May the FORCE be with you!

 

Hi friends!

I'm BEYOND (the galaxy!) delighted to be a Guest Designer

for Stamp Anniething for the months of May and June!

The amazing stamps, dies and products for May are simply

OUT OF THIS WORLD!

For the next 4 days, I'll be showcasing 

fun new stamps, dies and lots of products here

as well as on my Instagram and YouTube channel.

If you haven't guessed the theme, here's day 1!

Star Wars fans - this one is for you!

Introducing The Mandolorian and Grogu!

My card features a galaxic background 

with Din Jarin and Grogu in his hover pram ~

the absolute cutest.

This is a great set for the fans of Star Wars 

and has a matching stamp, die, helmet and hover pram dies

as well as amazing stencils which you'll see this week!

I used my prismacolor markers for this card

and created a fun galaxy background by using acetate

and designer paper.  By altering the layers and leaving space,

it gives a little glimmer almost like light shining through.

And here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Hey GALentine! :)

 

Hi friends!

Today's card is for the GALentines!

For today's card, I used Stamp Anniething Candace XOXO

and colored her with my copic markers.

The theme this week 2 of the countdown to Valentine's Day is 

Patterned Paper :)

I used 3 sheets of DSP from Doodlebug Design

and added a ready made sentiment strip from CZ Design /

 Simon Says Stamp!

And that's my galentine's card!

If you'd like to see the video version of this card,

head over to my YouTube channel

and don't forget to hit that SUBSCRIBE button!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Kelly

CCEE2016 ~ Fun with stencils!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers - stencils!

Stencils are such a fun way to decorate our cards

and so many companies have fun ones out there these days.

Frances is our hostess for the month of April 

and her challenge is to create a card that uses at least one stencil, 

either for a background or focal image.

 I love this challenge because I love stencils!

They are a great way to create designs and scenes on a card ~ like this one.

I've used a stamp set by My Favorite Things called You Gnome Me.

I wanted this set for forever

and was sad that they retired it ~

 but super thrilled to get it when they did

for such an amazingly low price during their big retirement sale ~ yay! 

My stencil is from Stamp Anniething and one I love - burlap.

I created a little scene with the fun gnome

but making 'sky' and 'grass' and added some stitched clouds.

Originally, I stamped the HELLO directly onto the cardstock

and it didn't look quite right so I added an extra cloud with it stamped on it.

 I keep my stencils tucked into an OLD DUSTY album ~

originally designed for pocket journaling.

I bought it before my son was even born (and he's almost 16!)

The front opening is for a photo so I added a quick distressed panel

with a little sunflower stamp ~ I love sunflowers ♥

 And the deep 8 x 8 pockets are PERFECT for storing the stencils.

Since I'm still cleaning and purging and moving things around,

I keep it handy on my desk next to Alice's markers and colored pencils.

My little granddaughter has her own sets

so it's a nice balance between the cup and bin! 

 And that's a tiny tour of my stencils, LOL!

Be sure to stop in the CCEE Stampers blog to see what the Design Team

created with their stencils.

As always, you can link up your cards, too ~ check the bottom of the blog post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

A grateful he(art) ♥

 Hi friends!

I pray you are doing well in your little corner of the world ♥

It hasn't been easy for many of us to practice 'social distancing'

especially when we are social creatures by nature ~

heading out to grocery stores, book clubs, choir practices, schools and church,

just to name a few.

But we really should 

and I know ~ it's quite an adjustment!

In our house, it's FULL.

My usual quiet time to craft is now filled with the sound 

of chattiness and everyone doing what they would normally do in a day

and it makes for a very cramped, somewhat chaotic, way to craft!

Are you missing your mojo?

Do you have a houseful of family members?

Or are you missing the area you used to go?

It is too quiet perhaps?

Here's an idea:

Create your own Creativity Box!

It's mojo-vating, it's creative and it's FREE!

Take a box.

Any box!

And fill it with a few things that you need to stay in the game.

 If you don't have the actual items to add into the box,

you can always print out some ideas to motivate you.

The idea is to see your 'crafty task' and be creative,

distractions or maybe no distractions,

be it loud or too quiet or even just right :)

 From the Creativity Box, I created a card using scraps of material.
Earlier this year, in my Word of the Year post,
I mentioned I was going to do a series called A Grateful He(art) ~
art with love inspired by Alice ♥
 

And not just any material - it's a leftover from my daughter.

She fell madly in love with a dress for her daughter (Alice)

but it was from last season.

She's only been able to find it in a size 12

and she needs a 2T.

Being the creative soul she is, she bought the secondhand size 12

and tore it apart to recreate it in a smaller size.

 Which meant a lot of scrap material!

(sorry the photos are dark and grainy!)

She's still completing it but with the leftover material, 
I scooped up a little piece to complete this card.

And - yay - the challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week
 is all about material so the timing was perfect!

I've used one of my favorite Stamp Anniething stamps 

and colored it in coordinating colors of the material.

The sentiment is from a stamp set from My Favorite Things,

as are the stitched dies and banner die. 
The material is a thin summer cotton so it actually cut
with the die as easy as paper!

                    And this is one more card done with a recycled theme: ✔

 Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE1940 ~ National Techies Day!

Hi friends ~

Happy October!

I'm the hostess for the month of October at the CCEE Stampers blog 

which means I'll be bringing you a month of challenges!

For my first challenge, we're celebrating National Techies Day!

I think it's a given that most of us are VERY happy to have 

our laptops, computers, cell phones and more :)

Like that fun meme says ...

I love my computer - that's where all my friends live!

For my card, I channeled my son because when I think techy, it's him!

He's like most of the kids in this generation - face stuck in the iPhone :)

If it's not his Mac, it's the iPhone, or the Xbox, Or PS4 ...

and MOST of the time, it comes in handy for me!

I've used Zac - Tech Stuff from Stamp Anniething.
I added it to the card base of gamer papers

and he's colored with prismacolor makers and popped up on foam dots.

The LOL is also part of the stamp set 

and just one of the many texts he sends in a day!

I'm very lucky to be the recipient of many texts from my kids 

though-out the day ~ some informative, some thoughtful,

some I have NO CLUE but most of them very, very endearing ♥

But I do know ~ texting is GR8!

You can see all the DT card samples here on the blog

as well as link up your cards with the linky at the bottom.

We'd love to see what you make with a techy theme!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

VSN: Stay Cool !

 Hi friends!

I'm over the moon happy to be one of the hostesses 

at Splitcoaststampers for the summer soiree' - VSN

 (or Virtual Stamp Night!)

The overall theme is rocks ~

from rock 'n roll, engagement ring 'rocks', mountains, etc!

 I went with a really bold choice ....

My theme for the challenge was:

PoP RoCkS!

 
One of my favorite candies growing up was Pop Rocks!  We'd tear open the little packets, excited for the candy to melt in our mouths and release the bubbles to hear the loud POP! The original Pop Rocks came in delicious flavors of cherry, strawberry, and grape!

My challenge is for you to create a card showing candy (or any image with any treat!) on your card and to use at least one of the 3 colors from the original packaging: Red, Pink or Purple!

 

Here is the card I made for the challenge as the hostess:

I"ve used Chloe: Stay Cool from Stamp Anniething.

Thanks for your visit today 

and wherever you are, Stay Cool!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

RSG: Show off your (ugly) paper!

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible

 things before breakfast."

~ Alice in Wonderland

Hi friends!

Oh, I do love the name Alice ...

it's my new granddaughter's name! ♥

My daughter's little girl shares the name with this classic

 and beloved storybook character

and it just makes me smile when I hear it :)

   “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date!

 No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

Oh, White Rabbit ~ me, too!

My card was for the Ready, Set, Go Challenge on 4/17

and the theme was:  Ugly paper!

ugly paper??

Now I'm “curiouser and curiouser!”

This was Jeanette's theme for us and this is what she said:

 

 In keeping with the idea of April Fools pranks and the unexpected,

  I want you to use two things on your card:

 the UGLIEST piece of designer paper that you can find in your stash

 (We have them, right? And we never expected to be asked to use those ugly papers!)

 and one of the stamps in your collection that has not yet seen ink, at least not by you.

 It's okay if it's a used stamp you purchased but have not yet used.

  Oh--and please post a picture of the patterned paper before cutting it apart!

Ready? Set? Go!

 This month was a little hard for me ~

as I don't see paper as 'ugly' :)

I either liked it when I bought it or had a specific challenge in mind

or it was a gift! 

So I'll call this: challenging paper!

Here is mine:

 

And finally, my card!

I used the adorable Alice - Life is full of Wonder from Stamp Anniething.

I chose this stamp as the first time inking

for my granddaughter, Alice.

I colored it pink (instead of the traditional blue) to match the dsp.

The sentiment is from another stamp set 

and I thought the wording was fun :)

To see what the other ladies created,

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

 I think I'm up for the next challenge but I could be wrong ...

Because we're all mad here!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

You're so fun!

Hi friends!

Happy March!

I love this time of year :)

March often means the changing of a cold winter to a warmer spring ~

the birds are chirping, the flowers grow and the weather is so beautiful ♥ 

It's also my birth month and that's always fun! 

Something else that's fun ...

this super cute stamp by Stamp Anniething called Abigail - You're fun!

 I'm in a card group on Splitcoaststampers called the Galaxy Gazers.

The idea is to find a card in the card gallery 

and CASE the card to the best of our ability.

Last month, I found so. many. cards!

It was hard to chose just one and ended up wanting to try this one.

You can see Natalie's fun card here !

Wouldn't it be fun to hula hoop!

It's like being a kid again!

This was my final coloring yesterday for the February 2019

the daily marker coloring challenge.
I've been participating in the challenge for many years now

and each time, it gets better and better!

Wishing you a fun Friday and crafty moments!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Ready, Set, Go! ~ Mix it, Mash it!

Ready, Set, Go!

There's a new challenge in town!

The 3 Musketeers (Barb, Jeanette and I) are about to kick it up a notch!

In the 3M, we take turns sending a stamped image out and we all create a card with that same image.  We're living up to the adventurous Musketeer name and adding on an additional challenge on the 3rd Wednesday of each month

 (courtesy of Barb's adorable Smoochy-the-Wednesday-camel.}  

The challenges will be bolder, creatively adventurous and artistically out of the box.

When thinking of our challenge name, we thought:  We got this.

"We're Ready.  Dates, challenges, hostess - all Set.  Let's Go!"

I'm up first to throw down the gauntlet!

I chose this theme for our 1st challenge:  Mix-it-mash-it-up! 

Taking the oldest stamp set that we still own and the newest stamp set that we have gotten, we have to create a card using both stamp sets.

Mix it, mash it, and combine the two!

If it has multiple stamps in the set(s), we pick at least one stamp from each set.

The added fun is that even if the two sets are polar opposite 

and don't mix and mash at all, we have to make it work.

Ready, Set, Go!

A craft room downsize has left me without almost all of my first stamp sets.      EXCEPT for my most cherished and treasured Elzybells from the UK in 2008!

I will keep these stamps FOREVER!

And lucky, lucky me ~ my Stamp AnnieThing order arrived last 

and in it, this darling Sam best buds stamp

 that I ordered to make cards for my son ♥

 I looked through my many Elzybells stamps

and pulled out just the dog ones.

I am crazy for anything with dogs, stamps included,

so, of course, these have stayed with me all. these. years! 

I had to make this stamp set match this stamp!

 What I did with the Stamp AnnieThing stamp set was mask off Sam and his pug, and stamped a few of the Elzybells to see which of the dogs would fit best.

** I got them all at the same time all the way from England - same box! 

I ended up going with the dog with the buzzing bee on his tail ~

masking it off, as it looked like the pup was lovingly looking up at him :)

The sentiment was a bonus, not required in the challenge :)

I loved the way the card looks without my usual layers of dsp

and embellishments and I let the challenge mix-mash stamps be the focal point.

I am in love with how this card came out ♥

                               Barb is up next in June with challenge #2,                                               followed by Jeanette in July with challenge #3 ~ fun!                             You can see what they both made with my mix-it-mash-it-challenge by clicking the links to their blogs. 

 We even have fun new blog badges!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly