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

Crafters of Faith - Exodus 20:12

Blessings, friends!  

Today is the wonderful day that

 the Crafters of Faith blogging group post our cards with a chosen theme.

This month, our hostess extraordinaire is Barb and she chose a beautiful scripture and theme honoring fathers and mothers.  

This is what she shared with us to create a card around:

Memories of Mom and Dad! Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Even though my parents have been gone for close to 20 years, I still have wonderful memories of both of them. Some of you may have one or both of your parents still an active part of your lives and for others, the memories are what we hold close. So--what can you create on your card that reminds you of you mom or dad or both of them? A site from a family vacation? A hobby--music, gardening, literature, art, etc.? A favorite food? Your mom cooking? Your dad spending time with cars? Or vice versa . Create a card that shines of the memories that honor your father and mother. Enjoy this trip back in time--or maybe it is just a few steps back of a recent memory. Tell us in your blog post about your card, the memory it unlocks and a bit about your parents if you want to share. I cannot wait to see all of the wonderful memories you create and post on August 31st. Have Fun getting inky--Barb

For my card,  I chose to create a card for my MUM!  My mom is from England, born and raised. My dad passed away 7 years ago so rather than focus on parents, I wanted to make a special card for my mom.  

And I love London!!

 I've been very fortunate to have lived there myself as a child for a couple of years and visit twice in the past few years with my own children.  I would LOVE to live in London again ~ what a fabulous city :)  

So in honor of my mom, I created this card and I'll pop this in the mail as a surprise ~ it's from the Sparkle stamps called London Charlotte, which I was lucky to win in their last new stamp release blog hop - thank you SCRS!

And since I was using London Charlotte, I hopped on over to the SCRS blog

and played along with their challenge. I colored my card pulling from those colors, hence the hues of green and blue and pop of orange!

Here is the front of my card:

And the inside, sentiment also from the London Charlotte set.

  

And here is the inspiration photo:

I wish you many blessings this long Labor Day weekend ~

be it a restful one or fun times ahead - blessings!

Be sure to stop in and see my fellow sisters in Christ

and what they've created for the COF challenge!

Thank you, Barb, for the wonderful challenge and scripture this month!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  Word Art Wednesday - AG , Paper Playtime - pearls

and LEJ Designs #68 - Travel, Holidays

*Let it Snow!*

Let it snow in Miami?  

A girl can dream! That would be SNOW wonderful! :)

Hello friends! Long time no blog :{

Life (with 4 active school kids) has taken over full force,

but in a good way! And I've kicked my exercise up a notch

 and have added on 2 evenings so my oldest daughter can run with me

 on her college nights off :)  

Lucky me, I got my card done in time for the Calendar Girls monthly

card posting ~ this month, it was hostessed by Sweet P!

She gave us this theme to work with:

For the usually HOT and HUMID month of AUGUST, I would rather do something to get cooled off ...but what?

mmmm..I got it! We could make some SNOWballs....or even SNOWangels in the middle of summer, but how? ♥

Here's what I suggest :

Your challenge for this month is to create something with anything that begins with the word SNOW.

However, here's the catch: Your card should NOT reflect Christmas at all...

...but rather just images AND sentiment ( s ) that start with *SNOW*. 

Once you blog your card, please also make sure to add what was your word choice 

that your card reflects, and also WHY you selected THAT particular word...

Thank You and happy stamping .....Have FUN 'chilling out' on a hot summer day....♥

Paola 

aka Miss August ♥ 

And here's the front of my card:

 And the inside:

 I used the ever adorable Snowball Riley who is having just way too much fun without me!  I want to romp in the snow! :)

I colored Riley with the same colors pulled from the papers.

And you know I love me some buttons and ric-rac,
 it's hard to create anything without either :) 

The dsp is from a Christmas collection from K & Co which I scored at Marshalls for $1.99 this summer - a 12 x 12 pad of wonderful holiday paper!

And then the inside ... another one of my fave things to do ~

I added a matching Funny Bones Riley and Company sentiment - hee hee!

And the word I chose to use .......... SNOWBALL!!

Be sure to stop on over and see what the other CG girls made using

the fun snow theme - you can find them in my sidebar!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  Moxie Fab World's Christmas Card challenge
The Hobby House - Christmas

In the *spotlight!*

Hi, peeps! :)

Today's card is one I made just for fun ~ a spotlight card! 

I'm blessed to belong to a crafty group called the Stamp Addicts and asked our sweet leader, Lynn, if I could toss a challenge out this month :)

 I have been wanting to make a spotlight card for awhile - 

safety in numbers, right? :)

Yup! I'm that far behind in the crafting world! 

While everyone has moved on to Craquelure and Gesso, 

I'm still taking baby steps through techniques 

I meant to try and never did ;)

 Here's a better side view of the spotlighted area - this card has 8 layers!

                                                               ... and the inside of the card :)

 This card is heading to a special friend and I couldn't think of anything 'owl' related to say at the time ;)

The owl stamp is from Unity Stamp Co "Hoot of a Day"

  and I stamped out a tree branch for the owl to rest on ... the tree is

from Taylored Expressions stamp set called "Branching Out" ~

a set that I love dearly!  When I first bought it upon it's release,

part of the proceeds of the sales went towards a tree charity called

the Eden project - isn't that wonderful!  

Now, I bought this set in 2009 but you can read about it here - 

still warms my heart :)

I added a strip of burlap ribbon, used some yummy papers from 

Cosmo Cricket called S'more Love - oh. my. word!

This is the yummiest paper on the planet!!  I've used this 3 times already for cards and a swap and I keep peeking to make sure I have at least one sheet left of each one :)

In addition to getting my jog in, I have a PTA meeting (already!)

this morning and a quick meeting with the bible study ladies - school pick ups and drop offs, Tae Kwan Do across town after school for little man

and if I'm lucky, the library! :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  Little Red Wagon - Lots of Layers

 LEJDesigns - Inspired by Nature and

Try it on Tuesday's Create a Scene...  lots of fun this week! :)

Riley's having "S'more" fun!

Good morning!

Busy day here - busy week! - hoping yours is going equally well :)

There is a new challenge at the Riley and Company blog today - Vacations!

For my challenge card, I'm using Campfire Riley.

 I'm a self-confessed outdoors girls (during the day!) ...

I love a night 'round the fire (when I'm in my own backyard!)

but throw in some S'mores and I'm pretty sure I could give vacationing

outdoors and camping a second try ;)

 Link up your Riley/Sophie vacation themed cards here!

If you upload your card/project to a gallery or SCS, please include the

keyword Riley1713.

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

With Sympathy ....

Good evening, friends! 

 What a whirlwind weekend here - I don't think we stopped much and my achy body is proof of that, LOL!  It's still unbearably hot here and I'm so wishing for cooler weather, though that's pretty rare here in Miami :)

Today's card is one that I mailed to a friend who recently lost a loved one.

These cards remain the very hardest for me to make.

I just can't seem to make sympathy cards.  In looking for a stamp to ink up, I saw this image it reminded me that somehow, in the smallest of ways, it might bring some comfort. 

 I colored the image before assembling the card or chosing the papers, 

which I next to never do!  I always plan the papers and plan my card design first, then color the image to match ~ so this ended up a little different

than I originally planned.  For the wings of this gorjuss girl and her teddy friend, I added ice stickles and then a  slight dusting of super fine snow glitter from Martha Stewart.  

I hope your weekend was equally wonderful :)

My middle two girls return back to High School tomorrow so the school

 shuffle gets a little more entertaining in the morning!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly


Entered into:  Stamping Royalty - Photo (Flowers)
StampingSensations:  Wings

Fall-Kickoff with my favorite MVP!

Good morning! 

 Today is that fun day - the 15th of the month - when the Dueling Darlings card groups posts their cards with a chosen themed kit from a hostess ....

 and we *scrored* a wonderful card kit from LJ this month. 

LJ is our group's huge sport's enthusiast!

She loves her Badgers and sports galore, often traveling to games and spending her vacations at stadiums near+ far - the ultimate fan!

So Terry (for the Dazzlers) and LJ (for us, the Divas) gave us 

"Fall-kickoff" for our theme this month.

W/out further adieu, here in the my card using MFT's Pure Innocence

(Football player).

I used a few of the papers from the kit, and propped up the 
embellishments/touchdown onto 3D dots for dimension.

 And the inside of my card, left blank so I can write a little note later ;)

As a bonus, we were asked to share our favorite fall memories.
For me, I ADORE Fall - the smells, the slight crisp to the air, the wonderful holidays that are heading our way!  My favorite fall memories are the ones with my own kids ~ visiting the pumpkin patches and find 'the' one pumpkin to bring home and carve, remembering them standing up on stools wearing their little aprons making batches of pumpkin bread and pumpkin bars and hoping they don't drop in more egg shells than egg, hayrides at the local farms, and creating our own scarecrows with a pair of daddy's old jeans and a raggedy shirt - blissful, happy, family moments!
And the return of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte's, of course!!!! :) :)

Thank you, LJ, for an uber fun, sporty kit this month!
Please stop by and see what the rest of the Divas and Dazzlers have made -
you can find them right over there in my sidebar!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Wishing you Loads of Love :)

Hi, everyone! 

School started here and it's hard getting back into the routine,

Not to mention getting up at "dark thirty", as my dad use to say ;)

Here's a card I made for a card group I'm in, the SOTC.

Our hostess, April, asked us to make Anniversary cards in honor

of her upcoming anniversary and this was my take!

I have been striving this year to "use every stamp"

and finally inked up my "Loads of Love" stamp set.

I also used two different embossing folders, hearts (finally made it out of the package after 2.5 years! Gasp!) and my fave, Swiss dots!

Pretty simple overall but made with lots of love :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:  FrostedDesigns - Embossing

TipTop Tuesday - Embossing

Cuttlebugmania - Embossing

Have I *TOAD* you lately?

Good morning, blogging peeps! :)

Today's card is one of those cards I made just for fun as summer

 winds down to a close here in South Florida.   I channeled my son 

when I was creating this card, who will soon have a birthday!  

I pulled out one of my High Hopes stamps in order to play along with their current challenge, use your favorite embellishment!

And I absolutely ADORE buttons!

I don't have many HH stamps now but I cherish the ones that I do, like this one ~ "Froggy Gift"

I used the coordinating sentiment to the inside of the card.

The funny thing is, my son is terrified of frogs,  

but I'm sure he will be delighted with this one :) 

To create my card layout, I used the great sketch from

 Freshly Made Sketches #98! {see below}

  

  

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead!
I'll enter this card into:  High Hopes Challenge - Fave Embellie
FreshlyMadeSketches #98
Word Play Saturday - Childhood

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings! 

~Kelly

I love Coffee!

Oh how I love, love, LOVE a cup of coffee!

And to think I didn't *discover* that until under-grad college! 

  Pushing a full-time schedule of honor's classes, juggling a full-time job, a boyfriend (now my hubby - muah!) and planning our wedding, no sleep and no time to eat - coffee became my best friend!

I adore coffee stamps, coffee images, coffee swaps ~ and even have a collection of Starbucks mugs from the places we have traveled and the ones gifted from friends who live in far away towns - so grateful I am!

I have cut back on my trips to Starbucks -- my daughter and I made a pact last year for me to cut back severely and tithe the money instead.

  Yes, I miss it :)

Yes, I indulge once in a while *wink!*

Driving past S'Bux and not stopping twice a day ...

 eh, I've had better moments!

So what's a girl to do?

Craft, create, and enjoy the splendors of coffee in paper form! :)

TAWS has a new challenge out with a FAB-U-LOUS photo inspiration.

I do believe I actually *squealed* when I saw it!

I try to play along with their challenges as often as I can - 

they are a fun, whimsical style of stamps and even offer up freebies if you want to take a peek.

Like this one!  This was one offered awhile ago and remains one of

my favorites :)

It's back to school night tonight at my son's school.

Part of me is incredibly sad, and part of me knows how much he adores being in a wonderful christian environment to learn, absorb, pray :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered into:  TAWS#34 ~ photo inspiration

Riley's New Challenge - Spot, Dots 'n Circles!

Good afternoon!  

Late start here on my blog post - it's the last week of summer 

for my son and then it's back to school next week :(  

 Uniforms are ready = Check!

School supplies are purchased = Check!

New backpack hanging on a peg in his room = Check!

but mommy is soooo not ready for him to return to school :(

This summer truly flew by but he is excited and ready to jump into 3rd grade!

Speaking of going around in circles *smile!*, it's time for a new

Riley and Company challenge brought to us by DT member, Joy ~

Create a card using spots, dots or circles.

Well, my card is what I like to call a hot mess!

I inked up my Sunflower Riley, one of my very favorites! 

I have seen these circular type cards all over Pinterest and 

went through my stash of scrap papers, whipped out the Cuttlebug

and created the circles/scallops.  Then the card sorta went south!

In hindsight, I probably should have dressed it up with some buttons,

a banner ...... perhaps I'll revisit this card again another time and

try the things that I see now in my head! :)

For now ....... here's Riley, inside and out!

 This is the card front:

 This is the inside:

I guess this card is a bit reversed to my usual card style,

and it's inside out :)

I'm learning to embrace the white as a backdrop,

love it's crispness against bright pops of color.

A new technique for me - so this would be another LINY card!

Please be sure to see what the Riley and Co. DT have

created this week for the challenge!

You can find them in my sidebar right over there!

And of course, we hope you play along - if you use a gallery,

please include the keyword Riley1613.

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entering my card into:  City Crafters - Polka Dots
Crafty Sentiments - Animals
LovesRubberStamps - Anything Goes