2023 Favorites ~ Cards In Review!

                                                                     

                                                                       Hello friends!

 2023 is coming to a close!

Soon, the ball will drop and it will be a bright new year!

Today I'm sharing my annual Cards In Review,

looking back at my favorite cards of 2023.

(They are not in order of creation but based on 

card group times and challenges from a creatively FUN 2023!)

Tomorrow I will share my word of the year

and 2024 crafty goals!

I'm nervously excited for the 2024 commitments

but thrilled at the idea of the new opportunities!

Here we go!

January

(2023 was the year of the rabbit!)

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Kelly

It's begininng to look like .......

.... holiday cocktails!

Hi friends!

Today's fun card is one I created

 for a super duper good friend :)

She hosted a hilariously fun cocktail hour/

Christmas/Birthday party soiree!

This is a fun stamp set from the Stamptember collaboration

with Clearly Besotted and Simon Says Stamp

and it's just so cute!

I used the tippy top of the Christmas tree using it as a single tree

and the gnomie with his little drink!

I paired it with a funny sentiment from My Favorite Things

 

retired stamp set.

I hope you all had a BEAUTIFUL Christmas filled with wonderful

memories and the love of family and friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Happy PAW-lidays!

 

Hi friends!

Wishing you a very Happy PAW-liday!

This was a fun card I created for an Instagram hop

 that I put togethera few months ago.

It was an eagerly awaited hop part 2 of the 

Spectacular Stamptember!

A group of friends and I were chatting about our love

of the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember sets

that we put our heads together for a fun hop!

AND we loved it so much,

we continued with a Winter theme: Winter Stamptember!

I used the Lawn Fawn and Simon Says Stamp collab set

Home for the PAWlidays 

and included a piece of patterned paper from Lawn Fawn 

for the 'snowy' background :)

This was a fun card to create ~

very "KELLY" with the bright colors and whimsy!

And we have 2 rescue pups so it warms my heart

knowing they have a FUR-ever home.

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

What's in YOUR wallet?

 Hi friends!

I'm up on the Crackerbox Stamps blog today

with a funny card!

If you were lucky to hit the Black Friday steals and deals

or did some online holiday shopping,

I'm certain your bestie might have been plastic!

For this card, I used the stamp It Only Takes

and colored it with my copic markers.

Be sure to check out the 50% off sale, too!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

Merry and Bright ~ ATC cards!

 

Hi friends!

Today's share is a trio of fun ATC cards

that I created for my friend's Instagram hop!

We've been in several groups together

for awhile now so I wanted to jump in and support her :)

I have a short YouTube video here!

ATC (or Artist Trading Cards) are GREAT for using up scraps.

I used the paper pad from a recent Scrapbook.com order

(free with purchase!) and loved the unexpected 

navy blue, peachy pinks and sky colors!

I wouldn't have normally used these on my own so what a bonus!

Unfortunately they got a little wonky in the editing process

and they are slightly blurry-ish

 but they turned out super cute in real life :)

I used a couple of Lawn Fawn sets and kept the look overall the same.

That's it for today!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

You've been ELF'd!

 Hi friends!

Happy weekend!

Today's fun cards are a 3-fer

for an Instragram hop with a theme of holidays.

I'm celebrating the wonderful JOY of the Elf on the Shelf!

Our EOTS was a huge staple of the holiday fun

for our kids during the holidays.

Ours is a mischevious elf who likes to do hilarious stunts + poses!

                               

                                This was a fun card to make!

I paired it with candy cane paper 

since in the movie Buddy the Elf references the 4 food groups:

candy, candy corn, candy canes and syrup!

Here are the cards together

and I'll share the others on a seperate post :)

These 3 will go to our 3 youngest children 

as our oldest daughter got a different card.

This is a fun group on Instagram but is my last month.

It's been a fun journey but 2024 is going to be 

a busy crafty one for me!

So I need to focus on the tasks as hand, as they say :)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Messy Art: You're a hot mess!

 Hi friends!

I'm still playing catch up on adding cards to my blog :)

Awhile back, I created a card group focused on 'messy art'

but life stepped in and I stepped back.

But in 2024, I'll be reclaiming back a few of the things I let go :)

The idea behind my original idea is to have fun with messy art!

I'm NOT one for messes at all ... but when it comes to cardmaking,

I found I have the most fun ~and the most inspiration ~  

when I'm experimenting making backgrounds & new techiniques.

Like these!

For these cards, I added distress oxide inks and spritzed them with

water until I had a cascade.  They were intentionally drippy!

The stamps are from Hero Arts snarky message, LOL!

I am a 'cool colors' girl (greens, blues, purples) but after

making one card, I had to make another in warm colors.

I ADORE how these came out!

So there will be a new series here on my blog and social media!

My messy art cards are making a return in 2024!

AND if you follow me on Instagram, 

you'll see a related giveaway soon!

*hint, hint .. wink, wink!* 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Who wants to be normal!? :)

 

Hi friends! 

 Today I have a funny, sassy card to share with you

from Crackerbox Stamps!

I'm on their blog today sharing this fun card!

Why be normal when you can be the crazy person everybody remembers!

LOL!

This sentiment has me in stitches!

It makes for a really funny birthday card, too!

I used the darling Betty with Question

and fussy cut her and popped it up on a bright background to contrast the b + w.

The funny sentiment is called Wants To Be Normal

and I stamped it with Memento Black Ink.

Be sure to check out the store for some awesome sales too!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

December 3M ~ Mr. Frosty!

 

Hi friends!

If you have any snow where you are,

please send it to me! :)

I hope you are having an amazing start to your weekend!

Today I'm sharing this adorable snowman card

with is festive friend and cheerful smile!

Mr. Frosty is the image I sent this month to the 3M card group

which is Barb, Jeanette and myself.

We take turns sending a surprise image 

and then we all make a card with that one image.

This is what I came up with!

I LOVE how this turned out!

I went with a Merry & Bright theme ....

and used prismacolor markers in festive wintery colors.

The subsentiment is from Waffle Flower Crafts :)

We'll bec back as a group in 2024

so it will be fun to see the surprise joy continue!

Check out Barb's card here &

Jeanette's card here!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

2024: Word of the Year!

 Hello 2024!

My word for this year is ...

HOLLY JOLLY!

 Hey sweet friends!

Today's card is showcasing 2 things:

A huge OOPS!

and The Man in the BIg Red Suit!

This was a fun card to make!

If you would like to see the YouTube version,

here it is:

Because I made a rookie mistake when creating this,

I had to think of ways to save/salvage this poor Santa card!

I used the adorable Stamptember Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous

2023 set ~ cute, cute, CUTE!

.

I loved the background stamp by Hero Arts snowflake swirl

and I stamped it with Pool Party ink.

THEN

I had a misstep with the stamp and forgot it had ink,

set it down on  the panel and had a few Santas on it!

So this is the result!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

Merry Grinchmas!

 Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ours was absolutely amazing ~

 in fact, our home is still filled with family :)

It's bittersweet to see them leave but what amazing memories! ♡

I'm on the Crackerbox blog today,

showcasing the adorable green guy himself ~

The Grinch!

I colored him up with my copic markers

and then switched out the sentiment to this one:

Merry Grinch-mas!

 He is nestled into a dome die cut panel and the dsp is from a 

12 x 12 stack I picked up ~ love those candy cane stripes!

That's what I love so much about these stamps ~

you can mix 'n match and really stretch your creativity and cardmaking.

I hope you were able to get some great

 steals and deals with Black Friday shopping ....

like this amazing 50% off sale at Crackerbox Stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Got COOKIES?

Hey friends!

I'm up on the Crackerbox Stamps blog today :)

Santa will be here in 34 days!

And he's checking in to see if you

Got Cookies?!

This card was so much fun to make!

I started with the adorable Side Santa and Reindeer sm.

and I'm showcasing the cute Santa.

I just love his little peek-a-boo face!

I paired Santa with the sentiment stamp set called

Sign Post Words set of 3, using Got Cookies?

To really make Santa shine, I chose designer paper

with The Nightmare Before Christmas wording.

AND check out the BIG 50% off amazing sale happening!

You can find the stamps half off here

and have fun shopping for your favorites!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

PINK Christmas!

 Hi friends!

There's a popular trend in holiday cards ~

Pink Christmas!

This week my card challenge group over on Instagram

has a fun theme:

Create a pink themed Christmas card.

Wow!  

This was a CHALLENGE for me.

All of the weekly Wednesday challenges are suggested/voted

on by the group and this week the 3rd top highest.

So here's what I created!

Pink is actually one of my least favorite colors (gasp! I know!)

But I do love a good challenge so it. was. on!

I went with simple but whimsical and used

Newton's Nook Designs Candy Cane, 

paired with pink gingham paper from Lawn Fawn.

I intentionally left the kitty cat white as this is Oliver,

my rescue baby and I'll give this card to his vet for the holidays!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Oh Christmas Tree .........

 Hi friends!

It's that time of year ~ holidays songs and Christmas themes!

Today's card is one I created for a card group I'm in

and the theme was chosen by one of the group members:

Christmas Trees!

I've used an oldie but goodie to create my card.

This is a set from Concord and 9th called Festive Friends.

I adore this stamp set

but think this might be only the 2nd time I've used it.

I used a simple background of patterned paper rather than 

create one of my own this time.

It was a great match and just seems to give it that extra drama.

The bold sentiment strips are from CZ Designs and were in my stash.

I personally love her little table topper tree!

So tiny but sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly