Otters in the ocean!

 

Hi friends!

Today's card is a double duty -

 June 8 is World Ocean's Day this year

and that's the theme of the CCEE Stampers this week!

This adorable image is for the 3M June (3 Musketeers)

sent to us by Jeanette and it's otter-ly adorable!

The image is from CC Designs and reminds me of my daughter's

family - they are 3 and just as happy and smiling!

And otters DO live in the ocean!

So, I made my card a few days ago 

with a watercolor panel as the background

BUT accidentally glued it upside down!

Yep.

The green was the bottom as one of the favorite spots at the zoo

for Alice (my granddaughter) is the otter slide!

It's a pretty green slide with a blue top tunnel

that you crawl through while they swim above - it's SO CUTE!

I had hoped to remake it but haven't had a free chance

so upside down it is :)

I do love me some punny cards and think this is just so cute!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers this week

and

 Barb and Jeanette's cards which are on their blogs.

Crafty hugs!
Kelly

CCL: For the love of CLOUDS!

Hi friends!

I have 2 posts today ....

If you would like to see my CCEE Stampers cards, it's here! 

It's also the day we post our cards for the Classy Card Ladies ~

which is 2 teams of friends 'dueling' with cards kits ~

one theme, two different hostesses that send out card kits.

This month, Jeanette and I were the hostesses for this month's duel

and our theme is:

CLOUDS!

I also gave the Diamonds (my group) homework! It's at the end :)

This theme is SO SWEET!

My kids and I have been cloud watchers for years and it makes such 

sweet memories ~ one I hope to continue with my granddaughter.

My card kit included an assortment of cloud papers,

the cute girl from C C Designs from Unicorn and Rainbow.

I sent the girls on my team this sweet girl and a cloud and sentiments,

as well as all the cloud papers I could find :)

One of the other items that I sent was the die cut cloud frame!

It was optional to use it and I decided that I wanted to :)

I chose the rainbow-y cloud paper and colored her to match the paper

and added the sentiment, also from the stamp set.

The Diamond's HOMEWORK!

I asked ....

Do you ever catch yourself looking up into the clouds?

Do you look for shapes or check the weather :)

What's the best shaped cloud you remember seeing?

For me, I remember seeing one while we were at the park

and it was the perfect shape of an angel!

How I wish we'd had cell phones on the ready like we do now!

Here is how you can see all the cards from the Classy Card Ladies

Diamonds

Barb

Carol

Kelly

LJ

Suzy - in the SCS Gallery

Pearls

Darlene

Deb - in the SCS Gallery

Shelly

Tracie

Thanks for stopping by today!

DDD ~ Rudolph's Red Nose!

 

Hi friends!

It's time for the last DDD duel of this year ~

we take December off to enjoy the holidays :)

For this duel, Carol and Shelly put their noses together

and came up with a super fun holiday theme:  

Rudolph's Red Nose!

As part of Team Divas, I received an adorable kit with C C Designs

reindeer games and Carol was SO SWEET to include all 3!

Yep, I squealed!

I'll be making a lot of cute cards with these stamps :)

Here is my card for the duel:

Surprisingly for me, 

I chose the first designer paper from the ones she sent - plain black.

It was strange for me for a Christmas card but it matched perfectly 

with the holy berry paper so I just went with it.

I added a small dollop of the shiny dsp to the corner as a nod to the red nose.  

Rudolph is colored with copics and popped up in front of the sentiment

and the final touch is the red pompom on his hat.

You can see all the Diva and Dazzler cards at Splitcoaststampers

in the gallery under DDD cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)
~Kelly

DDD: The Roaring 20's!

 

Hello again!

This is my 2nd post for today -  and I'm up on the blog at The Project Bin today.  To see my card, please go here :)

Todays is the day we post our cards for the Dueling Darlings ~

the very same group that just celebrated 10 years of cardmaking together!

How it works:  2 hostesses come up with ONE theme

and the 2 teams get TWO different card kits!

 Our hostesses this month are the fabulous Canadian duo: Beth and Heather

and they have a terrific theme of The Roaring 20's!

I LOVE THIS THEME!

My daughter is a HUGE fan of the 20's and was in the production of Chicago and my son was cast as Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls in Middle School :)

 In my kit, I had a choice of several images (thanks, Heather!)

and will use ALL of them in the future!

Our kit also included this beautiful dsp and images from CC Designs

and my card today was colored with prismacolor markers.  And as part of my

Sept-paper, I used a couple sheets of the DSP to highlight the flapper girl and chose teals and blue based on the pretty ribbon!

Here is my card front: 

And a quick peek at the inside:

Thank you, Heather and Beth for the fun kit and theme!

To see the rest of the card created by the group,

I invited you to head to Splitcoaststampers and see the Dueling Darlings!

I'm behind in about 3 more cards so you'll be seeing those - soon!

Life is full throttle here and papercrafting has had to take second fiddle ...

imagine that?!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

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

Hot Mess Success #6 ~ Sparkle!

 Hi friends ....

happy weekend!

Today's card is card #6 for the *Hot Mess ~ Success* card group 

where the best item on the crafting menu is whatever is the messiest! :)

Each month, the hostess chooses a theme 

and we (Barb, Jeanette, Terry and I) create 

a messy card using a messy technique.

This month, our hostess is Jeanette and her theme is sparkle.

The fun part about this group is that I have been pushing

 the boundaries of my comfort zone

and trying new things each month.

So for January ..

no better time than like now to play with my watercolor glitter inks!

This is the first time I've used the Brea Reese Watercolor inks

and I must say ...  these inks are a super!

I'm using the word ink ~ it's a liquid bottle

and trust me - one drop goes a LONG way!

They are sparkly and glittery and very - VERY - messy

which made for lot of fun :) 

The Brea Reese watercolors are so rich and vibrant.

They have tons of pigment and are very concentrated - 

you have to shake, shake, shake your booty the bottle to activate the sparkle!

The mica settles to the bottom and you have to be vigorous 

with the shaking/mixing but once you do - it's worth it!

If I had to sum it up in one word,

 I'd say it's similiar to Tattered Angels glimmer mist spray in the form of peerless watercolors.  almost. 

I used a paintbrush, only a couple drops of ink, and water ~

and brushed the watercolor onto cardstock. 

It dries VERY fast ...

I didn't even have time to get the heat gun out, it was that fast!
 

My card is using the reindeer from CC Designs

and a little scene of snowbanks with vellum paper 

and placed behind the triple stitched frame. 

I added a couple drops of water to the BR watercolor inks

and brushed it across a piece of heavyweight cardstock.

I wish the photograph could show you the true shimmer and sparkle.
If you see the close up above, it SHINES!

It's like fairy dust over the photo just gleaming!

 

There is also a little bit of shimmer in the vellum I chose.
It's actually a leftover from a previous project and I saw it,
ran it through the cutter with a snow bank die cut.  
Perfect!
No throw aways!

You can also see Barb, Jeanette, Terry's 
messy cards on their blogs today.

I'm smiling (at myself) for creating a card with Christmas

and holiday lights since we took "Christmas' down from our house

on the 1st day of January when The Kid was home on winter break.

It's all back to normal and nothing is out of place ♥

↑
Except ... note to self ...

 next time, wear gloves.

Because once it's on your hands, it stays on your hands, LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Card entered into:  As you see it #216 - sparkle

CCEE1938 ~ Talk Like A Pirate!

Ahoy there me Hearties!!!!

Good day to ya!

Did yer know that it's talk like a pirate day?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, it 'tis!

It's also Thursday ... and that means it's time for another
  challenge time on the CCEE Stampers blog.

Frances, the hostess for the month of September, says:

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day,

 so grab those pirate stamps/dies to create your card this week. 

No pirate stamps?  Think beach, ocean or treasure!

Here is my card using CC Designs Rascals Pirate Henry,

the popular-on-my-blog Lawn Fawn tropical background die

and a pirate sentiment from a Peachy Keen stamp set.

 

Now for the FUN part!

The background panel is actually .......

a paper towel painting!

I started the background as part of my 'hot mess' post 

and didn't get to finish the card so I'll make another one :)

I used Strathmore heavyweight water color paper 

and added Gansai tambi watercolors directly to the watercolor paper.

While it was still sopping wet, I laid a paper towel onto it and let it sink in.

I THOUGHT it would soak up most of the paint and leave a dull base,

but surprisingly, much of the paint remained

 as well as the impression of the paper towel. 

 I used a sheet of Bounty that had really pretty swirls :)

Ta-da!

 

Be sure to stop in the CCEE Stampers blog to see the rest of the cards

from the design team,

as well as find the linky to add your cards, too!

Thanks for stopping by!
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: Will you be my Valentine?

Roses are red,

violets are blue ...

this mom is EXHAUSTED ...

how about you? 

:)

Hi friends!

It's almost Valentine's Day!

There's so much love to celebrate ~

our special loves, friends and family.

 I'm the mom that loves the macaroni necklaces,

the painted rocks, the hand picked flowers from the yard ♥

For me, it's the small things!

 My husband is the absolute sweetest ..

no box of chocolate for me ~ he shows up with a Starbucks! :)

Since it's the 9th day of the month,  

the 3M card group posts our cards today.

This month, Jeanette is the hostess and sent us the darling image 

Roberto's Rascals Valentine's Henry from CC Designs.

I believe it's retired now ... I also own this and have had it for a good while,

thinking of a scrapbook page for my son.

That's still a work in progress (... 2 years later!) 

 I also used another one of my CC Designs sentiments sets

to include the stamped sentiment poetry on the inside :) 

 

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

I'm up for next month's image .. time to put my thinking cap on :)

Wishing you a happy and LOVE-ly day!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! 

 ~Kelly