CCEE2243 ~ It's Walk Your Dog week!

 Hi friends!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers this week

and we are celebrating Walk Your Dog week!

Our hostess for the month of November is Maryann

and she states:

According to the days of the year calendar, it is walk your dog week. 

Walk your dog week is a week holiday dedicated to bringing your dog a healthier lifestyle.

 Make a card with your furry friend in mind.

love. this. theme!

Anytime I get to create with a kitty or puppy, I'm a happy girl!

I went with a SUPER simple card this week because the flu

is running rampid through my house

and knocking us down like bowling pins.

Super quick and easy card using My Favorite Things stamps/dies

celebrating this sweet pup sharing his bone!

Be sure to stop in and see what the DT has created

over at the blog here!

You can also link up your cards and play along - use the code CCEE2243

and we'll find your cards and projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty hugs,

Kelly

Make mine a DOUBLE!

 

Hi friends!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope your weekend is going wonderful <3

Today's card is wishful thinking - 

double cups of Starbucks coffee THIS BIG!

Wow!

I'd be up for a week straight, I bet! :)

The CAS challenge this week has a theme perfectly me ..

coffee!

I used my My Favorite Things A La Mode stamp set

and colored this cutie with prismacolor markers.

I used the matching die to die cut the image

and popped it up onto a bit of foam

although the CAS card is supposed to be a one. sheet. wonder ...

oops!

The sentiment is a pre made label sticker from K & Co

and I thought it was so cute for this huge coffees!

This card will be added to my son's card drive for his Boy Scouts project

to deliver cards to a senior citizen center in our neighborhood.

They asked for more cards!

He delivered them over 200 cards and the director called him

and said "if you have any more, we'll take them!"

Suuuuuhweet!

Thanks for stopping by and peeking!

24 Hour Blueprints - Round 1!

Hi friends!

There's a new card challenge series on my blog

that you'll be seeing every other month ...

Welcome to 24 Hour Blueprints ~ May 2021!

This was inspired by dear friend, Sheila, 

who had a zoom session with her friends using card sketches.

How it works:

One friend sends the mystery card blueprintss to the others 

and cards are made using those sketches!

BUT!

I'm taking it a step further and included a color palette 

and a theme AND giving only 24 hours to create the cards!

Now that's a challenge :)

First, here are my sketches, colors and theme ...

                         And here are my 3 cards together ...

           To make it fair, I decided NOT to make any cards until

the blueprints were send out with only 24 hours to create.

I could not have known, however, that I'd have

the Mondayest Tuesday ever!

So, I had to create quick and on the fly .. 

and to make it easier,

I chose just one summer theme stamp set:  

Penguins in Paradise from My Favorite Things.

Palm trees, penguins in swim trunks, popsicles?!  

Yes, please!

Here's card #1 based on the sketch:

And card #2 ..

And card #3!

For this one, I took a little creative freedom with the sketch

and flipped it upside down!

I have 2 friends joining me in this new challenge:

Barb and Jeanette 

and their cards on on their blogs as well!

So scrambling last minute aside, this was actually quite fun!

The idea, I think if I'm understanding it correctly,

is to find your mojo, get inspired to create, and just have a lot of fun

during the creative process while joining good friends!

I sure I hope I passed :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

April showers!

 

Hi friends!

Mondays are always fun at Splitcoaststampers

because that means it's CAS card day!

Clean and Simple

 - formerly known as One Sheet Wonders -

are actually harder for me to do :)

I'm more of a pile on the layers

and use some fun dies 

and add othe embellisments kinda girl!

The theme this week is:  April Showers

so I chose My Favorite Things Puddle Jumper Rain or Shine.

I started by stamping the image,

then masking it off.

Next, I used Lawn Fawn's mermaid ink and a blender brush

to lightly ink the background.

Once that was blended, I pulled off the mask 

and used my copic markers to color the image bright colors!

In hindsight, I wish I had spritzed water on the background ink

but that's probably why they say it's 20/20 - LOL!

I was inspired by my friend, Timothy, on Instagram 

to color outside my norm of using peach tones.

Truthfully, I'm often shy and super conscientious about coloring 

skin tones and hair!

And the reason for that is I don't think that I'm very good at it.

I try and try and I get embarrassed because it doesn't look as good

 so I sort of "stick to what I know."

His IG is filled with Stamp Anniething chibis of all colors

and walks of life - from Black and Brown friends to White 

and everyone in between!

AND - for this one - I did do the water spritz! :)

For that reason, I decided to *try my best* to use darker skin tones

and created the same card - twice!

I'll enter my card to Simon Says Stamp - Monday - Brights!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday to me! :)

 Hi friends!

It's the beginning of Spring Break for my son

 so LOTS of time to goof off make some cards :)

Today is also my birthday so I'm sure 

it's going to be a super fun, festive day!

I'm the hostess this month for the Challenge Your Stash card group

and this was my theme:

March 2021 - Kelly -MiamiKel4 CYSMAR

~~Today is my birthday! March is also World Literacy Month - 

create a card based on any book or book characters.

I chose the book (and the popular Pixar movie) Ratatouille!

I loved the moved and have seen it so many times.

I don't know if the book was first or vice versa but that's what I chose!

Here's my card,

 using a mix of Lawn Fawn and My Favorite Things stamps.

I used the plaid remix dsp from Lawn Fawn and the border frame

from Hello Bluebird and copic markers to color the images.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card entered to: Word Art Wednesday - AG

CCEE2101 ~ New Year's Resolutions

                                                                          Hi friends!

Welcome to a new year of challenges with the CCEE Stampers!

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season.

Our hostess who'll bring us all the January challenges

is the uber talented Lynn McAuley!

Here is her challenge:

A new year usually means New Year's Resolutions. For the first challenge of 2021, I am asking that you feature something that you could add to or subtract from your life to improve the quality of your physical or mental health.  Your card can be tongue-in-cheek or the real deal!

Oh Lynn, such a wonderful challenge and so much to think about 

with the new year upon us and the goals we set for ourselves!

For me, I'd love have less Starbucks but I'm no quitter!  

time spent on social media.

 My iPhone tattles on me with that built in stats feature ...

"You've spent 6.5 hours online today!"

BUT!

That's where I blog and tweet and post and share with friends ... 

So rather than say what I can't really give up, 

I thought I'd share the goal to utlitize in 2021 ~ send more snail mail!

I've used MFT Stamps Crafty Friends

and the MFT stitched blueprints and window frame stitched dies

and colored her with prismacolor markers.

Should you post your design to an online gallery other than your blog,

 please use keyword CCEE2101.

Thanks for stopping by!

Writing My Story (blog series card #1) ~ Dragonflies

 

Hi sweet friends!

I'm super excited about this new card series

 I'm debuting this year called ...

Writing My Story ♡

There's so many wonderful moments in a day

... all 365 of them ...

that holds so much wonder!

Each of us has a beautiful story to tell ~

something that is so uniquely ours.

I'm so grateful that you stop by my blog and see my cards

(and my messes and mishaps and tried and trues!)

but there's often things that make me ME ...

what we love, what makes us smile, what brings us joy!

All the little things in between ...

            So, I asked my husband, my 4 children and son-in-law to 

write down 12 things (2 each) that are ME in their eyes.

They did!

My oldest daughter sealed them in a little jar

and will give me one at random each month.

I'm SOOOOOO curious as to what they wrote down!

This month:  a love of dragonflies! ♡

I know ... it's a bug!

They are so special to my heart and I've loved them since I was little.

After my dad passed away, skirting the cliche, I saw them everywhere.

Their quiet nature brings me such peace

and watching them flying and dancing in the air is such joy!

My card is a combination of stenciling a quick background with

the Altenew striped background

and the Fluttering Friends stamp/die set from My Favorite Things.

I used snippets of watercolored backgrounds to stamp/die cut

the images and popped them up onto the card.

I love the softness, the organically flowing watercolor mixes!

This stamp set was almost my One Plus Twelve ~

but since the challenge is only one stamp and these are so tiny

(and then my stamp found me on vacation)

 I'm happy to use it now :)

Everyone has a story to tell -

 each day ... a new page to turn :)

I can't wait to see what their next note is for me! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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

CCEE2039 ~ Mushroom Month!

 Hello friends!

I have 'mushroom' in my heart for you!

First, join me in welcoming Hazel and Manal to our Design Team!

We look forward to working with you and seeing your cards!

And there's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers this week 

and Frances continues as our September hostess with a FUN(gi) theme!

Her theme is:

According to the Days of the Year Calendar, September is Mushroom Month. 

So for our challenge this week, include one or more mushroom either stamped or die cut on your creation.

And here is my card this week!

It's true ...

I. Love. Bright. Colors!

I adore vivid, bright colors - including neon!

So I was super happy to find the Karin markers in Neon Colors

and have used them on a couple of cards already.

In going through my stash, I realized I have QUITE a few mushroom stamps

and *gasp!*

I didn't even know, LOL!

But most of them are with gnomes - and that's NOT a bad thing!

I chose to go with this adorable one from Clearly Besotted

and my card is super simple because it's being sent to a young child.

I paired it with this sweet sentiment from My Favorite Things

and done!

Stop on over to the CCEE Stampers blog to see all the Design Team cards

and if you'd like to link up yours, there's a linky at the bottom of each post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

I'll enter my card for consideration to:  Word Art Wednesday!

Crafters of Faith: Fruit!

Hi friends! 

Today's card is for the Crafters of Faith

card group where we create a cards 

based on a theme and bible scripture :) 

 Our hostess this month is Dawn and this is her theme:

 September 2020: Hostess/Dawn

Scripture: John 15:1-8 KJV As it is the fall and a time of harvest, 

consider the fruits you have grown this year through your thoughts,

 words and actions.

Challenge: Show case fruit on your card!

This was a very thought provoking theme for me

and I'm still thinking over fully.

But, like for most of you as well, 2020 has been choas!

I think it's so essential to take mental health time for whatever

makes you happy and brings you joy in the midst of this time :)

Here's my card using apples (masked) from The Alley Way Stamps

and a sweet sentiment from My Favorite Things.

Thanks for stopping by and peeking at my card!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

Magical Dragons Cloud Stencil!

Hi friends - it's the weekend!

WOOHOO!

We made it through a CRAZY first week of online school, 

unbearable heat here in Miami

and one. crazy. week. of. stamping!

I have ADORED being a challenge hostess this year

as part of the Splitcoaststampers Dare To Get Dirty -

a wonderful time for the Fan Club members to create cards,

interact with the hostesses and sometimes, just maybe, 

step outside our comfort zones to create!

For today's card, the hostess asked us to create blue skies.

My card is simple (as many of the DTGD cards are!)

and I used the new Cloud Edger stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.

This stencil is SOOOOO popular!

I first spied this here on Dina's blog - 

I think EVERYONE bought it after seeing these!

*SWOON!*

I've paired it with Magical Dragons from My Favorite Things

and stamped right onto the dsp.

That's all for this post!

Thanks for stopping by!  

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)

~Kelly

Meet Brittney! (CYS)

 

Hi everyone!

I'm officially on vacation - yay!

By the time this posts, I'll be far from home and unwinding with no laptop!

I'll be back Sunday night but a few days away, 

no cooking, the beach, activities, shopping, etc - yes, please!

Today is the Challenge Your Stash (CYS) card group challenge.

The theme this month is by Maggie and she chose:  Pets!

I decided to go with kitty cats and create a card for my daughter, Chrissy.

She's the one I'm away with on vacation 

and she's planned a super fun trip for us!

She is leaving her kitty, Finny, behind while we're gone 

as well as her pup, Buster and mine, Buddy!

So for today, I'm sharing a stamp from Stamp Anniething ~ Brittney Purr!

I LOVE this stamp and it's PURRfect for showcasing a pet!

Brittney is colored like my Chrissy - she's blonde with blue eyes

and Finny is a calico (so mostly orange).

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Love You Furrever.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings :)
~Kelly