michelle my belle

plans change!

i had to laugh when i reread the last post...
"spend some good focused time in my home studio painting & not on the computer."
i think i really made my computer mad!
it completely bit the dust on Sat.
thank my GOOD GOD that i actually had a back up.
i took it in to the mac gurus here in portland and they informed me that it has a bad battery, bad panel thingy (can't remember exactly what they said) and a bad hard drive. boooo :(
the good news is- it's still within the 3 yr. apple care and they are sending it back to apple to get it all fixed up!
i can't do without a computer so I ended up getting a new one and will be gifting that one to my oldest, who really needed a computer for college anyways.

now that i'm back up and running, and mentally over the dent in my pocketbook, i'm thrilled to have a new computer!

oh, and as far as those goals...
i accomplished them all except for the swim and a few peppermint patties. :)

handmade hearts & happy valentine's day!

happy valentine's day!
the handmade stitched hearts for our top 30 customers are finally finished!
now to get them in the mail...


please don't mind the wrinkles.
...or the mismatched sized hearts.
yikes. the things you don't see till later.

i was planning on just doing image transfers but for some reason the transfer paper was not working.
so plan b it was. silk screening.

during the process i will admit to many, MANY- "what was i THINKING!" moments.

i used sari ribbon for the hangy part.
...and notice the wishbone-ish shape in the birds belly.
well. that's what it was supposed to be anyways.
kinda looks like a steak too.



as a heartfelt thank you for being one of my blog followers-
i'd like to do a little love giveaway!
to enter- just leave a comment here on this post telling me what you're ideal valentine's day would look like.

i will also be giving one away on our facebook page later in the day so stay tuned!

(both contests will end midnight pst valentines day)


p.s. thank you for all your feedback about watermarking my pics! i feel much more confident about it now.

i hate to admit it...

but YES, i'm still working on those valentine gifts for our customers!
most of them won't get them till after valentines day, that's is okay... right?
better late than never?
it's valentines week... right?


this isn't exactly what i ended up with, but close.
i'll show you the finished product tomorrow.
i think they turned out pretty darn cute. labor intensive, but cute.

p.s. do you hate that i put my website on the bottom of the photos? should it be my name? i just found, through a friend, where someone pinned my stairs- then it ended up on facebook with over 100 shares and there was no reference of where they came from. any thoughts???

colorful art journaling pages

still working on those customer gifts...
nothing seems to be going right!
meanwhile, here's another art journal spread that i did a few days ago.


this morning- for the first time in a very long time- i made hard-boiled eggs...
inspired dually by:
my friend reenie's sweet gift of fresh eggs from her farm.
and sandra juto's blog post today.
my tummy said "yum"!

hope you had a swell thursday boys and girls. :)

now off to work on some hearts... xo-m

heart crafting for valentines day

i'm trying desperately to come up with a cute handmade gift to give to some of our top customers for valentines day.
and, i pretty much need to finish them by tomorrow so i can send them to arrive on time.
hmmmm.

this is all i've come up with so far...

hopefully i'll be back tomorrow with something really genius to show you!

this is looking REALLY good to me right now!

art journal pages & getting warmed up

it's been so long since i've painted on canvas i feel like i'm having to learn to paint all over again.
the art journal is my perfect place to work out the cobwebs and loosen up.


my mom said i needed to check out this guys blog on leadership etc. (michael hyatt).
isn't this vintage lady super cute, i got her off a pattern of some sort.


the contrast of these two pages is making me laugh.
i didn't even realize it while in the throes of creating.
the "make me sick" part is my own battle with letting yummy food WIN. once again.
ugh. ugh. ugh.

hey, don't call me crazy!

i guess, better crazy than boring right?
that's what i tell myself when my kids give me "that look".

can't wait to make more of these!

both my girls are totally into cute headbands right now.
so, for this little batch of stitched felt, that's what i decided to make.

from start to finish this project probably took me a little over an hour.

(my youngest & her friend)

i'll try to take a few more pictures of the next one i make so i can write a little tutorial to go along with it. :)

happy saturday friends! xo-m

crafty time with felt & thread

i absolutely love the simplicity of crafting with felt.
not to mention the affordability of it.
some felt, embroidery thread and a few buttons/beads and you're set to go.

i'll show you tomorrow what this actually turns into... 

btw. the weather currently sucks here!

what to do with picture christmas cards?

remember my picture christmas card post from last year?
well, just in case you missed it... and are wondering what to do with all those awesome picture christmas cards.
i've got the most simple, cheap and quick way to organize and keep them.

all you need is a hole punch and some rings.
punch some holes (the same width apart), and put them together!

this year i took the pretty top off another christmas card and used it as my cover.

adding the year with this handy dandy thing of which i don't know the name of.

i bring them out every year and they're always getting looked at by us and by our guests.
this whole thing literally took me about 10 minutes.
ahhhhh.
i LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. quick accomplishments!