DDD: Friends are Family ...

 

"And then she said ........"  :)

 

 

I don't know about you, but I adore these Art Impression "Girlfriends!" 

They are so true to real life and just bring out the biggest smiles :)

I was so excited to see that Michaels started carrying

these sets a few months back and scooped up a couple.

 

But this yummy card is from the hostess of the current DDD

round, Carol!  She (for Team Divas) and Melina (for Team Dazzlers)

came up with the theme for August:

"Friends are the Family we chose for ourselves."

Isn't that the sweetest!

 

Carol sent us this darling image to work with along with a super

purple-y kit!  There was so much in her kit, I could make a stash of cards :)

Because I'm already late, and trying to make it under the wire

for at least posting IN AUGUST (hee hee!),

my card is rather on the typical Kelly style - little banner,

off centered, and I added the sentiment in a loopy way,

sadly covering their shoes but it looked cute :)

 

Thanks ladies for a fun round!

Be sure to stop in and see what the DDD teams have made -

you can find them all in my sidebar.

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!

 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Changing Leaves ♥

Good morning!

 

Have you ever had this much fun with buttons?! 

I sure did!

 

One of the most glorious times of year is the "changing of the leaves",

especially for those fortunate enough to live much further North :} 

There is something so profound and tangible when Autumn arrives ....

from the delightful new crispness in the air, the leaves bursting into a kaleidoscope of colors, big comfy sweaters, Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

I love Autumn and the beautiful promise that this time of year holds ♥

 

I thought way outside the box with my card today using
Just For Fun rubber stamps.

 And I had an absolute blast doing so! 

 I sat and sorted through my huge containers of buttons

 in every color, shape and size. 

 I inked up the uber fabulous Stamptangle Tree stamp 
from Just For Fun stamps (stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black),
 gave it a quick monotone brush of color with Prismacolor markers
(walnut, light umber)

and glued down a variety of 'leaves = buttons' for a unique Fall look!

 

The deeply etched rubber makes for a great, clear stamped impression.

And so versatile!  I can picture this stamp being in the 4 seasons -

back again for Winter, snow clinging to the branches to the

beautiful blossoms of Spring.  The possibilities are endless.

 

Thanks so much for your visit today!
 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

 

Stamp used:  Stamptangle Tree H3809

I'll enter my card into:  Bloggers Challenge:  Buttons!

As you like it Challenge:  Fave Season/why - described above!

CraftyCreations:  From your stash *buttons, paper, ribbon*

 



We're PUNCHING today!

Say whaaaaaaaaat?

 

:)

 

Today is the 28th of the month and that means the Calendar Girls crafty group, of which I'm blessed to be a member of, posts our cards with a chosen theme by the hostess of the month.

This month, our lovely hostess Sweet P, camper and lover of life on the go!!

She gave us quite a challenge indeed ... at least for me!

 She asked us to create a card/project with Punch Art.
 

 

So what's a girl to do?

Head to Pinterest! 
I found this card that inspired me.

Seriously!  I can do some punch art ...

 like the wee pumpkin I made awhile back using an oval punch ...

big leagues, lol!

 

Here's my "Havin' a RUFF day?" card, modeled off of this one

I found on Pinterest.

I left the color scheme the same because it looked like our precious Buddy!

(my son's sweet Jack Russell doggie)

 Which is perfect, since we just celebrated "National Doggie Day!",
or so my daughter's Instagram pictures said it was :)
 

 Please be sure to hop on over to my sidebar
and see what the rest of the Calendar Girls have created ...
You won't be disappointed, that's for sure - these are some UBER
talented ladies who know how to PUNCH! *grin!*

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly
 

Anything But a Card!

 

Hello friends! 

 

 

We're full swing back to school here with a terrific first week behind us ♥
My son started a new school this year and came home
with smiles and tales of his new classroom.
He's a friendly kid that makes fast friends anywhere he goes
and walked to pick up point flanked by two new faces,
chatting away! 
 In one week, he got settled into his new class,
bought lunch in a 'real cafeteria with a real metal tray!'
(this apparently was BIG STUFF ... who knew!),
tried out for a part in the classroom play, trying out for a tiny role ...
and landed a lead after the teacher heard him reading - my baby!

Speaking of reading, today's post is from the Cornish Heritage Farms
Stamp Company and our challenge this week is from Irit.
We are to make Anything But a Card (or ABC).

For my sweet little man, I made him a bookmark. 
I thought it would be perfect for his back to school reads ♥

 

 

 

For my bookmark, I used the corner bookmark style.
Super easy!
When the book closes, it's super flat and keeps the place nicely.
I've added the digi "All Ears" by Cornish Heritage Farms to this bookmark,
colored in prismacolor markers.
He appreciated it and added it his library book straight away
(not this one, this is just a photo op book - LOL!)
and I got a big 'ol hug in return!
I love my son! ♥
 

 

We'd love for you to play along in the challenge!
If you'd like to add your CHF cards/or ABC projects this week,

and if you post to a gallery other than the CHF Challenge blog,

please use the keyword CHF60.

 

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

I'll enter this into: All Crafts Challenge - Anything But a card

  Crafty Sentiments - Animals

 Shopping Our Stash 166 - ABC

The Crazy Challenge - Cute Little Animals

 

 

 

Make today .... Amazing! ♥

Hi friends! 

 Remember me?!!

 

It's been a whirlwind around here ~

from last minute trips before school started to

the chaos of school actually starting!

This year, my oldest is in her 2nd year of college,

daughter #2 is a Senior (when did that happen!),

daughter #3 is a Sophomore and

little man is a brand new 4th grader at a brand new school.

We are certainly looking forward to getting used to

the newness of it all and routine to settle  - for all of us ♥

 

I thought I'd show you the card I had made for the Riley and Company's

new challenge - One Layer Cards.

Holy Hanna, that's about the one type of card I don't do!

I love me some layers! ♥

 

So I thunk and thunk and thunk some more ...

and an idea was born when I was watercoloring.

Let the colors run!

As they were still wet, I tilted my watercolor paper

and let the cards run together - like tie-dye!

 

From Girl Scouts to Sunday School and lazy summer days here at home,

tie-die is one of the activities we've done and love so much.

Why not on a card!

 

 

I used my SU! Watercolor crayons and watercolor paper
and colored it in my VERY favorite color combination :)
I seem to be gravitating to this color combo a lot this summer!

I let the sentiment speak for itself on this one and stamped it

right on the dry paper, peeled off the painters tape from around the edges

and ta-da! 

Hard to believe this card took as long as it did to make -

which I will not admit to, LOL!

Did I mention I love me some layers?! :)

 

Be sure to stop in and see what the rest of the Riley and Company DT

has created!

If you link up your cards to a gallery like SCS,

please use the keyword Riley1714.

 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into:  Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS
Ladybug crafts - CAS
Sisterhood of Stampers - Favorite Color
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

 

Carriers of Faith ~ Showing Love ♥

 

Hi friends!

We're off for the weekend for some last moments of summer fun!

We sure wish summer could last all year long

but it's back to school soon ~ meh!

 

Today's card was fun to make :)

The Carriers of Faith have a wonderful theme this month

and our hostess is April!

 

Here's what she said:

 

August Challenge:

Since we post the day after my wedding anniversary, I would like everyone to make a project based on one of the scriptures read at my wedding: 

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7   "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."  Your card doesn't need to be based on a spousal love, and as such.   I would love to hear a story of one of your loves!

This verse was also in our wedding, too ♥

 

So, I had my husband in mind when creating my card.

He is the center of my world and one of the BEST men on the planet :)

He's my high school sweetie and here we are ...

30 years and 4 kids later!

 

For the card I made today,

I finally opened one of my new SU! Stamp sets "See Ya Later"

 that I bought but hadn't had the chance to ink up.

I also wanted to emboss the sentiment, which says

"Once in a lifetime you meet someone

who changes everything."

 

So sweet!
 

I went with a Cherry Cobbler color

{our wedding color was *dusty rose* for my mom :)

but ohhhhh, I'm so NOT a pink girl!}

I found this card pattern on Pinterest

and fell in love with it, too,

and wanted to recreate it with my own spin ♥

 

 I hope you are able to visit my COF sistahs, too!

You can find them listed in my sidebar!

 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into:  Little Red Wagon - Embossing
Eclectic Paperie - Embossing
Path to Positivity - Possibilities

Sweet Summer Days ♥

Hi friends! 

 

*Raise your hand if you want to be here!*

 

 

Today is my turn to post on the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps blog :)

Today's card is a wonderful reflection of the peace

and serenity of summer 'nothing-ness' :)

 

With summer's end drawing near,

I'm stretching it out by using summer stamps like this one!

I inked up my Hammock in Palms rubber stamp +

colored it with prismacolor markers,

and added a bit of sand embossing powder to the little edge.

And, of course, burlap! ♥

 

 

Truth is, if I head out to my Jeep, I'll find plenty of real sand

from our recent beach trips - LOL!

I've also added a Just for Fun sentiment to the inside of my card
"Thinking of you" .... along with the shells (also JFF stamps!)

You can find all these and many more
in the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps shop!

Thanks for stopping by today ~
Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

 CraftyCatz 243 - Lazy Days of Summer
FairyTale 97 - Sun, Beach, Sea
Stampin' for the Dragon -  Sun, Sand, Sea
Aud Sentiments - Thinking of You
The East Wind -  the beach
Our Creative Corner - Summertime

 

*Peace!*

 

Hi everyone! 

 

Quick post today with a card for the current From the Heart Stamps challenge.

How I adore these beautiful digital stamps and the messages of faith

 and inspiration they have, like this one! 

 

The card I've created today is using one of the digis

called "Peace like a River" ~

 including one of the sentiments that comes with this delightful set

(see the whole set here!)

I thought it would be a perfect match to this fun paper 

called "Hippie Chic" from DCWV.

 

 

 

 

I followed their current sketch challenge,

which I flipped onto the side

and use the twist - Buttons!

 

 

 

And that's it for today ... short and sweet!

 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings :)

~Kelly

 

I'll enter this into:  From the Heart Stamps: Sketch075

 Word Art Wednesday - AG

 

Let's Scuba!

 

Hi everyone! 

 I can't believe summer is winding down already ~ say it isn't so!

I'm not ready for the new school year,

which starts in just 2 short weeks.
I'm soooo not ready! :(

 

We love the outdoors here and when blessed with gorgeous weather,
we make trips to the beach!

My 'to-make' list from Pinterest has grown,

including creations needing shells - lots and lots of pretty shells!

The tides haven't brought many to the shore lately,

so we ventured out with masks and snorkels to find them -

and did we ever!

I'm super excited to get started on those gifts now ♥

  

This week's bi-weekly Riley and Company Stamps challenge

is brought to us by Kendra ~ Summer/outdoor sports.
While we don't scuba, we snorkel --

 an outdoor activity that we just love!

I've used Scuba Riley on my card today,

colored with prismacolor markers and added to a card base

with summery, bright colors ...

such a happy card :)

 

Be sure stop by the challenge blog to see the rest of the DT

inspirations!

If you'd like to link up your Riley card to the challenge blog,

or add your card to a gallery,

please use the keyword Riley1614.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings ♥
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into:  2cute Ink - Animals
Craftybloggers - Summer Fun
Imagination crafts - Summer Holiday/Scene
My craft spot - Summer Fun Colors
Come and Get it - All About Dies
Crafting when we can - Bright Colors
 

Butterfly Moments (Cornish Heritage Farms) ♥

The butterfly counts not months but moments,

and has time enough.

~Rabindranath Jagore

 

Hi friends ♥

Today's post is celebrating butterflies ~ for two reasons!

Today is the day the Calendar Girls launch our monthly cards

with a chosen theme.  This month, our hostess Linda,

asked us to create a card with butterflies - that's it, just butterflies!

Since that was the theme for my card, and today is also the day

the Cornish Heritage Farms DT post our bi-weekly challenge cards,

I knew the direction I wanted to go with my card ♥

Irit is our hostess this week and gave us this challenge ~

to use 3 different craft/coloring mediums on our cards.

Wow!

 

For my card today, I started with a butterfly digi image from CHF -

they not only carry a delicious variety of rubber stamps but

digital stamps as well, some of them as low as .99c!

I printed the digi on watercolor paper

so the Tattered Angels glimmer mist would stick the best (medium #1)

I colored the butterfly with both primsacolor markers in light shades

and outlined it with a watercolor colored pencil in white (medium #2).

Lastly, I brought my acrylic white paint out and painted over a piece of

corrugated cardboard I had on hand for the background piece (medium #3).

 

I've also added another CHF sentiment to the inside of the card

along with the small section of cardboard that was extra from the front.

I am all about using leftovers in crafting!

This sentiment can be found in the shop, too :)

 

Be sure to stop in and see what the rest of the Calendar Girls

have created with their Butterflies cards - you can find them

in my sidebar ......

 

And be sure to see what the Cornish Heritage Farms DT has made,

and you can find them listed in my sidebar!

That's a lot of inspiration right there!

If you upload your CHF cards using 3 craft mediums to a gallery

like Splitcoaststampers, please use the keyword  CHF58.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into: Make My Monday - Butterflies
Crafting when we can - Make your own background
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

 

Christmas in July!

Hi friends! 

 

 I hope your weekend is bound to have fun moments and happy memories!

Thank you for the well-wishes ♥

I'm feeling slightly better and moving on forward as we're still

enjoying summer here before the dreaded 'back to school'

in just a couple of weeks! :(

 

Did you know there is 152 days left until Christmas!

I know, hard to fathom!

But it's true -- and although it seems like a lot of days,

we started with 365 ... and almost half of those are gone - WOW!

 

Riley and Company's bi-weekly challenge is Christmas in July.

That's always a fun theme!

 

 

Most of my stash of Rileys actually include winter/Christmas theme :)

They are not only super cute but make adorable holiday cards,

and you can cater them to just about any profession, theme, etc!

For today's card, I used Wreath Riley and paired it with some holiday papers.

You can find this Riley and many, many more right here in the shop!

 

 

Of course, we'd love for you to play along!

If you upload your card/project to Splitcoast Stampers please include the keyword Riley1514.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

Card entered into:  Bloggers - Christmas in July

Deck the Halls

Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July

DL Art #137 - Thankful Link up Christmas in July

Craft your passion - Christmas in July

Win a $100 Shopping SPREE!

Hi friends!  I've been under the weather - several cards are on the way as soon as I'm well again!

But LOOK AT THIS!
 

Absolutely amazing news from Just for Fun Rubber Stamps!  It's a win/win - $100 in stamps for one lucky winner AND it ships for free!!!  WOW!!!! ♥

 

It's time for a contest! 

 Would you like to win a $100.00 shopping spree 

at Just For Fun Rubber Stamps...

AND 

have it ship for free????
 

 

Right now JFF has 623 followers on our Facebook Page. We'd like to kick that up a notch ~ our goal is 1,000 followers by the ...end of August so here's what we'd like you to do....

Spread the news and tell us about it. Post a link to our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/justforfunrubberstamps and encourage everyone to like JFF Rubber Stamps. Be sure to visit our Facebook page (contest thread) telling us where you posted it so you will be entered (1 entry).   If you post it multiple places, post a second time in the contest thread and send us a link to that post (2nd entry).   AND   If one of your friends likes us and tells us you sent them, we'll give you another entry!! (3rd entry) Remember, they have to like us and post about it right here to count!

 

We'll be keeping track of all the likes and as soon as we hit 1,000 Likes we'll give away a $100.00 shopping spree - and don't forget free shipping too! 

What are you waiting for...

Go spread the word

 and 

remember to come back and tell us about it!!!

 

Good luck!
~Kelly

The Baker's Dozen! :)

Hi friends!  I hope your weekend was super! 

Ours was busy but fun -- so much to do and see and squeeze in before Summer's end!

  

 

 

Today's post is a fun set of cards for the Baker's Dozen

card group - a sweet bunch of ladies on SCS ♥

Each month, the hostess sends a kit to each of us (13 ladies!)

with a mystery image(s) and papers/embellies along with

instructions of what she would like for us to create.

 

 

 

This kit is from June (I'm late for the party!)

and the hostess was Debby. 

 She sent us a wonderful chalkboard kit!

 She asked us to create

one card that's all black and white and

one card that's black and white with a splash of color!

And much like my cards from last month kit's from Suzy,

I tried to stretch all the wonderment and make as many cards as I could.

I was able to create 4 cards and one ATC ~ Woot, woot!

 

Here are the cards, inside and out!

The challenge card:  B/W with a splash of color!

 Inside of the Be Strong card :)

Card #2 - using little pieces of dsp left on my desk

 

Card #3

Inside of the owl card :)

 

 Card #4 - the challenge black/white card

 

And an ATC :)

 

 

Thanks Debby for a super fun June kit!

(July is on my desk and up next!)

 

I just realized August is quickly upon us and I'm up - WOW! 

Time to get my thinking cap on!

Stay tuned!

 

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

 

Seahorse Stamptangle ~ Oceans of Love!

Happy Friday! 

 

I'm super excited to post my first Just For Fun stamps card ♥

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had making this card!

When I first saw this exquisite stamptangle Large Seahorse stamp,

I literally squealed with delight :)  

Most of you who have known me for awhile now know how much

I adore the beach! 

Any trip to the ocean is a day of bliss for me -

I even named my blog after it! ♥

 

 

So!  For my card today, I had a blast with a technique I haven't done since

under-grad college!  I had to take one of those required art classes

where one of the required projects was to create art from art.

This is my spin-off! 
I took some old designer paper in the colors of the ocean

teal/blue/greens as I knew it would 'peek through' and be a nice

contrast to the stark white.

Here is the finished card -

and if you scroll down, I'll list the card supplies and step by step instructions

on how to make this super fun, beachy seahorse card!

 

For today's card, I immediately thought to create a different background

 to showcase this gorgeous stamptangle (think Zentangle, in a stamp form.)
 

 I did a spin off of my old college art :) 
 I used tiny letters (use thickers or any scrapbook letters will do!),
 craft paint and designer paper.

I knew I'd be covering up the paper with paint, so I used one of my oldest

dsp's that had the ocean colors I was aiming for (teal/blue/green).

I found mine years ago at BigLots for $1 a long time ago and found these in my scrap bin - it doesn't matter that they

are all mish-mashed and colorful, they are going to be painted then tossed.

 

Since I was going for an 'earthy' feel to my card, I didn't get out my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the letters perfectly - the 'fussy' look worked just fine.
I adhered the letters to the cardstock, then gave a generous coat of
crafters paint (white) and let it dry.  It took less than 10 minutes
and while that dried, I stamped out and colored up the seahorse image.
Yes, that's a Starbucks cup :)
Yes, I have an obsession with Starbucks! ♥
I also like to be thrifty and believe in the waste not/want not mantra
so my empty cup (yum!) became my painters cup - washed out :)
Just a small amount of paint goes a long way!
 Once dry, peel the letters back off to reveal the colorful paper underneath.
I took regular sandpaper (from the hubby's man cave!) and gave it a generous
distressing around the edges and center.

Because I have an obsession with burlap *smile!*,
I saw a small swatch on my desk and painted that as well :)
I hung that up to dry on my small card 'clothesline'.
Because burlap is porous, and painted burlap tends to curl up,
I pressed it under my Cuddlebug after drying for a few minutes
in a plastic bag - instantly flat!
The jute was added and curled and the card was pretty much done!

Wasn't that fun!

 

Here is one last look at the completed card:

I hope you enjoyed this lovely beach card using Just For Fun Stamps!
Be sure to stop by the store to see the brand new summer release
of the stamptangle stamps - they are breathtaking!

We also have a challenge blog for you to be inspired,
see projects and cards and more!
And .... for those on social medias, we are on Facebook, too!

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

I'll enter my card into: MAWTT - Color Scheme
Inspiration Emporium - Summer Fun

Just for Fun Rubber stamps used: 
Seahorse: D3791
sentiment: D3675