Friday, July 23, 2010

Wild Things





I included a couple of my raccoon drawings that I put on products too! Stop by my store Designs by Shell




Okay, so yesterday my husband and I went for a long walk, well we actually spent the afternoon at a park in Vancouver. Stanley Park to be exact. The flowers were beautiful as usual at this time of year. I took many pics' of them. The most exciting part of the day was my encounter with a little raccoon. First you should probably know that I am not a 'big animal' fan... yes they can be cute but I am pretty tentative around most of them. So anyways my husband and I were sitting on a bench that overlooks a pond with lots of tree and bushes around, just quietly reading our books. This rustling beside me startles me and a raccoon comes straight out of the bushes towards us. It was about 4 feet away! What do I do? Of course, I jump up on the bench, freaking out, saying, 'Oh no, Oh no, crap, what do we do?! My husband is laughing at me and telling me to get down from the bench, but I remain standing there. I did not think this was funny... the raccoon turns around and heads back into the bushes. After this I was a little jumpy and was having a hard time concentrating on my book. A few minutes later the raccoon comes sneaking out again and crosses in front of us and gets into the pond. Yes, I was up on the bench again! The raccoon probably thought I was nuts! It must have looked pretty funny but I didn't care. I did capture some great pictures of him as you can see above. Ahhh... what an afternoon!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Drum Hut


A few weeks ago we traveled through Kenosha, Wisconsin the very city our youngest child was born in.  We lived there eleven years and have many fond memories.  The picture above is my husband Bruce, me, and my friend Heather Poyner owner of The Drum Hut.  Heather plays the African Drums and wrote a book about her experiences playing in Drum Circles.

Heather is a wonderfully creative person with some interesting life stories. She's a writer, a musician, and a great cook. Having lived in Greece, she picked up the taste for Greek food and even thought about opening a Greek Restaurant for awhile. She can cook all kinds of things and used to cover the Food Page for the Kenosha News. 
   Heather's daughter, Lauren, is a creative person as well. She painted the dancers on the wall in The Drum Hut for her mother.
 Check out Heather's web site at http://www.rhythmintheround.com/ .



All her drums were fun to look at and listen to.  I especially got a kick out of the square patriotic looking drum, however.  That drum had a great sound and was homemade with napkins and packaging tape. What a fun activity to do with  your children or grandchildren!

                                                       

Friday, July 16, 2010

Got a Craving for Sweets







This last week I've been working on adding items to my Sweets and Desserts category in my shop. I started off drawing some decadent ice cream cones in soft colors then some ice cream sundaes in a little brighter colors. Then I came up with my latest design, my lollipop designs. Actually I did a few different designs for these as they were so fun to create. I never knew there could be so many creative ways to draw lollipops and candy designs. I've been having a good time coming up with sayings to add to these designs too! I find that people really enjoy humorous or cute sayings on items like t-shirts, mugs, totebags and so forth. I hope you enjoy the ones I've posted here, to see more come by my shop for a snoop around, lots of great gift ideas!
Designs by Shell

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Amazing Flowers in the Neighborhood






A couple of mornings ago I went for an early walk in my neighborhood before it got too hot out! There were so many beautiful plants and flowers and everyone was sleeping as it was pretty early, so I was able to take plenty of pictures. I captured some stunning hydrangeas in colors from light blue to deep purple. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower, just love them! I also took some amazing shots of lavender bushes in full bloom and a few roses too! It was a great morning and so much fun to combine exercise with picture taking! You should do this in your neighborhood it just may open your eyes to all the beautiful nature and flowers around you! So the last couple of days I've been adding these pic's too products in my store. If you love nature and flowers come by and visit my store Designs by Shell

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Drop A Pebble In The Water by James W. Foley

Drop a Pebble in the Water

Drop a pebble in the water; just a splash, and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be.

Drop a pebble in the water; in a minute you forget,
But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;
You've disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.

Drop an unkind word, or careless; in a minute it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them, once you've started them to flow.

Drop an unkind word, or careless; in a minute you forget;
But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you've stirred,
And disturbed a life was happy ere yu dropped that unkind word.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness; just a flash and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn't believe the volume of the one kind word you gave.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness; in a minute you forget;
But there's gladnness still a-swelling, and there's joy a-circling yet,
And you've rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard
Over miles and miles of water just by dropping one kind word.
                                                                           James W. Foley

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Steppin' Into Summer






Well the kids are all out of school now, all the graduations are over. It's time for some summer weather. The weather man here says once we get through this weekend the sun is on its way and should be around for awhile. With warm summer days comes pool parties, barbeques and lighter dinners. Summer also means pulling out the summer t-shirts and shorts and spending some leisure time on the beach. Even if you don't swim, it's nice to get your toes wet and sit in a lawn chair with a good summer novel. These last few days I've been creating some fun and cheery summer designs as you see above. I hope they put you in a good mood and make you smile! Here come the days of summer! Come see more of the latest creations at Designs by Shell