CCEE: You're the em-BOSS!

Hi friends and Happy Thursday ...... I think! 

Heavens to Betsy,  I love me a 3 day weekend 

but I can't for the of me remember what day it is!

I ran around all day today thinking it was Tuesday!

The CCEE Stampers this week have our final challenge with our hostess, Anne.

She asked us to create a card using embossing folders.

That's not a crafty element I use very often, if ever :)

I remembered I picked up 3 new embossing folder/stamp combo packs

at Michaels, one being a cactus folder/stamp ♥

I am so in love with succulents!

I have been going crazy for succulent stamps ~ 

anything with a cactus, potted plants, monstera leaves ♥

Naturally, this background called for a cactus so I used my 

Newton's Nook Cuppa Cactus stamps and dies
and colored it with my Zig clean brush markers.

Then, I heat embossed the funny coffee sentiment from the set.

I added a few colorful enamel dots and then let the card be ~

showcasing the embossing folder!

 

I'm not a big fan of embossing folders 

but I have to give props where they are due :)

These are not big 'name brand' embossing folders but definitely do the trick!

The responded very well to both #65 and #110 cardstock

and the stamps are an added little bonus.

I paid $1.10 in store (love those coupons!) awhile back

but they are online right now for $1.oo.

I bought 3 planning to do an review on my YouTube channel ..

stay tuned!

To see what the rest of the CCEE Stampers created,
stop by the blog ~ you'll be im'pressed' ... 
hee hee!

 Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 I'll enter this into the Spring/Summer Coffee Lover's Hop!

Memorial Day Mouse ♥

 Happy Memorial Day!

To my friends and family near and far,

I hope this day brings you a moment of reflection

 and happiness and remembrance ♥

 

And to my 'boss', Denise, at The Project Bin stamps,

thank you SO MUCH for the day off! :)

 My card today warms my heart as it's one I recreated after receiving

the sweetest message via Facebook!

That's what I love so much about this craft of ours ~

the friends we 'bump into' by happenstance ♥

I was chatting with a sweet lady about the military and us growing up

all over the world in an Air Force family.

She mentioned her son is a new US Marine and stationed in Hawaii ..

and I sent her a package to her and one for her to send to him.

She received it as she sent the sweetest message via FB.

It prompted me to recreate a card that I had made 

previously, which you can see here.

i quickly got to work and changed a few things around

to meet a patriotic theme instead ...

and voila!

In case you were wondering why a mouse on a card for a soldier?

Glad you asked!

LOL!

Today's the day that we post our "Challenge Your Stash" cards

and Pansy - hostess for May - asked us to add a mouse to our cards.

It's her signature since she's C-Mouse - isn't that cute!

I used Harvest Mouse stamps and dies from My Favorite Things

and then added a sentiment from another MFT stamp set "Adventure is calling."
  The star designer paper was the requirement for the CAS challenge on SCS

and the sequins were added to finish off the look.

Now I just hope they make it on their long flight to Hawaii ♥

Be blessed today, friends.

Hugs your loved ones and thank a soldier ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Sunday Funnies ~ 4th Edition: You're SUPER, girl!

Hey girl! ← in my best Ryan Gosling voice,
 LOL!

 

You're SUPER, girl!

I so loved the soft, subtle colors from this week's MFT Card Challenge #94!

I normally make a bee line and zero straight in on brights, bolds, vivids!

This was such a refreshing change to color/create with a softer palette.

These colors - so yummy!

 

This is my final blog series in the Comics Sunday Funnies ~

it's been so much fun coming up with different themes

and the nostalgia of picking up the Sunday papers for the comics section ♥

 I grew up in the Wonder Woman era (go Linda Carter!)

and love how inspiring she was to my generation :)

I used my a My Favorite Things stamp You're Super by Birdie Brown

that I was super lucky to get during their $10 sale back in February.

Then I had to go back and buy the matching dies during another sale :)

 I've wanted this set since forever so I'm happy to know have both!

 I made this card by creating a 'city' with the city-scape stamp twice,

 stamped with mint green ink and 

then die-cutting both to make an elongated city in the background. 

 Then, i stamped/die cut and colored supergirl and her shield, 

coloring both in the colors of challenge #94. 

 Lastly, I stamped out the sentiment that best fit the friend

 that will be receiving this card from me ♥ 

 Thank you all for your visits, especially during the Sunday Funnies series!

 It was really SUPER!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

 I'll enter my card into the current @mft challenge.

CCEE1821 ~ N.E.W.S!

Hello friends!

It's time for a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers 

and Anne has a new challenge for us.

She writes:

I wake up in the morning to the NEWS.
  Make a card using each of these letters ..... N, E, W, S.

Thanks, Anne!

Here is my card feauting the news:

N = Night

E = Evening, enamel dots

W = Windows, WHAM!

S = Superhero 

To make this card, I used a night time city space idea

but creation a cityscpape with the Tim Holtz dies.

I ran it through the cuttlebug twice, once in black and once in yellow.

After popping out the small squares for windows, I let the yellow shine through like light.

Next, I popped up the tiny hero from Mama Elephant

and added some glittery silver enamel dots.

 And if you'd like to be in the running for blog candy giveaway from me

with the comicbook/Sunday comics theme,

you can read about it in the first series post here!

Be sure to stop by and see what the other CCEE Stampers
made with this theme ~ it will be fantastic!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥
~Kelly

TPB ~ It's Summer somewhere!

Hi friends!

Happy Monday!

I hope your weekend was spectacular ♥

Today's card is channeling summer!

When I made it last week, we were packing our bags to head 

to the beach ourselves for our weekend getaway :)

 

This card was such fun to make.

It's a collaborative card using products from Eyelet Outlet

and The Project Bin from the Instagram hop they had this weekend. 

I used the Summer Fun stamp set, one of my favorites!  

I chose products that reflected a beach/summer theme

since I knew that's what my card would be.

Here's how I made this card:

I started by masking and blending my Tim Holtz Distress Oxides

in Broken China and Squeezed Lemonade and my mini blending tool.

I wanted to create the illusion of sand dunes 

and in order to do that, I created a template out of chipboard.

The palm tree brads were a bit smaller than I planned for

so I went with a 'in the far distance' look :)

And to finish it off the beach scene, I added seagulls,

the quintessential bird at the ocean!

 

Finally,  I created a frame to go around the image and 

popped the whole card onto 3D foam.

This card is really thick, measuring almost 1/4 of an inch!

I really love this card ~  it's so peaceful, serene, calming ♥

I do love living so close to the beach and visiting often ...

hence, the name of my blog :)

Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Sunday Funnies ~ 3rd Edition!

Hi there, friends!

KAPOW!
You're really super!

I got such a late start to the day for posting my card :/

We just got in from a vacation weekend

so I'm finally editing this post :)

I made this card using the tiny heroes from Mama Elephant ~
cute right?
I have so many ideas for this stamp set!
I wanted the super hereos to 'fly' in the scense I'm creating so 
I fussy cut the images.
The die cuts are from the massive Hobby Lobby clearance hall ~ $1.25!
It was a 3 pack of Momenta cityscape dies and a really wonderful find!
It was a perfect match for the scene building ..
I went with one in darker black for the background, 
and a lighter grey for the forefront.

And that's today's card!
Leave a comment below and I'll add it to the random selection 
after next weeks' card!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! ♥
~Kelly

and it was a 3 pack of Since this is a weekly contest and giveaway,

I didn't want you to miss out on an extra chance to win!

 

Kelly

Something Old, Something New ....

 Hi friends!

Today's card will be pulling 'double duty' on my blog today ~

one for the Ready, Set, Go! theme of mine

and one for the CCEE Stampers challenge!
We're heading out for a belated Mother's Day weekend to the beach ~
packing, getting gas, last minute preparations and details ...

Woohoo!

We've room for one more if you want to come along! ♥

 

I'm the hostess for the May theme for the Ready, Set, Go and

Anne is the hostess for the CCEE Stampers and asked us to create

a card/project using 'hoarded paper' ~ perfect!

The R, S, G is a challenge with the 3 of us that is not for the faint of heart :)

It's a bit more challenging and thinking (way!) outside the box!

I based my theme on my daughter's wedding a few months ago ♥

She was such a breathtaking bride and I couldn't help but think

of the old saying "Something old, Something new"

Here is your challenge:  It is based on my daughter's recent wedding--"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and A Sixpence in your Shoe!" 

With the season of weddings upon us, I thought this traditional wedding saying would be a fitting challenge to create a card or project!  This tradition comes from an Old English rhyme and the four objects that the bride adds to her wedding outfit or carries with her on the big day are just good luck charms.  Of course, it is a folk tradition in that, for example, something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.

So this is where your card or project come in!  You may use this saying in any form you like BUT use at least 2 ways to transform this saying into a card.  For example, your card could use a borrowed stamp, one that's old or new ... you can make it in shades of blue .... you get the idea.  It does NOT need to be a wedding card ~ just as long as we see where the (minimum) of 2 things you chose are!  Ready? Set. Go!

Here's how I came up with my card (even if we only needed TWO of the above!)

1. Something Old ~ this paper!  Gosh, it's been in my stash, hoarded indeed.
I even bought a second pad because I loved it and didn't want to use the first one!  And, for Anne's challenge, ✓!

2. Something New ~  this beautiful stamp and die set from Gina K Designs called Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful ~ swoon!  This set is exquisite, and I love it so much because Barb and a squad of beautiful friends were there when I was able to buy it .... with a very kind, sweet, generous and soul touching gift! ♥

3.  Something Borrowed ~ This is skirting a little bit, lol, but I borrowed the idea of a bike ride from my friend Barb ~ she does love her bike rides, including long bike tours for miles and miles!  Impressive!  

4.  Something Blue ~ I purposely chose the paper for Anne's challenge to have hues of blue so I could use blue cardstock.  And I colored the bike blue :)  My bike in real life is green and her name is Jo-Jo!

No six pence in my shoe - but I"ll be thinking good thoughts with all the royal wedding watchers!  I'm SO excited to see Meghan's wedding dress most of all! 
My mum is from London, born and raised, so we're all super thrilled to see this wonderful event.

So here's my card!

So if you want to see what Barb made and Jeanette made with this theme,

 be sure to click their blog links. 

  Next month, it's Barb's turn and she already has an amazing theme picked out!

And, of course, the CCEE Stampers blog is here!  

What papers do you think they hoarded? :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

 Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 

Namaste!

Today is World Meditation Day!

 

I try to keep up on my obscure holidays because I think they are hilarious!
They are also a great way to springboard an idea for a card!

 I did know it was chocolate chip day

 so I was excited to hear that today we get our Namaste on! :)

I remembered a few months ago I purchased these Yoga frogs 

from Stampendous and set them aside.

Today, I went through my stamps looking for them - it was perfect!   

I know if I were a yoga frog, 

I'd be the one dreaming of pizza :)

*Peace!*

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD: A Spring Tweet

Hi friends!

Thank you for your kind words!

I've had a couple of people reach out and ask if I'm okay,

offered prayer and lots of hugs ....

THANK YOU!
I had a really bad slip and fall ~

banged my back, hip and head smack onto the tile

as I didn't have time to brace for impact.

PTL, nothing is broken - just bumps and bruises and a concussion.

Time and positive thinking are great healers ♥

Today is the day the Dueling Darlings post our cards for the lastest card kit duel!  If you are new to my blog, the DDD is a group I created many years ago and most of us are still the original founding players ♥

We are a group of friends divided into two groups: The Divas and the Dazzlers.

Each month, a hostess from the Divas and a hostess from the Dazzlers

 come up with a theme, mail card kits to all the players, and we make a card!  

This month, Heather and Paola were the hostesses to mail card kits

 and Heather sent us this month's kit.

The theme they chose:  A Spring Tweet!

This was such a pretty kit .... It's very feminine and ethereal.

The stamp is from Prickley Pear and I tried to use at least one of everything

in the kit and made it happen except for the ribbon :) 

 You can see what the other Divas and Dazzlers made with this theme

if you click on the sidebar →

Thank you, Heather and Paola, for a sweet tweet this month!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

TPB ~ You roll with style!

 Hello friends!

Now that we've celebrated the moms, next up is Father's Day!

The new stamp set from The Project Bin makes it so easy

to get a head start on those masculine cards ..

especially with this super fantastic 'Classic Man' set.

 

I'm super excited about today's card because I've added something new ...

antique car washi tape from the Eyelet Outlet!

And woohoo - it's 50% off in their store! 

*yay!*

Classic Man from The Project Bin makes it so easy to create masculine cards,

ones that take me a little longer to figure out :)

I started with a simple A2 base and created a frame out of designer paper.

I used the antique car washi tape as a border ~ then

I stamped/fussy cut the classic car and added it as a focal point.

Finally, one of the sentiments in the set "you roll with style"

seemed best fitting so I chose that, some enamel dots and done!

But wait!

There's more! :)

 

In addition to dressing up the inside of my cards (often you don't see that!),

there's a new stamp set at The Project Bin stamps called Hand Made -

and it's for stamping the backs of your cards,

You get a set of 9 clear stamps to add a little personalization

to your paper crafting and add your autographs :)

We have a joke here at home when I give my husband one of my cards ...

I always tell him "Don't throw this out ~ I'll be famous one day!" 

LOL!
(He wouldn't, it's part of the joke!)

Here's the new stamp set ↓

 

 And another look at Classic Man ↓

I hope your Monday is a good one :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  A gem of a challenge - Masculine!
 sisterhood of snarky stampers - E is for engineering
International Art and Soul - One for the boys 
The Male Room -  Challenge #85/cars
613 Avenue Create - Mostly Blue