Monkey Fun

I needed to make some monkey theme items for a gift and this is what I came up with:

The card is fun and bright for a child.

I put a store bought necklace in this altered tin.

This is an altered pack of gum. :)

Blessings

• My daughter achieved some goals that she needed to for work today.
• Happy Mail!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Fairy Nice Birthday Card

Hi friends.  Today's card is for the Flutterby Wednesday Challenge.  A big thank you to my friend, Jennifer, for this darling fairy image that I used on the card.  She was so much fun to color.

I added Stickles to the heart on the cupcake and the fairy's hat.  I painted the fairy's wings with Shimmerz.  of course, the cupcakes had to be chocolate. :)

We've been having another visitor, besides my mom, and this one isn't nearly as welcome, although he sure is cute.  A raccoon has been coming up on our back porch every night and eating out of our squirrel-proof bird feeder.  Obviously the feeder isn't raccoon-proof. :) Our little dog chased the coon up a tree several times when we didn't know the coon was out in the yard.  Now she thinks she a big, ol' tough, coon dog and drives me crazy wanting out every evening to get at that coon. :)  This photo was taken at night, through the window, but you can still see the little rascal quite well.

Blessings

• My visit with a new Dr. went very well.
• Living in a place where I can enjoy nature.
• We received some big, juicy apples - yum!

Have an awesome day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Let Us Give Thanks

Hi friends. Today's card is for the challenge at There's Magic in the Air.  Every Monday Nina has a free digital image on There's Magic in the Air and then Nina or one of her DT members issues a challenge using the image.  This week's challenge is to use buttons on your card. I really enjoyed coloring this beautiful Fall image from Nina.

I added Crystal Lacquer to the jar, Stickles to the candle flame and matte PPA to the candle to give them some realistic texture.

Nina also gave away two different sentiment to use this week.  This one was my favorite.  I made my buttons using a Sizzlet button die.  I coated the buttons with Crystal Lacquer, tied thread through them after they were dry and adhered them to my card with double stick foam tape.

Blessings

• A phone visit with my sister.
• Happy Mail!!!
• A husband who does the shopping due to my health problems.
  

Have a blessed day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

It's Red Friday

Hi Friends.  I apologize for missing Red Friday on my blog last week.  I had prepared for it, but life doesn't always go according to plan. :)  First of all, don't forget to wear red today to show your support for our troops.


Big news!!!  The Veterans Day Blog Hop is coming up on Saturday, November 14th.  Please come hop along in support of our nation's heroes.  There will be great cards to see along the way and some yummy candy to win. Operation Write Home would love to have more participants in the hop.  If you want to be a part of the hop, you can find more info here.

I have another Valentine to share with you this week.  Many of the cards I send in my next batch to OWH will be Valentines as that's the next holiday coming up on the Operation Write Home Calendar.  If you're new to my blog, Operation Write Home collects handmade cards and sends them to our nations heroes (troops) so that they have nice cards to send home to their families and friends.  If you'd like to become involved you can find more info here.

Blessings

• Friends - both in person and online.
• A wonderful answer to prayer that I can't share the details of without breaking a confidence.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

A Good Reminder

This card is for Flutterby Challenge #82 at Danni's Dreams and for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #11.  Danni is letting us have an open week for Flutterby Challenge as long as our card has a Flutterby on it.  I hope Danni is feeling much better.  Danni and her kids have had the flu.  Last I heard the kids had bounced back, but Danni still wasn't feeling too well.

The verse for this Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge is Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (NIV)  We were challenged to create something about when God is unseen.  Something that will remind us that God is with us.  This is subject is such a great reminder that God is always with us.  It was a real blessing to my heart as I worked on this card.  The verse on my card says, "He will never leave you or forsake you". The center of the silk flower is a glitterly faux brad to match the Stickles I put on the image flower centers.
 

Blessings

• A friend who has been sick is doing much better.
• It was so nice out today.  Cooler and breezy.  I had to spend some time outside just for the sheer joy of it.
• The gift of laughter.  We've been chuckling over a humorous incident for two days.
  
• A visit from my daughter today. 

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Life is Full of Surprises!

I love the fun image on this card.  The sentiment inside says, "I hope your birthday is filled with surprises!". :)

Here's a close up view of the image.  Isn't the dragon adorable?

I'm hobbling a bit. Monday evening I tripped coming over the dog gate in a rush and landed with all my weight on my knee. Ouch!  I think I learned my lesson to open the gate. lol

Blessings

• My fabulous husband.  There aren't many men out there to equal him.
• There are butterflies fluttering around outside as I write this.  So beautiful!
• Living in Florida where I can see butterflies in November. 
  
• Happy Mail!  That always makes my day. :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Happy Fall Y'All!

Today's card is shimmery in person.  I used Star Dream card stock, Brilliance Ink, and a foil leaf embellishment.  My favorite part of the card is the background paper that I stamped.  I layered 3 different stamps and 3 different colors of ink to make it.  Fun stuff!

***Several people have asked me what I'll do with all of my brads and other embellishments now that I'm trying to make flatter cards.  They will still be put to good use.  I'll use them on cards occasionally, but mostly I'll use them in my scrapbooks and on gifts and other dimensional projects. I can't give up embellishments. :)

Blessings

• Someone I know, who needed a job, got one!
• My brother's new baby girl arrived safely and as cute as can be. :)
• We were able to get some furniture that we no longer needed moved out today.
  

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Just Fluttering By

This card is for Flutterby Challenge #81 at Danni's Dreams.  This week is an open theme, so we can do any kind of card we want as long as it has a butterfly, fairy, OR angel on it.  Danni is adding angels to the Flutterby Challenge for the Christmas season.  Notice that the faux brads on my card are glittery today.  I used Stickles, rather than Crystal Lacquer on them. I wanted to draw out the glitter in the background paper.

Today is the last day to sign up for my blog candy if you haven't had a chance to.

Blessings

• Phone visits with my mom and sister yesterday. :)
• Happy Mail.
• Our friend, Lloyd, is continuing to progress well after his accident.
• Fresh apples in season. Mmmmmm........

Have a wonderful day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Faux Brad Instructions

I've had several people ask me about how I made the faux brads for the card in my last post, so I figured I better get busy and share the instructions.  It's very easy. For those of you who missed my last post, I make the faux brads, because they don't add extra weight or thickness to an envelope when mailing.  Thank you Lydia for "posing" so I could take photos for this little demo. :)

Materials Needed:

Card Stock
Small Round Punch
Crystal Lacquer, Aleene's Paper Glaze, or like product
Non-Stick Craft Sheet or Wax Paper

Instructions:
1. Punch circles from card stock with a round punch.  I use either 3/16" or 1/4" size punches, depending on what I'm doing.

2. Place circles on a non-stick surface.  Coat circles with Crystal Lacquer. Make sure you get it all the way to the edges.

3. Let dry.  It's humid here and usually takes overnight.
4. Using paper adhesive, adhere the flat side of the faux brad to your craft project where you would normally use a brad.

***Helpful Hints:

• Metallic or textured card stocks make very pretty faux brads.
• Thin sheets of craft metal can be punched & made into faux brads.
• I make up extra faux brads each time I make them, so that I have them ready to use when I need them.
• To make glittery brads use Stickles or adhesive and glitter, rather than Crystal Lacquer.
• Use shaped punches to make shaped faux brads such as hearts, stars, etc.

Edited to add: Several people have asked me what I'll do with all of my brads and other embellishments now that I'm trying to make flatter cards.  They will still be put to good use.  I'll use them on cards occasionally, but mostly I'll use them in my scrapbooks and on gifts and other dimensional projects.  I can't give up embellishments. :)

Here's the card I made with the faux brads shown being made in the above photos.  Wouldn't you know that these faux brads didn't turn out as nice as usual! But I used them anyhow seeing I wanted to get this on my blog for those who are interested.  So please don't let these faux brads make you decide you don't want to try this. Look at some of the ones I've used on past projects and you can see that they do look better. (In fact there are faux brads on the card in my previous post.) You can learn from my mistake today's post.  I put the Crystal Lacquer on way too thick and it dried with a dimple in the center of each faux brad.  :(

I wasn't sure if I liked the red brads on this card, so I just laid them on the card for my first photo.  Here's the card without the brads.  Which one do you like best?

Blessings

• Mark found a winter coat for me today at the thrift store.  I'm all set for cold weather & it's still in the high 80's each day. 
• Happy Mail :)

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Watch for Falling Leaves

Hello friends.  The rectangular element on the left of the card I'm sharing with you today is made from a napkin.  If you enlarge the photo you can probably see that it has some glitter on it.  In my quest to make flat cards that are easier to mail I have started using faux brads on my cards.  My friend, Kim, taught me how to make faux brads. I'm not sure if I make my faux brads exactly the way Kim taught me, but she definitely gets credit for the original idea. I'll share a faux brad tutorial one day soon.  For the faux brads on this card I used real copper and it iodized.  I decided that added to the interest of the look of the brads.

Blessings

• My nieces have been sick with the flu and they're getting better.
• Happy mail!!!  My sister sent me 3 Magnolia Tilda stamps - my very first Tilda stamps!!!!
• Extra time with Mark on his week off during quarters.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Fall is in the Air

The scene on this card is stamped with stamps from My Paper Moon.  Mark drew these stamp images many years ago, so they are extra special to me.  The clouds are sponged in.  The background stamp on the brown card is the Stampin' Up plaid stamp.  You can't see it very well unless you enlarge the picture.

It actually feels like Fall here today.  It is cool enough to have the windows open and tonight it's supposed to get down into the 50's.

A few weeks ago I showed you our crazy wild flowers that had grown to be 6-9 feet tall and were getting just one small flower each on the top of the plants. Flowers have bloomed all over the plants and they are very pretty now as you can see in this latest picture.  The bees and butterflies love them.

Blessings

• A phone visit with my sister. Such a treat. We don't get to fit one in very often.
• Mark found a brand new jacket for me at a thrift store.  Just in time for cooler weather.
• Mark found some good used books for me at garage sales today.  I was on my last one.

Have a marvelous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Hugs and Flowers

I like the colors I used on this card. They just caught my eye the day I made this card. They aren't typical colors for me.
There was great excitement in our backyard today. Princess discovered a Gopher turtle there. It was her first encounter with a turtle and she was very intrigued. She was disappointed when it wouldn't move. :)

Blessings

• Lydia's help while both me and Mark have been feeling bad.
• My camera. It's fun to be able to grab it and capture a memory of something like Princess and the turtle.
• Our rather flexible lifestyle.

Have a fantastic day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Just Magnolia Challenge

This is my first time to take part in the Just Magnolia Challenge at Just Magnolia Challenge Blog.
For this challenge we had to make our own flowers for our cards and the cards must have a Magnolia image on them. This challenge fits right in with my new "Back to the Basics" card making philosophy of using flat embellishments. I don't know this Magnolia Tilda's name as I received her in a swap, but she sure is sweet. :)
Blessings

• Lydia has a 99.4% grade point average for her first semester of college!!!
• The Dr. told Mark he had to take two days off of work. This is a blessing, because Mark needs to rest and get well and he often won't do so on his own.
• Happy Mail :)

Have a lovely day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

Back to the Basics

This card is the beginning of my move to get "Back to the Basics". We had a satellite post office that was letting me send lumpy and thicker cards with only a 44 cent stamp on them, but sadly it has closed. Now the other post offices are charging 88 cents and up for lumpy or thicker cards. As much as I love my family and friends I honestly can't afford to pay that much to send a card. So I'm now making my cards flat enough to be sent with a 44 cent stamp. This is proving to be a fun challenge and I'm actually liking the cards better than my old lumpy or thick cards. :)
I think I'm using more creativity to find ways to embellish the cards. Plus this is the way things were way back when I learned to stamp. Thus my reason for calling it "Back to the Basics".

Today's card is for Flutter By challenge #77 at Danni's Dreams. For this challenge we had to use the color sapphire. I think this is the first time you've seen me use a fairy, rather than a butterfly for the challenge. I have my friend Sue to thank for this. She sent me a whole bunch of stamped fairy images to color. Thanks again, Sue. :)

You can see the Shimmerz on the fairy's wings in this photo and the Ice Stickles on the stars. I paper sculpted the stars to make them dimensional. I used Star Dream card stock to go with all of the shimmer and glitter.

Blessings

• Gifts from friends. Three things I used on this card were a gift from friends - just because.
• Mark's ability to take care of the problems that come up with our computers. We'd be in trouble if it was up to me. lol
• Some friends that helped me out this week.

Have a terrific day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly