New Projects

Came on this morning before work to post new projects!  I have a 12x12 layout to post (& another one later perhaps) and a mini album.

The first layout, my "family" layout is a personal favorite!  I just love the warm colors, the chipboard tree (which I sprayed with walnut ink and then outlined in a fun pen), and the My Mind's Eye "LOVE YOU" tag. I also used Pink Paislee Papers. I used some American Crafts Thickers too, outlined with Stickles Diamond Glue, and just love that ribbon on there and the frame!  I got the ribbon at my local scrapbook store and unfortunately cannot remember who makes it right now and the frame's Colorbok, I think from Target.  And of course there's some machine and hand stitching on the layout.

I also finished a mini book I started a while ago.  I started it in June of this year but after some personal stuff went on in my life that delayed the finishing process.  It's Pink Paislee papers for the most part, Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue, some orange dots from Pebbles, Inc., cork, beads and American Crafts Thickers. It's all on a base of Maya Road's Scallop Coaster Album.

Have a great Tuesday!  Two days until Thanksgiving!!

Productive day at home

Well it's 11:11pm (make a wish!) and I'm exchausted after what felt like a long, though productive, day at my apartment.  I woke up around 9:30am (which is late for me), made some coffee and eggs (I cannot function without a good breakfast!), enjoyed my Sunday morning "Meet the Press" and "Chris Matthews" show (about as far as I go into politics) then got down to business.

I added a few items to ebay (click here for my listings - two tank top, a sorority shirt and a Disney Vacation Club lot) that I've been meaning to put up for months which took up a few hours (it takes a while to do it thoughtfully for me), then reworked some wires so I always have my printer, scanner, and external hard drive hooked up to my computer (I never thought I'd say this but I seem to not have enough USB ports in my computer anymore), burned a disc of photos to move/back stuff up, photographed 2 paper scrapbooking projects, and proceeded to begin to finish a collab kit from way ago that FINALLY got done today! 

In between all of that I managed to remind myself that I need to take a break from the computer screen and get some fresh air - and enjoy the outdoors.  So I enjoyed a glass of wine outside while I read some of the O Magazine I purchased last week.  (I don't normally buy O Magazine but I was dying to read the Ellen and Oprah stuff in the December issue!)  I'm so glad I took that break.  It was a healthy thing to do.

So I've decided to have a big sale this week for Black Friday at my Digichick store!  I uploaded my collab with Tara Sroka based on an animal we all love - the elephant!  Besides which, I have always really loved the name Ellie, ever since I was a toddler and had a good friend named Ellie!

This kit is available THURSDAY!!  Just in time for some major shopping, right?  Become a fan of "Mikkel Paige" on Facebook because I think I'm doing my discount through my page in the form of a coupon code.

I'll post my paper projects tomorrow since I'm SO TIRED!!  But I promised I'd give you some insight as to what I purchased from Two Peas this week so here it is!  I had a credit there I was happy to use.  Plus, most of the stuff I bought was on sale - majorly discounted - and I'm happy to say a lot of it was Maya Road products.

I was THRILLED to see that Two Peas got in more of the Maya Road robot sheers!  I've been waiting for them to get more in!

I also got the Maya Road Kraft Envelopes I've been waiting for them to get in:

I got some Caboodles Prima Flowers (not this color though...I couldn't find the image of what I bought):

And I got some Jillybean Journaling Sprouts too:

Paid Programming just came on the TV so that's my queue to seriously go to bed!

FOUR DAYS 'TIL THANKSGIVING!  Have a great Monday tomorrow!

Countdown to Thanksgiving: 5 days!

5 days until Thanksgiving!  Like much of the rest of the year, November has FLOWN by.  I'm in disbelief that it's Thanksgiving Thursday, which I believe has a lot to do with it feeling like August just yesterday and that there isn't really a dramatic change of seasons in Orlando.  Thus, I never feel the queues from nature that it's fall like severe cold weather, leaves falling off the trees, gray skies, etc.  It's always bright and sunny in Orlando!  

I made another cake this week!  For one of my 2 boss's daughter - she turned 11 this year and celebrated with some friends with an ice skating party. Naturally, the cake has a figure skate on it.  Inside it's a marbleized vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream.  I decoreated the outside with fondant, gumpaste bows, a hand-cut figure skate, applied her name, "Sage," in fondant and put lots of luster dust on this baby! 

I really enjoy when my sketches and cake ideas that I have in my head come to life.  They always turn out looking much better than the sketch, I'm happy to say, I really enjoyed seeing this cake come to completion to see the finish product.  I really liked it!  I liked how "girly" it was too with the pink and purple.  Hopefully Sage was surprised by it (her dad was surprising her with this cake) and her friends and family loved it as well!

In scrapbooking news, I just finished a layout (the glitter glue is drying!) and I'll post some photos tomorrow.  I'm also uploading some stuff to my Digichick store, finishing a kit with fellow designer Tara Sroka, and enjoying being home in my apartment for the evening!  Oh yes...and some awesome ravioli I got from Whole Foods today!

I just remember that I bought some stuff (mostly Maya Road things) from Two Peas yesterday!  More on that later...  Enjoy your evening!

New layout and a baby shower cake!

I was a busy cake decorator last week.  Three cakes in one week is the most that I've ever had to do within a few days but I enjoyed it.  It was a good test for when I have a similar series of sugar arts to do in December. :-)

Here's a photo of the baby shower cake I made:

The cake inside was chocolate with a vanilla buttercream filling.  Otherwise the cake was decorated with fondant (the blue base, buttons, rubber ducky, and shoe laces) and gumpaste (the pacifier, key teething ring and shoes).   I was really excited to do this cake because I've had the cutters to make the keys and shoes for over a year and haven't had the opportunity to use them until this past weekend.  I really loved how it turned out and, from what I hear, so did the guests at the baby shower!

I also finished another 12x12 layout this weekend!  Also LOVE how it came out.  I used a lot of Pink Paislee things (the papers and rub-ons), some Prima flowers, Memory Makers brads, Martha Stewart blue flocking powder (first time I used that stuff - it was cool!), Maya Road scroll sheer (the journaling) and heart slide (the metal one on the right), and even some STICKERS that I hardly use! (The orange hearts are stickers I mounted on chipboard, cut out, then put flocking powder on the perimeter.) 

I took color queues for the layout from the photo.  My boyfriend and I "took" the photo ourselves on self-timer when we were the only ones on the beach a VERY cold morning in Pensacola, FL the third weekend in October of this year.  It certainly made for a memorable sunrise though!

I'm going to start photo documenting my layouts and put up step-by-step instructions to how I achieve some of the looks on my layouts.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! I don't care so much that it's an "infamous" Friday the 13th, as much as I care that it's almost the weekened!  And today's the big Maya Road online crop/chat that I'm excited about!  Check it out here.

Have a great Friday!