2 cards, 1 post = LOTS OF MUMMIES! :)

Hi there! 
I have TWO cards for you today - both the Riley and Company challenge card and the Dueling Darlings card ~ woohoo!
And I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've last blogged ...

 time sure has a way of getting away from me while I'm busy wearing my "SuperMom" cape!  ♥

I am so grateful this was a long weekend.
I love being a mommy :)

I love being so super involved in my kids activities and schools, 

from planning to doing to being.

But it's just as much fun getting back into the Cabana ~

I have missed my craft room!

First up, Riley and Company has a new challenge this week from
 DT member, Frances ~  Use No Designer paper!

Wow, now that *is* a challenge! 
I inked up one of my very favorite Riley's - Mummy Riley!  
I followed the super cool sketch from Retro Sketches.
Instead of dsp, I used large twill white ribbon and wrapped the card
to emulate the mummy ribbons.  I also used the large dots embossing folder 
to create a panel - I so love with this folder :)

Be sure to link up your "No DSP" cards to the challenge blog
here or if you upload to a gallery, please use the keyword 
Riley2014.  Have fun!

I'm entering this card into Retro Sketches #85.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Next up,  it's the 15th of the month and that means
 the Dueling Darlings are back with another duel!
If you are new to my blog, the DDD group is one that I created 
a couple of years ago with two teams of crafty ladies - 
One group is the Divas and one is the Dazzlers!
I'm a Diva!  
Wait .. that didn't sound right ....... LOL!  ( '-' )
We pick a united theme and send a card kit to the members, each w/out the other team knowing what was sent - it's a big surprise party each month!
This month, our hostess is the Über fabulously sweet JUDY for the Divas and Paola for the Dazzlers!

Judy sent us a huge kit filled with a fun Halloween papers and embellishments.  I chose the mummy image to work with
and added it to the card front ~ and the "boo" to the inside of the card.

And here's my card!

 
and the card inside!

  They also asked us to share our favorite Halloween stories.
I'd have to say what sticks out for me the most was living so many years in Europe, where Halloween isn't celebrated as widely as in the states.
One of the most mortifying, yet hilarious (now!) memories I have is when we lived in a very quaint, small town in Germany and we, the neighborhood American kids, decided to go Trick or Treating. 
 I think the ages were close to 6 through 12 or so, sans parents.
   My brother and I didn't speak the language at the time, and we relied on the older, seasoned kids of the group yet each time we knocked on a door 
and said "Trick or Treat!" we were met with faces of bewilderment and confusion.  At one particular house, a sweet lady stared at us, then her eyes flew open in recognition and said "Oh, I think they are hungry!" and brought us hunks of bread, slices of ham and some apples, LOL!!!
Bless her heart!
Needless to say, that was the last year my brother and I
 did that while living in that quaint little town :)

Please be sure to stop by the other DDD blogs and see what they've created
 this month with their kits!  You can find them in my sidebar!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Card made with:  PTI Canyon Clay, white; SU: Rich Razzleberry;
Image:  Riley and Company Mummy Riley; SU border punch,
Quickcutz Large Polka dots embossing folder; white grosgrain ribbon; orange twine from The Twinery; prismacolor markers, 3D foam dots, Tombo, Trimmer, BG Button.






Card #1 entered into: Retro Sketches
  Parade Your Crafts! - Halloween
The Paper Nest Dolls - Halloween

Card made with:  SU Kiwi Kiss, PTI Orange Zest, Basic Black;
dsp =   Mind's Eye, "Wicked Mechant Malvado", ribbon:  CELEBRATE 
IT HALLOWEEN, Image:  Recollections Mummy, clear dew drops, Tombo, 3d Dots, 

Card #2 entered into:
C is for Challenge - Halloween

Imagination Crafts - Halloween

WOYWW #226 ~ Always Believe :)

Hi there!  I'm super excited to sign on board for another WOYWW round - I had such a good time last week, hopping around the globe, taking a peek at the many places and many work spaces of so many wonderful crafters!

This week, Julia from Stamping Ground, invites us to share our desk and week ... although you do not want to hear about the choatic, busy-ness of my week (gasp! I'm still running and it's near midnight!), I can tell you that it has been full of fun, crafts and pure enjoyment :) 

So while my desk looks a little neater this week, it's only because my Harvest crafting has taken over my entire front living room!  All in fun, all in fun ... :)

And do you see the wee card peeking out from under the paper!  That's one I just made for a special friend :)  Since I know it hasnt' arrived yet, I'm keeping it 'under wraps' until it's safely reached it's new home :)

But I do have a card to share with you from a bit ago!

This week on the Riley and Company Challenge blog, our DT member

Frances challenged us to make a card with the theme: Buttons!

EASY for me!!  That's my very favorite embellishment!!

I absolutely adored how this card came out and wanted to share it

again, as I have a few new blogging friends that might not have seen it :)

This card is made using the Funny Bones sentiment "Always Believe"

which you can find here.  You can link up your cards here on the blog!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Happy crafting!!

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Crafters of Faith - Anything Goes!

Blessings, friends!  

Thank you all so much for the warm words of encouragement on our little man's tournament ~ such a unique experience from the opening ceremonies to competing.  Although he didn't place , we are so proud that he got up there in the ring to complete with kids twice his size and height - not to mention do his Shim Jun 1st Degree Black Belt form, 81 moves long! 

 He was awarded the Songham Spirit Award which is a beautiful medal to add to his repetoire :)  This was his 3rd TKD tournament and while it doesn't get any easier for me *gulp!*,  I have to stand proud in his accomplishments of being courageous, strong and showing amazing sportsmanship.

 He is my David!

And I won't keep you waiting any longer!  He chose #17 as a random number which means ... congratulations goes to LYNN McAuley on winning the Halloween critters blog candy!!  Please contact me at Kelnkids@aol.com

so I can get your prize out to you!

 Todays' card is for the Crafters of Faith blogging group, a blessed

group of sisters in Christ and crafting!  This month, our hostess Carol is having some computer troubles and taking a bit of a break so I stepped in for her with "Anything Goes" this month - letting the girls chose their own scriptures, image and/or sentiment  ... to surprise us! :)

This is the bible verse I chose to use this month, one that I'm always particularly fond of not just in times of sorrow but in sharing that God's love for us is truly eminent and abundant:

May the God of hope fill you with all the joy an peace as you trust in Him, 

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~Roman 15:13

And my card!

I went with the simple approach this time around - using a stamp from

Our Daily Bread's Quote collection, stamped in Bermuda Bay ink to match the cardstock/papers and "spritzed" around the edge with Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Carribbean Blue.  I also added on a bold butterfly using the 

Cottage Cutz Build a Butterfly die.

And the card inside, which I left blank for now.

I'll enter this card into the ODBDSLC172 challenge "Anything Goes" and Sweet Stampin' Challenge "Things with Wings" ~

Please be sure to stop by the rest of the Crafters of Faith

 which you can find in my sidebar :}

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!

Kelly

Calendar Girls Emboss + BLOG CANDY! :)

By the time this posts, I'll be Ft. Lauderdale for my son's TaeKwanDo

tournament and nervous as a skeleton, shaking my bones!

Win or lose, we are so proud of his accomplishments and he has worked so hard, while showing amazing sportsmanship and integrity and courage.

So in addition to my card today, I'm giving away

 a little *treat!*  

I'm not into Halloween very much but when I 

saw this adorable stamp set, I had to pick it up for a little giveaway!  

I'll have my son draw a name on Sunday night when we return 

so please just leave a comment below w/ your contact name + I'll post his winner on Monday!  That's it - easy peasy Trick or Treating!! :)

Now what is my card all about ...

The Calendar Girls - a card group on SCS - has a monthly, themed card challenge and this month, our hostess is sweet Terry.

Here theme is this:

SEPTEMBER 2013 CHALLENGE

Miss September: Terry

September is a month full of changes. From the leaves on the trees changing colors, to me changing how old I am.

My challenge to you is to use the attached sketch to create a birthday card. Your card can be for a male or a female but it needs to include one type of embossing....can be dry embossed cardstock or a wet embossed image, your choice!

Have fun with it and create something wonderful! 

Here's the wonderful sketch:

 

And my take:

 {From the side}

{and a peek inside}

I LOVED her chosen sketch - it was fun to work with!

I am continuing forth with my "Use Every Stamp 2013" class and my personal goal to ink up non-used SU! stamps, like this one called "A Howling Good Time."  I had to laugh when I saw this set in my stash and have NO EARTHLY idea why I even bought it or when!  It has sat for years, poor thing.

I think this will end up on the BST board on SCS ;)

And I did attempt the embossing part - it was horrid!

I'm sorry, Terry! I tried! :)  I'll even show you 

AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST, rofl!

Just peek with one eye open, okay? :)

As for the birthday part, my beautiful niece has a bday the day 

before Halloween so I left this pretty spookalicious and fun

as she gets the biggest kick out of all things Halloween and loves 

almost being born on H'ween!

Embossing - *Nailed it!*  Not!

This is clearly a technique I will have to work on w/ black powders ...

it looked beautiful when I tried it in sand, white and gold so I'm not sure what went wrong here but whatever it was, it didn't get onto my card.  

Yikes!  Scary indeed!

But this uber fun stack of H'ween paper is embossed! 

Yay!! *wink!*

Awesome challenge this month, Terry!

Please be sure to stop by and see the rest of the Calendar Girls

which you can find right over there on my sidebar!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

WOYWW 225 ~ Trick or Treat!

I can't believe we are almost in October! 

This is such an incredibly busy time of year for us - with the kids schools full speed ahead, extra curricular activities and the promise of a beautiful Fall filled with Harvest events, we're blessed!

Today I'm jumping in on the wonderfully fun WOYWW event,

hosted by Julia Dunnit over at Stamping Ground.  It's wonderful to see the posts all around the globe and peek at different crafts in progress!  It's hugely embarrassing to have a messy, messy desk but I've been short on time!  Keeping up with the house is a must, my craft room not so much :)

Here's a peek at my current card in progress ~ 

House Mouse "Candy Corn Treats"!  

And the inside of my card ...

And my completed card, heading off next month to my very best friend!

Her birthday happens to land on Halloween - yep, October 31st!

She has never liked her birthday falling on Halloween so I went with a cuter version with these little Trick 'o Treaters.

I love all things Fall, too, so we have only Harvest into our home

 rather than the spookier side ;)

That's a wee trip around my craft desk and card for today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'll enter this card into the House Mouse HMFMC154

Challenge "monochromatic"

and the Simon Says Stamp challenge to use a product from their store,

and Die Cuttin Divas ~ colors of Fall

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

It's Craft Central Station! :)

Today, I walked into my own home and did not recognize it ;)

Nope, this is NOT my house. 

During the week, someone clearly took my nice, clean, and organized home and turned it upside down with enough craft supplies and activities to turn it into a store!  From spiders to pumpkins, tempera paint to t-shirts, jars, glue and googly eyes - oh my!

My dh, bless his sweet heart, walks in every day, smiles and shakes his head. 
He's an amazing man, unbelievably patient and good-natured.  He always offers to help, and he means it to the core of his being, but somehow seeing that *deer in the head-lights* look when being handed a jar of Modge-Podge gets me laughing every time!  

I do feel bad for temporarily taking over our formal sitting area.
He did built me an entire craft room {lovingly called The Cabana} but ..............
I need to do inventory!  I'm a visual learner.  I gots to SEE it.  If it's not in front of my own googly eyeballs, it isn't here.  That's just how I roll ;)
And it helps to have samples!  If I see it, I want to make it! :)

So while you might not have seen my traditional cards, I have been busy!  
Very, VERY busy! I have about 6 things going at once, and that's just craft related.

Indeed this was the year of Simplicity.  The year I wanted life to be less chaotic, more christ-centered, more goal oriented towards bringing serenity to my very, VERY busy life.  But I take joy in knowing that while most all of what you see above is for my son's class - at a christian, faith-based private school - it brings me closer to my children, faith-filled other moms.  We start each day, each project, each coffee chat morning with prayer! :)

Here's a peek at my very crafty world ............ I will post all finished projects for you to see as well (+ over on Pinterest, too!)

BOO!! 

 Did I scare you?!  :)

Future monster rocks!

These resting spiders will eventually go in their webs ... stay tuned! 

Mason jars - not just for Sweet Tea anymore! ;)

He is on his way to becoming a Harvest Punkin!!

(I'm SUPER excited about this one!)

My ridiculously messing desk with a plethora of foam paint brushes.

20 - that's TWENTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - of these at Michaels 

for $1!!  They are .5c apiece!  These are heading to the 

school's art teachers after I finished the can decor + tag.

And the classroom t-shirts!!!  YAY!! 

 This is a once a year project for the 'classroom theme'

and it's tedious, a lot of hardwork, sweat and some tears - HA!

But with the support of my besties - MUAH! - 

we'll get together this Monday for coffee, prayer, chatting and finishing what I started here ... we will be at the school where I secured a room for us

 to paint & play!

I'm bringing all 19 shirts - (18 + 1 for teacher), with enough paint for

the fronts and backs, cardboard, etc...

coffee + tea is optional

A Smile and happy attitude is required!!! :) :)

{Even though my daughter, K, doesn't read my blog, a SUPER special thank you for her stopping by the table last night to keep me company, catch up on some mommy/daughter talk and chatting with me while I finished a few of the shirts - Your painting ROCKS!  Love you, kiddo!}

15 more shirts to go! :)

And that's a small glimpse into my crafty little world from this week! 

I feel incredibly blessed, disastrous house and all ;)  This time passes too quickly and I know they will only be small once *sniff, sniff!*  I smile at the remembrance of the girls being little and how much fun we had each and every year, and walking by my son's side now doing it all over again ~ it's bliss :)

Well, I found my broom!  Time to get cleanin' and go tackle my floors while the house is quiet before it gets embellished and turned into decor for my front porch!  *smile!*  I'll enter this post into the Monthly link-up at OAB :)

*Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Happy Fall, Ya'll! :)

Hi there!  It's time for a new Riley and Company bi-weekly challenge, brought to us by our DT member, Laurie.  Here is her super fun themed challenge:

We celebrate the season with a Grape & Wine festival in our town!  

Be inspired by grapes or wine, literally or the colour, a sentiment, etc.

I love Autumn and the wonders of this season upon us! So being inspired by nature and the colors of Fall, I created this Riley card using purple (etc!) 

I can't tell you how much fun, yet challenging, it was to come up with a way to make Wheat Riley into a purple card!

I remembered a recent trip to the lake with my son late one afternoon when the skies were just turning a kaleidoscope of colors in pinks and oranges and yellows and even a hint of orchid ...

Indian Summer colors!!

Here is the front of my card:

 

And the inside, left blank for now :)

Isn't he cute with his purple overalls!

I'm pretty sure he's about to sing his sweetie, Sophie, a purty lil

tune on his banjo :)

And, of course, we would love for you to play along!

To play create a card using Riley and Company images. 

Once you have created your card/project, post it HERE on the blog and place a comment with a link to your card/project to this post so that we can see what you created. If you upload your card/project to SCS don't forget to include the keyword RILEY1913. We can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

My card is made from: Cardstock from SU:  Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry and PTI cardstock: White, Harvest Gold ~ DSP is from Basic Grey's "Green at heart"

Image:  Riley and Company's "Wheat Riley.  

Tools and embellies: Cuttlebug, nesties, round corner punch, misc buttons overlapped 

embroidery floss in razzleberry color, 1" twill ribbon, colored with prismacolor markers;

image is propped up on 3D foam dots; tombo

I'll enter this card into:  CraftinDesertDivas - Fall link up #15
Oozak:  Fall
The PaperNestDolls Challenge - All about Fall
The Artistic Stamper - Autumn
Just for Fun - Colors of Autumn

*Snow* glad we're friends!

Happy Thursday, friends! 

 It's already mid-September, can you believe it! 

My son just celebrated his magical birthday by turning 9 on 9/9 -

He's already marking the calendar for 2014 when he will be double digits :)

Sweetness!

In between the back to school busy-ness, I've made a few cards ...

 some I can't blog yet *smile!* and sadly, some that didn't

 come out on my memory card.  An entire photo session came out white, blurry and super light ~  kinda like a snow day would be! LOL!

How I love and miss the snow - truly!  

I would even settle for a mild winter, 

complete with cooler weather, beautiful sweaters and boots! 

 Miami Christmases are pretty much flip flops and shorts :)

This card is one I made having fun with scraps!  

I reached into my scrap pile and these 3 papers were left sitting there, 

and I challenged myself to make it work.

Printing off one of my Bugaboo snowman digis,

I created this quick card to have one ready to go when needed!

I'll enter this into the Bugaboo September Challenge: Anything Goes, 

as well Word Art Wednesday's "Anything Goes", Scrap Creations "Polka Dots" 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

PTI Cardstock; Bugaboo Image "Chubby Snowman 2", computer sentiment;

Tombo, Basic Grey papers; Cuttlebug, nesties; colored with prismacolor markers; 

buttons from American Crafts

You are" TU-TU" sweet!

Hi everyone!

Yay, it's almost the weekend!

This has been one of those weeks were everything landed all at the same time, each day ~ whew!  Although little man had school today,

 I was grateful for today's day off for my High School girls ~ 

one less stop and a little time to craft :)

When I spied this absolutely adorable little Abi Ballerina 

(a freebie from All Dressed Up digi stamps), I knew I had to color her up :)

My girls were little ballerinas from ages 3-6 respectively, then promptly switched to other sports like gymnastics, ice skating, soccer, etc!

We always encouraged our 4 to try something - anything - you just never know where your interests will lie if you don't give it a whirl!

I still carry the memory of them dancing in The Nutcracker every Christmas :)

Here is the front of the card:

And here is the inside:

I am getting a bit of a head start on some special occasion

cards I needed to make.  It's always nice to have a basket of ready to go 

cards on my desk.  I colored this digi with prismacolor markers and added some pearls about the white cardstock to break up the monotony. The artist of Abi Ballerina is Wendy Burns and you can find her DT call, as well as her lovely digi images,  in her etsy shop -  some serious cuteness in there! 

Here is a close-up :)

I wish you all a fabulous weekend ~

May yours include some crafty time!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Materials used for card:  PTI cardstock (image), SU cardstock for base;

MME 6 x 6 stack "The Sweetest Thing Collection";

Abi Ballerina from All Dressed Up digis - Wendy Burns;

prismacolor markers; Cuttlebug, dies, Want to scrap Pearls; 

3 dots; Tombo, grosgrain white ribbon

card entered into the following challenge:

Cute Card Thursday - Pretty in Pink

I'm no Detective!

Good Morning!  Rushing through today to post this super fun card for the new Riley and Company challenge ~ create a masculine card :)  

Did I ever mention I LOVE Mystery/crime shows!  I do! I do!

I grew up sitting by my dad watching episodes of Kojak and Columbo

and then later such shows like Magnum PI and Miami Vice ;)

Not to mention my nose was always in a book, especially the Nancy Drew series when I was really young! Of course, there's no comparison to the incredible advances we've made in tv to what you see now-a-days, but it was fun growing up as a Detective, even if it was only in my head :)

For my masculine inspired card, I thought of my dad ~

but this card is actually for my daughter :)

She has been walking/jogging the trails with me a few nights a week and we just have the best time - trying to talk/laugh as we huff and puff our way around the desolate nature trails.  Suffice it to say, we've said more than once that one day we hope we don't happen to stumble upon something out in those woods that isn't supposed to be there!  Yikes!

Which is why I literally busted out laughing when I saw the Funny Bones sentiment release "I don't trust joggers .... "  How hilarious!!!

Using Detective Riley (he's retired - literally!) and the FB sentiment,

I bring you a funny card to shake up your Tuesday! :)

It's always a good day when I get to play with a Riley stamp, 

buttons AND ric-rac!  Woot! :)

I've got back to back meetings today (3 in total!) so I'll scoot but I sure hope you get the chance to play along with us this challenge.

Link up your Riley and Company masculine cards here to the challenge blog

and stop by the DT blogs to see what they've created this week! If you upload your card/project to Splitcoast Stampers please include the keyword Riley1813.

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this card into these challenges:  The Cupboard Trilogy - Male
CardCraftersCircle - for the boys
CreataliciousChallenge #54 - for the boy
OOZAK 21 - ATG w/ dies + punches
Paper Playtime - 3 different papers