Michelle's blog

I have had an idea for the Bo Bunny I "Heart" You word book for a while, but just haven't had time to work on it. I finally finished it yesterday. I used the Bo Bunny book with this gorgeous Daisy Bucket Designs paper and a variety of ribbons. I think it turned out pretty good...

My poor husband, he doesn't know I put this picture of him in it (and on the internet for the world to see!) I am not sure what he was doing in this picture, but he doesn't always look this way.

I feel like I have been missing in action. I left very quickly and without much preparation to go to the Craft and Hobby Association convention in Anaheim. I got home last night and talked my husband's ear off. I could see after about two hours of babble that his eyes were glazing over. Poor guy. Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of the items that I made. I could write a lot about all of the vendors, but I may have to put that off for a bit. I am trying to get ready for an online Flea Market that starts tomorrow. There were so many new products and samples at the show that I could write for days and not do it justice. I can't wait to start getting some of the new products in the shop!

Metal embossing, painting, and decoupaged image

Encaustic wax with rub ons and paint

Wire bracelet and earings with washers

Wedding card

Bling pin and ring

Cuff made from salvaged sweatshirt and necktie pieces.

Here is a picture of the doll I made inspired by the Icicle Dolls made by Belinda Schneider posted on the ARTChix website. Being one not to follow directions, my doll turned out pretty different than the samples, but was super fun to make. It was a nice change from what I have been doing. I am thinking this will be our project for the next Whimsical Wednesday here at the shop. ARTChix stamps, fabric, buttons, and beads. Fun.

Here are the needle felted postcards that I made for another swap. I only swapped 3, but made 5. One extra for me and one extra for my mom. I actually mailed them, puffy snowman and all. I got one (from myself) in the mail and it was pretty cool with the postage and stuff on the back.

Today I sent in my pages for the 2009 fat book swap that I signed up for through my Art Techniques Yahoo group. We all had to make 120 pages with instuctions on how to re-create the page on the back. You may remember this technique from the video I made while making some of the pages. If you didn't see the "Embedded fibers with UTEE and embossing powder" video, you can still check it out. Here are pictures of some of my pages.

I also sent in some felted postcards for a swap, so I should be getting those soon. I hope to post pictures of the ones I sent out tomorrow.

I have joined several swaps, most of them due between NOW and end of Feb. I set a goal for myself to have them all completed by today and mailed. Well, I almost made it. I only have a small amount of one left to go and the rest have already been mailed or will go in the mail tomorrow.  Here are some pictures of the Winter Skinny Book swap page that I made. After working on Tim Holtz Twelve Tags of Christmas I decided to use one of the tags I made and convert it into a page (well, actually about 28 pages.)

I first created the background pages by coloring each page with water diluted ink. Then I stamped leaves and grass and text. After that, I stamped the bird image onto plastic or a transparency. Then I colored each one with sharpies. Once they were dry, I paint over them with white gesso to make them stand out against the background paper. I attached the transparecies and plastic to the background paper with glossy accents. Then I painted the tops with blue acrylic paint, and white and black gesso. I added the word "Winter" by first writing it on with a sharpie and then covering the written letters with stickles. Oh, and then I added a bit of blue ribbon. The pages took an incredible amount of time. Much more than I had expected. But, overall I am please with how they turned out.

Last month I participated in two swaps hosted by Amber Dawn of Inventive Soul. One swap was a fabric/fiber charm swap and the other swap was for book charms. While the fabric charm swap was challenging, the book charm swap was a bit more challenging (and rewarding.) If you have ever tried to make a book smaller than 1.5 inches, then you know what I mean. Here are photos of the charms that I received (mine are in there too.)

Besides me, the fabric and fiber charms were made by Amber Dawn, Brenda Wampler, Jackie Herman, and Jan Hamill.

Besides me, the book charms were made by Amber Dawn, Rose Momsen, Rashel Rahming, Christine Hansen, and Ellen Gray.

If you are interested in joining a charm swap, I recommend checking out  the International Artistic Charms Exchange group. I have participated in several swaps with this group and have never been dissapointed.

Here is a picture of our backyard yesterday morning. By last night there wasn't any grass showing because the water rose up. This is the highest we have ever seen it. Usually it floods but we can always see one side of the bank. Notice in this picture both sides of the banks are underwater? It was definately a day full of anxiety. Thankfully we had a spot next to our house to put our horses (although there wasn't any shelter.) There stalls were flooded too. We are definitley looking forward to a bit of a reprieve. The forcast is calling for sunshine in the next few days.

One of the scariest things though was seeing the water pound into our bridge instead of just going under it. The water level had reached so high that it had to start going around and into the bridge. We are waiting for the water to recede to see if there has been any damage to the banks holding the bridge.

Here is a picture of our backyard a week or so ago after it had snowed. It gives you an idea of where the creek "normaly" runs.

The area is still experiencing flooding and all the major highways are closed as well as the schools. My oldest daughter is feeling a bit stir crazy and wanted to go to the nearest bigger town (Olympia, Shelton, Aberdeen) to do some grocery shopping but couldn't since all the highways are closed. It's good time to just stay put. But, try telling that to your teenage daughter who has already spent about three weeks staying put because of the snow.

On a crafty note... A few days ago I received some charms froma swap I was in. I will try to get them posted for you soon. They are fabulous!

I opened up the latest issue of "Cloth Paper Scissors" and saw a great "workshop" (pg. 14) on creating digital art. So, I tried a few of the techniques and here is what I came up with.

 Old gas station at Fort Warden, Port Townsend, WA

 Old truck, Skokomish River Valley, Western WA

 Space Needle, Seattle WA

My backyard, McCleary, WA

This was a nice change from "cutting and pasting" paper. I am excited to see what I can make with some of these images.

I have the craft for you. Inchies. Inchies are just tiny little bits of art. You can make just one. SUCCESS! Or, you can make several. Either way you are bound to finish them, unlike some of the other projects laying around your house. If you think you might want to try some inchies, head on over to Lia's site for inchy inspiration.

Here are pictures of some that I have made over the last few days and some others I made a few months ago. 

 I hope you have a great New Year, and remember, when your resolutions make you feel like you have failed just make inchies instead!