Thursday, July 31, 2008

Whew!

First (belated) things first:

KT said...
OH PICK ME!! PICK ME!! I've been drooling over that paper since I saw it!!!
2:23 PM

KT!! You won the Red Velvet-sponsored Vespa-pa-pa paper giveaway! Woot! I'll send you an e-mail shortly, girl! Congrads!

Glad you all like Edward Gorey! Still miss you, little blog. =) Miss visiting your guys' blogs, too! Waving hello from Workaholics Anonymous, over here (that comment totally made me giggle, Valerie!) Speaking of, my hubby Z has like 6 jobs going on right now...lol..poor guy! They always pour in at once! Anyway, one new offer is a local job (yay!) but he has to work the 'night shift'....which means for a few months (maybe - knock on wood) we won't see eachother til Saturday/Sunday every week...=( But studio experience + learning new software is too cool to pass up! And I can't even wrap my head around when I can finish everything I have to do!! lol...I just keep putzing along, sleeping because I'm a little sick, still, even though I'd rather just stay up and finish stuff...lol. Work all day is still nuts - so many biiig episodes of the show I have to do all by myself! lol. Right now, I'm animating patterns and a predator-like Kat...I'm still getting caught up, there...

Juuust about to leave work for a weekend away - we're going to Victoria for the upcoming long weekend (I know, aren't we just the little travellers...). Anywaym back next week with funner blogging, promise!! Enjoy the sunshine, guys! =)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Egads.

Oh dude, it's busy. Miss you, little blog...

Calgary was full of hugs and family and friends happily married and bubbles and sun and delicious home-cooked food and little boys and girls and getting prettied up and not enough time there. Will be back soon with a scrapping/drawing/making stuff/relaxing vengeance. Still have a cough, am wading myself out of work-work as well as freelance stuff; I get to draw tonight and chill in a busy kinda way (meaning, fun work!)....going to see Batman tomorrow and I am so, soooo excited I probably won't sleep tonight! he he...=) Hoping for some fun Etsy goodies and scrap goodies in the mail today, and I'm super-excited to be going to Victoria to visit my cousin this weekend...why can't it be summer always? (sigh) Feeling good and rested and like I can take it all on. Z is super-busy, too...which doesn't make me feel so bad for being my usual workaholic self. (Maybe one day I'll grow out of it...?) More soon!

I leave you with some Edward Gorey inspiration:If you haven't heard of him, go check him out! I found his stories first a few years ago and was blown away by the happy rhyming morbid tales, the insanely detailed pen and ink drawings, the randomness....it is a little disturbing in a funny kind of way (I think) as one of the books, "The Ghastlycrumb Tinies" is all about childrens' misfortunes from A to Z, but they seriously rock. "The Doubtful Guest" is my favorite, the drawings just crack me up - so random! Really funny...and if you're not into R-rated black and white stories or unhappy children, you have to at least check out his drawing skills....(sigh). In the vein of Tim Burton, I love it! Happy day, guys! Hope all is well! =)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Scrap, much?

Alright, guys! Finally, some scrappies to share! I've been holding out on you all month....lol. Anyway, the Paperminx kit was just revealed today on the Paperminx blog - and let me tell ya, it rocks! And, its called 'Eloise' (how cute is that?? he he) Here's what I made with it:...I used some of the new Tofino pictures I just got developed - yay! =) I did upload the rest of them to Flickr yesterday, and I'll blog about them hopefully before we go to Calgary if I get a spare moment! Gotta tell the stories, you know? =)

And here's my Pink Paislee projects for July - I totally wish I'd had time to play with my new goodies more! But this month has been nutty...This first page was my Paislee blog post today, you can see it here. (Until August, the girls will all be posting new projects using the new goodies!) This card (you already saw) was at the CHA show in the Pink Paislee Booth, as was the other card I made using the Pop Fashion line - that lovely booth picture is from the fab Holly. =) (Psst...and a shout-out to the lovely Dana who also took some pics of my projects for me at the Sass Lass booth - thanks girl!)
Whew! Okay, so I really look like a scrapaholic right now, no? lol...really, most of these have been done for weeks! Also, just to tease you a little....I've been busy busy designing a few little goodies for some upcoming Dozens' goodness! he he...stay tuned for more deets and release dates! =)

Annnd.....last but not least, a Vespa Paper Giveaway for my lovely readers! Just leave a comment on this post and you might have a chance to win your very own set of Kim Smiths' Vespa Papers, sponsored by the lovely Red Velvet Kit Club!....How cool is that??!! The winner will receive two sets of the 4 papers we're featuring in the July Red Velvet kit - and if you want, you can check out Kim's lovely blog and Etsy Shop, too! You have until....Monday the 28th at midnight to enter!

As for me, work is nutty, I have blisters on my hands from the 'sewing projects' I just finished (yes, really!), I haven't slept near enough this week, work is way too much to do in way too little time, and I'm sick, Yes, sick. Cold FX sucks and doesn't work. I sound like a croaky frog. I'm soooo psyched to be leaving for Calgary tomorrow night, though! Yay! But that means, alas...tonight is stay-late-at-work, finish-everything, pack, clean, and get-pretty night. lol...I am happy, though, just falling apart...lol. Ooooh, what can ya do? Hope everyone is well! Don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Tofino Happenings: Part One

Okay, peeps! Whew...finally got pictures from Tofino sorted out! (I know our mom's want to see em..he he). Anyway, I narrowed em down a lot and kept the good, good ones...and I have no craftiness that I can share from the weekend, So here's our trip (can't remember if I blogged these first pictures or not...so, sorry if it's a repeat!):

We start off with the way we got to Vancouver Island - float plane. It takes about 6 1/2 hours by bus, so we thought we'd splurge and we'd both never been on a float plane before, so this is what the dock looked like...(oh! And Z's camera has funny automatic light settings, so these look really overexposed, but kind of acid-washed, too...me likey) Our little crew and passengers walking toward our plane...sooo much more fun then waiting in a stuffy airport! That's me with the giant backpack!
My hubby....he was sooo excited bout the plane! he he...There were about 8 passengers, and when we got in the pilot was like, "I need someone to come sit up front with me", and Z was like "Ooh! Me! Me!" and raced up there...lol. So fun! The flight was awesome, they fly pretty low, so we could check out the ocean and see to the bottom and stuff...it was loud and a little bumpy, but cool! The view from Z's front seat:
And the dock as we land on the water in Tofino...Yay!
I forgot the rest of the pictures at home (doh!...) So I'll post em as soon as I can this week!

And thanks to Katie for this peek of my projects at CHA on the Freehand Scraps Blog! he he....it was funny to see me 'there'...lol. It's also so fun to see peeks from CHA popping up all over! yay!

Annnd...scrap goodies coming from me soon! I have my Dozens' kit and the Paper Minx kit to play with. I got a biiig shipment of shipping supplies for my etsy store today, thinking I would have time to work on that this month (not!)...lol..Z and I are both overwhelmed with projects - he has 3 different projects to animate/test on, and I have designs to finish and draw, projects to finish sewing, kits to use, haircuts to get, etc. etc. before we rush off to Calgary and then the weekend after that, Victoria. Whew!

We did have a good weekend, and we took some minutes off to go for walks in the sun, check out the baby raccoons, watch Batman Begins (we're both dying to see the new Batman! Eeek!) and Charlie Bartlett (so funny!) and eat popcorn...yum! I even went shoes-for-the-wedding shopping! =) Oh, and our walls have been ripped open, I totally jinxed us...and the water's tasted like new plastic pipes and sometimes doesn't get hot for 20 minutes on the hot-as-it-can-go setting. Argh. Having a shower has not been fun! So, that about sums up the world of Michelle for today; I feel like I will be constantly busy until halfway through August...lol...but, you know, fun busy. =) And I can't wait to see my friends and go to Melissa's wedding and hug my family in like, 4 days! Yay! Happy Monday, everyone!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Busy, busy

Just a quick update today - work is nutty. All the work I haven't had for weeks at work seems to have all come at once! lol...Ah well, what can ya do? I also keep getting few and far between calls for other jobs, which just makes me both thankful and giggly, because they all seem to come at once! lol....I have a permanent layer of fuzz in my nose from sewing soft lovely flannel all night. I was seriously sneezing all night, and then I realized that, "oh, that layer of fuzz all over my table and scrap stuff is probably it"...lol. I have a mile-long to-do list. I *heart* fuji apples. I'm excited to get a new custom painting done for my Etsy shop. I'm dying to scrapbook and draw..=) Must get back to piles of e-mails - and I miss blog rounds, I'll try to come around and say hi soon!

There are some important subscription deets about the Dozens' kits on the blog, and there are still some Red Velvet kits left, too if you're interested. And I finally made my first treasury at Etsy yesterday - you can view it here. I think it turned out pretty fun - for those who don't know, a treasury is a compiled list that an Etsy member makes to feature all the lovely handmade work on the site - you get to be a curator, of sorts. And then, hopefully, it makes it to the front page of Etsy! Whoo! So go click there and help bring up the odds! lol..Oh! And if anybody who reads is attending CHA, look for mine and hubby's mugs over at the Sassafras Lass booth - they're displaying a few of my pages there! Yay! (We won't be there for real....though I so wish I coudl finally attend a show!) Have you seen Sass's new releases?? Yummy! I also have a few cards up at the Pink Paislee booth, of course! Anyway, if you see any of m projects, would you mind taking pictures if you can? I'm sure I'll find some on the internets...Just, you know, if you happen to see em, please snap and pass the pictures along! he he...=) And have fun!!

Happy day, everyone! Back to work with me...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Oh, Wednesday...

Hello, hello this Wednesday morning...=) (I thought it was Thursday until about 2 seconds ago - ha ha!) I have work to keep me busy today, and the power has been out in Van near where I work for a few days (just in about a 6-block radius, some cables blew up and caught fire...) so my walk to work is extra peaceful, these day, as the tour buses don't empty out when all the touristy shops are closed, which means I don't have to weave in and out of slow-paced tourists...Ahhh...lol.

As for me, I tried to draw last night and was unsuccessful, so I was sewing til the wee hours - I love the fabric color combo I have goin on, but I can't show peeks because they girls might be reading this...he he. I'll show when I'm done and the projects are given away!

Anyway, I just realized how much stuff I have to do before we head to Calgary for my friend Melissa's wedding - wowza! And I keep getting more and more projects, which means I have to pick and choose and I hate doing that! lol...can't I just stay home and stop time and do everything? lol...(I feel like I'm always saying that). So anyway, my hopes of updating the shop regularly this month have been pushed back...(sigh).

Oh, and after the spiel about having our walls ripped open, it turns out the construction guys aren't even going to - lol...they ripped up our neighboors apartment already and have access to our pipes, there, so yay for us! No holes and new drywall and all that jazz in our place...whew! (knock on wood!)

Also, I forgot to announce the very coolness on Monday that is a guest design stint at the lovely new PaperMinx this month! Brought to you by Steph and Aimee...=) I am honored, girls, thanks for having me! And I rather like that bio I wrote for them here, usually they're odd and hard to do but I'm happy with that one...lol. Here's a peek of the kit, (I got mine in the mail yesterday and it's just sooo fab):
And thanks to Tonya for handing me a lil blog award! =) I would pass it on, but I'm pretty sure all my fave blogs have already been honored...he he.

Haven't scrapbooked in soo long! I'm excited! =) he he...happy day, everyone!

Dude.

Just broke 50, o00 hits here yesterday, since the beginning of this little ol blog (okay, not the beginning....the counter wasn't there at first). But, Wowza! So a shout-out to all you fab readers who stop by and have been stopping by now for a while! I love ya! =)

Annnd...wow. I have nothing crafty to share with you today! Nor have I edited Tofino pictures...lol. Argh. Last night I had to clean out the whole entire bathroom, as there are construction dudes coming in and ripping open our walls today/this week. They're re-piping the whole building that we live in, so our kitchen and bathroom will be a mess....as are all the hallways and pipes in the rest of the building. But, fortunately, its helping us with the super-extra-late-spring-cleaning...because we are now forced to empty the cupboards and go, "Wow, why do I have all these bubble baths and shower gels I don't use?" and give away and wipe clean and regroup.

I absolutely hate the 'waiting' part of things - if we're organizing/cleaning/rearranging the house, I want it all done now - I don't want it done in little bits. I've always been like that...We're planning on getting desks and moving things around at home, and I want desks now! But we have to wait/find some, so I just have to deal...I'm doing quite well with it, actually...lol. Because A) who wants to clean in the first place? and B) the construction dudes would just mess up my clean house, anyway. lol...It just drives me and I feel claustrophobic and unorganized and cluttered, though. But I'm excited that Z and I will have more work space...and we can finally make the bathroom all lovely when we more goodies back in there. 22 days til they're done construction, hopefully...yay! Than I will feel centered and happy in my living space again once we're all set and finished. =)

There was talk of moving, too, into a bigger place...which would be amazing!! But it's just not in the cards right now, I think...I like our little place for now. And it lets me put any extra I would be putting on rent onto my school loans, which was the whole purpose of moving to a studio in the first place. Feeling really good about the dent in my loan its helped me with, so hopefully next year sometime Z and I can move up and out and into a place with more than one room...lol. We're still fresh out of school, technically....I'm cool with working our way up!

Holy, words today, batman! So anyway, that's why I have nothing crafty to share - I had to clean last night. I have to draw and catch up on some design work, digi stuff, and sewing before we go to Calgary in a few weeks...yay! So tonight should be fun - and Z is busy animating up a storm, I think he's actually busier than me this week! he he...

So I leave you with a peek of The Dozens' yummy kit that will be debuting on the 16th:
Yay! Hope all is well, everyone! =)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Drumroll, please...and notepads!

And the winner of the Paislee blog hop
(randomnly selected, of course):
Chloe said...
Bit of a cardie myself so I am totally besotted with this darn cute little owl card you've created Michelle! The new Pink Paislee products are gorgeous! How lucky are you to have played with them already!!!

Yay! Congrads, girl! Please e-mail your name and address and all that good stuff to me: michelle.a.clement@gmail.com (Sorry, I'm a tad bit late in posting this...you can check out Paislee's post, too, to see the other winners/see if you're one of them! lol...)

Speaking of Pink Paislee, check out the peeks of 2 other lines that are being released just after CHA - they are so yummy!

Oh! And there's a new friend in my Etsy shop today: a monster notepad - yay! I'm so excited about these guys! They're pretty big - 4.25 x 5.5 inches, and sooo fun and bright! There's only 10-12 of them until (if) I do another printing so check em out here if you're interested! There will be more designs in the future, too..they're such fun to make! =)
This weekend was fun - lotsa work time for me yesterday while Z was working on some animation deadline stuff....most of it was spent cutting out some of the sewing I have to do this week, and then I played with/tested some shrink plastic:

And then Z did, too...he he...he made little monsters that stand up on their own (a boy of my own heart, or what?...)
Annnd...there was some beach time, too, lounging, talking...very relaxing. =) We saw more baby raccoons, and of course we didn't have the camera! lol..anyway, I've been working on some more new products for the shop, which hopefully will be out this week...my printer decided to close on weekends, now, and are open very short hours during the week - argh! I have like a 10 minute window before they close that I can make it there if I race home! lol...we'll see. Anyway, happy Monday!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Ahhh...

Who doesn't love a crafty day? =) these are the days i live for, I think...he he...well, family days, too. Z has a 3D animation class Saturday mornings, so I laze around, make coffee, pull out the latest project and putz around. Sooo fun. (I mean, I still do that when he's here, too...lol). It's just a little different - I love to be alone. Odd, yes. =) I like to play my girly tunes loud and sing to myself and spread ironing boards and papers all over.

Today, my morning has been full of rich Colombian (thank you! ;)..)coffee, a new card design that's about to be printed, a trip to the library for some home decorating magazines - need them as inspo for some paper I need to draw today...(he he...sssh.) It's for a super-secret place, right now...he he. I have a bank appointment, but that's the only necessary evil today. I am going to draw some earring designs. I am going to play with shrink plastic. I am listening to some fab new songs I found - "Where I Stood" by Missy Higgins, "Sunset and Car Crashes" by The Spill Canvas, and some old stand-bys: The Sad Little Stars and City and Colour's "Hello, I'm in Delaware." (And those who asked about the song playing here, scroll to the veeeery bottom of the blog - "Samson" by Regina Spektor is the first must listen-to-it-over-and-over tune.)

Oh! And we watched "Rendition" last night - Love me some Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese. Is he a sexy analyst, or what? lol...anyway, the movie was great, but it was seriously disturbing that this 'rendition' law actually even exists in the USA - pretty much, the US government can deport and make people they suspect with no actual evidence disappear from the face of the earth if suspected of terrorist related activity. They literally delete records of people and take their identification and ship them off to underground torture prisons around Europe for interrogation. Disturbing. We watched a documentary that was also on the dvd, and I just can't believe it; the guy who implemented the program says that they do not condone torture, but what they need done can not legally done on United States soil - totally contradictory. Argh! Makes me so mad...I'm so happy I live in Canada!!

Anyway, sorry to leave you on that note! lol...go listen to some Missy Higgins, I promise it will make you smile...=) Happy weekend - enjoying sunshine, crafting, hugging your family..whatever you may be doing! Blog winner announced tomorrow - I'm waiting til Paislee announces, but I know who won! he he....Happy day!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Happy Friday!

Yahoo, its Friday! I seriously thought it was Thursday til I got to work this morning...Oh my! And I woke up today at the time I usually leave for work...argh...nothing like racing around. That was fun...lol. I lied and have nothing new to post in the Etsy shop today because I still have to get shipping quotes, but here's a peek of a little something new that I got printed (I just love that little monster, I keep using him..lol):
he he.....can you guess what it is? It will be revealed Monday, for sure! he he...Anyway, I've slowly been trying to expand the shop, but have had no time to draw (a minor set back...lol). The last few days have been slow work-wise for me, slow as in unproductive...yuck! I sit there at my crafty table and am overwhelmed with everything and instead think of more ideas instead of executing the ones I need to do...lol. Oooh. I'm dying to build a web page to house all the links for the blogs and web places I have accumulated, but we have to shift some things around in the home and make some more work space and clean and projects to do and....I'm not letting myself start that until something is finished, first!! lol...so here's to a crafty, fun, weekend! =) It's supposed to be sunny - I was still peeling the other day from our trip to Tofino, so an evening-out of the tan is badly needed! lol...

Annnd...you have til tonight to leave your name on the Paislee post for the goodie draw! Winners will be announced tomorrow! =) Thanks again for stopping by!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hey, you down in front!

He he....see that lil guy? Last night it was super-sunny (love the longer days, by the way..Oh, summer!) still so we went for a stroll to our lake...and we ran into a bunch of baby raccoons wading their little fuzzball selves around in the water. =) Omigosh, I can't even explain how cute they are!! The pictures do no justice! he he..Awww. So cute! More pics have been posted up here, in the Flickr.

I went for a run yesterday morning around the lake, too, and saw those giant Carp fish jumping around, so crazy! And as we were walking at night they were jumping around like crazy! Also, we saw 2 cranes in their nest, which was new for us...and ducklings are still around...and we were standing there watching the water when these giant dragonflies start flying around - and then I'm like, "No, dude! Those are bats!" Eeek...flying out of the trees in droves! Anyway, a lil creepy...but cool. We see something new everytime we go down there...=) Yay!

And I have to say Omigosh....The blog hop has been crazy fun, no? I can't believe how many people have stopped by!! You guys rock! Scroll down to the post below and keep entering, if you haven't! The Paislee giveaway is open until July 11, end of day. =) And good luck, guys!

Other stuff: The Dozens' List Challenge is up on the blog - for a chance to use your kit and win some hand-picked yummies, go check it out! Us DT girls got together and made list pages, hosted by the lovely Barb! Umm...what else? New kitschy card up in my Etsy shop today, I Etsy-blogged about it here (there's also a fun treasury posted). And thanks to Paper Girl Productions who featured the Monster Print on her blog today! =) Yay! Etsy is so fun - so badly wanting to just stay up all night and make new products to debut, but I'll be miserable at work the next day...lol. Otherwise, I'm totally at that point of wanting to create so bad! But nope. So slowly but surely, things like paper tags, stickers, earrings, etc. Super-slowly but surely they'll be done one day...lol. Anyway, Tofino pics still coming! And some embroidery...and some art. =) Happy day!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Pink Paislee Blog Hop!

Okay, lucky readers! =) One of yous gets to win some Pink Paislee goodies! (Or 12 of you! he he...) Here's the deal: to play along, leave a comment here and then just visit all of the design team girls' blogs, too (in the list below) and leave a comment on each for your 12 chances to win some Paislee goodies!! You have 2 days to visit all of the blogs, but be sure to leave your comments by the end of the day on the 11th.

On July 12th each design team member will choose a winner from their list of comments and they'll be posted up on the Pink Paislee blog - Whee! So if you go visit all the girls, the more of a chance you'll have to win some yummy new Paislee prize packs!!

Also, the lovely Holly McCaig has a digital freebie for you to snatch up, and the wonderful Tammy Tutterow is also giving away a free vintage image from her website Fairy Davis; so make sure you stop there on your blog rounds, for sure!

And we're all posting projects we just made using yummy new Paislee goodies, too! For those who've been checking out the new release peeks all week, you'll recognize this amazing collection:
Here's one of the new projects I made - A little fall card! I used the fab 'Vintage Moon' collection above (it's my very, very favorite), new glitter, stamps, and rub-ons, too! Yum! Sooo....leave some comments below on this post for your chance to win here, and thanks for peeking!

And then go here to read more deets and leave Paislee a comment:
Pink Paislee Blog

And here are the girls for you to visit, too!
Tammy Tutterow
Holly McCaig
Tina Albertson
Nicole Samuels
Nicole Harper
Davinie Fiero
Danielle Flanders
Mara-May Baca
Anabelle O’Malley
Katie Watson
Linda Albrecht

Have fun!! Regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow, but back to work now, for me! Be sure to have some fun blog-hoppin today and peeking at the CHA releases - and if you have a moment, check out the Bubbly Shnooks blog to see what's being released today, too! =) Happy day!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Happy Tuesday!

A little info on the Red Velvet July kit - Rachel is having some technical problems (Argh, computers!) so the lovely, "Get Lost" kit (featuring fab Vespa-inspired papers by Kim Smith) will be up in the RV Etsy shop later today. =) Don't worry, it's coming! Here's the goods: So excited bout that kit! =) Plus, make sure you visit the RV blog for a chance to win one, that's right, win one. For free. Sign up here on the blog! Good luck...=)

These little digi guys I designed were released here at SisTV the other day, too: Fun little hand-drawn doodled words - perfect for titles or journalling prompts. They were so fun to make! Anyway, they each come with 4 versions - black, brown, cream, and a black and white pencil-sketch line version. =) You can find them here in the boutique. =)

And wow, I visited all those blogs from the monster giveaway yesterday! lol...At one point I thought I was done and the scroll bar was only halfway down! lol...It was fun, though, to find new readers and say hello to some old blog friends. I have to let you know I appreciate you guys, right?? You all leave me the sweetest comments, its the least I can do! Thanks for that!

Annnd...stay tuned tomorrow for the Pink Paislee Blog hop! Woot! Some peeks of the news goods will be posted, too! Yay! =) I posted a new card in my Etsy shop today. I'm having so much fun at Etsy - addicted to the boards, I say. And I have so many ideas for new goodies I can't even keep up - but that's old news. =) Can't wait til my scrap deadlines this week are done so I can start sewing...yay!

We totally missed a meeting yesterday about the massive renos going on in our building, too...Doh! So who knows when and for how long men will be ripping apart our pipes. Argh. And our grocery store is being reno-d, too...totally inconvenient. The alternate store that you'd usually go to get groceries at is also being fixed - was ripped down and is being rebuilt. Double argh. So we grabbed some apricots, cherries, buns, and sandwich meat from lovely little local markets and we're good. lol...=) It turned out being a nice inconvenience; walking around the block in the sun, picking fruit. Yum. Annnd...that about sums it up. Busy, busy, crafty...more busy. =) Happy day, everyone!

Monday, July 07, 2008

A Whole Lotta Update

I loooove the Dozens. I think I say that everytime. Okay, I know I do. But seriously, the lil bits and lovely pieces in the kist just rock my socks every month. =) Here's what I made with the June/July kit. You can check out the other girls' fab designs, too, up in the gallery - and you can grab a kit here. Up:And I was on a card hitch, this time...he he. These lil guys will be up in my Etsy shop this week - slowly, I'll be updating one a day. So keep checking the store blog for release info or the shop itself. First, a super-kitschy card and matching houndstooth envelope I made from that lovely patterned paper: These little flower guys were made from the chipboard flowers in the kit, backed with patterned paper, aged, stamped. I made lil envelopes for these guys, too. =)And this lil guy (just love the fun summery colors in this kit!):Wow! Where to even begin?? I have so much to talk about here...lol. Where did that weekend go? We went to see Wall E this weekend - yay! It was sooo cute, awesome animation and design, loved it to bits! Loved the mix of old music in there, too, and the end credits were great! Finally - a new not-rehashed already storyline that wasn't about animals. Ahhh...Not to mention the awesome short they showed before the movie - fab! We also stopped in at this really cool art exhibit; Brave Art Show - it rocked. One of the best, coolest showcases of art I've seen in a while - it was on our way to the movie!

It was kind of overcast all weekend, but still warm and sunny, too. We went for beach walks, hunted around for baby duckies and swans. It turns out the swans never hatched *sniff* (though I swore I saw them!), and all the baby ducks have mostly been eaten by Carp (giant fish that we saw jumping all over the lake). So sad!! Who knew that fish ate ducks? Oh my...anyway, the baby fluffy raccoons we saw made us forget the missing animal woes..they were lovely and oh-so fluffy! =)

Ummm...what else? The wonderful Paislee blog is hopping with CHA release peeks - Got to play with mine yesterday and they are just amazing!! Go see! And check back in a few days for some Paislee fun here...=) And Rachel posted a lovely peek at the paper line that's in the newest Red Velvet Kit this month - so yummy! They go on sale tomorrow in the kit Etsy shop. =) Sooo excited for that one!

Busy finishing lists, sending out a bunch of mail, calling banks and doctors, banking...listening to renos all day (our building is in a shambles - they're ripping out and replacing all the pipes, there's meetings about when they'll work on our pipes...etc.) On Friday when I got home I realized they had changed the lock in the front door and I was locked out, thank goodness Z was home! Turns out they forgot to give us the new keys...hah. Lovely. Poor Z has to listen to them pounding all day and today they shut off the water...=(

Anyway, enough to look at today? he he...Link-o-rama, up there! Hope everyone is well! I have lots to share, including some yummy new Monster Notepads I just got done - oh yeah, so excited for em! And some embroidery, too. Yay! Hopefully today I can finally do the blog rounds and edit Tofino pictures...lol. Happy day! =)

Thursday, July 03, 2008

One Lucky Duck!

Whew! Lemme just say, thanks for the love and all the comments on the monster RAK! You guys blew me away, seriously...

I was reminded of "The Monster At the End of the Book" Book featuring one of my faves, Grover...and "Where the Wild Things Are"; amazing book + illustrations...Jim Henson...and, of course, Monsters, Inc! We all agree they're silly, happy, fun...and that anything that makes you smile is a goood thing. =)

And, I was also reminded of this crazy over-the-top fear of them I had when I was little (somebody mentioned scaring them away with a torch light nightly...Cass!) So, when I was teeny, you'd never know that I'd grow to love our furry monster friends. I was petrified - thought they were under my bed, going to grab my feet...in the closet, etc. Our family friend, Rob, whenever we had sleepovers at Rob and Viv's house, we had this invisible spray can of monster-be-gone or something that was necessary and vital to spray all over my room and especially around me or I would never fall asleep. lol...

Anyways, who knows when that changed. But "Monsters, Inc." was definitely vital to the thinking-monsters-are-good thing. There's some weird psychology behind why I draw em all the time, I'm sure...lol. The "Art of Monsters, Inc." has also been influential on lots of my design colors and such, too. Love it to bits!!

Back to where I was going with this...So I had to pick randomly using a number generator..cuz I just couldn't 'pick'..it was impossible! So, without further ado:

The 4 monster papers, monster stamp, and happy cab stamp go tooooo:

Phoebe said...

Oh my goodness...those little monsters totally make me smile!! So fun and lovable!! You are one amazingly talented lady!! I pop in on your blog when I need a pick-me-up. Anyway..the monsters...are you kidding??? LOVE monsters!! My mom called me Oscar the Grouch and I still have a mini-crush on Grover...so cute. :-) I am such a fan of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, I think that would be a dream job. ;-) sorry for the ramble...your work is amazing...as always!!

And I just couldn't resist sending this girl a monster stamp, too (cuz that comment was just way, way too funny and super-cool and totally something I could see myself saying...lol):

believe_in_magic said...

Something most people don't know about monsters is that they only act gross and scary because people expect them to be gross and scary. I mean, if you saw a pink, triangular, one-eyed creature in public wouldn't your first thought be "Gross! I bet that thing hides its boogers under the bath rug so people slip on it!" Expectations are rough.

That, and they get pretty cranky sometimes. But you would too if you had to brush SO MUCH hair every day and you could never sit down for fear of getting some kid's gum stuck in the tresses on your hiney. It's a hard life and I'm a compassionate soul, so that's why I love monsters.

Oh, plus they sure can dance. ;)

Okay! Thanks for playing everyone! If you two could please send me your full names and address to michelle.a.clement@gmail.com, I'll get those goodies out to you!

And then I'll be round to visit all your lovely blogs and the links you left me. Yay!

And remember to check back for details on the encore monster release over at The Dozens. It will be printed again, if not there, for my shop! =) Speaking of, I got my lovely June Dozens' kit yesterday and its amazing! So fun! I'm almost done all my pages, and stay tuned for a challenge from the DT soon - you can buy it here.

No time to edit the Tofino stuffs yet, I'm back to my usual happily-overwhelmed schedule over here. Hah...so happy day for now! and thanks so much again for stopping by and loving the monsters! =)

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Ahhh...

A little peek of our Tofino weekend for you: Rather, Z's view from the front seat of our float plane on the way to Tofino! Yes, that's right...he got a front row seat on the teeny plane - he was over the moon! =) Anyway, more pics soon! I've narrowed down the pictures to the ones that are keepable and got them edited up til we landed there...lol. Hopefully by tomorrow...lots to catch up on over here, still! I've been gathering things for CHA, unpacking, groceries, laundry, etc. I have a pile of goods to dig into and a pile of mail to send out. We had some yummy Bulgarian food last night and putzed around/watched a movie, though..so I'm not quite in full gear again yet...lol. Can't wait to make something, though...=)

Annnd...who can believe what happened on the Tila Tequila finale?? I won't spoil it in case anyone who watches missed, but wow! *sniff*

Updated the shop with Monster Prints - details here.

Okay, back to work for me! And don't forget to check out Paislee's new sneak peek for today: Press-ons! =) They are oh-so-yummy! Happy day, all! The monster RAK sign-ups are closed...I'll be picking a winner tonight/tomorrow. =) Thanks for the love everyone!