A Year in Review ~ 2022!

And 2022 ~ it's a wrap!

It has been quite a year!  

This has certainly been a year of change

and just as my word of the year suggested,

it flowed :)

I saw changes (less blogging and time on online forums)

more growth (on my YouTube channel - thank you!)

and new adventures (new YT challenges, swaps and collabs!)

I LOVE my One Plus Twelve card challenge

and the cards I made each month

and will continue that next year 

but with a twist! :)

You know me - I'm not happy unless I challenge myself

and constantly keep the creativity flowing,

coming up with crazy ideas all the time!

 I'm looking forward to a creative journey in 2023 and

here is a look back at my annual Year In Review fave cards.

I hope you love looking back at your 2022, too!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

January news!

 Hello sweet friends!

It's almost 2023 ~ can you believe it!

January is right. around. the. corner!

Not only will we have a brand new year,

but a wonderful start to new endeavors ...

like one that graciously landed my way

and now - I can spill the coffee beans!

I fell absolutely head over heels with a company called

 A Colorful Life Designs

when their Cloud Edger stencil literally went viral!

I've made several cards with it and it still makes me swoon!

Which is what I did when they reached out and asked if I would

like to guest design for the month of January.

It was an unequivocal yes!

M20019 ~ Coffee stains

was part of my amazingly generous budget to choose

stencils to work on for the month of January.

Of course, I had to make sure at least one of them was coffee!

It's my blood type :)

And I ADORE this one!

I give you the option of a coffee cup stain, splatter or both!

I added this cute coffee kitty from Your Next Stamp

to be part of the kitty coffee crew.

Excited for the new year?

you bet!

stay tuned for what tomorrow to see more :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Kelly

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, friends!

Wishing you a day filled with love,

laughter, blessings and joy!

I'll be back on the 27th of December

with my

 Word of the Year 

and a look back

 at 2022's favorite cards!

I hope you and yours have a beautiful

Christmas - stay safe

and stay blessed!

~Kelly

Snowman ~ Joy of Blue!

 Hi friends!

I'm still finishing up my "catch up cards"

for various groups/challenges that I'm participating in

before 2022 comes to a close

and the brand new year begins!

My sweet YouTube friends introduced me to a new collab

Joy of Blue

 Many of the YT creators and I have become very good friends 

and there are so many wonderful collabs! :)

Joy of Blue is hosted by Sarah at CraftinandRelaxing

featuring the gorgeous color blue!

You can see the video here on my channel:

My card features a new to me Sizzix snowman die by Tim Holtz

that I purchased during the massive Hobby Lobby clearance.

I'm glad I picked him up - he's adorable!

This is a labor of love to die cut and piece together but the end

result is just darling!]

As you can see from the watercolored sky and blue mountains,

that's the dominant color.

I think this would be super cute in different colors

like a pink or purple background!

That's it for this one, my friends!

Wishing you a wonderful few days before Christmas - 

just 10 more days!

Thanks for stopping by :)

~Kelly

Mission (Im)Possible ~ Country flowers!

 Hello friends!

Today's card is for the Mission  Impossible Possible 

quarterly-ish card group

where we receive a mystery item from a hostess

and then create a card with the item.

I'm still catching up on making cards

like this one for the Mission imPossible card challenge.

This mission's mystery item is amazing and

Jeanette sent us the most fabulous package

with a stamp, matching die AND a stencil called Country Flowers

by Wendy Vecchi.

Here is the amazing mystery item:

So I used all 3 items included in the mystery package,

starting with the stencil. It has a scallop circle, dots, stripes

and a bordered edge and I used the dots and stripes

with alternating colors of yellow and pink distress oxide ink.

Since I was using some in your face bright colors for the flowers,

I left a lot of white space for the background of the stamps!

I stamped onto a watercolored paper with Altenew crisp black ink

and then used the enclosed matching dies to die cut them out.

Unlike yesterday, I'm really happy with how this turned out :)

Be sure to check out Jeanette and Barb

and see how they used this stamp/die/stencil set.

This was a fun group created by Jeanette

and I have enjoyed being part of it for the past 

but it's time to say goodbye.

I'll be back with another 'catch up' card.

I'm dedicating this month to past projects that need to be finished

including online workshops, past card kits and late projects.

Better late than never :)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

3M: December's Cup of Cocoa!

Hi sweet friends!

We are half way through December and it's almost time 

to ring in a brand new year! 

I'll be continuing with some of my card challenges

like this one (3M) and my One Plus Twelve series

but EEEEEKK!

I am absolutely beside myself as I still do not have 

'the one' for my challenge and it starts in literally 

a couple of weeks!

I have 2 that I'm considering strongly but

I just don't *feel it* ~ if that makes sense.

I need to stop overthinking it and just CHOOSE!

So! 2023 will also see the return of this challenge 

~ The 3 Musketeers ~

and this month's stamped image is from Jeanette.

I LOVED the image ~ super cute from Your Next Stamp.

My card?  

Meh, not so much but I had to post one so here it is!

You can check out Barb's card here

and Jeanette's card here

and we will return again in 2023 with the new round of 3M!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

CCEE2248 ~ Time Clocks/Farewell ....

Hi friends!

Today's post is bittersweet ~

and I will let you read the words from the CCEE Stampers

 founder below:

Before we get to Maryann's challenge below, I (Frances) wanted to update you about our challenge group. 

Sadly I have to let you know, that this will be our final challenge here on this blog. After over 15 years of lots of fun challenges, it's time to say goodbye! I was fortunate to be one of the foundation members of this challenge group, which started in July 2007 over on Splitcoast Stamper ... there were eight of us. We called ourselves ... Cheers & Challenges Eclectic Ensemble which later got shortened to CCEE Stampers. When we first started our challenge group there weren't many if any others around, now there are so many. We have had a lot of fun over the years, and a big thanks to all our current Design Team members for playing along each week and taking turns issuing the challenges each month. 

Thank you also for those of you who have also played along with us over the years, we love that you play along with us.

Thank you, Frances, for your leadership, challenges and FUN!

Although I've only been on board for a few years,

it has been the highlight of my weekly paper crafting each Thursday :)

I don't have any stamps in my stash that meet this week's request

so I will show you my latest Christmas card

featuring one of my favorite Santa stamps of all time :)

This is the Santa Collage from Rubber Stampede

and I've nestled him into a window frame to showcase the look.

It's truly a gorgeous stamp!

Be sure to hop on over to the CCEE blog

and see what the design team created with their final cards :)

Thank you for joining me today

and I'll see you 'round the 'net!

Take care!

Kelly

CCEE2246 ~ Seaside Holidays!

 

Hi friends!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the USA

and those, like my brother, stationed overseas. 

He is celebrating 

today in the mess hall on the Army base!

I'm preparing the HUGE feast here today 

and have been cooking/baking already for a day and a half!

I'm SO excited ALL of my kids will be home!

Our house will be full and fun and this mama's heart is full :)

May this day bring you bountiful blessing <3

Today there is a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers ~

Seaside Holidays!

Being in Florida, it's a no brainer that all of our holidays are seaside!

I grabbed my Avery Elle stamp/die set which is super Florida

and stamped/die cut the images and then colored them up!

Easy card!

You can also link yours up by going here

and thanks for stopping by!

Crafty hugs,

Kelly

Easy Glue Printing - Wednesday Tutorial SCS!

 Hi friends!

Today I have the honor of being a guest designer

to host the tutorial of the week for Splitcoaststampers

so it looks like we'll be 'stuck' together for this one!

Hee hee!

I've made several samples (scroll, scroll away!)

and a whole video which you can see here:

It's fun, creative and easier than it looks!

You'll need some school glue (you know you got some!),

acrylic paints (or watercolors but mix them up THICK!)

and some cardboard (from all those Christmas packing you are getting!)

and this tutorial right here will help you create these amazing

backgrounds for your cards.

For this first card, I used tones of pink and peach for the background.

I added a tree from Tim Holtz Sizzix collection and added

it the front of the card as a focal point with a little sentiment.

The beauty of this technique is each one is unique

and different and none will ever be the same!

I've also kept the fun going and make a shaker card edition:

Here's a close up of the snow and the dimension

and for this card I've used Simon Says Stamp Gnome Peeking.

I stamped the trees and die cut those with the stamps and dies from the

SSS set and used one of my #inktober watercolor backgrounds.

No snow in Florida so I loved creating this shaker version!

And that's it for this one today :)

Thanks for stopping!

~Kelly

3M: November's covered bridge!

 Good morning friends!

 Oh how I loved a covered bridge! 

Such a simple and serene step back into time when these bridges

were a way of transportation ~

often now the inspiration for paintings and movies!

Today's card is for the 3M card group and our hostess this month is Barb! 

We would normally post on the 9th of the month and I thought we were taking a month off since my image didn't arrive BUT lucky me!

 Barb was kind enough to send another one and then both arrived yesterday on the next same day :)

I wanted the image (from Gina K Designs) to look like a beautiful fall day

and used a P13 autumn paper pack to compliment the image.

I let that one tree in the back look like autumn leaves changing

but realize now the other trees are green so it's a little out of place!

I also speckled the ground with yellow and orange leaves

as if they had fallen from the trees ~ and they look like flowers, LOL!

Be sure to see what  Barb created

and Jeanette on their blogs

either today, previously or later!

Next month, 12/9, we'll back back with our last image for 2022!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

CCEE2242 ~ Silhouettes!

Hi friends!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers blog

and it's all about the silhouette!

Our hostess, Mariann, asks us to create a card

with a beautiful silhouette ~

either a secne or a standalone image.

I am using this gorgeous beach die to create a Florida

Christmas with the palm trees and lovely sunset!

The sentiment is from a MFT stamps set

but it felt fitting :)

Be sure to stop by the CCEE blog and link up your cards!

Use the keyword 2242 if you post to a gallery.

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

The ONE new in '22 ~ November!

 Hi my friends!

It's time for my FAVORITE card challenge ~

One Plus Twelve!

This is my 4th year doing this personal challenge,

one I made up literally in the middle of the night ...

and it's my absolute favorite card creation idea!

(and I have LOTS of 'em!)

For the month of November,

I challenged myself to use up a masterboard I created for Youtube.

You can see the video here!

 Since I had the masterboard already completed,

I wanted to use it for my card this month and make an artistic, grunge butterfly!

It has paper, paint, stencil, paste, glue and more!

A true smorgasboard yet meshes together to create something uniquely lovely.

I added a sentiment from Tim Holtz ideology 

after taking a panel, splicing it in half.

The idea for this was to come from a blank slate into the full art creation!

I'm kinda diggin' this card :)

My friends Barb and Jeanette are also creating with this series

and you can see their cards on their blogs, too.

One final look!

It's almost time for 2023!

I'm continuing this card series again next year 

as mentioned .. it's my FAVORITE!

'Til next time!

~Kelly

CCEE2243 ~ It's Walk Your Dog week!

 Hi friends!

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

and we are celebrating Walk Your Dog week!

Our hostess for the month of November is Maryann

and she states:

According to the days of the year calendar, it is walk your dog week. 

Walk your dog week is a week holiday dedicated to bringing your dog a healthier lifestyle.

 Make a card with your furry friend in mind.

love. this. theme!

Anytime I get to create with a kitty or puppy, I'm a happy girl!

I went with a SUPER simple card this week because the flu

is running rampid through my house

and knocking us down like bowling pins.

Super quick and easy card using My Favorite Things stamps/dies

celebrating this sweet pup sharing his bone!

Be sure to stop in and see what the DT has created

over at the blog here!

You can also link up your cards and play along - use the code CCEE2243

and we'll find your cards and projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty hugs,

Kelly