michelle my belle

House Art

I did this mixed media 3 House series out of acrylic, label maker, inks, oil pastel, gel pens and a rubber stamp I cut myself. It may be hard to see but the rubber stamp is the frame part around the words stamped in brown. Finished off by making a print and sealing it onto 3/4" wood product and then applying two coats of clear coat. I chose the Love, Give and Laugh words cause these are some of the actions that I cherish in our home the most!

I hope and pray you have a lovely day today. Each day is a gift from above.

Cold Deliciousness

Pinkberry (in NY and CA so far), Yolato and Skinnidip in Portland on Burnside!

My new food obsession! This past winter in SF I was introduced to a new kind of frozen yogurt. It's like Plain frozen yogurt (the places generally refer to it as "original") a little bitter but sweet at the same time. You have to try it! It's amazing. We need one of these places in Vancouver!

Rest of our Vacay!

Who would have thought that gluing a bunch of shoes to a board and spray painting it gold would turn into a great piece of art! This is in a wonderful shoe store in downtown Santa Cruz.

On our way down to SF area/Santa Cruz we stopped overnight in Healdsburg in Sonoma. What a darling town with tons of cute shops and beautiful countryside. My kids and myself fell in love with Powell's Candy Shop. This shop is a must see if you get to Healdsburg. Full of nostalgia and wonderful details including a Wonka themed party room. I just checked out their website and it says that there will be a 5th location opening in Bend, OR! oh la la fun stuff!

We didn't actually get coffee here but I just fell in love with the look of the structure.

Our main reason for this trip was to visit Gary's mom, her wonderful husband Sid and Gary's brothers Mark and David.

I'll leave you with some crazy pics of my kids in white masks given to them by Grandma Sharon. We even walked around the block with them wearing these. Did people stare! Jess just kept on waving. funny girl.

Taking the Scenic Route for once!

(last Wed.) We planned on leaving late morning but didn't actually make it out the door till LATE afternoon! But, we were finally on our way to see Gary's family and a little extra. We decided that we were going to slow down on this trip and enjoy the scenery a bit more. Which included the Dutch Bros. Coffee stop! yum yum!

Then it was off to the Redwoods on the coast of California. You can check out my daughters blog (sidebar) for her commentating and opinions of the trip.

I loved these Paul Bunyan and Babe statues outside the Trees of Mystery!

I can't say my kids were too excited initially about the "trees". They did end up enjoying themselves and both thought it was pretty cool after all. I'm sure the ice cream stops helped!

More tomorrow and I'll try to throw some art in!

2008 Catalog!

The 2008 Allen Designs catalog is finally done! We (Katy and I, mostly Katy) have been working on this for a LONG time! It feels so good to finally see some proofs from the printer. Now off to figure out how to mail, label and package it. Exciting!

End of School-Hello Summer!

School ended last Tuesday and on Wednesday we headed down to California so I have a little back tracking to do. This is Jess and her bus driver. He's been the best and kindest bus driver either of my girls have had!

Tradition at Maple Grove is for all the teachers and staff to line up on the last day of school and wave goodbye to all the students as they leave. Brings tears to my eyes every year for the past 8 years! Especially this year since she will be going to Tukes Valley next year.

Hello summer! Hello...what am I going to do with my kids all summer!

Adventures in Camping

We went camping this past weekend with some friends and my parents up in the Hood Canal area. I haven't been camping in about 12 years! I figure it this way-we live in the country surrounded by trees, why do we need to camp! I admit it was fun... for the most part. We clammed and got oysters which was a first for me, did smores, ate and ate and played card games.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful! I managed a 10 mile run on Saturday. I love running out of town. It's such a great way to see an area. My hubby joined me for 5 miles. (this was fun since he generally rides a bicycle and doesn't enjoy running much)

It was nice to spend the weekend with my dad for Father's Day. I think us being with him camping and on the water was the perfect gift to him. This is my dad.

These are just some of the things I love about you dad!

-I love the way you laugh and enjoy laughing.
-I love how comfortable you make people around you feel.
-You are a great listener.
-You've taught me not to care what other people think.
-I love how you can fix anything!
-I love how laid back and relaxed you are.
-You've taught me to give everything 110%.

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you.

A Friend's Giveaway!

My friend Eryn is having a contest/giveaway to celebrate the opening of her Etsy shop. Go quickly to her blog for details cause it ends today/Wednesday. Are these not darling!

Balancing Motherhood, Friendships and Business

Did you notice I didn't say ART! That's cause I spent no time in the studio creating today. Even though I'm supposed to be getting a few more designs done for our new catalog that will be going to print by the end of next week. I do work better under pressure!

Today was a busy day!

1. Got my kids off to school

2. Went to the grocery store picked up some groceries and a Lunchable! This isn't a normal purchase for us but my youngest was getting a reading award at school today. I told her I would bring her whatever she wanted for lunch and a Lunchable was her request! The pizza one mind you! ick!

3. Swung by the school, dropped off her Lunchable, a smiley balloon and a note telling her how proud of her that we are. (i'm really trying to do more thoughtful things, these don't come naturally to me!)

4. Back home and began to prepare dinner for my family and for my friend Tammy's family. She just went into the hospital this morning to have her spleen removed and will be layed up for a few weeks. I'm 35 years old and this was the first time I have ever soaked beans! I have graduated to a new level of cooking. lol! (maybe i should have gotten myself a lunchable) Anyways, got the big pot of soup going.

5. Load of laundry in, made the bed, finally picked up the guest room from my daughter and her friend staying in there a few weeks ago.

6. Down to the studio to begin the daunting task of paying bills. Personal and Business.

7. It's almost 12PM, off to my daughters assembly (pic above)

8. Then off to town (the bigger town to ours, Vancouver about 10-20 min. away depending on what part) to pick up paint and clear coat for the studio.

9. Back home, finish paying bills, reconciling accounts, and filing.

10. 4:30 by this time. Grabbed a few yummy chocolate chip cookies and a couple mini pumpkin muffins that Alexis just made and it's off to the bank and post office.

11. Back Home, threw on my running shoes and ran out the door while the sun was actually shining for the first time in weeks. Got in 5 miles.

12. Showered, okay actually I just quickly rinsed. No one will be the wiser! Then it was off to this....

13. Golfing with 3 friends! We had to cancel our golf date last week due to rain. Today was perfect! Our golfing skills are a long way from perfect but we had a great time laughing and visiting

14. 9:13PM leaving the golf course and it was off to the hospital to see Tammy. I did take a picture of her loveliness but I promised not to post it on my blog : )

15. 10:30PM Home! Tired, everyone's asleep, returned emails and iced my hip, blogged and now I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

Update on Previous Post...

My friend Nicci on the previous post is having a CONTEST for a FREE SESSION. Check it out!