All done wrapping!

Hello, hello!
~I'm all done wrapping! I stashed the gifts in a tall laundry hamper in the garage so Dyllan won't see them. We are headed to my Mom's in Borrego for Christmas and I fear we have more gifts than luggage! I guess that's what "black" trash bags are for. ;)
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I was also all 'set' to do some more baking, but decided to save it for when we get back. Anyways it's more fun to decorate the cookies with Dyllan at our own pace.
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Speaking of fun, Dyllan had a blast delivering cookies and little gifts with me to the neighbors! He always said, "Merry Christmas!" , but his "Happy Holiday", usually sounded like "Have a Holiday"
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So here's my cottage. I really challenged myself and made her a "scrapbox" cottage!
I glued glittered coffee stirrers from Starbucks on the cottage for a fence, and added icicles to the roof.

The inside has inspirational stamped words, distressed pages for photos and a pretty glittered ornament!



I really like how this turned out and am already dreaming up new ones for my shop and for swaps!

Merry Christmas!

~ The other day while in Walmart buying replacement lights for some outdoors ones that shorted in the rain, I was almost tempted to buy a set of those bubbling lights that I've enjoyed as a kid. But with no price to be seen , I opted out knowing I could always find them somewhere else-anytime, online.

~ I spent the better part of yesterday organizing my closet and sorting clothes for next years artistic altering, cleaning the master bathroom, tossing old lotions and expired products, smelling and keeping all my perfumes in a special spot because they bring back so many memories.

It all started with the eggnog

~ This is sister Lorena. She died last year of Ovarian Cancer. She was a mother of 4 kids, 2 girls, 2 boys. Her life had alot of turmoil in it from her husband to her health to just life in general. It's a really long story and makes me extra sad to think about it.

Almost Done

This is card # 3, made up then scanned for our possible family Christmas card. My holiday banner is card # 2 and if you scroll down a few post, Card #1 "Believe" is the one that made the cut.
I believe I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. I won't see some of my friends and family until after the new year, so that gives me some time.


Wed, I plan to get the oil changed then have a hopefully stress free trip to Hilo Hati at the block of Orange. It's a yearly thing for me to get Brian and Dyllan matching Hawaiian shirts. I also scour the papers looking for their annual 40% off coupon to which I scored two!

Then possible lunch at Johnny Rockets and then home for a nap(both of us) cause I have a potluck party later that night.

I've been receiving the swaps from the 12 days of Christmas swap I hosted. I'm very excited that it's going well and can't wait to show off all the wonderful mini-masterpieces soon!

Another note, remember way back when when I had my 100th post winners? There were 14 of them and I'm just now getting their goodies out! Sorry !

I also asked 12 people to send me their profile pic. I got 12 total. These surprises will be going out in Jan-2008 because of the detail involved. I really hope the girls like what they will get!

I have not added to my shop in like a month! and I'm not happy with that, but then I have to blame the holidays cause I always take on more than I can chew even when I scaled back a ton!

I have alot of "new" surprises to add to my shop that I can't wait to share with you next year! Some of it is old school talent that is starting to re-emerge and the rest is myself really applying my energies to what I've never done before! I'm very excited!

~ So now I'm off to finish "crafty" things while I watch the DVD series "House" - I'm so hooked!
Thursday is my "finish the baking or bust" day.

Rant

Since 3 this morning, when Dyllan woke me up, I knew today was going to be "a day". Gone were my plans for a early morning oil change and a leisurely shopping at the Hilo Hati store at the block of Orange. This has all been postponed till wed.
~ Dyllan in all his cuteness has been a absolute terror all morning. And I need someone to either shoot me or give me a sanity pill. I'm so super grumpy, tired, and still have not finished my 1st cup of coffee! Earlier, it got just too quiet. I found him downstairs in the bathroom washing his hands. Water and foamy soap every where.
He's in the stroller now, strapped in as the final straw. It's a little quiet now...let me check...
Darn! As quiet as he was, he was not sleeping!

I've got a last minute craft to finish up downstairs, maybe I'll put a show on for him to watch while I work. Is it nap time yet? I'll put him down about 1:30pm and maybe I can take a "cat nap" too!

Thanks for letting me rant~Michelle

Rogers's Gardens

~Last Saturday, Dyllan and I were supposed to participate in a community parade. But I got sick, (again) on Friday and could not see myself pulling Dyllan in a decorated wagon for 2 hours.
So I suggested to the hubby for us to have lunch at Fashion Island and to stop off at
Rogers Gardens for a look see. Brian watched Dyllan out in the garden area, Dyllan being entranced by a electrical train, while I purused, dreamed of fairytales and took lots of pics to share with the rest of you! I also left my wallet in the car, on purpose. ;)

~ So enjoy, feel inspired and click on every pic for beautiful details!

 
  

Season's Greeting's!

~ Please click on any Photo for detail!~


~ Still have a few deco's to put up...the nativity scene finish the staircase and other yummy's. Above is a advent calendar I made for Dyllan. I made little gift boxes out of paper cards and glues magnets on the back. In each numbered box is a ornament for him to hang on a mini tree daily. I decoupaged a old tray to hold the boxes.



Our front door is metal and a perfect place to showcase any art Dyllan does.

It's a Wonder...

~ It's a wonder how we all survived with all these safety regulations in children's toys and furniture. Yes, this is me here. Do you remember these saucers? I remember how fast I would go on the linoleum until I hit carpet, and over I would pitch. Also look at my cool toy attached, simple and non-complex unlike the stuff we see today.
Like the extra padding to hold me in?


The following pic's are of my Mom.
Do you notice her "stroller" and far they've come today?
( click on any pics for detail)

Home at last

~ I know these seem like a lot of photo's but they are really only a smattering of what we took in our 8 day road trip! So here is a basic run down as most of the info will be shared in a altered journal complete with scraps and touchable stuff.

~We arrived in a San Francisco on sat Nov,17th and spent all of the next day having fun. We've concluded that 1 day is enough in S.F. when you have a 3 year old boy!


Incredibly yummy lunch at Bubba Gump.

Let me tell you of this Carousel which was very beautiful. It has 2 stories where as the 2nd story spins in the opposite direction. Talk about sea sick!

My 3rd Boutique

For my table I found a a pretty lace like plastic table cloth to go over the cheap pink plastic ones I always use.
(feel free to click on any pic for detail!)

I had Scrapboxes, captured faeries, glittered Christmas trees, hair clips, magic wands, packets of custom glitter blend, Crowns, decorated votive holders, and pretty tags.

Paris to The Moon Costa Mesa

Last Saturday I had about 4 hours to myself.
~I started at Lakeshore Learning in Lake Forest, it's a teacher supply store. I got something for Dyllan, a Birthday gift and 2 x-mas gifts for my nieces since we be seeing them on Thanksgiving.
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~ Then I stopped off at Trader Joes's which was near by for some Olive Oil and a snack.
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~From there I braved the mall. I offered to pick up the brining spices from Williams and Sonoma as our contribution for Thanksgiving. I had to park in la la land since a chunk of the parking lot was roped off for a pink motor home from Life channel which was doing make overs on women and filming it too. I also did not anticipate walking so far or I would not have worn my new rocket dog sneakers with out socks. As I limped back to car, I was wondering where I parked until I remembered I had my hubby's car not mine and his seemed to blend in a sea of other silver Honda's.

One Woman's junk is another Woman's treasure...

I'm a craft aholic and I admit it.

I took a before pic for you all to see the chaos of my studio. You will see that photo when I'm done, probably after I finish my projects.
You might not hear from me until Friday and this is why, so please, pardon my ramble...
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1. Get materials and make demo's for Wednesdays MOPS craft. I will be making paper pumpkins, the same craft is what I'm making for table setting on thanksgiving with inspirational thoughts inside.

On this Sunday with my craft group, I'm having a card swap with a Christmas theme.
You make your card and attach it to the outside of a shoe box.
On the inside of the box are organized packets of the material s needed to make the card;

• pre cut paper
• ribbon
• stamps
• ink pads
• embellishments.

 It's enough for 10 people and is supposed to be made in 15 min or less, all the boxes are on a table, you grab one box, when done with that card, take the box back and grab another!

1. I'm putting the finishing touches on my swaps,100th post treats, oct. blog treats, and a crown give away.

1. My goal is to have everything shipped off by Friday so I can focus the rest of my energy on my Boutique items to be sold on November 14th!

I gave away a ton of out dated materials to military moms when I went to a retreat in September. Now in re sorting my studio, I'm finding more "stuff" The way I sort the good from the bad, is I look at it and pretend I'm in a fave shop, if it does not appeal to me, it's a goner.

I don't want to pay for shipping, but would like to give this "stuff" away to a happy home or two. I live in south Orange county, drop me a e-mail and we can set up a date for you visit.

It mostly consist of stickers, 12x12 patterned papers, wall paper rolls of strange designs, embellishments, some ribbon scraps, odds and ends. In the case that you don't like any of the "stuff", at least we get to meet and you can see where I create!

A dream come True

~~~Yesterday I put on a bunch of my Swing Music CD's. The 1st being Brian Setzler. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dyllan be-bopping past me on the tile floor. In between taking down Halloween decorations and washing dishes, I danced with Dyllan showing him my moves and him insisting I try his. He made one up and it went like this: Put your right foot out to the side, slide it back in, wiggle like crazy. It was cute and went with the music!
~~~ Dyllan kept asking for "fast " music, so I played "Eddie Reed", Big bad Voo Doo Daddy, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Royal Crown Review. I've seen a lot of these guys in person and have many autographs and memories to go along with the music.

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~~~The pic above is of Me, Swing dancing many years ago at Disney land. I used to go to the thrift store and find vintage goodies to make a costume for dancing. My hubby is not much of a dancer of any kind so I have not danced for a while. Although now I'm looking forward to teaching Dyllan and to some day have a new partner!

~ Click on the pic for more detail!

What a night!

~~~ Last night was a complete success for the 3rd year in a row. All but a few of Dyllan's friends came for good food and lots of Trick or Treat fun!
~~~We live in a 300+ track neighborhood that is culdesac's and all connected. It's also flat which is a plus. I think we hit 8 culdesac's with his friends, after they left, Dyllan and I went out just the two of us and hit a few more.
~~~ I'm not so hip on the the people that hang out front of their house in a lawn chair with their bowl of treats and I just don't bother with the ones that leave a bowl on their front stoop with a sign that say's "take one please." Both of those take the fun out of trick or treating!


~It's all about watching your child ringing the doorbell and singing "trick or treat!"
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I'm still tired.
Did anybody tape TAPS's, on a real VHS? I don't have tivo and could not muster the energy last night to find a tape. They were investigation the Waverly Manor from 9pm-3am in a live broadcast. I conked out on the couch after 2 hours.
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I'll upload Halloween photo's maybe tonight of last nights festivities. I also have to go through all the Oct. blog post to choose winners! How exciting!
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I'm still playing around with the details but for now, how do you like my new banner and blog design?

Still a few more things to do...

~~~~Yesterday I hosted a Halloween Crop party at my house, but do to the fires and some stomach virus floating around, only 1 person showed which was fine with me cause the day was mine to work on crafts regardless. We feasted on Stouffers chicken enchilada, ruffles with salsa and dip and some delish' desserts she picked up from a gourmet bakery.
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~ We watched "The Blair Witch", "Creep Show" and a little bit of "Signs" With the exception of creep show which is fun along with a few other movies of that nature that I own, I personally get a better thrill on the movies that freak out my mentality.

Card making and stuff....

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~ Our home is safe from the fires but not from the smoke! We are fairly close to Camp Pendleton's fire and it's just awful! The sky is orange. We are staying in the with air conditioner on auto and 2 air purifiers running.
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~As you may have read earlier, I went to my Mom's in Borrego Springs for a visit with Dyllan on Sat, and came home on Monday. During the stay, the only time the tv was on was to play Dyllan's Dvd's. And plus the air was fantastic in the desert, blue skies with lots of wind. We had no clue to what was going on in California until Monday. All the normal ways out of Borrego were closed or on fire. I ended up adding 2 hrs onto my already 2 hr drive to take the "back" way out of Salton Sea and Palm Springs route. I will post pic's from this visit soon.

Wax coated Autumn leaves

~It's here, today's the day and I'm very excited!

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I'm also buzzing because tonight Dyllan and I are following our 3rd year tradition of the both of us dressing up in our costumes and meeting friends at Disney CA Adventure Halloween bash! It's a lot of fun and something I look forward to every year!

Seems so long ago

Having a better day today and am in the process of finishing up on past due projects plus a multitude of blog post. Here's one from a friend that would be fun for everyone to play along!
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Never again

~It's been a busy couple of days and I apologize for not uploading some promised pics of current projects. I will do it soon.
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~ Last Sunday I hosted a crop at my house through my group West Coast Croppers.
For $5, I taught the girls how to make 4 Halloween cones using vintage wall papers, clip art and the rosette trick.

Things I learned from this demo:
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1.There will always be the one who does something first then ask how to later,,,(pouring a pile of glitter then asking later if it's too much)

Going to D-land today!

~~~We were supposed to go last Monday but I forgot about the Holiday. So the only other day I could manage was today. Brian is coming home from Chicago tonight so Dyllan and I will be meeting my Father-in law Jim there at opening times. This will be the 1st time in 5 years that I'll be at the park when it opens. Only cause the winter hours open at 10:00am instead of summer 8:00am. A little more doable.
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~~~I plan on leaving the park no later than 2:00pm so Dyllan can get a nap in and I can finish sprucing up the house before Brian gets back (late). In the meantime, I picked up a disposable camera, the good quality kind with a flash from grocery shopping. I'll call it a surprise camera since we wont' see what's been taken until we develop it! I thought it would be a good start for Dyllan and I can let him start his own scrapbook, with safety scissors and all.
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~~~I did research on the little kids camera that I'm hearing so much about. Digital, unbreakable. I'll ixnay it till some one one with kids comes out with something better. The pictures are fuzzy and the "delete" button is bright red and huge.
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My Halloween and Fall stuff is almost up, I'll take pics inside and out. Got my hat swap goodies from Cathy Nash, will be posting those this week end and will be working on goodies for my drawings all month long.
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Have a great day!
~Michelle