Creative Blog Hop

Hello friends.  My very creative and uplifting friend, Susan, over at Faith Words Faith Expressions invited me to join this blog hop.  Be sure to hop over and see what Susan has going on at her blog.

This is a flip card I made for a birthday using the fun spinner from the Spinner2stamp set by The Stamps of life.    If you haven't tried their stamps yet, I highly recommend them.  They're super quality clear stamps.  None of that sub par stamping that you get with low quality clear stamps.  (I don't work for them, just love their stamps.)

This is a zendoodle I did.  I mostly use my doodles on cards or in my journals.  Some I color and some I just leave black and white.

This is a journal spread I did about being a wife and mother.  The journals I share with others mostly contain Bible verses and quotes and art experiments.  My journals where I write my prayers and  private feelings are kept just between me and the Lord.

4. How does your creative process work?  I work on things in bits and pieces.  I never finish a  project all at one sitting.  Partially because I am in too much pain to sit and work on something that long and partially because I like to work on things in stages and come back the next day with a fresh perspective.

This is a background that I have started.  It's not at all what I was aiming for, but I ended up liking how it turned out.  That's the fun of experimenting.  You'll see this background again, either for a journal page or card.

Blessings:

• A phone visit with my sister.
• A friend is home from a long hospital stay and doing well.
• A gorgeous Monarch butterfly in my yard.
• Sweet newborn calves.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!

Shelly

A Fish Bowl Card for a Friend

Hi friends.  I hope you've had a great day.  It has been a gorgeous day here.  Sunny and very warm.  I love bright, sunny days.

This was a fun card to make.  I made the card in the shape of the gold fish bowl.  I covered the front of the card with clear laminate to make it look like glass.  I used Shimmerz on the gold fish.  I apologize for the poor quality of the picture.  I had to take it at night.  It really washed out the colors.

A little side note about this card.  The person I sent it to was playing a fish game on FB at the time, so he got a laugh out of getting a fish card.  I love it when that kind of thing happens with a card.  I believe God orchestrates even small happenings like that.

Blessings

• A friend that's in the hospital has stabilized.
• More happy mail!!!
• A really good day, despite the fact that I have a lot to do and have some big things weighing on me emotionally.

Have a fabulous day!!!

Inky hugs!
Shelly

All Dressed Up

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I hope you're enjoying some beautiful weather in your corner of the world too.

I had to make sure my mom had received this card before I could show it and then I forgot about it. This is the card I made for Mother's Day for both of our moms. I saw a similar card in a SU Portfolio long before Mother's Day and knew that was what I was going to do. Many thanks to my dh for his help with making the pattern. I was feeling really bad on the day I made the cards and even a simple pattern like this seemed overwhelming to me to make. Mark came to my rescue! The only stamping on the card is the little corsage on the lapel and the sentiment inside the card. Now that I look at this picture I wish that I had thought to ink the edges of the cardstock, especially on the lapels. Hindsight is always 20/20. : )
Blessings

• Our first fresh watermelon of the season....Yummmm
• Peace about an important decision
• A loving husband that cares about even the little things in my life
• Happy Mail : )

Have a fabulous day!!!
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 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