CCEE1739 - Johnny Appleseed Day!

Hi friends!

Just a quick post today to bring you yet another fabulous

challenge from the CCEE Stampers!

I was the hostess for September and today's theme 

celebrates Johnny Appleseed!

Fun fact! 
YOU CAN STILL VISIT ONE OF HIS TREES!
Nova, Ohio is home to a 176-year-old tree, 
the last known to be planted by Johnny Appleseed himself. 
It grows tart green apples, which are now used for applesauce 
and baking and for cider making!
Thank you, Ohio!

For my apple themed card, 
I reached for one of my favorite stamp sets
 from The Alley Way Stamps (retired)
I stamped out the basket and colored it giving it a weathered look.
The apples are so much larger than the basket so I try
to center them a little wonky :)

Be sure to stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog to see what
the DT has created!
 If you'd like to create a card and play along with this week's theme,
use the keyword CCEE1739.

Thanks for your visit today!
Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Are you PHO real? :)

 Happy Friday!

At least I think it's Friday?!  

I'm losing track of the days of the week -

 even with a planner and wall calendar :/

 It's S.L.O.W.L.Y. starting to return to 'normal' status here in Miami, though 'normal' is not a word I'd use to describe Miami!  

A lot of the traffic lights are still not working, traffic is gridlocked and even this morning - it took me nearly 2 hours to get my son to school and back.

To just one school.

And it's 20 minutes away from my house!

    To which I  say ........

Are you pho real?!

:)

 Flash forward to last night ..

well, early this morning ...

at like 2:30 am early this morning!

I tried to make a card, failed, tried again, failed again,

and was about to give up when a Splitcoaststampers challenge 

popped up on my phone and caught my eye.

The theme intriqued me and made me laugh...

like. out. loud!

Picture it ...

the whole house is quiet as a mouse, sleeping ...

except me.

because I was arguing with a card!

True story.

I'm sitting there at my craft desk losing my mind 

with my tiny beam of Ott-lite as a beacon of "you can do it!" 

and I see the challenge and just bust up laughing!

It's a HANGRY challenge - LOL!

My daughter says that all the time!

 Hangry = when you are so hungry that your lack of food

 causes you to become angry, frustrated or both. 

So naturally I switched gears

(we crafters are good like that, right?

Or is it just me?

I'm going to make a card ..... oh look!  Another stamp!

I'm going to make a card ...... oh look!  Pretty paper!)

 

 I dug through my assorted stash of stamps with food,

and scooped up my Pink and Main Pandemonium stamp set

and got to stamping, masking, coloring .. I love these stamps ♥

Remember - it's now 3 am.

This card was anyone's game ~ I was just hoping to stamp

right side up and not glue the card shut, I was so cross eyed!

I was also determined.

And probably hangry, too.

Like pho real *wink!*

 It's so good to be back to crafting!

So much still here (and mom's house) to be done,

but a little me time as been SUPER!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

CCEE1738: Ahoy, Matey!

Hi friends!

Do you know what is a pirate favorite subject is?

Arrrrrrrt!  :)

Hee hee!   

 

You may remember from this post and this card 

that the CCEE Stamper have a new theme:  Talk like a Pirate Day!

As we were evacuating from the hurricane, I hadn't set the scheduling correctly

and my post launched early.  

Then, I left without taking the laptop, so it went unnoticed

until we returned home ~ well, shiver me timbers!

 

So I made a second card!  

For this card, I decided to use the stamps and the sentiments 

that my good friend Jeanette loaned me :)
I thought it would be fun to use a different pirate than last week's card.

This Kraftin' Kimmie set called 'Lil Swashbucklers' is just so cute! 

Be sure stop by the CCEE blog to see what other members have created ~

there's a lot of pirate (booty!) to see! :)

If you'd like to add a card and play along, please use the keyword
CCEE1738 and we'll come visit!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

Hello! I'm still here! :)

Hello friends!

 I have missed you! ♥

I'm sorry for my long absence from blogging.

In fact, Mondays are usually the day I post for The Project Bin,

but I haven't had a moment to get back to card making.

We were completed thrown out of any sense of normal life by hurricane Irma.

We prepped our home, then evacuated ~ leaving everything behind 

expecting a Category 5 to destroy our home and belongings :(

We came back home to a very un-normal life of clean up and rebuilding, 

both here and at my mom's house.

Even now as I type, I hear the faint sound of a generator in the distance

and the hammering of patching a roof or rebuilding the fences,

and chain saws continuing to cut through fallen trees.

 Our home is intact - PTL - and everything that fell/broke is replaceable.

 Petrol/gas is short, power is out everywhere,

massive trees are down and blocking roads, 

grocery stores are stripped bare.

We were able to skirt the disastrous Category 5 strength 

and get the outer bands of a 3 or 4 ~ such a blessing.

It breaks my heart to see how many are suffering total loss 
and devastation in the Caribbean islands and our beloved Florida Keys.

 So, I started coloring this morning after my son resumed school again. 
It's just a simple card, and about all I could manage.

 

I am so thankful for how many people prayed for us,

sent us wishes of good will and messages of strength and hope.

I feel blessed beyond measure knowing so many were thinking of us

and I thank you all, each and every one of you! 

This card is dedicated to all of you :)

Thank you ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE ~ Talk like a Pirate Day!

*Edited:  Friends, please pray for all of us in the path of Hurricane Irma.

We have our supplies, cars are gassed and evacuating the area within the hour

with my elderly mom and 4 kids and 2 dogs!

While we hope to skirt the path of the storm,

and being this far south in Miami, FL we really have no where to go

but upward and inward to stay safe. 

I pray for everyone affected by Irma ♥

Ahoy!

It's September and that means a new round of challenges

with the CCEE Stampers.

This month, I'm the hostess so I'll have a new theme for the DT

each week, all month long!

Shiver me timbers, Tuesday was "Talk like a Pirate Day!

 So I asked the team to create a card with a pirate/pirate lingo on it :)

I used an oldie-but-goodie The Greeting Farm, Ahoy Matey (retired)

My card is featuring TGF Ian as a pirate, but

the sentiment is from Kraftin' Kimmie stamps!

Long, long ago when I had a craft room,

this stamp set came with the sentiments but

 Arrrrrrgh!  

A landlubber me is!

I lost me treasure :(

I was able to borrow from me matey ....... Jeanette ....

who loaned me her Kraftin Kimmie stamps for the wee sentiment,

Thanks, matey!

I was able to take the sentiment and emboss with WOW powder in 

super fine white for some Yo! Ho! Ho! pirate lingo :)

Be sure to stop in to see the rest of the DT cards

o'er at the CCEE blog!

'Tis a treasure trove of card goodness!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Exciting news to share!! :)

 Hi friends ♥

 I'm so excited to share today's post!

This year, I really wanted to do more in my card making + crafting

so I finally jumped from 'do it' instead of 'keep thinking about it!'

*I now have a craft channel on You-Tube!*

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9ZdYO0GdM&feature=youtu.be

It really seems surreal, and there were a few boo-boos,
 but that's okay - it's the journey that makes it worthwhile :)

The link above ↑ will take you straight to my channel 
if you like to take a peek. 
 If you subscribe, it will let you know about
new postings and I'll be having a giveaway soon! ♥

So, are you part of the planner craze?
I am seeing planners and planner clips and planner stickers everywhere!

Planner clips are really easy to make. But today I'm showing you another way to make them
using your stamps and dies.

All you need are your stamps, dies (and if you don't have those, then scissors), markers,  glue (hot glue or all purpose like Aleene's tacky glue) and paper clips!
That's it!

Stamps and dies are typically known for cards and scrapbooks,
but in times of budgeting, it's a great way to really get the full use out of your products and stretch their usage.

It's economical, fun to do and you can tailor it 
to exactly the style and design you need!

For today's post and planner/journal clips, I've used 2 different stamps
and dies from The Project Bin.
Kinda Pawsome and Feline Good .

I'm a calendar on the wall girl at heart ~
 best way keep track of our busy family's crazy schedule!
But, I do have a small personal planner on my desk to
keep track of the different card groups I'm in and it's amazingly helpful.

  

Here they are all packaged up, in a little gift container ♥ 
Such a cute gift idea for birthdays, holidays, and just because :)

 Thanks for stopping by today!
If you head over to The Project Bin inspiration blog,
you'll see a wonderful variety of cards to admire!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly 

You GIRAFFE me crazy! ♥

I love, love, LOVE Altenew Stamps! 

 They are just gorgeous in design and a joy to stamp and color.

I was so so SO blessed to win a gift certificate early this year
and chose this stamp set awhile back,

 I took advantage of a sale during the summer AND they had free shipping

 so went back to bought the matching dies!  

Now that I finally inked it up, I wonder what took me so long
(no pun intended!)  :)

I know in my heart this set will get a lot of use ~ 

it's so different and unique and just stunning ♥

Onward to my card!

I'm in a card group on Splitcoaststampers called Challenge Your Stash (CYS)

in which we make a card once a month using things we already own.

No new products, no buying, just dig through your stamps

and make a card based on the challenge theme.

This month ~ our hostess is the amazing Darlene!

She asked us to .........

GULP ....

make a card using no designer paper.

Wait, what?

no.  designer.  paper?

None?

Oh this took some thinking!
And in the end, I ended up making a card, 
then fixing the card,
and so now I have two :)

Here is my original card:

 and my fixed one! :)

Thanks Darlene for a fun challenge this month!
The girls in the card group ROCKED this challenge -
from embossed backgrounds to just images as a focal point, 
it was fun to see them all :)

Jody is up next month and
I can't wait to see what she asks us to create :)

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card to:  AAA Cards - Creatures Great & Small

We love to Create - Anything Creative

Scrap and craft creations - colors of autumn