Work of Art Birthday

It is my baby's 26th birthday on Monday and I needed to come up with a "not so fussy" card because she doesn't really do fru-fru.

I think I've succeeded, what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Michelle

Goodbye...

Harley Russell

August 30, 2004 - October 29, 2014

Best friend, loyal companion and snuggly bed-hog

WOYWW 277

Happy Wednesday!
It's been an awfully long time since I've hopped on the worldwide desk tour. Thanks Julia for saving me a seat!

I've moved my desk from a dedicated craft room to one side of my bedroom. Surprisingly enough, everything from the other room all fit in here just fine. Well, except for the stuff in the closet, and I have to go through all that and have a good purge. Couple more units from Ikea to hold my stamps and it'll all be good.

So, onto the desk. It's been sadly lacking in the crafting department. All that's there is my latest order from Stampin' Up. You can just see a glimpse some Paper Pumpkin kits. Love them, but I just opened them to see the goodies inside and haven't done a thing with them. I really need to plan a day by myself just to have a play and make some cards. We'll see how that goes...

Thanks for stopping by my place, but now let's head over to Julia's house and see who's gathered there for our visiting pleasure.

Hugs,
Michelle

Breaking the Silence

Wow!
It's been nearly 4 months since I posted anything. Where does the time go? I honestly kept meaning to get on here, but something else always seemed to take priority.

The main priority in our household right now is "The Boss". I can't believe how big my granddaughter Alessia is getting. She just turned 4 months and is over 14 lbs. She is definitely the ruler of the house. I can't remember what it was like before she came. Almost everyday after work she hangs out with Nana and Poppa and on most weekends we look after her from Friday night to Sunday night. It's such a treat to spend our free time with her! What's not to love about that smile!

Mr. R has also been spending every Saturday in the forest a.k.a. the property we purchased. Over the last four Saturday's he has managed to cut down a load of trees and clear a space that is about 20 x 20 feet. I see a camping trip in the very near future. In fact, it looks like it will be next weekend because our Canada Day holiday is Tuesday, so we have decided to take the Monday off and make it a 4 day weekend. I wonder if I can convince him I need Friday off as well since it is my birthday?

I'm very excited about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator again. I just can't get enough of all the wonderful products they have. Since I spend a *small* fortune on crafting supplies, I figured I should at least get a discount on all the yummy stuff I buy! I'm trying to figure out how to make this more of a business this time around instead of just purchasing the minimums myself. Not that I won't be doing that anyway, but I might as well see if I can't earn a bit of income from my addiction passion!

Thanks for popping by, and I promise I will try to get on here a lot more often!

Hugs,
Michelle

Mojo Monday 333

I find I seem to have a little trouble with the sketch challenges and find a I much prefer the colour challenges. I don't know why I have trouble getting my head around a sketch, but here is this weeks effort for Mojo Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Michelle

Rocking Your World Friday: Week 8

I know, it's actually Saturday and I'm late to the party. Story of my life lately, what can I say? Since I wasn't around last week, here are my good things over the last couple of weeks.

First thing to make me happy was having one of my cards picked as a winner at Colours & Sketches. That had me doing a happy dance!

The next blessing was the birth of my granddaughter Alessia on February 13th. Momma did beautifully and baby was healthy and adorable.

The day they both came home was very special. Nana and Poppa got up early and went on a shopping spree to get everything that baby would need when she came home. Should have been done much earlier, but for various reasons, wasn't. It had been years since I had to shop for a baby in the house and we had so much fun and spent way too much money! Spoiled before she even got home LOL!

By far the best part of the week was having it off work so that I could stay home and help my daughter and love on Alessia as much as I wanted. I am thankful that our financial situation allowed me to do that without us having to struggle.

It was also wonderful seeing Mr. R coming in the door after work and heading straight to the baby as he had missed her all day. Too sweet for words!

So that has been my last couple of weeks in a nut shell. I shall now link this up with Virginia at Celtic House. Do visit her if you'd like a weekly dose of good things that other people have experienced this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Michelle



Fab Friday 35

Since I'm off work this week, enjoying my granddaughter, I thought I would try and enter some challenges to kick-start the creativity again.

Today's card is for the Fab Friday 35 challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

WOYWW 246

Happy WOYWW everyone!

What's on my work desk this week? Absolutely nothing! My studio has sadly been neglected over the last week. Let me explain...

I had every intention of posting last week, had my picture ready and everything. Then I got a message from my daughter Wednesday afternoon.

WBB=Worlds Best Brat
WWB: Mom, my water is leaking.
Me: Are you having contractions, do I need to rush home from work?
WWB: No, not yet, I'll let you know.

I got through the rest of the day, came home, did the dinner thing, and finally at 9:30 pm she said she was ready to go. (Guess I could have done my post, but my head was somewhere in another universe!)

Three hours later I had a brand-new granddaughter!

INTRODUCING:

Alessia (middle name to be determined) Reed

Born: February 13, 2014

At: 12:27 am

Weighing: 6lb 2oz

  

Nana and Poppa are over the moon happy!

I will try to get around to everyone this week, but please forgive me if I don't leave a comment as it's a bit hectic around here at the moment. Just know that I love visiting you all and seeing what you're up to this week.

Please pop by Julias where you will actually be able to see some desks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Michelle

Simon Says Have a Heart

This weeks challenge from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

CAS 60

Today's post is a challenge for CAS.

Love these colours.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

PPA 190

This weeks Pals Paper Arts colour combo is really pretty. I love how these colours look together.

Here is my offering for this weeks challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

Mojo Monday 331

Here is this weeks entry for Mojo Monday 331.

I struggled a bit with this one, and I'm not really happy with it, but here goes anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

Rocking Your World Friday: Week 6

Well, somehow we have rolled around to Friday again. That wonderful day of the week when the weekend is in sight and Virginia calls on us to let the world know what has rocked our socks off for the week.

By far the highlight of my week was the snow day I took on Wednesday. Lovely to be able to call into work and say the weather and traffic are terrible, see you on Thursday! And then sit around in my jammies all day playing in the studio.

The expected arrival date of my grandbaby being less than a week away.

A visit to Mum and Dad on Saturday--finally as Mum says she's forgotten what I look like!

Picking up a second car for commuting, which uses half the gas of the truck.

That's really about it for this week (it's been a slow one). Since I have no pictures, I'll finish with a couple of my favorites that I took while in Australia a few years ago. Don't forget to visit Virginia at Celtic House and tell us what made you happy this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

WOYWW 244

Well, here we are at Wednesday again. This means that it's time to join in with Julia on a lovely snoop of other peoples crafty goodness for the week.

This is my desk as it was Tuesday evening around 7:30 pm. Did up a card to be entered in a challenge. I did clean up afterward (yes, even cleaned off the stamps I used!) and put everything away.

Mr R and I started making our way into work this morning only to be frustrated by the fact that it was so snowy and slow on the highway that it took 25 minutes to go just one exit (normal driving time 5-7 minutes). What that means is we're taking a snow day!!! That also means that I can go back into the studio and mess up my nice clean desk. I call that a win-win situation.

This is the view from the studio window right now.

It's a good day to stay in and play!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

CAS #59

Well, here we are with another challenge, this one a double from Colours & Sketches.

And my take on it.

My photography skills are rubbish--I really need to practice with this fancy-smancy camera. Take my word for it, it looks much nicer in person!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

Mojo Monday 330

Well, here we are again with another challenge.

This belongs to Mojo Monday.

 And here is my take on it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

Rocking Your World Friday: Week 5

Well, this is my first join in of the year for Rocking Your World Friday. Thanks to Virginia for bringing us together to share our positive moments from the week.

I had a lovely Christmas holiday with the family, but after that things seemed to go downhill at a rather alarming speed and I just didn't have the energy or emotional mind set to do any crafting or blogging. Not much has changed on that front, but I'm determined to get myself back out there and muddle through as best I can.

This week, as always, Mr R has not only rocked my world, but been the rock in my world. I can count on him to be my support and voice of reason when I'm having a melt down--thanks Babes for always being there for me!!!

Managing to create cards for two challenges (and linking them up!).

Posting on my blog again (as I've missed being here).

My fireplace for the really cold days we've been having.

My studio for waiting patiently and storing all my goodies safely until I was ready to venture in there again.

A couple of early finishes at work this week. (Just like being my own boss even though I work for someone else!)

 Realizing that there are some things that are out of my control and discovering the strength to hang in there and deal with whatever the outcome may be.

And finally, the lovely people who visit my blog and comment even though I post so randomly.

Linking this up with Virginia at Celtic House because overall, this has been a pretty good week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Michelle

WOYWW 243

You show me yours and I'll show you mine--desk that is!

It's been a while since I've had the time/energy/emotional mind set to actually sit down and do some crafting, let alone blogging about it. I'm trying to give myself a kick in the pants and just get down to it, so this is actually (horrors!) my third post in three days.

I spent some time on Sunday making a couple of cards for challenges and this is what my desk looked like.

Here's a closer look in case you want to have a nosy in my washi tape!

I finished with the first card before I thought to snap a photo, but this is the what I pulled out for the second card. You can see the sketch I was following on the upper left side.

Sadly enough although the card has been made, everything looks just the same today, except for the little pile of card stock which is gone. The stamps are also still there waiting patiently for a cleaning before I put them away. Don't know why I didn't do it at the time because that container on the top right is filled with baby wipes for just that purpose. Huh, try to figure out what goes on in my head. Go on, dare you!

Please visit Julia, the mistress of desks and join in for a peep at others crafty corners.

Oh yeah, I've been really good a visiting others desks, just not so good at leaving comments as I try to pop by and have a look at everyone's blog. I will be visiting and commenting on everyone whose number ends with mine and more as time/energy/mental state permits.

Have a great week and thanks for popping round!

Hugs,

Michelle

CAS Challenge #58

Trying to desperately get back into the swing of things, here is the second challenge of the week.

Today's is from Colours and Sketches. This sketch fit perfectly with a birthday card that I made for my boss.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Michelle

PPA 189

Here we are with the first sketch for the week.

This one is brought to us by Paper Pals Arts.

As it is less than three weeks to Happy Hearts Day, I thought this would be a good opportunity to make Mr. R's card and have that off my to do list!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Michelle

New Years Resolutions

Using my planner should help. There are so many fab and free printables out there. Mine came from My May Sunshine.

Love the insulated bag and there's loads of room for the lunch box and my refillable water bottle!

A weekly menu planner to cover the full year, with grocery lists. Got it bound at Staples and had them put on a clear front cover and black back cover. Inside pages have loads of room for my scribbles. This one came from 733blog.com

Bit of a beast, isn't it?

Such a cute calendar planner! I had the same one last year.

Now, to figure out how to do that. Guess I will have to watch a few more just to see how they do it! LOL