Happy International Women's Day!

 

Hi friends!

Happy Monday and Happy International Women's Day!

Although this day is celebrated today on this one date,

it's truly a celebration for all days that have led to this.

In 2021, they've asked 'what does this day continue to mean to you?'

It's a day to celebrate acheivements of ALL women.

For me specifically, it's a term that makes me proud to be 

 

 a wife, mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, friend :)

Having grown up in a military family, it's taught me:

love, family, respect, pride, resilience, fortitude, sustainability, faith.

Today's card is featuring 'a little warmth' from Unity Stamp Company.

I've recently uncovered a treasure trove 

of my USC stamps and you'll probably be seeing them more often :)

I chose this stamp because she looks like she's off to work

or a meeting or maybe enjoying a moment with friends grabbing coffee.

I'm a joyful stay-at-home mom who's raised 4 children 

to be wonderfully amazing adults

and I could not be prouder of who they are!

So raise your cuppa (or glass!) and CHEERS to all of us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ocean tribute for Joanne

Hi everyone ♥

Today I'm participating in a special 'In Memoriam' blog hop for a design team sister
that sadly passed away.
We are joining together to celebrate the life of a beautiful soul
and sharing cards inspired by the things she loved in life!

If you are hopping along, you would have come from Rebecca's blog.

As many of you may have already heard by now,
 our friend and fellow Design Team member passed away suddenly on the 25th May 2019.
Joanne had been battling a few health issues recently 
so she hadn't played along with the challenges for a few months,
 but she was looking forward to getting back into her stamp cave to play again.

Joanne was very much loved in the stamping community and was very active on Splitcoaststampers going by the name of Jojot. 
 Joanne had two blogs The Inky Ocean Gazer and The Inky Ocean Gazer 2.

 Today we have asked the members of the two challenge Design Teams 
she was in ~ the CCEE Stampers and Crazy 4 Challenges ~ 
and a few special stamping friend to join us
 in this special tribute blog hop to our stamping friend by either.

It's humbling to offer a card in her honor today and I went with a sunset at the ocean. I've used 2 Unity stamps to create my card today ~
Not be perfect and the sentiment from A Chance Every Day
as I thought they went lovely together.
I masked the image and created the sky/sand with distress oxide inks.

Here is the entire hop list if you'd like to stop by and see what was made for Joanne!

CCEE Stampers 

Frances Byrne

Lois Bak

Karen Ostergard

Liz Williams

Vicki Garrett

Rebecca Ednie

Kelly Santi

Karen Aicken

Vicky Gould

Maryann Einam

Anne Harmon

Nicky Foden

Lynn McAuley

Kathleen Adams

Crazy 4 Challenges 

If you'd like to create a card, on the CCEE Stampers blog

there is a linky spot where you can create a card in her honor.

 From here, you'll head to the talented Karen's blog.

Rest In Peace, Joanne ♥

Thanks for stopping by ...
Big hugs, bigger blessings♥

~Kelly

COF: Live life to the fullest!

 

 Hello again!

 

Today is the day the Crafters of Faith group post our cards

based on a scripture and a challenge.

 

 

 

One of my bestie's, Barb, is the hostess for this month's challenge.

She writes:

Challenge: It is about Living Life to the Fullest:  Please make a creation that expresses how you live your life to the fullest or illustrates something you plan or wish for in the future.
Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Oh, this topic had me pondering of which stamp to use!

Living life to the fullest to me is incorporating my love of family, friends ...

then there's is the all-fulfilling church,

and we, as a family, love to travel and vacation together.

But that's sort of a given (for me) ..

things that are naturally meant for me.

So to really step outside my comfort zone,

to be bold,

to take healthy risks,

to take chances

to LIVE ....

now that was my a-hah moment! 

 In the theme of living life to the fullest,

I have a personal mantra.

It always includes 3 things ...

always,

always,

ALWAYS!

I would tell my kids every single morning, without fail ...

1.  I love you

2.  Make today count

3. Be kind.  To someone.  Anyone.  Including yourself!

 

And I start repeating those words through-out my day,

whispered from my lips to my own ears ♥

Back to my card!

I absolutely LOVE the September Kit of the Month from Unity Stamp Co!

It's the September KOM 9-16 called Moments Between Moments.

I remembered

 that. one. little. sentiment 

from this kit and paired it with the camera girl stamp.

In fact, I loved it so much - I made 3 cards!

This is the first in the series -

 I'll show you the other 2 next week :)

This one is very simple, a CAS card, inside and out

but I was focusing mainly on the sentiment as the focal point.

The card group, if you are on Splitcoaststampers,

is open for anyone to join!

We make a card once a month and just generally chat in between the posting :)

We'd love to have you!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD: Kindness ♥

Good Morning, friends!

*I have two blog posts today - for  my The Project Bin Monday post, go here!

It's the 15th day of the month and that means the Dueling Darlings

are back with a new theme!

The Dueling Darlings are a group of 2 teams of card making friends -

Team Divas and Team Dazzlers!

This month, Jeanette and I were the hostesses to create card kits

and she was generous enough to let me chose the theme this month:

Kindness!

As many of you know, it's my Word of the Year as shared in this post ♥  

But kindness is truly more than just a word of the year,

it should be shared every day, in every way.

  

The kit I put together for Team Divas included an image that I ADORE!

It's from Unity stamps called Thank You Kindly 

I also sent a few kindness sentiments to use - one from Unity 

and the other from a Simon Says Stamps set.

Now for my card!

I sent out all the kits, one went to a sweet friend by accident,

another still out in lost mail land,

so I had to improvise with my card kit since I didn't have two extras.

I only had slivers of paper left.

And you know ... crafters gonna craft .... 

can't keep a good crafter down! 

 LOL!

 

 

 To come up with a plan B,
I used a watercolor stenciled background and stamped the image

directly onto the dried watercolor paper.

I took a stitched die and cut out the middle part of the image

and popped up the outer one on 3D foam for dimension.

In hindsight, I wish I'd cut the outer stenciled frame in the same stitched die :)

I added half the sentiment with white heat embossing on the front,

and finished up the second half on the inside:

And that's it for us this month!

Be sure to come back next month and see what the theme will be ~
I can't wait to find out when my card kit arrives :)

There are a lot of DDD posts today

and you can find them at Splitcoaststamper:  Dueling Darlings!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Grey Skies happy

Hi friends!

Happy National Library Week!

I'm sure you know by now how much I adore books and reading ~

so it's a great joy to celebrate the start of a week that celebrates both ♥

Today's card has an image on it that is new to me ...
 I love the soft, storybook look this has to it :)

It's an image called Grey Skies Happy by Phyllis Harris for Unity Stamp Co.

It was sent to me by Jeanette, 

as she is the hostess of this round of the 3 Musketeers (3M)

 stamped image exchange.

The 3 Musketeers = Barb, Jeanette and I and we take turns each month,

sending out a surprise image and then we all make a card with it.

Jeanette sure sent us a beauty!

This is my take and the card I came up with using

a few scraps of dsp from my bin and cardstock:

Jeanette also sent a sentiment to go along with the image,

but I just couldn't get it to work on the front of the card :/

I'll leave this blank for now and come up with something 

that works with it when the time is right :)

Thank you, Jeanette, for this super sweet image to work with this month.
Barb is up next,
and I have no doubt it will be something wonderful ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly  

I'll enter this to: 
Crafting when we can - animals
Great Impressions - April Showers 
cupcake Inspirations:  #402 ~ photo inspiration

DDD ~ Umbrellas!

Hi friends! 

 Oh how long it's been since I've been able to get online!

Life as mommy to 4 with many hats to wear has taken me away
 from online life and into the whirlwind of real life! 

But as my kid's say, it's all good! :)

 

Today is the day that the Dueling Darlings post our cards - yay!
This month, our duel was hostess by LJ (Team Divas!)
and Terry (Team Dazzlers) with a fun Umbrella theme.

This is what LJ said:

 It's time for the March duel! Like most of you (except Kelly - who I am throwing
virtual snow-balls at right now) I am so ready for spring and summer! One of the
many signs of spring is rain and umbrellas, and as March is National Umbrella
Month, we are going with an Umbrella them this month.
I have added a little bit of a twist to the challenge
 (Terry is not doing this - that I know). I found these 7
Gypsies Manilla Folders awhile ago at HL and I thought it would be fun for us to
use these as your card base. It's not required, but It's just an idea I thought
I would toss out there. :)

So using LJ's own challenge, instead of creating my card on cardstock,
I chose the fabulous mini manilla folder - it's super cute!
I used 4 of the papers that she sent in various folds and
colored the Unity Umbrella image with my prismacolor markers ~
here is my card, inside and out!

Be sure to stop in and see what the rest of my team created
with LJ's card kit and what team Dazzlers created with theirs ~
you can find them in my sidebar!

Before I go, here is a picture of me as a wee babe!
Scary to think of how many years ago this was, LOL!
My blogging friend Lisa is celebrating her 3 year Blogaversary
so I'm linking up my baby picture to help her celebrate ♥

 

Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

This is my 82nd card in the 100/100 challenge :)
I'll enter this card into:  Time Out Challenge 1 ~ Dancing in the Rain
Paper Crafting Journey ~ Photo Inspiration


Supplies:
Stamps (image and sentiment) : Unity Stamps
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love Collections (Includes Journalling type cards)
Accessories: Buttons (mostly PTI and Basic Grey), Ribbon (SU!, American Crafts,
Offray), Vanilla Brads (SU!), Hodgepodge Clips & Ribbon Holder (SU), Mulberry
Paper Flowers (Prima), & 7 Gypsies Manilla Folder.