Miller June 2023 Update!

A bit more of a slower month. We wanted to work on various projects sitting around at home and rest more. Sleep has been a struggle for us so we took a few days to try and recover each week. Not that we weren't doing things, but most are still "work-in-progress" and not quite ready to show. Our health dropped (physical injuries requiring no movement to depression sapping all of our energy or focus), but we still managed to be somewhat productive this month. Took it slow and mostly planned and prepped for next month.

Oh and so sorry about some of the links not working! Such as the ATC downloads. If you come across an issue or error, please feel free to reach out and let us know. We tend to do a monthly check and can definitely fix it sooner if brought to our attention! Thanks~

So now, what then did we do?

Gardening!

(First picture you can see one of our plants puncturing the stalk of a nearby plant; Second picture is our growing plot!)

Our Garden- we are growing dill, cilantro, lemon balm, mint, chives, garlic, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, onion, and strawberries! We have a plot in our local community garden and are trying to grow a few things that we would enjoy. If we happen to move into a house here in Colorado, we will try to take some of these seedlings with us. If not...anyone else possibly interested if there is any at the end of the season? If we have any extra we can't use, we would like to know who would be interested in taking them! This is more of John's side of things...I don't quite have the patience for it or I don't realize how much time passed and they die. So I'm very glad he is taking care of it.

Michelle took some photos of the other growing plants in the community garden:

Artwork!

Michelle only created one piece and John worked on other projects.

We didn't complete much art this month: Michelles' one Constellation and John's work with creating more sticker and paper designs. Most were brainstorming, planning, curating, organizing, editing, etc. We hope this next month our home will be cleared out a bit more so we have space to continue other projects. With that, we will be able to show more of our processes through time-lapse videos too! Tons of ideas and so little time or energy.

Sherlock is adorable. She keeps us happy and definitely our ESA!

Tons of rain this past month! Some projects were put on hold for weeks until it was sunny and warm. We had a project we were working on for a friend and got a little stressed that we weren't able to work on it for almost 2 months. Each sheet takes a few days so we needed to get started quickly. This was what we were working on:

Recycled Handmade Papers!

Aren't they gorgeous? Back into the swing of things to the process of recycled papers! Time to separate the spam mail and turn it into something else. something BETTER.

I had to make quite a few large sheets for John to use. Each is about 16"x14" and took up a lot of space. Meaning I could make about 2 or 3 a day. The time it takes to make each 'sheet' here is about 30mins (with my paper pulp pre-ready). For the drying, they can take up to 48hrs to fully dry and be ready to peel off. Now they are sitting for the next stage which is up to John now. He has an AI-generated papercut idea he is going to use with these papers. The design will most likely change based on the colors I was able to make and he still needs some time to create those SVG files. We will try to keep you updated on how the next steps look!

With that, I got back into making papers with the weather more consistently warmer. Wanting to use up as many papers as possible to prepare for the bookmaking stage for winter. Hoping this month to work on the video of our papermaking process. We don't have the basic setup or tools that most papermaking experts/books insist you have. But our method works just as well! Plus we can make it cheap and very affordable. A fun process for anyone of any age. I even have other classes planned for teaching other steps like turning these papers into flowers! (BEFORE they dry) Again, planning is in the process. I have a picture of it on our Instagram account (@M.J.MillerMayhem) of you really want to see it. Otherwise, it'll be released here on the website when there is more to cover.

Events!

Our ATC Event last month! It went well! Had a new person stop by to learn about us from our Top Hat sign at the front door. Great to know our signs are working! I think it was a very productive event and again...I remembered to take pictures after I was mostly packed up. Once the library says they are closing in 30mins, I tend to panic and forget. Hopefully next time I will remember in time to take pictures!

Next month is the focus of Mixed Media! (July 28th in the East Annex at East Library from 3:30pm-5:30pm.) We will be working with MULTIPLE layers in a step-by-step process. This will be a little different from our previous months as there will be sections to work on with your cards for each step. We will also provide a make-n-take kit for you to start with at the event! (Or you can take it home knowing the steps you learn from the event). Either way, we are excited to keep building each month to be better than before!

Who Gives a SCRAP Art Swap last month was a blast! We were at 21C for this fun art swap! The next event will be July 15th at Sand Creek Library where you can bring art/crafting supplies to trade, pound for pound for something you would want to use! We managed to snag quite a few materials that will be found in future ATC kits! A lady who attends these swaps and has seen us, now two times prior, brought us a bunch of items to add to future kits! So you'll be seeing some cute little items, words, and embellishments in there soon. (She was super sweet and even worked all month to have them ready for us!!) The Art Swap turned over 1000 pounds of items back into the community! That's a LOT of supplies! (You may be able to grab a few free items if you come at the end before clean up. It's very helpful for the workers that they don't have to drag stuff back to the store to sort what was left behind...so swing by just to see what's left!)

I've been having a lot of fun collecting art materials and curating them into art kits for people to take home. Every time is a surprise and tons of excitement! We are very lucky to be partnered with WGAS.<3

Crafting!

We have been really focusing on making as many as we can. Now we have a small backstock of kits and will be working on new locations to be offering these. If you have an event you'd like to have kits for kids/teens/adults to work on, feel free to message us! Our goal is to get people creating and hopefully trading their artwork! We have one location where another Trade Display may be put up. Still in the works and may take a little time but will be around the north part of downtown? We shall see!

I have started with some basic sets to get things started. I do have to create and write more instructions based on items I come across, this month I hope to have time to create more instructions and ideas to be available here on our website for you to use at home. Our time has sadly slipped away from us this month so thank you for being patient.

Also! If you have grabbed some bags prior and aren't sure what the numbers are, these are what they hold inside! We are working on possibly creating a sign at the trade locations to give an idea of what kit has what...but for now this is the go-to reference.

ATC Trade Display-> Up to 5 different free kit types available:

1) Colored Pencils or Crayons with Stickers

2) Crayons and Alphabet Stickers

3) Black ATC Blanks with White Crayon

4) Rub-ons with Crayons

5) Collage Pieces

As of today we have created and handed out 134 at our WGAS Trade Display! About 60 are sitting in our home just missing ONE item before being 100% completed. So we are on a roll! Excited to possibly have more places to leave them~ We are looking for groups: churches, schools, businesses, and therapy centers who are searching for these to use with their people. Send us a message and we will work with you and your specific needs!

Next up: Our Scrapbook Paper Focus. John is working on creating designs for whatever need we come across. A friend of ours was looking for a certain set of designs so we created 5 unique ones for her. She will be offering those on her website for free for you to use for your own personal art projects!

We are still creating new scrapbook paper designs as well as sticker designs in tandem with our Children's Ministry Pastor! Also working with Crafter's Clique in providing tons of art resources such as websites, tools, free papers to download, and clipart for your at-home artsy needs! Lots of exciting ideas are still in the works.

Other~

John's bday went well! We went for a nice walk up at Saint Peter's Dome. The road was terrifying...it took us 30 minutes to drive SEVEN MILES. Lots of roads that washed out down the mountain so sharp corners for only one vehicle at a time. But we got lucky and ended up being a very pleasant day. Very cold but as you can see: lovely!

Here are some photos we took from that day~

Oh and Michelle's birthday is coming up in July! For her birthday, she would love it if you would check out their art on stickers shop and purchase your favorite(s) to take a vote on what you think are the best designs! <3 If she seems a bit depressed, don't worry. It's normal. By default, when it gets closer to her bday she gets depressed as more than half of her bdays were left crying and many suicidal. So though she isn't suicidal anymore, the depression pattern is still heavily there. It'll pass once it hits the 12th. Just know she is trying to be happy and has improved slightly each year, but not something that can be 'forced'. Every year we will try to improve!

But seriously, the best gift would be for you to pick a sticker design we have created and purchase it to show that you are voting for THAT design as your favorite. Even if just one, that would mean a lot. We greatly appreciate you! <3

Thanks for spending the time to read our monthly update!

(also...Art 3 post is way behind yes I know...we will have to release it this month. ._. So sorry)

We wanted to take some nice photos of the recycled crayons we created!