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!

Crafters of Faith ~ Reverence!

Good Morning, friends :)

This is my year to Abide (you can read my WOTY post here!)  - 

a word that chose me, rather than me choosing the word,

 literally as I sat daydreaming in church! 

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 Part of my extension of worship is to live a year fully immersed

in a better christian walk.

And part of the immersion included the rebirth of the

 Crafters of Faith group on Splitcoaststampers!

This month, our hostess is Barb and she gave us

 this scripture and challenge to work with:

  Do Everything in Love from 1 Corinthians, 16:14. 

 This does not need to be a Valentine card, so you can make a card or a tag or anything else for any occasion, with Love!

I took her up on that suggestion and did indeed make a card of love!

Not that traditional card of love with hearts and flowers and everything red :)

My card reflects the love of a boy who is my son ♥ 

My son is an amazing child of faith, putting God first 

in so many of his actions and ways.

(like how he prays for his friends with them and

saying grace before meals - including at his public school).

He's also a Boy Scout who absolutely LOVES his leaders and troop mates!

This past Sunday was "Scout Sunday"

and the rows of Boy Scouts in full uniform decorated the church!

I was feeling so sick, but it was a sight to behold ♥

 Inside of my card: 

This mama's heart was not only proud of her boy, but all of them :)

I made a card for him that was waiting on his bed when he went to change.

His reaction was so sweet -

he said "Oh hey!  That's me!" :)  
Love.  This.  Boy.  So.  Much! ♥

So 1 Corinthians 16:14 for me ...

do everything with love.

I love my children so very very much

and they know this so very very much ♥

So glad you could visit today!

You can find our faith group on Splitcoaststampers if you'd like to find us!

Just type in the keyboard in the groups: Crafters of Faith

As always, 

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Let's Travel!

 Hi friends!

It's time for another exciting challenge at The Ink Spot

and this week's theme is: Travel!

For my card today, I'm channeling my little guy who just left for

an 8 day Boy Scout adventure camp in Georgia :)

He's only 11, and it was a BIG STEP for us to let him go,

but he was going out of his mind with excitement for this trip!

Mommy needed to be a little brave, LOL :)

We've gotten word that he is having the time of his life,

as we knew he would ♥

From the merit badges and classes he's taking,

and the fun 'down time' with hiking, swimming, boating, etc - he's in his glory!

 

I had him in mind as I made this two part traveling card, 

starting on the front outside and finishing on the inside ♥

There is a total of 4 Riley and Company stamps on this card!

 The front of the card uses Hiking Riley
and the "I am" from the Inspirations sentiment - which is a wonderful way to mix and match your FunnyBones and Inspirations stamps!

Tbe inside features the brave sentiment stamp ~

along with Campfire Riley stamped and colored :)

To see what the rest of the DT created this week with the travel theme,

stop by The Ink Spot blog!

And don't forget to check out the monthly club kits! 
But wait - there's more!
Each Wednesday is a "Wacky Wednesday" flash sale -
and Friday Favorites!
So many ways to save, stamp and get inky!! :)
 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their summer!

I'll be home stamping - all week! :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

January's *Adventure* - Camping!

Hi friends!

You may remember {from this post} that this is the Year of Adventure!

Instead of new year resolutions, I've claimed a *One Word* for many years now. This year's *adventure* is real life, crafting, or surprises along the way!

January's adventures took us camping!

Suffice it to say, I am so not a camper,

especially knowing I'm going to be in a tent, sleeping bag, with dirt and bugs!

This was a big, big, B-I-G stretch for me!

But my wayfaring, adventurous spirit took over 

and we hit the open road with a "come what may" attitude :) 

We found ourselves in a very rural, rustic area of central Florida
on the outskirts of Lake Okeechobee.

With a lack back semblence, there was a distinct feel of a time gone by.

They still say howdy and ma'am and, with a tip of the hat, wish you a good day.

It's just a stone's throw from Miami,

worth the nearly 3 hour, one way drive. 
Far removed from the hustle and bustle of our daily life,
I appreciated the unspoiled way of life.

We found ourselves arriving in the evening after a horrible Thunderstorm
 ripped through the camp with 30 mph winds and saturated the grounds,
making it too rain soaked to pitch tents.
The few of us that braved the storm to get up there
 were granted access to "higher grounds" until morning,
 putting up the tents in the darkness of the night
with just lanterns and moonlight!

\

 

 This is what I could see outside the tent ~

Nothing! 

Prayers said, tents up, we 'adventured' on.
We set up a make shift "get through the night" camp,
assembled our small stoves and ate around the campfire.
Those of us that braved the first night sat chatting
under a million stars on the chilly, clear {and now rain-free} night.
 
We huddled into our tents for the night ...
my always reading son dove into his new book
by the lantern's light,
and I later watched him in beautiful slumber by the light of the moon ♥

 

The next day was postcard perfect -
absolutely STUNNING weather, sunshiny skies and just cool enough 
to make everything wonderful ..
canoeing, hiking the nature trails, merit badge lessons, scavenger hunts,
and so much more. 

A few more families showed up late in the evening 
 just in time for camp karaoke, scary campfire stories and more s'mores!
(I won't post any of the pictures with other scouts, which is most of my pictures) :(

One of my very very VERY favorite things to do is canoe,
and as soon as the sun rose in the mornings
(and since I wasn't in charge of breakfast or scout duty!),
I channeled my inner Nicholas Sparks to venture into God's creation ↓

  

Be still my heart.

Through twists and turns, strong current and freezing water,
I was one with the river ♥

 

 

 For trip one, I cleared nearly 6 miles :)

Back on land .......

 We took nature hikes - THROUGH this!  
Our Den Leader thought it would be 'great experience!'
I think he took Frost's "Take the path less traveled" to heart ...

Eventually, all roads lead to Rome - right?
We would find actual trails and paths, here or there .... 
 

 

 Many paths ventured into the wet marshes, a vast beauty of the Everglades

that must be seen at least once in a lifetime ♥

One scout didn't follow the 'blaze' on the trail and

found himself upon this grass ........ except, it's not grass!

Look again - that's water! ↑

 

      My son wanted to catch mommy a fish for dinner so badly.
We were told at the camp bait shop that the fish weren't biting -
too cold for Florida fish and the water was too high from the previous weeks' rain
but with good spirits (and luckily camp food!) he & the other Scouts had fun :)

 

 The lake was glassy and smooth, ripple free and eerily calm + beautiful.
I prayed that my son (and the scout friend with us)
would not rock the canoe!
Water mocassins,
alligators basking in the mid-morning son, one on a nest of her eggs.
Great lesson in WE are the visitors, it is THEIR home! 
   

We were informed that we were in for some bad weather again that night,
and sure enough, 3 am brought howling winds, torrential rain, freezing temps
(by Florida standards, especially since we were amidst many citrus growers).

Some of the families had packed up and headed out,
but my husband's confidence in his new Coleman tent, 
fantastic 'hurricane force tent staking' and,
apparently, his newfound "Be bold, baby! Be committed!' stanza
was included in the Year of Adventure.    
O-kay!

Just in case, I mapped out the way to the SUV,
flashlight in hand and knew I'd be sleeping with one eye open.
And based on the symphony of dad's snoring in tents around me,
probably not much at all!
Sleep eluding me, I briefly opened the tent flap 
to see a crisp, clear night with so many stars lining the sky.
What an incredible gift to behold ♥      

  

 Sure enough, by 4 am, the rain arrived in full force. 
But, thanks be to God, the tent held up fabulously!
Not a single drop of water made it's way inside. 
In the morning, we surveyed camp and found much it had blown away.
 Anything that had been left out
(tables, tarps, stoves, etc) were all strewn about and not all of the tents made it. 
Many families were soaked through and spent the morning 'drying out' 
everything on tree branches and fence posts.  
My bestie brought out her dad's ancient coffee percolator
and we got the fire going for one of the best cups of joe! ♥ 

The sunrise also brought sunshine, and it stayed with us the rest of the trip!
 With Arrow of Light requirements mostly done,  
we had a lot of free time to explore and trek and hike and play :)
The Scouts voted me 'best on the river'
and my heart smiled :)

What's a little last night's rain going to do to Scouts?
Give them opportunity!
We put our rainboots and waterproof hikers on and explored!
   

While tromping through mud and muck and whatnot,
I hear my son ....
"Mommy!  Look at this little guy!"
  
Have mercy.

It. Is. A. Snake!

    Poor thing didn't survive the night,
but still ....... son, use a stick! 

Although we stayed another 2 nights and 1 day,
it rolled quickly into each other and before we knew it - 
time to head for home!
Bugs, rain, reptiles, exhaustion and all things crawling aside,
we had an incredibly fun and adventurous time, unexpectedly so :)  
I was actually as sad as my son to leave for home,
though I missed the girls and the fur babies.

January was so much fun, I can't wait for February's adventure!

Adventure Awaits ...
Find your tribe!
~Kelly