michelle my belle

Finishing Touches

Finished up everything at the factory. 17 new items developed on this trip. I wish I could show you now but you'll have to wait till Jan., or close to it, when we introduce the line at the Atlanta Gift Show. Sorry :(

Fruits offered by a street vendor, where they generally seem to fudge on the weight and charge you more. Negotiating seems necessary.

One last stop - Lo Wu Station.

 

To buy some silk and notions for fun to be had later!

And now, packed and soon to be heading to Hong Kong for a little adventuring and a meeting before heading HOME SWEET HOME!

zài jiàn for now

Food, Food and more Food

I'm not even sure what this is? 

Yesterday we went somewhere around Xinhai for lunch. We drove 1.5 hours in a car where the air conditioning could only get us down to 88º with no breeze. FOR LUNCH mind you! The 3 hour round trip was bad enough (thankful for a good book!) but adding the "drenched in sweat" part topped it off.

I'm not really complaining. Okay maybe just a wee bit.

 

As you can see, this is an open air market where you walk along and point to which creatures you prefer. They bag it up, you walk across the street to a huge row of restaurants waiting to cook it up for you.

These dishes pretty much speak for themselves. And yes, we ate the pretty creature pictured above. This meal came in at a price of about $130 US dollar.

It was so sweet of the factory to want to take me here. It was quite special and despite the discomfort I'm glad for the experience and their kindness.

Anyone tempted to join me on my next trip :)

Dafen Oil Painting Village

I cannot tell you how excited I was, going to the Dafen Oil Painting Village, and happening upon this large Carrie Chou sculpture! 

 
my personal change purse that i continue to adore

 
one of my faves

I first saw the Wun Ying Collection in the Hong Kong Airport a few years ago and instantly fell in deep love with her work. 

This village is quite large and consists of small street after small street of small galleries and workshops. There are close to 5000 artists and 600+ galleries who produce over 5 million paintings each year. Most being copies. There was everything from really ugly art (and trust me when i say this!), knock offs and reproductions to some quite talented artists flourishing in their own styles.

I was sad that we didn't have more time for exploration.

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I ran again today! 5 dripping sweat miles that felt like 10. I'm trying not to slack too much or my running mates will be kicking my butt when I get back home.

Wouldn't they like that! hehe

Hence, the importance of accountability and training partners!

Factory, Food and Wet Socks

This Dachshund Clock is one of our best sellers right now. I think he's pretty darn cute.

It was another long day in the factory today. I'm happy to say that most of the items are already approved and ready to pack. Just a few remaining! Most of the stress that comes along with these trips has now dissipated. We may even have a little time for shopping and the beach. hehe!

So far, so good on the food. Today's lunch consisted of lamb, a chicken and veggie salad thingy (bumpy chicken skin included, ick!), peppers and chicken (spicy like i like it) and some sort of deep fried bread. I did not leave hungry.

And, because I committed to YOU my dear blog readers and friends, I managed to run this morning. I don't know if you can tell from the picture how red my face is or not but it's about the color of a ripe tomato! I labored out 4 miles. Finishing completely drenched from head to toe. I could literally ring my socks out. 

Am I happy I did it?, you ask.

My day was better because of it!!

m.

ps. if you've messaged me through Facebook, i can't respond to you till i get home since i can't actually log onto Facebook to reply.

More China Food and Resin Molds

She is growing up so fast.

We finished all the sculpting today and they've already begun making the molds. I still can't believe what a quick process they make of this. I will be in the factory for 5-6 days and in that time frame we will finish the sculpt (i had sent drawings ahead of time), go through the painting process and finish 6 samples of each piece. On this trip I will leave with 17 new designs. This is what I LOVE about China!

This guy was selling some sort of candy coated fruit. I ventured out and tried one. ick! But it looked soooo pretty!

Tried an anchovy for the first time. ick again! 

Was asked if I wanted frog. it's been on the top of my list... NOT!

Finished up the day with some pan fried noodles table side. 

So far no running on this trip. It's been a low of 83º and a high of 91º with no wind and 66% humidity. I'm determined to run in the morning regardless. maybe since i've told you i will have to do it!

China and Yummy Eggplant

the United HK gate in the SF Airport. i stare at this artwork every trip.

I'm so glad to hear that you can see the images! I usually can when I create the post but for some reason I'm unable to on this trip.

 
flying into the Hong Kong Airport

I was initially a little nervous when I boarded the plane and realized I had 4 babies surrounding me in close proximity for the 14 hour flight. Thank the Lord they proved harmless.

Within Jess' first year I had to fly with her several times. She, to this day, is the loudest most disturbing baby on the plane that I've ever encountered! She would cry most of the flight, every time. People would get so angry with me, turning around to glare. Like that was going to help!

That being said-I'm very compassionate but SCARED to sit next to a "jess". :)

My first day in the factory included a good lunch with nothing weird. Tasty dishes of Tofu and Eggplant (pictured above) were among the selections.

I want to try to make something similar to this Eggplant dish when I get home. This recipe I found online looks like it may be close.

While searching for a recipe I came across Frederikke Tu's blog, which I could get to since it was thru her website and not an actual blog address. She's an artist, living in Taiwan, with a beautiful line of hand painted animated greeting cards. If you go to her blog and scroll down you'll see where she talks about the yummy looking cookbook, Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Noami Duguid, and an amazing hike she went on. 

Here's one of her sweet cards just for you. Hope the link works!

No Facebook! No Twitter!

 And on top of that I'm not sure that I can attach images to my blog posts! Let me know if an image shows up on this post would you?

I guess much of China is back to blocking Facebook and Twitter as of the beginning part of last month due to some rioting. 

I cannot imagine living here!!!

I arrived late last night. Went to the factory at 8:30 this morning and didn't get back to the hotel till 9:30. Long day with jet lag setting in pretty heavy at the end of it.

I'm really hoping that this post lets me attach an image so that I can share all the yummy (insert sarcasm) food I'm eating.

my eyes are betraying me and trying to shut

nighty, night my friend

Artfest Workshops!

samples of the workshops that i'll be teaching at Artfest this spring

Just a reminder that Artfest Registration opens up on Sept. 1. Click here to see more info. and links. I'd love to know if you are going or if you've ever gone.

Finishing up NYC

 

Just a few more quick pics of NYC. How do you like how I somehow managed to capture my camera in the glass building. No photoshop required! It must have reflected off the window I was taking the pic out of. I love those odd little surprises.

Just cause I love bicycles and yellow! 

 

Central Park

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Sorry to have been MIA. As you know, I just returned from NY on Thurs. I have spent the last few days spending time with my family and just trying to get rested up.

I did manage a 10 mile run with a friend on Sat. morning. And a 2 hour bike ride today with my hubby and Team Liberty Cycle.

I am off tomorrow morning for another trip to China. I will be posting much more frequently on my travels. I will need your company to keep my sanity! 

So... PLEASE come back to visit and leave me sweet comments :) I NEED YOU!

Funky Vase Designs & NYC

I'm still in New York at the gift show. 

Ran in Central Park, camera in hand. More pics to come.

Show is going pretty good, people seem to still be buying functional art.

It's hot and humid here. currently 80º @ 10AM 

Ouchy Blisters on my feet from the moisture and so much walking.

Happened upon the NYC Half Marathon and got to see Ryan Hall, Paula Radcliffe and Deena Kastor run. What a treat that was!

For fun, thought I'd show you some vases I designed a few years ago.

We did a limited edition of 300 of each of these designs.

Someday... I'll revisit vases.

I haven't done anything lately to work on my list . But, Tammy did a list of her own. Her list is meaningful and sweet, including things like "volunteer" and "finger paint".

So many times it's the simple things that we ignore.

If you've done a list of your own, I'd love to see. I also added a list of links on my list post if you'd like to be included.

Let me encourage you to write your own list.

Leave me a comment below telling me one thing on it and your mailing address and I'll send you a surprise gift in the mail.