December's on its way!

Happy Fri-Yay, friends!

Tomorrow is December -one of the best months in the year ♥

And, in our family, also one of the busiest!

It's the holidays AND our 3 daughters all have a birthday in December ...

good times!

(and good tidings we bring! Hee hee!)

Today was my final coloring for The Daily Marker 30 Day.

Hard to believe a month of coloring has gone by.

It's always a joyous month to enrich our creative side and color!

And, for me, it gives me a chance to look for the stamp sets that

haven't had a chance to 'play!'

 

Today's card is one of those 'yay for play' cards!

I've used 2 My Favorite Things stamp sets ~

Jingle all the way and Deck the Howls ♥ 

Santa is checking his list ...

and he's checking to see if you've been naughty I'm SURE we are all on it!

I was last year!

See!

↓

I hope I'm on it again this year! :)

For my card base, I used the striped paper as a base ~

and a glittery circle pattern to bring out the holiday look.

I used a sentiment from Deck the Howls as well

to match the Santa and the sweet pup ♥

This card really makes me want to make all my Christmas cards tonight!

I colored a bunch of the images today from both sets ...

looks like the weekend plans are made :)

I'll add this to Kathy's link up on her amazing blog here!

 Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE1848: Circles and Squares!

 Hello sweet friends!

It's Thursday and that means it's the day

 the CCEE Stampers start a new challenge :)

And this is what I love SO MUCH about this talented group ~

one I'm very VERY blessed to be a part of ♥

The challenge themes are so creative and interesting ...

like this week!

 

This is Anne's last challenge for this month and this is what she gave us:

Anne here with my last challenge.  

This one is dedicated to my hubby, who is a retired Mathematics teacher.

Circles and squares are simple geometric shapes.

  Make a card using at least one of each.

Math and I don't get along very well  is my hardest subject

so it's a JOY to be doing mathematics on paper! :)

Here's what I came up with ↓

 

 There are quite a few birthdays coming up in December - 3 of them!
All 3 of our daughters were born in December .....
so I have to have the birthday cards ready to go :)

Using the Ski-sons Greetings stamp set from My Favorite Things stamps,
I created the {square} panel with a die-namic and then used a punch
to create the {circle} center shape.
The bear is colored with prismacolor markers and popped up on foam,
and a sentiment from the same stamp set is added on, too.

Be sure to stop by the CCEE blog and see what each of the designers
created this week with circles and squares.
Thank you, Anne, for a really fun month of challenges!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥
~Kelly

CYS: Masculine with a die cut!

Happy Wednesday!

Today's post is creating a card for the Challenge Your Stash card group.
And for the second time - in a row - 

I have a masculine card on my blog!

Our hostess this month, Maggie, 

asked us in the CYS group to create a card using

1.  A masculine theme and 

2.  had to inclue a die cut anywhere.

This was my take!

This card, to me, represents my husband and I.

He always pick me up when we were teenagers dating 

and we'd go star-gazing at a nearby lake.

We were so young

and dating in high school and broke!

So it was always a joy to spend quality time with each other,

talking on the real phone or doing things like watching

for falling stars - it didn't cost a thing other than to fall in love :)

 

The dies I've used are the border die and cutting out the critters/star,

which is brushed with wink of stella for some extra glitter.

And that's it!

This card will go to my husband - he's getting a lot of cards lately ♥

I'll add this to the very talented Kathy Rac's The Daily Marker 30 Day
as this was colored today and created today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings~
~Kelly

TPB: Masculine Christmas!

Happy Monday, friends!

I hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving/break!

Ours was simply delicious (in so many ways!)

While doing some Black Friday shopping,

I was able to scoop up some really good deals,

including some gifts for the guys in my family.

And it got me thinking ...

a masculine style card for Christmas!

Since Mondays are the day that I post for The Project Bin blog,

I knew right away how/where/when I was going to do my card :)

And ended up making TWO! :)

(the sentiments from The Project Bin are easy to do that!)

I immediately thought of the rustic deer from the Deer Mom stamp set,

and paired it with a different holiday stamps:  North Pole.

Both of them offer a simple holiday greeting that was perfect.

 

After stamping out the deer, I added a sentiment to each card ~

giving it a slightly wonky look to the image and cardstock.

This beautiful Deer Mom stamp is shown here as another way to use the 

stamp set to extend the life of your stamps from The Project Bin 

and use them in a creative way!

 I hope you enjoyed the cards today!
You can see the stamp sets in entirety here:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE1847: Humorous Birthday :)

Hi friends!

It's Thursday - and that means it's time

 for the CCEE Stampers to have a new challenge!

I love, love, LOVE this group as these ladies ~
The challenges they come up with are fab-u-lous.

This week:  Birthday humor!

Just like this hot java mama!

The robe, the curlers, the slippers! 

Love it!

Oh and she's from Art Impressions and so so funny!
Her birthday 'text' is a hoot!

 

You can see all of the birthday humor cards from the DT

here on the blog.

You can link up your cards, too - just use the linky!

Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

RSG: Portion Control!

    Hi friends 

and Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a house full of guests and family ~

a few extras (like every year!)

so I'm scrambling to get cards done and posted :)

Today's card is for the Ready, Set, Go! Challenge

with Barb and Jeanette and I.

I was the hostess this month with a theme of:  Portion Control!

Typically in November, we gather together with friends and family and celebrate the bountiful harvest with gratitude and thanksgiving! 

 And that usually includes lots of food :)  

No need to loosen a button or unbuckle the belt for this month the RSG!

For the crafty side of November, we’re going to show portion control!

  On this month’s card, use only a portion of your image!

  No full stamping ... only part of your image can be on the paper.

  For example, have a large flower stamp? Set it off the the edge of the paper!  You can add more than one - creating a collage effect if you like - but no full images, including only highlighting part of it like a spotlight technique

 (as the full image is visible below it.) 

 Have fun choosing your image and enjoy keeping the portions Lighter! 

At least for your cards ;)

For my card today, I used the stamp set Santa's Elves from My Favorite Things ~

a stamp set that I was lucky to win from MFT!

It was on my wish list for a long while and now it's in my home and heart!

I've made 3 cards with this set already ♥

I created a little cut out with some die-namics, paper, cardstock, ink + foam!

This card POPS!
Literally :)

  
I popped up the frame with 3d foam for dimension and let only 
a portion of the elf and tree be shown.
I embossed a sentiment from the same set for the front,
and stamped another on the inside!

I still decorate most of my cards on the inside,
but this one bears showing ♥

 Speaking of elves, it's almost time!
One of our TREASURED holiday past times is bringing out Buddy the Elf!

  I'm still having software troubles and my cards often look a little blurry.
They aren't :)
 If you click directly onto the photo, it usually shows up clear!

One day a little elf will show me I'll figure out all the techy stuff! 
Meanwhile, you can hop on over to Barb's blog and Jeanette's blog
and see what they made with Portion Control.

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

TPB: Let it snow!

Happy Monday, friends!

It's so wonderful seeing the photos that online friends 

are posting with blankets of snow on the ground.  

It's a stunning sight to behold - 

in the stillness, the soft snow banks and the trees covered with white glory!

  For me, it's absolute BLISS. 

 I grew up with winters and snow ~ and miss it terribly. 

 

 It's so funny to see people say things like "Let it snow ....... somewhere else!"

I'd give ANYTHING to have that joy of winter!

In exchange, I can give you gorgeous tropical breezes, 

swaying palm trees and sandy beaches while watching the blue surf roll in :)

Sound good?!

Speaking of snow, today's the day I post to The Project Bin blog.

I decided to break out North Pole - I know you've seen it a few times 

if you are a regular blog reader!

That's because ~ I love it!

It's such a wonderful and versatile stamp set and perfect for this time of year ♥

And did I mention it's funny as well?

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the crafters

from making cards!

To create this card, I die cut all the bits and pieces and panels ...

set those aside, and stamped the sentiment right onto the front panel.  

For the "let it snow" sentiment, I wanted just the wording from the snowflake stamp (this is actually the center) so I did some simple masking.

The trees are created from a die from CC Designs (ret'd)

and the snowbanks are a stitched grass/wave die from Pink and Main.

While I normally 'do up' the inside of my cards, too,

this one is thick and heavy from the front!

Hopefully the person this is heading to won't mind :)

You can see the entire stamp set here ↓

And you can find this set and more in the shop.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Santa's Coming to town ..

... and he's riding in a pick up! 

Happy Fri-Yay, friends!

The 3M - that would be Barb, Jeanette and I, 

post cards once a month based on an image.

This month, I was the hostess and chose this darling Santa and reindeer

image and sentiment from Stampendous called Santa's pick up.

 

They were on time posting on the the 9th ...

I've been swamped with family/commitments/events

but hopefully I'm still on Santa's good list!

I'm sure I am!

*wink! wink!*

 

If I had to decribe my card making style - 

I'd have to say I'm drawn to whimsical, colorful, and critters!

Anything that has cute animals, I am immediately pulled in

and start looking for it ♥

This stamp found me!

I was wandering through a store, waiting for my son to finish school,

and there it was - a ton of new stamps from Stampendous, each a delight!

Here is the inside of my card:

You can see what Barb created here and Jeanette's card here!

Thanks for stopping by today!

 And just in case ~ only 39 days left until Christmas!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE1846: Topaz!

Hi friends!

*Note:  I have 2 blog posts today!
For my Dueling Darlings card, please click here!*

Time for another CCEE Stampers Challenge
and this one is celebrating the birthstone of November:  Topaz!

Those born in November can choose between two sunny gemstones to brighten up the chilly month ~ one being Topaz.
 November’s birthstone topaz is known for it's calming energies, 
bringing warmth and fortune to those who wear them :)

Topaz occurs in a wide spectrum of colors far beyond yellow.

*Fun fact!*
 During the Renaissance in Europe,
 people believed that topaz could break spells and quell anger. 
Hindus deemed topaz sacred,

 believing that a pendant could bring wisdom and longevity to one’s life.

 Flash forward to current day, 

light blue varieties of topaz can be found in Texas and blue topaz became an official gemstone of Texas in 1969!

 

For my Topaz inspired card, I used an adorable Unity Stamp Company

stamp and sentiment called Casey, tiny fashionista.

She's so cute!

I have 3 daughters with birthdays coming up in December ...

yep, ALL 3 of them! 

So I'm getting a head start on their cards ...

and although they are no longer teeny tiny and clomping around in my high heels,

they will always ... ALWAYS ... be little in my eyes and heart ♥

 

I colored the image first,

and then decided to paper piece the dress, bow on her back and in her hair.

I used the flip side to a beautiful piece of designer paper called Petals and Paisleys

that I've hoarded had for forever!

Massive thanks to Laurajean for remembering the name of this dsp!

You rock!

{ She even sent the photo!}

 You can see all the designers cards on the CCEE Stampers blog!

There is also a linky for you to add your Topaz

inspired cards!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD: National Aviation Month!

Hi friends!

*Note:  I have 2 blog posts today!

For my CCEE Stampers card, please go here!*

I'm flying by with this month's card from the Dueling Darlings card group!

Our hostesses this month, Darlene for the Dazzlers and LJ for the Divas,
 chose a wonderful theme celebrating the history of flight.

I'm on Team Diva so I received a fabulous it from LJ,

filled with a choice of vibrant airplane, papers and matching embellishments!

This is what they planned:
 
"National Aviation History Month is dedicated to exploring, recognizing and celebrating America’s great contributions and achievements in the development of aviation. Aviation history refers to the history of development of mechanical flight — from the earliest attempts in kites and gliders to powered heavier-than-air, supersonic and space flights"

Let me say ... 
I. Love. This. Kit!!
It was so earthy and uninhibited and inspires adventure :)
LJ gave us the most gorgeous papers - it was HARD to cut/cover them up!
I let the papers shine through - and centered the script paper to resemble 
a letter tucked underneath and then die-cut a circular pattern with the stamp paper.  The airplane is popped up on 3d foam and the adventure away
chipboard sentiment is fastened with ATG.

You can see all of the Divas/Dazzlers cards by visiting
their blogs as listed in our group here!

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

OWL be there for you ......

\

 When the rain starts to fall ...........

Hi  F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

 Oh, I do miss watching this show!

I think one of my daughter's was binge-watching it for the first time 

recently, and I caught myself once or twice watching!  Again! :)

Mondays are always fun-days since I post a card with a stamp/die set

from The Project Bin stamps!

So OWL be there on The Project Bin blog today, too!

For this week's card, I'm heading back into fall :) 

I've used one of the festive autumn sets from a previous stamp release

called New Leaf.

  I was inspired by the sweet little owls that often burrow into a small hole, 

making homes out of the nooks and crannies in the tree.

I used my circle stitched die to cut the areas in the cardstock,

and used a fall inspired paper to peek through the back.

Once that was in place, I glued it down and assembled the base layers. I chose this colorful designer paper to create a woodland feel.

One of God's most beautiful creations is the changing of the leaves ~

the crisp and crunch and vibrant colors!

Here is the inside of my card:

 

 Before you go, here's  a little musical entertainment

 for about 50+ seconds or so!

Happy Day!

Here is the stamp set in it's entirety ↓

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE: Tongue Twister Day!

Hi friends!
Happy Thursday ~
only one more day until the weekend! ♥

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers and it's a fun one!

Today is Tongue twister Day!
Most languages have their own versions of tongue twisters.
In sign language, they are called “finger fumbles”.
 Use a tongue twister to inspire your card!

How. fun. is. that!

I actually asked my son for one ...  
regarding nuts.  Or squirrels. Or squirrels with nuts!
He gave me this one:

 Nine nimble noblemen nibbling nuts!

 Here is my nut inspired card!

 It's using this hilarious squirrel from Your Next Stamp
called Acorn Fall Fun.
I love his face - and that HUGE acorn - 
reminds me of me wishing for a Starbucks that size! :)

I kept my card pretty simple - using a new trick today!
The front of this card is actually the inside of another card from last year!
I simply removed the insert - 
re-die cut it with a stitched die,
ran a border die across it and created a panel look.

I love love LOOOOOVE when something old is new again!

Speaking of love, look at this squirrel cutie!

  You can see all the DT cards here on the blog!

Continuing on with my coloring for The Daily Marker 30 Day,
I''ll add this to the very talented Kathy's blog post link up!

You can find the information here!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly