A Little Last Minute Business

Hello, guys! Hope everybody's all geared up for the last long weekend of summer! We sure are...:) Whee! I was up til the wee hours last night and am just horribly sleepy here at work, now...argh. But I'm sooo excited!!

And, some last minute scrappy business...the September peek is up over at Red Velvet Kit Club! It looks super-yummy...:) Doesn't it? Alsoooo...stay tuned this month for a few lovely new surprises at the site, too! Challenges, tutorials...a new amazing DT member! :) Yay! Here's the Peek: And the Dozens also has a September teaser up, too...and I spy some vintage goodness + new Sassafras! I'm in love...:) So excited to get them and start scrapping!! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for some Dozens' Dress My Nest scrappage, some new store goodies debuting, and a few other scrappy projects.

Thanks to Alexis and Michelle for nominating me for the 'I heart your blog' award - Dude, I don't have a moment to do it myself right now, but I love both of your blogs to bits, too! I'm super-flattered!! :)...thanks bunches! And if I owe anybody an e-mail or a message, I'm sorry..there's a pile I couldn't get to today - I will be answering them all when I get back home next week. Whew! And anything ordered from little Bubbly Shnooks over the weekend will ship out on Tuesday, as well. :)

Til then, we'll be enjoying this little bitty island full of wildlife and beaches and sand dunes and sunsets....I am getting more excited now that I've Flickr'd Galiano Island and ran across these lovely sights:
1. Galiano Cabin, 2. Galiano Island, Jan 1 2007, 4. Galiano Sunset, 5. (3) 11x16, 6. bernese, 7. Galiano Sunset, 8. Lomo Galiano Island, 9. Landing, 11. fence jumper, 12. Biblical sunset, 13. (06) 16x24.jpg, 14. Emerald Waters, 15. Mussel Snake

Heaven on earth? Yes, I think so....:) Happy weekend, everyone!

Hello, Lola - again!

Thank you oh-so-much, guys, for your sweet words! :)
This was one of the funnest paintings ever and I'm so happy it comes across...he he. Yay! The newsletter just went out - if you missed it and would like a copy, please e-mail me at michelle.a.clement@gmail.com and I will try my best to forward it to you right away! It's the first one, and we all know I love to type-talk (lol) so it was super-fun to do!

And here's the new Set of 2, just listed - Lola and Charlie:
They make me smile...I'm seriously going to frame them for my own desk once I'm all reorganized! lol...As for me - I've been designing some super-secret paper after doing 50 chores after an loong day of work. lol...Our desks are kind of in a shambles, the house is a crazy mess, I am obsessed with getting a fab home printer so I don't have to run into the printers at 5 minutes to closing time with textured paper and test files and...ah! Obsessed. I want to buy one right now...lol. We found a place to stay for this weekend - amazingly! Everywhere we contacted was booked up (no big surprise, it being a long weekend, but it was looking kind of bleak)!

So we have a secluded little cabin in the boonies on Galiano island for the weekend (for Z's upcoming birthday!! Yay!) . Now, our biggest dilemma is getting there and finding food to eat while there...which is really not so bad, cuz we have pillows to sleep on and fires to roast marshmallows over. he he...I miss visiting blogs. I need to prioritize and organize and make myself unbusy soon, and find a book to dive into while gone, too! Any suggestions? I'm super-excited to get away! I hope everyone is great...and thanks for stopping by to visit my craftyness! :) Happy night!

Hello, Lola!

Thanks to everyone who signed up for the newsletter - that's too cool! he he :) And, without further ado (cuz I'm in a super-rush to get to a Dr's Appt. before I head to work...) meet Lola!This is the original 8 x 10 painting I made for a lovely customer, and there are now prints of it for sale in the shop! Lola and Charlie make a super-cute vibrant pair....love em! Anyway, the newsletter has been a teensy teensy bit delayed - we moved our desks and computers around last night and messed up our network and therefore had no internet until just now this morning...ha ha. So I'll be sending some words and pictures out as soon as I get home from a nutty day at work! :) Also, Charlie and Lola will be listed for a teensy discount when sold together, that will also be happening tonight. I'll update here when all is said and done! Hope you like Lola - and thanks for stopping by! More later! :)

Full of Play

I just found this lovely listening to some Kate Nash this morning: "This little girl she grew up and moved away - and she, she lived her life full of risk and full of play. She lived her life with so much to say." Loves it. :)

And here's the most recent play-time fun project:
I really just wanted to embroider something, a fun something, so I doodled the pattern on a sheet of cotton and went to town with my rainbow assortment of colors! Whee! I matted it so its also ready-to-frame - covered the boring cream matte with a lovely textured Bazzill blue cardstock. It lives here. I loves embroidery! I'm totally doodling embroidery patterns and ideas left and right, too. he he....it takes me so long to gather all the doodles and supplies and packaging materials for new goodies, though, but one day plan on seeing more embroidery in the shop! And earrings. Working on those designs tonight...and paper tags. Really. Truly. Someday...lol.

Annnnd...super-fun-exciting news....a lovely girl commissioned a painting of a monster from me a little teeny while ago, and the painting is done! So, the launch date for a new cute monster print is now Tuesday Aug. 26! (Lets just say that Charlie has a girlfriend....) If you haven't signed up for the Bubbly Shnooks newsletter yet, the first one ever is coming out Tuesday morning with the print launch - so sign up on the close-to-the-top right side of the blog if you'd like to hear the news first (or e-mail me and I'll add you to the list!)! So excited!

We just walked back in from finding a desk outside. Yay for free worktables! Once my workspace is set up (I will be moving desks tomorrow, hopefully!) and my projects are all under control and shop supplies are organized, I plan on devoting a lot more time to little Bubbly Shnooks and designing new goodies - its just plain fun! I didn't get much of the necessary stuff done this weekend, but we did do absolutely nothing yesterday - watched 'Smart People', and some old-school Disney. Chilled. Had a nap. It was much-needed. Now, we are trying to nab a place to getaway to for the upcoming long weekend that's not booked solid, madly finishing work, and dreading the 5am-for-work-early wakeup coming at us tomorrow. Noooooo...these weekends go by way to fast, no? Hope everyone is well!

Oh my Dude....

You guys rock. ;) I just noticed that the "Dress My Nest" kit is sold out! In like 5 days?? Sweeet. I'm so excited to get this lil baby in the mail and to see what everyone makes with The Dozens loveliness + a lil of my drawings. Stay tuned very soon to see what everyone makes!

And this lil picture is of the Mini Kit called "Mini Dress" (such a cute name!) Anyway, if you're jonesing for an owl stamp (I've had a few people inquire...) and some yummy house stuff, there are still a few left so make sure you grab it before the limited edition stamps + paper are gone!

And kudos to Rachel for posting some of my new Red Velvet pages over on the blog...=) The girls' pages are up there, too! Yay! Sneak peeks for the September kit coming there, soon! Stay tuned! I'm so excited....=) Annd I'm so happy to say; Z is almost unbusy, work has settled down and I don't have to get up with the sun nor pass any deadlines, I finished the monster painting (so stay tuned for a sneak peek of that this weekend!), I have ideas just pouring out of me and I'm looking forward to a sunny productive supa-fun weekend of making stuff to my hearts content and seeing some indie animation. It's Friday, its payday, its nice out. Duuude. Doesn't get much better than that - happy weekend all!

Oh! And thanks for the sweet comments and a few questions - will be answering and saying hi this weekend, hopefully! =) Hugs!

Horton Who

Whew! I'm alive. Here. Sitting next to a pink monster painting, waiting for the acrylic to dry. I totally have had the "Beauty and The Beast" score stuck in my head for days, odd yes. There's a pile of dishes to be done that I said I would do while paint was drying. There's a random crime show on in the background. Thoughts of the Hills still buzzing in my head (Dude, I can't believe they spilled in the preview that Stephanie goes on a date with Lauren's Doug. And Heidi's sister is so cute! And I'm mad because, why hasn't Heidi punched Spencer yet?) The cold not-summer-like -at-all breeze is flowing through the window.

I'm hoping I won't have to get up at 5 am to go to work early again this week. I hope the sun starts shining, cuz, dude, it's been miserable here. Wanting to execute a million new projects, but haven't a spare moment. Thinking about hot cocoa with little marshmallows floating on top. And new checkered Vans. And a sunny picnic. Wanting to watch some short films on a screen. Obsessed with pink lemonade, and also..I play my playlist all day at work so I'm glad a few of you guys dig it! That's all tonight....back to painting! Soon I can share!...he he. =) Til then, we saw a Dr. Suess exhibit in Victoria and I'm still head over heels in love with it - copper Suess statues, funny taxidermy creatures, prints on paintings...(sigh). He rocks. Horton's my fave: More soon, friends! Thanks for the kind words, as always! You guys rock and always make me smile...=) I'll be by to say hellos and catch up on blogs soon, I hope! Happy night!

Ahh, Sunday

Currently, I am staring out at the sunny day, just back from enjoying ice cream at the beach, with yellow paint splattered on my shirt...enjoying the insanely slow pace I am creating at today. It's toasty, I'm painting a monster, we're catching up on phone messages, sitting in front of our little fan, working, and I've had a massive headache for the last day and a half...which has been standable, but sucks. So yesterday my "yay, I finally have a day off to make stuff for myself!" was substituted with a long, long, and apparently much-needed nap day. Which is fab, I actually did nothing for a day, but was also bummed that I did nothing...lol.

Anyway, on with the show! Here's some pages I made with the ever-so-lovely Red Velvet Kit Club August kit:I was loving that there was a skein of embroidery thread in this kit, so I just had to stitch a little something something - I freehand wrote the title lightly in pencil and stitched over it for a funky title.
This one with a pic from Long Beach in Tofino was a lot of fun to play around with paint and layer....=)
And I had fun handwriting on this one. =) The journalling is about the signs I know its home...The fun summery colors in this kit were so rad! There are still a few up for grabs right here in the RVKC Etsy Shop. Also, there are still some August "Dress My Nest" home kits available at the Dozens! Whee! Make sure you scoop one up, cuz that paper and stamp I drew are only a limited-time kinda deal, just like the monster goodies!

As for me, I swear this week I will get some earrings made for my Etsy shop - I've been compiling supplies and ideas for months, now, and I know I have a few late nights at work this week to catch up, and they're moving my desk at the Studio, now, too - so I'll be sitting a few seats down from Z...he he. How funny is that? I'm so happy I have a lunch buddy to eat in the sunshine with everyday, now, too. he he...Anyway, yeah, so I'm hoping for a fun week of making stuff - and I have a plan for my workspace involving the desks we already have, and on Friday I picked up a new flat-screen monitor I'm dying to set up so hopefully the house won't be in a shambles for much longer - I'm sick of looking for desks that are too big and expensive and hard to transport. Argh. I'ma bout ready to head on over to Walmart where the searching isn't so few and far between...lol. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! =) Happy days, guys!

The Week is Over?

Uuuh...Wow! Busy week, dude. Where did it go?

So, my hubby works at the same studio with me now (yay!) but that means I actually take a lunch now...lol..so I guess I have to start blogging from home again! lol..plus, work is crazy this week so there's been late nights and I caught up on some projects, finally, this week, on top of scouring mid-month movers and craigslist for desks so we can get our home work space in order. Whew! Got some tables, looking forward to garage-saling this weekend and setting up and finishing a painting and hopefully finally getting some Etsy goodness in the works. Oh my. Good thing hubby is still busy! poor guy, working 2 jobs + the freelance work he already had...Aww. Anyhoo - finished up my Red Velvet Kit pages, and I'll post em this weekend.

Annnd...the "Dress Your Nest" Dozens' kit is now up for sale! Dude - so excited to see what you guys make with my paper + stamp, one of my things I've designed to date! =) Happy weekend, all!

Dress My Nest!

He he....A little Dozens' sneaky for you:Yay! Lemme tell ya, this was some pretty fun paper to design! One sheet is all colored home-things cut-outs, and the other is an empty little home to put em all in! =) So fun! And then, of course, the coordinating owl stamp that all ties into the "Dress your nest" theme. Dude. I've been told it's a crafters dream....and this fab girl is the guest for the month, so, so excited - she always rocks the vintage with a comfy, homey feel. Here's another lil peek of the kit that debuts on the 15th - here's a little post with some important info on how to get one!So yummy. And, wow! The Red Velvet August gallery is up today...Dude! It rocks. You can see what Theresa, Marie, and our lovely guest Jen did with this month's awesome kit! Mine, of course, is still on its way up here to Canada...lol. I'm always last, thanks postman. lol....But you can bet as soon as it gets here, I'm jumping all over it and posting soon after!

Annnd...it was my turn to blog over at Pink Paislee today, whee! 'Tuesday Tip' day resulted in a simple but cute technique involving rub-ons and letter stickers. You can see the post with a mini 'how-to' right here, and this is the lil page I made (that's me! he he...):
It was so fun to scrap again - I haven't in weeks and it's so odd! lol...I wasn't that rusty, thank goodness, but the lovely desk situation meant it took me an hour, yes, an hour, to find the pictures I needed to scrap with. Argh. Work is nuts. I am having fun shopping and looking for cheap furniture, but we don't drive so its hard to collect the things we want...lol. And I get to buy myself a space-saving flat screen monitor, finally, too! Yay! =) That's about it...dying to go home tonight and paint and make stuff. That's where my heart is right now...=) Thanks for peeking, and happy day!

Beach Fun...

Ahh... Monday! I am antsy. Antsy to finish projects. Antsy to make lotsa stuff. Antsy to clean the house all over and organize. Feeling the need to consolidate my internet self. So many links, so many places I don't check into anymore. (sigh). Feeling a tad disconnected with no time recently to check on my fave blogs, even. but I made some rounds today. Madly searching for desks and tables and shelves so we can start the ball rolling at reorganizing our little studio apartment - the more we talk about it, the more excited I am. I skim craigslist whenever I have a moment. Yay! So I guess I'll feel better when we are through fixing up our home and I have an organized place to work in. Z, too! Our goal is...within a month! Can't wait!

I didn't even get 1/10th of the things I was wishing to get done done this weekend, but I had fun. It was chill. Hubby worked at home and I finished up some paper (that you will see very soon....) and painted a cute monster. So cute! I didn't get a chance to update the Etsy shop yet or make new goodies, still, but one of these days a few cards will be drastically on sale. I'll let ya know! There are new cards and embroideries to post, too, but they are buried somewhere in a pile of new shop packaging and shipping supplies...lol...again with the 'dying to organize the workspace' thing. So I've been hesitant with the shop this month as there's no time and no room to see inventory, even...lol. Anyway, there were walks and coffees on the beach and it was a good, artsy weekend. We went out for drinks on Saturday for a friends' birthday, too - whee!

Anyways, to continue on with the Tuf City pictures (that I know our mom's wanna hear about..he he) here's us on the 'day trip' we took to Long Beach, just outside of Tofino on Vancouver Island! (It's my fave place ever! So lovely!)

Just arriving, Z getting his hat out. When you get there, it just seems to huge! Not only is the beach, well, "Long", but its super long width-wise too. Just massive!
Me looking super-happy and dorky all at the same time. he he...I love the beach!And, well, Z loves it, too....he he. The coolest part about this beach is all the stuff you find along the way on shore: We saw tons of teeny jellyfish, a few starfish, and...eew...a washed up sea lion. (Z had to get close and take photos, but it was one of those so-gross-you-can't-look-away from afar moments for me. I don't want to post the picture here, but its really not so bad. You can find it in the flickr set.) It was quite sad...=( Oh! We also found this little seaweed that, surprise surprise, reminded me immediately of an udder. lol...So Z had fun with it:
We got to the very end of the beach and it was just sweltering and super-hot already, so we retreated into the woods for a second and then found a pathway to another waaay less busy beach...And there were all these washed-up logs on top of the rocks and no shade, so Z made us a shade fort! Yay! Perfect for reading books and having our picnic lunch in! =)

And in a few hours, all explored out, we had to head all the way back up the beach to catch the bus back into Tofino. Long Beach is such a fun place - tons of people go there to surf, too, and it's just gorgeous! If you're ever on the island, it's a must-stop place!

Anyway, I'll post a few of my super-favorite shots from the trip soon so as not to bombard you with more in this post! lol...and it's my turn to blog over at Pink Paislee, so stay tuned for that tomorrow! Yay! That means I get to scrapbook tonight! Woot! =) I have seriously missed scrapping as of late! Hope everyone is well! And thanks for peeking, as always!

Random Friday

Uhh, you ever notice how you choose the same colors from scratch that you love? Odd. I'm insanely teased by the Hills trailers - seen em? Oooh..can't wait for the new season! My hand is aching from drawing, but it's cool...cuz I was drawing. =) Can't stop listening to "Rock your Soul" and "Almost Lover" (see below in the player - and yes, I know the Kate Nash song is totally mislabelled and some of the songs haven't been loading. Argh, playlist.com...lol). Totally in love with gushy-but-romantic-sounds-tragic indie songstresses. Aching to take a class of some sort - feel the need to hone my skills in some kind of software...lol. Would it be odd to take a class in the software I work on everyday? lol...want to. I've really only been working with it for 8 month or so, I'd be cool to learn more. I'm having fun buying things from Etsy for hubby's upcoming birthday...also, searching for desks and shelves to rearrange the house with (so fun - It's been ages since I indulged in home decor stuff, mainly cuz my budget doesn't allow it anymore...but I am suddenly obsessed with mermaids and pirates for the bathroom) so I've been scouring craigslist and hoping for time to hit up second-hand stores. =) Yay!

That's about it, today...No Tuf City picture blogging time today - must finish up some freelance design stuff on my lunch break right now. Soon, promise! Just had to stop in and say hi and get some random things down. =) Soo happy its Friday! Looking forward to a weekend of crafting - painting, scrapbooking, drawing + some Etsy store organization to do this weekend. Yay! There will be jammies, ice cream, and walks in the sunshine, too! =) Happy weekend - whatever's in store for you!

I leave you with this:(A little bunny loves I ran across in my Etsy travels yesterday - it makes me smile...=) It's a print from danitashop on Etsy, you can find it here!)

Oh, oh! I also love this from the same shop - it has such a Daria feel to it...yummy!

More soon! =)

I spy...

...with my little eye, something for The Dozens! Here's a sneak of something very, very fun coming soon to the kit club! Flouretta Owl (she's a stamp...) comes with matching paper and cut-outs...Cut-outs, you say? Yes...cut-outs! How cool is that? Anyway, I've been busy busy designing these guys (the stamp and 2 papers)...so stay tuned for the release in 2 weeks! Yay! You can see Dana's peek post on the blog here, too!

Annnd...check out the yummy Red Velvet August kit, "You're Home"! Such yummy, juicy colors! =)
Can't wait for this little guy! My July kits from both my fave kit clubs are still sitting there unloved..*sniff*...a few more late nights and I can finally dig in and scrap!! Oh my...I hate being behind! So a super-special extra thanks to the best kit club ladies ever for understanding my crazy workaholic-on-vacationest. lol...Just a few more late nights and I'll be caught up! Coffee and "Almost Lover" and gorceries been stocked and Z being gone on the night shift (even though its so quiet and I miss him so!) will help me buckle down and finish super-fast! Plus, I'm drawing! Whee! I feel like its been a while since I've played with pencil and paper...and its fun to have to do fun 'work'! =)

Duude..back to regularly scheduled Tuf City pictures tomorrow - I took a peek at the last 2 weekends' pictures and they're lovely! So I'll share those soon, too....plus some other Dozens' goodness! Hope all is well, guys...and thanks for peeking!

Back! (And lotsa Tuff city)

Okay, dudes. Back at it! Back in town....we took a short-but-felt-long, wonderfully sunny weekend away in Victoria to visit my cousin Lisa. Yay! I love it there, and had been meaning to go visit her since she moved there a long while ago...fun, fun! It was pretty easy to get there the cheapest way possible, too - yay, buses! lol...it took about 3-5 hours, depending on how well the buses and ferries connected. The ride home was kind of gruellingly long...It was BC Day (the province I live in, for my American readers) - and BC's 150th birthday, so it was super-busy traffic-wise getting back home, but there was lots to see while there; a symphony playing on the lake, a parade of old restored firetrucks, a symphony playing on the water and a few foreworks. Kind of nutty - we also went to a petting zoo and played with jumpy baby goats (sooo fun!), Z flew his kite by the ocean, we ate lotsa yummy food, slept in, drank a few too many sugary cocktails, giggled lots, caught up, hung out with our boys, and just enjoyed ourselves! Yay! Pictures coming soon...I haven't even glanced at the few shots Z took yet! lol....and I was a little bummed we just missed some fab concerts on Monday night - Feist and Sarah Maclachlan were playing while we sat on the ferry home...ah, well. Anyway, it was a super-fun weekend away and we both loved the break, too! =)

So, now to catch up on the sharing! Rewind about a month ago to when Z and I were in Tofino and I'll give you a little story behind some of the rest of the photos, cuz work is a little quiet today and I haven't blogged them yet! After we landed from the super-fun float plane trip (see plane and pilot behind us)....

....we hung out at a local cafe and got totally sunburnt in the first few hours there before we could head up to check into the B&B we stayed at. We were in awe of the B$B...it was giant and amazing and all hand-made and very log-cabin-like. Ahhh...the bathroom was bigger than our apartment, I think...lol. That night we explored the tiny, very, very quiet town of Tofino aka Tuf City...and we found this really close, pretty cool beach that was within walking distance (after walking along a rickety, blocked-off pathway through the forest, of course). There was much sleeping and lazing around at that beach on Saturday, despite being sunburnt already.... ...meaning, Z fell asleep, and I was bored so I took a buncha pictures while laying there. lol..I was loving the contrast between my bathing suit + beach towel....and it was really cool and misty over the ocean, where the hot air meets the (freaking cold!) Pacific ocean. Literally, I stuck my toes in and was cooled off - I don't know how Z managed to dunk in there!) Also, hence the stripey hoodie; it got a little chilly, even in the sun! Oh! And Z flew his kite...his favorite kite ever. He's really awesome at keeping it up there in the wind - I tried and it crashed right to the ground!

At night, we headed out for supper at some cool local fish n' chip joints, and we had a cool private deck just off of our amazing top-of-Tofino room (we were at the top of the highest hill in town, which made for an awesome view of the surrounding ocean)...

...which means it was perfect for catching the sunsets and looking at the stars, sipping on cider, etc. So we always made sure we were home in time to catch the rays going down before relaxing and hopping into the indoor jacuzzi tub and soothing our sunburns...lol. Sooo gorgeous!

Annnd....wow! That's a lotta pictures for one post. I'll share the rest of em and the ones from Long Beach (my most favorite place...) tomorrow so as not too bombard you all at once! (Unless you saw em all on Flickr, already..he he).

Sooo...more soon! Readjusting today - its so hard to roll out of bed early when I got to sleep in all long weekend! Groceries and things tonight, plus I'm booked solid busy til Friday (hopefully) catching up on late July projects...argh! Here's wishing me fast scrapping, drawing, designing, painting, and some sleep in there, too! lol...Hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer! I'll be by to catch up on my fellow bloggers so soon! Thanks for stopping by, too...=)