The Water Fairy

click to enlarge

I have a really wonderful sister.

A couple of days ago, I realized that I needed a few photos of a water fairy for the magazine. A fairy with wavy blonde hair, a white dress, and blue wings...

I've made my little sister dress up in all sorts of costumes and pause in the middle of many games in order to experiment with my camera. Most young girls would be completely tired of this-- but not 'Rosie.' She is a tireless, cute model and loves seeing where pictures of her wind up-- be it on my facebook page or at the library (the photo of her in a book page skirt won a contest there).

When I told her that I needed her to dress up as a fairy and wake up early some morning so that I could photograph her in the sunrise, she squealed and hugged me and called me the best sister ever.

Really, what do I do to deserve that?

While I was at a four-hour long chemistry lecture two days ago, she apparently asked Mom and Dad to put her hair in curlers. She woke up yesterday morning bright, chipper, and excited to see her hair curly. 

I wasn't so bright and chipper; I'm not a morning person and I certaintly wasn't prepared to get a photoshoot started a six in the morning. But I rushed around the house, forming two coat hangers, a pantyhose with runs in it, and some glittery paint into a pair of makeshift fairy wings. After a few minutes in the garage (and after making a messy pile of boxes) I found my old petticoat dress. Next came the rush to find some small water shoes. 

Rosie wasn't dressed until the sun had already risen, but the sky was adorned with brilliant clouds and the lighting wasn't stark and overwhelming. So we waltzed outside...

We have a beautiful little pond in our backyard, and thanks to the drought it is only a couple of feet deep. I wanted Rosie to wade into it and let me photograph her standing in it.

What I didn't know?

She's afraid of the touching the pond water. One of our brothers had told her that venomous snakes live there (we've never seen a snake!), and the single splash of one frog jumping into the water was enough to make her squeal. I thought she was just being silly, and said as much (what a mean sister I am!). She put on her brave face and took a few small steps towards the water...

Squish, squash, bluuuuuuurp. The ground was very, very muddy. She sunk a good three inches into the mud and made a strange gurgling sounds in the back of her throat. I could tell that she was thinking of those stories about people sinking in quicksand.

That wouldn't do; Rosie would not succumb to quicksand and become a snake's breakfast. She skadoodled back onto solid ground.

"I'm so sorry, Shaylynn! I just... ick... I was sinking!"

I suggested we go inside, but she felt bad that I didn't have the photos I needed and gave it another shot-- this time walking towards the water from her favorite fishing spot.

That didn't work out, either.

Rosie's nose and ears turned bright pink. She was almost in tears.

I asked her if the mud was too icky. She nodded, then shrugged sadly, and said, "But you're not going to get the pictures you need!"

It just about melted my heart.

Forget about all the times I complain about her annoying way of interrupting me or pestering me to do things or never ever cleaning her part of the room. She really is the sweetest little girl, ever.

I tried to convince her that it was okay. I shouldn't have expected her to walk in the mud-- even I wouldn't want to do that, after seeing how gooey it was! But it was to no avail.

We found some nice solid ground and took some more fairy pictures.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that these won't work for the magazine's short story. (Who knows? Maybe I can manage some fancy Photoshop and make it work?). She was just so worried about me!

She looked like a little angel!

Rosie still kept saying "sorry" between every couple of sentences and it took a fair amount of time to convince her that no, I did not need her to try walking in the scary water again.

My brave lil' sis!

When I opened up the pictures I was excited to see that they turned out quite well! They may not work for the short story, but they are pretty in an of themselves. Well, and because of Rosie, of course!

She was swordfighting and wrestling my brothers with her super-curly hair and brand-new fairy wings earlier, so I think it's all OK now. (Wish I had a picture of that!)

And this, my friends, is why you should always exclaim AWWWWWW anytime I post a picture with my little sister in it. She isn't just cute. She's super sweet.

If You Write or Draw...

If you like writing or drawing, you'll love this fiction contest! Ink and Fairydust is holding a competition for short stories, art, or poetry, and the winners from each category will be published in the November/December issue of Ink and Fairydust!

Can you believe that the holiday season is only six months away? In an attempt to keep the festive spirit and to encourage creativity, all short stories must include the carol "Ding Dong Merrily on High" in some way.

If you like poetry or art of any kind, you can submit pretty much anything! I think that artsy photographs might count for the art category.

If you have any questions, email ask@inkandfairydust.com. I'd really encourage everyone who is interested to submit! I can promise you that we don't bite. :) Deadline is July 31st. This is geared for writers in the 13-25 age range, give or take.

Please feel free to save this image, print it out, email it, share it with your friends and family...

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Also, if you have a writing knack and would be interested in writing one article every two to four months, please email submissions@inkandfairydust.com to inquire about becoming a regular contributer. You'll have the chance to be published in a growing online magazine and the ability to work closely with our proofreaders and a young newly-professional editor, Ellianna, who is the sweetest person to critique articles, period.

The May/June issue is slated to be released within the next week or two! :)

Oh, and have I mentioned that I love my software? I discovered four spectacular features in Illustrator and InDesign while working on the fiction contest poster. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

The REAL Mythology Issue

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S!

I love the comments you all left on the "April Issue of Ink and Fairydust" and the notes we got on facebook-- I think we tricked every one of you!

Is it bad if I let you know that the main reason I made the fake issue was to gain a few days' grace time? I meant it when I said that I was behind in graphics work. :) 

(Reading every article, pondering what colors and styles would go with it, organizing the illustrators and photographer, finding public domain photos with high enough resolution, brainstorming new layout designs, and stitching all of that together into a 38 page long PDF... it's like working a part time job! Not that I am complaining-- I'm not! I love doing this!-- but for some reason I feel like I have to justify why I took so long. As if you were staring at me with angry eyes, asking why is this issue late?)

 Of course, I was also strongly motivated by my gleeful maniacal laugh-- MUAHAHAHAHA!-- because I do seriously love little pranks and big goofiness.

And it was great. I've been maniacal-laughing like crazy. First, I tricked all the other editors by sending them an email asking them to please review the final draft for typos. That caught every one of them. :)

I hope you guys caught all the strange references that got tossed into small corners of the magazine-- for instance, Gandalf wrote an article, the Fairy Godmother wants cough drops, and I taught you guys the definition of haplology!

Now for the REAL March/April issue of I&F!

The theme? Mythology! We have a very interesting mix of articles (not the kinds you would expect for a mythology-themed issue-- our writers surprised me very much with some insightful and out-of-the-box articles),  a lovely short story, and much, much more.

As always, I'm going to remind you that I&F is entirely run by teens and young adults like myself, who volunteer many, many hours to put this publication together.

Since we offer it for free, we don't have any money for advertising. You can help by sharing each issue with your friends and family-- post it on facebook, embed it on your blog (there is an embed link under the magazine on our Issuu page, here), email the link, etc. Email us at ask@inkandfairydust.com and tell us what you think about each issue. Tell us how we can improve, and feed our egos by telling us how much you love it. :) lol!

My mom recently complained that it is hard to read I&F on her iPhone, but she doesn't like reading on a vertical computer screen. Unfortunately, the website that we use to host our giant files, Issuu, is not full compatible with mobile devices. However, if you make a free account with Issuu, you can download the full PDFs for each I&F issue and read it at your leisure on iPads, Kindles, and more-- you can even print it out. (We can't offer a print version at the moment because we would have to charge for subscriptions and do all sorts of legal stuff regarding the money.) We're looking for a way to post the PDFs directly onto our website for download without taking up all our server space (which is being graciously donated by Veraprise Inc.)



Oh, don't forget to check out page 18 for the information on our first fiction contest! (I'll post a JPEG of that in a couple of days so you can print it out and share it with your friends and family-- we want lots of entries!)

Ink and Fairydust Website

Please go visit the new and improved Ink and Fairydust website! I completely redid the design from scratch! It's far from perfect and will be seeing many more changes in the near future, but don't you think it's an improvement?

There were a couple of points where I felt like chucking things at the computer and giving up entirely... *grumbles about how unintuitive HTML and CSS are*  I talk to inanimate objects when they are being rude and objectional and uncooperative, and I'd imagine that anyone walking into the computer room would think I'd gone crazy.

www.inkandfairydust.com

Many thanks to Veraprise Inc/Chesterton Press for hosting our website, and to Mr. Andrew for helping me through a caching problem!

Fairy Tales and Eye Candy

The latest issue of Ink and Fairydust is finally here, and the theme is Fairy Tales! Read it right now:

If the embedded version isn't working, you can read it here:  http://issuu.com/inkandfairydust/docs/jan-feb

Of course, since I am the graphics designer and did all the layouts (whew!) I'm excited to show you the eye candy.

However, you definately need to make the time to read though all 54 pages of the magazine. If nothing else, bookmark the magazine and come back to it during every second of your free time. There are some absolutely wonderful articles, short stories, reviews, poetery, and more!

I'm also excited to announce that Mary Sullivan and Mary MacArthur have joined the team as illustrators-- they are far more experienced artists than I am and their work adds so much more fairydust to the magazine!

A bit about Ink and Fairydust:

"I&F is a free e-magazine inspiring faith and creativity."

The magazine started as a newsletter of the Fairy Tale Novels fan-forum. We were a bunch of young teenagers (and one college student) who loved reading, writing, and art. Our newsletter quickly took off and morphed into a full-blown magazine.

We write about everything from classic literature to pop culture, and everything is from a very Christian worldview. Now our staff is older (I am the only main staff member who is not yet in college), and our contributers are around14-20 years old.

Obviously we put a ton of hard work into each issue. We are hardworking and would love to get our work out there. However, since I&F is a free magazine... and all of us are teens and young adults... we have exactly $0 of advertising money. We rely solely on word-of-mouth.

So if you like this issue, please email your friends and family. Share it on your blog. Facebook it. Tweet it.

And if you are a teen or young adult, consider writing for us! I&F has grown a great deal over the past few months, and it would look great on scholarships or a resume. :) Plus it's just fun to see your work out there (and all prettied up by me).

Shoot us an email at ask@inkandfairydust.com with comments and suggestions. We LOVE to hear from readers. :)

ENJOY!

Ink and Fairydust

The September/October issue of Ink and Fairydust is out!

The theme is Film and Theater. Read it {here}!

Guess what?!

I am now the Graphics Editor for I&F!!!

I am extremely excited to present this issue to you, dear blog readers. It is the first issue that I have been in charge of the graphics design (and I did all the graphics by myself, with the exception of one article. Phew.).

Elizabeth, our previous editor, has been battling health issues and pursuing higher education-- along with hoards of creative projects. It's no wonder that she felt she no longer had the time to continue to direct high-quality issues of I&F.

This June she emailed her awesome minions the I&F staff to let us know of her decision. We spent the following weeks scrambling like maniacs, attempting to organize ourselves. The rushed summer issue was published during this running-around-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off time.

By August, we'd re-attached our heads and got ourselves properly organized. I think we did a good job. ;) The new staff lineup is absolutely amazing, and I am working with some of the most creative and hard-working teens ever! I was so honored (and a wee bit overwhelmed) to be named Graphics Editor.

Neri, our editor (who, by the way, attends college and works a job and still manages to be ontop of things!) spent some time talking to me about the direction we should take I&F visually. We've revamped the logo, redone all the graphics.... and more!

And this is why I haven't updated the blog in a week. Ever spare moment has been spent on I&F. And as a highschool junior preparing for exam week... spare moments really have to be prioritized. Hopefully, though, this issue of Ink and Fairydust will more than make up for my blog absence!

And so, I hope that you enjoy the latest issue of Ink and Fairydust!

(For those of you who don't know already, I&F is a FREE online e-mag. It has a Christian worldview and focuses on the arts and literature and creativity in general!)

I&F is completely free, and a couple dozen teens and young adults volunteer their time (lots of time) and talents (really awesome talents) to bring it to you. However, teens and young adults don't have a lot of money. We rely solely on word-of-mouth advertising, so please share the magazine with your friends and family and random facebook acquaintances!

I'm Published!

An article of mine is published in a magazine!!! It's my first time being published!

(I know that I write for Ink and Fairydust every issue, but considering the fact that I'm on the editorial staff, I'm not going to count that. This is my first time getting published anywhere besides I&F. !).

Me and the article. For some reason I actually managed to get a good photo of myself with the self-timer. Score!

See? That's ME! :D

The magazine is Mater et Magistra, a very good Catholic homeschooling magazine. I wrote an article about Ink and Fairydust, the free e-mag that I spend hours on each month.

Speaking of Ink and Fairydust... check out our Summer 2011 issue! It's a bit shorter than most issues... but very, very good nonetheless. I'm rather proud of my comic this month. :)

Thanks for humoring me, I just HAD to share. I know this isn't a super huge publication, but it's the first thing that I've seen something I wrote in print. 'Tis exciting. :D

Oh, no! She's disappeared! ...and other updates.

No, I haven't disappeared! As I mentioned earlier, I am cutting back on my computer time this Lent.

I'll still be checking my email and the Shoppe daily, so nothing important will be missed. :)

As far as the Faerie Blog goes... dear Fairy People, never fear! I'll be posting once a week or so.... and I have some awesome guest bloggers lined up for y'all. I can't wait to introduce them!

Speaking of guest bloggers... if you would like to be featured here on my blog, there are plenty of days to fill in the weeks ahead. :) Check out my previous post for more information. I'm not picky and I'd love to have you!

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March's issue of Ink and Fairydust is released!

...well, actually, it was released on the first of March. I just forgot to tell you all. But those of you who are my fans on facebook (or I&F's fans) already knew about this!

As always, we've worked very hard to bring this issue to you! Please check out our latest issue, bookmark I&F, and spread the word. :)

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Okay. So this was very embarrassing. You know that toolbar at the bottom of my blog?

Can you see this picture? lol, just look at the bottom of the screen to see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, several months ago I had set it to give a pop-message. It said something like:

"Hi, this is Shaylynn, I'm testing out this really need toolbar widget called Wibiya. Blah blah blah yada yada (I was saying something else, too), and don't forget to check out my Christmas link up."

I thought I deleted that pop-up message sometime in December. I clicked "delete" and never saw it again!

Until I opened my blog up on Dad's laptop. There it was. Staring me right in the face. An old, unprofessional message. And I've had hundreds of brand-new visitors to my blog in the past couple of months. Every single one has to have seen that message.

I think I finally got it deleted. Please let me know if you see that message again. (I mean, I might put up new messages every now and then, but  let me know if you see that Christmas one).

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Shealynns-Faerie-Shoppe

Unique Gifts

Wow! I have 78 Blogger followers! 

Do you remember what I said back in early January?

Can we get up to 80 Blogger followers?

At that time, I only had 39 followers. Dear amazing Fairy People who had been with me since nearly the beginning of my blog.


There's still going to be a giveaway when we reach 80 followers! Only 2 away! .  

And when we get to the grand and amazing number of 100 followers, there shall be an even bigger giveaway!

I normally don't do giveaways very often, but eeep! 80 followers? Two months ago I thought it would take half a year to get there!

(So that means that if you've been lurking around my blog... I would really appreciate you clicking that "Follow" button!)


(Random side note: For the past week, my followers have been 76, 77, 76, 77, 78, 77, 78, 77, and now 78 again. I'm trying to figure this out. At first I was sad that someone had left. :( but figured that I had my ego inflated to care so much. Now I'm wondering if someone is continually following and unfollowing? Because this keeps happening!)

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Of Magazines and Randomosity

Because I didn't feel like titling this post " New I&F Issue and Not-So-Craftsy Updates."

Do you like King Arthur, Camelot, and Valentine's Day?

Then you really, really need to check out the latest issue of Ink and Fairydust!

For those who don't know, Ink and Fairydust is a free Christian teen e-magazine full of faith and creativity.

I've been working very hard on I&F as a... *drumroll, please* comic strip writer, illustrator, webmaster, assistant photographer, assistant graphics artist, occasional article author, and ex-column writer. (The "Artist's Corner" column is discontinuted.)

Kinda proud of the "Lady of Lancelot" background. (Uh, not dishing for compliments! Just letting you know that is a very complicated type of background to make and I'm glad it worked!)

Speaking of comics and illustrations, we have new openings! I can't do all the artwork... :)

Ink and Fairydust is looking for a second cartoonist and a part-time illustrator!

Now for some tons of updates (and lots of questions for you, dear Fairy Peoples):


AmandaBeth is generously hosting my giveaway! Please be sure enter, and visit her blog (which is spectacular).

Since the giveaway went live (just three days ago!) I've gotten 30+ new followers. (That 100 follower goal doesn't look so far off now!)

New followers, I hope you'll be sticking around! :) I post about practically everything art-related here... from jewelry to tutorials to crafts to photography to art... Check out my previous posts to see what I've been up to lately!

I have several tutorials up my sleeve! (Yeah. We'll pretend I have a magician's sleeve, k?) Only a couple for jewelry-- but I've been systematically destroying Unwanted Books from the Thrift Store Sale and making Awesome Crafts out of them. You know that has to be good. :)

Would you be interested in having a linky at the end of each tutorial, so you can share crafts that you've made with that tutorial? I'm also thinking about making a tutorial navigation page.
I've also been doing lots of decopauge. I've been in a crafty mood lately... It's like a disease, it totally takes over...


I've gone all crafty and have been decorating my bedroom and the "craft room"... decorating with crafts. :) Would you like me to blog about that?



Check out the Uncommon Sense podcast!
I recently made several graphics for them. I do so love the Chesterton Society, and I'm going to be able to go to the Conference this summer!
(G.K. Chesterton has got a place on my bookshelf right next to Lewis, Tolkien, and Jane Austen.)

A sample of some of the graphics

How is the blog loading for you all? I've been adding many new features, and want to make sure I'm not overloading it.

How is the Faerie Blog loading?

Who's ready for Valentine's Day?
We don't do much around here... but my little sister is having her Little Flowers group (kinda like Catholic girl scouts) over on Valentine's day.

I've also been making Valentine's-themed jewelry-- all available in the Shoppe! Please be sure to order soon so it will reach you in time!

(Did I mention that any pre-Valentine's Day orders get a special little treat in the package?)

I'm not saying what it will be... Nope, it's not this necklace. :) But something just as good...

And just a little update on life around here: za basement flooded this morning (well, the entire concrete floor got damp) because our water softener drain froze and the emergency drain spilled. So.... the craft room is not really useable at the moment. I'm also hoping our giant wall of bookshelves isn't hurt.

January's Ink and Fairydust

January's issue of  Ink and Fairydust is out!

This month's issue is all about Poetry and Winter.

Please check it out!

News on my end:

• My hand is famous! (Heehee, I am now one of the official photographers, and my picture was used on the cover.
• This issue features the LAST EVER Artist's Corner column, by yours truly. I felt that the column was a little boring, and I have taken on new responsibilites on the graphics team. Just a bit too much on my plate.
• Shea and Bergen is back. It never meant to be gone-- the Christmas comic somehow got misplaced in all the holiday rush! :)
• I've been adding some small updates to the website. Please do check it out and let me know what you think!
• That's about it!

I&F December 2010

"It's time to journey into the past along with the I&F staff as we take adventures in one-room schoolhouses, homes without running water, and visiting the little houses of Laura Ingalls. Also a special interview with Melissa Wiley, author of "Little House in the Highlands." "

The December issue of Ink and Fairydust is out!

Find past issues on our website: { www.InkAndFairydust.com }

Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication between me and Q (the head graphics/layout manager), my column and comic did not make an appearance this month. But there are some really, really neat articles about life back in pioneer times!

Comic's Behind the Scenes

 I thought you might be interested in seeing what goes into the making of a Shea and Bergen comic. On the other hand, you might not care in the least, in which case you may go ahead and skip this post. :P

{Shea and Bergen is the comic I write for Ink and Fairydust magazine. It's about a fairy and a dwarf in the real world. I&F is a free e-mag full of faith and creativity, check it out!}



The first step is the hardest-- finding something to write the comic about. Something funny... unique... hopefully ties into the season or the theme of the issue... Yeah. Not easy.

Step two: Sketch it. This is my favorite part. Shea and Bergen is drawn in a semi-realistic style, the easiest for me to replicate month after month. ^_^ If I've got my idea picked out and the "boxes" organized in my head, then the sketch is sooo much fun.

Click to enlarge

Step three: Ink it and erase the pencil lines.

Click to enlarge

Step four is coloring the comic. This is where I usually ruin my drawing.... lol! I forgot to take a picture half-finished coloring. I use my little pack of artist markers (hard to use with limited colors!) and my favorite Prismacolor colored pencils.


Want to see what the finished comic looks like? Check out the November 2010 issue of Ink and Fairydust! 


My photograph is on the front cover, too! :D

{Look out for a post about this "NaNoWriMo" thing in a couple days!}

Ink and Fairydust-- August

August's Ink & Fairydust is out!

This issue is all about fantasy and sci-fi.

And I have several exciting things to share with you:

Ink & Fairydust now has its own website: www.InkAndFairydust.com

Ink & Fairydust is now on Facebook. Please, please fan us!

Guess whose artwork is on the cover? It was a great honor to get to do it!

I am now being published as Shaylynn Rackers. (FYI, I was "Nenetta" in all previous issues.)


I have an article on Subcreation. Please read the article-- it is (hopefully) informative about the role that imagination plays, and how it is a God-given gift. Why do stories about fantasical things ring at such a deep and resounding level? Go read me article. ^_^

Of course, my montly Art Column and Comic are in there.

I'm now part of the graphics team! YAY! So far I've only done some text-dropping. Unfortunately I won't be able to help out again until we are moved into the new house.

Of course, I want you to read through the whole thing. My poor little article pales in comparison to some of the gems by the geniuses writing here!

Open publication