For my sweet dd :*)

A few weeks ago, my dd1 tried out for a magnet high school for voice ~ I slipped this little card into her portfolio. It was a grueling audition, and the fact that she had a raging fever & was sicker than a dog didn't help, but they had a terrible policy of no cancellations, period! She did her best, and I am so very proud of her. We won't find out if she's accepted or not til mid-March, but she said as she sat in the auditorium, leafing through her file book, she smiled huge when she saw this card I snuck in :) She's always going to be a star to be and superbly egg-stra special! :)

Good Luck!

My dd wanted to stamp with me, and being a hands-on, jump on in kinda mom, I scooted on over and let her make a card for her friend who is moving away. I know her heart is heavy as I moved often as a child/teen & saw her working hard to make it just right - I love how she chose the 6 rainbow colors, matching rainbow PP & we were laughing through-out my renditions of who Roy-G-Biv is, LOL!! At least she didn't attempt to hand sew each button on - oye! :)

Miss Anya Birthday :)

For a dear friend's birthday, I created this card using lots of greens and aquas and was so excited at the arrival of my new Miss Anyas - of course she had to grace the front of the card! I LOVE these stamps!! I chose this Miss Anya since the tulips in her basket reminded me of the rows and rows of tulip's in my lovely friend's avi ;) So Happy Birthday to the wonderful, Kadie!

*For a Friend* :)

I just love this stamp love - and any chance I get to make a special card with one is a good day! :) On the Skinny Bop, Mary asked us to make a motivational card for our "buddy" and I chose this one - she just seems so happy and cheerful, right down to her lil cherry boots! The DSP is from a glitter stack called Citrus which has the yummiest glitter papers ... I chose the ones that looked summery, cheerful, happy (do dsp's look happy?! LOL!) I hope she likes it! One day I hope to sit down with her and she can teach me how to make her wonderful bows - she's phenomenal at it! This was a real joy to make it for her! *Hugs!*

<3 ** I'm giving away BLOG CANDY!!! ** <3

It's my 1 month Blog-a-versary!! YAY!! Hard to believe I jumped into this whole 'nother world of blogging a month ago! I have been blessed by new friendships and strengthened the old!

So here's the catch!!! Up for ONE LUCKY WINNER will win this plethora of goodies, including a brand new SOTM Paper Pretties stamp! Glitter mat stack, lovely ribbons, brads & more!

What do you have to do to WIN?! Just guess! That's right - guess HOW MANY JELLY BEANS are in that jar! And I know - tee hee - my dd and I counted EACH BEAN! (Skinny Boppers will be pleased to know I didn't sneak a single one!)

Post a comment to my blog on your # guess and if you post a link to your own blog to help spread the word, you will be entered a 2nd time for a chance to win! (please note: JellyBeans are not part of the blog candy - no pun intended! - I fear they wouldn't survive the trip!)

Let the guessing begin!!

One lucky winner will be chosen at random on February 28th, PM.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Cheer up, sunshine :)

I sooo love Magnolia and the Tildas but they hardly ever get the chance to come out and play.

This card I made for Karen - OH HOW SHE LOVES SUNFLOWERS!!! LOL! Just kidding! (small joke - she actually strongly dislikes them!)

I made this as a cheer up card for a buddy going through chemo and having a rough time. It's simple, plain, but the inside sentiment is strong and faith-filled. Give Him your troubles, He will lift your burdens!

Made with my treasured Kiwi Kiss & Pink Piro from SU - ran thru the Cuttlebug and the dsp is also from SU - Ribbon is PTI's Sweet Blush. TFL and remember, stay strong & keep the faith!

My first Anya!

Another stamp line that I'm going gaga over! I ordered this lovely Rock Star Anya for a card swap and fell instantly in love - the way they look, they way they stamp, how versatile she is! I made this card for a friend's birthday and couldn't figure out where the sentiment was going to go ~ I used SU! Chocolate chip, Bazzill teal & some yummy dsp from DCWV. The bling doesn't show very well but it's adorned on the card and in her hair ;)

I hope my friend likes her card as much as I did making it for her - *muah!* TFL!

Dog Gone 'it! ;)

Meet Max! These are the cutest new stamps from Dog Gone Stamps (you can see them here: http://www.doggonestamps.com/ ). I had a hard time chosing just one, but I wanted to give one a try as I adore puppy stamps! I chose Max and I see a lot of cards in the future. Today's card made from Bazzill CS and PTI white CS is for the DGStamps Sketch for this week at PaperCraftPlanet. Instead of a trio of flowers, I added a trio of hand-sketched bones, which seeing them here now I realize they are too big - but it was fun coloring & playing with Max! TFL!

<3 Happy Valentine's Day! <3

Happy Valentine's Day! This gorgeous assortment of roses landed at my door not too long ago while dh & I were busy cleaning up and fixing up the construction disaster - I mean work!! - in room #2! There I was, dust all in my hair, mask on my face, expecting it to be a friend or family and a delivery man looking quite bewildered at my attire ...... he says "you must be Kelly?!" (LOL, Nope, I only work here! ::: grin :::) Such a surprise! My dh was chuckling knowing they'd be arriving when he could have easily delivered them to me himself! I guess that was the *surprise!* part :) He's such a splendid man in so many ways and this was just a wonderful example of how our crazy life is -- kids all super sick, major construction going on, job woes yet he still takes the time to tell me how much he loves me! And the colors of this bouquet are amazing! The brightest of yellows and red and pink - like my very own sunset bursting out at me. *Muah!* (won't share his "joke" on the card, lol - something about christening the new rooms - doh!!) And hopefully no one from the SCS Skinny Bop will notice the box of chocolates that came with it - ooops! I'm sure my kids will take it out in no time, so I'm safe, lol!

Take the time today to remind those around you that you love them -- each day is a special one and whether it be just a hug, a handmade card, or a phone call to say hello ..... today's the perfect day! *HUGS!*

My poor Chrissy :(

No official cards to post for today -- my stamps & DSPs are collecting dust! My house has been completely under siege from that super flu. One kid after the other, dropping like bowling pins! I so appreciate all the prayers for my darling, Christina. She has been thru the wringer - all my kids have. In my 14 years of being a mom, I have NEVER seen it this bad - no matter how much I clean, wash, scrub, lysol and bleach every single thing, it just attacked with a vengeance! But this lil girl took it the hardest and sitting in the ER, I realized how absolutely terrifying life can be in just a blink of a an eye. Let's hope it goes away and stays away - we are SO DONE, lol. Here is my sweet babe so you can see who you have been praying for and we thank you for thinking good thoughts for my Chrissy! (btw, no make up allowed in this house! She was 11 and on her way to her 5th grade dance, so it was the rare exception from a watchful daddy! LOL!)

And with 3 nearly teenage daughters to be ....... who is he kidding?!! :)~

** How lucky am I! **

Imagine my utmost surprise to receive THIS amazing memorial memory box from the most wonderful & kind and treasured friend, Lauri from Paperville (http://chickenicity.blogspot.com/ ) I had no idea what the box was when I saw it on my doorstep and opened it to find the sweetest memorial dedicated to our doggy, Lady - sniff, sniff! ** crying happy tears! ** It was the kindest gesture and soo very unexpected - and I am blown away that a friend would take the time to create such a piece of Heart/art for me in her busy schedule, working, being a Dt, etc! How sweet the world is when one hand reaches out in kindness to another and I would love nothing more than to meet her IRL (we met on SCS in her fabulous swap!) Be blessed today by those around you and I am blessed tenfold and feel so very lucky to have a friend like Lauri :*) Now look at this wonderful memory to Lady! I know just the spot (no pun intened, sweet Lady!) that it will go in so we'll see her every day. Thank you, Lauri! Your kindness knows no bounds and I will keep this close to heart forever and ever and ever! Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Comedy Hour! ;)

Here are some tickle the funny bones cards that I whipped up for a humor card swap ;) I was happy that I got to ink up two stamps that, um, had never seen ink before Poor Hanna was looking too "Cullen" here, and will be colored in with a nice shade of peach very soon ~ waiting on my order of replacement prisma markers to arrive that apparently got lost in the shuffle of packing up the craft room! Doh!
I was thinking - I have one Hanna, one Bella ........ would this be a Hannabelle? Or a Bellhan?
HAHA!
Not so funny, I bought a stamp from RCRW that says "we have been through a lot together ... and most of it was your fault!" and it turned out to be HUGE - nearly the size of a bella, so rather than add it to the inside, I ended up computer imaging the same stamp. Totally no fair, but the bella worked out so 1 out of 2 it is. Bella says "My husband told me if I'm gone one more night stamping, he'd leave me. I'll miss him!" Is she sassy or what?! :) TFL!

No card today but snazzy bookmark! :)

Today is manic Monday for sure! Although I stamped my heart out this weekend, no actual card today. Dh insisted I see the construction and demo every 10 minutes with a "Come look at this!" and having one crew guy staring at me strangely every time he passed my craft table {turns out he thought I was a cartoonist, lol! I blame THAT on the Bellas - they do look, well, odd if you don't know who/what they are - yeah? Amen anyone?!}

So ..... in honor of February being my turn to chose/host the BOTM for my book club, this is the one I'm pouring through. After the kidnapping and murder of his young daughter :(, a man sets out to meet God in a log cabin - a shack - and rebuild his shattered life through encouraging leaps of faith and personal challenges. It's a tough read with a sensitive subject matter, one that I usually shy away from, but I was drawn to this book ~ It's also a man's journey into triumph after tradedy, healing after the hurt. As the Internet Monk's review states: "he is wonderfully passionate about the love of God". No debates from me. I like the book, plain and simple and it's a FICTION novel -- not the bible, but a book that is simply inspiring and brings you closer to Him through such a unique perspective.

And of course, my really cool bookmark from the lovely Miss Mary from the Skinny Bop Swap to mark my pages along the way - how cute is this!!!!! I wanna cupcake. :)