michelle my belle

artfest silk screening workshop

the 2nd workshop i taught at artfest was silk screening.
please visit our NEW blog for this post...
http://www.close2myart.com/blog

washi tape & pesky cords tutorial

do you have any of those items with really annoyingly long cords?
either they're in the way or even just an eyesore.

this has been mine of late.
and finally, today i took a couple of minutes to do something about it.

i don't need it to be very long so all i did was gather it up back & forth till it was the length i needed.
then i took a few pretty colors of washi tape and begun wrapping it around and around.
i would recommend several rotations so that the cord doesn't end up tearing out of the tape.

ahhhhh. all better.
not just organized and clean but even fetching!
sometimes, it's the simplest of accomplishments that make me the happiest.

st. patrick's day cupcake toppers (free)!

st. patrick's day is already almost here!
these cute & funky st. patrick's day cupcake toppers are ones that i previously designed for a party.
i've included the free downloads for them at the bottom of this post.
i haven't quite gotten around to this years yet... not sure if it's going to happen.






do you have any big plans/traditions for st. patty's day 2012?

 
download free st. patrick's day clover cupcake topper.
download free st. patrick's day frog cupcake topper.

 

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???

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!

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!

my only real collection...

since returning from the atlanta gift show all i've been doing is working on boring paperwork.
which doesn't make for very fun pictures.

a loooonnng, LONG time ago i collected cows... yikes!
i'm sure you can imagine just how bad that got.
i've learned you have to be very careful about what you choose to collect.

besides all kinds of art, the only thing i now collect is the letter A.
this pic is heading downstairs to our basement/tv area.
still in the process of settling in, i have yet to hang/display them.

if this fun book can't make you a collector of something, then nothing could!
how bout you, collect anything?

oh, and guess what! apartment therapy featured my xmas card book!!!
it was so funny to read the cynical comments people left.
basically calling me a hoarder! ha!
people... the only thing i could be considered a hoarder with would be art supplies! :)

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!