greenpepperpressblog

Michelle Ward/GreenPepperPress Blog

  • harmonic connection

    Mw_august_rush

    Loved the movie….have you seen it?  So charming.   I think Robin William’s "Wizard" could be a brother to Bono’s "Dr. Robert" from Across the Universe.  I also recommend Once – another great film about music.  (A reader told me to see it – now I can’t remember who ….but thank you!)

    Mw_once

    Mom came for a visit for our Spring Break and it ended up being a marathon of movies – at the theater and at home.  We even rented Sleeping Beauty – Fallon’s choice.  Yep, saw Enchanted too.  Fun that she still enjoys the fairy tales (even when I’m dyeing her hair goth black tonight.) 

    Mw_mom_visit

  • harmonic connection

    Mw_august_rush

    Loved the movie….have you seen it?  So charming.   I think Robin William’s "Wizard" could be a brother to Bono’s "Dr. Robert" from Across the Universe.  I also recommend Once – another great film about music.  (A reader told me to see it – now I can’t remember who ….but thank you!)

    Mw_once

    Mom came for a visit for our Spring Break and it ended up being a marathon of movies – at the theater and at home.  We even rented Sleeping Beauty – Fallon’s choice.  Yep, saw Enchanted too.  Fun that she still enjoys the fairy tales (even when I’m dyeing her hair goth black tonight.) 

    Mw_mom_visit

  • Good Friday

    On the calendar it says Spring.  Even if it might not feel like it where I am, or where you are, it soon will change.  Spring brings the promise of re-birth, of budding life, of color….a time to let yourself be motivated to open up and grow.  BRING IT ON!!

    Pinkartistbanner_4 

    You may have been keeping up with Monica and her amazing community project.  If not…where have you been?  You can see her posts HERE.  This is a woman who has opened her heart, worked her magic, and is still stitching love into an important cause.  Bookmark her now so we can blast her with encouraging comments, and keep updated on the Pink Artist Doll and the auction to follow.

    You’ll see in the photos below that sweet Lisa didn’t think her package was blog-worthy.  I am behind on showing you some cool things that have arrived here that I hope to post about soon….but I disagree with Lisa on this one.  It’s totally blog-worthy because I know you will squee with me when you see the perfect-fit-gifts she sent my way, just to make me smile.

    Lisa_giftyourock

    I’m off to the airport to pick up my mom.  Have a great weekend – and if I don’t get back here to post for Easter, have a good one.  Save the black jelly beans for me.

    EDIT:  for some reason my blog archives are flukey – and you can’t get to them by month.  So this is for you Chris:  DYEING PAPER post from last year….using up the egg dye on your scrap stash.

  • Good Friday

    On the calendar it says Spring.  Even if it might not feel like it where I am, or where you are, it soon will change.  Spring brings the promise of re-birth, of budding life, of color….a time to let yourself be motivated to open up and grow.  BRING IT ON!!

    Pinkartistbanner_4 

    You may have been keeping up with Monica and her amazing community project.  If not…where have you been?  You can see her posts HERE.  This is a woman who has opened her heart, worked her magic, and is still stitching love into an important cause.  Bookmark her now so we can blast her with encouraging comments, and keep updated on the Pink Artist Doll and the auction to follow.

    You’ll see in the photos below that sweet Lisa didn’t think her package was blog-worthy.  I am behind on showing you some cool things that have arrived here that I hope to post about soon….but I disagree with Lisa on this one.  It’s totally blog-worthy because I know you will squee with me when you see the perfect-fit-gifts she sent my way, just to make me smile.

    Lisa_giftyourock

    I’m off to the airport to pick up my mom.  Have a great weekend – and if I don’t get back here to post for Easter, have a good one.  Save the black jelly beans for me.

    EDIT:  for some reason my blog archives are flukey – and you can’t get to them by month.  So this is for you Chris:  DYEING PAPER post from last year….using up the egg dye on your scrap stash.

  • Maiden Name: KELLY

    Mw_st_pats_08a

    Mw_st_pats_08

    Test driving my new carvings.  I just looked back at my blog from March 2007….lots of Lucky Girl posts and even a story of where the name Green Pepper Press came from.  It makes me feel like I’m not showing the spirit this year – but I did carve today because a four leaf clover is one of my favorite images….just don’t expect a card from me, I didn’t schedule my free time very well. 

    Everyone is Irish today….don’t forget to wear your green, and have a lucky one.  Cheers! 

    My Aunt Molly sent this….and we say:  If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough!

    Being Irish Means…….

    * you will never play professional basketball

    * you swear very well

    * at least one of your cousins holds political office

    * you think you sing very well

    * you have no idea how to make a long story short

    * you are very good at playing a lot of very bad golf

    * there isn’t a huge difference between losing your temper and killing someone

    * much of your food was boiled

    * you have never hit your head on the ceiling

    * you spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling

    * you’re strangely poetic after a few beers

    * you’re poetic a lot

    * you will be punched for no good reason…a lot

    * some punches directed at you are legacies from past generations

    * your sister will punch you because your brother punched her

    * many of your sisters are Catherine, Elizabeth or Mary…and one is Mary Catherine Elizabeth

    * someone in your family is incredibly cheap

    * it is more than likely you

    * you don’t know the words but that doesn’t stop you from singing

    * you can’t wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can start talking

    * ‘Irish Stew’ is the euphemism for ‘boiled leftovers from the fridge’

    * you’re not nearly as funny as you think you are, but what you lack in talent, you make up for in frequency

    * there wasn’t a huge difference between your last wake and your last kegger party

    * you are, or know someone, named ‘Murph’

    * if you don’t know Murph, then you know ‘Mac’

    * if you don’t know Murph or Mac, then you know ‘Sully’

    * you’ll probably also know Sully McMurphy

    * you are genetically incapable of keeping a secret

    * your parents were on a first name basis with everyone at the local emergency room

    and last but not least… Being Irish means…

    * your attention span is so short that—oh, forget it.

    Mw_st_pats_08b

  • Maiden Name: KELLY

    Mw_st_pats_08a

    Mw_st_pats_08

    Test driving my new carvings.  I just looked back at my blog from March 2007….lots of Lucky Girl posts and even a story of where the name Green Pepper Press came from.  It makes me feel like I’m not showing the spirit this year – but I did carve today because a four leaf clover is one of my favorite images….just don’t expect a card from me, I didn’t schedule my free time very well. 

    Everyone is Irish today….don’t forget to wear your green, and have a lucky one.  Cheers! 

    My Aunt Molly sent this….and we say:  If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough!

    Being Irish Means…….

    * you will never play professional basketball

    * you swear very well

    * at least one of your cousins holds political office

    * you think you sing very well

    * you have no idea how to make a long story short

    * you are very good at playing a lot of very bad golf

    * there isn’t a huge difference between losing your temper and killing someone

    * much of your food was boiled

    * you have never hit your head on the ceiling

    * you spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling

    * you’re strangely poetic after a few beers

    * you’re poetic a lot

    * you will be punched for no good reason…a lot

    * some punches directed at you are legacies from past generations

    * your sister will punch you because your brother punched her

    * many of your sisters are Catherine, Elizabeth or Mary…and one is Mary Catherine Elizabeth

    * someone in your family is incredibly cheap

    * it is more than likely you

    * you don’t know the words but that doesn’t stop you from singing

    * you can’t wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can start talking

    * ‘Irish Stew’ is the euphemism for ‘boiled leftovers from the fridge’

    * you’re not nearly as funny as you think you are, but what you lack in talent, you make up for in frequency

    * there wasn’t a huge difference between your last wake and your last kegger party

    * you are, or know someone, named ‘Murph’

    * if you don’t know Murph, then you know ‘Mac’

    * if you don’t know Murph or Mac, then you know ‘Sully’

    * you’ll probably also know Sully McMurphy

    * you are genetically incapable of keeping a secret

    * your parents were on a first name basis with everyone at the local emergency room

    and last but not least… Being Irish means…

    * your attention span is so short that—oh, forget it.

    Mw_st_pats_08b

  • i’m a believer

    Mwbeliever

    Mw_believer1 

    Mw_believer2

    I’ve been involved in a Self-Portrait collaborative journal exchange – and this is one of the pages I made.  I was typing out strips of words that define me….I asked Fallon to come look at the document and tell me if she could think of another word.

    She said this:  Believer.  It took my breath away.  Believer.  She didn’t say shopper, or cook (which I’m not but kids don’t really know that), or car-pooler, or dweeb, or …..  She said Believer.  I know she didn’t mean it in the religious way, although I am that kind of believer.  She meant it in that I believe in people, I believe in friendships, I believe in love, and I believe anyone can make what they want of themselves.  Thanks Fallon, I will live up to your definition of me.

    The original above was for another artist (can’t tell who yet).  Below are variations done in PS to test additional palettes as I continue on this theme in my own journal.

    Mwbeliever2_2   

    Mw_believer12_2

    Mw_believer22

    Mwbeliever23

    Mw_believer123

    Mw_believer223

    is this running through your head?  i’ve been singing it all day.

  • i’m a believer

    Mwbeliever

    Mw_believer1 

    Mw_believer2

    I’ve been involved in a Self-Portrait collaborative journal exchange – and this is one of the pages I made.  I was typing out strips of words that define me….I asked Fallon to come look at the document and tell me if she could think of another word.

    She said this:  Believer.  It took my breath away.  Believer.  She didn’t say shopper, or cook (which I’m not but kids don’t really know that), or car-pooler, or dweeb, or …..  She said Believer.  I know she didn’t mean it in the religious way, although I am that kind of believer.  She meant it in that I believe in people, I believe in friendships, I believe in love, and I believe anyone can make what they want of themselves.  Thanks Fallon, I will live up to your definition of me.

    The original above was for another artist (can’t tell who yet).  Below are variations done in PS to test additional palettes as I continue on this theme in my own journal.

    Mwbeliever2_2   

    Mw_believer12_2

    Mw_believer22

    Mwbeliever23

    Mw_believer123

    Mw_believer223

    is this running through your head?  i’ve been singing it all day.

  • more tips

    Sometimes I carve right around the outline of an image that is a shape like the stars in the post below.  With a word stamp I will often leave at least one straight edge, marked with a gridded clear ruler or triangle so the edge is square with the image.  This gives me the opportunity to line up a stamp if I want to.

    Mw_carving_a_stamp11

    And a few more visuals – when I carve out a crowded area I like to use my exacto.  I tend to use the ‘V’ and ‘U’ shaped carving tools for cleaning out the blanker areas.  I don’t always trust myself with the ‘V’ to make all those curvey cuts.  I always cut on the right side of an image – constantly moving the stamp.  Often I can’t remember if I’ve cut a line so a bend the stamp a little to see where my lines are.

    Mw_carving_a_stamp12

    OFF TOPIC:  are there any other typepad users who have noticed funky things happening with their photo albums?  My thumbnails in the side bar keep changing.  They used to all be the same size and from time to time one or more get smaller.  I opened a help ticket but haven’t heard – was wondering if you had the same thing going on?

  • more tips

    Sometimes I carve right around the outline of an image that is a shape like the stars in the post below.  With a word stamp I will often leave at least one straight edge, marked with a gridded clear ruler or triangle so the edge is square with the image.  This gives me the opportunity to line up a stamp if I want to.

    Mw_carving_a_stamp11

    And a few more visuals – when I carve out a crowded area I like to use my exacto.  I tend to use the ‘V’ and ‘U’ shaped carving tools for cleaning out the blanker areas.  I don’t always trust myself with the ‘V’ to make all those curvey cuts.  I always cut on the right side of an image – constantly moving the stamp.  Often I can’t remember if I’ve cut a line so a bend the stamp a little to see where my lines are.

    Mw_carving_a_stamp12

    OFF TOPIC:  are there any other typepad users who have noticed funky things happening with their photo albums?  My thumbnails in the side bar keep changing.  They used to all be the same size and from time to time one or more get smaller.  I opened a help ticket but haven’t heard – was wondering if you had the same thing going on?