation of the word, I like how it sounds 🙂 And yes bowling shoes are Riddikulus!

4 – “We go together like peas and carrots.” Forrest Gump

Yep peas and carrots, mom and I, always have been always will be. (even with not so great photos he he) Oh and I saw the movie, honestly did not know it was a book oops!

5 – Happy at Home

This is me reading the book! Yep just got this one and I am so excited to read it. I did also discover that when I turn the lens around on my phone camera to look at me it all turns into a mirror image, sorry for all the backward lettering!

6 – Orange is the new black

No idea where this one is from, may be a book title BUT I did know what to take a picture of! Mom and I like to get our toes done together so while she was here for the weekend we got ours done and to celebrate the upcoming Halloween season orange was the color of choice! We always go for fun!

7 – 50 Shades of Grey

OK so I have heard of this one and I know that this image has nothing to with the subject but thought ever so appropriate for the challenge 🙂 there are actually 56 shades here if you are wondering.

8 – Great Expectations

Again not familiar with the book but I have two girls at my house with great expectations for their costumes this year. We settled on what to be, have purchased the fabric and now they anxiously await me getting started.

9 – Miss Perigrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

I better stop admitting to not having read any of these books or you are all going to think I have never read a book 🙂 Don’t know this one either but suites my girls just fine. Sara and Lori spent a half hour on Sunday wrestling on the grass in their Sunday clothes. They were being wrestling robots, we have recently watched “Real Steel” multiple times.

10 – Birds

Not a great shot and I closed in as best I can but we are along some major migratory routes for birds. All those black specs are a flock of them ( a small flock I might add) that took a break on a grass area near our home.

So just about perfect 10 down! I ma not sure I will get them all but I am feeling pretty perky about how I have done so far. I do have one more photo to share as well from last month

Looking Up

So if you happen to be driving around the Des Moines or Indianola area in Iowa and look up you might see one of these billboards. There are two of them as of now and guess who is on them… Yep me. I was filmed as part of a commercial campaign for the Des Moines area YMCA last year and they took a shot from it that has gone a little crazy. I am kicking away on flyers, newspapers, banners and now billboards. Crazy!

I will be back next week some time with more and I think more fun layouts from Get It Scrapped. Have a great rest of your week!

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Michelle — 1 Comment

Comics and Juvenile Prints

I seem to be in a pattern of having articles go up back to back at Get It Scrapped these days. It certainly makes it easy for me to share here. Here is a peek at some of the inspiration found the past week at Get It Scrapped:

This layout was part of a very fun, kid friendly, set of inspiration all centered around using juvenile themed prints, you know the cutesy stuff!

Turtle Shell by Michelle Houghton | Supplies: cardstock; Bazzill Swiss Dots, chipboard letters; American Crafts, buttons; Buttons Galore, journal tag; Jenni Bowlin, patterned paper and trim unknown.

I do not often scrap with juvenile prints BUT when I saw this particular paper I knew it was a must, I even knew which photos I would most likely scrap with it. I wish I still had the manufacturer to share but I lost it along the way. The fiber was one of MANY that my friend Brenda and I collect when we shop at CKC in Kansas City each year. We seem to be drawn to them and they are sold by the yard at many of the vendors. The problem is none of them are marked with manufacturers. They are already cut and hanging or thrown into big bins, all of which are tremendous fun to dig through :-). The green button was already in my monster stash, it is the only one I had and has the perfect turtle shell texture to tie the whole thing together. The “turtle shell” was a big deal in our house and is still being worn to this day so it deserved a special page all to itself. Check out all the other fun, pages HERE

Today a new article about using a current trend of comic books and superheros in layouts was posted. There are a whole heap of layouts and all were done so differently this is a really cool article with a ton of ideas to check out! Here is the layout I completed for the assignment:

Pow Bam by Michelle Houghton | Supplies: cardstock; The Paper Company, patterned papers; American Crafts, SEI and Doodlebug Designs Inc., ink; Sharpie and Copic

I think you can tell I had a great time putting this layout together. I had a pretty clear picture in my head of what I wanted to start; the black grid and the bold power words. As I started pulling papers the layout just started falling together. The words I created by hand. I lightly sketched them in pencil, checking for size, filled them with bold Copic color and then used a Sharpie to create the thick outlines. I fussy cut them out and added them to my layout with pop dots to “pop” them off the page even further. Make sure to stop by to check out the other 13 layouts all with comic and superhero inspiration HERE

I will have another post tomorrow! I have my first photos for the September Photo a Day challenge ready to go! I am excited that I will actually have photos of September this year!