1 + 12 Thrives in '25: February

 

Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing a card for my favorite series ever:

One Plus Twelve: Thrives in '25 💚

This year, I chose a floral stamp set from Alex Syberia Designs

collab for Stamptember called Close At Heart.

This is the 7th year of this challenge of choosing + using

ONE stamp

TWELVE different ways through-out the year.

For February, I decided to just go wild with paints 

for several upcoming blog posts/series that I'm doing.

This GORGEOUS piece was on my desk and 

it. was. calling. me!

I started with the dried background and stamped directly 

onto the surface with the stamp + then die cut it.

I used an arched die from Whimsy Stamps for the background

popped on top of a piece of vellum.

The floral was so busy and has such bold, regal colors

I decided to stop messing with the card, LOL!

I added the sentiment and a few gold gems from Pinkfresh Studio

and called it done! 

My friends Jeanette and Barb 

ave joined me again this year in this challenge 

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Card entered to:  Beautiful Blossoms

SSS - Monday Challenge Bright and Cheerful

You GOAT this!

 

Hi friends!

Happy February!

I hope you are feeling goat-ivated today

because You GOAT this! :)

Today I'm sharing a FUNNY goat inspired card

featuring Whimsy Stamps products ~

including Cranky Pants.  

He's been one of my faves from Whimsy Stamps for awhile

and he makes the best cards!

I also used:  

Nested Hexagon die set

and a sentiment from Animal Yoga stamp set.

I didn't use the goat from this set because you'll be seeing it soon!)

I love mixing and matching my supplies to maximize using them!

Thanks for stopping by!

You are FLAM-azing!

 Hi friends!

One of the BEST gifts of 2024 gave me 

was being asked to stay on the Whimsy Stamps Design Team !

 I am overjoyed and have so many creative ideas :)

This card was a lot of fun to make and took nearly 1.5 hours! 

You can see the 40 second sped up version of it here 

👇

I started with a base layer of blending a few distress oxide inks

in a pink-sunset-y color palette and build up a scene from there.

I wanted bright and fresh and botantical,

so I used my Whimsy Stamps Flamingo Summer stamps and dies.

Once those were colored, I used the Build-An-Island die set

and created a fun scene.

Finally, I added a birthday word banner shadow die 

in coordinating colors and the sentiment from a retired set.

Here is one final look!

If you'd like to shop at Whimsy Stamps,

you can follow this link at no additional cost to you :)

Thanks for stopping by!

A year of PEACE :)

Hi friends!

Happy Friday!

My word for 2025 is Peace 

and one of my crafty goals this year is to incorporate 

it into my monthly creations.

This card is calming, peaceful and exudes serene for me :)

It is also where new meets the old!

My sweet friend Kim's weekly group has a theme of

Use It or Lose It!

Now, that's not a unique theme ~ to use from our stash,

create with unused items, etc .. we are hoarders crafters, after all!

The idea that crafty items are purchased, sits on a shelf

or in a bin and collects dust is very common.

So, she encouraged us to reach into those bins and shelves

and find an item and use it, then decide if we are going to 

USE IT (again) or LOSE IT (to a bin!)

I reached into the way WAAAAY back shelf for my Altenew

stamps for this set!

I think it's circa 2017, perhaps?

I was recently at the Miami Cancer Institute where they have 

a GORGEOUS glass wall - think window of a restaurant -

with jellyfish swimming inside.  

It was so peaceful and serene watching them floating around

and I immediately created this card in my head!

I started with a base layer of using the Lindy's Magicals,

which are a highly pigmented powder that reacts with water.

The Ken Oliver's & Pink and Main have a similiar result

and it's a messy but fun process!

Once the background dried (I left mine overnight),

I die cut the shapes and build it up with dimension.

The Painted Jellyfish stamped images were embossed, 

watercolored then stamped again with white overlay ink

for a unique look.  Finally, I added a sentiment and clear gems.

I'm super happy with how this turned out.

As I sat in the waiting room and drew it in my head,

this came to life almost as I envisioned it.

And I had a super sweet comment on Instagram that said

the card was very peaceful to see and that made my heart smile :)

That was my January crafty PEACE goal after all!

Thanks for stopping by!

Entered to:  Alphabet Challenge - Underwater

Snow in Florida!

 Hello friends!

Have you seen the news ... it snowed!

It's not the Twilight Zone .. just Florida 😁 

Although some would probably argue ... it's the same thing :)

Tee hee!

It didn't snow this far south

but I have so enjoyed seeing many of my relatives 

and northern Floridian friends enjoying the rare snow!

At least I can enjoy creating paper snow!

This is my latest card creation for my Instagram

Cards for All Seasons

bi-weekly Wednesday card group.

I made an interactive card 

because the little birdie house window pops open!

SOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!

The theme this week had 2 themes to chose from:

Frosted Winter Florals or Winter Birds.

That's a hard one - I love them both! 

Since I have been making so many floral cards lately,

I wanted to switch it up and use these Lawn Fawn stamps + dies.

I am totally smitten with how this came out!

And that's it for today's post!

Thanks for stopping by!

Entered to:  ABC Christmas Challenge - Building (birdhouse!)

I spy with my  little eye - feathers

Lost Coast Designs - Bright and Cheerful

Hi!

 Hi!

I hope you have a fabulous day today!

Today I have a card to share for the Crafty Meraki

 new release including the betterpress

butterfly that was a free-with-$75-purchase product.

It's perfect to adding to cards or mix/match card ideas!

I started with a background of watercolors 

using Kuretake Gamsai.

I ran the butterflies on top of another wet watercolor panel

in my die cutting machine ~ I don't own the BP system, yet :)

So I wanted to share you don't need to own it to use the BP dies!

Once I was happy with the butterflies and placement,

I used the HI para-dies silhouette duo to highlight a focal point.

You can check out all the Crafty Meraki products here in the store!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recycled Artistry ~ January!

 

Today's card is straight from the trash!

Almost :)

  Hi friends!   

One of my new shares for 2025 will be all about garbage.

In January, I shared here that I'll be introducing

 2 new blog series: this is the 1st!

When I posted this card on Instagram,

the respond was incredibly warm and kind!

I had so much positive feedback and I enjoyed the card so much

(full disclosure: I don't like many of my cards 😔) 

Although I'm downsizing my IG card groups, 

the idea of creating with anything recycled, upcycled, reclaimed,

 pull from the trash, trash-to-treasured, etc is SO ME!

My friend Dawn saw my card on Instagram ,

and we chatted, planning the kickoff to the collab.

We posted an upcycled card together 

and then suddenly 2 became many! 

Here's January:

I used the packaging from my Atlenew Adhesive Foam Tape 👇

(note:  this is not my photo, it's from the Altenew website!)

After looking for a focal point, I took a variety of dies

and made different shapes to build a card.

I especially loved the back of the packaging with the small envelope

image with the heart and wording!

I LOVE the idea of being able to use something 

that would be heading to the landfill.

While I don't like clutter or messes,

 I do try to keep things that look like I could use them craftily.

 I tuck them into a file folder until an idea strikes!

This will be a trashy fun year ahead!

Thanks for stopping by!

AECP ~ Celebrate Stencil Techniques!

 Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing a cheerful stenciled card 

bursting with color and technique!

 I'm excited to have completed my card for the next course 

in the AECP Altenew Academy Level 1 journey

that I began in late 2024 and am half way through!

This exciting course was taught by the talented

Laurel Beard and it's all about ways to use your stencils.

I started out with the Build-A-Garden Morning Asters kit

which has a stamp, die, stencils and mini blending brush.

Laurel encourages us to use stencils in creative ways

and wow, she is an entertaining instructor!

I used the stencils in the kit to create a bold flower birthday card,

starting with stamping with black ink and die cutting the images.

Once I had the images ready, I used the matching stencils

and mini blending brush and yellow hues of ink

 from Deco Garden and Pocketful of Sunshine sets.

Once the flowers were blended from the stencils, 

I moved on to the leaves and stems using distress oxide inks.

I also added a background panel using the 

Dotted Starburst Debossing Die.

Here's one final look:

I loved Laurel's energy and how she encourages us to make things

 our own, which is a belief I've always stood by.

For example, make your own embossing paste colors for stencils -

mix in ANY color ink.

If you don't like it, remix it until you get a desired result.

And her techniques of lighter to darker make SO MUCH sense!

I look forward to my next class!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

entered to:  Stencil Crazy Fun ~ Hello

It's a Kell-of-a-mess: January!

 Hi friends!

How about another session of messy card creating adventures!

I adore art and creating in crazy new ways 

and adding in a little messy fun ...

hence the title of this series from last year:

Kell-of-a-mess!

Once upon a time, I had lots of ideas for groups

but had to step away to my busy, wonderful life journey.

My schedule freed up a wee bit 

so I've revisited some of my old stompin' grounds ...

like messy art!

And wow was this one ever so ...

my fingers and hands had mica powder for a whole day!

I used the Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals

to create a few backgrounds.

I've used the PandM and Ken Oliver but gurrrrrl.

These are shimmer and potent!

When gramma used to say "Honey, a little goes a long way!'

now I get it. 

Just a dash of this and SHAZAM!

Lots of color, lots of sparkle and shimmah! 

For this card, I used 2 different sets and matched my cardstock

to the colors pulled from the background.

This adorable All Inside stamp set from Ellen Hutson

and it will be a cute Valentine to mail 💜

Thanks for stopping by!

3M vibes for '25!

 

Hey friends!

One of the FUN groups that I'm thrilled to be part of is the 3M,

also known as the 3 Musketeers mystery image card group.

Jeanette was the mastermind behind this group's creation

and I think this is the 10th .. maybe 11th year together?!

How it works:

We take turn selecting an image,

we stamp it out and mail the identical image to the other 2 friends.

We all create a card based on that one mystery image

and I was up for January - surprise!

Note to self *check emails and ask questions!*

(Always check the company's Angel Policy on sharing!)

What I chose:

I decided to go with Pink and Main clear stamps *Be A Mermaid*

to swim into the new year.

I created my card thinking of my little granddaughter ~

she was HUGE into mermaids when I bought this stamp set

(now I think we've moved on to unicorns!)

My card:

I started with a sun ray stencil and ink blended an underwater

background.  Once it was dry, I splattered white paint

to give the illusion of water bubbles.

The mermaid and her friends and sea kelp are colored with

my prismacolor markers 

and the sentiment is stamped on the ocean floor :)

Be sure to check out how Barb and Jeanette created a card, too.

We post on the 9th of every month,

 more or less :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Birds of a feather!

 Hi tweet friends!

Today's card is for the birds!

Literally!

It's National Bird Day (January 5)

My sweet friend Melissa is hosting her wacky holidays

 card group again this year and I'm here for it!

 I just love searching those fun/wild holidays that don't get

enough recognition through-out the year.

This month, I went with National Bird Day,

celebrated every year on January 5th.

 I used my Ellen Hutson Better Hero Arts collab 

stamp and die set, circa 2018!

While I'm not impressed with how my card turned out,

I do love the color combination of the teals and greens 💚💙

Here's another look 

AND ways YOU can celebrate our feathered friends:

Way you can celebrate and help:

* Go birdwatching!  I often bring a sketchbook with me.

* Build birdhouses/feeders

* Donate to a bird conservation

* Spread awareness ~ share about habitat loss, 

pollution, climate change, human activity, 

reduce pesticides

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll see you tomorrow!