CCEE2217 ~ National Dandelion Day!

  Hi friends!

I'm delighted to be your hostess for the month of May

at the CCEE Stampers challenge blog.

I'll be sharing my choice of challenges all month long!

Yesterday was National Dandelion Day so show us your best

dandelion cards (or use an flower as an alternative!)

My card today is sharing this cutie from My Favorite Things ~

Make a Wish Pure Innocence.

I've colored her with my copics 

and added a base layer of patterned paper from Echo Park.

Be sure to see all of the Design Team cards here on the blog

at the CCEE Stampers!

If you add your card to a gallery, please use the keyword CCEE2217

so we can find your cards/projects.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Crafty hugs,

~Kelly

CCEE2128: Cow's it going?!

 

Hi friends!

I hope your day is MOO-velous!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers 

and we're celebration Cow Appreciation Day!

For my card, I've used several different MFT Stamps

stamp and die sets.

I went though my stash to find a little of this and a little of that

to build a sweet little farm scene.

I started with the sunrays stencil and did a quick blend for the sky.

The images were colored with my copics and arranged so

the farm girl and cow were chillin' on the farm :)

I also created the 'dirt' by using a die to create the ground

and blended it with crumb cake.

To link up your cards and to see what the DT created,

head over to the CCEE Stampers blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak peek and the 'biz!

 Hi friends!

Sounds like a groovy group from the 70's, amiright?

Sneak peek and The Biz! :) 

I'm so glad we have a wonderful long weekend!

Memorial Day is near and dear to me having a military life -

my Active Duty Army brother still serving and stationed in Europe 

and my dad who was career Air Force, serving 27 years!

First up, be sure to head over to Instagram at 12 PM EST

for an incredible blog hop with an opportunity to win some prizes!

It is a sponsored post and if you follow me,

you'll see the details in a few hours!

*Squee!*

And, later this evening, I'll be hostessing a challenge

at Splitcoaststampers .... 

and it's going to be FR-AMAZING! :)

And, finally, for the biz (business!)

 the Free For All challenge today is to use lots of die cuts.

I just finished a sympathy-thinking of you card that I need to get

in the mail like a week ago ....... 

This cards has a floral stamp and die from MFT Stamps 

and I've used 4 die cuts on the front.

Thanks for stopping by!

I come bearing gifts ....

 

and the gift is ME!

Hee hee!

  For today's card, I actually used up some scrap 

pieces of material and glittery shiny washi tape

and a sweet skating polar bear from My Favorite Things

called Polar Bear Pals.

Here's the inside of the card:

The inside of the card is a little sentiment

that's computer generated.

My son will eventually give it to whomever he wants this holiday :)

Have a great start to the new week!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

Entered: Simon Says Stamp: Monday challenge - Christmas

Umbrella .... ella ... ella .....

 

Hi friends!

Umbrella .... ella ... ella ........

as my kids say, 

if you know, you know! 

:)

Happy Sunday!

Time for us here in South Florida to get out our umbrellas!

Tropical Storm Eta is heading this way!

My card is for the FS at Splitocoasttstampers

and it's always fun as a Dirty Girl Alumni to enjoy the gallery of one of our own!

I'm not big on the whole CASE-ing cards thing

but in this case, that's the point :)

The idea is to be inspired by the card and I spotted this card of Jane's:

After almost discarding my background, I decided to give it a second chance 

and let it take center stage.

After mixing and practicing with some watercolor pans, 

this was what was left and the paper pilled too much for my liking.

Instead of tossing it, I kept it and gave it a second chance ..

and, as I like to say, it's actually kinda groovy!

Here's my card:

Dug into my old stamps and found Pure Innoncence MFT Stamps Umbrella girl

and the sentiment is from the Prayers MFT Stamps set.

And that's it from me!

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday -

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

CCEE2045: Men Make Dinner Day!

 

Hi friends!

I have some great news ~

You do not have to cook dinner tonight ....

It's Men Make Dinner Day! :)

I'm super excited to be the hostess for the entire month of November 

at the CCEE Stampers.

For the next 4 Thursdays, I hope to bring you some super fun challenges!

First up:  November 1st was Men Make Dinner Day.

In our home, that would be a treat!

My husband doesn't cook very much or very often,

but when he does - YUM!

For my card today, I've used Recipe for Happiness by MFT Stamps.

The bowl and pot are a little wild with the green color 

but I've colored them to mimic the pots and pans my husband

 bought me many years ago.

We were newly married and had just put a down payment on our home

and we were dirt poor  - but still he bought me a beautiful set of 

pots and pans that I'd been eyeing (and WAY out of the budget)

He even bought them in my favorite color:  green!

Yep, he's a keeper!

Be sure to stop in the CCEE Stampers blog and see what the DT has created.

Be sure to link up your cards, too, at the bottom with the linky.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

CCEE2030 ~ National Zookeepers Week!

Hi friends!

It's a ZOO out there!

And on the CCEE Stampers blog this week, 

quite literally :)

Lois is our July hostess and has asked us

 to create a card with at least one zoo animal on it.

Today's card is a slimline card, 

a card style quite popular in the crafting community!

I can't say I've 'caught the bug' fad just yet 

but I'm loving the inspiration I'm seeing everywhere.

This slimline die set is from Lawn Fawn and I've paired it 

with the super fun Zoo stamp set from Gerda Steiner.

To create the sky, I used the MFT Cloud stencil and
Ranger Ink Distress oxides in Tumbled Glass and Broken China.
For the hills, I used a stitched die
and added it like a puzzle piece to layer it.
Finally, I stamped the sentiment 'It's your birthday ..."
and on the inside "Go WILD!"

I'll be making a video of this very soon 
and you'll be able to see it on my YouTube channel ~
which was my happy news to share before I ended up sick.

I even have a wee giveaway right now that ends August 1st -
head on over if you'd like to peek!
I'm really new, really novice but excited to start this new venture
and I'd love to have you subscribe!

Here's a final look at my zoo card:

Be sure to stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog
and link up your zoo cards, too.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

3 cards from VSN at Splitcoasttstampers :)

Hi friends!

Splitcoaststampers is having the Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) this weekend

and it's a fast paced, card making bonanza!

For a few hours on Friday and Saturday,

the hostesses have themes for a card and one hour to complete the card

before the next challenge begins.

I was Ms. Friday Night  at 7 pm!

And nope!

I didn't require wearing a bikini ~

that was optional!

hee hee!

Since the theme is centered around a summer playlist,

I chose an older song from 1960 by Brian Hyland:

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini!

This song always brings back happy memories of summer time

when this song would play on the radio!

Here is my card using MFT Stamps Pure Innocence Beach Day.

Completion time:  36 minutes

Next,

Shelly's challenge ~ gradient color.

Completion time:  43 minutes

I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors with watercolor sheet paper,

and then die cut it with a die-namic from MFT Stamps.

And last, 

Annette's challenge: Fishing in the dark!

Completion time:  23 minutes

I used Avery Elle Hello Chum - such a fun stamp set!

My son wants to go deep sea fishing and night boating - mama says no!

This is just a few cards that I've made ~

and hopefully will be able to make a few more!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ~Kelly

Welcome to summer Mini Card Camp ~ Day 1!

Hi friends!

There is something super exciting on my blog today!

It's the first day of summer mini card camp!

Right about now, my son would be in the mountains 

at a 2 week Boy Scout rafting/camping trip

and our church would have hosted Vacation Bible School (VBS).

This gave me an idea!

 Create a 4 day mini card camp,

gather up some 'camp counselors' and teach a class a day!

Each day, myself and 3 friends will bring you a tutorial taught by us

with an original card design, materials you most likely have at home,

and enthusiasm to create a simple project during this stay-at-home time.

The classes are FREE, relatively quick and easy to create and

 we invite you to craft along with us each day 

this week, Monday-Thursday, June 22-25.

Today's lesson:  C.A.M.P. ~ Bold Color, No Color!

For each of the letters in CAMP, 

use each letter to build your card including a stamp with an A!

Materials needed: 

• cardstock, both colored and white (images)
• circle die
• any stamp that starts with the letter 'A' (dies optional, you can fussy cut!)
• paper cutter
• stamping tool or acrylic block
• ink
• adhesive
• optional:  Signo white pen and vellum

Let's get right to it!

We - as cardmakers - LOVE TO COLOR, amiright?!

The idea behind this look is not only to do something out of the ordinary

but using a bold background filled with a lot of color 

gives contrast to the images left uncolored.

The idea for this card came to me when my 2nd daughter, my son and I

were at a night viewing of the planets through a telescope at a local event.

The sky, a brilliant shade of blue with a huge super moon,

left a white glow on all of us on the ground.

It was quite something!

C = cardstock, circle die, clouds

A = animal stamps

M = midnight, My Favorite Things stamps, mounting foam adhesive

P = paper trimmer

To create my card, I started with a base layer of Neenah Solar White cardstock

and did a quick distress oxide blend to create a night sky.

You can also use any paper for this ~ grab a quick piece of DSP!

Once that was dry, I did the same for the moon with slightly darker shades

and dotted the moon with the white gel pen for star-lights.

For the shape, I used a medium size spellbinders circle die.

Using a larger die, I cut 3 half pie shapes with green cardstock

and layered them to resemble hills.

Finally, using a cloud die, I cut the cloud shapes with the vellum (white cardstock works great, too!) and adhered those to the top.

Finally, I stamped/die cut the animals, tent and camp sign using black ink,

white cardstock and my Gemini Jr.

I used 2 different stamp sets from My Favorite Things to create a camp scene,

Warn and Fuzzy Friends and Forest Friends.

Layering them on the card was simply which way the critters were facing

and the inside sentiment reads:

May the FOREST be with you!

We invite you to craft along with us and allot yourself an hour or 2

 to gather supplies and make your own version of this camp card:

Bold Color, No Color!

It's a fun and wonderful way to make a few new cards this week 

and there are NO BUGS at this camp :)

 I can't wait to see what you create!

Each day, we will post our class cards are 7 am

and you can craft along with us and use our tutorials as your guide!

The line up of camp classes and instructors this week are:

Monday/June 22 ~ Kelly (me!) @ Sandcastlestamper

Tuesday/June 23 ~ Darlene @ Accordingtobijou

Wednesday/June 24 ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay

Thursday/June25 ~ Barb @ inkingintoretirement

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ...

~Kelly

CCEE2011 ~ Party Favors!

Hi friends!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers  ~ party favors!
The challenge is to create a treat BOX ~

and the DT has created some gorgeously yummy treat boxes.

I went slightly off the beaten path with my party favors :)

I am part of a local, super fun book club 

and wanted to bring something to the table this week when we meet

so my contribution to the party favors are book marks!

These took forever to color!

In fact, over 2 hours and I'm still not finished.

 (and at the time I took photos, the green one was missing ..
and on St. Patrick's week - can you imagine!)

I needed to add the sentiments on but ran short on time

and will probably decide to skip the ribbons at the all together.

Here's the collection, minus the green :)
 I've used the ADORABLE reading dragon stamps from MFT Stamps
called Magical Friends.  
I just love love LOVE this stamp set.
I've cut out the characters with my Brother Scan n Cut
and colored with both prismacolor markers and copic markers.
The little clouds are from an MFT die-namic
and the rectangle scallop and straight dies are from spellbinders.
I am also in love with the beautiful watercolor paper from Lawn Fawn - 
and plan to buy another pack soon ♥

Here's a close up view of just 3 of them ↓

Stay tuned .... I'll add the sentiments later today

and will show another peek before they are all given out :)

This was also my day 11 of coloring for The Daily Marker 30 Day ~
a coloring challenge that last's the month.
You color a little, you can color a lot!
Today was a lot :)

 You can see the DT inspiration blog here
as well as link up your projects.
If you use a gallery like Flickr or Splitcoaststampers,
use the keyword CCEE2011.

  I'll enter this into:  Happy Little Stampers - AG with dies

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥
~Kelly

CCEE2004: Ice, Ice, Baby!

 Hi friends!

It's COLD here in Miami, Florida and 

I. am. so. happy!!!

It's been a GORGEOUS 33° with the wind chill

and temps hovering around 50° ..

woohoo!

I am absolutely loving - and taking advantage of our 1 day of winter ♥

And it just so happens that the new CCEE Stampers Challenge

this week is all about ice, ice, baby!

Lynn is our hostess for January and said:  

 

 It seems to me I have been bundled up 

in sweatshirts and sweaters for weeks now!

 Baby, it’s cold outside.  Let’s see those icy creations!! 

Add your glitter and shine to make some shimmery winter beauties.

 For today's card, I've made an easel card with a winter scene

using several stamps from My Favorite Things.

Dashing By (ret'd) and Snow Buddies.

I chose this fancy fold style for the Christmas challenge at Splitcoaststampers

for the month of January.

 Side view

 I created and colored this before I took the online color class

but I do love it!

It was also created in my 'pink christmas' phase, LOL!

I love this style of fold because it's actually an A2 size card

when folded and flattens right up for a perfect sized mailed card.

 We'd love for you to play along, too!

You can add your cards to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post here

and you can see what the rest of the Design Team has created this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Entered to:  SSS: Wednesday:  Pets!