September, 2013 | Copic in the Craftroom

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!

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Michelle — 2 Comments

Photo a Day Part 5

Here is my almost finished August photo a day list. I have one more photo to take so it will appear later. We will also be doing a photo a day challenge for September. This time is is more focused and we are using literary references, like titles, quotes and thoughts from books. You can find the list HERE and come play along. I LOVE the ladies at Get It Scrapped we just all play at our own pace and in our own style. It is more about having fun 🙂

Day 27 – apple of my eye

OK so no apple but here is an eye and it has a food reference connected with it. The first time Lori met Maisey the very first thing she said about her is “she has onion ring eyes”. Yep not she is so cute, she is so soft, I am so excited, nope not Lori she gets a food reference in there and observes Maisey’s unusual eye color.

28 – coffee, tea or me

Hot chocolate instead for me please 🙂

29 – lemon

So I know this is silly but it is a lemon and this is where it sits forgotten shoved to the back of the fridge with ear medicine for the dog that we used last December and pickles that have not been touched in almost that long. I am sure I need to check some expiration dates back there he he.

30 – arrow to my heart

So a stretch once again but I am a sucker for good light. I LOVE finding the light glowing through foxtails or that golden hour on any subject matter. So I am claiming good light as an arrow to my heart, yep!

The photo I still need to take is looking up. I know what I want to take but have not found it yet. I AM GOING TO COMPLETE IT, I just haven’t gotten it yet 🙂