TTT Challenge Card made by Rhonda

This is Rhonda's entry for the TTT Challenge. Soo pretty!

Back Fold Tutorial Card by Rhonda

Rhonda made this card using the Back Fold Tutorial made my Marion.

Rose Image

I made a Valentine's Day card today using my newest image. If you are interested in the rose image or any of my other images, please visit my web site here.

The image is my own original. The sentiment reads "A single rose can be my garden....a single friend, my whole world. ~Leo Buscaglia" It is computer generated.

The rose paper is old paper from my stash. And the envelope is made using Anna Griffin paper along with my Anna Griffin envelope template which I absolutely LOVE!

It is snowing here again! I know the kids are hoping for enough to have a snow day. I guess we will see.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

The Web Store is up and running!

I am so excited to announce that the web store is up and running.

The web address is www.shellysimages.com

I don't have all of the information on the home page yet and the drawing for images still reads January, but at least you can see the images and purchase images.

Please let me know if you run into any snags.

Have a great day!

Catch my heart

This is the Valentine's card that I made for my husband. Hopefully he doesn't check my blog. ;)

The image is an original image drawn by me. My husband is still working hard to get my web store up and running so that crafters will be able to purchase and download my images there. Hopefully we get it up and running in the next few days. If you are interested in purchasing the image before the web store is ready please either leave a comment or email. My email address is shelly@shellysimages.com. The heart shape in the glove is an acrylic heart that I got at Hobby Lobby. I added some Glossy Accents to sparkle it up a little. The skittles are actually my first attempt at dying my own. I thought they turned out really nice. The baseball paper is by Adorn it and the other red paper is some from my stash.

Thanks for dropping by.

Another original design

I spent all day on Sunday in my studio drawing images for my new website. Hopefully my husband can help me get all of the kinks worked out soon so that I can get the site up and running. You will be able to find my images at www.shellysimages.com. So exciting!

Here is another one of my cards made with one of my drawings. The mat behind the images is from George and Basic Shapes. Thanks for looking!

First card with one of my original designs

I am so excited to post a card with one of my own drawings. I have been working on designs and have a couple more that will be coming soon.

This snowman is painted with Sparkling H2O's so the flash plays a little funny off of it. The sentiment is a computer font.

Thanks for visiting. :)

Cookie Sheet Advent Calendar

I have gotten several questions on my advent calendar since posting on the Cricut Messageboard. I am going to list some "how to's" here. Hopefully many will make this fun calendar.

I started with a metal cookie sheet. Mine is stored away right now so I don't remember the measurements, but I would say to get the large size.

I also found some Martha Stewart favor tins on sale. These tins have a clear acrylic insert in the lid. I measured the inside of the lids and then experimented a little with Design Studio until I had the perfect size circle shape to fit into the lids.

I used 4 different coordinating patterned papers for the squares on the calendar. One paper for the background (the holly and berries paper on my calendar) . 4 Solid colored cardstock for the squares and lids. And one neutral solid colored cardstock for the background behind the squares. I set each of my tins on the cookie sheet and measured how large I wanted my squares to be. Each "space" is a solid colored cardstock mat with a patterned paper top. The lid color matches that squares mat color.

I cut the word Christmas using the Mickey font. "Countdown to" is printed on my computer. I cut different shapes out and decorated shapes for the inside of the lid. So the decoration is under the clear acrylic lid section. On each lid decoration I placed the number. This year I plan to place numbers inside of the tins too. These numbers will count the opposite way and will correspond with the actual day on the calendar. For example...24 days to Christmas falls on the 1st day of December. So inside of the 24 tin I will put a number 1. This will help us stay on track and alleviate having to count the number of days left if we forget for one or two days.

I hot glued each of the tins to the cookie sheet. I tried to used magnets so that the whole tin could be removed, but the magnets weren't strong enough and the tins just slid off. So we kept a bowl on top of the fridge and the kids put the lids in it as each day was opened. I put small candies in some of the tins and in other tins I wrote a little clue so the kids could find special surprises like Christmas puzzles and coloring books.

If you need more information on my advent calendar please leave me a post and I will do my best to answer it. I plan to get my calendar out soon, so I can post measurements at that time.

Have fun!

Rocky Road Truffle Recipe

A few of my friends have been asking for this recipe after I mentioned it on facebook. It seemed like posting it here would be the easiest way to share it.

Rocky Road Truffles

Ingredients for Step 1:
4 Snickers bars (full size) frozen

Ingredients for Step 2:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good quality (70 percent) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for Step 3:
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Ingredients for Step 4:
1 pound good-quality (70 percent) dark chocolate

Directions for Step 1: Pulse the frozen candy bars in a food processor until broken into shards.

Directions for Step 2: In a saucepan, bring the cream just to a simmer over low heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a bowl and let stand about 10 minutes to melt the chocolate. Add the vanilla and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool for 1 hour at room temperature.

Directions for Step 3: Fold the candy bar pieces and the cranberries into the cooled chocolate mixture. Spread over the bottom of a baking dish and smooth top. Refrigerate 2 hours, until firm.

Use melon baller or spoon to scoop out balls of the mixture. place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and set them aside for an hour or two to let them come to room temperature. (I roll them in my hands to make more of a ball shape)

Directions for Step 4: Melt the good quality chocolate in top of a double boiler and remove from the heat. Use a spoon to dip the truffles into the liquid chocolate, then return them to the baking sheet. Decorate as desired. Sometimes I just drizzle with more melted chocolate. Or you can use some chocolate sprinkles on them before they set. Let set and chill until ready to use. Be sure to bring them back to room temperature before serving.

These truffles are really delicious and people ask for them year after year. I also love using them at Christmas time.

Good Friend Challenge - Week of October 19th

Ready for a new week?

I am going to do another repeat of last weeks goals since I did so poorly. So...I need to make a card for my Grandma's birthday, and get out the advent calendar, and work on the slippers.

Have a great week!

Good Friend Challenge - Week of October 12th

Time to post a goal for this week. Actually a little past time I guess. Yesterday was definitely a Monday!

This week I think my challenge will be much the same as last week. I want to make another card like last weeks card. I have another birthday coming up and I think that card is perfect. And I have some of the patterned paper left, so that works out nicely. And since I didn't get it done last week, I want to get out the advent calendar and pick out a design for a holiday vinyl decoration. I would also love to get another pair of slippers done.

Crossing my fingers. :)

Ok...not so good for me this week. Well, challenge wise at least. The only thing that I accomplised was one slipper. We did get alot of other things done around the house. The hummingbird feeders are cleaned and put away. We adjusted some of the outside lighting and put up new light fixtures on the garage. (looks so much better) And I had the cleaning bug on Saturday and Sunday and got lots of deep cleaning done in the kitchen.

Good Friend Challenge - Week of October 5th

I got alot done this week, but not everything on my challenge. This week I wanted to make a birthday card for my Grandma. I did get that done. I used an idea that I got from my step-Mom, Rhonda. She sent my daughter a card using this technique and I thought it looked really neat.

The first image is a picture of the card closed.


And here is the card shown open.

The measurements for the card are...

Card Base - 5 1/2 by 12"

Score at 4" and 8" giving 3 panels

Score 1st panel and 3rd panel in half or at 2" and 10"

Make a cut horizontally across card that is 1 1/2" from top and 1 1/2 " from bottom. Do not cut through the 1st and last panel.

The patterned paper on the first and last panel measures 1 3/4 by 5 1/4".

The patterned paper on the middle panel measures 1 3/8 by 3 3/4" (need two).

The off white paper for the stamp and writing measures 3 by 2 1/8". Matt if desired.

The bird image is from a Stampin' Up stamp set. And the papers are K&Company.

The rest of my goal was to decide on a design for a holiday vinyl and also to get out the advent calendar that I made last year so I could add some numbers. I didn't get either of those things done. We did however get pumpkins painted. And I also got some vinyl letters cut for shelf labels at the elementary school library. Oh...and I got another pair of slippers knitted. All in all, not a bad week.

Good Friend Challenge - Week of September 28, 09

I am so excited about our new format for our Good Friend Challenges. We have decided to change it a little to make it more "user friendly" for all of us. Each week we will post our own goals on my friend Min's blog. These goals can be just items that we have on our to do lists, or they can be challenges that we find from other blogs that we visit.


This week, my goal was to complete another gift card holder. I like how it turned out, and really enjoyed my time in my studio today.



Below...a picture of the card opened. This shows where the gift card can be attached. Thanks again to Jody from the Cricut Messageboards for the file. I love these!

I also finished a pair of slippers that I started last winter. These are for my step daughter Jordan. I don't know why...but I am not totally happy with them. They didn't seem to shape really well during the felting. Maybe because of my front load washer, or maybe because of the brand of yarn that I used. She loves them...so I guess that is all that matters.

Now that the weather is cooler and the pool is closed, I am looking forward to more time in my studio. Now to think about what my goal will be for next week.

Good Friend Challenge - Week 6

This week we are going to start getting things done to make our holidays less stressful! There really aren't many rules to this challenge. All you need to do is get one card done to be used as the prototype for your Christmas cards. I will understand if you don't want to post your finished picture of your card, we can just write a short paragraph on some basics and post that to the blog.

I already have my cards done so I will just create some type of "winter theme" card. If you choose to not make a Christmas Card prototype then you can just join me in making any winter card.

Have a great week!

Good Friend Challenge - Week 5 Results

Min's challenge for Week 5 was very simple. Create any card that is a shape other than a square or a rectangle. After deciding what I wanted to do....and making a few cuts, I worried that maybe this card would be considered a square.

Anyway...here is what I came up with. The file is actually a cut file created by Jody on the Cricut Messageboards. The card is made to hold a gift card on the inside.

A special thank you to Mom for skypeing with me this morning and helping me figure out how the cuts all went together. I love skype!





The bow is from Christmas Cheer. The rectangle and square shapes come from Plantin and George. The gold paper for the bow is EK Success Red & Gold (two sided). And the green and red patterned papers are both from Anna Griffin.

Ok...time to clean up the mess I made while creating this. :)

Kaymin Kreations Blog Candy

Since I soooooo want to win the blog candy over at Min's site, I want to let everyone know about the blog candy there!

Happy blogoversary Min!!!

To enter go here: http://kayminkreations.blogspot.com/2009/09/happy-blogoversary-to-me-you-blog-candy.html

Good Friend Challenge - Week 4 Results

Here are the card entries for this week! Everyone did so great. I love to see what everyone comes up with when a sketch is used.


Here is Rhonda's card. The ghosts are the perfect addition! Great interpretation of the sketch Mom.


Min's card is just adorable. I love, love, love the sentiment inside!

My card was made using the circle shape from Plantin Schoolbook. I used two images so that I could give the image a layered look. "Boo" was created using an "Image Tree" alphabet stamp set and heat embossing.

Good Friend Challenge - Week 4

Time for the new Good Friend Challenge. We are already on week 4!

This week we are going to use a sketch from the Card Sketch A Day blogspot. Thanks for the inspiration. Here is a link to the blog http://cardsketchaday.blogspot.com/.

In addition to following the sketch, we will be using a stamp from Peachy Keen Stamps called "Caitlin & Adrianne". The sketch has plenty of open space on it to incorporate the stamp.

Have fun!

Good Friend Challenge - Week 3

Here are my cards for the GF Challenge for week 3. Min's challenge was to make 5 cards while keeping it "Simple in 3's". We were to use up to 3 techniques and only use 1/3 of the card. I love how quickly these went together! I feel like I am getting the hang of making some nice, simple, quick cards. Click on the picture to see a larger image. It is easier to see the embossing in the larger image.

Christmas Gift Bags

Here is the project I have been working on for the last couple of days. I got the file from a fellow cricut messageboard member and then adjusted it to fit these bags. The top picture is a view of the bags from the top. I guess they look kind of plain and should maybe be decorated, but there is alot of work in just decorating the fronts.

The wreath is from Christmas Noel cartridge and the candy cane is from Joys of the Season. The "To: From", "Merry Christmas", and "Seasons Greetings" are stamps. The candy cane is decorated with Glossy Accents and glitter. The wreath is decorated with Glossy Accents and stickles.

Click on the pictures for a larger view to see some of the details. :)

Ok...better go work on supper.