GNOME matter what ...

 Hi friends!

GNOME matter what, you are special!

We are in the midst of some crazy times, 

but hang in there! 

I didn't realize when I cropped this picture that it says the words ...

Calm?

Me?

What?

LOL!

 

One of the highlights of my trip to Wisconsin in January 2018

was visiting the Creative Pals stamp store ~

 home of Whipper Snapper Designs.

It was wall to wall F*U*N!

I came home with more stamps than clothes in my luggage but shhhhh ...

don't tell anyone :)

I recently placed an order last week 'just because'

and added some long wished for stamps to my collection - like this one!

I absolutely adore Gnorbitt and think he might be my favorite gnome!

I usually color primarily with prismacolor markers

so I'm still learning how to use my copic markers to blend and layer.

I also used the 'leave some white space' that I learned in Kathy Rac's 

online creative classroom and have to say - I like it! 

It gives it a little more depth - and character :)

I've actually stamped him several times for the Daily Marker 30 Day

coloring challenge and will eventually color him again and make more cards.

For now, this is card #2 using the same 6 x 6 designer paper sheet 

in my quest to use that one sheet in a creative way. 

The first card was this one from Saturday!

Gnome matter what - keep calm!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Happy Birthday to me! {Giveaway!} ♥

Hi friends!

I am so grateful for you all!

For your kind words, your prayers, and well wishes for Chrissy ♥

I am overwhelmed by those that have reached out for my address as well ~

thank you so much!

And ... today is my birthday :)

Even though Miami has not 'sheltered in place',

Covid19 has us postponing my birthday weekend that was originally planned
because almost everything is closed.

I'm told my celebratory birthday dinner was moved to our home 

and I don't know what the hubby/kids have planned,

but most of it has involved a lot of laughter and a few messes!

Hmmmm.

I had planned a giveaway for today as a way of saying thank you

for your friendship and 'reader'-ship!

I've been blogging for 11 years and am so happy to know you all
and have met some of you in real life, too!

And every birthday party should have a goodie bag!

Before Covid19, I'd planned to give away TWO $25.00 Gift Certificates

to the online craft store of your choosing :)

 Yes - WINNERS!

I am giving away one here on my blog

and one over on my Instagram - twice the fun!

{I wish I could something to everyone and I do have them from time to time, especially on Instagram}
Good luck on entering and the winner will be drawn on 4/4/20!

Onward to my card!

   My card today is for the CYS card group on Splitcoaststampers.

The CYS = Challenge Your Stash and it's basically a great way to use stamps

that you own and rarely use, or have never used, and get them inky!

The theme this month is:

"March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb."

  I decided to use my MFT Stamps Puddle Jumper ~ oh, he's a favorite of mine!

The take away I got from the theme is that it's weather related.
I colored half of the image and then paper-pieced the umbrella and boots.
I am sending this card to a dear friend so I used a different sentiment
from the MFT Stamps Cheerful Blessings stamp set.
So many wonderful faith based sentiments in the set - I just love it
and really need to use it more often.

And that's it from my little corner!
I pray you are all doing well in spite of and keeping healthy.
It's a huge adjustment having our world turned upside down
and I offer you my prayers and heartfelt wishes for you to be safe.

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

I'll enter this to: Allsorts - For the Boys 
Simon Says Stamps - Anything Goes
 

CCEE2013: Caffeine Awareness Month

Hi friends ♥

I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit your blogs :(

I"m home now and I'm hoping to catch up today and tomorrow.

My daughter, Chrissy,  has been quite ill and finally hospitalized,

hoping to find the proper diagnosis for her being so sick.

Test after test and through an astute physician, we were able 

to find the cause and get the proper treatment for her!

Praise the Lord, it is NOT the Coronavirus ~

and we are now home, helping her rest and recover, poor baby.

SHAMELESS plug 

but .....

 if you would like to send her a card,

it would brighten her day tenfold to be surprised ♥ 

If you email me at Kelnkids@aol.com, I'd be happy to share our address.

I would normally never ask

but she is truly one of the kindest souls that walks this planet

and has the most beautiful heart.

In the midst of being so very VERY ill,

she was helping families from church 

and selflessly asking what she can do for everyone else.

I would love to bring a little cheer her way from the mailbox

Thank you - for your prayers, calls, texts and love! ♥

God is good and crafty friends are pretty super :)

Today is a new challenge over at the CCEE Stampers 

and Maryann's challenge is:  Caffeine Awareness Month ~

create a card with a coffee theme.

Easy peasy!

My stamp stash is full of those stamps!

I've used Picket Fence Studios this week

'Coffee Understands'.

I'm always grateful for a cup of coffee!

In fact, although my card is lackluster due to lack of time,

I chose this one for the exact sentiments ~

coffee knew, coffee kept me going, coffee kept me alert!

These are some wild Miami colors!

They were on the top of my scrap pile so I just grabbed 2 at random.

I stamped the image and sentiment first,

then masked it off with sticky notes.

Then, using a stencil (I think it's MFT Framework), I gave it a quick

blend with my Tim Holtz blending tool and Dried Marigold distress oxide ink

to match the marigold/marmalade-ish color of the cardstock.

Super quick and done!

You can see what the DT has created, too, by heading to the blog.

As always, you can link up your cards with the Mr. Linky at the bottom.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far!

I'm so blessed to know you ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

TPB: Love you as much as.....

Hi friends!

Today is my day to post over at The Project Bin blog!

There is a brand new stamp set that has been released called Defined ~

oh, how my inner logophile squealed with delight!

I love words and books and writing ~ they make me happy ♥

My stamp set is still en route and I can't wait to see it in real life :)

For today, I'm using another newer stamp set called Just Sayin'.

I adore the font and the sweet sentiments in this set ~

and there are 17 in total.

I love the sentiment in this set that says I love you as much as ..

for me, 

that says a lot :)

 Buddy - our (my) Jack Russell Terrier ~ follows me around the house

and is truly my shadow.  

Oh how he loves his mama (me!)

and my husband calls him my '5th child.' 

We also have my daughter's dog and her cat, both rescues,

so I thought it would be fun to make one of each card!

I've used 3 different stamp sets

 and you can find them in the shop here.

 I've used Just Sayin, Feline Good and Kinda Pawsome.

Here's a quick look at the newest set ↓

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

It's a floral CASE :)

Hi friends!

Happy Monday!

 I hope your day 

- despite all that's going on in the world - 

BLOOMS ♥

 I needed to get a few packages in the mail

and some cards to go with them ~

like this one!

This card idea and color theme is not my own ~

it's a CASE of the Featured Stamper this week

at Splitcoaststampers: Paper Crafty!

Her blog has long been an inspiration to me

and the hardest part was chosing ONE card!

This is the card I chose of Sheri's 

and I left most of the card the same design and colors.

I changed up the sentiment to one from Pink Fresh Studios

and the flower is from Technique Tuesday's Greenhouse Society,

Fresh Peonies.

I was a member of their subscription last year
and this was the March 2019 club flower.

Stay safe out there, friends ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Card entered to: Word Art Wednesday - AG

A grateful he(art) ♥

 Hi friends!

I pray you are doing well in your little corner of the world ♥

It hasn't been easy for many of us to practice 'social distancing'

especially when we are social creatures by nature ~

heading out to grocery stores, book clubs, choir practices, schools and church,

just to name a few.

But we really should 

and I know ~ it's quite an adjustment!

In our house, it's FULL.

My usual quiet time to craft is now filled with the sound 

of chattiness and everyone doing what they would normally do in a day

and it makes for a very cramped, somewhat chaotic, way to craft!

Are you missing your mojo?

Do you have a houseful of family members?

Or are you missing the area you used to go?

It is too quiet perhaps?

Here's an idea:

Create your own Creativity Box!

It's mojo-vating, it's creative and it's FREE!

Take a box.

Any box!

And fill it with a few things that you need to stay in the game.

 If you don't have the actual items to add into the box,

you can always print out some ideas to motivate you.

The idea is to see your 'crafty task' and be creative,

distractions or maybe no distractions,

be it loud or too quiet or even just right :)

 From the Creativity Box, I created a card using scraps of material.
Earlier this year, in my Word of the Year post,
I mentioned I was going to do a series called A Grateful He(art) ~
art with love inspired by Alice ♥
 

And not just any material - it's a leftover from my daughter.

She fell madly in love with a dress for her daughter (Alice)

but it was from last season.

She's only been able to find it in a size 12

and she needs a 2T.

Being the creative soul she is, she bought the secondhand size 12

and tore it apart to recreate it in a smaller size.

 Which meant a lot of scrap material!

(sorry the photos are dark and grainy!)

She's still completing it but with the leftover material, 
I scooped up a little piece to complete this card.

And - yay - the challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week
 is all about material so the timing was perfect!

I've used one of my favorite Stamp Anniething stamps 

and colored it in coordinating colors of the material.

The sentiment is from a stamp set from My Favorite Things,

as are the stitched dies and banner die. 
The material is a thin summer cotton so it actually cut
with the die as easy as paper!

                    And this is one more card done with a recycled theme: ✔

 Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Just a HOPPY note!

 Hi friends!

Riding by with a hoppy note!

 

I am so in love with this cute little bunny from Avery Elle Stamps ♥ 

This stamp and die set is called Wheelie Great

I decided to make a quick card with this bunny

that I colored from the 30 day marker challenge. 

 

All the parts of this card are little bits from my scrap pile ~

I combined them all onto one card 

so I could get this cutie in the mail ♥

 

I have something fun to share on my blog this weekend ~

I hope you can stop by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly 

CCEE2012: Wedding/Anniversary/Celebration!

Hi friends!

Happy Thursday!

I hope you all and your families are doing okay with Covid19.
We are adjusting somewhat to the 'new normal'

with my son home and doing virtual school.

He's been super at keeping up with assignments

and doing his own version of PE by long boarding and biking :)

There's a new challenge this week at the CCEE Stampers ~

Weddings/Anniversaries/Celebrations!

I'm very blessed to have a wedding anniversary coming up next month:

27 years with my sweet hubby!

We've been together for 36 years total

and he loves to say he deserves a medal :)

I agree - his wife is pretty awesome!

LOL!

My card is for an anniversary 

and I went with the classic gold and black ...

very Audrey Hepburn ♥

Cheers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

RSG: Waving from Ireland!

 Hi sweet friends!

I'm not really waving from Ireland - just in my heart ♥

I am 1/2 Irish (and why my dad named me Kelly!) 

so this is always a fun time of the year

(Covid19 not included!)

And my birthday is coming up soon ~

which means we'll be REALLY creatively celebrating this year, LOL!

Back to Ireland!

Today is the newest card for the blog series Ready, Set, Go ~

a card group that takes a challenge and goes a little more extreme.

Sometimes they are a real challenge and way outside the box,

and other times they are pretty simple like this month.

Barb is our hostess and this is her challenge:

We post on the 18^th of March,  the day after St. Patrick’s Day. 

 You have been tasked to make a card or project using green someplace.

  You also need to do some research and showcase something Irish, other than a shamrock.  It can be another symbol, a food, area of Ireland,  a celebration or tradition,  etc. 

anything to do with Ireland and the Irish people.

Ready? Set? Go!

 

 I grew up {mostly} in Europe 

and castles and castle ruins were often my playground :)

We even lived blocks from one in our town of Ulmen,

along the Cochem-Zell are of the Rhineland.

Right by our house was the Castle Ulmen, built in the 11th century

 and my brother and I rode our bikes there to spend hours upon hours

jumping around it and playing endless activities.

It's nestled on the southern embankment of the Ulmener Maar

(huge lake, perfect for swimming in the summer when it was stifling hot!)

 Except when we first moved to this small town, 

and barely spoke 3 words of German at that time,

 the neighborhood kids tried to scare us away

by telling us the ghosts of all the knights killed in battle lived in that lake

and would pull us down and drown us if we dared to go in the water.

It was a great way to keep the marr to themselves and us out of it -

and believe me, we didn't go in!

 

And the connection to our Ready, Set, Go challenge?
CASTLES!
I ADORE them ♥

 

We visit them every time we plan a trip to Europe

and have taken the kids 3 times ~

each time it is a MUST on the itinerary.

And, of course, there's the one in Magic Kingdom which I've seen 100 times or so.

Having dinner there inside Cinderella's castle was a bucket list moment CHECK!

Ireland has some of the most beautiful castles 

and on my bucket list to see 2 in particular ...

maybe if I hit the lottery one day :)

I've used a really old Inkadinkado stamp with a castle on it.

For the Irish aspect, aside from the castle, I used the colors of the flag ~

orange, green and white.

I used the MFT Cloud stencil to create the clouds with Ranger Ink's distress oxide ink in dried marigold

and the green grass from is from a mat stack from Lawn Fawn.

 

 Since we're a group of 3, 

you can see Barb's card here

and Jeanette's card here.

 

It's a pretty simple card overall and I call it my one and done :)

I left the castle intentionally uncolored (that's twice in a row!)
For someone who LOVES to color (me!)

you can tell it's a sign of the times ... no time!

 

I'm the hostess for next month

and have quite a challenge in mind! :)

 

 Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD: I ♥ coffee!

Hi friends!

It's the 15th of the month and that can only mean one thing ...

it's the 15th of the month!

Just kidding! :)

With the Coronavirus, the world has gone crazy pants 

 and this whole toilet paper shortage has me completely baffled.

We all need to be safe, take precautions and wash. those. hands!

and just try think as positively as we can.

 I'm sending hugs from me to you ♥

 Today is the day that the Dueling Darlings card group

posts our cards created with a kit sent to us.

This month, Tami and Terry L picked a theme:

 National Day of Happiness ~
Something you love ♥

This adorable coffee themed kit was sent to me by Tami!

It's an adorable mix of red and white polka dot and striped papers

with coffee cups and fun sentiments from Avery Elle's Cool Beans.

For my card, my Scan n Cut is in a wonky mood lately 

so I had to fussy cut these images from the stamped cardstock.

I'm thinking if I can't cut a simple coffee cup shape,

 I probably shouldn't be cardmaking - LOL! 

The paper is so bold and dramatic, I decided at the last minute

not to add little coffee filters with kraft paper

and I used the twine and rhinestones Tami sent instead.

It's all popped up on 3D foam and done!

 

 The extra credit this month to share something we love 
and that makes us happy.6

For me, it's so many things ~

 but in the spirit of this post, it's coffee!

And not just any coffee.

It's Starbucks!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan and it's always fun 

when my friends - online and IRL - tag me with #starbucks

because they know me so well ♥

So even if you aren't a coffee fan, it's okay - we can still be friends!

My mum raised me on English tea, too :)

Cheers!

 You can see all of the Diva and Dazzler cards

over on Splitcoaststampers in the card group:  Dueling Darlings 2020.

Coming up in the fall, we will be celebrating 10 years together!

That's a latte to love!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly