Sure sign of Spring

 

We have a little volunteer patch of Fresia that blooms every year. I just noticed it this morning loaded with blooms and buds. Although it's only February, it looks like a sure sign of Spring to me!

Catching Up

 

 

Hi Everybody,

Catching up today. We've been traveling the last few weekends. We went to the Tucson Gem & Mineral show. Here's a couple of pictures of Carla and our friend Jessica checking out some beads in one of the hundreds of tents at the show. I was mostly looking for greeting card embellishments so they were scouting out anything that was relatively flat which could be attached to a card. We found lots and lots of beautiful pre-drilled polished stones, silver charms, fused glass charms and beads from every corner of the world. We got them all! If you get the chance to go, bring your best walking shoes because the show is awesome and HUGE!

I want to thank everyone for keeping my brother Gary in their thoughts and prayers these last three weeks since his brain anurysm. I spoke to his wife Janet today and he is doing so much better that he will be moved from the Mayo Clinic to a rehabilitation hospital tomorrow, ahead of schedule. Great news!

We are preparing for our trip to The Netherland on April 1. We will be attending the ArtSpecially rubber stamp convention in Zeist April 4 & 5. You can check out the information about it here: www.artspecially.nl/index.php?contentCode=a62 I've designed some new stamps which will debut at the show. Carla gets to go with me this year, hooray!

Beautiful Babies!

Hi Everyone,

Here’s the latest card challenge for the EnjoyMichaelStrongstamps yahoo group. Make a card featuring a baby picture of yourself or of a loved one. Use any MSRS stamp you would like. The card sizes and the colors are entirely up to you. This challenge closes on March 4, 2009 and prizes will be awarded to three winners.
Have fun and let’s see some of those beautiful babies!

Metamorphosis winners!

 

Hi Everyone,

Here are the three winning entries in the last card challenge at EnjoyMichaelStrongStamps Yahoo Group. They are from left to right, Cheryl Momzilajn, Thea Hoekstra and Herma Fichte.

Cheryl Momzilijn

Here's Cheryl all bundled up in her snow suit ready for a day on the slopes. That's what I see anyway. Cheryl calls this a self portrait and a very charming one it is too. She used elements of the Cloisonne Leaves and Vase to create her portrait adding her own happy face beneath her nicely curled hair. I like the bold contrast of the dark background too. Well done Cheryl!

Thea Hoekstra

Thea made this really lovely display of exotic flowers in a decorated pot. She used very unexpected elements to form the flowers and stems and the pot shape and decorations give it a tribal flavor. Notice the subtle torn paper background with watermarked elements which contributes to the overall primitive motif. Can you discover what stamps she used? Well done Thea!

Herma Fichte

Here's our friend Herma with her second win! She calls this Picasso Meets MSRS. Not only did it make me smile when I saw it but it is a very well crafted card. Again Herma's color choices are dynamic and her placement of elements form a perfect collage homage. Well Done Herma!

Danger Boy part 2

Hi Everyone,

This is just a quick note to let you all know what's happening. Last Sunday my younger brother Gary had a brain aneurysm and was not expected to live. My Mom and I flew to Jacksonville Florida to see him at The Mayo Clinic the next day. We met his wife Janet in the lobby and we all went up to his room in the Intensive Care Unit. The wonderful Mayo Clinic doctors and nurses managed to repair the damage so he was resting comfortably in his bed. He is in critical condition and will remain in the hospital for the next few weeks. My Mom (who will turn 80 this year) hoped he would somehow know we had been there to visit him. On the day we were scheduled to fly home to California, Gary opened his eyes and responded to our voices. He will have a long road to travel back to good health. Please pray for Gary. Thanks everyone,

Mike