Saying "lady friends" makes me giggle

WELL!! 

Another year has passed, and like clockwork, my birthday rolled around again.  I don't usually go out of my way to celebrate it, because it's so close to the holidays that I'm all celebrated-out by then.  But this year... no.  This is the year of EPIC, so I rounded up my girls and we went for drinks last Sunday night.

First, I'm crazy lucky to have such awesome friends - every single one of them came out, and we laughed our asses off all evening.  It was a great time.

Second, they all agreed to go along with my (ahem) story about my current age.  I figure 29 has really been working for me, so why change things up now?  Right?

I'm trusting you guys not to rat me out.

Love Shelley!

I am so smart! S-M-R-T!

Hey guys!

I had a good time on Friday - I've been really inspired by bright colours lately, so I decided to just play a bit.  I ripped three pages out of a really old dictionary and then used paints and watercolour crayons, and pencil crayons, rub-ons, and some paint markers to make them bright and exciting.  The plan was to be able to cut out shapes, or rip them up and use them on journal pages, so I wasn't too concerned about the colours not blending together well. 

Yep, still addicted to circles!  (I know you were wondering.)

Then I used that orange/yellow/pink one in the middle... first I sprayed gold mist all over it, so it shimmers like crazy.  Then I drew and cut out a bunch of stars.  Then, since I couldn't stand to waste the scraps (PRETTY!), I drew and cut out a bunch of circles. 

Then I used them on this page:

 

And you can click on the picture to make it bigger if you want, to read my genius idea.  BUT --- you should know that after I stapled on all the letters to spell "G-E-N-I-U-S", I looked at the package and realized that they are self stick letters.  All I had to do was peel the clear backing off, and I wouldn't have had to mess around with the big stapler.

So...not a genius after all.  But it's good to have something to aspire to, right?   I just have a feeling I'll be aspiring for a long, looooooong time. 

Love Shelley!

Happy Colours, Silly Thoughts

Here's another page from the journal I'm working on for my friend Holly:

After I covered the page in those great pink dots, I kind of got stuck... so I dug through my stash and found a collage sheet I got from Nancy Baumiller's Crowabout shop - honestly, you should check out her stuff.  It's amazing, and sometimes it's just the kick of inspiration I need to get me going again.  I cut out that semi-circle with the "10" at the top and glued it down, and from there everything started flowing again! 

I have the day off today and the kids will be at school, so I'll have just over EIGHT HOURS to do my own thing... now I just have to decide whether I'll spend any of that time doing housework or other mom-stuff - or if I'll just do the mad-scientist-in-the-craft-room routine that I love so much.  I'll let you know how it turns out - and if you do come over to visit, don't judge me on the state of my kitchen.  Heeee! 

Love Shelley!

I admit, I was reaching.

My long distance friend Holly (BEST PENPAL EVER) asked me if I would be the first to work in a collaborative journal she was starting.  Of course I jumped all over that and said I didn't mind at all being first.  Then the book arrived and I stared at it for a couple of weeks, just waiting for inspiration to strike.  After all, anything I did in the book would have to be EPIC!!!  Right?  (no pressure...)  I did a couple of pages, and wasn't that excited with what I'd produced, and then I ran out of ideas altogether and started recycling.  Recycling's good, right? 

I went through some of my old stuff and collected a bunch of the bits and pieces I'd doodled, mostly while on the phone. 

I added a fold-out.  I love hiding places and interactive bits in my journals. 

Some close-ups:

As far as the finished page, the only thing I'm not crazy about is the lack of colour.  Surprisingly, the monotony of cutting and pasting totally fired my creativity, confirming my theory that if you just keep at it, the good stuff will definitely kick in. 

I attacked the next few pages with an explosion of different colours.  Stay tuned - especially if you like pink. 

Love Shelley!

In Which I Reveal My Dark Side

Taking a risk here:

I debated a lot before I decided to post this one.  It's not because of the gratuitous use of the f-word... it's probably because I was really seriously pissed off when I did this page and I know that the emotion comes through loud and clear. 

And I've spent years and years trying to keep people from being able to see what I'm really thinking.  I'm like the emotion ninja - no matter what's going on in my head, I can usually paste a pleasant smile on my face and carry on like nothing's wrong.

And now here I go just putting it right out there. 

Hope I don't regret this.

Love Shelley

Bad News... and Good News!

This is where I annoy you by finding the bright side in an otherwise-completely-irritating situation:

Next week, postal rates are going up again. 

A letter sent within Canada goes up 2 cents, from $0.57 to $0.59.

A letter to the US goes up 3 cents, from $1.00 to $1.03.

And finally, letters sent internationally go up 5 cents, from $1.70 to $1.75.

The silver lining is that Canada Post has come out with some new low-value stamps, so you can top up the value of the stamps you already presumably have hanging around in your wallet, purse or a glassine envelope prominently placed on your desktop.  (That last one might be just me.)

I was at the post office the other day and picked up a few of each - look!

I know my crappy pictures don't do them justice, but they are really pretty.  Gorgeous bright colours, black edging to make them show up on your envelopes, and of course, they now come in every domination from 1 to 10 cents!!! 

This one's my favourite:

From Canada Post's website:  "In this latest tribute to beneficial insects, five more tiny helpers squirm onto the scene in the form of low-value definitives: the paper wasp, the assassin bug, the large milkweed bug, the margined leatherwing and the dogbane beetle. In 2007, Canada Post celebrated five other beneficial insects that roam Canada’s gardens and marshes: the golden-eyed lacewing, the cecropia moth, the convergent lady beetle, the northern bumblebee and the Canada darner. "

I'm partial to the 9-cent stamp too.  Tiny art to add to envelopes... for PENNIES!!  What could be better?!

Love Shelley!



My 2011 Resolution

Happy new year, everyone!

So do you guys make new year's resolutions?  I used to make massive ambitious lists of stuff I wanted to accomplish for the coming year, and while it was fun to dream about actually doing all those things over the course of a year... well, the reality was that it was really disappointing to look back at the END of the year and realize how few things I'd finished.  And this went on year, after year, after year...

So last year I finally wised up and made a different kind of resolution; one that I knew I could keep.  One that would make me feel good at the end of the year,  not like I'd failed.  That resolution was "Keep Being Awesome" and I totally rocked it!

It turned out so great, that I decided to go that route again this year.  I present to you, my resolution for 2011!!!

I'll let you know how it goes... but I'm not gonna lie, I think it's going to be pretty great.

Love Shelley!