Beauty and the Beast

I figured seeing today is the day for costumes I'd show our little fur babies in their cute costumes. That's Princess in the dress and my granddog, Caesar, in the dragon costume. They are good sports about the costumes, because they really don't like wearing them. They do both love to wear their regular dog clothes though.

I needed to go to the eye doctor today and pick up my new glasses, but I was feeling pretty bad still and didn't really want to make myself presentable. My husband jokingly suggested that I wear pajamas, slippers and messy hair and act like it was my Halloween costume. I gave it some thought, but decided I couldn't, because all of my pajamas have ink and glue stains on them from stamping in them. : )

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

A Full Moon

This funny and fabulous card is from Netta. The detail in this card is just incredible. Thank you so much for the great happy mail, Netta.

This picture shows a side view of my card from Netta, so that you can see how it pops out. It's such a neat card. I heard these are called Stair Step Cards, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask Netta.

It is so wonderful to watch the Lord work in my life. I was in so much pain last night that I didn't sleep at all, even with pain medications. So today I was feeling pretty terrible and that's a good time for discourgement to set in. But God had a plan in place. From the moment I got up a number of things happened to show me how much God and others care - a note, a phone message, a devotional that was just what I needed, beautiful butterflies in my backyard, a sweet visit with my daughter and a surprise package from Sue. Each one of these things was just what I needed today to keep me from getting discouraged. Instead, I spent the day with my thoughts focused on what a loving, caring God, family and friends I have. I am so very blessed.

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Fall Is In The Air

Warning! I'm going to whine a bit here. lol It feels more like winter than fall. Monday night the temp dropped 20F during the night. That put us at mid 60's during the day and mid 40's at night - winter temps for us. I know that's nothing compared to what alot of you are having right now, but it is truely cold to me compared to what we're used to. Even the dog is feeling the difference. Last night before I could get in bed she got herself under the quilt on my side of the bed with her head on my pillow. She was so cute that I didn't want to move her, but she was right in the center of my spot and I was freezing, so I made her a nest next to me with her own blanket. The above photo shows her when she was still tucked in my spot.

This pretty Halloween card is from Lisa. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't show that the pumpkin vines are very shimmery. I like the chalked pumpkins. I haven't used my chalks in quite awhile. I need to remedy that. Thank you for the happy mail, Lisa. : )

Last night I helped my daughter and niece get ready for a costume party they went to. Every time my niece would put her hat or little eye mask on my daughter's dog would bark his head off at her. It was so funny. My daughter missed winning the grand prize for her costume by one vote. Last year she did win it, so it was it was someone else's turn this year. : ) The girls brought gummy body parts candy home to gross me out. It worked. There's no chance I'll be eating those fingers, toes, etc. lol

Have a fabulous day and keep warm!!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Time is Running Out

Look at all of this wonderful new rubber from Heart & soul Rubber Stamps!!! I'll try to get some cards made with them soon. I'm dying to use them. : ) I bought these stamps from the Heart & Soul Rubber Stamps Overstock Sale. What a sale! Unmounted stamps for $0.50 each, free shipping, and every cent of the money goes to the hurricane victims. You can read all of the details of the sale on Sue's blog. But hurry! The sale runs through the end of October and that is coming soon. You will be so glad you ordered. I have been doing the happy dance ever since I opened my package. : ) So go help out an excellent cause and get some great new stamps at the same time.

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Happy Mail Galore!!!

My mailbox has been bursting with happy mail lately. I feel so blessed to have so many caring people in my life. The card in the photo above came from my friend, Ginny. You can't tell in the photo, but the card shimmers beautifully. I love tulips, so Ginny picked a perfect stamp to use for me. Once in awhile my husband buys me tulips to surprise me, because we can't grow them down here. A favorite place of ours to visit in Michigan is Holland. Some day I would like to be there during their tulip festival. The picutres I have seen of it are gorgeous. But back to my card. Thank you very much for the beautiful card, Ginny.

The leaves in this photo were picked in Michigan by my mom and nieces, waxed with love and then sent to me. They do this project every fall for me, so that I can enjoy some of their lovely colored leaves. Isn't that sweet? And I have had fun sharing them over the years with many people here who either have never seen real colored leaves or else like me, miss seeing them each year. Most years some end up decorating my husband's classroom and our church too. So this gift brings joy to many. This year my 6 yr. old neighbor girl is going to get some of them. She's anxious to see what they look like, because she's a native Floridian. I heard that just after my mom and the girls collected these leaves for me the rest of the colored leaves were pretty much wiped out by wind and rain. I'm so thankful they were able to send me these. Thanks so much mom, Ali, and Kay. I love my leaves.

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

From the Vine

It's Friday and I have a date with my husband tonight!!! It doesn't get any better than that. : )

This card was made with a CTMH stamp set. Actually the set is old enough that it was marketed when they still used the name D.O.T.S. The Long Writing Background stamp is by Hero Arts. All of these stamps were stamped off on scrap paper once to lighten the ink before I stamped them on the cardstock. JOY is stamped with the Rebecca Sower Nostalgiques Typewriter ABC Set by EK Success.

I received the nicest surprise in the mail the other day. Martha sent me two different kinds of homemade dog cookies for the terrific twin dogs. The dogs are crazy about them. The peanut butter ones are rolled cookies and are cut in the shapes of dog bones, fire hydrants and dog houses. The other ones are oatmeal cookies and look just like people cookies. Thanks for the wonderful happy mail, Martha.

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Falling Leaves

This pretty card is happy mail from my friend, Sue. I love House Mouse stamps. They are all so cute. And you all know that I love happy mail. It just makes my day! Thanks Sue.


The falling colored leaves on this card give me another little taste of fall. Our maple trees are loosing some leaves right now, but the leaves just turn brown and fall off the trees. There is no color change. Our maple trees have leaves on them year round, even though they go through these times of shedding.


My brother-in-law sent us some gorgeous pictures of the colored leaves on the tress in Michigan. I am going to print them off and scrapbook them along with the pictures of my nieces at the pumpkin patch that he also sent. Family pictures are such a treat!


Have a great day!!!


Inky hugs!
Shelly

Fish Tales

Hello friends. This is a stamp I love, but don't use often, because I don't like coloring all of the little details that make it such a great stamp. I watercolored this image with tubes of watercolor. I have no idea what kind of fish these are or what they're supposed to look like, so I just made up colors for them. The fish are mounted with double stick foam tape. I added some accents with to the small details with a silver gel pen. That's it, other than adhering it to a brown card. The stamp is by Inkadinkado.


It looks like they have some fun things going on over at the Inkadinkado site this month. They have redesigned the site and are celebrating. One craft that particularly caught my eye was glow stick bracelets. You make them for kids to wear while trick-or-treating to make them more visible. For the instructions click on the Projects Tab and then on Stamping Crafts. The glow stick bracelets are on page 1. I think they would be cute with pumpkin charms.


**Today's Tip** Yesterday I was talking about "Found Embellishments". I happened to think of a favorite source - used jeans. I cut the tags and the buttons off of them to use on my artwork.


Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Embellishments anyone?

My dh brought this gorgeous Canadian currency home from work to show it to me. He knew my first thought would be about what beautiful stamping embellishments they would make and he was right. : ) Very costly ones though. (BTW, he took them back to work the next morning.) I hadn't seen Canadian paper money in over 3o years and was fascinated by these beautiful bills. The dashes on the left side in the above photo are actually a lovely goldish-green foil with the denomination of the money and CAN printed in the foil.

These are photos of the backs of the bills. The wild colored stripes on the left in reality are beautiful holographic strips with the denomination in a tiny print and in a larger print, maple leaves, and a royal crest. I wish my scanner would have picked it up.

Do you watch for things to use as embellishments on your artwork? I call these things "Found Embellishments". Recently I was bending over to unhook the dog's leash and I noticed some skeleton leaves in one of our big potted plants. Two big rubber leaves and two little scrub oak leaves. I love to make discoveries like that!

At work one day, a guy my dh works with was going to throw away some vellum envelopes that some junk mail came in. My dh rescued them for me. The guy gave him a strange look. My dh told him, "You look at the world in a whole different way when you live with a stamper.". : )

What "found embellishments" have you come up with lately? Leave me a comment or email me and let me know.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

It's Party Time!

Guess what? The sun is shining again this week! I love it. Last week Saturday was the only sunny day we had. We took advantage of the sun and went on a picnic. Even the dog was happy to get out in the sun. : )

Today's card makes me think of a birthday party. Using sepia ink, I stamped the background repeatedly with the birthday definition stamp from TAC. I added a piece of brown cardstock with a torn edge to the left. Then I layered a brown tag cut with my Sizzix, a torn scrap of blue & brown paper, and Happy Birthday stamped in sepia ink on a piece of torn cardstock. I rubbed chalk into the cs to age it. The party hat embellishment is a button with the back cut off. The Happy Birthday stamp is by Commotion Rubber Stamps.

I'm not crazy about squirrels, because I've been in situations where people have fed them and they have become too bold about approaching humans and that freaks me out. But when they are behaving like normal squirrels in the wild I think they're interesting to watch. The other day I was sitting on our porch swing and watched a squirrel pick up an acorn and then proceed to scurry around the yard in a strange manner. He finally settled in a spot near the base of our Bay tree and buried the acorn. I guess he was looking for just the right spot to bury it. I've never seen a squirrle bury food here in Florida. I wouldn't think they would have to have it to get through our mild winters. I wonder if it's a God given instinct in case of a bad freeze or if squirrels all bury acorns, because they only get them once a year?

Have a fantastic day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Something's Fishy

I didn't realize this scan was so faded looking until I saw it on the screen. Oh well, it gives you the general idea. I had intended to make this card on glossy cardstock, but I recently reinked the main ink pad I used on the card and it was too moist for glossy cs.

I sponged the background of the card with deep turquoise ink, which you have probably figured out by now is one of my favorites. Then I stamped the images with the different colors from my Big & Juicy Hydrangea ink pad. Next, I stamped the "bubbles" with deep turquoise ink that I stamped off once on scrap paper to lighten it up. I stamped the fish in the upper right corner of the card a second time on scrap paper, cut it out and mounted it with double stick foam tape to give the card more dimension. I also added a real blue dyed starfish as an embellishment for more dimension. I put a small layer of turquoise paper that had been run through my Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossong folder behind the main image. I adhered the main image with double stick foam tape.

The fish stamp set is from TAC. The stamp I used for bubbles is from Great Impressions and the saying stamp is from Hero Arts. The starfish is from my local recycling center. It was on a pretty piece of ribbon that had been on a bar of handmade soap.

Today (Monday) Paddington Bear turned 50 years old. My dh saw this in the news and knowing that I've always been a PB lover he sent me a PB email card, a PB screen saver and some PB icons. Then when he came home from work he had a PB bookmark that he had printed off the computer and made for me, complete with a red ribbon. Isn't he thoughtful?

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Leaving Comments

This week I've had several people tell me that they couldn't figure out how to leave a comment on my blog. At the end of every post you will see the word "Comments". Just click on "Comments" and it will guide you through leaving a comment. If you have any trouble, please feel free to email me at webe34him@bellsouth.net and ask for help.


Also, I apologize for the paragraphs of my posts all running together for the last few days. I'm not writing them that way. Blogger is insisting on posting them that way for some odd reason.


Inky hugs!
Shelly

Saying Good-bye

Sondra Long, one of my online stamping friends passed away this week. Sondra's cancer had returned, but she was doing well with her treatments. Then she got an infection and in her weakened condition it just took her unexpectedly. Sondra was one of my online freinds that I've had the privilege of meeting in person several times. She was such a sweet and special lady. Sondra was always thinking of others. She was a real encouragement to me when I was going through a serious illness.

Sondra was a very talented artist. She was always so willing to share her knowledge with those of us who aren't as artistic as she was. And she sent out beautiful pieces of artwork to her friends.

The tag pictured above is my favorite piece that Sondra ever sent to me. Not because it is the most elaborate piece she ever sent, but because I enjoy the different textures and the subtle shading in this piece. The four pieces that are layered on the upper left portion of the tag are all made from clay. Unfortuately, my scan doesn't do justice to the shading.

I'll sure miss you, Sondra.

Inky hugs!

Shelly

Center Tie Card

It's Friday! The weekend is here for those of you who get it off and have been waiting for it. I hope you get to do something fun and maybe fit in some crafting time too.

Today's card is made from Basic Grey paper. I used a free template from Mirkwood Designs. There are all sorts of nice templates available there and some great technique instructions too. The flourish stamp I used is from an Autumn Leaves set called Swirls by Rhonna Farrer. The Friend stamp is from one of the Studio G clear stamp sets from Michaels. The stamp actually says Friends, but I only used the Friend portion of it. The images are stamped in sepia ink. I sanded the card to give it a distressed look. I added two eyelets and my ribbon and I was finished. I also stamped some flourishes inside the card that only show when it is open. Be cautious when signing this kind of card if you don't want your writing to show outside the front flaps of the card.

*Today's Tip* I like to use the inexpensive clear stamp sets like the $1 ones that can be purchased at Michaels and JoAnns. Often when I first try to use them the ink just beads up on the stamp and I can't stamp a decent image. To fix this problem rub over the surface of the stamp with an eraser. After that, the stamp will accept ink properly. I have used erasable pen erasers for this and right now I'm using an old white pencil eraser that I found in our desk junk drawer.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

A Card that Makes Me Smile

Happy Thursday! I'm popping in here rather late, but at least I made it. : )


It is still overcast here in Florida. That is highly unusual for us. We're having rain, but not all day long and typically it is only overcast while it rains. Maybe I should listen to the weather forecast and find out what's happening. lol


I made this card because the stamps made me think of my two nieces, who live all the way up in Michigan. They have a swingset that they are often on and they have a chihuahua puppy. They got their puppy this summer and it is now over the 2 lb. mark in weight. Tiny huh? But I digress. The girl stamps on the card are TAC stamps from the Sunshine set, the grass stamp is from My Paper Moon, and the Believe stamp is a TAC stamp too. I colored the images with colored pencils. The shirt on the girl on the swing is paper pieced. I stamped & sponged the grass with lettuce ink. I sponged the sky with deep turquoise ink. I added a some jeweled brads to match the glitter in the background paper.


I ended up getting my hair cut by someone besides the gal who has been cutting it for years. It came out too short and the thing it wants to do is spike. Unless I'm careful how I style my hair, I go around looking like one of those Chia Pet Plants with the grass hair that grows straight up out of their heads. lol Thank goodness hair grows quite rapidly.


Have a great day!!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Happy Mail

It's our second day in a row of no sunshine. That is extremely unusual for Florida, unless it is actually raining. Normally it rains here and then the sun comes right back out. Days like this make me appreciate our usual bright blue skies even more.


This card is from Becky, who owns My Paper Moon Rubber Stamps. She sends me such beautiful cards. As you know I love to get happy mail. : ) Both stamps used on the card are from Becky's company, My Paper Moon. The verse on the card says, "In the vast ocean of God's love, We are but a grain of sand. And yet like every seashell, Beautifully made by His hand.". As for the technique Becky used, I'm not sure how she did that, but it sure is pretty. Her email addy is on her website if you want to ask her.


Yesterday I was grumbling to myself as I did some cleaning that is a struggle for me to do due to my disabilities. Even as I grumbled I knew I needed an attitude adjustment. : ) Well I got it this morning. I was reading about a lady who was having an attitude because she felt like, "I gotta clean my house and I gotta take my mom somewhere, etc. Then she caught herself and realized that she was griping about the house that she had prayed to have for years, the mom who she had a broken relationship with and it was now restored. Now she says, "I get to clean my house and I get to take my mom somewhere.". God really spoke to my heart through reading that. From now on, with God's help, I'm going to try to say, "I get to do this cleaning". After all I have a cozy home with my family. Even here in the small town I live in there are still people whose homes aren't repaired from the two hurricanes that hit us in 2004, so what am I grumbling about? No it isn't going to be any easier for me to do the cleaning, but doing it with a joy-filled heart will be more pleasing to the Lord and to those around me.


Have a fantastic day!!!


Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Different Shape

Hello! I apologize for wandering off for so many days. I managed to catch the flu that is going around and only felt up to using my laptop. Unfortunately, my laptop doesn't have the program I need to upload my photos to my blog. Then yesterday we ended up being gone until almost midnight, which is very unusual for us on a Sunday.


The card I'm sharing today is made from a template that my mom gave to me. The images on the background are stamped in sepia and deep turquoise inks. Then I added some sepia ink around the edges of the card directly from the ink pad. I also sponged deep turquoise ink on the background. Sadly, I don't know which companies the stamps on the background came from, except for the Long Writing Background stamp. It is from Hero Arts. Next I cut out a circle with my handy Coluzzle and stamped the train on it in Jet Black. The train stamp is by Rubber Stampede. I paper pierced around the edge of the circle. Then I cut a mat for the circle out of brown cardstock and ran it through my Cuttlebug, using the Tiny Mosaic embossing folder. I adhered the matted circle and my card was done. I could give a sigh of relief over making a masculine card that I actually felt good about. For some reason I have a harder time making masculine cards.


If you haven't visited the Hero Arts blog, be sure to do so. They have alot of good ideas to offer and often an instructional video. Coincidentally, their blog is about masculine prints and patterns today. : )


Have a great day!!!!


Inky hugs!
Shelly

Enabler Alert!!!

It's a gorgeous day here on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I hope it is where you live too.


I sponged inks on glossy white cardstock for the background colors of this card. I used deep turquoise, peach, and yellow. I used deep turquoise ink to stamp the images, background and saying on the card too. The flower and grass stamps are from a set called Bella Flora by
Inque Boutique. It's a nice little set of 6 stamps. The dragonfly stamp is an Anne Made stamp, which is owned by of Stamping Sensations. They have several other nice lines of stamps also.
The crackle background stamp is from My Paper Moon. My Paper Moon also carries several nice and quite varied lines of stamps. Something for everyone. The saying stamp is from
Heart and Soul Rubber Stamps. This is where the enabler alert comes in. : ) Here's a link to the blog of Sue, the owner of Heart & Soul Stamps. Sue's blog has an announcement on it giving all the details about a sale she's having on her um stamps for $0.50 each!!! And you don't have to feel guilty for spending too much money on her sale, because all of the money goes to victims of the gulf hurricanes. Sue carries a wide variey of stamps, so go check it out. Her prices can't be beat. Even her regular price on um stamps is only $1.50 per um stamp, no matter what size it is. Pretty kewl, huh?

After a doctor appointment today I stopped by our local recycling center to drop off some things and to do a little "shopping". Our recycling center is full of treasures for a crafter. You never know what interesting bit or piece you might find. Today I didn't find anything really unusual, but I did find a number of practical things I can use and a few fun things. Bubble wrap for all the packages I mail, large card envelopes, an interesting tin to alter, some vintage sewing notions that I'll use as embellishments and a couple bags of brand new fancy bows for packages. I should be set for bows for Christmas wrapping now. The only catch is that they are all in different shades of gold - some glitzy, some matte. I wonder if the Christmas wrap I have left matches gold. : )


Have an awesome day!!!


Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Favorite Visitor

Happy Wednesday to you. This week is just flying by for me. The card I'm sharing today has a picture of one of my favorite visitors on it - butterflies! I love to watch the butterflies in both our front and back yards. The butterfly image on this card is watercolored. The butterfly flight trail is paper pierced. I draw the trail lightly with pencil, pierce it and then erase my pencil lines. I find an erasable pen eraser works best for erasing pencil marks from my cardstock.
The butterfly stamp is from Hero Arts. The "Just because" stamp is from SparklenSprinkle. Be sure to visit their website. They always have specials going on and they have alot of good techniques and ideas available to learn.

The inspiration for my card came from a card I saw on the Mama Dinis blog. Dina, the owner of the blog, is so very talented. She and her husband and four young children are missionaries to Indonesia. Dina's dh, Russ, had a stroke this week. Please pray for them. As you can imagine, the hospital there is nothing like our American hospitals.

A few days ago my dd, Lydia and I stopped at Goodwill together. I saw this beautiful bowl and fell in love with it, but didn't buy it, because I just don't get things like that for myself very often. The next morning Lydia went back to Goodwill and bought the bowl as a surprise for me. Now it will be something that I really cherish, because not only do I love it, but it's also a gift from Lydia's heart.

This is a picture of Lydia dressed up for the banquet where she received her Avon President's Club Award. She earned Presidents Club in her first year of Avon sales. (proud mom moment) If you're looking for a good Avon Rep, you can order online from Lydia. I figure seeing I give links for the stamp companies I should link my own dd. : )

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly