Moved

I finally decided to move my blog to Typepad. Blogger has been fun but there's just way too many issues with the platform. Please update your links to http://michelebrooks.typepad.com. See you there!

back in my groove

Well it's taken some time, but I'm finally at a place where I can get back to the hobby I enjoy so much. It's been a rough twelve months with my deployment to the sandbox, being sent to Texas without the family for training, and reuniting with them in Florida. I'm so relieved that everything is finally falling into place. I finished a baby album for a friend in California yesterday, the sad thing is...I had started this project in July. I plan on getting mailed off this week, but I'll post some photos tomorrow so you guys can see the final results. Don't tell the hubby (haha, I'm sure he's going to read this anyways), but I've subscribed for two kit clubs this morning. The first one is Scrapdango. I designed for them last Spring but had to leave my term early because I wasn't able to give as much time as I wanted since I was in school. I love the fact that they offer both a feminine (Sugar) and masculine (Spice) kit. I designed with the Spice kits, so naturally I suscribed for the same. The second one is Simply Obsessed, I've been watching this kit club for sometime, but didn't have it in my scrap budget to subscribe to them. I was checking out their site this morning and I realized that their December kit features papers from Collage Press' "Joyride" collection. I've been wanting to get my hands on these papers, so that sealed the deal. I'm waiting to hear back about the waitlist for Scarlet Lime, so I can renew my subscription with Christy. I absolutely ADORE their kits. They're always jampacked with goodies and I love all the little etsy finds that she includes in the kits. So yea, I'll be back up to 3 kits a month but I'm really pleased with all my choices and it's definitely better than running into Fort Walton Beach everytime I have a urge to get the latest and greatest scrap products. I'll be back tomorrow with a post of some projects. You all have a great week! Stay warm!

The Original Scrapbox Giveaway!!!

Meet the EZ View Craft Desk (shown above) from The Original Scrapbox. This desk is so awesome, even my husband mentioned, "that's a pretty cool desk" when we looked at it on their website. The desk has an interchangeable modular design that allows you to play with the many configurations; AND the glass top allows you to see the supplies you have on hand. I've never had the space or the supplies for The Workbox (shown below). I'm hoping that will all change when we buy a house this Spring. If you're a crafter and have never heard of The Original Scrapbox, then you've probably been living in some remote, desolate area, where they have supplies from last decade, not last season...like Minot, North Dakota. (haha, we live in FWB, FL now so I can poke fun at my friends in the frozen tundra!) Now if you're wondering how you go about entering this contest, it's simple. Visit the 12 blogs below. There are 12 EZ View Desktops (shown below) that are up for grabs and each of the bloggers have some pretty easy rules listed in their blog posts explaining how to enter their contest. Like what you see above??! Visit the 12 Blogs of Christmas December 4-11, 2009 for details. GRAND PRIZE WINNER (for the desk above) to be announced December 14, 2009!!!

Life As Lou Stephanie Howell Vanilla Joy Priscillastyles Capadia Designs Crafty Makes Rachelle's Writing Spot Random-Ish by Nichole Aunt Thesis Park City Girl Lovely Little Handmades The Queen of the Clan

Stop by all their blogs for chances to win! 12 lucky entrants will receive the EZ View Desktop and will be entered for a chance to win the EZ View Craft Desk!!! Make sure you meet all their individual requirements and Good Luck to All!!

May Spice Kit Reveal

Happy Sunday, ya'll! I just wanted to jump on here and show the projects that I made with Scrapdango's May Spice kit featuring the kick ass MVP line from We R Memory Keepers. I love how this line is so versatile and I was able to go outside of the box and create other than sport related projects. First up, is an altered canvas. I have to say that this is currently my favorite altered project. Now on to the scrap pages. I had a wonderful opportunity to ride a camel for the first time in my life during my deployment to Qatar. When I first saw this line, I instantly thought of the colors of the camel's blanket. This is the first time I've used so many circles in a page, and I really like how it played out. I talk to the family almost every night. It is definitely a lot easier to stay connected with the family now, then when I was deployed. This page is of one of our many web cam episodes, you'll have to forgive the quality of photos as webcam photos aren't the greatest. The next page is of my son. I think he's absolutely adorable in camouflage and he has this thing for wearing my husband or my hats. Now for my two page spread. The photos on this page are from when I visited the awesome city of Venice, Italy. The rich colors and architecture of the buildings were just breathtaking. I'm so happy that I was finally able to scrap these photos. Finally, a Father's Day card with a little acronym play. MVD, of course, meaning Most Valuable Dad. Scrapdango's forums are currently down for a system upgrade; however, you can check out the rest of the design team's reveal HERE.

Oops, I Arted

I hope all my mamas out there had a FABULOUS Mother's Day weekend! I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders on Friday when I passed my first exam. I had free reign to scrap all weekend, in between chatting with the family over webcam (of course!), and it was definitely helped me keep my mind occupied. Nothing like some scrap therapy to get you through some trying, or difficult, times....like being away from the kiddos on Mother's Day. The page below is for the "All About Me" Challenge that I posted over at Scrapdango last week. The challenge was to scrap a page about the dreams and aspirations you had as a child. Do you remember them? How many times did you play out a fairytale in your head? Are you living the fairytale? This page features the March '09 add on kit from Crazy Daisy Kit Co that I won off the Scrap Scene blog back in March. Strange as it may sound, this is only the second page that I've scrapped that has been focused on myself. I tend to scrap the kids a lot, as I'm always playing photographer. I need to get better at taking some candid photos of myself and scrapping more of the hubby and myself. Are you ready for some sneak peaks of a couple of projects I've finished with Scrapdango's May Spice Kit? The DT will be doing a full reveal on Friday, the 15th. If you're not a member of Scrapdango, I encourage you, at the very least, to join the message board so you can see all of our great projects. I'm so excited to share! But I digress, here are those teasers I promised... And before I sign off. Most of you might remember that I was selected to design for Krop, Paper, Scissors which happens to be an actual brick & mortar LSS in Grants Pass Oregon. Well today, I received the kit that I'll be playing with to design my projects and I'm so excited! Talk about being spoiled! I can't wait to make some great projects with all these goodies! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Information Overload

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with my course, so I apologize that I haven't posted or shared any of my projects lately. We have our block I exam tomorrow, I'm anxious to be done with it and move on to the next block. I have a ton of projects that I will be uploading this weekend. I may even share a few sneak peeks of my creations with the May Spice kit from Scrapdango...so stay tuned! Unfortunately, I must get back to studying for this exam, I just wanted to jump on here and wish you all a Happy Friday!

Settled, New Gig, and an NSD celebration over at Scrapdango!!

It's been a little over a week since I last posted and in that time I safely drove 1500 miles from North Dakota to Texas, settled into my new apartment, familiarized myself with the San Angelo area, and have met some great people so far. I miss the family very much and I'm trying to stay busy so that I don't slump into a mild depression. I've already had a loss of appetite and have battled a little bit of insomnia. Oh, I have mind boggling news to share...apparently I was selected to design for, Krop, Paper, Scissors, an actual brick & mortar store, located in Grants Pass, Oregon! I'm so super excited to be designing with Bree McConnell, Lucy Chesna, Alisa Logue, and Candy Rosenberg! I can't wait to share the projects with you! In other news, I'm totally excited for the upcoming weekend! I'm prepping for the National Scrapbooking Day celebration over at Scrapdango! Come join us for National Scrapbook Day at Scrapdango on May 1st and 2nd. There will be early bird challenges starting on Friday and games throughout the day on Saturday. One winner will be getting a fabulous monthly kit from Scrapdango. There will be some smaller raks along the way as well. Participants will have until midnight the following Saturday, May 9th to load their creations into the gallery and link them to the individual challenges. Yes, that is right you have ALL WEEK to get them done. (more time for us to have some fun on the boards as well) All creations must be newly created for the crop. So come join us for lots of fun at: http://scrapdango.net/forums/index.php We are looking forward to getting to know you! Come celebrate our passion of scrapping with us!!!!! International Winners will be responsible for paying the difference in shipping after a $6.00 shipping credit. I hope to see you all there! Have a great week!

Scrapdango April Spice Kit Reveal *Photo Heavy*

Happy Friday! Good grief, it's been more than a week since I last blogged. I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday. I have a ton of photos that I still have to edit from the base egg hunt. The kids had a great time and I did manage to snap a photo of the girls with the Easter Bunny...my son wasn't having any of that though. I'm not sure why but the twins have a difficult time warming up to the bunny. I really think they have an issue with anyone in a full costume. Maybe they have an issue with there only being one facial expression, or maybe the big crazy eyes? Who knows. This week has flown by and I can't believe I will be leaving the family again. I really don't want to go. It's been great spending time with the kids but it's breaks my heart when my kids tell me they don't want me to go or that they want to come with me to Texas. I'll have to be strong on Monday when I send them off to school and such. Over at Scrapdango, we had our April Kit reveals and I just wanted to show all the fun projects that I made with this month's Spice kit, featuring some wicked awesome papers from Bo Bunny. First is a page I made for my son. Every time he sees me with the camera, he makes it as difficult as possible for me to get a good shot of him...but I got lucky this day. I'm having fun making paper whimsies! This two pager is for J. While I was deployed, our base had a mock deployment for all the kids with deployed parents. They processed through a mobility line where they completed all the necessary paperwork...almost everything my husband and I have to go through when heading out the door. I thought it was really cool and I couldn't help but laugh when my husband told me over the phone that J had received a warning order. And for those that aren't aware of military jargon...that just means to be at said location, said time, said date, with the appropriate gear. For some reason, my camera refuses to get a good shot of this layout...so I apologize. I've had wooden letters laying around just waiting to be dressed with paper. This kit was perfect to finish one for Isaiah. I think it totally fits his personality. Finally, a mini album that I created for my husband. I know we're still 2 months out from Father's Day but I figured the hubby could use something at work to help alleviate the stress he's been dealing with the past few weeks. This is to help remind him to keep his head up and that he's loved. Well, that's all I have for now. I have another project that I want to share but I need to finish the journaling. I'll probably be back later this evening to post photos...sadly, I must go back to packing my things.

Happy Mail Day!

I've finally had enough of the poor lighting we have in our house. It makes it really difficult to get a nice crisp photo of some of my projects. So I finally broke down and purchased one of these last week. I found this table top studio kit over at amazon last week and it arrived today! Not only will I be able to get a great shot but it folds up neatly into it's own tote. I can't wait to play with this baby. If you've been looking for one similar...you can find it HERE. The April Sketch Challenge is up over at Scrapdango. To enter, create a layout based on this 12x12 sketch. Your entry can be any size you like and in any format (paper or digital). The challenge ends at midnight (EST) on April 30th. Post a comment HERE with a link to where you've uploaded your page (blog, online gallery, etc.) The winner will be announced May 1st.The theme for this contest is "Spring is in the Air." You don't have to use the theme in your title, but your page should reflect something about Spring. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this sketch!

My Name In "Lights"

Ok, not exactly...but what an awesome way to start off the week! GCD Studios announced their 65 gals (DT, GDT, Spotlights, and Product Testers) today and I'm in the "light"! I still can't believe to see my name among so many outstanding crafters! You can see the official announcement HERE and because I'm super-excited here's the cut-and-paste:

Spot Light gals

What is a Spot Light gal? These lovely gals turned in GORGEOUS work for their submission (using GCD products). It was hard picking only 13 people and we didn't want to let these 40 go, without showing them off! Over the next 3 months, each of these girls will have a spot light on them :) To show off their beautiful work! Congrats girls! I can't wait to work with you. Selena Kimsey Kristin Faust Kazue Macdonald Karen Patterson Patricia Komara Jing-Jing Nickel Carissa Peach Rebecca Voth Regina Jones Tracey Locher Andrea Amu Windy Robinson Julie Overby Susan Lui Wendy Kwok Rite Barakat Amy Tara Koeppel Gina Hanson Lisa Warren Tracey Taylor Pamela Young Melita Chow Grace Tan Ellen Sosnoski Naureen O’ Neale Michele Brooks <--- Eep!! Gudrun Loennecken Kim Dellow Jennifer Ellefson Rebecca Keppel Michelle Bertuzzi Jenifer Cowles Pearl Liu Sophie Sim-Lawrence Juliet Adora Concepcion Norma Kennedy Andrea Wiebe Laura Williams Niki Meiners Deana Boston

Ok, I'm off to leave some blog love because I see so many familiar names...and if I don't get to you tonight...Congrats, girls! *BIG GROUP HUG*

a home decor project and a new DT gig

I'm loving playing with the new paper collection, "Debonair" from GCD Studios. The project above is something that I've been working on this past week. I finally finished it today! It matches my scraproom and that makes me happy. :) and BIG news... Carrie just announced her new Design Team for her monthly kit club, Scrapdango, and yours truly made the cut! If you haven't ever checked our Scrapdango, you gotta do it. You have your choice of two kits every month, one with a feminine papers and products, and the other with a more masculine touch. Finally, it's based out of my old stomping grounds...the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. Spring 2009 Scrapdango Design Team Julie Detlef (lexea) Design Team Coordinator Sugar Kit Designer Dana DiGennaro (Dana D) Kit Planner Sugar Kit Designer Heather Lough (hlough) Design Team Leader Spice Kit Designer Kerryn Fry (kerryn) Newsletter Editor Spice Kit Designer Keely Yowler (keelyyowler) Blog Coordinator Sugar/Spice Kit Designer Ginni Gas (Ginni G) Sugar/Spice Kit Designer Alyssa McGrew (Alyssa) Sugar/Spice Kit Designer Michele Brooks (Mestisa) <---OMGosh, that's me!! Spice Kit Designer I'm so excited to be working with a great group of girls and I'm looking forward to designing with the Spice kit every month.

New Home

I'm so sad. I've been blogging on mestisa.net since 2005 and I finally managed to break my domain. Goes to show that even though you think you know all there needs to know about HTML, PHP, and CSS...don't mess with things that are beyond your scope of knowledge...like file permissions and .htaccess files on a server. After talking to a good online bud from across the pond and then my host in the wee hours this morning, I came to the realization that I needed to move on to a new home on the internet. So welcome to my new blog! I hope I don't lose to many friends and faithful visitors during this transition. Thankfully, I didn't lose my posts on my domain, all the content is still there. I just can't get my site to show up right. Well, I got get the hubby and me some wine for this evening, shop for groceries, and pick up the kiddos. I'll hopefully be back later this evening with photos of a couple of projects I've been working on...that's if my mojo isn't totally traumatized over this ordeal. LOL!