The ONE new in '22 ~ May!

 

Hello friends!

I'm still here!

It's time for my very favorite challenge ~ One Plus Twelve!

This card series is where I take one stamp

(and JUST one stamp)

and create a card twelve times - one for each month.

Meet Miss May!

(in other words, the May 2022 card!) 

I've chosen the butterfly stamp from PInk Fresh Studio:

For this month, I channeled a beautiful yellow butterfly that befriended

me while my mom was in the hospital recovering.  

It came to the tree outside the window every day, 

dancing with the joy of life.  

I'm a very spirtiful personal and do believe strongly in symbolism ... 

I see dragonflies and know they are from my dad, butterflies are my mom.

So, once again I stamped right onto designer paper

 because I wasn't able to bring a stack of markers with me. 

 This one is just as lovely as can be

and I do love the bright pop of yellow and the florals  :)

I also used the Hero Arts butterfly background die and tore it

for a collage-y look, giving it some 'drama!'

This card doesn't have a sentiment 

as it will be an all purpose type card.

My friends, Barb and Jeanette, are joining me this year

in the challenge and you can see their cards on their blogs.

If you'd like to see the real butterfly in flight

that inspired my card, you can see it here on my Instagram.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty hugs,

Kelly

3M: Winter Friends!

 

Hi friends!

It's officially the last day of school here which means ..

winter break!

YAY!

And by winter, I mean it's 85* and hot and sunny

with no snow in our forecast! 

But a girl can dream!

Today's card is for the 3M card group 

and this stamped image is SO SUPER CUTE!

This is from Barb, our December hostess, and it's called

Snowman and Bunny from Colorado Craft Company.

I've colored it with my copic markers

and popped it up onto some brightly colored papers from Doodlebug.

We 3 will start afresh in 2022!

You can see Barb's card on her blog

and Jeanette's card on her blog.

I do have one more card to post (November)

and hope to catch up on all of my overdue cards during the break

since Christmas is fast approaching but I am ready.

How about you?

I hope you are enjoying the shopping, wrapping, baking

and all the joys that Christmas holiday beholds.

I can't wait!

Just 7 more days until Santa, my friends!

Thanks for stopping by :)

3M: Here for you, rain or shine!

 

Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing a card for the 3M card group ~ 

3M = mystery image sent each month and we never know what it will be!

We take turns sending an image to each other

and this month is Umbrella Swissie by CC Designs from Jeanette.

I actually colored this little cutie to look like my granddaughter, Alice!

She's almost 2 years old and LOVES to splash in the puddles :)

For my card, I wanted to try something a little out of the box.

After seeing my card, I think I should have left it IN the box - LOL!

I watched the VERY talented Lydia on Facebook who does countless

wonderful techniques and card making tips and tricks.

She created clouds last week in her online class that have me like *heart eyes!*

(Here is the link to this technique on her YouTube)

First, here is my finished card: 

For this card's background, I created a card with a Nouveau Retiform,

which is basically masking off portions of the cardstock for inking

 and then stamping over the top area.

It's a bit of a labor of love and needing the right tools!

Since I didn't have the right stencil for the job,  and I was eager to try this,

I did the next best thing:  I created it!

Using an insert of cardboard, I layered rectangle dies in a pattern,

die cut them out, and made a stencil to use for ink blending.

Once that was done, I stamped onto the ink blocks

using a sentiment quote from John Keats)

This was pretty messy and a fun technique to try 

and I'll definitely revisit it with some proper tools and planning!

I am sure Barb and Jeanete will have made much much pretty cards

using the sweet CC Designs umbrella girl!  

I'm sorry this post was soooooo long!

I hope you enjoyed it somehow in the process of making and creating :)

Thanks for stopping by ~ I appreciate it!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

3M: Lumberjack Heidi :)

 Hello friends!

You may have to cover your eyes ...

Monday has returned :/

The weekend FLEW by ~

and with the daylight's saving time,

it's just going to be all kinds of crazy today.

I heard the alarm go off a few hours ago at 3 am 

and jumped out of bed, thinking you gotta be kidding!

I know we just had the time change but I just went to bed!

My silly son set his alarm 3 hours early.

ouch.

So there I was.

up at 3 am. 

and the dog was up,

the cat was up.

I'll be leaving the house with undereye concealer 1000!

Hello, Monday!

 Today's card is for the 3M card group

~ Barb, Jeanette, and I ~

and this group was created by Jeanette.

The idea is to alternate months chosing an image and mailing it to the others

and on the 9th of each month, we post the cards we created.

So it's the same image, 3 different cards!

Jeanette was the hostess for this month and sent us this adorable

CC Designs Swiss Pixie Lumberjack Heidi.

At first, I thought she was doing some Riverdance moves, LOL!

Hey, I'm Irish!

I got excited :)

Turns out, she's a lumberjack!

I'm still not sure what she's doing with her right hand?

I did my card a little different this time around.
I was completely stumped on a card design and used my MFT Wonky stitched dies

to cut around the image.

Once I did that, I set is aside and worked on the card base first - 

something I never do!

I always color first, build second.

I spotted the wonderful challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week 

for '3 parts' and it just clicked.

My card is just a base layer of Taylored Expressions Cookie Monster cardstock

and a sheet of dsp from my scrap pile.

I cut both of them into patchwork pieces and alternated them,

gluing them directly to the cardstock.

Once that was dry, I colored the image to match,

added some enamel dots and foam and popped it onto the card.

 and done!

You can see Barb's card here

and Jeanette's card here.

How are you doing with The 30 Day Coloring challenge?

This was yesterday's (day 8) coloring for me.

I knew this round I would not be coloring every day ~

and that's okay!

The creator behind The Daily Marker 30 Day, Kathy Rac,

 encourages you to do what you can, when you can, how you can!

I've colored in the still of the night,

while watching the sunrise,

in the car!

I took notes from her recent online coloring class I took

and colored my lumberjack Heidi with markers but highlighted it with colored pencils as she's suggested in many of her videos.

I've a long way to go with much to learn,

but I am loving the journey!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Hip Hip Horray!

Hi friends! 

What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?

Lost!

:)

 

It's Wednesday and we're half way to the weekend ~ woohoo!

Today's card is a celebration card for the 3M card group 

and I'm the hostess for January.

I posted this to the gallery at Splitcoaststampers

and I'm adding it my blog, too!

  

I am absolutely smitten with anything 'adorable critter' 

and cutsie animals!

I. just. cant. resist!

There's something so enlightening about making cute critter (anything!)

cards and they just make my heart smile ♥

 This is Ellie from Avery Elle Stamps.

I've also added the matching sentiment to the inside, too ↓

 

I was recently listening to a class video with Jennifer McGuire 

where she mentioned finding your card style.

Maybe you are a CAS card artist or maybe you are mixed media style artist

or maybe you don't have one style in particular and that IS your style,

just being comfortable making whatever you like when you feel like making it!

I LOVE THAT! 

I love to experiment with my cardmaking and there are some nights

where I'll just pull together a card and love it (like this one!) 

I'm learning, in the online class, to embrace who I am as a cardmaker

and not boxing myself in with a set 'style.'

Kinda like being fearless :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Baby, it's cold outside!

Hi friends!

Oh I wish it were cold outside!

Snow!  Icicles!  Winter wonderland!  

Yes, please!

It's actually pretty HOT here.

Our Miami "cold front" sweater-wearing weather

 in the 40's lasted 3 days!

But it was nice while it lasted :)

 

Today is the day the 3 Musketeers (that's Barb, Jeanette and I)

post our cards to our blogs with the same stamped image.

This card group was the creation of Jeanette 

and she invited Barb and I to join in!

The hostesses this month was Barb 

and she chose "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Taylored Expressions.

I'll admit - this image stumped me!

It's rather small to be a focal point of a card

and I also wasn't sure how to make it fit into a scene.

Then!

My son was chillin' on the couch watching The Grinch move

and an idea struck - Whoville!

I love the whimsical style of Dr. Suess

and, of course, the bright, rich colors and fun characters ♥

 I took TWO of the Taylored Expressions images (instead of just one)

and created a little snowy, colorful village.

 I created the background with a snow die and 

added pink glitter paper behind it. 

Since I think I know where this card will be going,

I made the hills and border background all hot pink :)

Lastly, I added the matching sentiment and popped it up on foam, too.

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

And Yippee!!

  There's only 15 more days until Christmas!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

3M: Garden Nancy :)

Hi friends! 

I have a simple and colorful card for today

featuring this cute little gardener, Nancy! 

 

School starts in 2 weeks here ~

 how I WISH I was happily toiling in the garden,

 not a care in the world like Nancy :)

Except I don't garden, ROFL! 

Both mom and dad had an amazing green thumb,

 sadly one I did not inherit ;)

But I do have a gardening card to share!

 My card today is for the 3M (Three Musketeers) which is Barb, Jeanette and I.

You can see Barb's card here and Jeanette's card here

and the basic idea is we all have take the same stamp and create a card.

 This month's image is CC Designs' Nancy Gardens.

 My card is pretty easy with the plaid base and simple design,

and she is colored/cut and popped up on foam with a base of kraft.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Take Me Home, Country Roads ............

Hi friends!

It's the 9th day of the month which means it's time

for a new card creation with the Three Musketeers!

This month, as the July hostess,
 I had the honor of choosing the stamp.

Since it's summer, and many are traveling or are on holiday,
I thought it would be fun to color this Stampendous travel trailer!

One thing that brings me great joy is traveling.

Oh the places I'd go!
I have wanderlust ~ no doubt about it.
In fact, that's my favorite word ♥

 A little confession!
I really had no idea what to do with this stamp :/
I did have fun coloring all of those little states across America!

I remember years of watching dad read the old Rand McNally maps
to get us from here to there and everywhere in between.
Long LONG before GPS and iPhones and Siri helping with navigation ;)

 

I channeled the memory of those colorfully planned atlas/maps

and did a multi-colored USA and carried the color scheme through-out the card. 
Second, this stamp is HUUUUUUUGE!
↓

  I kept the card clean and simple and A2 size ~
the stamp alone is 4" x 5.25" ... pretty large!
 It's colored with prismacolor markers and the card front is popped up

on 3D foam ~

so from the side, this is a pretty thick card.

 

Since we are the 3 Musketeers,
you can see Barb's card here and Jeanette's card here with this stamp.
Every month, we post something new and different ..
it's always a surprise and iit's like a little treat in the mailbox each monnth!

 
Jeanette, Barb, me! ↑
 

I hope this summer gives you the chance to hit the open roads,
take a little time out for traveling (or a lot!) 

 I'm lucky to be able to micro-adventure around our diverse city and state ♥

I'll be canoeing in our tropical mangroves instead of white wate rafting,
rock climbing with a lead belay (my daughter!) instead of mountain hiking,

and I won't make it to the Taj Mahal but I can make it to The Mall :)

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

3M: Whooooo is awesome?

Youuuuu are awesome!

Hiya friends!

 Are you a night owl?!

I am :)

 

It's when I do my best creating!

(though sometimes when that alarms clock goes off - ouch!)

Today's the day that the 3M posts our cards 

with an image sent to us by the hostess for the month.
Barb sent us the image for us to use 
and chose these crazy party owls!

For my card, I had a vision of owls snuggled into their woodland tree
during the night.
I used Lawn Fawn's Knock on Wood designer paper as my card base
and created a cut out for the night sky backdrop to peek through. 
The sky was created using Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean distress inks
and blended together.
In hindsight, I should have used darker colors 
but WHOOOO knew! :)

 

I've added the matching sentiment "wanna party?" to the inside

of the card ~ can't show that yet! 

 

You can see Barb's card here and Jeanette's card here

that they've created with this same image.

  

 

                                                           ↑ This is me!

 Fun Facts!

Did you know ....
There are almost 200 different species of owls,
a group of owls is called a parliament,
and they can rotate their heads nearly 270 degrees!

That's pretty OWL-some!

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

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

 

Hi friends!

  I hope your weekend has been wonderful!

Once a month, my friends Barb, Jeanette and I 

 create a card based on just one stamped image!

This group - the 3 Musketeers - is Jeanette's brainchild 

and it was fun to be invited to be a part of it!

It's super fun because our cards are always so different.

We take turns choosing an image and this month, it was my turn to hostess. 

We're a Scout family!

My daughter was she was a Girl Scout for many years

and now my son is a Boy Scout and just made Life Scout rank!

 March 12th is the Birthday of the Girl Scouts!

It's the day when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered 

the first Girl Scouts as an organization.

There were 18 girls and they registered in Savannah, Georgia.

"Truly, ours is a circle of friendships, united by our ideals."

~ Juliette Gordon Low

 I thought it would be fun to create a card with a Scout stamp

so I found my The Greeting Farm Anya stamp from Cute Troop.

This stamp set is long retired but still a favorite!

Since my daughter started her Scouting venture as a Daisy,

I used some background paper with daisies on it.

I asked Barb and Jeanette to add peach somewhere on their card

as a nod to the Georgia connection :)

 Here is the inside of my card:

Girl Scouts definitely involves friendship, honor, loyalty and teamwork!

I used a sentiment inside the card from another stamp set from
The Greeting Farm - but it works :)
When I sat down to create my card, I couldn't find the sentiments 
that actually go with this set .. so I did my best scouting and improvised!

Barb's card is here and Jeanette's card is here with this image!

Do you have Scouts in your family, too?

What is your favorite part of Scouting?

I loved Scouting with my daughter

and didn't mind camping in the tents and cooking and earning the merits badges!

Now, with my son, my husband took over and it's a good thing!

Camping tween-age boys = smelly boys, LOL!

NO. THANK. YOU!

Hee hee!

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

~Kelly

 *note!*

 TGF does have a angel policy but I asked Marie - owner and creator of TGF -

 for permission + she gave her blessing to stamp out 2 images for my 2 friends!