michelle my belle

the finished dolls & dudes!

this class was SO MUCH FUN!!! (well, besides our toaster ovens kicking the breaker box 30 times)
it helped that everyone in the class were artists in their own right and had NO LACK of creativity!

i wanted to take them all home with me.

i loved how people's personalities showed through in their creations.
and as you can see, we had an abundance of personality!


thank you to everyone who took my workshop!
you were amazing. each and every one of you! SERIOUSLY AMAZING.

and i'm really sorry to do it this way, but if i'm ever going to actually get this post up...
here is a list of blog/websites of some of the gals in the class where several of them have posted more pictures of their pieces and more details about their artfest experience.
please check them out...
kt40's blog
lemoncholy's
lambsworld
stephanie schleicher
kaleidoscope lane
an li na designs
jill berry
miss mindy
lori carey
danielle daniel
annie hooten
nicci battilana
jessie starling

**i know that i am missing a few people's pieces which i can't quite figure out how that happened. :(
if you notice your missing and have a few pictures you could send me i'd love to add them to this post.**

port townsend artfest post #1

sorry about the no post yesterday.
just too much work to catch up on.
let me just start by saying- artfest was once again, AWESOME!!!

one of the highlights for me this year... was a picture-taking-excursion with friends kate daniel

and janne robberstad.




port townsend, wa is such a lovely little town.
it was like one big treasure hunt!

i'll be back tomorrow with more!

journal pages & artfest

just wanted to stop in and say hi and i'm still at artfest!
i had all intentions of blogging every day while here, but...

journal pages ©michelle allen 2012

i'm having WAY too much fun and i'm WAY too tired.
i'll be back to regular postings by monday for sure.
hope you have a wonderful weekend.
xoxo-m

mom, china, food & chopsticks

yes, you guessed it.
i'm in good ole china again.
working on our 2012 allen designs winter line.

something special about this china trip- i brought my momma, karla dornacher!
we're working on an exciting project together...i'll give you a peek later. :)

my mom with one of our humorous hosts!

mom working on her chopstick skills.
and some of the yummy grub we were privy to.


i figured after yesterday's gross post, i'd show you some beautiful food to make amends.

the creative connection

the creative connection was awesome!
i met up with gift show friends- april of catching fireflies and leigh of curly girl.
leigh went last year but for april and i, this was our first!

left mid: me, the infamous susan branch and april

i think there was a fancy dessert at every meal.
did anyone else notice that?
my pants are reminding me of it still to this day!

one of the workshops i took was with the lovely leslie shewring.
she was the inspiration for our 2011 allen designs catalog.
it was quite an honor to meet her and see her in action.

april, leigh, kelly rae and me

okay kelly rae, i think you and i need some heels... or new shorter friends!!!

jessica with her sweet washi tape pendant

kelly rae, me, claudine hellmuth and april

lizzy flanagan, leigh and ..... oops...can't remember her name! :(

cute girls from provo craft!

boy, i'm realizing i really hammed it up! 
there were so many inspiring women entrepreneurs, my head was spinning.

i came away with a long list of new aspirations.
i came away encouraged.
and best of all, i came away with new friends and phenomenal memories!
thank you jo packham, i'll be back.

creative connection here i come!

i'm on my way to st. paul for The Creative Connection event.
excited to be hooking up with friends April, Leigh and Kelly Rae.
not sure what to expect from this adventure.
but, i'm sure it's going to be ridiculously awesome!!! thank you susan :)
i'll report back soon.
xo-m

see Leigh's post about her experience at last year's event here.

show season & giclees!

in these past few weeks of my absence *my apologies* here in blog-land...

i've been at the atlanta gift show (for a week!) and back.
we just missed the worst of the storm so it was a pretty easy in and out, thankfully.
hugely blessed with a successful show, beyond our hopes and expectations!

we introduced our new line of giclees!
i'm squeeling with delight about these!
i'll post more on them later.

leaving again in a few days for the ny gift show.
looking forward to seeing friends: april & steve, amy, leigh!
i will try my best to do better on the blogging front this time.

i have many exciting things to begin sharing with you in the weeks following the shows.
life changes. business changes. fun stuff!

i also wanted to share the amazing deal we've got going on our website till Valentines Day! mention this special at checkout and get this clock FREE!

so many steps!

the Great Wall has to be the highlight of our trip.
one of the coolest things i've ever seen. truly breathtaking.
we went to a section of the wall that had very narrow parts and was very steep up the mountain side.

it took us about 1.5 hours to climb to the top and back down.
the steps were very worn and inconsistent in height.
small vendors were perched here and there along the way.
schlepping their wares up daily.

and why i always make the goofiest of faces - i don't know!


"He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man" Mao Zedong
Lex and i can finally rest in peace then! ha!

just some pretties

we're still here. (my oldest and i)
but getting tired.
thought i'd share some pictures.
and let them speak for themselves.
i bid you goodnight from China.
xoxo-michelle

lovin me some photoshop actions

one thing i always do love about my bi yearly trips here to China-
the hours of downtime.
pretty much without distractions.
i can't just pick up the phone.
or go wander around site seeing (not very safe and i'd probably get lost!).
no facebook or blogs - China blocks these.

all the things that i may normally turn to when a moment is to be filled.
so instead i try to follow up on things that i want to improve on.
perhaps something i want to learn about.
goals i may want to set.

one thing that i've been playing with on this trip is photoshop actions.
i'm especially loving this one (samples above) - Amatorka Action
and this one (will show a sample at a later date)- Polaroid Generator Action

do you have any 'actions' that are your faves?