A Fabulous Freebie to End 2013!

Alison, at Free Digital Stamps has posted a very appropriate and fun last printable for 2013.  Thanks, Alison! {Note: I wasn't able to link the image directly to her blog in order to show it here.  Please link to Alison's blog if you would like to use her image.}

Enjoy your day and be safe!

Look What Robin Made! {DIY Stone Table Runner}

I opened up my email today and found a post from Robin of All Things Heart & Home waiting for me. She created a DIY version of a stone table runner.  Apparently walking around a flooring & tile shop can inspire you in non-flooring ways.  Robin's project is even thrifty - a reasonable $20.00!!

Her choice of stone color blends in perfectly with her decor.  

Take a helping of creativity, plastic mesh, smooth stones, burlap, a glue gun; and you just might come up with something! Pop on over to Heart & Home for the full details and more photos!

I can see some of you coming up with a bath mat too, probably minus the burlap...

~Shelly

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ~A Few Printable Ideas

Here's some Printable ideas for quick & easy Father's Day cards.
The first one is a la the Keep Calm variety. 

The source can be found here: We{heart}It  

Are you into Retro? How about making the

Best-Dad-Ever some pancakes? Via the Graphics Fairy. {2 more like images at this link.}

A happy feathered family~

 Via My Owl Barn, scroll down for images that you can save & print.

A circular message with facial hair~

 Via a very creative lady at Family Every After. Other versions are just as fun!

 

 You can head over to Ginger Snap Crafts for several Printables with links back to their source, including this fun one!

I hope you find the quick inspiration that you are looking for.  Remember to check your cardstock paper supply, and your printer ink!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there and to those of you in male supportive dad roles!!  Enjoy your day. :)

P.S.  I just have to add one more.... in our family, the fur-babies give cards too.  Not that any of ours actually resemble this
image, it is o.k., it is the thought that counts. :)

Can I add just one more????  Another fun one~

Visit Create With TLC for more inspiration.  :)
~Shelly

Mrs. Prindables & a Product Size Comparison

I am happy to say that I just had a really fun birthday!  The fun started even before when I received a gift that had to be refrigerated -this treat came from Mrs. Prindable's. My brother's family sent a huge apple covered with caramel, chocolate & nuts -yum! Let's just say that this brother's name is Michael.  He wanted to know what size "huge" was and asked me to take a picture of the apple with another object, for size reference. {Telling Michael that it served 10 -12, wasn't enough information.} I had just the item in mind... Peanut!  Our Chihuahua helps me out with my blog here & there and he definitely fit the bill once again.

Here's our attempt to get it just right...

Peanut was very well behaved and did not try to eat the apple, jump off the table, or knock the cup over.  Peanut accomplished another modeling job without even a treat!  I feel bad now, thinking about it.  I did tell him what a big help he was and played with him! 

Have a wonderful day, come back soon! ~Shelly

Pinterest Pin-It Button link to tutorial

Did you know there is an easier way for visitors to Pin their favorite pictures from your blog? I just realized this when I was over at 
Jody Morrow's blog, Confessions of a Ribbon Addict to check out her little bike rider with the 3-D felt grass (CUTE!)

Each time you hover or "mouseover" a picture, the Pin-it button shows up.  Just one click and you are automatically transported to the description box.  One more click and you are finished!  

Gotta have this feature!  I Googled "how to add pinterest button on to a photo in blogger" and found {kevin & amanda}'s fun blog. They have an excellent tutorial and share their reasons why they use the hover-over button.  However, since I use Blogger, per their suggestion, I had to go to BloggerSentral(dot)com.  Blogger Sentral has a link to free button designs too.  I am on my way there now to search for a design in turquoise.  It will clash terribly with my blog background, but turquoise is a weakness of mine.  I can't help it!
{I also get to figure out how to remove the P.I. button from the end of my posts -now that I have this new fancy type, the old option will only confuse you... and me.}

~Shelly 

Coloring on Kraft Cardstock

Need a little inspiration?  Are your pencils getting dusty?  Over at My Favorite Things, the MFT Academy posting is a lesson on "Coloring On Kraft with Prismacolor Premier Pencils.  Guest Professor, Inge Groot, Patterned Paper blogger has written an excellent tutorial with each step captured in pictures!  Inge explains in great detail, why you are using certain colors, and why shading is being added to specific areas.  The exact colors of the pencils are listed too, if you want to create the same look.

Learn how she goes from this 

 
to this

 
to this!

 Don't worry, like I said -she explains it all. You will definitely have new skills when you follow along with her lesson!  If you are thinking about writing a tutorial, this is an excellent model to follow.
Thank  you, Inge!!

Enjoy your day~
~Shelly

RUBBER STAMP WITH AN AWESOME MESSAGE!

Hey there!  Are you having a break with some yummy hot coffee, tall glass of sparkling water or favorite cup of tea?  Did you remember to invite a friend? How about Rover or Fluffy -are they occupying your lap?
 

Good for you!!  If anyone seems a bit miffed about your daily self-nurturing practice, just remind them that:

Fabulous words, don't you think?  They can be your very own by shopping on-line at Impress Stamps or if you dwell in Washington, visit one of their retail stores.

Looking forward to sunny skies, 
~Shelly

Beautiful Quote: Marianne Williamson

I just came across these words the other day, that I would like to share with you.  ~Marianne Williamson.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

If you would like to learn more about Marianne, visit her web-site: www.marianne.com. {Her book links go directly to Amazon.}


Enjoy your day~
~Shelly
 

FREE Owl Lover 2013 Calendar

Yes, that's right, free printable calendar again this year!

 All you have to do is pop over to My Owl Barn and choose from all of the wonderful artwork. This is the 3rd year that Shivani has worked with artists from all over the world on her calendar project. Over 40 artists have contributed and there are 43 images for you to build your calendar with.  You just might have to print more than one -seriously!  Someone on your Christmas list would surely enjoy such a creation!

Gorgeous, see what I mean?  And, since I would love a cup of tea right now, I will leave you with one more...

While you are there printing, choosing and sighing with pleasure -leave a comment and say Hello to Shivani. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
~S

Homecoming Heels

It has been quite a while since I went to a Homecoming dance. Striking suits & ties, sparkly dresses, and oh... those high heeled shoes!  For privacy purposes, I cannot really show you the faces that go with the shoes... The shoes however, want to be famous!
{via Posterize option in PicMonkey}

Silvery Curving Sparkles~

Blurry?  Doesn't matter here~

Hot Pink Satin Bows~

Love how the black accents the heel~

 

 Golden Strappiness~

Sandy Tan and accents of white~

Muted Pinks on tippy toes~

Even looks comfortable, doesn't it?~

Lovely Mochas~

Lined up and ready for the dance~ {a few pictures first...}

Silvery Smooth~

Golden Light w/that fabulous pop of pink~

There you have it, Homecoming Heels with a Posterize feel~

If you want to learn more about PicMonkey.com visit my earlier posts, here, here & here. {Guess I went a little crazy with it!}

Thanks for stopping by!

~Shelly

Hello Fall! ~A beautiful note from Britta Swiderski

I read today's post over at Britta Swiderski's blog.  She addresses Fall like it is a dear friend, and indeed it is!  So fun... and she also shares with you the #4 card entry to a 10 Minute Craft Dash. Be sure to click on the links too~ Enjoy.

"Hello Fall.

Dear Fall,
You’re my favorite time of the year. Hands down, when you roll around each year, I greet you with open arms. Your sweatshirt weather, your brisk winds and yellow sun and your changing leaves make my heart happy. If I could have you all year around, I would. But we both know then I would take you for granted, and we can’t have that. Thanks for visiting again this year. You’re the best in Minnesota, I think, and I’m happy to be with you again.
So much love,
Britta
Seriously, fall is my favorite time of year. October is my favorite month. So it’s natural that when I tried out the 10 Minute Craft Dash yesterday, fall was my true inspiration.

The challenge is to use the three above colors to create a card in under 10 minutes. Mine took me a little over 15 minutes, but I hope that still counts! I felt the pressure for sure. :) It was a lot of fun, though! Here’s what I came up with:
"


Have a wonderful Fall day!

~Shelly 

A Bit More of PicMonkey {Officially Example #3}

One of the effects that I seem to really be enamored with is Orten. I used the standard settings in combination with Cross Process, in Red mode.  I started out with the wonderful moment of the team win (Yahoo!!) and amped it up with a soft boost of "brightness."
I started out with this image~

Already pretty cool on it's own, right?


Now, what do you think?

It feels dream-like... "We won, we won!!!"  Love it, if I do say so myself... :)


So great of you to visit~
~Shelly

Summer Days & My Baby Girl

Were you expecting a human child?  Although we have two teens in the house, we still have my baby girl.  We were just visiting a friend and enjoying a cup of coffee.

Due to it being summer-time, you can even see sand on Staxie's face as proof. :)

~Shelly

PicMonkey.com {Example #2}

Here's a quick example of some basic "fixes" that you may want to add to a photo.  I chose an old photo from a group, so it is not the best quality, but that is the point, right? :)

I wish I had kept better notes.... thought I would remember, as I did this only 2 days ago!  (Just right before I got sick... good excuse?)
On the After, I added mascara, and it looks like I only used "bright eyes" on my right eye, ha ha!  Oh well.  I used Cloning to remove some of my hair that I did not clear away from my neck, and to reduce the "big" hair I was experiencing on my left.  Gave myself a tan, and it appears that I also used the Weight Loss feature -although I do not remember for sure...  My favorite was the Wrinkle Remover -for my t-shirt.  I think it makes me look like I am sitting up straighter.  A good look. :) Then, I just headed over to the "P" section to add in the Text, and for the last step I popped over to Collage to drag my pictures in.

This is a great photo to use, because it has so many nooks and crannies.  Some alternate looks available... {Please click on the photo collages to see larger, and more clearly.}

  

The Warhol effect can be kinda creepy, hence the barely altered look I chose.  I did not want to look at a creepy photo of my son!  Another gruesome effect is the Focal Black & White, in reverse.  Just check the (reverse) box, and you get that alive-dead look really well.  Just click on the collage if you want to enlarge it. 

Want to make your masterpiece look a lot older than the 10 years or so than it was taken?  Try these~

I will leave you with one final "effect" which looks more like a frame to me. It is called:  ~Cinerama~ (Note: This photo was taken with black and white film, no alteration there!)

Hope you have fun checking this out!  Come back soon. :)

~Shelly