Something Old, Something New ....

 Hi friends!

Today's card will be pulling 'double duty' on my blog today ~

one for the Ready, Set, Go! theme of mine

and one for the CCEE Stampers challenge!
We're heading out for a belated Mother's Day weekend to the beach ~
packing, getting gas, last minute preparations and details ...

Woohoo!

We've room for one more if you want to come along! ♥

 

I'm the hostess for the May theme for the Ready, Set, Go and

Anne is the hostess for the CCEE Stampers and asked us to create

a card/project using 'hoarded paper' ~ perfect!

The R, S, G is a challenge with the 3 of us that is not for the faint of heart :)

It's a bit more challenging and thinking (way!) outside the box!

I based my theme on my daughter's wedding a few months ago ♥

She was such a breathtaking bride and I couldn't help but think

of the old saying "Something old, Something new"

Here is your challenge:  It is based on my daughter's recent wedding--"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and A Sixpence in your Shoe!" 

With the season of weddings upon us, I thought this traditional wedding saying would be a fitting challenge to create a card or project!  This tradition comes from an Old English rhyme and the four objects that the bride adds to her wedding outfit or carries with her on the big day are just good luck charms.  Of course, it is a folk tradition in that, for example, something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.

So this is where your card or project come in!  You may use this saying in any form you like BUT use at least 2 ways to transform this saying into a card.  For example, your card could use a borrowed stamp, one that's old or new ... you can make it in shades of blue .... you get the idea.  It does NOT need to be a wedding card ~ just as long as we see where the (minimum) of 2 things you chose are!  Ready? Set. Go!

Here's how I came up with my card (even if we only needed TWO of the above!)

1. Something Old ~ this paper!  Gosh, it's been in my stash, hoarded indeed.
I even bought a second pad because I loved it and didn't want to use the first one!  And, for Anne's challenge, ✓!

2. Something New ~  this beautiful stamp and die set from Gina K Designs called Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful ~ swoon!  This set is exquisite, and I love it so much because Barb and a squad of beautiful friends were there when I was able to buy it .... with a very kind, sweet, generous and soul touching gift! ♥

3.  Something Borrowed ~ This is skirting a little bit, lol, but I borrowed the idea of a bike ride from my friend Barb ~ she does love her bike rides, including long bike tours for miles and miles!  Impressive!  

4.  Something Blue ~ I purposely chose the paper for Anne's challenge to have hues of blue so I could use blue cardstock.  And I colored the bike blue :)  My bike in real life is green and her name is Jo-Jo!

No six pence in my shoe - but I"ll be thinking good thoughts with all the royal wedding watchers!  I'm SO excited to see Meghan's wedding dress most of all! 
My mum is from London, born and raised, so we're all super thrilled to see this wonderful event.

So here's my card!

So if you want to see what Barb made and Jeanette made with this theme,

 be sure to click their blog links. 

  Next month, it's Barb's turn and she already has an amazing theme picked out!

And, of course, the CCEE Stampers blog is here!  

What papers do you think they hoarded? :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

 Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

 

Namaste!

Today is World Meditation Day!

 

I try to keep up on my obscure holidays because I think they are hilarious!
They are also a great way to springboard an idea for a card!

 I did know it was chocolate chip day

 so I was excited to hear that today we get our Namaste on! :)

I remembered a few months ago I purchased these Yoga frogs 

from Stampendous and set them aside.

Today, I went through my stamps looking for them - it was perfect!   

I know if I were a yoga frog, 

I'd be the one dreaming of pizza :)

*Peace!*

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD: A Spring Tweet

Hi friends!

Thank you for your kind words!

I've had a couple of people reach out and ask if I'm okay,

offered prayer and lots of hugs ....

THANK YOU!
I had a really bad slip and fall ~

banged my back, hip and head smack onto the tile

as I didn't have time to brace for impact.

PTL, nothing is broken - just bumps and bruises and a concussion.

Time and positive thinking are great healers ♥

Today is the day the Dueling Darlings post our cards for the lastest card kit duel!  If you are new to my blog, the DDD is a group I created many years ago and most of us are still the original founding players ♥

We are a group of friends divided into two groups: The Divas and the Dazzlers.

Each month, a hostess from the Divas and a hostess from the Dazzlers

 come up with a theme, mail card kits to all the players, and we make a card!  

This month, Heather and Paola were the hostesses to mail card kits

 and Heather sent us this month's kit.

The theme they chose:  A Spring Tweet!

This was such a pretty kit .... It's very feminine and ethereal.

The stamp is from Prickley Pear and I tried to use at least one of everything

in the kit and made it happen except for the ribbon :) 

 You can see what the other Divas and Dazzlers made with this theme

if you click on the sidebar →

Thank you, Heather and Paola, for a sweet tweet this month!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

TPB ~ You roll with style!

 Hello friends!

Now that we've celebrated the moms, next up is Father's Day!

The new stamp set from The Project Bin makes it so easy

to get a head start on those masculine cards ..

especially with this super fantastic 'Classic Man' set.

 

I'm super excited about today's card because I've added something new ...

antique car washi tape from the Eyelet Outlet!

And woohoo - it's 50% off in their store! 

*yay!*

Classic Man from The Project Bin makes it so easy to create masculine cards,

ones that take me a little longer to figure out :)

I started with a simple A2 base and created a frame out of designer paper.

I used the antique car washi tape as a border ~ then

I stamped/fussy cut the classic car and added it as a focal point.

Finally, one of the sentiments in the set "you roll with style"

seemed best fitting so I chose that, some enamel dots and done!

But wait!

There's more! :)

 

In addition to dressing up the inside of my cards (often you don't see that!),

there's a new stamp set at The Project Bin stamps called Hand Made -

and it's for stamping the backs of your cards,

You get a set of 9 clear stamps to add a little personalization

to your paper crafting and add your autographs :)

We have a joke here at home when I give my husband one of my cards ...

I always tell him "Don't throw this out ~ I'll be famous one day!" 

LOL!
(He wouldn't, it's part of the joke!)

Here's the new stamp set ↓

 

 And another look at Classic Man ↓

I hope your Monday is a good one :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  A gem of a challenge - Masculine!
 sisterhood of snarky stampers - E is for engineering
International Art and Soul - One for the boys 
The Male Room -  Challenge #85/cars
613 Avenue Create - Mostly Blue

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

CCEE ~ Red for Anne!

Hi friends!

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

brought to us by Anne ~ our hostess for May.

Her challenge is "Red for Anne", her favorite color!

For my card, I wanted to create a card with my Neat and Tangled

 Better Together and use red as the main color. 

Red is so vibrant and rich ~ a perfect compliment to give your card a POP!

This card was a bit of a challenge, and a triumph :)

I absolutely ADORE this card!

One of the things I'm trying to learn is skin colors.
I tend to lean towards the peaches and light skin colors because it's easy!

I color with prismacolor markers (and now Azure markers!)

but do have a few Copics for coloring skin (E00, E01, E11)
I had to use a few different prismacolors to create all the friends here :)

 

I stamped out the images and did a bit of masking to create the 

friends standng next to each other.  

Based on the direction of the animels they are holding,

I added them right to left to allow them not to overlap.

 For the sentiment, I fussy cut the word 'you'.

I did buy the matching dies for this set but the word you didn't have one ..

and that's okay! Improvise!

You can see what the rest of the CCEE Stampers created for Red for Anne

this week by heading over to the blog.

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

I'll enter this card to:  WordArtWednesday - 

~Kelly 

3M: Birds and Bears in trees :)

Hi friends! 

 I'm a little under the weather so I'm going to be blogging 

and posting without editing - yikes! :)

 

Today is the 9th of the month, 

the day traditionally set aside for the 3 Musketeers ~

that's Jeanette (this group was her idea baby!), Barb and I! 

We take turns sending an image to create a card with ..

this month, it was my turn ~ Yay!

But, first, I have 2 Confessions:

1.  Barb's image from last month is on my blog today, too ....

April and May are both getting to play.

2.  I bought this stamp just for the 3M because I fell head over heals

in love with the sentiment from Winnie the Pooh! ♥

First up, my card for this month:

I chose Stampingbella's Honeybear Stuffies.

It is just the cutie-est! :) 

The expressions on the bear's faces just melted my heart ♥ 

My second card is the 3M from last month and the hostess was Barb.

She sent us a Whipper Snapper image with 3 birds and an umbrella

which was really cute because I've seen her Whipper Snapper stash of stamps!
It's like a store!

Something fun about this card:

I colored it with my new Azure markers from Royal and Langnickle.
I found them locally on sale but wasn't sure what they were/if I needed them,

but at $6.99, it was worth giving it a chance.

I started out with a 7 pack colors.

LOVVVVVVVVED them! 

Ran back and got a few more :)

I'm super excited to have these markers in my collection - which just grew!

So that's April, May ........

baby steps.

That's what Gramma used to always say.

One foot at a time, take baby steps :)

Oh and be sure to see what Jeanette and Barb made with this image, too!

Big hugs, bigger blessings~

~Kelly

I"ll enter Card #1 into: 2 crafty critter Crazies

TPB: Old barns and wooden signs ...

Happy Monday, friends!

 

There's something so incredible to me about being in an old wooden barn

that brings back the wonders of days gone by.

I am absolutely enamored with rustic, primitive barns

(delapidated or still fully functioning, I love them all!)

and it's one of my favorite places to visit ♥

And since I can't bring home the barn, I do the next best thing ~

 I buy weathered, wooden signs from reclaimed wood

or attempt to create something 

which almost always ends up being no bueno!  :-) 

But I can manage one on a card :)

 For my card today, I've used the new stamp set from The Project Bin

called Red, White and Boom!

It's perfect for the military and patriotric cards ~

including the upcoming Fatheer's Day and 4th of July.

 I love the weathered look of the artsy American flag!

For the sentiment, it's actually masked off so that  

only part of the stamp is used.

That's the creative part of being a stamper -

think outside the box!

Here is the stamp set in it's entirety.

Many of The Project Bin stamps come with matching steel dies

and they are great to mix and match!

 

 

And that's it from me today!

I do hope that you have a great start to your week :)

 For more information on this project, you can visit The Project Bin blog

or the shop.

Big hugs, bigger blessings!

~Kelly

New blog series: Sunday Comics #1! ♥

Hi friends! 

Squeeeeee!!

Today's the day!

 I'm super excited for today's post because it's finally launch day

 for my new blog series:  The Sunday Comics!

You may have seen this graphic I made for my Instagram page :)

Each Sunday in the month of May,

I'll be bringing some of the Sunday funnies to life through cards!

Growing up as a child, one of my favorite things to do

on Sunday after church was to read the Sunday paper with my dad.

Normally, he would pour through the pages of the news

and he would hand me the treasured comic section :)

There was something so exciting about reading the jokes,

seeing the bright pops of color amidst the black and white newspaper,

and finding my favorites to see what they were up to that week.

Flash forward, I'm absolutely giddy at the idea of remaking

the Sunday funnies (comics)

with a variety of different stamps/companies that are in my collection!

Each card will be different and one of a kind 
and based on the idea behind the Sunday comic section :)

AND the best part!!

At the end of this weekly series (last week in May),

I will randomly draw one winner for a *giveaway!*

(see details at the end of this post ↓)

First up, of course, it's Peanuts!
It's no secret that I'm a HUGE Snoopy fan 
and some of my most treasured stamps are Charlie Brown and the gang :)

 For this card, I started with a large base - 
quite possibly the longest card I've ever made!
It's 10" x 3.5" and needed to be large enough to create a storyboard.
I used 3 different Peanuts stamps and arranged them in an order
to tell a story, as the comics often do.
 

For the sentiments, I used two different stamp sets from Honey Bee Stamps:
Blah Blah Blah and Oh, Snap!

The card base was so fun to put together, pulling from the primary colors
often used in the comics.
I used scraps of red, blue, yellow and green from my scrap pile
and made jig-zaw design, layering it with some contrasting colored cardstock
 from Fun Stampers Journey called Rock Candy.
 

And that's the nostalgic journey through the Sunday comics today
 with Charlie Brown and Snoopy!
Next week's card is much smaller :)

I hope you'll be able to join me with another edition of The Sunday Comics ♥

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

*Giveaway details*

 While I won't spoil the surprise, I'll give you a hint ....

1. It will be a brand new stamp set!

2. Drop me a note in the comment section if you were a fan of the comics in the Sunday paper.  *The more The Sunday Comics posts you leave a comment for,

the more chances you have to win (total of 4 per person for all May posts)

3.  I ship giveaways anywhere in the world!

4. Winner will be chosen at random from comments on any of the blog posts and notified on 5/31/18.

As per regulations, this giveaway is a purchase by me for the sole purpose

to use as a randomly drawn prize and is not sponsored by any company.

CCEE1818: May Flowers!

Hi friends!

There's a new challenge over at the CCEE Stampers

 from our new hostess of the month, Anne!

She's given us a traditional theme of April showers bring May flowers :)

 

Fun Fact!

The {shortened} traditional saying goes something like: 

 “March winds and April showers bring May flowers and June bugs" 

 and was said to have been recorded around 1886

in United Kingdom and Ireland.

 If we travel further back to the end of the 14th Century, 

legendary author/poet Geoffrey Chaucer had his own say on the month of April in his famous collection of stories titled, “The Canterbury Tales.” 

Chaucer’s version goes as follows:

 

“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;”

Wow!  That's really changed over the years! :)

   My card is based on a card kit from Jeanette, who was hostess in April

(but now it's May ... seeing a theme here, LOL!)

for the Creative Card Chick group at Splitcoaststampers.

She sent us a sweet kit with a flower-ish theme

and I thought it was a great time to post my card.

I happen to have this darling Blossom stamp set from Your Next Stamp

and haven't inked it up - LOL!

Thank you for the kit, Jeanette!  I hope I did it justice ♥ 

And I am absolutely LOVING the cardstck that I found locally -

Fun Stampers Journey!  It's so thick and lucious 

and really rivals SU! cardstock ... the colors are so yummy!

 That's it for me today :)

You can see what the rest of the CCEE Stampers DT have made

 with the flower theme by heading over to the CCEE blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! ♥

~Kelly

 

Holy Guacmole! It's Taco Tuesday!

Good Morning friends!

It's Tuesday ~ often known as Taco Tuesday!  

Or if you are like my son, who absolutely LOVES tacos,

he'd say "It's Tuesday somewhere!"

I previously made a card with this darling Spellbinders taco set,

which I found while wandering through a local craft store.
It was SO CUTE, it jumped right into my basket and followed me home!

 I was sure I did a blog post with it but I'm not seeing it ~

but I did post a CAS card on my Instagram page ♥ 

For today's card, the 3M were chatting via text 

(as we often do, we like to chat ... except Barb sometimes forgets

and goes off play Hide and Seek and

 FUNNY THING ....

she wins!

Every.  single. time!

:-) 

Turns out, Jeanette and I bought the same stamp set so 

we thought it would be fun-ny to have a Taco Tuesday on our blogs!

Barb joined in the fun and now here we are!

Jeanette's card is here and Barb's card is here.

This is called Cool Beans (refried?) by Spellbinders and just so adorable.

Since my last card was a single CAS stamped focal point,

I went in the opposite direction and did a multiple stamping technique.

 I intentionally added the one in the middle upside down

to pair it with the Holy Guacamole! sentiment ..

I think I'll go back and add a Happy Birthday or a "You're HOW old?" LOL!

The inside is once again plain as I'll need some room for writing.

Here's the inside ↓

And that's my card on this CrAzY TaCo tUeSdAy!

Cheers!

Big hugs, bigger blessings! ♥

~Kelly