1 + 12 = Crafty Bliss in '26!

 

Hey friends!

Our internet has been down but back up ~

isn't it hard to rely on a system that when it goes poof, we are so lost!

As you may have read from this post, I had a crazy card 

this month for my personal card challenge:  One Plus Twelve.

You can see here what it's all about!

This year, my 1 + 12 stamp is a Pinkfresh Studio set called 

Never Give Up

appropriate for me and the goals I have set for 2026 :)

This month, I am upcycling!  

I did say that the card was ...... weird, lol!

I know this style of cardmaking (and recycling) isn't for everyone ..

but then again, neither am I - some people prefer normal,

 bwahahaha!

           I used this insert coupon from SSS from a recent package

and the coupon has expired. 

 I thought the colors were so striking!

I've gotten mail more than once, ahem, so yes, you see double :)  

I used Whimsy Stamps arched die as a border,

vellum underneath splattered with white ink from Altenew

and Recollections cardstock in various colors.

The sentiment is from another PFS set as are the silver gemmies. 

 My friends Jeanette and Barb have joined me again this year

in this challenge and you can see their cards

on their blogs:  Jeanette here and Barb here!

As always, you can find me here on Instagram

or my YouTube channel to see more!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Entered to:  Beautiful Blossoms:  Flowers

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge:  Anything Goes

Daisy Chain:  Anything Goes

Moving Along With The Times - Floral

Pinspirational Challenge: Photo Inspo

Carded, Twice ... January's card

Hi friends!

Happy Middle-of-the-week!

 Don't let my blog title fool you .... it's still really February  :)

And I also haven't been carded ...

And certainly not twice!

But, last week, taking my little granddaughter, Alice, to her gym class,

where we interactively jump and play and bounce around,

 I was called a 'Cool Grandma!"

So there's that  :)

This year, one of my main 'crafty goals' was to find ways to recycle with my cards.

Not necessarily using old cards you get in the mail and creating new cards ...

more like all the things we open and use and finish and toss.

Cardboard, boxes, ribbons, package inserts and so. much. more!

My brain works in strange, strange ways.

We were recently at a restaurant, enjoying a celebratory meal,

and everyone was laughing and smiling and it was wonderful!

But, I was also looking around the table at 'stuff' and I kept seeing cards!

"I can use this, I can use that ..."

You'll see a lot of the ideas later this year ...

... if I can remember where I put things!

Today's card is for January and the first in the series.

It was done, photographed, and then life happened so it wasn't blogged.

Until today! 

Can you spot what was recycled?

For my first card, I collect Starbucks You are Here/Been there City mugs.

They are so near and dear to my heart!

Many came from my travels or my brother/kids as they traveled,

and a few were sent by treasured friends ♥

(tip: airports are ah-may-zing places to find these!)

Sample photo!  Photo courtesy of Amazon

I cut down the box and used the front 'BEEN THERE" panel as the focal point.

Since it was jagged from the box, I ran it through my Gemini Jr with a 

stitched die from My Favorite Things and it fits nicely into the scallop frame.

The red/kraft cardstock are the card base 

and are secured under the Starbucks panel.

I used My Favorite Things ALM Miss You a Latte

for the image to match the coffee theme and used my Brother Scan N Cut.

She's colored with a combo of Copic markers and prismacolor markers.

The coffee themed sentiment is from MFT's Friends at First Sip

and I used this one (over one in the ALM set) for font size. 

I think the panel definitely gives it an interesting vibe

and at least it wasn't thrown out and makes for an interesting design.

It was Card(ed) .. Twice!

And that's it for me with card #1 in the Carded, Twice series!

I'll be back later this month with the one for February :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Crafters of Faith meets the Calendar Girls!

Hi friends!  I have two cards for you in today's post as both of my beloved blogging groups - the Crafters of Faith and the Calendar Girls - both have a card due today!  So fun!  

First up, the hostess this month for our Crafters of Faith SCS group is Tami!  Tami gave us a wonderful challenge this month, take a peek:

I have a crafting tool that I just had to have and have hardly used.  Does that sound remotely familiar?!  I think you all may have the same tool in your arsenal.  I would like you to drag out your scoring tool. Scor-Pal mini, biggie, Martha mini, biggie or if you do not have one of those, I am sure that you may have a scoring blade on your paper cutter. SCORE!!! It would be fun to see how you all incorporate scoring onto your card. You know I am into 'use what'cha got', so if you do not have a scoring tool of any sort, please create without this element. Oh and I do not mean just a score to fold your cardbase in half! LOL 

While it is a 'lovely' month February, let's create a card that is not Valentine's themed. That being said, it is the second part of this challenge. Let's not use Valentine theme, red, pink or white colors anywhere on our cards. That includes the paper you stamp your image on....*gasp*!

For our third element, how about we place both an image and a sentiment on the front of the card.

Well, that ought to keep us busy {now what am I going to do?! LOL} I am looking forward to seeing your projects. I get the best ideas from you girls.

So!  While I did not use ANY designer paper on this card, I got into a slight battle with the scoring!  What's a paper crafter to do - use an embossing folder =)  I embossed the teal cardstock to give the paper its' floral dimensions and then crimped the kiwi kiss paper with the scor-pal to create the according panel.   I went with brown/green/blue - my VERY fave color combo! - to avoid the traditional reds/pinks but oopsie, I did not read about the white!  I'm sorry, Tami!  For my image, I cut out a heart from a cardboard box (got plenty of those layin' around!!) and ripped the top layer off to get the same pleated, lined look - and added the rejoice to get a sentiment in.  
Ta-da!  I almost passed! =)

For my second card, the Calendar Girls had me as their hostess this month :) And since I'm Miss February, I had to include a little bit of love in there but with a twist!  I asked the Calendar Girls to create a card with the theme "Share the Love" using non-Traditional Valentines colors.  Take a peek - again!

It’s February, the month of LOVE ♥ I’m thrilled to be your hostess this month and offer you a challenge of a different sort Rather than go for the traditional Valentine’s card, I wanted to ask that you each make a card – as a reflection of yourself – and share a little LOVE! 

This month, please create a card (or project) that shows what YOU love .. something that when we look upon your car, we will know exactly what that ONE thing is that you love so much!

*You may use any colors you would like but extra brownie points for using non -traditional colors!! * Please include one thing only! 

Whew, I exhausted my own self on my own challenge, LOL!  But ... I did know exactly what I wanted to 'showcase' when creating.  Yes, I LOVE my Starbucks!  YES, I LOVE the beach, flip-flops year round and sandcastles!  Yes, I LOVE to volunteer oodles of hours at my kids schools and so enjoy being mommy!  But from the depths of my being, deep within my soul, what I love most of all is sharing God's word and having a foundation of faith to carry me through each of my days.  Can I get an AMEN?!

I also LOVE using bright, bold colors - never shy of those when I'm crafting!  The more vivid the colors, the happier I am!  So I went with a non-traditional color palette of Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango and Crumb Cake, paired with DCWV papers.  I even inked up this grunge cross set from Our Daily Bread that has never seen ink (LINY card!) and stamped it out in Razzleberry ink as well - both the image and the sentiment.  I fussy cut the flowers from the dsp to add as embellies, inside and out.   Here's my card!

 And the last 'extra credit' part of the challenge was to actually Share the Love and sent the card to someone as a blessing ~ unexpected or in need and my card is already en route =)

Whew, if you made it this far, thank you!  I'm so blessed that you stopped by and read this novel of a post - it's a busy blogging day and I'm grateful for all these ladies in both groups that make my heart huge with LOVE! :)

Be sure to stop by and see what they each have made if you can!  Both groups are listed in my sidebar right over there -----}  

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

DDD ~ I love this post!!

Me again!  Busy weekend on da blog!   After a long hiatus, how funny two cards are due on the SAME day!  And I can't tell you how much I love the Dueling Darlings!  And even more how much I loved this month's theme - a mix and mash of a little bit of ever'thing!  This month's theme - rather than have a 'duel' of card kits between the Divas and the Dazzlers, our very own Debbie came up with the uber fabulous idea to keep a little something from each kit we receive in the 8 months of kit swapping and use the leftovers on the final card!  What a great idea! A great way to create, upcycle and make 2 cards with the products instead of just one!

Each month I create a card from the kit, there is always so much left over from the generous hostesses ... and this month is REALLY a treat for me!  I was unable to complete my card kit when LJ sent it out.  I had the best intentions to 'catch up' the next month and by then, Debbie's suggestion came in and I have been HOARDING it for nearly 5 months!!  I saved and waited and saved and waited and knew I was going to use it for today's post, and am SO excited to finally get to use her yummy image!  I think it's from a*muse, but sadly did not write down who sent what so I will try to go from memory :)  My card is decorated inside and out - using LJ's fabulous mower image, some dsp I think from Barb, Tami's gorgeous white buttons, Carol's beautiful ribbons and forgive me for not having this all properly documented - I love it all, though!  You made me smile when it arrived, and I'm smiling again now at it's completion!!  I love you all, Dueling Darlins!

So here's my card!

Side view:  I just LOVE all the browns and blues and green hues!

Normally, we have an added part of the challenge to say something related to the card theme and if we had one this challenge, I surely missed it :)

In it's place, I would like to say how very dear this group of gals are to me!  We met on SCS a long while ago and bonded instantly in one (or two or three!) of the threads we are on, following each other through the swaps and posts!  I don't even remember how I came up with this crazy idea to have two teams of girls 'duel' card kits with a similiar topic but it sure is a blast every month, wondering what the hostess will come up with and stalking our mailboxes to see what it will behold! It's like Christmas - 8 months out of the year!  Each lady is so unique and beautiful and brings something so wonderful 'to the table' - from making me laugh, squeal & shiver (that would Debbie - she has a MAMMOTH tarantula in her house - is she not the BEST mom!!), they make me beam with pride when they share something wonderful ... the list goes on :)  God has truly blessed me with a tremendous group of ladies to call *friend*  

(((((((( Group hug to the Dueling Darlings!  ))))))) I love you all!
x0x0

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly