Scissor Quirk.

(Crochet) Pirate Friday.

Aha! Pirate Friday, we meet again!

I was actually going to do a post with a ship, all symbolic and stuff, on how I'd like to just sail away and ignore the giant pile of worries and to-do's and lates and all that stuff I have overflowing my plate this weekend. lol. It would be so nice to sail away, just for a lil bit. Cept I totally love the projects I'm working on - they're just so lovely and all-consuming. :)

Anyway, but then I found.....
this little crocheted safety cone, in his pirate halloween costume!

(little crocheted dude from right here, by Alicia).

Say what?? How sweet is he with his little yarn eye patch?

So I click on through to the lovely makers' photo gallery - because the writing in the photo's post totally cracks me and makes me smile -  and lo and behold, this lil safety cone has a little story & travels & many little hats and outfits! Eeek!

Also - you can make one yourself, thanks to the rad free pattern!! :)

I might just have to make one! It seems like something I could handle, newbie-skill-wise, before I make this lil panda, since my doily is actually working out. :) I need to be making skull baby sweaters before the end of the year - so here goes nothin, when I have a moment. Yay!

Happy weekend, guys!

I'll be a little MIA, internet-wise for the next few days - if you're waiting for an e-mail from me, so sorry! I'm a little bogged down, and probably will not get to them until at least Monday, if even then. :( If it's urgent - please lemme know!!

Bella Challenge + Studio Calico Spotlight

Hi, guys! It's been a scrapbook-ey kinda week, here, hasn't it?

To continue with the scrapbook-ey-ness: a big thanks to Sasha for spotlighting me as a member today/this week on the Studio Calico blog! :) So sweet!

(Wowza - I need a new headshot! This one is becoming crazy over-used! lol).

I am still super new over there - literally, my first kit from last month has had one page made from it, so far (that I haven't been able to share, yet!) he he - but I'm MichelleAlynnClement there, if you wanna say hi. :) I can't wait to use the rad kits, more when I finally have a spare moment to cut & play! Yum!

Head on over to their blog for my lil Q &A!

Annd I have another Bella Blvd featured artist page, comin-atcha:

Our Designer Challenge was to create a layout we made using unique frames (handmade by us) around our photos. Check out the full post, right here.

(photos from our lil day trip, swimming with the dolphins in Mexico! Eeek!)

I made two different frames for my photos:

 - A faux vintage cabinet card frame (on the larger photo) - made by tracing the photo shape onto my patterned paper and then cutting roughly a little larger all around it, rounding the corners, distressing it a little, and then stitching it on.

- I made a faux polaroid frame for the smaller photo by hand-cutting two layers of polaroid-shaped paper to fit on top of my photo (you'll see that one of these is actually a sticker remnant). I stitched them on top of the photo & aged it all a little by crumpling the edges & adding some walnut ink to stain it.

(All products used are from the Bella Blvd All Inclusive Collection)

They were super quick and easy! :) Just trace your photo, cut the paper out a little larger than your traced shape, scrumple, and sew em on - I swear!

Happy day, friends! I have a tight deadline this weekend, so I'll try to pop by with an update (I have a lot more scrappiness to share!), but I may not be able to...let's just say, if I blog, than I'm actually getting some sleep...which is rad! :)

Bella Page - Bests of Summer

I have a lil crafty something-something to share with you today, lovely readers - one of my May featured artist projects is up on the Bella Blvd blog (actually, I'm a tardy poster - if you hop over, there are a few more pages up, too!).

This is my page, 'Top Ten Bests of Summer' - check out the full post here!

That's me when I was little - at about 1 1/2 - sitting on my favorite lawn chair sort of "camping" on our front lawn. It's the cutest ol outdoorsy photo, and made me think of all my favorite things about summer (like lawn chairs and sunshine). So I made the page a Top 10 List of my Favorite Summer Things and journalled it all around the page, freestyle. :)

I used a mix of lots of Bella goodies, on this page - including the Swing into Spring, All Inclusive, Estate Sale, and Man of the House collections! To see exactly which products, hop on over right here for a list of what I used!

I think this is one of my fave pages I've made in a while!! :) It's so fun & colorful, and just distressed & detailed enough to make me smile! Such a blast to make!

And can you tell I'm addicted to Jenni's buttons?? Ohmyword. They rock:

Otay - More scrappy goodness will be posted soon (including some peeks into my workspace & some more new pages - peeks, here!). :) Fun, fun!

Happy rest-of-your-day!

This Weekend:

Was a long one! Woot!
We had Monday off, here in Canada, which was so rad! :)

My best friend & her hubby flew in from Calgary for a few days to visit (yay!) & sleepover in our humble abode, and we had fun milling about town and seeing some sights and eating yummy food and drinking on the roof. Aah. So fun!

- I only took about 5 measly (& pretty horrible) photos, this being one of them:

(hubby up @ the Capilano Suspension Bridge - but not on the bridge yet)

The others are seriously trash-worthy. Ugh. lol. I always like to put the camera away and enjoy what I'm doing, while sight-seeing - always have - even with my lil point and click! And at this point in my new-camera-knowledge I would end up spending my sight-seeing fiddling with settings and reading manuals more than seeing what I'm there to see, which is soooo not fun for me. I like to be where I am - Not there, but occupied! That's a little silly, no? lol.

Needless to say, this cemented the fact that I need a full day to mess around with the new camera first to avoid the not-taking-pictures-thing again! Bad, Michelle. And the suspension bridge was super-fun and beautiful, pictures or not! I was misty and a little rainy-but-dry and just plain pretty & green!

And we also:

- barbequed on the rooftop at sunset & sipped Sangria
- Had the best sushi I think I've ever had!!
(yummy rolls with odd combos like papaya, tomato, mango, etc - om nom!)
- Watched 'The Big Lebowski' (for the umpteenth, rad time!) while crocheting
- Practiced (successfully) some more crochet patterns!
- Played a whole lotta 'Clue' board game
- Rode the bikes around Stanley Park with some photo op's, this time
- Visited my favorite paper store on Granville Island (Eeek!)
- Had lots of fresh fruit & veggies & Terra Bread
- Treated ourselves to birthday pedi's & mani's
- Celebrated Mandy's birthday (with delicious cake, too!)
- Saw 'Iron Man 2' after yummy pub food

Whew! And I feel like that was just the tip of the iceberg! lol.

One of those busy-go-go-go weekends, with a little chill time, and lotsa catching up. :) It was sunny enough that we had to be outside, and it was just so rad to hang out with one of my besties, because usually mountains separate us!

I officially feel like a waaaay behind lump today, now, though - lol. It was super-hard to get back to boot camp this morning after indulging in 4 days off & some sleep-in time and pasta. ha ha...

So lovely. :)
How was your weekend? Long? Fun?

Hope it was a blast!

I'll be back very soon with some new scrapbook goodness, too, so stay tuned!

Giveaway - The Dainty Squid

This post is stuck up top, here, until May 27th - scroll down for newer posts!

Yep - Here I am...back with another May giveaway for you!

Hop on over and visit Kaylah @ The Dainty Squid to win a 'Mr. Moustache' & a set of 'Bunies at Play' illustrated stickers! Yay! :)

The giveaway is open to anyone! All the details can be found right here. :)
Good luck, and happy rest-of-the-long-weekend!