Old Glory ♥

Happy 4th of July 

to my USA friends!

 My card today represents the flag of the United States in a unique way ♥

I used only scraps to create this card!

I had just enough to create the stripes

by separating the paper and spacing it apart.

With the small amount with the words, I was able to make the heart

for a different twist on Old Glory ♥

This card is a sweet memory for me ~ 
starting it late (I mean LATE!) one night and thinking hmmmm.  
So I thunk and then thunk some more andthen it clicked :)

 My first thought - from the red, white and blue colors - drew me to create a flag.
But in building the card - measuring, cutting, gluing, remeasuring,
and trying to make it work, it made me think of how much
we are often like this flag.

We may not always have enough, we may not always have what we need,
but somehow through perseverance, hard work, and blessings,
we pull through and come out stronger.

In coming together as one, bonding, 
something beautiful is created on the other side ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

 I'll enter this card into:  Crafty Gals Corner - Red/White/Blue 
Papercraft Challenge15 -red/white/blue
Always fun challenges - patriotic
DLArt - Thankful Thursday - Red/White/Blue
Craftaholics R Us - Any holiday

TPB: Old barns and wooden signs ...

Happy Monday, friends!

 

There's something so incredible to me about being in an old wooden barn

that brings back the wonders of days gone by.

I am absolutely enamored with rustic, primitive barns

(delapidated or still fully functioning, I love them all!)

and it's one of my favorite places to visit ♥

And since I can't bring home the barn, I do the next best thing ~

 I buy weathered, wooden signs from reclaimed wood

or attempt to create something 

which almost always ends up being no bueno!  :-) 

But I can manage one on a card :)

 For my card today, I've used the new stamp set from The Project Bin

called Red, White and Boom!

It's perfect for the military and patriotric cards ~

including the upcoming Fatheer's Day and 4th of July.

 I love the weathered look of the artsy American flag!

For the sentiment, it's actually masked off so that  

only part of the stamp is used.

That's the creative part of being a stamper -

think outside the box!

Here is the stamp set in it's entirety.

Many of The Project Bin stamps come with matching steel dies

and they are great to mix and match!

 

 

And that's it from me today!

I do hope that you have a great start to your week :)

 For more information on this project, you can visit The Project Bin blog

or the shop.

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

Happy Birthday, USA!

Happy 4th of July,

America!

 

Today's card is one I made quickly with .... scraps!

Much like our country, this card had a vision ~

forged on hard work and coming together as one ♥

I really loved the words that were on the small pieces of dsp

and spent a minute reading and pondering them :)

Whatever you plan to do today

to celebrate this wonderful day of freedom,

have fun and be beautiful!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter my card into:  The Outlawz - Flag colors
Always fun challenge - patriotic 
cards in envy - patriotic 
shopping our stash- Flag Day 
cut it up - red, white and blue

Have a fun-ny Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you are gearing up for a wonderful holiday weekend :)

I had a little time to get inky this week,

catching up on both DT cards and cards just for pun - I mean, FUN!

Like this one!

I was channeling the upcoming 4th of July and reaching for more

red, white and blues ......

a wonderful color combination that speaks to my heart

and for who I am as a child growing up in a military family! ♥

For my card today, I've used Bouncy Ball Riley - LOVE HIM!!! 

He's definitely one of my top faves of all my Riley stamps!

I've paired with the hilarious FunnyBones stamp line stamp

"Once in awhile" sentiment, added a little strip of dsp 

and a trio of sequins ♥

And don't forget to check out the monthly Riley and Company

Stamp Club!

Each month, you'lll not only get a shipment of a variety of stamps,

but a souvener collector's button like this one for

contests, discounts, and much more!

You can read all about it here ← 

I'll see you back again on Monday!

Until then, happy weekend!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  PPA307 - Color Challenge

DDD ~ Show Your Patriotism!

 

Hi everyone! 

 I can't believe it's been a whole month since I've last posted! 

 Life has definitely thrown us a curveball in the 'busy department'

and now that it's summer,

I'm hoping to get back into the crafting/blogging groove!

 

Today I'm buzzzzing by with this adorable patriotic bumble bee card!
 It's the 15th of the month, which means the Dueling Darlings post our cards
with a chosen theme by the hostesses.
This month, our hostesses were Barb and Terry and they have chosen a very patriotic theme based on June 14th  ~ Flag Day!
For team Divas, our hostess, Barb, sent us this super festive kit filled with papers, embellishments, + this adorable Bee image from
 Whipper Snapper Designs.

So, here's my card!

And the inside of my card - left blank for now :)

The second part of Barb and Terry's challenge was to share what we personally feel when we see the flag.

For me, it's a strong symbol of the freedom we have been given
thanks to the sacrifice of so many.
My dad and brother both served this country respectively and
that makes me a very proud daughter and sister!
Coming from a military family, I take pride in what our nation stands for
and what the flag represents.
Sadly, dad lost his battle with cancer 10 years ago
 and was buried in a veteran's cemetery. 
His burial flag was presented to me at his ceremony,
and I display it in our front living room ~
where I see it each day as my own family and I
walk past where it's displayed, a symbol of love and remembrance.

Thank you, Barb and Terry, for a fabulous theme to work with this month!
The DDD will be taking a summer hiatus
and we will be back in the Fall rested and energized! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!
I have a lot of cards to catch up on and post so this will be
 a fun and busy week in blogland! ♥

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into
:  613 Avenue Create #128:  Colors of the Flag




 

Calendar Girls -- Freedom Rings!

Hi all!  Happy Saturday! 

 Today is the 28th of the month - the day the Calendar Girls

SCS crafty group post our cards with a chosen theme. 

 

 This month, our hostess is Deb and she gave us a lot to reflect :]
 This is her challenge:

Since we are the CALENDAR Girls I was thinking we should make cards that reflect the months of the year or days of the week.

I found these sayings about a few of the months:

Slow as Molasses in January
January Brings a New Year
Beware the Ides of March (William Shakespeare "Julius Caesar")
March, In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb
April Showers Bring May Flowers
June is Bustin' Out All Over (Oscar Hammerstein)
July Fireflies Bring August Skies
September Leaves Gives Chance for October Scares

And here are some yearly days of the week.:

Fat Tuesday
Black Friday
Good Friday
Palm Sunday

So the challenge is to make a card that reflects your interpretation of one of the above sayings about the months or one of the four listed days. (Maybe you know another saying about months of the year you like. You can use that saying.)  In your blog post let us know what saying or day your card reflects.

So!  My card today reflects the month of July and I actually took Deb's

offer to use one that reflects that month.  As a child growing up in a military

family, and as a sister to an active duty soldier still, I knew I wanted

to use July's celebration of freedom.

Recently, my husband was hospitalized and while I was waiting

for him to finish some tests, I remember the multitude of trips

that I took to the VA with my father.  He lost his battle with

cancer but before he passed away, he certainly didn't go without a fight.

The doctor's very sternly told him he had 3-6 months to live as the cancer

had metastasized.  He, however said, "Nope, no I don't -- I ain't ready to go yet."  He surpassed the odds and gave us 3 glorious more years! 
One of dad's favorite sayings was "Freedom isn't Free".
Dad's birthday is 2 weeks from today ~ he would have been turning 70.

In honor of my dad, for his July birthday and service to our country,
Here is my Calendar Girl saying:
"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand."
(Can I get an AMEN!)

 

And here is my card, using the ever adorable Flag Riley,

(From Riley and Company Stamps!)

 

 

Please be sure stop by the other Calendar Girls blogs,

you can find them in my sidebar,

and see what they've done this month!

 

As always,

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  Open Minded Crafting#13 - Patriotic Colors
Pumpkin Spice - Red, White and Blue
Little Red Wagon - Animal Antics

                                                        City Crafter - Red White and Blue

Paper Pretties - - Red, White and Blue
DLArt Thankful Thursday - Patriotic


Grillin' Time! {Riley and Company Challenge}

Hi friends!! 

 

  I hope you are enjoying the splendors of Summer!   Each weekend, our neighbor's have been firing up their BBQ's, not unusual for South Florida ~ with our glorious year round weather, we see (and smell!) the grills often. 

 But there's something about Summer that says fire up the grill :) 

And with my family of carnivores, they say there is nothing like a burger, 'dogs, steaks and ribs from on the grill.

Me, being a vegetarian, will have no part in that, lol!

 But I absolutely ADORE my veggies on the grill - give me some eggplants, corn, squash, zucchini (etc) grilled to perfection ... it's a slice of heaven!

 

The challenge this week at Riley and Company is to make a card or project

with food or drinks and is hosted by DT member, Joy.

I stamped and colored my BBQ Riley and I wanted to make a 4th of July

card since that's one of the main things we do before fireworks and festivities.

Oh the memories this evokes ♥

 

 

I also followed the sketch from Mojo Monday this week:

 

 

We'd love for you to play along! To enter the challenge, create a card/project

using Riley and Company images.

  You can find our challenge blog here

as well as the DT inspirational cards.

 

Once you have created your card/project, come back here and place a comment with a link to your card/project to this post so we can see what you have created. If you upload your card/project to Splitcoast Stampers please include the keyword Riley1314.

 We can't wait to see what you create!   

 As Always,

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Card entered into: City Crafters Challenge - Red, White, Blue 
Die Cutting Divas Vow to thee my Country
Creative Cutting Challenge - Red, White & Blue
Stampartpapel - Independence Day
RCC94 - Dads, grilling - Spooled Item = twine in button and ribbon!
Twisted Tuesday - Red, White, Blue w/ stars