1st CRAFTERS of FAITH *Blog Hop!* + Prize Giveaway!)

*Edited 10/1/12!* 

 Random.org Blog Hop prize winner is #29!

~ Lynn of Confessions of a left-brained stamper said:

 Love this cutie in the pumpkin patch!! What a precious card, Kelly!! Gorgeous colors and papers!  Congratulations!

 Please contact me at Kelnkids@aol.com with your mailing information. 

 Blessings and thank you, everyone!

To God who gives our daily bread
A thankful song we raise,
And pray that he who sends us food
May fill our hearts with praise.
~Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Welcome to the 1st Crafters of Faith Blog Hop!  We are so blessed to have you stop by and celebrate the beauty of AUTUMN with us! The Crafters of Faith blogging group is a joyous blending of christian friends ~ joined together to fellowship, share our faith, build friendships and craft together! If you are just visiting and would like to hop with us, welcome!  If you hopping along already, you should have arrived from April's blog and the beginning of the hop is our hostess this month, Carol S. 

Carol shared us with a wonderful Harvest challenge and here is what she asked us to create: "I love FALL, the colors and the smells! I would like to propose that we make a card with fall colors, it should include fruits and vegetables to remind us of the harvest. When my kids were small, I canned peaches and pears, made pickles and such. So much fun to open those jars in the dead of winter! I am looking so forward to the fall festival of Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles). To Biblical historians, this is the actual time of Christ's Birth and many people believe this will also be the season of HIS return. Blessings All!"

To celebrate in this glorious season upon us, here is the card I created for you!  I grew up in many places where picking our own pumpkins off the vine in vast farmlands was a Autumn treat along with hayrides, corn mazes and bonfire dinners :)  I found this adorable digi freebie here and thought it was perfect for celebrating Autumn and friends!  I couldn't resist adding a little something to the inside and my usual love of buttons adorns the front and inside as well :)  Indeed I share with you and send Harvest Blessings! I'm the last stop on the Blog Hop and I also have a special little giveaway for one lucky hopper! Please visit the other COF sisters and see what special Autumn treat they have created for you today :)  

Thank you for stopping by!  In this glorious season of Fall, and the wonders of the earth changing to gorgeous colors .... in a time of gratitude and thanksgiving ... we wish many blessings for you!

Carol - Bills Favorite Stamper

Carolina - Cardolina Scrapolina

LizW - Right Brained Madness
Jackie - Kreatewithme2

LizD - crafts4thesoul

Sharon - A Piece of Heart

Darlene -  According to Bijou
Jeanette - CreativePlay
Carol  - Lost in my craft room

Kadie  - InMyMindsEye
Tami -  Blueinksdesign

Barb - Inkinintoretirement
April - April'sAlley  

Kelly - Sandcastle Stamper (You're here!)

Here is the hop in full order :)

Big Hugs,
Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Deets:  Cardstock:  PTI Dark Chocolate, Canyon Clay, White; 

DSP = Fancy Pants "Summer's End"

Digital Image:  Nutcrackers; Colored with prismacolor markers;

Scallop Fiskars trimmer; CB, spellbinders nesties; 

Misc buttons, prima flowers, twine, tombo

Calendar Girls ~ Celebrating Life :)

"Those we love don't go away,

They walk beside us every day,

Unseen, unheard but always near,

Still loved, still missed and very dear."

Good morning!  Today is the day that the Calendar Girls post our cards and our hostess this month is Sweet P (Paola!).   She gave us a beautiful theme to work with this month, celebrating the life of her friend that is resting now in the arms of our Savior.  As per the challenge, she asked:

To honour a dear longtime friend of mine who passed away early today, I would like to request that you create a beautiful card using the following guidelines:

Your card must be a fancy fold, and have apples stamped on it -and colored-
(OR, if you don't own any apples's stamps, apples can be incorporated on your cards via designer papers,stickers,dies etc..), plus have at least one 3-D butterfly on your card too. 

The main colors used for this challenge are to be your own favourite colors (use at least two of them please, and tell us which ones they are once you blog it.) Please note: Your cards are NOT to be sympathy cards at all, please keep them ‘happy/festive’ - as a celebration of LIFE in general! 

WOW!  This truly was a challenge for me ~ 4 requirements all in one card!  And I did them all, albeit a little creatively :)  After debating over an image with an apple, or a couple with a butterfly, I glanced sideways at my vast pile of SU! stamps and thought "I wonder what I have that will work!"  Right in first set of stamps I sorted, I saw this beautiful "Les Fleurs" stamp set, never even inked up yet, and it just felt right :)  Paola shared with us that her friend would bring her fresh apples from the garden and this stamped image conjured up thoughts of a friend stopping by with fresh herbs and flowers from the garden. 

 

My fancy fold is a simple easel card, paired with my favorite color duo:  teal and kiwi kiss!  Since it didn't have any apples, I used a stamped image from a TGF stamp and cut it out and added it to the foreground in front of the watering can and the 3D butterfly is right up in the corner.  This set was so fun to use and I had long forgotten I had but was sure glad to "Take it off the Shelf in 2012!"   Be sure to stop by the other CG blogs - you can find them in my sidebar off to the right.

Thank you, Sweet P, for a wonderful challenge this month!  It is an honor to create in the memory of your dear friend and know that her life's celebration was much richer with you as her friend :*)  

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

There's a SALE at Riley and Company!

Have you heard? 

 All Riley and Company merchandise is on SALE for 50% off!

We just wanted to remind you that....

THERE IS ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT!!!

of this amazing sale!

 You only have until Sunday night to cash in on the goodies!

This sale includes EVERYTHING Riley! Stamps, shirts, hats, stationary, Funnybones - everything!

There will be absolutely NO backorders during this sale, so order early to get the best selection! 

This sale ends September 31st, so hurry! You can start shopping HERE!

Don't forget to put SUMMER 50 in the coupon section when you check out!

And once again - THANK YOU for your loyal support of our adorable little moose and his buddies!

Tanya K - Head Moose!

Peek-a-boo! I love you!

" Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. 

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop 

and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains."

~James 5:7

Happy Fall!  I just love this time of year ~ the beauty of all around us and the promise that this glorious season brings.  There is so much to be thankful for and the blessings we have just seem more abundant in the Fall :)  

Being this far south, we don't have the same luxuries that Fall brings that I grew up with.  I have such fond memories of going to real pumpkin patches with hayrides and corn mazes and mum bringing home the ingredients to make sweet potato pie (my dad's favorite) and pumpkin pie (my favorite!) :)  There is just something incredibly enriching walking through the stands of squashes and gourds and pumpkins, etc!  

Here, we do have some local farms that bring in the pumpkins and try to make it really sweet with 'make your own scarecrow', etc :)  For us to experience the closest to the Harvest farm fun from days gone by, we make a day trip to central Florida where down home livin' is still the way of life and just about as serene and wonderful as it gets!  I LOVE our trips there and we try to take the kids at least once during Fall - even though the girls are older, they still love the magic of it, too and watching their little brother see it through his eyes :)  Beautiful :)

A month or so ago, I rearranged (semi-packed up!) the Cabana - my craft room :)
I was dismayed to see that a card I made and loved had been ruined by something that had leaked on it ~ not in it's plastic sleeve where I thought it was!  I was able to save the image but none of the card which was perfect since this was always one of my favorites, so I quickly got to work and created a new card :)  This peek-a-boo mouse is a digi from Pixie Dust Studios and I paper-pieced the pumpkin (my fave technique!) I used a Fall color theme  and left the inside blank for future use.   Peek-a-boo .... I do love you!

Big Hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Entered into: Make it Monday #108

Pin-spiration Challenge - Fall
Sentimental Sundays - Autumn
Addicted to stamps - Autumn Colors
CMC Challenge - Fall, colored with prismamarkers

Sending Wedding Blessings :)

"When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out."

 — Elizabeth Barrett

Isn't that just beautiful!  Truly a wonderous time if that of weddings and finding true love :)  I'm blessed to have married my best friend many years ago and here we are today, 4 children and lots of bumps in the road later, but still blessed beyond measure! 

When a package of CottageCutz dies arrived in the mailbox, I was tickled pink to see this gorgeous horse and carriage die!  It's just over the top fairy-tale sweet!  For my card, I wanted to do something a little different to make it shimmer and sparkle.  I used heavy weight cardstock and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  Taking the pieces, I used Modge Podge evenly coating the surfaces and then sprinkled it with super fine Martha Stewart glitter.  So Romantic!  I added to to cream/gold/chocolate brown papers to give a little contrast to the white sparkle and tada - wedding splendor!  This makes a wonderful wedding or anniversary card for those storybook weddings :)

 

You can find this die and many others from the Wedding Collection at The Scrapping Cottage located here!  These dies are so incredible - a clear, crisp impression and so versatile!  I already have another idea swirling in mind for this one! :)

(Forgive the poor lighting in my pics!  I have to re-take this one for a better look at the sparkle & shimmer!)

Big hugs!

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Oinkers! You cured yet? :)

LOL! A wild and crazy card today!  Today's card is actually the reveal of the "Mystery Image" swap where the hostess sends out an imagine unknown to all of us in the swap ~ a secret until reveal day!  This month, our hostess was Samantha and she sent us the cutest little piggy image with an "You Cured Yet?" Sentiment and oh me oh my,  I thought was hiliarous!  I love cards that are punny :)

I went with softer colors on this card - not a huge fan of pastels! - but it just felt like it needed to be a little quieter to let the image and punny statment be the focal point.  And of course, I had to use buttons! :)

I hope Samantha likes my card!  I sure enjoyed the image she sent and loved creating this little cutie :)

Big hugs!

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Entered into:  Make it Monday - Anything Goes
Craftroom Door - Anything Goes

Riley's new Challenge - Scraplings!

Hello dear friends!  Back today with the new Riley and Company challenge brought to us by our hostess this week, Frances.   Frances gave us a unique and wonderful challenge - one surely ALL of us can not only relate to but can jump on board the challenge with!   What could the challenge be? 

To use up our scraps!  In Frances' own words, she shares this:

So this week let's make "scraplings"
Scraplings are normally 1.25" x 4.25" because they are often made from the off cuts you get when you make a square card (4.25" square) from a piece of card that is 4.25" x 5.5". However if you are like me your scraplings may be a little wider depending on what you are working on at the time. Now for me 1.25" is way too narrow and I normally have wider card then that left over so you can makes yours wider .... BUT for this challenge they cannot be any wider then 2.5 inches that is for the base of the scrapling ... you can have wider pieces hanging off like I did with my scrapling above, that is up to you .... as long as they are no wider then 2.5 inches. 

Now doesn't this sound fun!  What a terrific way to use up those long scrap edges when cutting a card from a full sheet of cardstock .... creating something cute and with purpose at the same time!  Using Popcorn Riley, one of my faves of all times, I created this little scrapling which is actually a book binder marker.  It drapes right over the top of the book as a page marker ~ cute and handy!

Please upload your creations to the Riley Blog HERE.  When uploading to a gallery other than your blog, please use the keyword Riley1912.   I hope you have "loads of fun" making your scrapling!  :)

Before you go, in case you haven't heard, there is a SALE at Riley and Company!!  Get 50% off ALL Riley stamps!!!

Simply enter SUMMER50 in the coupon code during checkout! 

 But hurry - this offer ends Sept. 31st! 

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

  

DDD ~ I love this post!!

Me again!  Busy weekend on da blog!   After a long hiatus, how funny two cards are due on the SAME day!  And I can't tell you how much I love the Dueling Darlings!  And even more how much I loved this month's theme - a mix and mash of a little bit of ever'thing!  This month's theme - rather than have a 'duel' of card kits between the Divas and the Dazzlers, our very own Debbie came up with the uber fabulous idea to keep a little something from each kit we receive in the 8 months of kit swapping and use the leftovers on the final card!  What a great idea! A great way to create, upcycle and make 2 cards with the products instead of just one!

Each month I create a card from the kit, there is always so much left over from the generous hostesses ... and this month is REALLY a treat for me!  I was unable to complete my card kit when LJ sent it out.  I had the best intentions to 'catch up' the next month and by then, Debbie's suggestion came in and I have been HOARDING it for nearly 5 months!!  I saved and waited and saved and waited and knew I was going to use it for today's post, and am SO excited to finally get to use her yummy image!  I think it's from a*muse, but sadly did not write down who sent what so I will try to go from memory :)  My card is decorated inside and out - using LJ's fabulous mower image, some dsp I think from Barb, Tami's gorgeous white buttons, Carol's beautiful ribbons and forgive me for not having this all properly documented - I love it all, though!  You made me smile when it arrived, and I'm smiling again now at it's completion!!  I love you all, Dueling Darlins!

So here's my card!

Side view:  I just LOVE all the browns and blues and green hues!

Normally, we have an added part of the challenge to say something related to the card theme and if we had one this challenge, I surely missed it :)

In it's place, I would like to say how very dear this group of gals are to me!  We met on SCS a long while ago and bonded instantly in one (or two or three!) of the threads we are on, following each other through the swaps and posts!  I don't even remember how I came up with this crazy idea to have two teams of girls 'duel' card kits with a similiar topic but it sure is a blast every month, wondering what the hostess will come up with and stalking our mailboxes to see what it will behold! It's like Christmas - 8 months out of the year!  Each lady is so unique and beautiful and brings something so wonderful 'to the table' - from making me laugh, squeal & shiver (that would Debbie - she has a MAMMOTH tarantula in her house - is she not the BEST mom!!), they make me beam with pride when they share something wonderful ... the list goes on :)  God has truly blessed me with a tremendous group of ladies to call *friend*  

(((((((( Group hug to the Dueling Darlings!  ))))))) I love you all!
x0x0

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

It's a Special Occasion Dress :)

Hello there, blogging friends!  Remember me?!!  :)  I have just been swamped with life ~ the kid's schools, volunteering, rehearsals, yoga classes, bible study group,  exercise, etc!!  Not many minutes left in the day to find time to hit the craft room but lucky for me, I was able to open up my CottageCutz dies from the wedding collection at The Scrapping Cottage!  Here on today's card, I used two of them:  Special Occasion Dress and Doves!

Now, this is a wedding collection but certainly it isn't limited to just weddings :)  In my house, with 3 teenage daughters, we've seen mini-proms, 8th grade dances, Homecoming, Quinces, Sweet 16's and a whole host of events that would be a perfect fit for a beautiful gown!  For my card today, I not only die-cut the dress, but I die-cut a second one in patterned paper to overlay it.  For the doves, I dressed them up a bit with some glitter for added sparkle and shine :)  The pink and the red really draw out the girly girl in this card to represent the many ways you can use these dies! 

I have two posts for you so I'll be back shortly with my second post for the day!  Here is one last look at the dies used - available now in the Scrapping Cottage store!

Thanks for stopping by!

 - Big hugs,

 Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Riley's Birthday Challenge!

Good Morning!  

It's time for  Riley and Company to have a brand new challenge for you!

This week's challenge at the Riley and Co. blog is brought to you by me this week :)  Since it's my son's birthday this week, I thought we'd create with this challenge:

Create a Birthday Bash, Party Time card!

If you upload to the gallery, please use the keyword Riley1812!

Here's my card for the bi-weekly birthday challenge ~ using the sketch from CPS! Riley is ready to celebrate with his yummy chocolate cake :)

Here is the sketch I followed from Card Positioning Systems #281

And a small side view!

We'd love to see what you create as well ~ 

Be sure to head over to the Riley blog and link up your cards! 

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly