A Year of Peace ~ February

 Hi friends!

My word for 2025 is Peace

(you can read all about that here if you like!)

and this is my February PEACE-ful creation 💓

One of my goals for this year was to find my way back

to finding what brings me joy and inner peace.

Cardmaking is definitely on that list! 

I wanted to create a that reflected peace in some way 

and decided to have fun with some primitive crows!

They are now ............ winter cardinals!

I envisioned a serene, peaceful, calm snowy winter scene.

I chose several @Whimsy Stamps for this one:

* A Murder Of Crows die set +

* Snowy Trees die set 

(which is one sale right now!)

I did light watercoloring and die cut the trees

and paint splattered the background for faux snow.

My monthly card group that I was invited to join

had a theme to create a Christmas card with a matching envelope

and I carried over the designer paper (the crows) 

to the inside of the card and as an envelope flap, safe for mailing.

Looking at it now, again, it seems 'unfinished.'

Since the Merry Christmas is on the inside, 

I didn't put much thought

into a message being missing from the front.

I'm second guessing that now but now it's out there, LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

GNOME for Christmas!

Hi friends!

I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving, if you celebrate!

Our home has been bustling and busy and OH SO FUN

with all the kids/signficant others ~ 

lots of food, laughs and memories made!

This mama's heart is full and we are truly blessed <3

Speaking of blessings, I have some SUPER news to share ~ soon!

*Stay tuned!*

But I can share my newest card feauturing Whimsy Stamps

Gnome for the Holidays!

 

To create this adorable little winter scene,

I stamped/die cut and colored the gnome.

I added a background of a winter snowy scene with the 

Mountain Majesty die set.

  One more holiday card done!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll see you on my next post :)

~Kelly

I'll be Gnome for Christmas!

 Hey friends!

Dashing by with a quick hi and an even quicker card to make 

~ clean and simple!

 My friend Brennan had a challenge for a One Layer Christmas Card 

~ yikes!  I don't do one layer very well often 

so this was a LEAP outside the box!

I settled on the adorable Gnome for the Holidays from Whimsy Stamps 

and I let the whismical colors and MERRY letters be the stars :)

Here's the really skinny side view!

Life is settling down to quieter moments here with the storm leaving,

birthday girl is officially 6 and 

tomorrow The Kid and I are heading to his college.

So see - simple is good after all :)

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

Linking to: BYSH Cardmakers!

Christmas, a new year and plans!

 Hello friends!

I hope you all had a magical Christmas 

and are looking forward to a brand new year soon upon us!

Ours was absolutely wonderful, 

especially through the eyes of our 3 year old granddaughter, Alice!

She weaves a light ~ and love ~ into our families like no one else <3

I am SO EXCITED for 2022!

I adore even numbers and can't help shake the feeling 

"it's going to be a good, really good  year!"

Let's see ...

my word of the year has already chosen me.

I say that every year on my WOTY blog post ~

and it's always true.

I don't choose one - it choses me.

And for the 1st time ever,  my 2022  Word Of The Year makes history!

I also have my One Plus Twelve stamp ready for 2022.

That one I did fight just a little bit 

 mostly because it's been with me for about 8 months!

I kept thinking "This one? Are you sure?  Like REALLY sure?"

every time I'd see the stamp.

And I swear, if stamps could smile, this one does.

I'm convinced of it.

Like a gentle reminder ......... I'm still here.  

I'm also scaling back on my card groups 

and focusing more on my YouTube channel.

If you are interested, you can follow my crafty adventures there!

I have some grand plans for my channel 

and am really excited for my 2022 YT goals.

Shown above are some shaker polaroids I created just for fun -

and more things like these will be on my channel next year.

Stay tuned!

Honestly, I can't wait!

2022 - I'm comin' atcha :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Word of the Year: 2021

TPB: Masculine Christmas!

Happy Monday, friends!

I hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving/break!

Ours was simply delicious (in so many ways!)

While doing some Black Friday shopping,

I was able to scoop up some really good deals,

including some gifts for the guys in my family.

And it got me thinking ...

a masculine style card for Christmas!

Since Mondays are the day that I post for The Project Bin blog,

I knew right away how/where/when I was going to do my card :)

And ended up making TWO! :)

(the sentiments from The Project Bin are easy to do that!)

I immediately thought of the rustic deer from the Deer Mom stamp set,

and paired it with a different holiday stamps:  North Pole.

Both of them offer a simple holiday greeting that was perfect.

 

After stamping out the deer, I added a sentiment to each card ~

giving it a slightly wonky look to the image and cardstock.

This beautiful Deer Mom stamp is shown here as another way to use the 

stamp set to extend the life of your stamps from The Project Bin 

and use them in a creative way!

 I hope you enjoyed the cards today!
You can see the stamp sets in entirety here:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Santa's Coming to town ..

... and he's riding in a pick up! 

Happy Fri-Yay, friends!

The 3M - that would be Barb, Jeanette and I, 

post cards once a month based on an image.

This month, I was the hostess and chose this darling Santa and reindeer

image and sentiment from Stampendous called Santa's pick up.

 

They were on time posting on the the 9th ...

I've been swamped with family/commitments/events

but hopefully I'm still on Santa's good list!

I'm sure I am!

*wink! wink!*

 

If I had to decribe my card making style - 

I'd have to say I'm drawn to whimsical, colorful, and critters!

Anything that has cute animals, I am immediately pulled in

and start looking for it ♥

This stamp found me!

I was wandering through a store, waiting for my son to finish school,

and there it was - a ton of new stamps from Stampendous, each a delight!

Here is the inside of my card:

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

Thanks for stopping by today!

 And just in case ~ only 39 days left until Christmas!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Growing in Unity - Day 3!

Hi friends!

It's Day 3 of the Growing in Unity sharing posts

 and I'm back with a holiday card!

 

I thank you all for stopping by each day to see the how the Unity stamps

are made into cards.

Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win 

a generous and wonderful prize package from Unity Stamp Co!

Today's card is using one of my very favorite holiday images ♥

Most of you know, I'm a HUGE Charlie Brown and Snoopy fan

and when I spied this 'small stuff' Unity stamp awhile back, 

I scooped it right up!

 It reminded me so much of Charlie Brown's tree

but more importantly, the matching sentiment stamp really spoke to my heart.

 

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Be sure to see what tomorrow brings using another wonderful

Unity Stamp Co stamp and sentiment ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly 

 

 

Patchwork Christmas ♥

Good Morning, friends!

Just one more week and it's Christmas!

How fast this year flew by.

But I am happy to say, this year I'm ready :)

Today's card using The Project Bin stamps is a little bit different.

I've seen quite a few of these types of Christmas tree cards

and decided to try one, putting my own touches on it.

Since I've been making Christmas cards, I've had a lot of little holiday scraps.

And buttons. 

Oh, I have lots and lots of buttons!

 

I'm so guilty of tossing the scraps most of the time due to limited space.
However, here's a way to use them up!
Using those smaller pieces, odds and ends and tidbits,
add them to a card in a creative way.

 

I created this card by gathering up all the little tidbits of papers
that had been collecting in my little basket.
I first cut white cardstock in A2 size, then ran kraft cardstock through 
the cuttlebug with a die cut.

Carefully layering the papers in a random pattern,
I measured out the angles and cut those to size with my trimmer.
Once in place, I added tombo to keep them from moving
and added buttons from my big container, again, just randomly.

The wonderful Merry Christmas sentiment is on the inside of the card ↓
and it's from Maybe Christmas stamp set from The Project Bin.
It's stamped out using the stamping platform
 and Altenew Crisp Black ink for a bold look.

This card reminds me of how unique the holidays are ~

different for everyone. 
As I was creating this card, I kept singing to myself a song I grew up with

that has special meaning to me.
The song Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton was on the radio so often

when I was a child and I could often relate to it ~

sometimes not having enough WAS enough ♥

 
The true meaning of Christmas often gets lost in the shuffle
and giving from the heart is what matters most ♥
 

 To see more inspiring cards from The Project Bin,
stop by the blog here.
I hope this week brings you merriment and holiday wonder!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

RSG ....... Inside/Out!

Today's the day!  

The November Ready, Set, Go Challenge this month was from me :) 

 I challenged Barb, Jeanette and myself

 to make an Inside/Outside card!

Say what?!!

And inside out card is actually a pretty simple idea!

It's where the inside of the card is now the front,

and the front becomes the inside! 

Since I tend to decorate the inside of my cards a lot,

I thought it would be fun to see how we interpret switching the roles of each.

I used my new Neat and Tangled stamp set "Santa's Wonderland"

... omgosh!

This stamp set is. the. cutest!!

The Santa and winter scene on my card would normally be played out

on the front of the card but I have them tucked behind 

each of the cut out circular shapes, giving a hint of the merriment.
 

My card was actually inspired by one that I saw from GSD

~ you can see the adorable card here ♥

 In hindsight, there is too much white on the card for my liking:

learning experience ;)

You can see what Barb and Jeanette did with this challenge

by heading over to their blogs!

Oh! And in case you were wondering,

there's only 5 weeks left until Christmas!

I'm actually starting to panic a little :/

How about you - are you ready to get your merry on?! ♥

I'll add my card to the Neat and Tangled Little Tangles challenge - coloring!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Merry Christmas, 2015!

Good Morning, friends!

A few more sleeps and Santa will be here!  :) 

Just a few more batches of cookies to make here and I'll finally be ready.

Today, after a round of dental appointments,

 we are making homemade bird seed ornaments as the kids

wanted to hang them to the trees outside 

for all our feathered friends that visit the yard ♥

I have two words on the top of my holiday wish list:

sleep and relaxing! ♥

If I could just stay still, I'd be a happy mama!

This week's Inspiration Challenge at Riley and Company Stamps

is celebrating Christmas.

I've kept this one simple, coloring Riley with prismacolor markers,

stickles for the star and using up basket scraps for the design.

I have to resnap a picture of the inside of the card

and post it, too! 

Wishing you all a wonderful, warm and blessed Christmas celebration

with your families and friends!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly 

Riley and Company's *New Stamp Release!* Blog Hop!

Good evening, everyone! 

 

 *It's time for a Moose-tacular Riley and Company new stamp blog hop!*

The Riley and Company Design Team are stamping up the fun for this blog hop with the release of 49 new Funnybones stamps.

 

If you are just arriving, please start at the Riley and Company blog

so that you don’t miss out on anything ♥

If you are hopping along, you should have arrived from Kerin's creative blog.

Before I get to my 2 cards, I wanted to share this month's specials with you ~

 

Special #1:  Buy the entire unmounted set of 49 new Funnybones (3 full plates) for only $125! (Save $120!) (Offer not available to wholesale customers.) Limit one per customer. Offer ends October 12th.

 

 Special #2:  You can also get a set of 3 FREE Funnybones stamps (our choice) and a limited edition logo stamp during this release by simply placing an order of $30 or more (before tax) in the first 24 hours of the release! (One per customer please.)

  

 Special #3:  But wait - there's more!  As an added bonus, we are giving EVERYONE FREE SHIPPING from Thursday night at 9 pm CST until Sunday night at midnight CST! Just enter FREESHIP in the coupon code section!

Here's my first card ~ "I swear it will be funny ..."

My card is showcasing the sentiment because it's just so fabulous!

I added several banners underneath to give it a little color and pop

but this would be the funniest card to send to the parents.

Especially if you are a college kid, away from home.

 

HAHA!

JUST KIDDING!

 Next up, 1 day of coal!  I paired it with Elf Riley, who graces

the inside of the card.

And, if I were a moose-behaver, I'd probably take my chances, too! *grin!*

I went with bright, fun Christmas papers to match this Funnybones stamp.

I CASEd one of my own cards from awhile back, using

a similar design which I looooooved - so it's making a comeback :)

 

 

Thanks for hopping along with us!

From here, you'll hop on over to Monica's marvelous blog!

 

Enjoy and have a fabulous weekend ♥

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

*Fabulous Fun Flowers!*

Happy Friday!

It's my turn to post on the Just for Fun Stamps blog today

so I'm showing you the Trio of cards I made ~

I call them the Fall-Winter triplets! ♥

 

 

Using the fabulously fun Stamptangle Zen Flowers stamp,

I stamped it out (Momento) 3 times:

Using Oranges/yellows for Fall,

Reds/greens for the Holidays,

and Blues/silvery for the New Year/Winter!

 

 

Each card has a color coordinated piece of twine ~

pretty quick and easy

and great for cards being sent out to family, friends

even the teachers now that school is back in session :)

 

 

For Fall/Christmas, the flower is cut out twice and propped up on 3d foam

for added dimension and a little pop.

 

 

If you're on Facebook, we'd love for you to find
Just For Fun stamps and 'like' us ~

for upcoming releases, new stamps, and DT inspirations!

 

You can find this Stamptangle Zen Flower (G3752)

in the shop along with many others ~

you can find them all here :)

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly