Let's Fiesta!

Hi friends!

 Today my cards for the #OCCSpringCardCamp are all about a fiesta!

I have a Bestie who has a birthday on May 5th ~

and her son was born just a few days shy of that date,

so we lovingly call her Cinco de Mama :)

I think she may end up with one of these as a birthday card!

When I was doing my cards for the next class at the #OCCSpringCardCamp,

I new the date would align with our anniversary

so I chose one that had a party theme.

I don't own a lot of 'word' metal dies so it was kinda slim pickings!

I remembered I had this fun fiesta die-namic from My Favorite Things

(I think it's retired now - I couldn't find it to link to the die.)

I used an MFT framework stencil to create a background,

blending with my Taylored Expressions Blender Brushes.

I found that they glide very smoothly over a stencil easier than

my Tim Holtz blending tool (which I love!) and I used 3 distress inks:

Squeezed Lemonade

Mowed Lawn

and Fired Brick.

 If you have visited my blog this week,

you've probably noticed a theme :) 

↓

 

And I'm super excited for the next set of cards!!

 

Have a great weekend, friends!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

One Plus Twelve - March

Hi friends!

It's time for another One Plus Twelve card :)

  The 1 + 12 idea is to take one stamp 

- just one - 

and use it once a month on a card.

 I call the challenge:  One Plus Twelve!
 .

The one = the stamp I've chosen this year

 is Beautiful Bloom by My Favorite Things stamps (now retired)
and The twelve = the twelve months in the year.

This is my March card ↓
.

 .

 For this month's card, I decided to do some embossing and distressing ~

shake things up a bit!

I first stamped the Beautiful Bloom with WOW white pearl embossing powder.

It's a beautiful pearl, almost champagne color.

Once that was embossed and heat set, 

I used my TE Blender Brushes to apply distress oxide inks:

  Carved Pumpkin, Scattered Straw and Worn Lipstick in a gradient pattern.

I ran the panel through my Gemini Jr with my Stitched Mod Rectangle die.
.
 

I kept a smaller piece for the die-cut HELLO and although you see the 

stamp set Well, Hello in my photo, I didn't use it.

I used only the sentiment My Sweet Friend 

as sentiments are the only other stamps allowed in the challenge :)

But, I did use the Sweet Hello die-namic from this set and popped 

that up up on foam and added some matching enamel dots.

There is a whole lotta MFT products on this card!

 .

I'd previously asked last year if my friends, Barb and Jeanette,

wanted to join in this crazy adventure and they said yes...

and we're back for year 2!

You can see Barb's card here and

you can see Jeanette's card here.

If you made it this far, and

if you could spare a hug, I'll take it ♥
.

Today is the anniversary of my dad's passing :*(

This is always a difficult day for me and I find myself really struggling

knowing this day is always approaching, every year.

It's so hard missing the loved ones that aren't here with us anymore

but I also know it's a blessing to keep the memories strong.

And as our family grows, it's not just in size - but in love, too ♥ 

Big hugs, bigger blessings ...

~Kelly

Stamp What? .... Friend-ship!

Hi friends!

Wishing you boatloads of love of today ♥

This is my second card for my blog series called "Stamp What?" 

that debuted in January of this year.

My son had a wonderful idea to chose a stamp set for me at random

and I'd make a card

The plan is to use my old(er) Stampin' Up! stamp sets 

that have long been forgotten ~ called the Old Dusties! :)

I LOVE his idea!

Originally, I'd planned to post on the 29th of each month
but from now on, I will be posting on the 10th.

Sailing on .......

This is what he chose for me this month ↓

Stampin' Up! Boatloads of Love!

Oh he chose so well!

I have always loved this stamp set

(and see, never seem to use it!)

 

Release date: 2007

I've modernized my card by using more updated supplies ~

distress oxide inks, scalloped stitched waves dies, and copic markers!

My friends Barb and Jeanette have joined me in Stamp What?

but if you have an older stamp set,

dust it off, use it, too!

Let me know if you do - it's always fun to 'craft' with friends near and far ♥

 I'm also a very tactile person and, as of now,

will not can't unmount my wooden stamps.
I love the feel of them when I stamp!

Yes, they take up space but I love them the way they are ♥

 I wonder what he will chose for me next month :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

card entered into:  CAS on Friday - colors

CYS: Hello Lady(bug)!

Hello Lady(bug!)

 It's almost the weekend ~

and that's a pretty bug deal :)

March 19 is the first day of Spring!

The Challenge Your Stash card group has a new theme this month:
Old School!
Jenn asked us to create a card using an old school stamp or style.
My old school item ~ brads!

My card is spring inspired card ~ 

new growth and flowers, green leaves sprouting, and the return of life -

yes, even bugs! ♥

I've used the ADORABLE Hey Lady from Lawn Fawn for my card.

I adore this set and it reminds me of my little granddaughter, Alice ♥

I realized (too late) that this is a newer stamp

and the idea is to challenge your (older) stash of stamps

BUT ....

I'm playing along with the Lawn Fawnatics challenge #71

Bring it Back - old school crafting items.

I've made a slimline card and started with a base of white cardstock

and blended distress oxides in Picked Raspberry and Spun Sugar

with my Taylored Expressions Blending Brushes to create the background.

I used a paintbrush and lightly ficked it with water to create the splatter.

Then, I stamped the images with Momento Tuxedo Black ink,

and colored them with copic makers.

I realized too late that I didn't add the matching dies to my order ...

so I used my Brother Scan n Cut and

 'scattered' the cut out leaves and sweet ladybugs onto the card.

For my bring it back and stash challenge (CYS), 

I've used my very old brads - circa 2008! - as the additional decor to my card.

I think these are from Doodlebug and are super glittery and sparkly cute!

 So this month,

 I'll have to just go with the flow and not get bugged about it! :)~ 

 Last, I added the matching sentiment and popped it up on foam, too.

I can't believe we are almost in March!

That's my birth month so I'm really looking forward to the new month ♥

I've also entered my card to:
Pixie's Crafty Workshop!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big BUGS, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

RSG: Stop, Drop and Roll!

Hi friends!

It's the middle of the week ~
hang on ... the weekend is almost here!

It's time for another Ready, Set, Go card challenge.

That's the card group where we have extreme challenges ~

ones that are a bit out of the box!

I'm the hostess this month and thought up this lovely challenge at 2 am.

Or maybe it was 3 am?

Either way, it sounded amazing!

at 3 am.

My challenge was to use the old childhood adage: Stop, Drop, and Roll

when we were in trouble.

I've never forgotten those words ~ so those field trips to the fire stations

and visiting firemen must have made an impact!

This month, we're taking that same slogan in a crafty direction ...

Stop:

 Chose a color using a letter in S-T-O-P as your primary card color

(I used Orange and Pink) 

Drop:

 Use something on the card that had to be dropped 

(I used water droplets to splatter on the Distress Oxides

and Nuvo Mousse mixed with water for white splatters)

Roll:

 Use anything that rolls/comes on a roll (I used a roll of washi tape

and his skooter has wheels that roll AND I used a rolling hill die)

My card is using the adorable new Avery Elle 'Sweet Swines!' 

and added it to a festive background made from just distress oxide inks.

I wanted to experiment with a few colors and used

 Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold and Abandoned Coral, 

blended with my TE Blending Brushes. 

The rolling hill is a die from My Favorite Things

and unfortunately, I didn't buy the matching dies to this set 

so it's cut out with my Brother Scan N Cut :)

 And lastly, the washi tape is a bold color of teal 

as I wanted to break up all the pink/orange tones that were marrying together.

And that's my Stop, Drop and Roll!

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

It's always fun to pick a challenge and just give it a try ~

just to make a different kind of card 

or find something that inspires you ....

like this older children's rhyme :) 

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll link my card to: Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG
Simon Says Stamp - Add a sentiment 
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Add a Critter! 
Creations in Pink - Add mostly Pink!