Hello! I'm still here! :)

Hello friends!

 I have missed you! ♥

I'm sorry for my long absence from blogging.

In fact, Mondays are usually the day I post for The Project Bin,

but I haven't had a moment to get back to card making.

We were completed thrown out of any sense of normal life by hurricane Irma.

We prepped our home, then evacuated ~ leaving everything behind 

expecting a Category 5 to destroy our home and belongings :(

We came back home to a very un-normal life of clean up and rebuilding, 

both here and at my mom's house.

Even now as I type, I hear the faint sound of a generator in the distance

and the hammering of patching a roof or rebuilding the fences,

and chain saws continuing to cut through fallen trees.

 Our home is intact - PTL - and everything that fell/broke is replaceable.

 Petrol/gas is short, power is out everywhere,

massive trees are down and blocking roads, 

grocery stores are stripped bare.

We were able to skirt the disastrous Category 5 strength 

and get the outer bands of a 3 or 4 ~ such a blessing.

It breaks my heart to see how many are suffering total loss 
and devastation in the Caribbean islands and our beloved Florida Keys.

 So, I started coloring this morning after my son resumed school again. 
It's just a simple card, and about all I could manage.

 

I am so thankful for how many people prayed for us,

sent us wishes of good will and messages of strength and hope.

I feel blessed beyond measure knowing so many were thinking of us

and I thank you all, each and every one of you! 

This card is dedicated to all of you :)

Thank you ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Exciting news to share!! :)

 Hi friends ♥

 I'm so excited to share today's post!

This year, I really wanted to do more in my card making + crafting

so I finally jumped from 'do it' instead of 'keep thinking about it!'

*I now have a craft channel on You-Tube!*

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9ZdYO0GdM&feature=youtu.be

It really seems surreal, and there were a few boo-boos,
 but that's okay - it's the journey that makes it worthwhile :)

The link above ↑ will take you straight to my channel 
if you like to take a peek. 
 If you subscribe, it will let you know about
new postings and I'll be having a giveaway soon! ♥

So, are you part of the planner craze?
I am seeing planners and planner clips and planner stickers everywhere!

Planner clips are really easy to make. But today I'm showing you another way to make them
using your stamps and dies.

All you need are your stamps, dies (and if you don't have those, then scissors), markers,  glue (hot glue or all purpose like Aleene's tacky glue) and paper clips!
That's it!

Stamps and dies are typically known for cards and scrapbooks,
but in times of budgeting, it's a great way to really get the full use out of your products and stretch their usage.

It's economical, fun to do and you can tailor it 
to exactly the style and design you need!

For today's post and planner/journal clips, I've used 2 different stamps
and dies from The Project Bin.
Kinda Pawsome and Feline Good .

I'm a calendar on the wall girl at heart ~
 best way keep track of our busy family's crazy schedule!
But, I do have a small personal planner on my desk to
keep track of the different card groups I'm in and it's amazingly helpful.

  

Here they are all packaged up, in a little gift container ♥ 
Such a cute gift idea for birthdays, holidays, and just because :)

 Thanks for stopping by today!
If you head over to The Project Bin inspiration blog,
you'll see a wonderful variety of cards to admire!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly 

You GIRAFFE me crazy! ♥

I love, love, LOVE Altenew Stamps! 

 They are just gorgeous in design and a joy to stamp and color.

I was so so SO blessed to win a gift certificate early this year
and chose this stamp set awhile back,

 I took advantage of a sale during the summer AND they had free shipping

 so went back to bought the matching dies!  

Now that I finally inked it up, I wonder what took me so long
(no pun intended!)  :)

I know in my heart this set will get a lot of use ~ 

it's so different and unique and just stunning ♥

Onward to my card!

I'm in a card group on Splitcoaststampers called Challenge Your Stash (CYS)

in which we make a card once a month using things we already own.

No new products, no buying, just dig through your stamps

and make a card based on the challenge theme.

This month ~ our hostess is the amazing Darlene!

She asked us to .........

GULP ....

make a card using no designer paper.

Wait, what?

no.  designer.  paper?

None?

Oh this took some thinking!
And in the end, I ended up making a card, 
then fixing the card,
and so now I have two :)

Here is my original card:

 and my fixed one! :)

Thanks Darlene for a fun challenge this month!
The girls in the card group ROCKED this challenge -
from embossed backgrounds to just images as a focal point, 
it was fun to see them all :)

Jody is up next month and
I can't wait to see what she asks us to create :)

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card to:  AAA Cards - Creatures Great & Small

We love to Create - Anything Creative

Scrap and craft creations - colors of autumn

Mondays with The Project Bin ~ The future ...

Good morning, friends ♥

"The future belongs to those 

who believe in the beauty of their dreams" 

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 

My continued prayers go out to those in

 and affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

My heart goes out to you all and the families 

that experiencing the devastating flooding ~

 stay strong, hold fast, keep the faith ♥

Mondays are my posting day with The Project Bin.

I chose this stamp set to work with to make this travel card.

 It's called Wise Women and this stamp is so versatile - 

traveling, new job, graduation, etc!

Your dreams are truly what you strive for ....

aim high and work hard and strive for your dreams!

 Here's the stamp set in it's entirety:

You can find it in the shop,

and see it in the Pinterest Gallery for inspiration, too!

Have a great Monday!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 

Because ............ Friday :)

It's Fri-YAY!

Oh my goodness, what a week! 

We survived the first week back to school :)

I'm ready to sit back and prop my feet up.

(My sweet, sweet husband is actually cooking dinner tonight,

so I might just get the chance to even stamp and color!! ♥)

 

Today's card is one I made for a challenge ~

I missed the deadline but thought it still came out cute!

And is pretty much sums my thoughts at the moment :/

 Happy Weekend!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 

CCEE1734 ~ Watercolors

Hi there, friends!

 Has anyone seen a giraffe around?

It's been such a loooooooong week!

School started this week and I am back on the road,

driving to and fro and fro and to ~ whew!

So I'm back to crafting on the road - LOL!

I take a little container with me filled with stamped images,

and even brought the mini MISTI along to stamp in the car pool lane - ha!

Crafters gotta do what crafters gotta do =)

This week, I have a two-fer card.

For the CCEE Stampers challenge #1734, Anne is our hostess

 and she gave us a theme this week of:  Watercoloring!

Now I LOVE that!

AND, for the August Crafters of Faith theme, our sweet hostess Lynn

gave us this theme and scripture to make a card: 

August ~ Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows ~ James 1:17 This month

let's celebrate life's simple pleasures which bless our days

with joy and beauty and meaning.

                  So I combined the two .... simple pleasures + watercoloring ♥

My card is super CAS,

and might look familiar, 

because it's from the same Sweet Escapes set from Paper Smooches

as you saw last week, different stamp, different technique :)

I used my Kuretake watercolors to create this card,

3d foam to pop up the clouds and focal image.

I'll enter this to the Paper Smooches Anything Goes challenge!
They also have a blog hop going on right now - 
you can see the DT inspiration and fun cards here!
Whoop whoop!

You can see what all the DT members made 

with the watercolor theme here on the blog :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Pumpkins, please!

 

Hello friends!

I'm back from our glorious vacation!

We enjoyed the wonderful resort life

 with pools and a lazy river right outside our room ♥

And side trips to Disney World and Islands of Aventure/Universal,

dinners out and so much more ♥

You know they say coming back from vacation ...

you need a vacation ~ hee hee!

We haven't been able to sit still for more than a few hours ~

and yet have to already dash off ..

today is also the first day of school! 

So.  not.  ready :(

 Mondays are also The Project Bin day on my blog ♥

The Project Bin has 2 new gorgeous stamp sets just added to the store!

One of them is this very set on my cards today:  New Leaf.

It is positively GORGEOUS and 

perfect for those fall theme cards.

Here is a quick set of CAS cards I created:

 

 For this set of cards, 

I used my Spellbinder Nestabilities to cut the circular pattern first,

Then I stamped around the cut out using sentiments from New Leaf

and the pumpkin in varied inks, like Clearly Kelly and Ranger Distress Oxide Ink.

I fussy cut the pumpkin, 

then added it to the patterned paper background using 3d foam.  

The dsp is from PTI and it's from their Fall Leaf Prints collection.

 

I always complete the inside of my cards, too, 

but ran short of time so we'll have to imagine the inside being just as fun! :)

 

 Here's a look at the stamp set, New Leaf,

and it's available in the shop!

 

It's still in the high 90's here, 

I'm hoping it feels like a beautiful autumn starting wherever you are!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly