Happy New Year and OH MY GOD, I TURNED 50!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Hello everyone!  Just having some fun with the subject line of my post today.  I have turned 50 - but I am not freaking out over it. Honestly, I feel better at 50 than I did at 49!  LOL

Sorry I have not posted anything in a few weeks.  My friend Eleni - who I know for over 30 years - came all the way from Houston, Texas for the holidays and to help me celebrate the big 50!  Also, unlike in the USA, the holidays here in Brasil mean that things slow down, stores and restaurants close, and people go on a month long vacation. Especially in our small town! It's been quiet and so has my blog! 

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday, that you got great art supplies, stencils, boxes of dark chocolate double stuff Oreos, and maybe a puppy! Wishing everyone a fantastic 2015!!!  

I did not get many presents for my birthday - at my request - but I did get the BEST Birthday Card EVER!!!  My BFF, Sue Macken, made me this card, which she mailed to Eleni so that Eleni could bring it to me in her luggage! Sneaky!!  It arrived in an envelope.  With a big note on it saying "do not open until December 24th".  Yeah...my birthday is Christmas Eve, which is also why it is never a really big deal to me.

So I waited...until the 24th!  Then I went on Skype with Sue and opened it while she and Eleni watched.  As I opened the envelope and then slid the card out, it popped up and open into this amazing "Card In A Box".

That is Sue on the Ipad and Eleni behind me in the 3rd photo!

To say I was shocked and overwhelmed by the amount of work that went into this card, would be an understatement.  Sue does amazing work and I know she is as anal as I am.  So I could only imagine the time, the amount of perfect die cutting, and adhering that went into this!  I am sure she was up to the wee hours of the morning getting this done just perfectly!

But I love it and will treasure it forever! 

If you want to see more of her work, check out her Etsy shop HERE -  she has the nicest cards and tags for every occassion!  (No, she did not ask me to add her site here, has no idea I am even doing this blog post, and she will probably kill me the next time I am in NY.)   

Below are more close-ups of the different parts of the box. 

Of course she keeps getting the number wrong!

Again, I want to take a moment to wish all my readers a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, and Art Filled 2015!!

Stop back again soon because I have a bunch of new posts coming up!

Hugs from Cosmopolis, Brasil!!

~Michael