I want my MUMMY! :}

Good Morning!  TGIF!  We have a whopping busy weekend here - from the Opera tonight (our oldest 2 daughters are in the cast of 'Pirates of Penzance'), 1 Sweet 16 and one birthday party, and our Harvest Festival at Church on Sunday of which I was "volunteered" to work the Soak The Scarecrow booth ... at least I'm not the scarecrow, hee hee!  I just get to stand there and run after slopping wet sponges for 2 hours - YAY! ;)  

I'm babbling, so let me just start that it's October 28th and that means the Calendar Girls are back with the monthly post!  Our hostess this month is the sweet Tami and her chosen theme is Halloween ;)  I  LOVE LOVE C.C. Designs Sugarplum stamps!  I have a little drawer full of them and have so little time to ink them up!  But this lil cutie is from last year's Halloween (or maybe '09?)  She gave us these requirements for the October challenge:

Theme: Halloween

Layers: At least three layers somewhere on the card,

 one layer being a designer paper {I love me some DP}

Colors: Somewhere on your card please use the color purple

Embellishments: Two for sure - and are you ready Carol.....one needs to be a glitter product *gasp*

Well, layers are no problem for me, LOL!  I actually went with more of a CAS

attempt with this one - I usually have hoards of paper on one card, inside and out and really love how my friend Kathy makes the most elegant cards using fewer supplies :)  My little Trevor Mummy has very little coloring but I did add small areas of distressing and ..... ta da  ... glitter just to give it a little pop :)  The embellishments were just a few scattered buttons ... I'm sure you have all noticed that I love me some buttons!  They are my favorite embellishment and I just love to "pet" them, lol.  I'm a very tactile person - which is why I could never be a digital scrapbooker ... I have to feel the products, touch them all and pet them! :) For the purple, I used my very last sheet of Concord Grape - sniff, sniff!  And the mummy ribbon wrap under the DSP was an idea I saw on my fellow DT member's blog - Joy .. she used

seam binding with her Riley card and I just thought it was so creative!

And this last picture is just for kicks - when lil man was 3-ish, we went to the Scholastic Bookfair at the school and he thought this book was hilarious.

Not a clue why, maybe it was the "pun", which at 3 was probably funny, lol!

I was looking at my completed card and it came to my mind, so I went to his bookshelf and dug thru some books to find it - pretty remarkable!! :)

Lastly, Miss Tami asked us:

Blog Post: Please share what your favorite candy is to receive in your trick-or-treat bag and if you participate in this holiday, please include what fun things do you like to do for Halloween

Not a fan of Halloween (but quite pleased to have actually made 3 H'ween cards this year!) but we do let the kids dress up and wander  the 'hood ... now that the girls are older, they go to individual parties and we take the younger two :)  My favorite candy of all times is Swiss chocolate .. Toblerone! YUMM-O!

Sadly, you won't find that in the Halloween candies!  LOL!  If you pass that out, I'm SOOOO heading to your front door!! :)  So I do like to sneak a Toosie Roll or two ... or six *grin* ....

Be sure to stop in and see what the other CG's have created this month!

April * Barb * Carol * Debbie * Jeanette * Kelly {me!}

Michelle * Paola * Tami * Terry

::: Whew! ::: Did you make it this far?  LOL!  Bless your heart!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Deets: CC Designs Sugarplum Mummy Trevor; cardstock =  SU Concord Grape; PTI True Black; PTI White;  DSP - K I Memories Fall Harvest; Martha Stewart "Elegant Witch" mat pad; martha stewart super fine glitter; prismacolor markers; misc buttons; white grosgrain ribbon; 3 d dots; Tombo; martha stewart clear glue; computer sentiment

Toooo cute to spook :)

Hey there, friends!  Things are settling down in our home  -- back to school(s), Opera rehearsal, Karate, etc ... I'm sure by next week we'll be more at ease.  I had a free hour in between kid activities and squeezed in a Halloween card :)  Raise your hand if you are ready for Halloween!!  The kids have finally narrowed down their eclectic mix of costumes and not a single one of them matches with the other, lol ... but I guess that's what the fun is all about ... being who you might want to be for two hours.  

I had a chance to play along with the new challenge this week at Pixie Dust Studio Challenge #98 - Spooky!   I colored this delightful Pixie Witch of the West from the Oz Collection for my card and she is smashingly perfect for Halloween!

I left the inside blank for a small note -- my daughter's are HUGE "Wicked" fans and this might end up going to one of them this Halloween :)

Be sure to stop by the Challenge Blog and link up your

*Spooky* cards! 

Thanks for stopping by today --

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Deets:  Cardstock:  PTI Orange Zest; Green Leaf; White,  Joann's Black; Image =

Pixie Dust Studio "Wicked Pixie of the West"; prismacolor markers; Cuttlebug, nesties;

DSP = KI Memories "Haunted"; Kaiser pearls, green; SU border punch; misc buttons;

tombo, 3 D dots

Entered into these challenges:

  If the Shoes Fits:  Spooky Fall

Wags 'n Whiskers - Fall Colors

Stamping for the Weekend - Spooky

Color Me Creative - Halloween

Scrappy Frogs - things that fly (like witches, LOL!)

Fresh Brewed Designs 70 - Spooky Treats

Dancing with Happiness!!

First, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the prayers for Kaitlyn -- I am so blessed and grateful that you prayed with me through the worry (and fear) and knowing that you are all just a call, text, email away is such an incredible blessing.  Thank you!  So far, all looks good from the initial tests and scans and we're awaiting the neuro/MRI to see what the next step will be, but I'll be sure to keep you posted ..... thank you, thank you SOOOO much! x0x0x0

And I'm certainly Dancing with Happiness!  I had my card ready for yesterday, but then as you already know, life sort of stopped on a dime real quick and instead of posting, it was head to the Emergency Room.  But I'm here today and wanted to show you a continuation of the 15 Pixie Days of Christmas in which Kathy, designer and illustrator, has made an adorable digi image for each of the letters in PIXIE DUST STUDIO!   And D is for Dancer :)  Our oldest two girls, including Miss Kaitlyn, were in years of ballet and I remember so vividly the deliciousness of their recitals and ballet performances -- their tiny tutus and the sound of The Nutcracker music still ebb through my memories :)

This digi is available in the shop along with many other wonderful ones -- you can see them HERE!  And don't forget this week's challenge which is Birthday - you can link up all your birthday card/creations, we'd love to see them!

Blessings to you this day!

Big hugs,

~Kelly

Entered into:  TotallyPapercrafts - Lots of Layers

Our Creative Corner - Fabulous Faces (ballerina)
Wee memories - Anything Goes

Card deets: SU Really Rust; PTI Blueberry Sky, Harvest Gold, White:  DSP = Cosmo Cricket;
Image:  D is for Dancer, Pixie Dust Studio; Cuttlebug; nesties; Prima flowers; AC button; Twinery Twine; PTI Aqua Mist Ribbon; BG Brads; prismacolor markers; 3d dots; tombo

There's Gnome one like you!

Evening friends!  It's almost Friday - woot, woot!  Today I bring you a fun birthday card a wee bit late but here we are! :)  Super quick post tonight but I had to stop in and share with you Pixie Dust Studio's new challenge: Birthdays!   For my card, I used this fun gnome on his swing called "gnome playtime."  How cute is this!  I paired it with some fun papers I've had from Nikki Sivils ~ I distressed the papers so it wasn't so crisp and clean, added a simple ribbon and flower/button combo.  It's super fun and festive, perfect for a birthday!  For the inside of my card, I just printed a generic gnome saying with a Happy Birthday twist :) 

Be sure to link up your Birthday themed cards HERE at the challenge blog!

Thanks for your visit today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Card deets:  PTI Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Royal Velvet, White:   Image:  Pixie Dust Studio "Gnome playtime"; DSP - nikki sivils "blueberry hill"; prismacolor markers; cuttlebug; nestie;

embroidery floss; prima flowers; AG buttons; grosgrain ribbon; 3d dots; tombo

Entered into:  Tip Top Tuesday - Layer it up!
Charmed Cards:  Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp: Inspired by FairyTale {Grimm's Fairy Tale - The Gnome and Gnomeo and Juliet!}
St. Luke's Charity- Let's here it for the boys!
Sweet Stampin' - For the Males!

Riley Goes Black 'n Orange!

Happy late Tuesday!  Are you ready for Halloween?  I'm not a H'ween person myself but the kids have so much fun at our annual church Harvest Festival and dress up to visit the neighbors.  I'm SOOOO excited about my dd14's costume in paricular - this year, she's dressing up as the Black Swan.  Her costume is TDF!! I hope to take pictures to share with you soon - she looks absolutely AMAZING :)  DD16 is going with a group of friends and they are all vampires, and the other two are still undecided though time is a tickin'!  

So .... today is the day that Riley and Company starts a new bi-weekly challenge!  This week it was brought to us by the fun and talented, Margie!  She challenged us to make a card using Orange and Black!  I used the newly released Bridezilla, colored with prismacolors and added some super fine glitter to her hair and outfit, tucked into a super easy layout.  I have had this paper from SU for forever and forgot I had it until lil man needed a paper for his pirate map last week and I found this skull and crossbones (on the flip side!)  SUPAH COOL!

Please stop by the Challenge blog and link up your cards to the challenge using Orange and Black ..... we'd love to see your creations and stop by and visit you!  If you would like to play along using a card/project and upload it to a Gallery like SCS, use the keyword Riley2111.

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Deets:  Cardstock:  PTI Orange Zest; Joanns Black; PTI White; SU: Dsp;

Stamp - Riley and Company Bridezilla; Momento Black ink; prismacolor markers;

CB, Nestie, ric rac die, Twinery Charcoal Twine; Misc Buttons, 3 d dots, tombo

Entered into these challenges:  Hanna and Friends - Halloween
The House that stamps Built - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween
Paper Sundaes - Halloween
The Crazy Challenge - Halloween
One Stop Craft - Halloween
Creative Card Crew - Spooky Fun!

Operation Write Home Fundraiser :)

Hi there, blogging friends!  Today is a special post as I'm able to share with you a post for something  near and dear to my heart - our military :)  Two wonderful designers, Katlyn Traxler and Deedee Anderson worked together to create special images for this fundraiser and they will just melt your heart! They are wonderful, spirited and perfect for so many occasions.  You can see them here: K & K Designs Blog and I hope you're able to stop by and support this wonderful cause :) 

For my card today, I have used the digi Kolar's Friends - a truly humble gift He gives to us!  Friends make the world go 'round, right? :)  And I'm so glad you are all one of mine!  {{{ Hugs! }}} I wanted to showcase this image not only due to the sheer sweetness of it (which, imo, totally embraces Katlyn's personality perfectly!) but because love and support and having that friend beside you during times of military service make the difference!  I chose not to color the image but paper piece it instead.  I will have to redo this image, first to remove the bling - cards with glitter and bling and anything shiny could pose a possible danger.  Like many families, I think we all know someone in the military or our lives have been touched by it.   But did you know that there is a huge cost behind the operations of Operation Write Home?  Here is their mission statement from their blog ... 

Our Mission:  Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them.

 Operation Write Home is a not-for-profit organization that collects and sends handmade greeting cards to American soldiers for their use in keeping touch with their families back home. They need to raise $13,000 to cover holiday shipping costs. 

K 'n K Designs will be selling 7 new digi sets designed exclusively for this cause. These include 4 sets by Katlyn and 3 sets by DeeDee Anderson and each set includes an image and some greetings, in both Jpeg an PNG file formats, all in a zip file.  You can see them here on the design blog!  These sets are available for just $2 each or in various value bundles with all proceeds being donated to Operation Write Home, minus paypal fees.

THanks for stopping by today - your visit is a special one always!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings :)

~Kelly

Card Deets: SU Creamy Caramel, Pixie Pink CS; GKD Orange zest:  PTI White;  Image from

K n K Designs: Kolar's Friends; DSP from K and Co, Penny Lane "My Minds Eye", Sweet Always by SU;

Kaiser bling, SU Chocolate Chip ribbon; AC button, embroidery floss; Tombo, 3d dots

Dueling Darlings: It's Harvest Time!

T.G.I.F!  The Dueling Darlings are back with another friendly "duel" with card kits with a theme - Fall Harvest!  I LOVE this time of year, though we aren't as fortunate to get changing leaves and cooler weather ... I do have wonderful recollections of the places I've lived and the memories I still have of those times :)  So it's always a tremendous joy to create a Fall card - and they have been on my bloggie all week!  YAY! 

The hostess this month for us Darlings was Tami!  She sent us one mind-boggling, gorgeous card kit with the stamped image and the papers, embellies and instructions to create a Fall card and accompany it with our favorite Fall recipe.  For my card, all I did was add cardstock and color the image - the rest was provided (except the big flowers in the upper left corner - that was a boo-boo when a big glob of glue when sploosh on my image I had JUST colored!  Rather than re-color it, I had to get creative and "cover up" that space - how'd I do? LOL!!)  And, I do apologize for the lighting - it's after 11 pm here and my eyeballs are crossing! *g*

The image Tami sent to us is from Stampin' Up's "Sweet Season" and I just love the nostaligic look to it :)  Did anyone else notice the wheels of this wagon image - it has smiley faces on it!  I don't know if that was intentional or known, but I saw it and just cracked up!  Love it!

For the challenge part of the duel, Tami asked us to share one my favorite Fall recipe.   No, it won't have anything to do with Pumpkin Spice Lattes :P

  :::  SHOCKER, I know! :::   LOL!

I actually an am avid cook - I LOVE to be in the kitchen and cooking/baking is one of my favorite activities.  One of my favorite Fall recipes is one that I make just ONCE a year - yep, one time and that's it 'til next year!  I make a home-made beef stew cooked into a pumpkin - delish!  I cook it right inside the pumpkin so not only it is rich and flavorful, its' so festive for this time of year!  The kids love it ~ me, being a vegetarian, won't actually eat it but it's still one of my all-time favorite recipes of all times!

I don't have a picture handy of mine but it looks similiar to this one here:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pumpkin-Stew

(**I have not tried this recipe, just showing you a similiar picture!)

With a loaf of Rustic bread, this is absolutely a YUMMY Autumn meal

and fills the belly with a bowl of nice, warm soup!  One tip:  Scoop some of the insides of the pumpkin when you are serving for a small helping of the pumpkin along with the stew!  Delish!

I will be back with my own Pumpkin Stew recipe soon - I make it from scratch and will have to scribble it down :) In the meantime, I hope you can stop by and see what the other Divas made using this identical card kit! 

Barb  *  Carol *  Jamie  *  Joan *  Judy *  Kelly (me!) * LJ  * Tami

and you can see what the Dazzlers made with their Fall

Harvest themed car kits  here on their blogs:

April * Darlene * Debbie * Jeanette * Melina * Michelle * Paola * Terry * 

 WHEW!  You made it to the end of the post!  Hee hee! Cardstock:  SU Summer Sun, Dusty Durango, Close to Cocoa; DSP - Jenni Bolin; Image:  SU Sweet Season;

 *Next month, Jeanette and I are dueling hostesses and we have a doozy of a theme planned for the girls - bwawahahahaha!  I even have a little guessing game contest going on to see if any of them can possibly guess what the TWO OF US could possibly come up with - hmmmmmmmmm! Not tellin! :)

Big hugs!

Bigger Blessings! :)

~Kelly

brown glitter paper: Gsilk bronze; Offray ribbon and American Crafts; yellow embroidery floss;

prima flowers; Misc Buttons; prismacolor markers; Cuttlebug, nestie; ric-rac; 3d dots; tombo

Color Challenge Time with PDS

Good Morning!  I can't believe it's Wednesday already - this week is going by in a blur!  Wednesday also means a new challenge for the week for Pixie Dust Studio - and this week, we had some wonderful colors to work with - and perfect for so many of the Autumnal cards I'm seeing in blogland :)  Using Harvest Mouse, I decided to paper piece the pumpkin instead of color it since I had a swatch of Haiku sitting on my desk - impromptu inspiration!  I actually love how it turned out, and built the card around the colors in the challenge and paper I had on hand.  This card came together in 15 minutes or less - easy peasy!

Here's my card for today, using these colors:

You can link up your color challenge cards here at the Pixie Dust Studio Blog ~ use the color chart as a guide and we'd love to see what you create! Thanks for stopping by today! 

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Entered into:  Pile It On #41 - Just Because
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Use a Digi
ABC DT Challenge - Pumpkins

Deets:  Cardstock:  SU, GKD, PTI ... Image:  Pxie Dust Studio; DSP - Jillibean soup;

Cuttlebug, nesties; prismacolor markers; pearl brads; tombo; gingham flower

Gobble 'Til you Wobble! :)

Hi there!  This is a super exciting post for me today -- my wonderful and amazingly talented friend, Lorie, has designed and created her own stamp line!!  I *always, always* knew she would one day - I promise you!  But her line of Country Bumpkin Stamps are finally here and just as joyous as she is to all of us!  In a recent blog hop, I won this delightful Tanner Turkey and couldn't wait to ink him up :)

I knew I wanted to pair him with some Fall papers and went through several choices before settling on one I forgot I had -- SU's Haiku!  (*Funny sidebar - I took a calligraphy class in my Senior year ~ I was dating my hubby who was my HS sweetie and every time I said Haiku, he'd blurt out "You're Welcome!" LOL!  It became a little joke after awhile *g*) I just love this paper ~ but really love Tanner Turkey!



Card Front!

 

Here's the side :)

Inside: Stamped sentiment is including with Tanner, plus 2 more!

Isn't he just wonderful!  I'm already half way through a second project using Tanner Turkey and hope to showcase that soon, too!  Although I am delighted to have won this at a blog hop, I wanted to also let you know that he is available in the Peachy Keen Stamps shop if you want to take a lil peakie!! :)

Well that's all from me today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Entered into:  TPE 120 - Photo Inspiration
Paper Play - Autumn
Fussy and fancy - Halloween or Autumn
Stampavie 153 - Autumn
Dolce Stamps - Fall
CCR - Giving Thanks
Deets:  GKD, SU and PTI cardstock:  SU "Haiku" dsp; stamp:  Country Bumpkin Stamps from PKS "tanner turkey"; prismacolor markers; Cuttlebug, Nesties, scallop border; brads, prima flowers; ribbon; button; twine,
3d dots; tombo

It's Max! "S" is for stocking with Max ;)

Hi there! We are finally seeing the sunshine peek out from the clouds after an entire day of torrential rain yesterday - wow! I was about to suggest the kids take the floats out of the pool and have them ready for getting around town via boats and floats! It was a good time to catch up on crafting though and I was able to color up Max! He is beyond cute - and reminds me of our Buddy, our 2 year old Jack Russell :) My dd12 is in love with everything puppies so this will be her Christmas card this year. Her favorite color is pink, so I colored/paired Max with some pink/green themed cardstock and dsp. The inside verse is one I made up just to be ....... punny... *hee hee!*


Does this look a wee bit familiar?   Here's my card .........

and my little Buddy- Cmas '09 (just for 4 mos old!)

So cute!  Here's a side view:

                Ruh-roh .... cheesy, right?!  She's 12 - so it'll work, ROFL! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Deets:  PTI New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst; White:  Pink Pirouette from SU;  American Crafts DSP;

Image - Pixie Dust Studio "S" is for stocking full of Max; CB; Swiss Dots folder; Nesties; scallop nestie; colored with prismacolor markers; twine; 3d dots; tombo, bling

CraftyBoots Challenge - Animals

C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Bright Colours

Raise the Bar - Furry Friends

Totally PaperCrafts - #87 Animals

PDS's anything but a card ....

Evening, friends!  Been a long, long day here so I'll just jump right in and share with you this lil treat bucket that I made for the new weekly challenge at Pixie Dust Studio - Anything but a card!  How fun is that theme -- so many ideas, especially now during the Halloween time :) 

One of my best BFF's from High School has a Halloween birthday - she has always disliked her birthday because of the date - not the "spooky" part, but that all of her friends were always out T or Ting or at Halloween parties instead of celebrating her birthday!  I always felt so bad for her and plan to send this along filled with goodies :)  She's not a crafter {GASP! lol!}

I found this little green tin bucket in Target in the $1 section back in the Spring and I scooped up 4 of them for different ideas I had at the time.  Lucky me, I was able to use the green one for Frankie Boy, this adorable lil guy from PDS!  I gave it a simple covering with Halloween dsp, a purple border, Halloween chipboard letters, Halloween pearls and a whole lotta ribbons in coordinating colors!  

And that's it for me tonight, sweet friends!  I'll be sure to stop in and see what you are doing in a bit but be sure to check out the PDS challenge blog and link up your awesome ABAC creations, too! 

Thanks for your visit today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered into:  Saturday Challenge - Halloween
Stamp with Fun -- Halloween
Pile it On #40 - Do it for Fun!
Paper Playtime - Black, Orange and Purple
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Halloween
My Craft Spot - Too Cute to Spook!

Bucket - Target; Image - Pixie Dust Studio "Frankie Boy", RIbbons - varied;

Halloween pearls; Tombo, 3d dots, prismacolor markers; SU border punch;

K and Co DSP

We're *FALL*ing for Riley! :)

Happy Afternoon!  I'm getting a late start with my post -- my son took a little nasty spill at school yesterday and came home with a knee the size of cantelope and it was turning all shades of blue.   The pediatrician confirmed nothing broken or sprained ... just bruised and painful and he limped off to school today like a trooper.  And right thereafter I was "volunteered" to help with the AR testings and book selections for the 1st graders.  Fun stuff!

But I'm finally up and posting - and using the most adorable Popping Pumpkin Riley - he's definitely among the top faves of all my Rileys!  The bi-weekly challenge this week is brought to us by the warm and wonderful Laurie!
She asked us to create a card:  As fall is in the air, Laurie has given us a leaf challenge, include a leaf or leaves on your card or project!   I made a port-hole card using Fall colored papers - the Pink front one is actually filled with little pumpkins ...  I added flowers at the last thought to fill in the white space as I didn't realize there was as much until the card was done!  It looked like Riley was just floating in mid-air so I gave him so faux leaves :) 

We'd love to see your Leaf cards and projects in our bi-weekly Riley and Company Challenge!  You can link up your cards here.  Once you have created your card/project come back here and place a comment with a link to your card/project to this post so that we can see what you created. If you upload your card/project to SCS don't forget to include the keyword RILEY2011. We can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered into:  StampsRUChallenge - Fall
Meljen Challenge #73 - Circle and Square

Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Fall
House of Gilli - Fall

Deets:  Cardstock:  GKD Pumpkin Spice; SU Summer Sun; Really Rust;  DSP - K and Co
Stamp:  Riley and Company Popping Pumpkin Riley; Prima flower; SU button & twine; Kaiser bling; colored with prismacolor markers; CB, nestie; ric-rac, 3d dots, tombo

*WinnerS!!* and some Coffee Love! :)

Good morning!  I hope your weekend was marvelous!  We had gorgeous weather -  we biked, had a Karate Tournament with lil man, some serious yard work and a wee bit of crafting in my Cabana for moi! 

Since I know the exciting part is blog candy, let me just jump right in and list not one, but TWO blog candy winners today :)

Thank you all for joining me on the Riley and Company Blog Hop - hope you were able to pick up some of your favorite Riley Goes to the Movies stamps!

The random.org winner from my blog is ...........

Kathy B. of Entering Kathyville! 

 Congratulations! 

You have your choice of a new Riley UM stamp from the new release!

And random.org #2 from the OWH Holiday card Blog Hop is .......

Tammi of BlueInks Designs --

woohoo!  You will receive the gift pack of Anna Griffin products!

Congratulations, Ladies!

Please stay tuned, it always breaks my  heart that there can only be one name chosen but check back soon -

because I have some big news coming up! :)

It's no secret that I LUVS ME some coffee!  And not just any coffee - I LUVS ME some Starbucks coffee.  I probably have paid a Barista's retirement by now or at least put his/her child through a year's worth of college, but hey - it's my one vice and I'm spoiled that way - what can I say :)

*True Story* ...  After dropping the kids at school a few months ago, I swing by S'Bux drive thru - amazingly, I'm the only one in the lane - place my usual order and realize "Oh man, NO WAY, my casharoo is in my pants pocket from yesterday!"  I dont carry ANY bank/cc cards anymore and of course, the one time I want to use my back-up stashed car cash, we already used it there isn't any .... here I am, digging in the center console, in between the seats, jump out and look in the kid's seats, under carpets - finally I dig up enough pennies, dimes and nickels to make it and jump up triumphantly from the back of the car with a "YES!!", sweaty as all get up, hair all amuck .... but still triumphant.   Jump back in,  drive up to the window to see the barista just staring at me wild eyed like "are you FOR REALS?"  Yep, they saw THE WHOLE THING from their tv monitor.   I started to say "Wait, I can explain .... " but thought it would be better off to hand him the baggie of change {collected in someone's PBnJ bag that I also found *g*} and get out of there!  Let me tell you, no cup of coffee was EVER finer!  Liquid Gold! :)

So ... when my supah fabby gal pal, Barb,  opened her second caffeine swap over on SCS, I just had to join!  First, if you haven't swapped with Barb, YOU MUST!  Her swaps rock da house!!   I had to grab two spots in this swap, and am cuttin' it close to the due date - eeeek!  Hopefully the girls won't mind that these will arrive just in time for the deadline :)

I'm so blessed that my wonderful husband takes the oldest girls to High School now at 6 am ::ouch!::  and then swings by S'Bux to bring me a coffee each morning for when I wake up - awwwwwww!  He's a GEM!!
Maybe S'Bux has told him "please don't have your wife come by here anymore.  Seriously." 

I won't show you the inside views so they will have a little

suspense .... and they really do look so much better IRL :(

For my first card ..... this wee lil Java buggs stamp from Stampingbella was a birthday gift from my other gal pal, Sweet P!  {muah!} Thank you!  I can't tell you how happy I was to see it and PET IT, lol!   I was so excited to receive it and couldn't wait to ink it up and this swap was perfectamundo!

I actually ran a wee short of dsp after 4 cards, rofl - so I switched one out and made 3 more with slightly different dsp. These cards are chocolate and blue, mostly hues of blue with a teeny bit of stardust glitter on their wings, bakers twine and regular embellies.

Here are the card fronts:

And my 2nd spot in the swap I used my gorgeous Stampavie coffee girls stamp with some Fall colored papers - PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE anyone!!?!! ;)

{did I mention a slight addiction to a certain place! *G*}

This is a simple joy fold and again, gold stickles for the coffee/tea steam

and colored in autumnal colors to match the paper. 

And that's it for today!  Thank you, Barb, for some awesome crafting inspiration - COFFEE!  Mmmmmmmmmmm!  LUVS me some coffee!! :)

*Cheers!*

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

OWH celebrates WCMD w/ a BLOG HOP ( + BLOG CANDY Give-away!)

Happy World Card Making Day 2011!

I'm so excited to be taking part of the HUGE Blog Hop sponsored by the amazingly wonderful Operation Write Home!  There are 150 blogs in this hop and that's a lot of cards for our troops!  As a child of a military family and a brother currently serving, I'm extremely proud to be part of the OWH with card donationson a regular basis.  Their mission is such an admirable task!

Please start here at the beginning of the hop so you won't miss any of the wonders along the way :) 

Also, I will have a little Candy Give-away to one random commenter 

 to thank you for supporting our troops and for stopping by in this huge hop.
Candy winner will be chosen Monday, October 3rd @ 9am EST!

Here is my holiday card to share with you!
It's a little bright, a little Florida Sunshine-y Happy Holiday card, a little non traditional but I hope to that wherever this may go, it will bring cheer and happiness and be as upbeat as I pray they can be during the holidays.

A wee side view :)

Inside of the card :)

Be sure to head over the OWH WCMD post (see link above!)
to see all the participating blogs which will be up all weekend!

To thank you for stopping by,
ONE random commenter will receive this package of Anna Griffin goodies,
in (mostly!) red, white and blue colors! :)
Hugs!!

Big hugs,
Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly


Card deets:  SU: Melon Mambo, Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss;  PTI white: K and Co DSP
Image - Greeting Farm; inside sentiment from Inkadinkadoo Clear stamps;  SU border punch;  Cuttlebug, Nesties, MM brads, BG button; Baker's Twine; colored with prismacolor markers;
 Tombo, 3d dots