New Series: One Plus Twelve!

Hello friends!

I'm SO excited about today's post!

I am my most creative often at 3 am ~
it's when my mind comes up with fun ideas and wonderful challenges.

During the holidays, I wanted to create a challenge for 2019 
where I could stretch the use of my stamps.

So often, we buy stamps and craft supplies ~

some get used, some never see ink, some see ink only once.

And I thought oh how fun it would be to take one stamp

... just ONE stamp ...

 and create with it all year, once a month, in as many ways as possible!

I named my challenge:  One Plus Twelve!

The one = the stamp I've chosen
The twelve = the twelve months in the year.

The stamp I chose to work with for 2019 is:
Warm Wishes by Honey Bee Stamps!
My new One Plus Twelve series will be Foxy's Adventures ♥

 I've had Foxy (as I lovingly call him) for awhile now
and he was chosen absolutely on purpose :)

I've always loved the arctic fox but specifically,

 I chose the Honey Bee Stamps fox because ........

he's wearing a sweater!!

 

I thought - how am I going to make this stamp work

 all. year. long!

It's July ... the middle of summer ... and Foxy has on a turtleneck?!

LOL!

That's what it's a challenge!

I'm SO excited to see how/where/what I come up with :)

 

For my January card, I've used sparkly/snowy cardstock 

to create the winter backdrop.

I colored Foxy with promarkers and paper-pieced his sweater.

The snowy background is another piece of designer paper I've saved

and the vellum snowflakes and gems were added on for extra sparkle.

From another Honey Bee Stamps set, I stamped the sentiment

(the only other stamps allowed in this series - sentiments!)

from a retired set called No Place Like Home.

This card just makes my heart smile!

I'm really glad I created this and am sharing this series this year.

I have the most supportive family -

sharing hugs and sweet words and encouragement with One Plus Twelve!

Edited:  I invited two friends to create cards along with me ~
next month, my card will post on February 3 ♥  

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

XOXO ~ The Project Bin gazes into the gallery!

Happy Monday!

 Monday's are always a Funday because it's the day I post over on 

The Project Bin blog!

Although my heart (no pun intended!) still wants to make Christmas cards,

I wanted to share with you the season upon us:  Valentines!

Young - or young at heart - Valentine's cards are always 

sweet to create ... and receive!

My card today is a CASE of another crafter's card from Splitcoaststampers.

I'm in a card group called the Galaxy Gazers where we look through the gallery,

find a card that inspires us, and recreate it.

Here is Sheri's card!

For my card, I used In My Heart and Really Hungry.

I changed up the wording from love to XOXO

and I created this panel by stamping the x0x0 in a repetitive line.

I added different color panels to bring out the red heart,

which is a textured shiny foil.

The sentiment is from Really Hungry and it's heat embossed.

Be sure to stop by the shop at The Project Bin for these stamps

and more!

New blog series: Spot the Difference!

Hi friends!

My son is home from his week in New York City 

and we are just are just enchanted by his photos and stories!

Since he's settling in, 

I'm blogging and making cards!

One of the new things I promised myself I'd do in 2019 is several new series!

And I have to thank my daughter, Chrissy, for coming up 

with the cute and clever title:  Spot the Difference!

 

The purpose of this series is to use up my scraps, leftovers, throw-aways,

pieces on the table after the cardmaking!

So often I look around and see ... a piece of this, a piece of that,

and into the basket it goes.

Not.  anymore.  more!
 

  

I'll take all those pieces and create two cards!

They will be strikingly similar since it's using the same paper, dies, paint, etc

but yet different on their own accord!

Using Honey Bee Stamps, I created two cards.

The basic idea and design is the same, maybe even the same stamp,

and just a little difference to spot!

I used my die from Neat and Tangled as a stencil (it cleans right off!),

my Catherine Pooler and Ranger Inks and blended them into the cardstock.

 

For the Blah Humbunny card, I used these two stamp sets here and here.

I trimmed the background stenciled piece for a smaller backdrop and popped the bunny up ~ the expression made me think of how I feel on a Monday!

 

For the Forest friends card, this was actually the oops!

After I saw it on the craft table, 

I decided I simply couldn't just toss it out,

I scooped it back up, looked at it again and this card was created.

Can you SPOT the DIFFERENCE? :)

I hope you have enjoyed this fun new blog series premiere!

I'll be doing this a couple of times in the month ...

changed up a bit each time in different ways!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 

Crafters of Faith: No Rock like Our God!

Hi friends!

I'm wishing you a happy start to your weekend :)

Today's card is one I  made for my Crafters of Faith card group

and I'm the hostess for January!

 A few years ago, my son gifted to me a small rock

 with a stained glass cross on the front. 

  It was some little token he purchased for me at his christian school

 during one of their fundraisers ~ saying he thought of me because it had a beautiful cross and the word FAITH on the front.  I melted!

 I keep this rock in my kitchen window and it has become a cornerstone of joy 

for me as I see it daily. It's a reminder to always remember what matters the most ~ the love of this child, the baton of faith passed on, and that this rock mantra gets me through the tough times, the happy moments and all the in-between!

I asked the group to create a card with a rock somewhere on the card ~

either stones, river rocks, mountains, river rock paper, ribbon, etc

 and the scripture 1 Samuel 2:2

 “There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; 

there is no Rock like our God."

As a Boy Scout, my son camps quite a bit,

including several trips to the mountains!

There has even been snow ~

with skiing and snowboarding!

I thought of him as I created a card with snow-capped mountains

and a camping bear, using stamps and dies from My Favorite Things.

Thanks for stopping by!

 Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this into: MFT card color challenge #109

CCEE1903: Favorite Hot Beverage!

Hi friends!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers this week:

Favorite Hot Beverage!

There's no hiding what mine is ♥

(hint:  starts with Star and ends in Bux!)

Oh how we LOVE each other, 

my grande triple nonfat caramel macchiato and I :)

My card is a mix of something new, something old!

I scooped up the new MFT Birdie Brown Friends at First Sip

the second it was available during their new release!

If there was ever a stamp set created for me, this one is it!

Coffee?  Dogs? 

Yes, please! 

That's the something new!

The something old?

The designer paper.

Yep, the one under the images ...

This is my 5 minute card!

I was scrambling to look through my paper pads and mat stacks

to find something to match the images I'd previously colored

(normally I do it the other way around - and mostly for this reason!)

and I stumbled upon my old My Sunshine stack from DCWV.

Such a fun 12 x 12 paper pad and

as I flipped through it, one in particular caught my eye.

I  thought I'd just let that small corner of the dsp do all the talkin'!

From the banner to the decorated spray paint sun, it's all part of the paper! 

All I did was add some die cuts and popped up my pre-die cut/colored images!

Be sure to stop in and see what the rest of the DT created using

their favorite hot beverages!

You can see all the pretty cards here on the CCEE blog.

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Ready, Set, GO ~ Tall and Skinny!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

It's a quirky kind of day!

It's the day we post our cards for the Ready, Set, Go Challenge!

The R, S, G is one of my "3 am ideas" 

where a card challenge isn't standard - it's out of the box extreme!

For January, Jeanette was our hostess

and asked us to create a card that is Tall and Skinny ~

to fit inside a business size envelope ..

AND to use something new to represent the New Year.
Here is what Jeanette said:

↓

Here it is, the beginning of a new year. I’m not sure if any of us make New Year’s Resolutions (I know I don’t, although I do set annual goals) but research tells us that the most common New Year’s Resolution people make is to lose weight. For this, our first Ready Set Go theme of the New Year, I want our cards to lose some weight. No, we are not going to weigh our cards… but we are going to make them skinny. Instead of making a typical A2 card or even a square card, we will be making cards that are the perfect size to fit in a business-size envelope. Tall and Skinny! (Oh, how I wish that were my body type.) Oh, I guess you realize, to be tall and skinny, your card will also need to be vertical and not horizontal. We don’t want to be short and fat. ;)  

A second part to this month’s theme is to use the newest paper-crafting item you have while making your card. Maybe it’s a stamp you recently purchased, a tool/gadget you received for Christmas, or some other treasure you’ve acquired. Whatever is the newest. (And remember, newest could be months ago… but hey! It’s not for me! I get new toys way too often.) 

Here’s to the Newness of a 2019!   Ready? Set? Go!

My card, created at midnight, 

hoping that I get an A+ on the first card of the year! :)

What I used new:

This is the first time I'm using this darling Hello Bluebird

stamp/die set called Moose and friends - so it's NEW to me! 

The idea was to build-a-scene by going upward with the images ..

I think, should I attempt this style again,

I'd create linear division lines next time :) 

I am smitten with this card, though!

It was a lot of fun to make and really stretches the comfort zone,

hence, the Ready, Set, Go challenge!

 You can see Jeanette's tall and skinny card here

and Barb's (not so tall and skinny!) card here!

I'm up to chose our challenge next month ...

So Thinking Cap:  ON!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  2CraftyCritterCrazies
Pile it on: Land Animals 

TPB: You're greater than cupcakes!

Hi friends!

Happy Monday!

Cupcakes are great ...

Cupcakes are AWESOME!

But what's better than cupcakes?

YOU!

I've used the amazingly yummy Really Hungry stamp set 

from The Project Bin to create:

Big Girl Valentines!

 

  

I love punny cards! 

I've always loved the Valentine's the kids would bring home

in their little homemade boxes!

The super fun stamp set is so versatile

and has so many play on words :)

You can make cards so many different ways.

For today's card(s), I've made a set of 4 ~

one for each of my girls

 (3 daughters and my new granddaughter!)

I've made 4 identical cards and just switched out the colors

using the cupcake stamp in the set.

The You > Cupcakes is paper-pieced on all 4 cards

with matching paper for the cupcakes and the background.

Are you sending Valentine's Day cards this year?

This fun stamp set will get you off to a great start!

You can find it here in the shop.