michelle my belle

Carrara & Loro Ciuffenna, Italy

one evening we ate dinner in the darling town of Loro Ciuffenna.


they were having all sorts of festivities going on, bingo being one of them.

i'm sure this is just one of the precious walking towns of Italy, but i so loved it.

one of the days we started our day on the western coast of Italy.
can't remember the name of the town.

then began our trek up into the Carrara Marble Mines.
 
after 3 hours of climbing we finally reached the summit!

this is a view from about half way down.
the descent was fast and full of tight switchbacks.
SO MUCH FUN, a smile plastered to my face the entire way down!

and then of course, gelato-always being a great finisher!

Reggello, Italy area

here are some random pictures of an area just south of Florence...

keep in mind, many of these pictures that i've already posted and will continue to post are from the little point and shoot while riding. so lindsay (my wonderful photography mentor)... i know you're looking at this, don't judge me by my pics! haha :)

this is looking out from the bed & breakfast we stayed at for several nights.
LOVE this place!

on the sidewalk in Reggello.

uh, YUM!

and YUM some more!

my husband. he isn't posing for this, promise.
are you sick of my italy pictures yet?

cycling Lago D'Iseo-Italy part 2

from Milan we (my husband, our friends-Kevin & Stacey and myself) headed northeast to Lago D'Iseo.

here the guys assembled our bikes...

and we rode.

through little charming towns on little narrow roads all around the lake.


of course we had to stop for gelato and cappucino's midway! ahhhh-heaven!


such a beautiful area.
and thank you Lord for such a lovely day.
last time we were here it rained a lot!

etsy treasury

last night i had some fun putting together this little treasury of owls by other etsy artists. so many amazing artists out there!

Italy part 1

we started off our trip in Milan visiting one of our distributors, Enesco, at the Macef Show.it was a treat to meet some of our Italian customers and see our much loved distributors in action.

a then it was off to enjoy this beautiful day in Milan!

walking around the corner, the Milan Duomo literally took my breath away!

utterly magnificent.

and so was this!!! i was going to try to keep record of all the flavors i ate...
oops, too many to track!

and bikes for rent! super cool.

i have much more... part 2 tomorrow.
xoxo-michelle :)

buono sera!

most of my life i have not gone along with things that are "popular".
but can i just say...i LOVE Italy.
for so many reasons.
not so much the cities, but the countryside.
if i weren't so tired from getting up at 3AM i would share my reasons and more pictures.
it will have to wait till tomorrow.
xoxo-m

(follow up-i obviously don't speak Italian since i even wrote buono sera wrong! should be buona sera, forgive me!)

random quick post and off to Italy!

so, this is going to be short and sweet.
my husband and I are off to Italy with some friends to do a little business and ride our bicycles!
we're so excited to eat lots of Gelato, and i mean LOTSA!
i'll be posting from there intermittently so be sure to check back.

here's a new piece of art that i just finished. it's in our shoppe along with a few others. click here to check them out.

and a little something else i've been working on. loving this piece!

oh!!! and we now have FREE GIFT WRAPPING available on our website!!!
my fave is the orange and gray wrap!

ttys my friends!
xoxo

new whimsical in the shoppe!

new things have been added to the shoppe!
this Kitty Kitty clock, which we make here in our Battle Ground, WA studio.

these cheery note cards.

Wise Cracker the whimsical owl clock. also made here in our studio.

hope you had a restful Labor Day weekend.
happy Fall!

squirrel & nutty love

here's what i worked on all day today.
and still not quite finished.
i have big plans for this little guy. hehe.
okay, maybe not big plans but, i do have some new things i'm playing with.

and LOOKY!
i got a surprise gifty in the mail!
from the super sweet Meg Duerksen of Whatever!
look how cute she wrapped it!
i was so proud of myself for not ripping into it till a picture was taken.

she knows me so well!!!
bicycle LOVE.
someday, Meg, i hope we meet in person!
thank you for my waterbottle!
xoxo