more changes

Some photos of the fun we've had this month...

Science experiments with Daddy (that's a mock-up of a steam engine made from an olive can and some copper tubing)
S'mores in the backyard of Philip's parents' house
An ice cream treat at the zoo with cousin Sky (they are SO sweet together!)
Fun sliding down the 'Ant Hill' at the zoo...cardboard on AstroTurf makes a fantastic sled!
Jonathan nabbed a tray someone had brought over to the Ant Hill, and had fun using a tummy-sliding approach

Obviously, I haven't been blogging. It makes me a bit sad, but I also think it's been a good thing. I've 'disconnected' myself from most of my online activities (including emailing time, blog surfing, blog posting, etc...), and life feels a bit calmer, despite all the things going on at home.

We decided to split the master bedroom back to two smaller bedrooms (a previous owner had converted it into one bowling-alley-esque 13' x 28' room). Now, we have two smaller, but more than adequate, rooms - including a guest room!

My parents were able to take advantage of that new guest room (albeit without a door, as the doors had to be custom-made because of size), and just left this morning to fly back home to Missouri. I miss them already.

I've been going to LOTS of doctor visits, still trying to determine the cause of my fainting spells, and to determine whether there is a treatment that will control the spells and allow me to drive again.

We've been walking a lot: trips to the grocery store, Daniel's school, hardware store, UPS store, our family practioner's office, restaurants... I'm feeling very blessed to live where we do, with a ~10 minute walk to everything we *need* (and more).

Daniel started school 4 weeks ago, and is LOVING kindergarten. He's so excited to go, each and every day (though his favorite is Thursdays, which is his 'share day') *wink*

I started scrapbooking! Stay tuned for photos coming soon...I need my sweet DH to figure out why I can't download the photos at the moment. *sigh*

I'm planning to get back to my blog, but I'm going to take it slow. Please bear with me! *grins*

Make it a great day! Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Pattern Inspiration

I've been doing a fair bit of web searching in the past few weeks, and I am *in love* with patterns. Check out these samples from The Stencil Library (first two images) and MB Historic Decor (third image) -




Aren't they fab?!? I'm seriously tempted to do some modern stenciling around the house...

I'm also loving block printed items, like these found in the HomeSweet etsy shop:



YUM!! Makes me wanna go carve some new stamps...

An update...

Sorry for the long time since my last post! No, I haven't abandoned my blog. *smiles* Things have just been a bit complicated lately...

For those of you that don't know, my son and I were in a car accident at the beginning of July. I had an episode of syncope, fainted completely, hit a light pole (which sheared off and went over my car), and ended up next to a field, up against a fence. The exact cause of the syncope is still being determined, but my cardiologist thinks it is neurocardiogenic syncope, which is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure and heart rate. Thankfully, neither one of us were hurt (though I do have some whiplash).

Because of the whiplash and tension in my neck/shoulders, I really haven't been making anything. It just hurt too much, and left me too sore, to bend over my table to work. Instead, I've been cleaning out my craft area, paring things down a bit to just the stuff that I *love* (which is still way too much! lol), and waiting for inspiration to strike. I have been making some jewelry here and there, so I'll be sure to take some photos and upload them soon!

I'm hoping and praying that I'll get a firm diagnosis this time (this has been occuring since I was 14 or so), and that it will be *treatable*... In the mean time, I'm not driving, and just taking it easy, trying to simplify life a bit. I'll definitely try to keep you all updated, and I'll be back soon with some goodies to look at!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

USC40 - Giggle Grove scrapling bookmark

Good morning! (I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkk! *wink*)

We have a new Unity Addicts Challenge this morning from Cyndi, and I LOVE IT! Her challenge was "A double challenge…Use what you’ve got in your stash… Papers, buttons, brads, ribbons…needs to be scrap and not new from a package! And here’s the kicker…find your very first Unity set that you ever bought and use that!! Good luck and have fun"

Oh, I love this kind of challenge! I pulled out Giggle Grove, which was my very frist Unity Stamp Set, and the set that started my addiction even before I had the chance to buy it. I still {love} this set! *Everything* on this card is scrap, including the ribbon. The base is a scrap of Kiwi Kiss (I didn't even cut it down at all, just folded it in half and started building), which I stamped with one of the trees from Giggle Grove. I found a bit of Urban Prairie DP, and stamped one of the birds from Giggle Grove onto it, trimmed it out, and adhered it to the tree with foam tape. Then I found a teeny-weeny strip of Not Quite Navy, and punched it with a Martha Stewart Crafts border punch. The ribbon at the top of the card was a little piece about 5" long that was in my ribbon drawer (I have issues throwing away bits of ribbon...they're jsut so pretty!). I literally *barely* got the knot tied in it, and trimmed off about half a millimeter from each end just to get off the frayed part.
Then, I decided to make it into a bookmark. I dug into my magnet drawer, and found a tiny little flat magnet, and a thin metal piece it matched that I think I pulled off of a notebook I had finished with. (Yes, I do save anything I might have crafty use!) Here's a shot of the inside, with the metal strip that the magnet attracts to:
Isn't it fun? I love scrappy projects! *grins*

I hope you have a fabulous day!! Make sure to go stop by the Unity Addicts challenge thread to see the other addicts' projects!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy CS (SU!); Urban Prairie DP (BasicGrey)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Giggle Grove (Unity Stamp Company)
Other: Magnet clasp (recycled!); foam mounting tape (3M)

Yosemite!!

Seriously, you're jealous, aren't you? *wink* (Don't get too jealous...I do have to endure a 5+ hour drive with two pre-schoolers...each way. Always exciting! LOL)

I'll be back Friday! Have a fantastic week!!
~Michelle

Oh What Fun!

Just a quick post...I wanted to share this simple little card I made using some of my new(ish) Amuse stamps. It's so fun inking up new rubber!! And, I made it for no reason at all. It's been a while since I stamped without doing it for a challenge, or a tutorial, or MOPS, or a blog hop, or.... It was so nice just to PLAY!

The card base is a standard A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"), using Amuse's Classic White card stock. I love that stuff...it's super sturdy, and stands up to being a card base easily, even if you load it down with embellishments. I stamped a circular pattern along the edge using PTI's Lemon Tart ink. Above the yellow stamped border, I stamped the sentiment using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement.

On a scrap of the white, I stamped the pinata image, and colored it in with Prismacolor pencils. That was added to a punched square of yellow and a scalloped square of Tangerine Tango using foam tape, and they were all added to the card with another layer of foam tape. To finish it all off, I tied on some Tangerine Tango striped grosgrain. QAS and EPLS! (that's Quick And Simple and Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, in case you were wondering *wink*)

Have a fantastic weekend! Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Classic White CS (Amuse); Tangerine Tango (SU!); Yellow 'solid' DP (BasicGrey)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko); Lemon Tart Palette Perfect Match (PaperTrey Ink)
Stamps: "Pinata" and "Oh What Fun!" (Amuse); "Clear Pattern Stamps" (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Other: Foam tape (3M); Tangerine Tango ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig (SU!)

Beach Bungalow Inspiration - USC36

It's Wednesday, and time for another Unity Addicts Challenge!! This week is my turn to pick, and I picked a Color Inspiration challenge (again...I {{love}} color, and almost always start my projects by choosing colors)! I find color inspiration EVERYWHERE. A tag off my clothes, the paint on a building, colors in nature... or a photo from a magazine article (which is where today's challenge came from):
(Image is from Martha Stewart Living) Isn't that just the most darling little bungalow kitchen?? I think it would be hard to be grumpy in a kitchen with these bright, sunny, fun colors. My challenge to the Unity girls was to make a project using the colors in this photo: Turquoise, tangerine, yellow, and lots of white. Here's what I came up with (thanks to the fortuitous arrival of my May KOTM...OMGosh, I {{LOVE}} it!!):
I have to say, I was totally jazzed about the idea to make the sentiment coming out of the chimney like a little thought bubble! *grins*

I paper-pieced the house out of scraps from my scrap bin, adding the hearts with foam tape for some dimension. I stamped the sentiment directly onto my card base (using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement), and then again onto a scrap of So Saffron to paper-piece the 'home', and colored in the hearts and doodles with my Prismacolor pencils. I tied on the ribbon and added the house with some more foam tape, then I drew the 'bubble' around the sentiment and the little bubbles leading from the chimney with a ZIG Writer.

Have a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Classic White (Amuse); So Saffron (SU!); blue DP (Basic Grey 'Urban Prairie'); red CS (Bazzill); orange wood stain sample (Sherwin Williams)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: May KOTM '...Another Sweet Day' (Unity Stamp Company)
Other: Prismacolor Artist Pencils - Scarlet Lake, Yellowed Orange, and Light Aqua (Sanford); Tangerine Tango striped grosgrain (SU!); foam mounting tape (3M); black ZIG Writer