Hello, friend ...

Hi friends!  

I hope it's a beautiful day wherever you are in the world ♥

One of the fondest memories I have of childhood
 is receiving a card or letter ...  in the mail!

The snail mail, tiny piece of paper goodness in the mailbox

still brings me great joy to see a card arrive :)

Naturally, when I came across a card chain 

challenge/exchange group, I joined right in.

The card group is hosted, Deborah, and

how it works: You take the name on the list above yours, 

create/send a card using the given challenges

 or you can just send one of your own design, it's up to you!

We post our cards when the month is up so the recipient 

has the joy of surprise in the mailbox, 

just like in the days before cellphones and laptops and ipads ♥

And did I mention there are over 30 different countries that

are represented in the card chain?!

Cards from all over - so unique and wonderful.

This month, there was also a few different challenges and I chose 2 of them:

the Color Challenge and the card layout.  

 This color combination is super scrumptious - cobalt, ivory and olive!

 

Soooo different for me!  
Gone are the layers, buttons, 3d dimension!

My card stayed in the USA and traveled over to Taunya in Utah 
and I needed it to be mostly flat for happy travels.

I went really old school with this one and inked up my old
CTMH stamp set, Friendship Flowers.

I'll enter this into CAS on Sunday - Polka Dots
Crafting with an Attitude - AG
Crafty Girls - AG 
Crafting by Design - AG
Inspiration Destination - AG
 

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Sending a Latte Love! ♥

Happy Tuesday, friends!

I have a two cards that will be up today --

 including my Riley and Company bi-weekly challenge card that will be up soon!  We had a family Emergency late yesterday afternoon which included a long night in the ER.  Hence, my card needs to be photographed,

edited and blogged ... stay tuned for that!

Meanwhile, I played along this weekend with the 2015 Fall Coffee blog hop

again - this time, stopping by the Verve blog and scooping up

the free digi set that Julie has for all of us ...

how generous is that!

Thank you so much!

  

I created this card with Autumn colors and has already zipped

off in the mail to a sweet, wonderful friend ♥

I'll add my card to the link up ~
make sure you stop by, the cards and inspiration are something to behold!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

It's Autumn coffee time! ♥

Oh what an exciting time of year - 

coffee with friends and Autumn's beauty all around us ♥

It's also time for the 2015 Fall Coffee Hop 

and I just knew I wanted to make a card ~ cards, coffee?  So me! 

 

I've seen so many incredible coffee cards, each one so unique with 

different techniques, coffee stamps that are new to me, 

inspirational card designs and so much more! 

The hop has wonderful sponsors, talented crafters, giveaways ..

so be sure to take a peek!

 

For my card today, I've used one of my favorite stamp sets,

the Breakfast Club from The Alley Way Stamps.

I paper pieced my coffee cup and stamped the steam and sentiment

 right onto the paper and propped it up with 3d foam for dimension.

My coffee themed Fall colored paper has been in my stash

and just feels like Fall when I see it :)

 

I'd also like to enter this into Colour Me: Playful!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Send in the Clowns!

No "clowning around",

 it's a new inspiration week by the wonderful

 Riley and Company DT!

This week, DT member Heather asked us to create a card

 with the theme "Send in the Clowns!"

I know some people do not like clowns, 

but I promise Riley the Moose is by far the cutest lil Moose on the planet ♥

In fact, Riley and Company has a line of fun circus themed stamps :)

For my card today, I've used Juggling Riley, perfect for the theme 
of my day, every day!
I've paired it with one of the circus themed stamp sentiments - perfect
words in a busy day to always have fun!  
And you know I love me some patterned paper, 
so I was thrilled to find this clown + circus themed dsp in my stash - score!

and the inside :)

I hope today is a fun one for you, too!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

It's the Dueling Darlings ~ *Tutti Fruity* Style!

Hello friends!

Woohoo! The long awaited return of the DDD card kit group is here!

We've been on a summer hiatus but are thrilled to be back "dueling" for the Fall!

For my new blog readers, you might be wondering what the DDD is!

The Dueling Darling (Divas or Dazzlers) is a group near and dear to my heart ~

one I dreamed up over 4 years ago ♥

Most of us are and we are still going strong,

almost all of us are original members.

And this month there is EXTRA excitement - 

we have 3 new friends joining us!

We are welcoming Shelly, Tracie and Suzy, 

dear friends of ours from many of the threads on Splitcoaststampers!

Each month, two opposing teams have a hostess that pairs up and choses a theme, one hostess for Team Diva and one for Team Dazzlers!

  Each hostess sends out identical card kits to the other members 

and we create a card based on the contents of the kit we receive,

then post on the 15th to see what each of us made with that theme.

This month, Jeanette and I are the hostesses!

We have a fun theme that hasn't been done before in the years we've "dueled" -

Tutti Fruity!

        Since Autumn is now upon us, the Divas are going apple picking! 

Maybe you, too, have those fond memories of heading to the apple orchards to bring home bushels of fresh apples picked from the trees, filling up baskets!  Maybe you loved drinking fresh apple juice & cider or the crunch of the apple 

as you took that first bite – Yum!  

I stamped out a basket & apples from T.A.W.S. called Fall About You

and added it to the card base of DCWV paper called The Gilded Orchard,

filled with apples and apple blossoms.  This paper is lucious!

Very few embellishments adorn today's card because it just got too busy.

The inside of my card smudged a tiny bit but indeed at this time of year,

there is much to be thankful for ♥

 

 I popped up the bushel of apples with 3D foam and stacked them ~
this side view shows a bit of the dimension.

 

For the extra in our challenge,  we asked the girls to share what their

favorite fruit recipe is.

Mine is Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Hahahahaha!  Just keeding :)

My very favorite fruit is always the citrus-y flavors

 like limes, lemons, oranges and my very FAVORITE dessert with fruit:

Lemon Bars!

Thanks for stopping by today!

To see what the rest of the team has created with this kit,

or the Team Dazzler fruit kit,

please see the entire list of friends in my sidebar off the right! 

I'll enter my card as card #2 in the NBUS challenge #5

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

If friends were pumpkins ...

 I'd pick you!  And you!  And you! :)

 

 

Hello, dear blog friends!  

Indeed I'm blessed to have connected with each of you 

in this wonderful blog world we share!

Now it's been a busier week than usual, 

and I've been trying to post this card since Tuesday!

  I recently purchased some digis at From the Heart Stamps including this one, September's stamp of the month image.  

I've played in their SOTM progressive challenge in the past, 

and then that busy little thing called life stepped in to curb my playtime :/

I'm happy to be back and just absolutely adore this month's image!

 and the inside of my card:

 I've finally got the chance to use up some of my supplies in addition to this

 first time using this digi, like the wonderful Crate Paper 'home' dsp and that little peek of River Rock ribbon that I've hoarded had for awhile!

I'll add my card to Darnell's NBUS #5 challenge

 (which I've also been trying to

do all week - tee hee!) 

I'll also enter my card in the monthly challenge at FTHS.

 I hope Autumn is bringing you wonderful moments 

and pumpkin everything! :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

3 Musketeers - Harvest Cart ♥

Hi friends!

We've been busy having a BIRTHDAY today!

From sun up to sun down, we made little man's 11th birthday

as special as it could be with lots of wake up excitement, special outings, his favorite restaurant, cake and ice cream and gifts!

I finally have a chance to get my card launched :)

Today the 3M's are back again with our card creations using this 

beautiful Great Impressions Harvest Cart stamp from Barb!

I've never used this stamp before and was thrilled to color up

another Autumn themed stamped image as it's such a beautiful season.

I've also used up some papers from my never opened Basic Grey Herbs and Honey mat stack in "harvesty" colors and ...added some buttons!

Now that I see it, I'm thinking I should rename my blog to Banners 'N Buttons!  

That's one thing I love to do in my card making,

adding lots of layers, buttons and banners + the insides, too! ♥

I do hope it's not monotonous and boring :)

 

On the inside of my card, I have stamped a Lil' Inker sentiment

(also never been used until now!)

 

 Be sure to stop in and see what Barb and Jeanette have made with

this beautiful harvest cart as well!

 I sure hope Autumn is bringing you all things wonderful ♥

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Ill enter my card into:  FanTastic Tuesday- AG, Square! 
Love to Scrap - two patterned papers 
Our Crafty Corner - Autumn colors 

From my GNOME to yours ...... :)

Hi friends!

Like most garden gnomes, our day has been super chill :)

 We watched torrential rain fall for most of the day but I also managed to set out all the Harvest scarecrows, pumpkins, swags and decor

 inside and outside the house!  

Even in our sweltering, humid, rainy weather,

 it's starting to look a lot like Autumn!

And as they say, there's no place like Gnome! ♥

Today's card is pretty CAS compared to my usual layers and buttons 'n such!

Since this card has to be flat for mailing, I kept it simple!

This adorable MFT image is from the "You Gnome Me" stamp set

and was sent to the Mystery stampers on SCS by Jessica for 

the September mystery image.  

Isn't he cute!

I colored him in traditional Gnome colors with my prismacolor markers.

The extra challenge was to use flowers, but I couldn't get any of my size flowers to work, so I just YOLO'ed it and added enamel dots :)

{didn't get to photograph the inside, but here's a sort of peek!}

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is enjoying

the fabulous long weekend!

From my Gnome to yours, enjoy!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Riley's going "Back to School!"

Hi friends!

Getting back into the swing of back to school routine here 

means quite a few things for me ~

including driving from 6 am until nearly 4 pm,

back and forth and back and forth and then some!

Which means a lot of trips to Starbucks!

I'm blessed to have a wonderful group of mom friends

and we all meet up at S'Bux when school starts again to catch up on our summers, the kids, playdates, big people dates, and more ♥

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Starbucks

but more than that, it's a slice of serenity in an incredibly busy mom's world :)

  

So my card today is a bit unorthodox *wink!*

It's our Riley and Company Design Team challenge time again 

 on the Riley and Company blog and our challenge is hosted by Sandye.

For our challenge this week, has challenged us to 

create a School related card or project.

For me, driving by for my 'Bux and meeting my treasured friends is one of the highlights of school!

{and the inside of my card!}

 

You may have noticed a small change

 on the Riley and Company inspiration blog: 

 While we no longer have the biweekly challenges,

 the DT will still bring to you biweekly inspirational cards and projects!

Every other week, the DT will showcase the stamps from the store!

Thanks for stopping by today ~

Cheers!!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly