I scream, you scream ....

... we all scream for ICE CREAM!

Ohhhhh donuts are my weakness but ice cream

 is a very close second!

Hi everyone!

I have a cheeky card to share

 that I created for a special birthday friend :)

I used the "Ice Cream Stand" stamp and die set from 2022 exclusive

 collaboration from Mama Elephant and Ellen Hutson, 

released as part of a Summer of Stamping event!

      For this card, I kept it pretty simple 

since the images were super bright and colorful.  

I purposely wanted a lot of 'white space' to highlight their FUN!

Thanks for stopping by and STAY COOL!!

~Kelly

 

2021 ~ Lucky Cats!

 

Hi friends!

I'm sure you are as excited as me to put 2020 behind you

and move into this brand new year!

2021 holds a lot of promise

and I can already feel it working for me :)

There's a pep in my step ...

a burst of creativity,

a joy to pick up paper, paint, pencils!

Maybe it's because the ideas are flowing that

I have all this creative energy, so

 I'm striking while the (hot glue) iron is hot!

I was the VERY lucky winner of a gift certificate from Mama Elephant

and chose this super duper cute Lucky Cat stamp set ❤

To create this card, I stamped the images and colored them 

with my copic markers and set them aside.

I made a quick watercolor spritz background to emulate fireworks

and then realized .....

I need 2 0 2 1 and don't have any number dies!

*cue my OH NO face!*

Lucky me again, I have the Brother Scan N Cut

(which I fully profess that I barely know how to use!)

and thought - this makes numbers, somehow!

It took maybe 5 minutes to figure out 

and even shorter to use thick glitter cardstock - total success!

Here's my completed card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Grab it and Add it! ~ #1: Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today marks the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year 

or Spring Festival.

The 2020's Chinese zodiac animal is the 'Year of the Rat.'

I know ~ not that cute, right?

It actually ranks the highest on the Chinese zodiac chart :)

It's fascinating to me to learn about different cultures and customs,

so creating a card while reading about the celebrations and traditions  

was an enriching experience.

I'm the Year of the Sheep which means:

My lucky numbers are 2 and 7

My lucky flower is a carnation and an Alice Flower (I can't believe it!)

 my lucky colors are green, red, and purple,

my best match is a Rabbit, Horse or Pig (my husband is a rabbit ♥ ),

and my lucky gemstone is the emerald.

That was fun!

Even if I don't follow astrology or horoscopes,

it was fun seeing all the interesting facts about my year :)

 

Speaking of this year, one of my goals was to take one stamp set,

once a month,

and pile on as many of the stamps in the set as I can to one card.

You can read that here on my 2020 Word of the Year post 

highlighted in orange ♥

It's called Grab it and Add it!

(thank you to Chrissy, my daughter, for the catchy title of this series!)

 Wow!

It was a lot harder than I anticipated!

I naturally chose Mama Elephant's Lion Dance to start ~ card #1 ~

based solely on the date (and I REALLY love this stamp set, too!)

There are 11 stamps and 2 sentiments in this set.

I originally had all 11 on the front but it got so overcrowded,

it started to really not look okay.

So I switched up the sentiment to the front

and added the streamers to the inside.

much. better. 

The panel behind the images was created using Ranger Ink distress oxide inks

in twisted citron and cracked pistachio.

I created the frame by running a die cut through the Gemini Jr 

and glued that onto the panel.

The images are stamped/cut/colored with copic markers

and popped up on 3D foam.

I've used this stamp set a couple of times before

and you can see the cards HERE and HERE.

For this card, I wanted to incorporate some of the tips from class 

about being fearless and using bold via color plucking.

I started off with blues and greens and teal

and then popped in a splash of dark orange and hot pink!

And that's my card of cheer and celebration for today!

I hope you're off to a good start to your weekend :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

12 favorites of 2019 :)

Hi friends!

It's almost time to celebrate a brand new year ~ 2020!

  I love symmetry and I love even numbers 

and find them somewhat good luck-ish! 

It's always fun to look back at my favorite cards of the past year ...

and some that were my absolute favorites.

These cards are probably the ones that made my heart smile the most

and I am proud to call them mine ♥

 

January 

(Mama Elephant)

February

 (The Project Bin)

March

(Honey Bee Stamps)

April

(Stamping Bella)

May

 (Picket Fence Studios)

June

 (lawn fawn)

July

 (The Project Bin)

August

 (lawn fawn)

September

 (Lawn fawn)

October

 (The Project Bin)

November

(Lawn Fawn)

December 

(MFT Stamps)

 

Did you also have a favorites post for this year?

I know it's often hard to pick a 'favorite', 

and sometimes we just pick the ones that speak to our hearts.

I can't wait to share the new year with you all!

Here's to 2020!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Crafters of Faith: Thankful for .......

 Hi friends!

I've been playing 'catch up' with my card making 

as most of August and September 
went by at lightening speed! 

.

Thankfully, STAMPtember has continued into ARTober! :)

.

.

I fell head over heels IN LOVE with so many of the Simon Says Stamp

STAMPtember releases last mionth!

I was so excited to see so many of the reveals

and had to purchase a few of them, like this one from Mama Elephant.

It's called Snow Kittens and it's just. so. cute!

In September, for the Crafters of Faith card group,

Jeanette asked us to create a card based on the scripture John 1:3.
The challenge was include something on your card (or project) that you are especially thankful that God created. 

 I thought about being cheeky and making a coffee themed card, hee hee! 

 However, one thing I am absolutely sure that I am thankful for -
 the seasons, especially winter and Christmastime!
  Here is my card ↓

.

 .

 I chose seasons as my theme.

I absolutely ADORE places where there are actual seasons ~

from gorgeous and breezy springs,

to hot and warm summers,

and snowy, cozy winter! 

Winter is my very VERY favorite season!

For this card, I used a white piece of card stock and 

did my favorite cardmaking technique - distress oxide-ing!  

I blended several shades of pink Ranger Distress Oxide inks

and added a die cut snowy border from glittery paper.

I cut/colored the images from the snow kittens set

and popped them up on foam from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

Finally, I stamped the matching sentiment from the set

with Momento Tuxedo black ink and created a

a very meowy Christmas card!

 I''ll enter my card into the Simon Says Stamps Wednesday challenge:  Christmas

and the SSSIGChallenge:  Favorite Technique.

Thanks for stopping by ~

wishing you a purr-fect day!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

World Elephant Day!

Hi friends!

The universe is celebrating World Elephant Day ♥

Oh, how absolutely gorgeous these magnificent creatures are!

In honor of World Elephant Day,

I knew I wanted to make a card ♥

 

 

I have quite a few elephant stamps,

so choosing one .....

just one!

... was quite hard :)

I finally settled on this sweet Ellie and friends

becauase it has it's named Mama Elephant -

it was a 'have to' moment!

This sweetie just steals my heart ~ she's so cute!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Think positive thoughts for the elephants in the world :)

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE1821 ~ N.E.W.S!

Hello friends!

It's time for a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers 

and Anne has a new challenge for us.

She writes:

I wake up in the morning to the NEWS.
  Make a card using each of these letters ..... N, E, W, S.

Thanks, Anne!

Here is my card feauting the news:

N = Night

E = Evening, enamel dots

W = Windows, WHAM!

S = Superhero 

To make this card, I used a night time city space idea

but creation a cityscpape with the Tim Holtz dies.

I ran it through the cuttlebug twice, once in black and once in yellow.

After popping out the small squares for windows, I let the yellow shine through like light.

Next, I popped up the tiny hero from Mama Elephant

and added some glittery silver enamel dots.

 And if you'd like to be in the running for blog candy giveaway from me

with the comicbook/Sunday comics theme,

you can read about it in the first series post here!

Be sure to stop by and see what the other CCEE Stampers
made with this theme ~ it will be fantastic!

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

Sunday Funnies ~ 3rd Edition!

Hi there, friends!

KAPOW!
You're really super!

I got such a late start to the day for posting my card :/

We just got in from a vacation weekend

so I'm finally editing this post :)

I made this card using the tiny heroes from Mama Elephant ~
cute right?
I have so many ideas for this stamp set!
I wanted the super hereos to 'fly' in the scense I'm creating so 
I fussy cut the images.
The die cuts are from the massive Hobby Lobby clearance hall ~ $1.25!
It was a 3 pack of Momenta cityscape dies and a really wonderful find!
It was a perfect match for the scene building ..
I went with one in darker black for the background, 
and a lighter grey for the forefront.

And that's today's card!
Leave a comment below and I'll add it to the random selection 
after next weeks' card!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! ♥
~Kelly

and it was a 3 pack of Since this is a weekly contest and giveaway,

I didn't want you to miss out on an extra chance to win!

 

Kelly

Sunday Funnies - second edition!

 

Hello friends!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies,

grandmas, aunties, etc!

I hope your day was filled with beautiful blessings ♥

I'm getting a late start to the Sunday paper today ~
I had a bad accident this week and am still recovering ...

BUT, as they say, laughter is the best medicine :)

So today's card is slightly different than I had intended

for the Sunday Comics - second edition.

If you are a new reader or missed the new blog series annoucement,

you can start on Week 1 here!

Each week in Sunday, I'll have a new Sunday Comics post

AND you'll have up to 4 chances to win the giveaway :)

 This card features the new Mama Elephant stamps Boom Boom ~

it's soooo cute!

I used bright, vivid colors to compliment what you see in the Sunday paper

comics section.

This stamp and die set comes with these 3 little characters

but I have to say - the one in the middle with the thumping heart is 

what got me when I saw it!

I love it!

They are popped up on 3d foam and the sentiment, while originally was

also going to be popped up on foam, ended up being flush to the card

so I could add in some enamel dots to give the card a little more character :)

Leave a comment below it you'd like to be in the running for the 

giveaway at the end of the month!

Let's get to know each other better .....

what is your favorite color combination when crafting?

 

So glad you could stop by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  Sweet Stampin - fantasy (monsters!) 
Lil Patch of Crafty friends - AG

CYS ~ Celebrate the New Year!

Hi friends!

Happy Fri-Yay!

 I am just in awe of how fast this year is coming to an end ~

and before we know it,  it will be 2018!

For this month's Challenge Your Stash (CYS) card group,

our hostess, Maggie, asked us to create a New Year's themed card

without using any images of alcohol.

 

 The minute I saw the theme, I was super excited!

I literally squealed when I saw this Mama Elephant stamp set

during their release week and scooped it right up.

And then it sat and I didn't have the chance to use it ~

until I saw Maggie's New Year's theme.

Squeeeeee!

It was hard to sit and wait but as they say ... all good things :)

 For my card, I wanted to stamp out a traditional Lion Dance scene

with the performers in various parts of the scene.

I colored them with prismacolor markers and due to vivid, bold colors,
I left the scene alone as to not crowd the card with other elements.

I let the card tell it's own story :)

 This is the inside of the card ↓

 

Fun facts!

 *The Chinese Lion Dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese/Asian culture

 in which performers mimic a lion's movements

 in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. 

It's different from the Dragon Dance in that the Lion Dance only has 2 performers inside the costume whereas a Dragon would have many 

and they hold it up with sticks.

 *The Chinese lion dance is closely related to kung fu because they often perform stunts on tables and stacked wooden chairs!

*The Chinese New Year starts in February ~ on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  ColourCrazy Challenge #51  ~ AG
PolkaDoodles - AG