Crafters of Faith: Light of my Life!

Good morning!  I'm so so sorry I haven't been blogging much and missing many visits to you - trying to squeeze enough minutes in the day to stretch my way around :)  But today's card is one I whipped up last night for Crafters of Faith blogging group ~ a group of christian bloggers that met and bonded on SCS to craft, fellowship, make friendships and more!  This month, our hostess was none other than the illuminating Carolina! This is the challenge she gave us this month:

 My challenge is:  The Light of my Life!!!. I got inspired by the stamp set from Our Daily Bread "Light of the World". It has a lighthouse, which I'm a big fan of, and has my favourite sentiment that belongs to my favourite Hymn "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation Whom shall I Fear?.

1. Try to use a lighthouse in your project or something that represents LIGHT in your world/life.
2. Use at least two different scrap of designer paper.
3. Since the theme is light use some bling on your card/project.

Can we say LOVE!  What a beautiful theme to work with!  I have several lighthouse stamps, but after inking a few of them up last night, they were all so huge and detailed and it just would not fall into place.  Sometimes cards are like that, right?  I ended up using a smaller lighthouse and coloring it oh so subtly instead and paired it with Jersey Shore paper from SU.  For my bling, I put a trio of descending rhinestones in the corner of the card and actually the button is full of sparkly glitter - that part didn't come out in the photos, but it's blingy and shiny, too :)  

And ....... I also have to announce the winner of my Birthday Blog Candy give-away - I thank you all for the birthday wishes, sweet words and for posting the candy to your sidebars!  I did read each and every comment and saw your side-bar postings -  thank you!  I wish everyone could win, but since there is one goodie bag to giveaway this time around, the random winner is ........

Emkay,

 who said "It's so generous of you to share such an awesome prize

for your birthday. I will add it to my sidebar.

I hope you and your kids have fun over the spring break, and I hope your new

Cuttlebug arrives soon."

Congratulations, Emkay - please contact me at Kelnkids@aol.com so I can get your information and your goodie bag mailed out to you!  

Thanks for stopping by today - be sure to visit the other crafting sisters of faith - you can find them in my sidebar and see what they have made!

Big hugs,

Bigger blessings!

~Kelly 

It's a very Happy Birthday! :)

Hi friends!!  It's the 28th of the month and today is a special day - it's the time that the Calendar Girls post their creations with a theme!  This month, our hostess April, who is really Miss March (bwahaha!), gave us a interesting theme to say the least!  She challenged us to create a birthday card with a twist - use the colors schemes and sketch challenges from SCS coordinating with the day, month and/or year of our birth.  I did the color scheme part (I read it as either/or - my bad!) and just had a time and a half with the colors - of the vast list, I drooled over many and most, but all the ones using my day, month and year were not so great - eek! :x  Finally, I settled on the month/year and that gave me Chocolate Chip, River Rock and Baja Breeze.  Nice :)  I used my Kraftin' Kimmie stamp Francesca and colored her in similiar hues of blue and browns. The huge fabric flower was an after-thought, hand-made by a friend locally that sent it to me in a birthday giftie :)  It's huge, lol, but it fit the colors of Francesca's dress pockets AND ..............


in lieu of a tag, I used a flower!  Why a tag?  I am not a big fan of tags per se, and I needed to fill the space since this card is also the one I am doubling as my CASE of Marilyn's card for the SA's case card challenge!  It's a two-fer! For this case challenge, we were asked to view Marilyn's blog and pick a card to case - I chose this card below.  I originally wanted to use Stampinbella's cupcake Bella but at the last minute switched it out for Francesca and this card literally just fell together!  Marilyn's gallery is amazing!  She can color fantabulously, and I chose this card on purpose since the colors of my March CG challenge jumped out at me :)   I LOVE, LOVE this paper from Parisian paper from SU and picked it intentionally when I saw the blue in the background of Marilyn's card.  I gave it the side panel of flowered paper with the big flower instead of a tag - hopefully that will be just fine :) I also squeezed in a bit of lace to mimac her ribbon - and some blue pearls for fun!

Inside of the card :)

Here is Marilyn's card that I chose from her blog to CASE  -
gorgeous, isn't it! :)
http://www.onestampingfool.blogspot.com/2011/02/once-upon-time-cupckake-fairy.html
I think this should take you to her post!

 Be sure to stop in and see what the other CG's made with this bday/color/sketch challenge!  

You can find them in my sidebar right over there :)    ---->

And today is the last day to enter the blog candy if you are interested!

The candy draw closes tonight at midnight -

a winner will be selected at random and 

posted sometime on/before the weekend :)

**And thank you to my sweet, sweet friends who sent me these gorgeous

birthday cards! They meant the world to me!  I am truly blessed!

I have them on a ribbon card line going across my scrapbook desk :)

Your friendship is truly some of the best gifts a girl could be blessed with!**

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Frohliche Gerburtstag!

Good morning!  I hope your weekend was marvelous!  Ours FLEW by - one daughter had a most fantastic choral show with the Young Americans that come to their school to perform once every 3 years.  They are absolutely amazing and such wonderful young talent - she was so excited, and blessed, to be able to perform with them!  We also had a slew of birthday parties and squeezed in seeing The Hunger Games (do not miss that one, esp if you read the Trilogy - riveting!)  Even our weather today is so nice, it has taken me 3 hours to get home after coffee with my girlfriends this morning! :)

Without further wait, the random winner of my free Riley stamp for the Riley and Company blog hop is April of April's Alley - congratulations.  For an entire list of winners and to see the hop in review, please visit the Riley and Company blog here!


Today's card is using Smiley Balloon with a propped up 3d smile :)  This card is going allllll the way to Germany!  I created an accordian style fold - haven't done that in awhile ;) and nestled the Riley on the front as the focal point, message on the inside.  The papers are from SU and they reminded me of Spring colors - I found the closest match in my prima flower stash as I could.  This card was such fun to make!  

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be by to visit soon if I haven't already :)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Riley's SPRING stamp release and giveaway!

Hi! 
If you are here for my Birthday Blog Candy

Give-away, click here!**

If you are here for the Riley and Company new Spring Stamp release, then welcome!  The countdown to cuteness has arrived!! I have two items to share with you today.  We've been introducing the new Spring (Easter) stamps all week and now you can peek and purchase the gorgeous new Moose-ables cards and apparel!  You should have arrived from the  fabulous France's blog - you will not want to miss her creations.  But if you need to start at the beginning, start here - and the names are listed below if you get lost along the way.  So sit back and be prepared to drool!  And for one lucky winner, each blog will be giving away an UM stamp of your choice from this release for a candy draw - so be sure to leave some love along the hop! :)


First up, I have a card for you using Buster and Riley!  This one is probably one of my absolute favorites - so joyful, so happy and cheerful!  This could easily be used all through the year as a friendship, fellowship, pick me up stamp! For this card, I channeled one of my own from this post :)

 Next up, we have "I carrot a lot about you!" Spring Pail.  I was aiming for a carrot look, orange bottom - green leafy top, lol! How'd I do?! :)  This wee paint can is actually a giftie for my Secret Sister in the DDD :)  I don't know if she stops by my blog, so she may/may not see it - and it will be sans chocolate being that I live in SOUTH FLORIDA :)  Not the best thing to mail from here to there, but I'm sure she will be pleased with what will be inside ;)  

The paint can pail is decorated on the inside with DSP - tied green ribbons in all colors and added Spring Flowers Riley to the top.  It's removable so if she wants to use the pail for a marker holder (etc), she can still enjoy Riley all year long :)  This makes a WONDERFUL teacher/church helper/friend gift, too!

Now that you have seen the two images on my blog, be sure to hop on over to the next stop, Silke!!  Her uber amazing creations are not to be missed!

If you should get lost along the way of the hop, or need to start at the beginning, here is the entire hop order.  

Riley and Company Blog

Cindy

Frances

Kelly {You're here!}

Silke

Laurie

Jovita

Michele

Joy

Therese

Enjoy the hop, and remember the specials/deals that are going on right now for the next 24 hours!

* ONE (1) UM stamp to be given away on each blog for one lucky commenter!

*If you place your order within the first 24 hours and spend $25.00 in the store, you will receive the brand new Riley "share a smile" logo stamp, and this is not available for purchase!

*Stamps and Mooseables are available as soon as the blog hop begins

promptly at 10 PM EST on 3/22/12!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big Hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Surprise! Here's a HUG! :)

Whoooooooooooo is ready for another sneakie peakie

from Riley and Company?

ME!!!!! :}

How about a SURPRISE card!! :)  Riley is definitely a special delivery, tucked inside his little envelope!  He's super adorable and wonderfully fun giving special Riley HUGS!  I have been calling this release the Countdown to Cuteness!  And one more day and it's here - release time!!

I'm sure you've seen the deets, but just in case, 

remember the BLOG HOP from Riley and Company starts

THURSDAY, 10 PM EST on March 22nd!!

Free exclusive Riley SAS Logo stamp with any order 

over $25 placed in the first 24 hours!

And the DT have been showing you some

sneakapeakalicious samples all week long!  

Be sure to stop by their blogs - located in my sidebar

 or on the main blog site and see what they have made!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

We'll see you for the BIG hop!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Chocolate MOOSE, anyone? :)

Hiya!!  It's sneakapeakalicious #4!!  And today I'm showcasing this soon to be released Riley and Company  stamp called Chocolate eating Riley.  And he looks suspiciously like me at Easter, hee hee! :)  I just love this lil guy, happily sneaking into the easter chocolates.  Today's card also includes an inside view, and I did a little shadow stamping which I am seeing all over blogland ~ it was fun to have an inside different than my usual ones to show off Riley in two different ways.  Aren't the new sneaks just the sweetest!!  

Here's today's card!

Thank you for your visits, your sweet words!

I hope you are as excited for the new stamp release as I am!

And, did you see the new bi-weekly challenge for the Riley and Company blog?  IT's use your Spring stamps, polka dots!  Fun, fun!!

You can enter your cards here!

Be sure to Hop with Riley and Company on

March 22nd, Thursday at 10 PM EST!

Sneaks are going on all week, 

check the DT blogs (on my sidebar) for all the 

sneakapeakalicious new stamps being released!

Free exclusive Riley SAS Logo stamp with any order over $25 placed in the first 24 hours!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Sending Easter Blessings!

Good morning!  I'm back with yet another adorable peek at the new Riley and Company stamps!  Today, I bring you two images from the upcoming new release, which will be this Thursday,  March 22nd ~ an evening to mark your calendars so you can hop along with the new stamp release at 10 PM EST!  
The stamps I've used for you today are Easter Basket and the brand new Lulu with Riley!  This lil set is a candy treat bag with matching card, sentiment added to the inside.  I used the same dsp for both, just changing up the l/o a bit.  These treats bags were so much fun to make!  After making this delicious sample, I've decided to make them for his classmates for an Easter treat this year :)


First up, the set together :)

Be sure to stop by the DT blogs to see what goodness they have created for you today see with the new stamps sneak peeks!  The blog hop will be here before we know it!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Sneaky Peek #2 ~ Easter Egg Time!

**To enter my Birthday Blog Candy,

Click here!**

{picture on Side Bar ---> }

Welcome!!  Ready for another Sneak peek at the new 

Riley and Company

stamp release?  The stamps in this release have just melted my heart with cuteness!!

Today's card is rich and bright and I'm using Stacked Eggs ~ this time,

no pastels to be found!  My favorite eggs are always the brightly colored ones and that's what my mind went to when I was coloring this adorable

Riley stamp.  I naturally used the paper to match, all bright and vivid!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project to share with you!

*A few sweet notes!

The new stamp release and Blog Hop will be on March 22nd, Thursday at 10 PM EST!

If you place your order within the first 24 hours after the release, you will receive a free Riley "Share a Smile" logo stamp with $25 purchase - they will not be available for purchase!

And check out the Riley and Company store to see a huge Riley and Company surprise - a product being released on Thursday!  SOOO exciting!*

Please visit the DT blogs (side bar linked!) to see what sneaks they have for you today, too!

Big Hugs!
Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Let the Riley Sneaks Begin! :)

Good morning!  How exciting to start the weekend off with a brand new Riley and Company stamp release!  And this one is the CUTEST ever!!!  There are 14 new stamps being released, available on the 22nd of this month.  And today, I'm introducing Buster the Bunny to you :)  This new stamp is called:  Bunny Hugs!

Now for some really fun news!!! 

Our Riley and Company new stamp Spring Release will be Thursday,

March 22nd starting at 10 PM EST.

If you order within the first 24 hours, you will be able to scoop up a "share a smile" logo stamp with purchase!

Free exclusive Riley SAS Logo stamp with any order over $25 placed in the first 24 hours!

Be sure to stop on by the DT blogs to see what they have also created with the 

new stamps!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Be sure to come back every day - there will be a new

sneak to see each day!  So much fun!!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings,

~Kelly

I love being IRISH!! :)

** Would you like to enter

my birthday Blog Candy?!

       Click here! :) **

I really am Irish and have always, always loved that!   My grandpa was actually a descendant from Ireland and my dad picked the most Irish name he could for me! :)  And my favorite color is GREEN!!  So naturally, when it was time for another Dueling Darling duel, I was sooo excited to see how much Irish fun and green goodness just bursted out of our kit this month!  Thank you, Barb, our hostess!  She sent us a smorgasboard of items in our card kit from this adorable Whipper Snapper image to papers, ribbons, embellies galore!  For my new blog readers, the duel is two hostesses sent kits to the 2 teams - the Divas -vs- the Dazzlers with a same theme, different kit!  


For my card, I did a Twisted Easel card which was a blast!  I've seen these on many blogs but never got around to one until now - and it was perfect to showcase all the different papers that Barb sent.  I let the image be the focal point on the top portion and added the included sentiment to the bottom.  There is so much left over, I will be able to make 2 more cards!   Woohoo!  

Our hostesses Barb and Michelle also asked us to share any St. Patrick's Day traditions.  We did the green eggs and ham when the girls were little (and now my son who wants NO part of green food!) and really, it's pretty gross, lol!  But faithfully, we make our traditional Irish Brown Soda bread, which is a traditional bread baked in Ireland using rolled oats and sweet buttermilk - DIVINE!!  I'll post my recipe is anyone wants it and I definitely recommend getting your hands dirty with this one - not a bread mixer ;)  I also make a yummy Irish stew which is similiar to my stew in a pumpkin you all might remember from Harvest time.   We also used to run around dropping small coins for them to collect, and tithe, saying that the leprechaun left them behind when he was looking for the pot of gold ;)  And, excitedly, my dd15 found a real life 4 leaf clover when she was a little girl - she spent over 2 hours looking through a clover patch and popped up, one in hand! Oh the excitement!!  We still have it today, sealed in laminate and behind a frame in her room :)  


Be sure to see what the rest of Team Diva have created with this identical card kit, and then head over to Michelle's Team Dazzlers to see what they made with their kit!  You can find them in my sidebar over there ----->  :) 

Big hugs, 

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

I'm on the CASE! ;)

 ** To enter the BLOG CANDY draw, please click here! **

Good afternoon!  I hope your week is starting off great!   Today's post is one that is super fun.  In the SA Blogging group, we were challenged to CASE the card of one of the members vast and creative galleries - Shelley!  What a fabulous idea and a great way to think 'outside the box!'  After visiting Shelley's SCS gallery, I chose this card here:   

Here is Shelley's beautiful Watering Can card
pulled from her SCS Gallery :)

My bloomin' card ;)

Just a little funny sentiment I added to the inside :)

  I LOVE ME SOME BUGABOO!! I used this lil cutie: Summertime Peekers watering can.  I paired it with the closest matching papers I could from Basic Grey and kept it as close to the original card but gave it my own little twist, too :) I paper pieced the watering can with a matching BG paper, and p-p the flower, too.  I sure had fun with it and love the idea behind this challenge.   Thank you, Shelley, for the use of your lovely gallery!

Big Hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Birthday BLOG CANDY goodie-bag! :)

Hello friends!! 


My sweet babies are all home from school for Spring Break - I feel such an incredible warmth and BLISS in having them nearby and home (I miss them all so much when they all trot off to their schools each day! ;)  And sadly, my treasured Cuttlebug - the new one!!! - broke last week :(  I did call the Provocraft and a replacement is on the way but they said it would take 2 weeks.  Because of the above two, crafting will be limited but I'd love to share with you my birthday blog candy!  I can't think of anything better to celebrate with you all ~ here's a filled to the brim Goodie Bag for one lucky reader of my blog!  It includes some of my very favorite crafting items and I'm sending it inside this little craft organizer, too :)  No special requirements to win ~ if you want to add it to your sidebar, I'd be so grateful, and will enter your name TWICE!! (just let me know in comment section!)  :)

Goodie Bag:  One winner will receive the craft organizer, plus:


*  3 UM Riley stamps - one of which is a retired stamp!
*  2 brand new SU! Stamp sets!
*  MFT Pure Innocent stamp set
*  TGF stamp, mounted
*  2 6 x 6 Paper packs
*  Bucket 'o buttons!
*  Ribbon, twine, tombo!


Candy ends: Just like Cinderella ~ at midnight on my birthday, March 28th when the clock strikes 12!


Winner: will be chosen and announced on/around March 29th - but no shoes need to be tried on ;)  I so wish everyone could win, but one winner will be chosen by random.org to receive all pictures - with the exception of Buddy :)

Thanks!:  Thank you for stopping by!  I wish you luck in the drawing, many blessings and the warmest hugs! 

~Kelly

 *Disclaimer:  Everything included was purchased by me for the sole purpose of a give-away! 
I will ship anywhere and all are welcome to enter the draw for the birthday candy!

It's an UN-birthday!

Hi friends!!  Today's post is rather unusual ... and it's all my fault!  LOL! ;)   My birthday (ugh) is coming up at the end of this month and we've been joking about it ~ me saying I'm older than dirt.  The kids think it's funny.  Me ... not so much!  I'd rather just not have another one ;)  So, in our Crafters of Faith SCS group, I proposed another mini-challenge with this thought in mind ..... create a card/project with an un-birthday theme!  Now - confession time - when I thought of this theme and challenged them to create with it, I didn't have a CLUE what even *i* was going to do!  It sounded neat!  It sounded fun! It sounded intriguing!  But then I just sat and sat and thunk and thunk ....... and well, this is best I could come up with.  Eeek!  


Using this adorable Whipper Snapper stamp, I tried not to make this a "happy birthday" card right off and sort of disguised it as a funny celebration - and hopefully the "pun" makes sense!  My dd13 looked at it and went 'uh-huh ....' 
so maybe not so much, ROFL!   I paired it with some non-birthday paper from Fancy Pants, colored up the puppy with prismacolor markers and added some buttons *smile!* 

  

I tell you, I am super curious to see what the other COF girls came up!  If you'd like to take a peek, please check my sidebar as they will be posting all weekend :)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Riley Makes a Scene!

Evening!  Super quick post here as I'm just getting home with my camera chip.  Crossing my fingers this is the answer to my camera woes!


Riley and Company has a new challenge today ~ Make a scene with your card, project, scrapbook page and more using a Riley stamp.  For mine, I crafted Riley into a flower garden - nestled into his flower pot and popping up to say Smile! "Moose-ing you!"  For my flower Riley, I used Sunflower Riley and then stamped the flowers, cut them out and propped them up onto prima flowers for some extra smiles :)

You can read all about the challenge here on the challenge blog and see a ton of DT samples which are absolutely divine!  You can find the DT line up on my sidebar.  Remember if you upload your cards to a gallery like SCS, use the keycode 0512 so we can find you and we'd love to stop by for a visit! :)


I'm entering this into these challenges:  
The Paper Players #85  - Spring has Sprung
Delightful Challenge:  Spring Colors
Cute Card Thursday #206 - Signs of Spring
Cupcake Craftroom - Spring
Dutch Dare Card Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (bright colors, flowers, Spring)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Oh hello ... It's just me.

Super good morning to you!  It's officially 1:30 am here and guess who cannot sleep ~ yikes!  I have to be up in 4.5 hours as I'm volunteering at my son's preschool Scholastic Book Fair from 8-12 .... I forsee a trip to Starbucks when they open in a couple of hours ;)


I wanted to share a card with you that I made for a new group I'm in ~ the Stamp Addicts :)  I was blessed to squeeze into the last spot after seeing my sweet friend Darlene's blog post {we're Darlings together on SCS!} - thanks, Lynn!!   Since I'm new, I am still catching up but last week they did a challenge in order to learn new techniques. This month was the Reflection technique.  After several attempts at this, many wasted sheets of cardstock and using a variety of tree, flower, ocean and butterfly stamps, I realized two things:  This technique clearly won the battle tonight, rofl, but I also learned in challenging myself and going outside the box, I perservered in doing something I wouldn't have created otherwise  *smile!*  I didn't make the cards I envisioned when I started out but managed to squeeze in a mirror {reflected} image and hope this measures up!  I tossed many stamped attempts before this one, and I have to say, I adore the outcome of this one ~  he's a cutie :)

I stamped my card {twice} with Argus and Teddy from Paper Makeup Stamps.  I added a sentiment to the inside of my card - one of my fave things to do with my cards! It sounded like something a monster would say if he saw his own shadow :)  This is colored with prisma color markers, and I left the mirrored image stamped in Crumb Cake to reflect a shadow - this poor 'lil monster is trying hard not to be 'fraid of his own shadow - and has his trust teddy to keep him safe :) And my obsession with buttons clearly makes another debut - hee hee! Hi, my name is Kelly and I love me some buttons! 


Thanks for taking a peek!  Wish me luck today as I drag myself through hours of preschoolers, book sales, readings and beyond!  Woot, woot! 

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Crafters of Faith - Nature!

Hi there!  Just a quick post -- PTA meeting and then a fellowship planning meeting after that and back to back appts with the kids this afternoon and add on some Tae Kwan Do for little man in the evening - whew! But I am so excited to post our 2nd challenge for the Crafters of Faith, the February challenge.  We are a faith based, crafting chatting group formed on SCS and this month, our hostess is the sweet and lovely Jackie!  Here are her requirements for the challenge:

I want you to use NON TRADITIONAL colors to create your project
Your creation must be made with NATURE as the main theme....flowers, trees, mountains, water---you get the idea and
Finally, I want to see at least 1 circle shape on your creation.

Since this was the February posting, I decided to use aqua blue for a February card instead of red!  I also used hues of pinks, peach and green to compliment the paper that I paired up with yet another SU! stamp set from my "T.I.O.T.S in 2012" stack of stamps :)  I love this Serene Spring SU! set and believe this is the first time I've inked up this little birdie and flower pot.  My circles are in the DSP and the buttons.  I carried the design over to my card inside, as I always strive to do and did add a little note of prayer with a Verve sentiment I had on hand.  I love how this card turned out - it just brings so much of the Spring to mind.  This one is heading off to a special friend but she'll get to peek at it here today at least *smile!*

Serene Spring!

Sideview

Card inside:  Sentiment from Verve set 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop in and see what the other Crafting sisters in Faith have made!  They are right over there -------------------> 
in my sidebar! I am so sorry for the bad lighting - the indoor lighting in my craft area is just terrible and I will try again in natural light as soon as I make it home in the early morning :)  Thank you, Jackie, for a wonderful challenge this month (yes, it's officially March, but we were waiting for our wonderful hostess!)  

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly