Kelly's CRAFTING theme of 2013 (Jan. Calendar Girls)

Each year, I have a 'word' that inspires me - it becomes my mantra and my challenge to last the whole year through.  I almost always strive to have something spiritually based as that is pretty much the foundation of who I strive to be (even though I often fall short of my 'word!')  

 In addition to having a word of the year, I also have a crafting 'theme' of the year.  I try to make it rhyme {not just to be cute and catchy) but to help me actually remember it! *smile!* 

Last year was "Take it off the SHELF in 2012" which inspired me to use some of the SU! stamp sets that I bought on a binge when I first started card making!  I was so proud that I followed through with my challenge!

So this year?  Hmmmm, '13.  That's a tough one!  
You could rhyme it with the "thirt" part ..... or the "teen" ... what to do!  
Then I remembered that I really loved the process of learning new things last year - whether it was a challenge tossed down or a DT requirement to a simple browse through a gallery and thinking "I would love to try that!"

And an idea was born!  This year's theme is .....

I'll be LEARNing in 2013!

How exciting!  I'm already ear-marking new challenge spots,

techniques to try, ways to stretch my creative mind waaaaay out of it's comfort zone and still play along with my favorite groups, friends and regular hangouts :)

My crafting goals for Learning in 2013 ~ 

1. To post once a month something I've made with something learned; henceworth, called my LINY cards!  (Learning In the New Year) :)
2. To learn to love scrap-booking again!  This was my first crafting love and I promised my girls I'd get those pages done!
3. To learn new techniques with the stamps + papers I own rather than "stay stuck in a rut!"

4. To learn to use each item I've been gifted or won in a blog hop/candy! I'm so excited about that one!
5. To reconnect with all the challenge sites I've learned about  - new and old!

And right out the gate, I am excited that the Calendar Girls' hostess, Jeanette, gave us a challenge this month that sort of allows creative freedom!
We are to find a picture - either on the web or one of our own - and create a card/project inspired by that.  I have so very many pictures that inspire me but truly one of the greatest loves of mine to craft are scriptures. 
I find that even in my walk of faith, I like to include a craft from time to time - be it something creative in my church women's fellowship or maybe a card or faith-book page!  Literally, my intended card bothered me so greatly that I started all over, pretty much at zero hour!  
I typed in christian images and this one was like the 3rd one I saw - and it felt like "the one!"  I intended to make a CAS card with just one layer of dsp - the purple colored background, but I failed big time! I just couldn't do it :)  I quickly added a few more layers and colors to the card and am much happier with it ... I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this case!

So here is my photo inspiration:

followed by my humble card :)
For this card, I used an old set of stamps from Stamps Happen that have NEVER seen ink, shamelessly!  They inked up perfectly and were so wonderful to use!  The petals and flower are actually a half flower.  I over-layed the stamp to create a full flower, added a few stickles and propped it up on 3D dots for a bit of dimension.  What I did different for this LINY card #1 was use my aqua painter and water color crayons to create the flower.

 So this is my LINY card #1 for the year and still in the month of January :)

1.  Green at Heart DSP from Basic Grey (this was a must have when it was first released and I made one card and hoarded saved the rest!)

2.  The Numbers scripture stamp and SNSS butterfly stamp (that one was gifted as a GDT many years ago!)

3. Aqua painter and water color SU crayons - dusted off and put to good use!

Whew, thanks for reading this super long post!  I'm excited to be starting off the new year fresh and ready to conquer many of my 'bucket list' crafting items :)  I made lists.  ALL. the. time.  But this is the year to get them DONE! 

At least that's my silent mommy prayer :)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly