Crafters of Faith ... new beginnings! :)

Hi there!  This is such a special post today for many reasons and I'm so glad to be here, right now, in this moment :)  I often reflect in moments of quietness - rare in my house, I can assure you! - how much I strive to turn every day, every hour, and every moment into something that I'm grateful for.  I had such a tumultuous end of the year last year - I kept most of it quiet and even those closest to me had/still have no idea how painful and heart wrenching so many things were to me.  Much of November went by in a blur and by December I was ready to head for the hills.  Literally.  I simply couldn't take one more thing, one more bad moment, one more mean person, any more bad news.  And I soon realized when I was literally, in the hills, surrounded by such breathtaking beauty that God has gifted to us - breathing in the cool mountain air, that I had stopped finding moments of gratitude.  How sad that made my heart! :(

As soon as we got home, I knew with such clarity that this year would be one filled with gratitude - with grace :)   A christian author once said "God doesn't drive us to acheive.  He simply asks us to come receive.  All great things are an overflow of His grace."  (can I get an AMEN!)  And in this receiving came the overwhelming wish to share with other crafters of faith to craft, talk, pray and lots more together - hence, the crafters of faith found each other and here we are with our debut post with me up first to post a monthly challenge! 

So for the first challenge this month, I was compelled to draw from the book of Genesis since this is beginning of the group's "creation" and to include the colors yellow (sun), blue (ocean), green (foliage, grass) and/or Brown (land), and anything from the sun, moon and stars to animals, trees, birds, flowers, Adam and Eve :), etc.   I was in the midst of a personal bible study one night and struggling to make sense of it and was struck by the verse staring out at me ~ Jeremiah 4:23 ...

"I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty;

and at the heavens,

and their light was gone.

I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;

all the hills were swaying.

I looked, and there were no people;

every bird in the sky had flown away."

I flew out to the craftroom as I remembered an old stamp (from that take it off the shelf in 2012 theory!)  that i just had to use!  I knew it in my memory, but couldn't find this blessed stamp and tore up my scraproom looking for it!  I finally gave up, and spent 4 hours on a weekend cleaning/organizing/donating and well, whatdayaknow - there it was :)  It was PERFECT!  I actually dusted off brought out my old brayer!  I haven't used that thing in .... 3 years?!  My sample cards actually came out soooo much nicer but they had a little accident with the paper cutter *sigh .... be graceful ...* :) My card creation is based on the book of Genesis in colors and the fruitful earth we have.  Even in Jer. verse 27, He tells us that the whole land will be ruined but He will not destroy it completely ~ much like the tree represents with life, roots, the green of new life.

I am so excited  to post our card creations today!  I hope you do head on over to see what the other Crafters of Faith have created as well!  You can find them off on my sidebar to the right over there :)  I'm just so blessed to know these lovely women!  Thank you, Olga, Patti, Carolina, LizW, LizD, Melina, Cynthia, Jackie, Carol, and Linda for taking this leap of "faith" - you are amazing women!  And ...  even though this is still just January, I've already stayed with so many things I put myself to task to do and just feel so moved by the blessings in my life .... and know they will only multiply!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

deets:  Cardstock by SU: Chocolate chip; Kiwi Kiss; Cool Carribbean; PTI white; DSP = Basic Grey "Marjolaine"; stamp by inkadinkadoo; inks: Old Olive by SU and Chocolate chip by SU; brayer tool; crinkle ribbon from SCH; Twine from SU; Basic Grey button; Kaiser pearls; SU border punch; trimmer; tombo

Calendar Girls - January Remakes! :)

Hi there!  First, let me announce the winner of a FREE stamp of your choice from the January 2012 Riley release and by random selection, the winner on my blog is:

Heather: Joemamainks

I'll be contacting your for your mailing information and stamp of choice -

congratulations and thank you, everyone, for hopping with Riley and Company!

It's time for another Calendar Girl's post and this month, our fantabulous hostess is none other than the Calendar's Girls fearless leader and creator of the group, Jeanette!!  And in her words, This month her challenge is .............

Something New Using Something Old!

What do I mean by that? This isn’t exactly what it seems. It’s not a vintage theme, though you can make your card/project vintage if you’d like. What I do want you to do is look back over your Calendar Girl posts/creations from the year 2011 and choose one of the images you used. Then I want you to create something entirely different with the same image. It cannot look at all like the previous Calendar Girl creation; nor can you use the same papers/embellishments/etc.  When you post to your blog – on January 28 – I want you to also post a picture of your 2011 card/project that used the same image so we can see the two and how different they are.

And here is the card I posted last year ... the stamp I chose back then is a Sandcastle, of course! :) It's from Inkadinkado

and the sandcastle + papers really reflect my Miami life!  

Here's the Original card :)

And the remake card using the same stamp but different papers/layout/embellies ...



Here's the NEW card!



A wee side view :)



And of course I did the inside of my card :)  I used a different stamp on the inside this time, too ~
I love this very old PSX stamp.  I actually watched this stamp on ebay for DAYS back in the day!

I switched out the paper on the new card to SU's "jersey shore" (I think!) I wish I had bought more of this darling paper because it's a perfect match to a scrapbook I'm planning from a beach trip, but we all know how that goes!  I have so many of my SU paper packs kept away for "special pages" and take a piece or two out now and again for cards :)  I also used some super old Wild Wasabi (as in vintage, when SU first came out with this! Membah that?! )  And yes, I stapled it on purpose, lol! And the layout on this one might look a bit familiar, too!  I often make a card I like and then mail it to a dear friend, and wish I'd kept a template card, ROFL.  This is one of those times :)

So ........ that's my January card for the Calendar Girls!  Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to take a peek at the Calendar Girls - you can find them in my sidebar and stop by and see what paper yumminess they created this month!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

*~* PLEASE READ! IMPORTANT news! *~* It's a RILEY Blog Hop!

***EDITED!*** Important news!

FREE shipping is now working and a prezzie for the inconvience....

Yep - we moosed up.
I guess it happens.
We are only mooses.

Apparently we had a little glitch with the free shipping last night on our website. We are SOOOOO sorry! The issue is now fixed, and any domestic order should have no charge for shipping.


For those of you who ordered, and shipping was applied, we will be contacting you, and reversing your shipping charges.

NOW, here is the good part. If we moose up, we always make up for it. Because of the inconvenience of our little moosetake - any order in the first 24 hours will not only get ONE free travel sticker stamp but THREE FREE travel sticker stamps!

It's just our way of saying we are sorry and have a moosetastic day!

Psst - the blog hop is still going on and you have a TON of chances to win some free Riley goodness just by leaving a comment! Start at our blog and follow the links!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Moose hugs!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Happy Riley Thursday! Welcome to the new stamp release BLOG HOP! We are happy to bring you 12 new stamps from Riley and Company!  You should have arrived here from Frances fantastic blog! If you need to find the beginning of the Riley and Company blog hop, please start HERE! 

*You have the chance to WIN a free rubber stamp!* Just complete the hop and at each stop on the way, one winner will be drawn ~ how fabulous!! 

I have 2 cards I'm showcasing for you today.

First up, Mixing Bowl Riley!  I am pretty sure he's mixing up a wonderful batter for a birthday cake - don't you think!  I matched Mixing Bowl Riley with warm papers to give it that old country feel and colored him with my prismacolor markers in a similiar pattern.  The sentiment is available at Riley and Company, too! 

Card Front :)

Card inside!

For my 2nd card, Swinging Riley is nestled in a peek-a-boo frame! I wanted to showcase Riley on the inside so I created this window that when opened to the inside shows him in a flower garden wonderland :)  This Riley just makes me smile!! 

Swinging Riley

 

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT blogs to see the new Riley stamps that they are showcasing for you today!

And our guest DT this month is Jamie Rogers Moore ~ From here, you next stop on the blog hop is the amazingly talented SILLI!

Here are the DT blogs to view:

Riley and Company Blog

Cindy

Frances

Kelly (you're here!)

Silke

Laurie

Jovita

Margie

Michele

Joy

Our Guest DT: Jamie Moore

Happy Hopping!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Follow your Bliss! {Riley Sneak #4}

It's Yoga time!  I'm back with another sneak peak from the upcoming 12 new Riley stamps from Riley and Company! And don't forget the big Riley Blog Hop this Thursday, January 26th! 

Today's card is using Yoga Sophie, colored in prismacolor markers and overall, a pretty CAS card.  I kept it simple and this isn't my traditional tons of layers, detailed cards.  And see those tiny pearls? They were the very last two that I had, and as luck would have it, I dropped one on the floor while putting this together - eeek!  And I was practically stretching my chakra while trying to find it, down on hands and knees saying "come out come out, whereever you are!" (I'm funny like that!) And as luck would have it, my dh had wandered in to ask me something and sees me on the floor playing hide and seek (or so he thought) with absolutely no one else and decided he'd ask me later, ROFL!!  I'm sure those moves will come in handy one day when I get my real Yoga on! ;)

I'm heading out in a little bit to Open House for my son.  He will be returning, prayerfully, to his same christian school next year and they are completely changing around the curriculum.  We're nervous, yet confident that he'll continue to thrive and excell as he tends to do! 

Please stop on by on Thursday for the big hop! 

Remember if you leave comments at EACH blog post of the DT, you'll have even more chances to win a stamp of your choice from the new release!  HOW FUN IS THAT!!!

Soooo exciting!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Riley Sneakie Peakie #3!

Happy Monday!  I'm happy to show you another one of the new Riley stamps to be released in the 12 new stamps of Riley and Company! This stamp is sewing Sophie :) The sneaks are going on all week at the DT blogs and our big blog hop will be on Thursday, January 26th!  SEW much fun! :)



Love you SEW much! :)



Inside of Card  - left blank for sharing :)



Close Up of Sewing Riley

Be sure to check my side bar for the DT list and see what sneaks they have for you to peak at :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Sorry this is such a quick post -- today was Girl Scout booth cookies for me and my youngest, plus Tae Kwan Do class and homework and everything in between! I think I"ve been home a whole hour today! LOL!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Shop til you drop, Sophie! (Sneak #2)

Sophie is having so much fun shopping!  Here's another sneak peek at the new Riley and Company stamps that are being released on January 26th - how cute is she!  She's got her big girl high heels on and shopping to her hearts content (hmmm, wonder if she has any stamps in those bags? *wink!*)  This new release is just so full of fun and unique images, and this one was perfect for a much needed birthday card :)  I turned it into a gift card holder on the inside to include a gift card. 

My card design is using the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday #137 ~ very inspiring! To keep the girly theme, I used Cosmo Criket's Upcycle paper - so full of girl dsp and wonderful colors! 

I wonder what Riley and Sophie will be up to on the next card! Adventures await! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered into: SweetSketchWed #137
Pile it on Challnge: Animals

Deets:  Shopping Sophie from Riley and Company stamps;
DSP = Cosmo Cricket; SU cardstock; PTI ribbon; Cuttlebug
nesties, prima flowers; SU buttons; Twinery twine; Got flowers small flower; prismacolor markers; Tombo, MM brads
Giftcard: macys

Bonjour, Riley! {Sneakie peakie #1!}

Bonjour!  Je m'appelle Riley!  {I actually only speak about 25 words of French, lol}  I have been SO BLESSED to have visited Paris a few years ago and it was truly a 'bucket list' moment of mine that I will cherish forever.   The first time Dh and I took the kids on a tour of Europe, we made sure to include France. We stayed in Paris for 5 days and it's an absolutely enchanting city! Oh la lah!  It was also quite a hilarious leg of the trip, I can assure you ~ not speaking the language, touring with 4 kids that were 9 months old, 7, 9 and 11!  The Eifel Tower was all that I dreamed it would be and more :) Ok, Ça va! back to the card ... luckily, Riley has his cell phone and he's calling his chéri, Sophie!  I'm showing you a small snippet sneakie peakie using the new (soon to be released) Cell phone Riley from the upcoming Riley and Company new stamp release on January 26th!  Sooo much fun! 

I used the sketch from TMS#129 and I also used the awesome color combination of black, white and red (well, burgandy!) from my Faith sistah, Miss Jackie!  Thank you, sweetie!  The paper is from the My Mind's Eye mat stack Lost and Found: union square and MME chipboard letters so spell out HI :)  This lil Riley is so versatile, from our teenagers on their cellphones to us chatty, texting mommies!  The flower is one I made from a scallop punch and scrunching them to form a flower - easy breasy!

The sneaks will be here alllll week so I do hope you'll stop back by and see what's coming for this fabulous new stamp release!  And don't forget the blog hop that will be on January 26th, 10 PM EST where each blog will have a stamp winner and stamps will go on sale :) 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Au revoir!! ;)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

I got into a scrap today .........

And absolutely LOVED it! :)  I finally sat down, albeit for 15 minutes or so, and scrapped!!  As in a real life, for goodness sake scrap page!   I'm soooo far behind in this area of my life!  Cards and paper crafting have taken over, even though I have an entire section in my scraproom dedicated just to scrapbooking shelves full of papers, embellies, and photo boxes.  Part of my "take it off the shelf in 2012" will be to scrap 3-4 pages a month - baby steps!

Funny thing, I have an elephant's memory when it comes to seeing the pictures and remembering where we were or what the kids said.  I tell them funny, cute, embarrassing stories all the time of when "so and so was a baby."  They LOVE it.  But they also like to razz me and say things like "Mommy!  Okay, so tell us about that time when we were 3 and four quarters and it was a sunny day that one time in ..... April, yes, and I had on that pink dress with polka dots and yellow stripes with a green ribbon and black shoes and I was on the left side of the east bound sidewalk near the tree that had green leaves but now it has none and we were close to Coconut Grove by the one restaurant ....."  HA.  HA.  Hi-lar-i-ous.  Keep it up, and it's Chef Boyardee for dinner!!  Not hatin' on the Chef - they hate it, so that would be a horrendous fate in their eyes ;}   

But back to the memories!!!  I remember my lil man was always sooo dramatic when it came to wounds.  Is this a boy thing?!!  My girls would have half a limb hanging off and they'd keep on biking, hiking, running, jumping ..... my son sees A SCRATCH and he's practically screaming for an ambulance.  My Goodness.  Well, that was back then ........ now he's a 7.5 year old who only sometimes, kinda sorta, needs an ambulance depending on the amount of blood is gushing, and from whom ;) 

I also decided that I'm really not able to commit to making fancy schmancy scrap pages that take me HOURS.  I obsess over them until they are shadow box quality and that's just not feasible IRL :)  I need to do more "get 'er done" style and I realize years from now, my babies won't mind how fabulous the scrapbooks I leave behind are - they will care about the memories and the legacy I'm leaving behind.  My kids have always been so proud of me and my scrapbooking, and my daughters have said how sad it makes them not to see me scrapbook anymore.  (In fact, upon seeing this, my dd12 said "You're scrapbooking?!!  *huge smile!*"  So I guess I will be - more often now! 

Thanks for stopping by!  And just a lil bit of fun news - the new Riley and Company sneak peeks start on Sunday!

Entered into:  Catered Crop - Use Buttons!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Angels all around us :)

Good morning to you!  I hope you had a lovely long weekend :)  It went by in a flash, it seems and the alarm clock went off waaaay to early today!

And I'm so excited to have seen in blog land this morning that I won a Gift Certificate from Our Daily Bread!  What an unexpected but delightful surprise :)  I just purchased their new Grunge Cross at release time so I can't wait to ink that up, and then head over to OBD to see what's there is to oogle over! 

I wanted to share a card that I made for a special friend as part of a rubber stamp exchange.  Our fearless leader, Kadie, put a card swap group together a few years back called the Sisterhood of the Traveling Cards (S.O.T.C) and we're still swapping today :)  She had a wonderful idea to dig out our unused, neglected stamps and send them to another sistah in the group to ink up, make a card, and mail them both back!  So we'll all send a card, receive a card, using stamps that (hopefully!) we didn't have.  In my case, I have a basket full of C.C. Designs as they are just as yummy but luckily didn't have this angel set!  And who says angels are just for Christmas :)  I made a cheerful, happy card because friends are truly the angels that make this world a better place and they are around us all the time. Thank you, Kadie, for the use of your wonderful angels - I was a bit nervous having to make a card for "the boss", lol!  *smile!*  I just hope I did justice to the Christmas angels and they work for a cheery card, too! :)

I do believe there are real angels all around us all the time :)  I have felt the power and miraculous touch of a guardian angel TWICE in my children's lives and to receive such a gift is immeasurable. And I know that I have seen a real angel ~ although I didn't think it was possible.  I am convinced that it was not in my imagination and remember the feeling of pure peace and a magnitude of awe so pure and intense, it brought me to my knees right there in the middle of where I was standing.  One day I will share that story :) 



Card front - wee angel friend!



The inside of the card :)



In the meantime, here is a beautiful and touching angel video by Bliss - it's long but wonderful and just made my morning!  I hope it shows up for viewing :)

A Hundred Thousand Angels by Bliss :)

Thanks for your visit today!

Big Hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Card entered into:  Simply Create2 - Layers!
Anything Goes Challenge - Anything Goes!
Flutter By Wednesday - Brights, Orange

Dueling Darlings love the "Little Things" :)

Happy SONday!  It's the 15th of the month, and that means the Dueling Darlings are back for a friendly duel - the Divas -vs- the Dazzlers with a card kit theme!  This month, our fabby hostess for the Divas was Miss Joan - who sent us a whopper of a kit that stretched my mind, creativity and at times, patience ;)  Don't get me wrong - I loved this kit :) It was unique, interesting, special in a way that made me really think way outside the box and that is what us crafters, artists, creators should do!  What an awesome learning experience this was :) 

She sent to us a card kit filled with stamped inchie images from Lockhart stamps - in a vegetable theme!  When I saw them on hangers - resembeling dresses - my mind went straight to a clothesline ;)  I added the twine 4,5 different ways and just ended up wrapping it haphazardly through the window panes in the gorgeous paper that she sent to us to use :)  I really loved the Country Fresh trading card that she sent but added it to the inside since I couldn't find a way to make it work on the front.   Hopefully the Divas and Dazzlers won't be too disappointed in my card this month - it gave me a run for the money, but my mind is wrapped around a million little things and my mojo (which is running low) will be back from the garden soon, LOL!!

As part of the challenge, Joan asked us to post the first thing we thought of when we heard the title "The Little Things" and what came to my mind was children!  I thought of all the small things my kids have said and done and I would always think let me write that down - I want to remember the little things! :)

Be sure to stop on over to see what each of the Darlings have created using their card kits :)  And Melina, hostess for the Dazzlers this month, will direct you to her card kit recipients :) I'll be back later to hook up the links *smile!*  It's currently 2:20 in the morning and I have to be up in a few hours for church - oh la la, another all'nighter!  LOL!!

Blessings to you - thanks for stopping by!

Big Hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Are you smarter than your phone?!!

Yes, as in smarter than a 5th grader?!  I am going around and around with my smart phone, though grateful I am to have it and treasure all the wonderous things it can do!  But truthfully, if it weren't for having 3 teenagers at home to bail me out!!  constantly show me how to use it, I'd be so lost!  Okay, who am I kidding .... even my 7 year old son has it mastered!  Doh!

Then there's me ;) 

What has me so perplexed it even though I have adjusted the auto correct,  It's NOT correct!  And I have learned to LOOK BEFORE I LEAP as it pertains to Swype.   I think I'm a pretty nice person.  And I certainly don't say bad words!! 

But my phone is a very bad girl.  It says bad words.  I don't.  It does!  I tell the truth and nothin' but the truth and this phone is naughty!  Naughty, naughty, naughty!!  Let me give you some examples {well, the ones I can actually post in public.} 

* I said to a blogger who's scrapbook layout was just breathtaking - "Nice layout,"  My phone said "Nice rack."  {Glad I caught that one, how embarrassing.  Especially since I was blurfing and didn't know her!

* "She looks like a princess!"  Phone said "She looks like a pineapple!" ooooof.

* Hubby:  "at the store - need anything?"  I typed "I need butter", which promptly told me "I need beer."   It was a good day, I promise!  But the theme song of Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" starting playing in my head .......

* and probably my personal favorite to my friend inviting me to breakfast,
"I have to be .... " which my phone told her "I hanged the beef".  Yep, she called me on that one - being that she knows I'm a vegetarian and just HAD to know what that one meant.  I had no words.   Yikes.  She told me to tell my husband to take my phone away.  Not my fault! :)~

Anyway, it's Friday and that means Fun-day!  My dh is coming home tomorrow after a week long absense with our baby girl who's performing with a big name international choral Conductor and she made it to All-State Florida choir!  She's there with out 1,200 other Floridian students who made it to the "top" and they are proudly representing our sunshine state! So proud of her and all the singers!

No special reason for this card - I had the image colored up and thought I should put it to paper :)  This adorable lemonade image is from Pixie Dust Studios :)  Have a fabby blessed weekend and I'll be back this weekend with the Darlings Challenge :) x0x0

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I did it, I did it! :)

Woohoo!  I did it, I surely did!  And I'm sure you might be wondering, what exactly did she do?!  *Smile!*  Last year, my motto of using what I have worked so well that I decided to carry it over to this year with a bit of a twist - "Use what's on the shelf in two thousand and twelve!"  It kinda sorta rhymes, hee hee!  But most importantly, I took inventory of my vast SU stamp sets that I've collected over the years and realized that most had not seen ink at all.  And that was so sad to me!  So I made a decision to pull 6-8 stamp sets a month and see how far I get with that stack pulled at random.  I will also try to showcase each card and I'm going to try hard to stick to the plan ... and I took a picture! :)

But first, I thought I share with you the card I made using one of those 'forgotten sets' - the uber adorable Hedgehog Happiness.   I kept this card pretty simple so I could follow the SC367 sketch over on Splitcoast.  I also found a good use for the MME Lost and Found Union Square mat stack I had on hand - I have a hard time using this color scheme but new that I wanted to pull from the rich colors of the papers.  One of the things I do need to learn - hopefully this year! - is to fill in the white spaces.  I actually love it - I'm a clean and crisp kinda gal, but somehow it always looks like my images are just floating about, ROFL!  So, that's a technique I'll have to practice. 



Here's the card front!

 

Sneaky peaky side view!



And the inside view!





Hmmm, which one will be next?! :)



And that's about it!  Here's my monthly stack up ..... it's a true cache of wooden yumminess, dusted off and ready to play!





Thanks for stopping by today! 

Big hugs,



Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly


Found these challenges to submit my card :)
Simon Says Stamp - Spots and Stripes
Sweet Stampin - Spots and Dots
Alota Rubber Stamps:  A, B, C - (Birthday, Balloon!)

Card deets:  SU Bravo Burgundy; Creamy Caramel; Chocolate Chip, PTI White;

Image - Birthday Hedgehog; Colored with prismacolor markers;

MME Mat Stack Lost and Found, Union Square; 3d dots, Tombo, CB, Nestie

SU Border punch, SU Buttons, twine

Winter Fun with Sophie!

Hi there!  I'm excited to be back to show you a new card from Riley and Company (Elizabeth, this post is for you!  Tee hee!!)  For this bi-weekly challenge, the first one of the brand new year, the hostess is none other than ....... ME :)  To celebrate the wonders of January, we'd love for you to create a card  of Winter Fun!  Show us your Riley/Sophie having fun in a Winter Wonderland, and don't forget their new penguin friend, Percy! 

  Here's the inside of my card :)

For my card, I used Ice Skating Sophie showing off her ice skating skills ;)  My oldest daughter was an ice skater - yes, here in Miami! - and was a natural on the ice from the first step.  I miss her ice skating days, but am one of those eyes glued to the tv whenever the Winter Olympics are on or I'm lucky enough to catch ice skating on tv.  LOVE!!!  

Be sure to use the code Riley keyword0112 if you upload your card to a gallery or picture sight and your blogs - we'd love to stop by and visit you!  Want to see what the DT made with their Winter Wonderland inspiration?  Click on the DT blogs on my sidebar, and make sure to link up your cards at the challenge blog HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Draw Water from the Wells ...

Good SONday evening, friends!  I had a few free moments this evening to whip up a card :)  My motto last year was "use what ya got!" and try to use some of the items in my crafting Cabana.  I found that when I went "shopping", it was often in my own craft room and I was amazed at the things I had on hand to play with!  It was such a successful year that I am keeping that same motto this year, too :)  And one of my treasured and favorite stamp companies for many reasons is Our Daily Bread so what a treat to get inky and play with papers and buttons and make a much needed card at the same time :)

For this card, I used the sentiment stamp from the Never Thirst set.  I can't wait to ink up the rest of this set!  But for now, I just used the sentiment so that I can play along with a challenge at SCS for scripture sentiment cards, and enter this in ODB challenge:  "In with the new....out with the Old"
The team challenges you to create a card using something new and something old on your card.  I've used several elements on the card that are older - the sentiment, crinkle ribbon, the Tattered Angel spray ... something new, this MME mat stack Lost and Found paper :) 

This card is entered into:  Our Daily Bread designs: Old/New
                                     Crazy 4 Challenges:  Something New
 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Deets:  SU Card Stock, Soft Subtles;  MME "Lost and Found" Market St Mat Stack;
Stamp:  Never Thirst, Our Daily Bread; SU Stazon Black ink;
Crinkle Ribbon, pearl brads; BG button; SU twine; Cuttlebug, Nestie, SU Corner Punch;
Scallop die, Tombo

 

You MOOSE be my type! :)

TGIF!  Been a long week here, trying to get back into the swing of things school wise!  But all is good and I'm back into my craftin' groove!  And I bring you a new Riley and Company challenge that I "moosed" while away on vacation - brought to us by the uber talented moosemate, Cindy!  She challenged us to make a Riley and Company card with a matching envelope - how adorable!!  I used writing Riley and paper-pieced his small letter he's writing with Jillibean soup dsp - LOVE!!!  I can show you my card and envie, I can't show the inside of this one, though I always decorate my card insides :) It's going to be heading off to a very sweet and special friend of mine so I want to keep part of it hidden so it will be a nice suprise when it makes is moose-landing! :)

I'm sorry for the washed out pictures!  Santa was super sweet to me this year and brought me an ipad, so I'm hoping to figure out how to post from one location very soon! My camera is shot, I'm taking pictures with my cell phone and really need to get everything down to one, organized location so thank you for bearing with me while I "get acquainted"!  :)

Remember to link up your Riley and Company card/envelope creations here at the crafting challenge blog - we'd love to see what you create!  Here's some inspiration from the Moosemates:


Cindy Haffner
Frances Byrne
Silke Kittman
Laurie Clout
Michelle L
Kelly Santi {you're here!}
Jovita Torres
Margie Cortina
Joy Stagg

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Deets:  PTI Artichoke, Chocolate; White; Joanns Pink cardstock,

Stamp = Riley and Co, Writing Riley

DSP - Jillibean soup Sweet n sour; felt ric-rac, Tuxedo Momento Black ink;

prismacolor markers; prima flowers, Basic Grey button, SU Twine; Tombo

Basic White envelope, Cuttlebug, nesties

Happy New Year, 2012!

Hello there!!  We are home again from such an amazing trip, one that I know God shined upon in many ways :)   And I send to you wishes for a beautiful, blessed and bountiful new year ahead! I am still so amazed at how fast time always seems to go, and I welcome - and embrace - this new year.  For me, I always start out the new year with a scripture that I keep close to heart and chose a word for the year that I try to incorporate into what I'd like the year to include.  On New Year's Eve, I knew exactly what it would be because I know how much He is at work in our lives, even when we might not see or feel it - that's when He is there the most :)   I hope to take this year as time to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses in my faith-filled journey, one of those is learning not be discouraged when faced with things that are out of my control.  

 So for me this year, my word to carry me along is grace.  I know that as I journey through this new year, I want to conquer all things with grace in my heart and the strength to do all things he asks of me, even in moments of despair, humility, discouragement. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need." Hebrews 4:16  I look forward to sharing many joyous, grace-filled moments with you this year!

Now how about a card to go with?  Hee hee!  I am so late in posting the Calendar Girls 28th of the month card due to our travels :) This month, our hostess was none other than the founder, creator and owner of the Calendar Girls idea - Miss January, Jeanette!  Her theme for this month's card creation was secrets! In other words, she asked each Calendar Girl t0 send a card creation word to the assigned person and create with that idea!  Here is her idea:  December - Who loves a secret? I know I do! Let's have a secret ONE-WORD challenge. This is how it will work. Each Calendar Girl will come up with a one-word challenge for the Calendar Girl who follows her on the list. It can only be ONE WORD, but it can be any word (glitter, three, apple, blue, holiday, sponging, friendship.... whatever word you choose!) Then secretly email or PM that ONE WORD challenge to the next person on the list and she will create a card that in some way represents that word. And guess what word Jeanette sent to me?  Hospitality!  Oh the possibilities!!  I actually had to google the word to come up with some ideas ad my mind only drifted to Pineapples, lol! :)~ I have an old SU stamp set with a pineapple in it but it wasn't working for me, so I regrouped and remembered my neglected Penny Black Teddy Bear set which I just LOVE!!  I inked it up and knew I wanted to go with a floral sentiment to match  - get it? Thanks a bunch?  LOL!!

But the original card prototype had the sentiment on the front in the corner and just didn't look right either ....... regrouping again, I finally managed to make my idea sort of come to life on paper!  And here we go - Teddy Bear flowers being ever so thankful :)

So sorry for the blurry pictures, but I'm in desperate need of camera repairs!

I have many pictures to share from our trip, which I'll be doing soon. I quickly realized that most of them were coming out not so clear and switched to my phone and wow, it was one less thing to juggle ;)  Be sure to stop in and see what the other Calendar Girls created!

I'm entering this card into: StampsRUs Challenge - Anything Goes

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings :)

~Kelly