Welcome

Hi, my name is Shelly, and welcome to my online art gallery - I am a mixed media artist who enjoys having in her hands in quite of few things all at once! I try to post all my little projects here and sometimes I share other fabulous ideas from my favorite artists. My favorite products are from Graphic 45, Retro Cafe Art Gallery, Gecko Galz, Flying Unicorn and Two Ten Studios (links provided on the right.





Thank you for stopping by, and comments are always appreciated
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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Gecko Galz Challenge

Finally I've had some time after beginning a new job and moving, all within a few weeks mind you, to make a little something! Gecko Galz is generously offering a set of Artsy Doodles digital stamps just for following them!

Click Here for Gecko Galz Website




They put forth a challenge to use one of the stamps in a project, then post a link on their Facebook page to a picture of the project. I realized I needed some more birthday cards on hands for upcoming birthdays, so I chose this pretty coffee design to make one. I printed it on glossy cardstock, then used my favorite colored markers and a glittery gel pen to add some color to it. The stamped sentiment is an old Angel Company stamp. Coordinating cardstock, paper flowers and BAM! Quick, easy, fun little card!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Loving Halloween...

This little project started out being the other half of the Halloween Bingo deco; after setting the skeleton lovers in their crypt, I knew they had to be a project all alone. This was the other half of the 2 slot microscope slide; I found the image of the two love bird skeletons online, and cut them to fit in the slots. I set them with Glossy Accents and then let my imagination go to work.The cross is a sticker from Jolee's Boutique and it sat perfect at the top. I used red stickles in the center of the flowers rather than brads because every piece I do has to have glitter! I had that yellow moon image for awhile, it was perfect for this piece. To simulate a night sky, I painted a white doily black and attached it with the moon on the back. My favorite part is the real tree branch I put on the side with a little bat hanging out; finally a heart image from Retro Cafe Art to finish it off. Overall I think the piece is a little gothic, but still has a touch of whimsy!


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Halloween Bingo Deco

I've been working on a few pieces to enter a content over at Retro Art Cafe; this was originally a 2 slot microscope slide. I took off the one half and decorated it with lots of fun collage images I had gotten from Retro Art Cafe. I built the fence out of Q-tips with the ends cut off, then painted it. The tombstones are from Coffee Break Design, which I painted. This was fun to make, but sadly it doesn't show it's original charm in the picture!


Friday, August 24, 2012

Halloween Giveaway!!

I've decided to have a give away! Visit my blog and make a comment on this post and this little Halloween Deco can be yours!! Winner will be selected using a Random Number Generator, Drawing to be held on Monday, September 3and the winner will be announced here on my blog. Good luck! ~Shelly


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Another Halloween Deco

Haven't had much time to "play", but I managed to make another little Halloween Wall hanging. These are just cute and easy projects to put together. Gather up what supplies you have in bright colors and use your imagination! I just used foam board as the base and stamped/glued paper on; the main circular piece is an old CD that was scratched, also covered with paper; I added 2" squares of my favorite Halloween paper and embellished! Easy and makes a cute little gift for someone who loves Halloween as much as me.



Thursday, August 9, 2012

Decorating on a Dime!

I often use my crafty skills to make little home decor items, and this week I focused on my bedroom which is full of primitive stars. I needed a practical and inexpensive way to display my jewelry, so I went to work!

This little box I made to store my earrings in. It's a simple Kraft box I picked up at Michael's for only a dollar! I painted it black/metallic so it has some shimmer to it, then used Modge Podge to adhere some of my favorite papers to it. The top has a little primitive star I had found at a Thrift sale, and the sides are decorated with Pearl stick ons by Reflections. Total Cost: about $3.00! Plus it was fun to make something that no one else has of course....




With the earrings taken care of, I wanted to create something to display my jewelry so that I could find things easier. I had seen these made with fabric and ribbon, however I have so many beautiful pads of paper and wanted to figure out a way to use my favorites on this project.
I bought a black piece of foam board at Walmart for .59, and cut a 6x6 piece for the bracelets, and an 8x8" piece for my necklaces. I covered the foam pieces with paper and craft glue, then used some of Tim Holz's tissue tape to hide some rough edges. To hang the jewelry, I took clear thumb tacks, cut about half the ends off, then glued them onto the foam board. Once that was done, I used my Crop-o-dile to put eyelets in and ran ribbon through the two pieces, securing in spots with glue. I tied a bow at the top, and TA DA! It works perfectly for me since I don't own or wear alot of jewelry, but you could make this project much larger if needed. So total cost on this was only the .59 cents because I had the other materials on hand!






This next project was quite simple; I got the wooden planter box for free at a yard sale; it was coming apart a bit, but some wood glue fixed that problem. The primitive star I found at Michael's for $1.00, and my lovely boyfriend drilled holes and affixed the star to the box for me. I then went to the Dollar Store, bought two bags of potpourri and filled the box! Total cost was also $3.00, and it compliments my room PLUS makes it smell like apple cinnamon!





So as you can see, if you get creative enough, you can make fun and practical home decor items for pennies on the dollar! Check those free boxes you see at Thrift Sales! Look for Dollar bins at your local craft stores! And of course, search the net for fun blogs and videos to show you great ideas to give you inspiration.....

xxoo Shelly

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Halloween Shrine

I finished this little project last night, and it was quite fun! So many options with this little shrine kit from Retro Cafe Art, but I settled on a baby witch as a focus point. This little cutie is also from a Halloween collage sheet I purchased from Retro Cafe Art, as well as the moon.

Click Here for Retro Café Art Gallery


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Halloween is fast approaching!

Anyone who knows me would know that I love Halloween! And so I am furiously making little projects and decos that anyone who loves the holiday as much as I do would appreciate!! Currently working on Halloween magnets, but this piece I made this weekend I truly love!! This is a 6x6 wood shelf painted black and then blinged out with little Halloween 3D objects and of course lots of glitter!

These cute little shelves will come with a little stand to put them on display, but also have mounts on the back to hang. I will be selling them for $10.00, and I will also ship them for an additional $5.50 priority mail.

Order yours now as the quantities are limited! Contact me on my blog or at gemsrok@yahoo.com.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

New ATC's for Swap

Here are two "Nature Themed" ATC's I made for a swap over at Birdnuts Mixed Media. Check them out for some great project ideas or to join future swaps/contests!

Click Here for Bird Nuts Media



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Need a new pencil/pen holder? Make it yourself!

These pencil/pen holders are so easy and a great way to use paper scraps from those beautiful collections of paper! Just take a soup can, clean it up good, measure out the length of the can (I always eyeball everything, I'm not one for math..LOL). Then you can adhere it with the glue of your choice. Make sure you file down any rough edges on the inside if you are making these for kiddos. Then just decorate with whatever you wish! I used an image from Graphic 45's collection "Domestic Goddess" since I'm in love with vintage everything! I used hot glue and attached the lace. Wallah! Done.


Annnnnnd she's back!

It's been some time since I've been on here; due to some life circumstances I was unable to create for awhile, but I'm back with two pieces I recently created!

These are little shrines made from Lisa Vollrath's Spring Shrine Kits over at Two Ten Studios (her link is on the right of my blog). I used her base and images then added found objects of my own. These were fun and very inpirational projects. Enjoy...Shelly



Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Perfect Sentiments Challenge #2

This week's challenge at The Perfect Sentiment is to create a Friendship card using this color pallet:



Oddly enough my linens are exactly these colors, so of course I loved working with them already!

Here is my example:



I used Photo paper to start out with; I chose a lovely stamp from Club Stamp and proceeded to heat emboss the image with clear embossing powder; next I used alchol inks and create a wash with water in the colors shown above. I chose another ribbon stamp and used Stazon to accent the piece. The sentiment is an Irish Blessing...and it means alot to me. It reflects how I feel about all of my friends, so using it was appropriate. My style is usually simple, so I just added some cream ribbon and metal embellishments.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

First Perfect Sentiment's Challenge!

Today marks the launch of The Perfect Sentiments Challenge! The first challenge is to create a Sympathy Card, but with a twist; use lace somewhere on your card. Here is my example:



With this card I used a digital image from Glitterbabe Greetings, the Lilli. I printed it out on the orange patterned cardstock, then painted parts of it with acrylic paint. I also used some glitter pens to add more detail to the lilli. The papers have a vintage feel, which I think is classy and in the middle I used some old text that I ripped. I placed the lace over it to tame the look of the card down.


This week's challenge is sponsored by Glitterbabe Greetings!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Perfect Sentiments Challenge Launch!


Tomorrow marks the launch of the Perfect Sentiments Challenge! Each week a new card challenge will be posted, and some wonderful prizes will be awarded. As part of their Design Team, I will be posting my challenge piece and detailing instructions on how you can enter the challenge. I'm very excited to be part of this creative venture and I hope we get alot of players!!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Altered tins...My first


Have you ever created something that you loved so much that you vowed to keep it forever? This is my first altered Roaring 20's tin, which I did ultimately sell on Ebay...but today it continues to inspire me. I have yet another blank tin that is just screaming to be collaged and covered in sticky goodness! I've been eyeing up the new Graphic 45 Christmas collection, and I plan to go visit my favorite store this weekend to pick them up and get to work! STAY TUNED....

Sunday, September 25, 2011

It's an honor....

Today I worked long and hard at my J-O-B, and it was not what I would call a good night...I came home to check posts/emails as usual only to discover that the design team at Bella Creations chose to honor me as their "La Creme du Bella", which means Artist of the Week essentially...I'm thrilled to have been chosen, and I am posting the badge with much pride.

Here is the work I was honored for:

Saturday, September 24, 2011

New Challenge Entry for Bella Creations

The Design Team at Bella Creations came up with a fantastic challenge this week to create a project using these awesome Dress Mannequin images from Gecko Galz.





I decided to make a little collage that hangs on the wall, thinking of course this will make a cute gift~ I used pop dots to make the middle mannequin stand out, then created interest with Red Stickles and a cut up silk flower to make it look like an actual dress! So much fun!

Monday, September 19, 2011

My first Digital ATC


Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE all my glues, collage sheets and embellishments...BUT...I have seen some awesome digital artwork and of course being a Gemini, I just had to learn for myself! After fussing with the software for awhile, I finally came up with this, my first digital ATC "Bewitching" -- certainly a novice attempt, but I sort of like it. What do you think?

Saturday, September 17, 2011

New Contest at It's All Treasure!

It's Geri's first blog anniversary, and she's having a giveaway - Click for more details!

Retro Cafe Art Giveaway

Retro Art Cafe is now carrying Land of Enchantment collage sheets! They are so gorgeous, I cannot wait to get my hands on some of them! To celebrate, they are having a giveaway--visit the blog by clicking below!