Our Story

Hi everyone, Michelle Shefveland here! Thanks for stopping by.

I guess you could say I'm a bit hooked on clicking...clicking my shutter and clicking my mouse...trying to capture the personality of a blossoming teen or fleeting beauty of a delicate peony.  Seeking to tell the story...your story...our story. As friend Dewitt Jones likes to say: we are visual storytellers. Dewitt capture the silhouette image of me below in 2007 when I joined him on Molokai to help teach Photoshop Elements to his photography students.

Since 2003 I've been living my dream as a graphic artist and photographer here at Cottage Arts along with my geeky hubby, Kris, where we offer photographers and creative artists resources for creating beautiful digital art out of their own memories. What a ride it has been!

Click.Artistry is an off-shoot of this dream, where I share my love of life through imagery of my family, clients, and nature. You can see my photography blog here, showcasing some of my favorite shoots.

On the writing side I authored the techy 300-page book, Scrapbooking the Digital Way, for Jasc Software/Corel and served as a Charter Board Member for CK Media’s Digital Scrapbooking Magazine. I currently write freelance and for 10 years regularly contributed articles for Stampington's Digital Workshop column and Somerset Digital Studio special issues.

Celebrating life with three vibrant adult children and a precious new grandbaby, you can often find us restoring 12 acres of oak savanna land filled with wild raspberries and concord grapes, aptly named Sweetland, near our lake home and having a blast bringing vintage campers back to their glory. Savoring life every moment as I am recently navigating genetic breast cancer, a disease my mom fought valiantly for six years.

Clients: Forever (product designer), Adobe (filmed a promotion for Photoshop Elements), Epson, HP (served on their Digital Scrapbooking Team), Jasc / Corel (author & art licensor), Digital Scrapper (art licensor and teacher for three popular classes there: Photo Art Blends, Pop Art Posters & Soulful Silhouettes), Creative Memories (helped develop their Storybook Creator Software and digital product line), NRN Designs (designed popular scrapbooking paper/sticker collections), Somerset Memories (columnist), Life Images (photographer), Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, Scrapbook Craft, Lasting Moments, KMT Software, Storyrock...

Happy Creating!

Michelle Shefveland

Founder/Creator, CottageArts.net, LLC