Carriers of Faith - "Be Still" ... Blog Hop!

Blessings to you on this wonderful, brand new year
 and welcome to the first Carriers of Faith blog hop!
2014 holds many possibilities

 ~ a blank slate, yours to be written.
Many of us have goals, resolutions, ambitions, dreams, ideas ....
many things that give us hope for a new start, a new outlook. 
 There is something uniquely beautiful about a fresh new start and
I’m so blessed you joined me today for a new start to the
 ~ Carriers of Faith ~
a group of ladies shining their beacons of faith as a light towards God.
While we won’t always have time to be crafty,
we are creative, faith-filled, and connected by prayer!

{The COF might sound familiar, we're formerly the Crafters of Faith,

much the same with a small twist that we will have a 

monthly feature with a chosen bible scripture, moment of reflection, 

and photo inspirations to share with you on fellowship and friendship!}

This month, I'm the hostess and challenged them
 to reflect on this scripture:

“Be still and know that I am God.”  ~Psalm 46:10 

I chose this scripture to reflect on the beauty of a fresh start

 and growing in grace.  Part of the walk we take

as christians is knowing when to stop and listen and be still,

maturing in our faith!

I also challenged the ladies this month to share with us ...

 Where are you still?

Where do you connect with God?

Where do you open your heart, clasp your hands in prayer, 

lift your voice to Him,  read your bible, devote time and reconnect in your walk?

 Show us your still.

 My favorite spot in the house to read my bible,

 to work on my bible studies, or to spend time 

without interuption of phones, computers, messages ... 

is in my front living room Wingbat Chair and ottoman :)

I sit there with a cup of tea or my coffee and wrap myself up with 

the throw blanket of quotes from famous authors

 that my daughter bought me :)

The chair is not the most comfortable chair.

It's more for decoration when you walk into the house.

But it comforts ME.

It's soothing.

It comforts my soul.

It makes me smile :)

I'm still.

God's love strengthens me here. 

 In this chair, I'm able to unwind, or refocus, or be inspired, 

write, plan, dream, pray ... and 

fulfill my duty towards being a better, committed christian.

Romans 8:28 reminds us  "And we know that all things work together

 for good to those who love God, 

to those who are the called according to His purpose."

May today bring you blessings, peace, togetherness, fellowship and

stillness :) 

This is a blog hop so hopefully you'll be able to visit

all of the COF sisters today.  From here, you'll hop on
over to my beautiful friend, Barb!  Thank you for your visit
and the blessing of YOU!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly
  

WOYWW #240 ~ Happy Bird-day!

 

Wow, it's Wednesday already!!

 This week is zipping by. 

And one blessing of having the kids back in school

 is I actually know what day of the week it is :)
No picture of my desk this week but we are thankful for Julia!

I have a quick post and card that I whipped up - 

I know, I know ... 

I can be a little long winded at times :)

My card today is bright and fun as birthdays should be!

 I love bold, fun colors and fall back to them often,

especially when you find in your stash some super fun bday dsp!

 

You probably all know by now how much I adore The Alley Way Stamps.

They are super fun and have a whimsical flair which I love!

They stamp crisp and clean and making coloring super fun,

and paper-piecing, too!

My favorite technique!

For today's bright and happy card, I actually printed off a digi

for the front and double layered it.  For the inside,

I stamped the sentiment from my All About You stamp set.

This is my 10th card this year ~ 

moving right along with the 100/100 challenge!

I'll also enter this card into the TAWS challenge to make a birthday card,

as well as Try Stamping on Tuesday Challenge #150 ~ Use Polka Dots!
Charisma Cardz - Birthdays

Thanks for your visit today and

as always - stay warm and safe out there!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Will you be my Valentine?

Hi friends!   

There's romance in the air!  

Each place I'm bumping into around the big world of the internet,

I'm spying beautiful Valentines cards, hearts, and lots and lots of love!

I absolutely ADORE making Valentines cards!

Lucky me, there's a new Riley and Company Challenge 

this week by DT member, Joy ~

Her theme: Celebrate Anything.

I'm celebrating love ~ love for my husband, children,

our crazy pets, the blessed life God has given to us ♥

 

 

  

 

For my card today, I'm using Stamping Riley ~

how cute is he, stamping out his little Valentines!

I bet one for sure is going to Sophie :)

I paired my card with some cranberry crisp 

to give my card a deeper hue than red ~

followed by using up some more scraps from the scrap pile basket.

I added a few scattered pearls around the card for a little texture :)

You can find the link up to the Riley and Co challenge here

and the DT blogs to inspire your celebration creativity!

 

 I'll be entering my card to the

 Unscripted Sketches #238. My card was created using the sketch,

 which I love so much!  I'll be using this sketch again ~ thank you!

 

I'll also enter this into Make it Monday#173 - Anything Goes

My Craft Creations - Anything Goes 

Send a Smile 4 kids ~ Valentines for a child

Crafting from the heart - Pearls or buttons

The Squirrel and the Fox - Anything Goes

 and my personal challenge below:

7/100

I wanted to wish you all prayers in the winter storm's path.

Watching CNN has been frightful and I hope everyone

 is staying safe and warm and at home if you can!

Be well and know that if I could box up some of our Florida

sunshine and send some warmth your way, I surely would.

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Our family is GROWING!

We have some new babies at home!

And this time, they are not from me! ;)

My sweet little son wanted a hamster for Christmas so badly, standing right

next to Santa at the mall telling him "I would like a boy hamster for Christmas. A light brown one so I can name him Sandy.  Sandy Cheeks.  Like from SpongeBob SquarePants ... except that Sandy Cheeks is a squirrel. I don't want a squirrel.... just a hamster."

The look on Santa's face when he panned the crowd and saw me there, each of us sharing that look of bewilderment-amusement on our faces, and me thinking "Wonderful! It's Christmas Eve ... this should be fun!"  

My daughter and I later raced to the pet store where much to our surprise - they had two absolutely adorable hamsters alternatively snuggling and playing.  We couldn't take one without the other, both girls. 

 Christmas morning, my son was so excited ... and then said "wait ... they're girls?"  Poor kid has 3 older sisters ...  imagine his dismay, LOL!

WELL .... much to OUR surprise, one of those little girls was a mama-to-be!

And the other one?

  ::: plot twist!::: 

 A boy!  

He was too young at the time to know he was a boy and it's been a whole lot of fun on "Hamster Watch" :)   Sometime in the wee hours of the night on January 2nd, mama had her wee babes and we're excited to see what they look like, how many and we are spoiling Sandy Cheeks in the meantime. 

My oldest daughter was made it her personal mission to spend hours researching what we should do and how to take care of each of them.

I felt it was only right to make her a card :)

Except I'm fresh out of hamster stamps!

bwahahahaha!

But I do have some absolutely adorable House Mouses

and that's pretty close :)

I colored up this House Mouse called yawn,

and appropriately how we felt staying up for hours that night!

I wanted to play along in the current House Mouse challenge to use

Silver or Gold.

Oh me oh my, a challenge indeed!

But here it is .... a gold baby card, a first for me!

 

I found some metallic cardstock I had leftover from Thanksgiving

and got to work ~ using scraps of dsp from different mat stacks.

I found this great sketch to get me going from Sketch Saturday

and this card came together pretty quickly after that.

 Here's my card:

Whew, sorry to be so long winded tonight!

If you made it to this far, thank you!  It's been a fun week in our home :)

Here is a quick peek at the new additions ~

Isabelle is the new mommy hamster (left, black)

and Sandy Cheeks is the (now) boy hamster (right, light brown)

I'll be sure to post how many/what we had in the next week or so,

as soon as Isabelle let's us venture closer.

 

 I'll enter my card into the House Mouse Challenge #160 - Use Silver/Gold

and  Sketch Saturday #291- used the provided sketch

   Opus Gluei - Leftovers!  

and Cupcake Inspirations - Colors/Palette 
Crazy4Challenges - Inspiration Photo/colors

ColourQ - colors
Gruffies and Guests - AG

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 Card #6/100

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

You're an Angel!

Blessings on this beautiful SON-day!  

It's to believe Winter Break is over here and the kids will be 

venturing back to school tomorrow, sniff sniff!

 I have a quick post today~

this card is one of two I made with this same image.

I had some leftover images and 

a whole lot of thank you cards that needed to be made.

I was playing around with papers and colors

and image matching ~ 

like playing Barbies, but with paper! :)

This card was VERY hard to photograph for some reason ~
either the image would be washed out or the background paper would,

including  the small amount of Wink of Stella I added to the halo and wings.

IRL, it looks much nicer! :)

We're off to the park to bike and picnic ~

I hope your day is equally blessed!

 This is card #4 (and 5) in the 100 x 100 challenge - woot!

  Card entered into:  Allsorts Challenge ~ Anything Goes
LovesRubberStamps Challenge ~ New Year's Resolution (be kind, pass on goodness)
 Musically Challenged ~ Movie Soundtrack (Phantom of the Opera - Angel of Music)
My time to Craft - Music/Movie Inspired (Phantom - Angel of Music)
One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes
 


Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Hello, my friend!

Woot, it's Friday!  

This paper might look familiar ~

yes, you saw it yesterday! :)

I saw this fantastic sketch earlier this week

and thought what a great way to use up scraplings!

I kept the smaller pieces from yesterdays card 

to create this simple yet heartfelt one today.

I'm always in awe of the CAS style cards and

am really tickled with how this one turned out :)

Though I love me some layers and layers, but this year

I'm branching out from my current style and creating new(ly).

And did you notice ......... no buttons on this card either!!

Of course, I will always love/use buttons!!
I had some left over sequins from my son's

school winter project so I added a sprinkle of those

(after all, there is a sequin craze going on in the craft world!)

I wish you wonderment this weekend.

I'll enter this into the Freshly Made Sketches challenge #117

and CAS-ual Fridays - after all, life is having wonderful friends :)

 and

And .. this is card #3 in my 100 x 100 cards!

100

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Hi! What's Perking!

 Good Morning ~ what's perking!

I'm lucky to have some free crafty moments this winter break ~

as well as lots and lots of my favorite ... coffee!

 

As part of my goals for this year, 

I am continuing to ink up my treasured stamps.

And you might know from visiting me previously 

how much I adore TAWS stamps!!!

I inked up my Breakfast Club stamp set that has been patiently

waiting for me to ink up due to a hectic past month(s).

It's always fun to play along with the TAWS challenges 

and I try not to miss them if I can help it - they are very inspiring.

As a HUGE coffee fan, this set was a must have for me

and as soon as I saw the challenge photo, an idea arose.

Rather than go with a Christmas theme, I used the photo to

inspire more of a welcome to January card!

 I pulled from the 4 colors of the stockings and used that

as  my paper choice.  I paper-pieced the coffee cup and added

scattering of pearls, as well as using a blue card base like the mantel.

Here is my card:

And the inside of my card:

You can see the inspiration photo here:

 

I used the wonderful sketch from cardabilities to build my card base.

Here is their sketch ~  

I'll enter this into their challenge #90. 

 

 I was recently inspired by several of my friends on SCS to join 

a 100 cards in 100 days challenge.  This is actually my 2nd card of the year.  I won't be doing a card a day or daily blog but will aspire to complete a collection of needed cards to use through-out the year

and that's a great source of inspiration!

Nothing on this card used today was a new purchase ~ just new to use! 

100 cards

 
I'll enter this card into one of my favorite stops~
Word Art Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 Card:  Cardstock:  Bashful Blue from Stampin' Up:  Dsp = MME

Stamp = TAWS "Breakfast Club"

Prismacolor markers, Cuttlebug, nesties, scissorbees, momento ink,

kaiser pearls, glitter cardstock, tombo, 3D dots

Word of the Year ~ Welcome 2014!

*Happy New Year*, friends!

2014, I welcome you!

Each year, I find a scripture and 'word of the year' 
to serve as my inspiration.
I don't make resolutions ~ 
I make goals and aspire towards them.

Why a word of the year?
Aside from something I adore doing each year,
it is a powerful little choice that guides me. 
One day after reading my daily scriptures,
one particular verse just jumped right out at me 
and I just KNEW.  God is good like that!

Last year was the year of Simplicity,
one I held fast to in all areas of my life.
This year, I am embracing as my Word of the Year .... 

Endurance!

 After reading Romans 5:3-5  {my scripture for this year!}

 one thing I noticed  from last year ...
I was tired.
I don't mean sick and tired!
I have a VERY blessed life ♥
As a busy mommy to 4 busy kids, life has a way of not stopping 
and 5 minutes for a Starbucks, 5 minutes for a shower,
5 minutes to read my bible scriptures (etc)
became more of a reality each and every day.


When I put my goals to use this year, I will endure!

I will allow this word to help shape me to seeing the world
in a different light and going the distance - making it to 
the end of every goal I set for myself.

I even found this SUPER COOL new journal at an off-brand store
for $2 - it will be filled with all the things I plan to do
this year :)

2014 - Let's Rock!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I've joined other moms and linked up to Only a Breath
and 5minutes for mom for my Word of the Year :) 

2013 - Card Year in Review!

 Farewell, 2013!

This is such a fun post every year, one that I really adore!

For my 2013 cards Year in Review,

 I'm doing it a little bit different than previous years ...

 rather than pick a 'favorite' card from each month,

I thought I'd reflect on crafting goals that I met, adventures I took,

sidesteps that didn't go quite as planned, friendships made and sustained :)

In all - many blessings!

January

 I began the year with a mantra to use my un-inked SU! stamps

and my crafting goal was to try new techniques.  I succeeded with both!

While I didn't use all of them, I sure put a dent in my unused/unloved SU stamps!  And tried new things.

Like this one. 

 I dusted off my aqua painter and my water color crayons!

February

For 3 wonderful months,

I was a guest designer for Bugaboo stamps ~ total fun!

March

I got lucky in March!

Okay ... um .... let me rephrase!  :D

I'm lucky that I have a great group of friends for the Dueling Darlings group,

 a group I dreamed up years ago and here we are - still dueling!
This card was created from a kit from sweet Kadie!

 

April

 This card was created from the generosity of a special friend

who sent me this fabulous birthday stamp! Thank you!!

She's also in one of my other fun card groups - The Calendar Girls.

  Hi!  I'm Miss February! ::: waving :::

Thankfully, there is NO swimsuit competetion ...

Just sayin'!

May

 My firstborn daughter graduated High School and 

jumped right in and started college in the summer term!  

So proud of her!

 

 June

I tried my hand at continuing my year of simplifiying ~

I drooled over a dahlia stamp in the SU! catty but couldn't afford to buy it 

at the time and found a digi stamp that was almost spot on for $2!

What a bah-gain!

AND this turned out to be my favorite card of the year :)

Who knew!

 

July

 The kids are officially out of school ~  I love having my babies home! :)

There is such great joy in having them close by and

 doing all the silly, fun, happy things kids do -  and they sometimes join in! :P

 

 August

Another fun card for a special group I'm in - the Stamp Addicts!

What a special, wonderful group of ladies - welcoming right from the start

and throwing down a guantlet of challenges. This one was probably my 2nd

favorite card of the year - the spotlight technique :)

 

 September

The Crafters of Faith, another wonderful group of faith-filled women, and 

another group I dreamed up after I had one night after a long night of prayer

and particularly grueling bible study I could not grasp.

I think God truly whispered in my ear "Try, try again .."

We had a free month to create an Anything Goes card :)

 October

 Spooktacular greetings brought to you by Riley - 

my favorite Moose EVER!!!

He just could not be any cuter!

I'm SUPER blessed to be on this DT :) 

 November

Earlier in the year, my dh rec'd a beatiful box of fruit from one of his Dr. colleagues.  When it arrived, all my crafty eyes did was

zero in on the gorgeous box!  The kids had yummy pears and plum and more, but what did my crafty self see?  The fuax stamped images on the box :)

Here is one small piece I saved .... and a lovely card it made!

Tis the season to be grateful after all.

December

Alas, due one super crazy life, my laptop dying and virtually

zero access to the internet/blogging, my December craft life

was pretty dismal! 3 cards people.  3!

In.  one.  month.

  Here's to a better next year!

However, one of the cards that culminates how the year was overall,

and the future ahead, was this one.  Amen!

Blessings and CHEERS to 2014!!

Thanks for your visit today

and I look forward to another year of crafty, friendship goodness

in the year ahead.

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll link this to Just Add Ink link up
and Debby's ( Scrapjourney's)  Favourite Five here!

Calendar Girls - Anything Goes!

Oh. My. Goodness.  

It's almost a brand new year!  

Can you believe it!  

I truly think this is one of the fastest moving years I can recall ~ 

I blinked and nearly missed it, it went by so fast!

My husband's busy work schedule has kept us close to home

this holiday and let me just say, God is good and knows

our needs, even long before we do.

While I dreamed of a white Christmas, romping in the snow

and hiding in some cabin in the mountains,

we are home and resting, relaxing, rejuvenating :)

Since today is the 28th of the month,

that means the Calendar Girls post a card with a chosen theme.

This month's post was optional as was a theme of Anything Goes.

I was so excited when I spied the November issue of Papercraft Inspirations

(back in October!)

with a free stamp set of Forever Friends inside!

I literally squealed out loud and did a little hop right there in 

the magazine aisle of Joanns! 

I love Forever Friends stamps!!

So of course I had to ring in the end of this year with

a shout out to Christmas-time with this little Christmas Forever Friends teddy.

I am in LOVE with this stamp ♥

  

 

The inside is stamped with a TAWS stamp sentiment
and I chose this one because it truly represents my heart's feeling
towards all the gals in the Calendar Girls - I'm thankful
for them and another year of wonderful card making, challenges
and a friendship lasting through the years!

I'll see you back again in a couple of days with another
card and then it's countdown to the new year! :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter this card into:

Little Red Wagon:  Anything Christmas

Word Art Wednesday - Christmas 

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes/Cmas
Southern Girls - Christmas Wishes