michelle my belle

Owl Art & Messy Studio!

I am excited to actually have a stamp turn out! The other times I've added too much detail and it ends up a disaster. I found on Gennine's beautiful blog a wonderful tutorial she just did on Hand Carved Stamps. I only wish I had more time to be creative right now. I'm itchin' to spend all day in the studio playing and piddling! Maybe after this weekend...

Here is a view of the chaotic state of my "upper" studio (this is where I'm creative and where we set up for the sale). After the long day of work in the "lower" studio (this is where the production and shipping takes place). I will begin cleaning, sorting and setting up for the weekend.

I wanted to let you know about a couple of my new blogging friends that also have their own small businesses. Meet London of My Little Dish and Jamie of Jamie's Painting & Design.

Have a great productive day!

"You will become as small as your controlling desire or as great as your dominant aspiration" (James Allen)

So Very Thankful!

We had a wonderful day enjoying family and good food. We took time to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. Most of all Christ giving His life so that we may be saved. In the end it is all that truly matters. I hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving too!

My little "Vanna" as Deb Girotti calls her! Two delicious smoked turkey on our Traeger Grill.

A first for us at Thanksgiving was Chipotle Sweet Potato Mash! Oh my, was it yummy. If you like a little zip I would highly recommend it. Just about a can of Chipotle chilies, a little over a pound of baked Sweet Potato's, 1/2 cup butter or so, cumin, salt & pepper and fresh cilantro. My friend Stacey gave me the recipe and recommended adding the chipolte's a little at a time to fit your taste. The zip adds up quick.

Monica, my cousin and Lex.

Gary's mom and her husband Sid drove up from N. Cal. What a treat this was.

My mom and dad.

And last but not least my lovely Aunt Cindy! (she's gonna hate this pic!) We were sad that my Uncle Kerry couldn't make it this year cause he was sick. Not quite the same without him!

Something new we played this year was Bingo! I couldn't refuse the new Bingo set from Restoration Hardware. Bad Michelle! (not in my budget!) I have learned something, Bingo isn't near as much fun without prizes! It was pretty cute watching my kids take turns saying the numbers with the little Fisher Price radio/microphone thingy! Brought back memories.

1st Annual GIRLS Turkey Bowl

Why should we quit having fun just cause some of us have kids, are 20/30 lbs. over weight and are completely out of shape? (i'm not talking about everyone here, just a few of us!)

We all met at 7am Thanksgiving morning, frost on the ground and COLD!! We played for about 1.25 hours and I couldn't hardly wipe the smile off my face after we were done. Exhilarating! I'm so thankful to have friends (and my 12 year old daughter) that like to still "play". If you're reading this and live nearby and would like to join us on our quarterly play let me know and I'll add you to my "fun girl" email list!

Enter to Win - Party Bird whose magnetic hands hold a snowman, heart or bunny depending on the season (all included), Snowman Picture Frame and a magnet! Value of $75 (shipping is on us)

Click here for more details.

7th Annual Studio Sale

17122 NE 219th St
Battle Ground, WA 98604
360.687.8454
888.606.8454

Directions:
I-205: Exit 32(Padden Parkway)
Left(north) on 117th Ave(SR503) Right on Main St. approx 2 miles
Look for signs,
driveway on left

Not Busy Enough!

It's not like I'm not busy enough. I volunteered to make a Thanksgiving treat for Jess's class. I started out having really good intentions of making them from scratch, found the recipe and made sure we had all the ingredients. This morning.... I ran to the store and bought boxed cake mixes, if I would have thought of it I would have even gotten the pre made frosting. As usual, the whole thing didn't quite turn out as cute as the inspiration but I didn't have the patience for the fruit leather and figured the school and the 2nd grade class wouldn't appreciate the toothpick part.

Finally got out the newsletter today/studio sale invite, answered about 45 emails, invoiced, returned phone calls and cupcakes.

I have been so blessed by everyone entering in my giveaway. Thank you! A special thank you to all of you who have linked back to the giveaway.

say it with letters

eight crazy

Mountain Musings

It's my crazy life, and I LOVE it....

An Island Review

Idea Girl

(i know there are more of you but i left my list in my upper studio and sitemeter isn't working at the moment, if i forgot you i'll be adding more tomorrow)

Goody Giveaway!!

Enter to Win - Party Bird whose magnetic hands hold a snowman, heart or bunny depending on the season (all included), Snowman Picture Frame and a magnet! Value of $75 (shipping is on us)

Here's 3 ways to Enter:

1. Comment on any or my blog posts from now till Nov. 30.

2. Sign up for our Newsletter on the top right hand side of this blog. No worries, we don't send many and the ones we do send include some amazing close-outs and giveaways.

3. Promote my giveaway on your blog : ) (feel free to pull this image to use on your blog)

Thank you for playing!!!

My Crazy Journal

I have wandered onto so many artist's blogs that feature their journal pages that I thought maybe I should try it. I love doodling and I have about 10 sketch books that I go in and out of never adding much color to any of the pages. In the airport on the way to China I bought a moleskin journal and decided I was going to try jotting down all my random thoughts, doodles, prayers, color combinations, books I'm reading and what ever else tickles my fancy. Ohhhh, I can't tell you how much fun this is. I can see why this is something that other artists treasure! And what a wonderful gift to hand down to my children. You will be hearing more on this subject I'm sure.

I did find this fun gal on YouTube that does some journal tutorials.

Just Working!

I haven't been quite the prolific blogger lately. Being in China cuts out all social responsibilites making time to blog every day.

Last week we received another container of much needed product. Here is our good friend Steve who happened to stop by and got roped into helping us. Thank you Steve! And Mary who has been working with me for about 2 years. I have finally given in to the fact that we can no longer get 40' containers up our driveway which I sure am thankful for when it comes to unloading! It takes 5-6 of us hustling about an hour to unload a 20'er and we are exhausted by the time we're done. We will be receiving 2 more of these before year end.

I'm still doing good on the whole "healthier eating" thing. I even bought whole wheat Boboli pizza crusts in which Lex made her infamous BBQ chicken pizza and I made a veggie and chicken. Hers was much prettier and probably yummier. I am still not eating sugar so I had to stay away from the bbq sauce. My family was honest with me and said the whole wheat crusts were not near as good as the regular ones.

Off to a busy day at work, Mondays always tend to be swamped!

Thank you to my uncle Kerry for your bravery and willingness to serve this great country. Don't forget to thank a Veteran today.

I will be married 40 years!

While in China I designed this magnet for a friend of mine who was throwing her parents a surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary party. What an inspiration. They still seem happy and in love. It's hard to find that these days.

I remember when we first moved out here to Battle Ground 7 years ago. We had great neighbors. Before a year was up they were getting divorced. I think they had been married for 20 years or something, and we were only married for about 7 years at that point. It's funny how their divorce upset me. I remember thinking "hmmm, maybe we won't make it?".

At this point I have no doubt that we'll be celebrating 40 years ourselves some day. It's not always easy, but we are both committed and we love each other.

It was an honor to celebrate that special night with Jill and her parents.

Because both Jill and her mom are totally into art. Jill hired this artist to come and do a live painting during the celebration. This is Thom Bierdz, he used to be a soap opera star. Not sure which soap opera?? Pretty cool idea! Anyone want me? ha!

gotta go, only had a moment! busy season!