One Plus Twelve ~ November!

Hi friends!

Happy November :)

Today's card is for my One Plus Twelve card challenge ~

which I started last year and it's really quite fun!

The idea:  Take one stamp - and ONLY one stamp -

and try to use it all year long (twelve months) to stretch the use of your supplies.

This year, my Word of the Year is:  BLOOM

so I've been using Beautiful Bloom by My Favorite Things.

My card is a little one the crazy side - 

It came together quite the opposite of how I was hoping!

But, it's kinda groovy!

I started with a black and white base and stamped the flower

on a yupo'd background piece made with ranger inks and alcohol.

This took several tries - NONE of the black inks I tried would really stamp boldly.

Even with the MISTI, I stamped and stamped!

Finally, this result was achieved with Ranger's Archival black.

I cut it out with the matching die and then - GULP - cut it in half!

The reason? 

So the card could have a little drama :)

Since sentiments are allowed, I used a die cut for the bold greeting

and a sentiment from another stamp set

(which has been fun - since the stamp I chose didn't have one.)

My two friends Barb and Jeanette are joining me in this challenge

this year and you can see their cards on their blogs.

I have TWO cards to catch up on ~ I think?!

I'm behind on life .... so naturally cards have taken a bit of a hiatus!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

One Plus Twelve ~ June!

Hi friends!

I hope wherever you are in the world,

 you know you are thought of and loved!

Even though the world has gone crazy pants and civil unrest prevails,

I send my biggest hugs and warmest thoughts to all of you ♥

 

Today's card is the June card my One Plus Twelve personal card challenge,

where I take just one stamp and use it all year long, twelve times!

The idea behind it was to use my stamps in a more productive way

instead of just once - or not seeing ink at all :)~

For June, I've invested in a new set of markers - the Karin markers.

I've seen many of the colorists I follow on YouTube use them

and after my friend Darlene mentioned a coupon special, I jumped!

{Scroll down to see a more in depth chat}

 

For this month's One Plus Twelve, I decided to try a watercolor wash - Tie Dye!

My daughter recently made matching tie-dye tshirts for her and her daughter

and that was a nice springboard for inspiration!

I used the Karin markers and water for an organic watercolor wash,

basically letting the water do the magic.

The fun part - you 'll never get the same look twice!

This was a hesitant purchase as I wasn't sure how I'd like them,

and decided against spending the $100+ for a larger set

 and settled on the 26 set.

Overall, I'm seeing some interesting possibilities with them

and did some comparison swatches with other water markers.
The results were interesting :)

I love how organic they are and the colors marry very well

but I'm not sure these are ones I'd reach for every day.

I think I made the right choice :)

Barb's card is here and Jeanette's card is here
as both of them are joining me in this challenge this year
with their own stamp choices.

Time to scoot!

Big hugs, bigger blessings 

~Kelly

One Plus Twelve - April

Hi friends!

It's been a very floral week on my blog :)

And today - another bloom ♥

This is my April card for my One Plus Twelve challenge.

  The 1 + 12 idea is to take a stamp 

- just one - 

and use it once a month on a card.

 I call the challenge:  One Plus Twelve!

 

The year, I'm using the beautiful stamp from Beautiful Bloom

and the matching die.

This month, because of the 'new normal' and crafting out of our norm,

I"ve chosen to use a simple technique ~ stamping on designer paper.

Barb and Jeanette are joining me in this challenge

and you can see Barb's card here

and Jeanette's card here.

I'm not sure why the sentiment looks blurry/fuzzy - yikes!
I created that by using Versamark and WOW white embossing powder

and heat embossed it.

I also used a banner die to match the stitching on the little edge

and popped it up on foam for dimension.

This is one of those stamps that has given me such creative freedom
and I'm often making one card and another idea strikes!
I'm already thinking of May!
 

Thanks for stopping by today.
I pray you are all doing well in your little corners.

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

One Plus Twelve - February

 Hi friends!

Today's card is for the February  One Plus Twelve ♥

It's a challenge I created last year as a way to stretch the use of my stamps.

The idea is to take 1 stamp (and just one!) for 12 months,

creating 12 unique and different cards.

I asked my friends Barb and Jeanette to join me again this year ... 

and we've all chosen a different stamp and stamp company :)

This year, to go along with my word of the year 'Bloom',

I chose Beautiful Bloom by MFT stamps.

This month's card idea went all kinds of ways AND sideways!

I had an idea in my head but my card had another ;)

Welcome to create a flower,

where if the lines don't match up ~ mix them up!

I started out by stamping the flower with Ranger distress oxide inks

 in Picked Raspberry and Carved Pumpkin. 

I layered the inks and then decided to do a spin off of a spotlight 

by popping up the bottom half of the stamp, using MFT's stitched die-namic.

The shape was a little larger than I needed for this A2 size card and flower

so I ran it through my Gemini Jr twice, moving the die to cut more inside.

 A few sequins and a sentiment from the stamp set 'because',

and this card was complete!

Here's a better view of the dimension ↓

 

It's time to already start planning out my card for March!

You can see Barb's card here 

and Jeanette's card here as well as what stamp they chose.

I have a lot of people ask if they can play along and the answer is - 

of course!  

Just grab a stamp - any stamp - and challenge yourself 

by creating a card with it twelve ways, one for each month.

It's exciting to think ahead and know at the end of this year,

 I'll have a bouquet of BLOOMS ~ in card form :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly