Wow! I can't tell you how surprised I was when I had that little PM window pop up and say I had a message from JulieHRR!! Becoming part of the Dirty Dozen is just a dream come true… one of those things you HOPE might happen someday… but when it does-WOW!!

My name is Michelle Giraud-better known as Flaxychick here on SCS. I'm 37 years old, and I've been married to my wonderful husband, Wil, for almost 16 years. Wil is my best friend and the perfect match for me-so close of a match that he donated a kidney to me in June 1999! We have 2 daughters, Sierra and Marina. Sierra is 14 and such a wonderful teenager. She loves sports, and plays the saxophone and clarinet in the high school band. Marina is 10, and incredibly creative. She is a really great little artist... I'm always finding beautiful, whimsical drawings hung up around the house!

I was born in Syracuse, NY and lived there for most of my life. About 7 years ago we moved up to the Adirondack Mountains in northern NY where we have a small farm (which keeps growing) with 2 dogs, 2 goats, 1 angora rabbit and 30 chickens.

For the past 6 years I've owned a ladies clothing store specializing in the FLAX clothing line (comfortable, natural fiber clothing-great stuff!!) A few months ago I decided to "retire" from retail and started making plans for closing the store in mid April. Everyone kept asking what I planned to do once I closed the store, but I really didn't have an answer to that until I received the PM from Julie! My Mom kept telling me, as I struggled with the decision to close the store, "When one door closes, another opens" - so being chosen for the Dirty Dozen came at a perfect time for me.

I was introduced to stamping by my good friend Arin (Arinstamps on SCS)-she invited me to a Stampin' Up party where I purchased my first rubber stamps and ink pads. When Arin became a demo a few years ago I joined her hostess club and bought more supplies. Then I became a demo last summer and now I'm completely obsessed with stamping and paper crafting!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone involved with SCS! Since discovering this site, and the wonderful daily challenges, my stamping has improved by leaps and bounds. This site is a rubber stamping treasure!