Thoughtful Gifts for Father's Day

All of these items can be purchased at Designs by Shell Some you'll find under the Father's Day Category and some under the Animal Category.

Does dad have a good sense of humour?! Perhaps he'd appreciate this fun owl t-shirt with this funny saying. Even bird watcher's might like this one.

How about a fun fishing cap for dad or grandpa. A neat gift idea, add a few fishing lures or a book about fishing and you're set.


Maybe your dads a golfer. This cool golf t-shirt could be a fun t-shirt to add to his collection. Add a package of his favourite golf balls to top it off.


Wouldn't a dad love to be the 'official cupcake tester' at home. This fun t-shirt would make a great Father's Day gift. Give it to him with a 1/2 dozen fancy cupcakes that you baked yourself.

Well June is the month that we celebrate our dear dads! I thought I'd share a few creative gift ideas that might make 'dad' smile. I know some folks like to buy expensive gifts but in this economy many people have no choice but to cut back on the expensive stuff this year. A thoughtful gift like a unique t-shirt or a funny mug can still be a nice way to show dad appreciation. Here are a few fun ideas from my store Designs by Shell

Our Memosa Tree

Aren't these blooms lovely?  This beautiful Memosa tree is in our back yard overlooking the pond. Memosa's attract hummingbirds and grow real well in this part of the country (southern Indiana).  They have the most unique soft looking yet spikey blooms I've ever seen.  I suspect there are people wandering out in California with hair modeled after this flower.

We stand under this tree all summer long to feed the fish, turtles, and ducks that swim by--mostly fish.  Last summer our neighbors bought some white ducks with big fluffy tail feathers.  They were pretty cute and hung out on the pond close to our house.  We'd feed them. My daughter encouraged them to come near to the house so she could sit on the step by our back door when she threw bread crumbs.   They'd come on land and in close until something spooked them; it was the funniest thing ever to see them run back to the water.   Talk about waddling!

 It's amazing how fast these trees grow!  We just planted them as small saplings a few years ago and 'poof' now they're regualr trees.  Sort of like kids I guess...

Sadly the two white ducks do not hang out on our pond anymore.  Their quack is louder than the other ducks and more nasal sounding.  I hear that quack every now and then on a different pond so they're still around.

David Beem and family

I finally figured out how to post this picture!  David, Cary, and son Max Beem met us at Borders a few weeks ago.  Nice, nice people...  Very talented cellists--both of them.  In fact, David was the principal cellist in the Evansville Philharmonic for a number of years.  You can read more about his background if you click on his picture under followers on this blog.

I came to know them because our daughter, Suzanne, has an interest in the cello and was fortunate to have David as an instructor.  The Beems have since moved to northern Indiana where Max was born and David bravely stepped into the wonderful world of writing.  He has written an adult Novel called The Abyss of Chaos and I can honestly tell you it's good because I read it myself.  I feel very fortunate to have David as a critique partner.  He critiqued half my Murder on Sprinkle Lake for me and his remarks were very helpful.  Sometimes I think people feel critiquing means criticizing.  David's not about telling me everything I do wrong. He was great about explaining what he found interesting or funny too.     After all, how can we repeat what we do right if we never hear what it is?  There is always something right...  His experience as a muscian and teacher gave him exposure to critiquing.  He feels, and I agree, that if critiquing is done poorly it can be hurtful and not very helpful.  I look up to him and am very confident he will succeed at anything he decides to tackle!

David is not the only one that critiques my work.  Of course I have my husband and other family members (when they have time) read stuff, but also the people in the SCBWI Evansville Critique Group led by Christie Atherton.  Talented writers (and one illustrator) in that group!  I love to use my imagination and express emotion through writing and am grateful to all of them for their help.  I find writing difficult, but that's part of the fun.  Nevertheless, we writers have to have thick skin.  Most people get plenty of rejections, spend a lot of time alone, and don't make very much money.  Gotta love the process to keep at it!

My Latest Jungle Animal Characters

All of these items can be purchased at
Designs by Shell Under the Animal Category





Lately, I've been totally into drawing the cutest jungle animals. So you guessed it, this last week I've been creating baby tigers, little roaring lions,funny monkeys and zebras. It's interesting how these animal characters take shape. Sometimes I'm not even sure how I come up with their looks but I just started drawing and these fun little animals come to life on the tablet. So do you have a favourite, let me know?! It's way too much fun creating and designing! So above you'll see a few of my designs, to see more pop by my store and browse around. You'll find mugs, stickers, magnets, t-shirts, invitations and more with these cool animal designs!
Designs by Shell

My Root Canal

I wanted the subject of this blog to be about my writing critique partner, David Beem, but I'm having technical difficulties--the picture I have of him and his family won't post. So I've decided to write about my recent trips to the dentist instead.

What pops into your head when you hear the word DENTIST?   The images in my mind flash about as though in a panic when I hear the word spoken.  It's hard to say what I think of first, but I do imagine gloved hands holding silver instruments, face masks, a loud drilling noise and a square light-- not the sort of light you feel like moving toward, but a light with a plastic shield full of finger prints. Those thoughts are the reason I delay going to the dentist. 

 My tooth started aching in early May.  I ignored it, but it wouldn't go away.  Advil helped.  After a week of wishing it would just take care of itself, I gave up and went to the dentist -- Advil was a good friend of mine by then and the relationship was growing stronger.  What the dentist told me was my back molar had a crack and if I didn't have a root canal, it would be like a rock hitting a windshield- the crack would spread and pretty much kill me (not literally)-- fill me with agony and then break apart.  Ahh- the joys of aging...

My root canal was done at a place in Evansville that specializes in that sort of thing.  The professionals reassured me there would be no pain.  They were honest about that.  My whole head felt numb when they were finished injecting me with Novocaine--"time for a school picture!"  Just kidding. ( When my face is sagging and I'm drooling that's usually when a photographer shows up. If you saw my school pictures, you'd believe me.)  What I found out was, although there was no pain, my mouth had to be held open with special instruments.  It was stretched as wide as it could be and then the Dr. asked me periodically if I could open my mouth wider. That was insane!  But, being the good patient that I am, I tried.

  Before he started, I was handed safety glasses. That was a little unsettling. 

Can you just imagine what they saw when they looked at me sitting in that chair?  I'm pretty sure it was scary. 

The assistant told me to raise my arm if I needed them to stop for any reason at all.  I wondered how fast they could get that mouth brace of me, but I figured there was no need to worry because people have root canals all the time and I've never heard anything outrageous about the procedure.  However,  I did raise my hand after awhile because I had this little problem of feeling like I was going to suffocate, I only gagged.  The Dentist said, "Oh that's just your saliva collecting in the back of your throat.  Just ignore it."  Could I argue? No.  He began to drill and my leg started shaking --totally out of control.  There was nothing I could do about it because it's a side effect of a medication I'm on.  I saw the assistant look from my mouth to my leg several times.  I knew it was annoying her.  What could I say?  Finally she said very nicely, "Would you please stop shaking your leg, it makes it shake up here where we're working.  Me with my mouth open as wide as an African Hippo yawning, just blinked at her.  I thought okay.  Maybe I can control my leg.  I put a lot of concentration on it and found I was somewhat successful.  It was tough to get over the feeling of drowning in my own spit and calming my leg all at the same time. 

 I'm not sure how much time went by, but this was not a five minute procedure, I assure you.  Have to give them credit, though, they are doing their best to make people as comfortable as possible-- there was a television on the ceiling.  I have no idea what was on... And, they were right, there was no pain.

Cute Birthday Invitations for Kids Parties

All of these invitations can be purchased at Shell's Designs Feel free to browse around you never know what will catch your eye.




Remember when you were a child and a friend handed you that special birthday invitation to their party. I do! I remember the feelings of excitement and fun that it brought as I tucked it away in my school bag to bring home. Choosing the right birthday invitation can really set the stage for the type of party that you are hosting. Theme parties for kids are very popular now like pirate parties, princess parties, superhero parties and then there is swimming and bowling and dress-up parties. So many fun ideas start coming to mind. Recently I've been working on some really cute kids party invitations with animal themes, lions, bears, elephants and I just finished some fun pirate invitations too! Here are a few I've been working on above. Come by my store and under the 'birthdays' category you'll find many creative designs.
Shell's Designs

Cool Microscope!

My husband, Bruce, is holding a microscope in his hand. Isn't that cool!?  If only I had that tool when I was in my seventh grade science class.  Half the battle I had then, was managing that beast of a microscope we had to use to zoom in on something teeny weeny.  I had as much luck finding things as I did in astronomy looking at the stars! Anyway, as Bruce checks the coating on the small, gold lid for anomalies we can't see with the naked eye, the close up image shows on his computer screen--like an ultrasound. I just had to take a picture.