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.