Me, Myself, & Michelle

Happy Birthday to me :)

So it's my birthday... got up at 3am this morning, hopped in the car w/ Mom and got in line at JCPenney's to get our free snowglobe.  We've been doing this for years now, 5/6?  Definitely one of our favortite traditions.  Luckily it wasn't nearly as cold as it has been in past years.

Mom and I shopped for a few hours at Northwoods Mall, ate "lunch" in the food court around 8am, took our picture in the photo booth and then stopped by Gloria Jean's for a big White Chocolate Mocha and a couple gifts.  (shhhh - Don't tell Shere & Debbie!)  Our friend Robin owns this amazing caffeinated shop.  Be sure to stop by there when you're at the mall and tell her The Pink House Girls sent ya!

 

 

We bought a couple of things for the kids today and Mom picked out her presents too, but really it was all about me, right?  So here's what I got:

#1.  At 3:30am this morning when I got in Mom's car, she had a gift bag in my seat... it was a pair of violet suede boots... very swanky!!

  

#2. At Belk's I got a set of light pink knit pj's that are really comfy and a dark brown chenille-esk robe.  It reminds me of a smoking jacket.  Too fun!  Only thing is... these are my Christmas presents, so I don't actually get them until Dec 25th.

#3. At Penney's I found a $200 cashmere-blend half length pea-coat on sale for $50.  It fits me well and what a steal?  Love this!!

#4. I'm a die-hard fan of Steven King since I read It in the 6th grade.  Mom has been buying me all of his books for decades now.  I've been totalling jonesing since he hasn't written a book in like 6 years.  Well, I was jumping for joy when we found his newest collection of short stories at Books-a-Million today.  whoohoo... guess I'll be up all night reading tonight, yay!

So, do I have the best Mom or what?  She always goes out of her way to make me feel special not only on my birthday but all year long.  Getting up at 3am in the morning is never about the presents or the deals for us, it's always about our special time together.  Every year, we look forward to Black Friday, brave the cold & the crowds, dig thru the newspaper for all the discount coupons, plan our attack and then execute.  We make a great team.

 

Well, my day of shopping is over, but hopefully yours is not.  Be sure to head over to The Pink House to check out our deep discounts.  Mom is putting so much on sale, lots of Buy-1-Get-1-Free, papers 4/$1.00, discounts up to 60% OFF.  We'll have sales all weekend long, so if you miss out on Friday's Deals then you can still get some amazing discounts on Sat & Sun.  OH - and Sunday is the start of our CRICUT CARTRIDGE SWAP.  Call Mom for details (843-744-6911) and check out our new Cricut Swarm Blog!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

COUPON

What?  Thanksgiving already?  I swear it was just Easter last week.  Well, I guess that means my birthday is coming up.  Cool!  So, in the spirit of giving.. here's a gift from me to you: 

----------------------------------------------------

~ 40% OFF ~

any item of your choice

(excludes classes, crops, & kits)

Coupon expires Sunday, 11/30/08 at 6pm.

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(Don't forget to enter your e-mail address when you post, so I can send you an exclusive Blogger's Coupon!)

A day off!

I've talked Shere into working open-to-close once a week, so I can have a day off when the kids are at school.  Loving it!!!  I'm still in my PJ's, wrapped in a comfy blanket and blogging from home.  But, I will be going in this afternoon, 6pm-ish, to set up for BUNCO.  Ladies' Night is so much fun at The Pink House.  Come on down tonight, we'll make room.  Bring a small snack to share and we'll provide the dice and the prizes.  7:00pm  ($5)

So this past weekend a very nice lady came into the store for the first time.  She was interested in putting a scrapbook together for her grandson's 1st birthday.  "Sure, I'd love to help."  (I'm only working on 3 other client projects, 4 class samples, and a few of my own layouts... so of course I have the time.)

"Oh, the birthday party's this weekend?  So, you'll need it finished by Friday morning?"  ... and I still said yes!  I am just such a glutton for over-scheduling myself.  Well, we made a big dent in the project yesterday.  I helped her select the photos/papers/embellishments for the entire album.  That was a 2 hour process.  Then last night I spent a couple hours trimming all the background papers down to 8x8 and cutting the photo mats.  So, I guess you see how I'll be spending the rest of my "day off."

Oh well, how do you complain about your job when it's scrapbooking?!!!

I'll try to get some photos uploaded later today.

:)

the creative juices are flowing!

whoohoo ~ I am loving having my craft room at home again.  Can I get a "amen"? 

(oh, btw - I've finally gotten back to church.  Loving it!  The key to peace. serenity and joy is definitely the Heavenly Father.  I feel so alive and whole again now that I have a spiritual home.  Ever want to come with me to the new Seacoast right by The Pink House, just let me know.)

www.Seacoast.org       North Charleston Campus link

So, why am I feeling so creative lately?  I think it's because I've finally stopped letting myself get so bogged down in the "business" of running our store, and I've put my creative contribution higher on my To-Do-List.  Here's what I did this weekend...

HOLIDAY PLANNER - y'all may remember I started working on this project earlier this week.  Well, it's almost finished.  I have to accessorize and label the dividers, get my organization papers designed and printed, bind it all together and VOILA!  A personalized holiday planner fit for the Queen of Bling.  :)

 

Let me know if anyone is interested in this as a class.

   

 

 

STATIONERY BOX - This project came from Tina R.  She brought it in a couple weeks ago, and I nearly fell out of my seat. I Love it!  Well, we almost got her to teach it for us, but Tina's a busy, talented crafter in high demand.  She got a big custom order that's keeping her busy, so she sent me the info and I'm going to teach it.  :)  Tina's version is Christmas themed using Anna Griffin papers.  My first try at it last night is Note themed using American Crafts papers. 

 

 

The kits can be made from the Christmas papers or any other designs of your choice!  I'll be doing up some more samples for you soon.  This class will held on Sunday, 11/23 at 1pm.  Your $30 payment secures your spot, and you can choose your papers at that time.  Please give me a call if you have any questions.  843-744-6911

Lots of love to you all as we begin the holidays.

More Design Team Dazzle

Love these two layouts from our very talented Design Team!! 

Katie's red and green Christmas LO makes me smile.  Her "flower" embellishment has turned many heads.  I even had to make a few for some of you.

   

Heidi's layout has only been at the store for a day or so.  It is gorgeous.  We asked her to use a Prima Paintable overlay and she rocked it. 

Here's a card I made using the Mirror Cardstock again.  It was fun. :)

 

Come on in to The Pink House to see these projects up close.  I've been up to a bunch this week... so I've got lots more pictures to upload.  Be on the look out for more layouts, home decor ideas, and "off the page" projects.  Also coming soon, the SILENT AUCTION photos.  I'm so excited!

Monday afternoon

So Monday I spent most of my morning working on a Holiday Journal.  I'll be so happy to show you those pictures when I'm finished.  This afternoon I had planned on doing Jessica Sprague's "Stories in Hand" project, but my printer is having malfunctions.  SO, instead I decided to put together a layout from some loose papers I had laying around.  I like how it's coming along.

 

Of course it still needs photos, a title and journaling.  I have some Phia pics in mind.  The title will be "My Poet Laureate."  I'm going to include some poems that Phi-Phi wrote for me earlier this year.  (I already posted the poems on my blog, so you may have read them.)

Here's a close up of the photo "hanger."  I like using ribbon as a way to anchor a photo mat to a page.  This is a new version for me.  I folded over the main ribbon as usual, but this time I added a separate piece that I tied in the middle, cut the fishtail ends and then attached with a glue dot. 

The photo corners are also my own design.  I cut a 1' square from patterned paper.  Then cut the square in half diagonally, creating 2 equal triangles.  Then I cut along the longest edge (that's the hypotenuse!) creating the waved edge.  I attached the corners with foam for the lift. 

I'll show you the finished page soon.  :)

Design Team Challenge

This month, The Pink House Design Team was challenged to take their paper craft off the page and into home decor.  Here are some of the holiday items they created.

Katie Weas - CD Box

How creative!

   

 

Shere - Glass Ornaments

These are Prima Rhinestone stickers.  One step easy!

   

   

Heidi - Wooden Box

She used her new fave technique... 3-D paint for the reindeer on front of the card.

 

Kelsey - NOEL blocks

WOW!  She used the silver & gold Anna Griffin line to cover these cubes.  They totally dropped my jaw when I saw them.  GORGEOUS!

   

Ginger - Holiday Mobile

This creative designer took some Prima glitter embellishments (in the shapes of stockings, gift boses & stars) and strung them up with some beads and other eye catching items.  The snowflakes at the top are perfect for adding photos.

 

Michelle (that's me!)  Ornament garland

Shere actually gave me this idea... or I stole it, depending on your point of view... but it's still cool.  I took the Prima felt ornaments and backed them with my new fave - Mirror Card.  Love how it turned out.  Thanks Shere.  :)

 

 

Upcoming Classes

Here's just a sampling of what's next at The Pink House...

Tearbears 101 - Kimber shows you how to create these adorable creatures perfect for scrapbook layouts, card fronts, home decor & so much more.

 

Wall Calendar 2009 - Shere has built a hanging wall calendar on a chipboard base.  She's decorated it with coordinating papers and elements from the We RMK Whiteout Line.

 

Christmas Stationery Box - Tina has designed an incredible card holder that is totally made from paper!  This amazing project is a big winner for gift givers.

   

Give us a call if you'd like more information on any of these classes.  843-744-6911

Come see me.  You know where I'll be!

:) Michelle

Who's that girl?

Okay, I'm happy that our croppers have such a good time at The Pink House, but when the fun is at my expense... I have to say That's Not funny!  Well, actually it was pretty freakin' hilarious.  Last Friday was Halloween as you all know.  So Mom encouraged all of our midnight croppers to dress up.  Guess who they decided to dress up as?

Are you kidding me?!!!  When I showed up at The Pink House, like a good daughter does, so that Mom can see her grandbabies all dressed up in their costumes, what do I get in return?  A bunch of my so called friends are not only wearing pink aprons, paper curls in their hair & blingy earrings - but they welcome me at the door with overkill excitement about the newest products & usher me around the store like Vanna White. 

It actually took me a half second to realize what they were doing.  Then I just about peed my pants!  Everyone was laughing so hard, but I'm still saying ~ Soooooo NOT funny!!! 

Here's the evidence:

 

Well, I've been punk'd but I still love my mom anyway.

Had a wonderful Halloween!

What a treat!  We're still not even fully moved in to the new house, but our 1st holiday went over well.  Mike decorated the yard all spooky, complete with strobe lights, jack-o-lanterns, googly eyes in the bushes and more.  I let the kids start putting on their costumes just after 5pm.  Then I did hair and make-up after dinner.  Here's a couple shots Zane took for me.  (Not bad for a 9 yrs old photographer.)

   

    

Once the kids were all dressed, I took 'em over to The Pink House to see Mom.  (Zoe and her friend Allison didn't come.  They hung out at our house with Mike until we got back.)  This first photo of the kids coming at me all scary like is my absolute favorite!

 

   

  

Bella's bat wings were the hit of the night.  She was so excited that she bounced as she went from house to house so the wings were flapping up and down.  It totally looked like she was flying!  This was the first year that she didn't have to ride in a stroller or wagon.  Not only was she NOT last to the door this year, she was first!  It broke my heart and filled it with joy at the same time.

Zadie and Phia decided to both dress as vampires.  No princesses this year?  They are growing up way too fast.  And Zane's scary zombie get-up went perfect with his cast.  What zombie is complete without a missing limb or two?  Zoe was a Grim Reaper this year, complete with a hand decorated scythe no doubt.  Zoe put the blood on it herself.  (Why does that make me so proud?  Zoe's talented even when she's trying to be gruesome!)

 

   

These are some other good shots that I can't wait to scrapbook...

~ Choosing a treat bag/bucket ~

   

~ The Candy Trade! ~

   

 

The kids were especially well behaved last night.  They stayed together between houses, remembered to say Thank You & Happy Halloween, traded their candy without selfishness, and even went to bed without argument.  I had the best time watching them enjoy the night and spend time with each other.  It was a wonderful Halloween!!