Books are a blessed companion ;)

A blessed companion is a book - a book that, fitly chosen, is a lifelong friend... a book that, at a touch, pours its heart into our own. ~Douglas Jerrold

Isn't that such a moving quote?  I looooooooove books!  I'm an avid bookreader and have been a bookworm since I was very little :)  I remember in jr. high my two best friends leaving for cheerleading while I was heading to the library!  Even today, it's one of my favorite stops - browsing the library looking for the books on my (very!) long reader's list or spending time at Barnes & Nobles :) 


I had a few friends ask me "why do the books on your blog reader change so much!" and it's because I read a lot - and very fast :)  I read a book in a few hours and aim for a book a day - seriously!   So when my friend, Barb, on SCS opened up her "What's your favorite hobby?" I jumped!  Actually, I took 3 different spots, hee hee!  So I hope you stop back in later to see what my other hobbies are ;)


For this card, I used my MFT Flopsey "Good Book" stamp set, paired it with some neutral colored papers from the Basic Grey "Mellow"collection and some ribbon and bling :)

This is a peek at my tiny pile of books from last week's library run - It's a happy day for me when I bring my bags along and take home 30-40 books!

Happy reading, my friends!

    Blessings!
~Kelly

Card deets:  MS Cardstock; DSP - Basic  Grey; Image:  MFT "Good Book"; colored with prismacolor markers,

Cuttlebug, nesties, Crate Paper ric-rac; Kaiser pearls, Tombo

It's all about the puppies =)

Good Morning!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend :)  Our was a little busy, not much resting, but fun at the same time!  Lucky me, I was able to make a

card for Deedee's Challenge blog - It's all about the pets this week!  My son really wanted a card with a crab, a snake AND a spider (eek!!!)   Using the adorable "Time for you" digi set (available in the store HERE!)

But .... yesterday was came in from a ministry rally/ds's school fun day and saw our little Buddy having quite a time with a box of crayons he found.  He tried hard to wag his lil tail and convince us "who me? Wasn't me! It was ... the bunny?" but I'd say he was caught red handed!   I've been working really hard to let him stay home and roam, praying he doesn't chew the furniture - we've had a few no-nos (like my wooden clock - ouch!) but this was just too funny (I think!)  How can you be upset at this face .... ;)

Oh, the crayons .... these crayons???  ::: puzzled look :::

I saved you the GREEN one! :)

It's Pet Week on Deedee's Challenge Blog

- you can't be upset with me!! :)

I hope you get the chance to stop on over and play along this week ~

we'd love to see what you make with your furry (or maybe not so furry!) friends!

Hugs!
~Blessings ...

Kelly

Card deets:  Cardstock Dusty Durango, Pacific Point by SU!, scrap red; DSP - Basic Grey Max and Whiskers,

Image:  Deedee's Digis "Time for you", Cuttlebug, nesties, SU! ribbon chocolate chip, Q & Co brads;

Fiskars border punch, MM twine, BG Buttons, prismacolor markers, tombo

You color my world!

Hi bloggin' friends!  I wanted to stop in today and show you one of the newest digis by Deedee's, released this week and available in her shop!   Every since I was a little girl, one of my favorite things ever was a brand new box of crayons ~ there was something so exciting about opening up the box, seeing all the pretty colors, even the smell!  Even today, shopping with my own children, I get so excited to go down the aisle where the crayons and Mr. Sketch smelly markers are :) 

                          

My card today is using "Thank you for coloring my world!" and the wonderful part is that this digi is from Deedee's $1 section :)  She has an entire section of digi dollar stamps - and the possibilities are endless - from cards to scrapbook pages, to back to school and teacher gifts!  Using some In Color papers from SU and the yummiest papers from K & Company, I colored this cutie with my prismacolor markers and added little embellies and ruffled ric-rac. 

Entered in: 

 LRW Challenge - Back to school

Fussy and Fancy Friday - #18 Back to school 

Simple Doodles - #25 Back to school

Thanks for peeking!

My simple card thanks you ALL for coloring my world!

~Blessings~

                                                 Kelly

*sMiLe!* It's Kit-Cat Sunday! :)

                     

         **Click here for my Blog Candy/Contest** :)


We three kittens, have lost our mittens, and we shall have no pie!  :)


Happy Sunday!  Today a trio of very late kittens {*smile!*} are posting our Kit-Cats that were .... um .... the June kits :)  It's a good thing to have a strong support system - safety in numbers!   Hee hee!  The most awesome Susan and Jeanette already posted theirs, so be sure to hop on over and see what they made with their card kits! 


This kit was prepared for us by Catherine, our June kit-cat hostess and she sent a fabulous cache of My Mind's Eye paper, which was absolutely yummy and hard to chose which side to use!  She also sent some images of the adorable TGF Maria, ribbons and assorted bling which I'll use at another date :)   I paired it with some green and pink flowers I had one hand and a matching BG button to create this girly girl card. I found the "smile" sticker in my stash and it seemed to fit in with the color palette I had going on here. 

Hop on over and see what my compadre' late kittens have posted for you! :)

Lorie

Michelle

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you are having a blessed weekend!  The girls start school tomorrow so today will be a busy day of triple checking everything and attempting to get back into a routine


Hugs!
~Kelly


Card deets:  SU!  Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose;  My Mind's Eye; TGF Maria image; A/C ribbon; Prima flowers; Basic Grey button, Tiny ribbon from Joanns; Marcella sticker; Cuttlebug, nesties, tombo, colored with
prismacolor markers, Aileens.

Goodbye to Summer ... BLOG CANDY, suggestions!

I am absolutely stunned at how fast this summer just went zoom zooming by!  My son started Kindergarten this week and just loves it ~ the girls start on Monday and we've been working hard on getting uniforms for one, proper fitting clothes for the others, school supplies, appts and haircuts, etc!  And still squeeze in a little fun at the same time ;)


On his last weekend before school, I took my son to the beach at this small lighthouse island inlet on Key Biscayne - if you ever come to visit me, I'm taking you to brunch overlooking the ocean at a restaurant up on stilts with a view that is pure heaven! :)  It was mommy and me for nearly 8 hours (daddy surprised us the last hour!) and it was just blissful.  I had to capture the moment, of course, with many pictures but one of them in particular just absolutely brought tears to my eyes to see it.  As his mommy, I can't tell you how very sweet and loving my son is, even though that's what all mommies will say ;)  But truly he is a joy - a miracle in his own right, always with a smile on his face and a laugh that echos long after it has stopped!


And THIS PICTURE ............  just speaks volumns to my heart! I love the look of it, I love that it's so candid and unplanned - he was just chatting with himself after we made sandcastles and towers and bridges and moats ....and he looked up out into the beach ocean and just stared ahead for a few minutes and I thought when I saw this "oh, what is he thinking, dreaming, envisioning, if anything at all?" 

So I thought I'd ask you all - the creative and wonderful experts!   This is about to be a scrapbook page ... what do you see it saying?  What creative titles, what little words would make this page one to remember forever and ever?!  And to thank you in advance, I've put together a little blog candy for (sadly!) one winner, the one chosen for the page.

Below in the comments, be sure to write what it says to you!!  I read each and every one :)

To inspire you, here were a few more moments from that very long beach day :)

On the sand-boardwalk, on some very, very hot sand!

I *think* this a was a foiled dive attempt, lol!  And we certainly had lots of people at the beach -

what a lucky shot to be empty in the background!

My honey monkey :)

Trying to surf, in the still waters with no waves, but seriously, look at that face in attempt #3! 

One of my all time favorite laugh pictures!  He had a blast "fall-urfing!"

It's a "sand"-man - Florida style, complete with coral rock hat and seaweed scarf! :)

I spy with my little eye a backwards "Y" ;)~

Thanks again for stopping by, blessing me with your friendship and words of wisdom and creativity!

I will leave this candy open until Thursday, 8.26.2010 - be sure to check back as the winner will be announced on Friday, 8.27.2010! * Blog Candy extended til next week! * Also, If you are not a follower {and you don't need to be to win!}, it would help if you follow or leave your name in the comments (aka, not anonymous!) so I can know how to contact you!

   Blessings!

~Kelly

                                                       Scrapbooking/crafting candy includes:

~KI Memories 12 x 12 Holiday paper, assorted

~Cardstocks embellishing stickers, 12 x 12

~Joyful Gel Candy

~Joyful Hip chipboard

~Basic Grey Green at Heart brads

~TPC Studios Christmas Glamour Set of 15

~Christmas Ribbon

Sneaky Boy! :)

Happy Wednesday!  I was organizing some scrapbooks and came across this one that just cracked me up, so I thought I'd post it since a good laugh and a happy smile is good for the soul! :)


When my son was just a toddler, he snuck into the bathroom to "buh my teef!"  This sounded slightly suspicious from the get-go!  So I grabbed my camera and low and behold, he really was brushing his teeth!


With his sister's bright Pink toof-brush!  Uh-oh .......... 


It was way cute :)  Even if she did have to run to CVS and get a new one, lol!


SUCH a simple page ~ back in the day, that's how my scrapping was and I let the pictures do most of the talking :)


Be sure to stop by tomorrow becuase I have a looooooooong post and I sure will need your HELP!!!!
Blessings!
~Kelly

*~* It's the DUELING DARLINGS Launch day! *~*

Good morning, friends! Welcome to the first round of Dueling Darlings! Many of you have seen our badges, but we are finally launching into full battle! What are the Dueling Darlings?  We are a group of friends that met on SCS, travel in each other's swaps and have taken a new twist on crafting to "duel"!

We, the Deuling Darling Divas, have one image/card kit to work with and the other half, the Dueling Darling Dazzlers, have a different image/card kit with the same theme! The object is to see what we came up with using this theme, what stamp was picked and how the divas/dazzlers created with it!

Now ... LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!


The theme this month: "I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!" It's still summer, and one of the best summer treats is ice cream!

First up this month was ... me!  I created this card for you, but I have to explain briefly that I did a BIG BOO-BOO ... note to self, this is what NOT to do in a duel, lol!  I forgot to keep enough supplies for me and had to wing it a little with what I did have :(   I had one sheet of paper left in each square, destroyed it big time making my first card, and had to use salvage to make a whole new card - hence those big, ginormous, extra huge, really large, pretty big flowers this poor little ice cream sweetie is standing under!  But on a good note -maybe they will bring her some shade for her ice cream, hee hee!  Always a bright side!  

Now make sure to stop by to see the Divas and then your final stop will be a link to take you to see what the Dazzlers created!  We are a big group of 14, so this might take awhile ~ and this is just a friendly joust ~ no winners, certainly no losers! Just a craftin', loveable group of friends taking on a monthly joust at card making! :)

** DUEL! **

Kelly: http://sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/ {you are here!}

Joan: http://msearlgrey.blogspot.com/

Carol: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...0&ppuser=15781

Barb: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...0&ppuser=16832
Laurajean: http://www.buckygirl.blogspot.com/
Judy: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...&ppuser=168901
Jamie: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...&ppuser=218989

and now for the DUEL! Please start here, at Jeanette's blog which will bring you to the 7 dazzlers! http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Card deets soon to follow (it's 1:40 am, lol!)

Card entered into:  http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/ (Gardens!)

Blessings!

~Kelly

Tickle your funny bone!

Woohoo!  We are super excited that Deedee's Digis is the sponsor for Stamping Sisters in Christ this week and it's sooo punny!  :)   Randi gave this scripture for the week:  Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." 

And your challenge!  "Create a "clean" humorous card.  Let's see some laughter!"

Using this adorable image Sunshine and Sunflowers (available here), I was brought back to one of my favorite movies of all times - The Wizard of Oz!  I just love it!! I can't count how many times I have watched it as a child up til now - it's fabulous each time!  So I thought I'd put a new twist on this autumn/Fall image and thought the scarecrow should wonder about those crazy flying monkeys! ;)

            Sorry about the pictures! I'm back to using my old camera for now/ re-take soon ;)

Thank for stopping by!  I hope you get the chance to play along in the challenge and put a funny twist on your card creations :)

Blessings!
~Kelly

                                                                        Card deets: 

Gina K cardstock:  Sweet Corn, Green Apple, SU! Close to Cocoa, GP White, DSP = SU! Good Morning Sunshine; colored with prismacolor markers, Cuttlebug, nesties, BG button, SU Twine, trimmer, Tombo, 3d dots

Yes you Can-Can!

Hi friends!  Another quick post as summer is winding down (insert huge whine/cry here!) tee hee!

I'm so fortunate to have some creative and talented designing friends that also joined together in a quest to get fit and healthier together!  They are such a supportive bunch and one sweet gal has already taken the lead in a good loss and is such a supportive person to the rest of us.  I couldn't wait to ink up my lonely Kraftin' Kimmie Suzette to tell her she can-can keep going, and we are in this to win this!

Suzette is dancing her way to her house as I type - I'm so proud of all the Gettin'FitDT gals - here's to the journey ahead and we can-can keep on keepin' on!!!

Love ya!
Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered in:  Cupcake Craft Challenge - Lace

Surf's Up, Dude! :)

Heyyyyyyy friends, surfin' by to say hi with a Deedee's digi card!  Today's card is a continuation of my "It's summer on my blog!" theme :)  You can find this little "Surf's Up!" image here in Deedee's digi store here.

So sorry for the short and sweet post (no rambling today, lol) - we are crazy busy with this being the last week of summer, sniff sniff! :(

Make sure to head over to the Crafting Blog and play along with the current challenge!

Use your Deedee's digis (did you know there is a section of $1 digis!  Doesn't get much sweeter than that!) and come play along :)

Blessings and thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

Entered in:  LRW - Summer

Card deets: SU! Early Expresso, Really Rust, Bermuda Bay, GP White

DSP = S.E.I. and Bo Bunny Surfer, deedee's digis,  prismacolor markers, CB, nesties,

aqua brads, Making Memories twine, BG Button, PTI aqua mist ribbon, 3d dots, Tombo

California Girls, we're unforgettable ......

Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top ...
Sun-kissed skin So hot we'll met your popsicle,
Oooooh oh oooooh  ....

Hey, hey!  LOL!  Is this like THE song of the summer!!  Every time I"m in the car {with tween/teenagers} this song is on.  And every time it's on, they { the tween/teenagers} crank it up and Katy Perry gets my entire crew singing along  and yes!  to my mortification, even my 5 year old son  :(   Somehow hearing him singing along to "Fine fresh fierce, we got it on lock!" word for word it's a bit frightening!  But I also know that growing up with 3 older {tween/teenage} sisters, no matter how cautious I am, I'm fighting a losing battle and now this {tween/teenage} song is constantly stuck in MY head!

There was, of course, absolutely no point to my rambling, rofl ;)  It's just a shocking 1:38 am and I'm wide awake so I thought I'd show you some 2 really cool SUMMER cards I've been working on :)  Although I"m seeing lots of Fall out in blog land (and I love the Fall!),  it's still summer here - at least for this last week!  I am subconsiously stretching it out as loooooooooong as I can - I'm so sad it's over and my kiddies will be heading back to school.  This is a dreadful time for me, but I think they are mostly excited!
  ::: Snoop Doggy Dogg on the stereo ::: 

Card #1!  Life IS sweet, so drink it up!  This is a card for the Deedee's Challenge blog this week - using a sketch.  Stop on by and show us whatcha got!  We LOVE to see your creations ~ and remember to use your Deedee's digis ..she even has a $1.00 section in her store filled with darling images for you to chose.   I had this Island Oasis SU! paper sitting on the shelf and it was a perfect match (but shhhh, don't notice that although I do know my squares from circles, I ran this thru the CB before paying close enough attention!) 
::::: Venice Beach and Palm Springs ... Summertime is everything ::::::

Card #2!  Hope today tickles you pink! Deedee's is happy to be sponsoring Tuesday Morning Sketches this week!  And that means another wonderful sketch for you!  I have fallen so in love with this super adorable Flamingo (must be a Florida thing!) and paired him with some ......  Pink Flamingo SU! paper which I just love - so bright and vivid and colorful ~ totally my style :)  
::::: Now put your hands up ....  Oooooh oh oooooh  ::::::

Have a wonderful summer out there!  It's drawing to a close -- but if you check back, you'll see I'm still going to be keeping the summer going on my blog for as long as I can get away with it :)  

Hugs and blessings!
~Kelly

Card 1: MS Blue, Yo-Yo Yellow, Melon Mambo;  DSP = Island Oasis
            Deedee's Digis and sentiment, colored with prismamarkers, CB, nesties, bling, Bo Bunny Ribbon,
            Making Memory sparkle flowers, BG Button, SU! Twine, Tombo, White signo pen

Card 2:  SU! Cameo Coral, Yo-Yo yellow, Melon Mambo: DSP = Pink Flamingo
            Deedee's Digis, prismacolor markers, CB, nesties, ric-rac, kaiser pearls, tombo

You're so sweet ~ Celebration!

Although I am bummed that my posts are gone (hence, retyping them!), I'm hoping to keep this one in place ;)

Have you absolutely loved the 1st Birthday celebration of Fresh Brewed Designs?    I hope you've had the chance to create along with us and the best part is it's all month long  ~ find all the details HERE!  Using this awesome sketch by CardPatterns, Sketch #76, I created my card with lots of bright, fun birthday-ish colors.  I'm so happy to play along this week.  My image is from FBD called Latte party and the sentiment is from SNSS :)

Submitted to the following challenges for consideration:

CardPatterns, Sketch #76

Little Red Wagon ~ circles

Fresh Brewed Designs ~ DT Sample

Cute Card Thursday - Whateva!

Card deets:  SU! Melon Mambo, Choc Chip, Gina K Sweet Mango

DSP = S.E.I., Image: Fresh Brewed Designs, SNSS sentiment

 Crinkle Ribbon by SU! "Fairy Tale", Kaiser pink pearls, Tombo, Scallop Punch, prismacolors markers, prima Tiny Tots flowers, CB, nesties

A sweet award!

I'm so blessed to share this sweet little award.  It's such a blessing when you meet the most wonderful, talented and sweet *friends* out in blog land :) 

To receive this means to do 4 things:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award ~ thank you Kathy for this sweet award, it means a lot to me!  

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.

3. List three things which you love about yourself: (this part is hard for me!  But here goes...)

1.  I'd have to say that I love being faith-filled and God-centered before all things ~ I'm humbled by his presence in my daily life.
2. I love being a wife to my husband that I cherish and mommy to our kids, 4 of the best kids ever :)
3.  I love being able to write (lol, not as in the ability, but the creative writing side of me - maybe one day if I'm so blessed {lucky} my book will actually materialize!  :)

4. Post a picture you love:   Ummmmm, oh me?  {that would be NONE!}  I was recently updated our photo album from our trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas and remember this one - my little son was afraid to get his toes in the waves but within minutes he was splashing and having a wonderful time :)

5.  Tag 5 people you'd like to give this award to: (everyone can grab this up!  I {heart} you all!)

1.  April - for always being so sweet and supportive (and stopping by my humble little blog! Muah!)
2.  Lil Dj - from da s'hood ~ for getting a BLOG - ygg!
3.  Deedee (and the DT girls!) ~ for all the amazing things you are and do! God is good! x0x0
4.  Marlene - your blog is the funniest thing on wheels! Laughter really IS the best medicine ;)
5.  Heather ~ for your kind and giving spirit and sharing His bountiful blessings with me in so many ways!
6. Jeanette (I'm sorry, I'm cheating! That's 6! But I just GOTTA!!) .....  for all the reasons she already knows :) ♥ u!

Blessings - share the love and pass it on to those that inspire you, too!
x0x0
~Kelly

Eeek! In editing of my blog, I accidently erased 5 posts from "draft" and it cleared the last two published posts as well  :::  note to self ::::  click slower!  LOL! 

**~* Magical Moments with Fresh Brewed Designs BLOG HOP!! *~**

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means for Fresh Brewed Designs ... another blog hop and image release. The Blog Hop starts with Rhonda, so be sure to go there first!

This hop will not be your ordinary hop... it is full of secrets and smiles, wonder and amazement.  Magical things happen when you get a group of ladies together. What kind of magic you ask?  The only magic worth seeking, wanting, cherishing... the kind of magic you find in true friendship :) Today we have a little bit of magical enchantment to share with you in these newest Fresh Brewed Designs images. Each tells a little story, a little mystery, a little fun, and adds just a little bit of fantasy to each creation you will see during this hop.

As children we remember those Fairy Tales about mermaids and magical worlds where fairies live. We would lay in the grass and wonder if the patch of wildflowers was full of life, if mermaids swam in the sea beneath us. It is always fun to imagine and dream.



"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again"... CS Lewis



For my card I used Marina with Pearl ~ isn't she a stunning digi!  I was so excited when I saw this entire digi stamp line ~ mermaids!  I had this idea to expand her seashell the moment I saw this and I jumped out of bed at 2 am to jot down this idea - lol ;)  Using ocean colors CS and the water/bubbles Cuttlebug folder, it sort of all developed (although not exactly as I had planned!)  With lots of bling and stickles and treasures alike, here she is with a sentiment I added via computer graphics. 

**Be sure to complete the hop in full, you will not want to miss the surprise at the end!!!

Just in case you get lost along the way, here's the entire hop order:

Rhonda

Kelly {you're here!}

Jeanette (Guest designer)

Stacy
Amanda (guest designer)
Barbara
Jenn
Joyce (guest designer)
Grace
Heather (owner!)
 
Hugs and Blessings!
 

 

Thank you for splashing by today!  Continue on in your journey and vist the next stop on the hop - the amazing Jeanette's blog, our August Guest Designer!! =)

**Sweet Memories ~ TGF's 2 year anniversary Blog Hop!**

Happy Anniversary, TGF!

Welcome friends! I'm excited to be a part of TGF's Anniversary blog hop - the party is going on at  PCP, and you can find the master list of hoppers here, at the TGF's blog!

Here is my birthday card for you today - bright, summery and whimsical using the Sunshine Kit - it makes me smile all over just seeing these stamps!  I paired together two different stamps - the trio of flowers and the squiggly blooms (I added a few single friends to the "bunch" for a parte' effect, hee hee!) 

My card has 14 layers in total ~ the inside verse reads "Sweet Memories", based on all the happy summer memories gone by :)  I used the Cuttlebug to make a blossom circle, along with a scalloped edge and a 3d propped up flower garden :)  I know the hop is LONG, so I'll keep this short!  

Have a fun hop and blessings!
~Kelly

Entered in: Daring Cardmakers

Card deets:  SU!  Peach Parfait, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo:  Dsp = Carolyn Gavin {Greenhouse}
Stamps & Sentiment:   Sunshine Scrapbooking Kit by The Greeting Farm;  colored with Prismacolor makers,Cuttlebug, nesties, scissors, ric-rac from Joanns, Crate Paper green ribbon, 3d dots, trimmer, white signo pen, tombo