It's FIESTA time!! ♥

Hola, amigos!  

T.G.I.F!

I have been dashing about since yesterday

and came home to a wonderful package on my front porch today ~

My Monthly Hero April kit!

The minute I spied the sneaks coming out on social media sites, 

I knew I had to have this one!

 My husband was born and raised in Spain 

and we LOVE Flamenco music and dancers ♥

Although this kit has a bit of Cinco de Mayo feel to it,

I thought it was an absolutely delightful nod to the hispanic culture.

Not to mention how I love these darling chihauhaus!

They were an add-on to the kit but

 I. had. to. have. them! ♥

I'm a day late for the CCEE Stampers challenge

"National Pet Day"

but there's no way .... NOOOOOO WAY!!! ...

I could tell my Buddy - and Buster - and Finny the cat

that 

e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y

 isn't National Pet Day ...

tee hee!

I did some masking and stamping to create a little 

fiesta scene - complete with hot sauce and bones,

pups with a sombrero and guitar.

I can almost here the salsa playing!

This is my 2nd Hero Arts Kit ♥

My sweet daughter, Victoria, gave me the coveted winter one for Christmas

and I will love it for forever :)

This month's one is still sealed (the add on arrived seperately)

and I plan to have an un-boxing video soon!

Stay tuned!

 

 Cheers!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥
~Kelly

I'll enter this into:  4CraftyChicks - Raining cats and dogs
.Inspire.Create. - Masculine cards
Fairy Tale Challenge - Raining Cats and Dogs
Fab n Funky Challenge - Cute Critters

Guest Designing ~ I'm absolutely ......... CRAZY!

**Today is the last day to enter my birthday giveaway!**

You can find the details here ♥

Hi crafty friends!

I'm delighted to have been invited by the talented Maryann

 to be the guest designer for Crazy 4 Challenges for the month of April!

I DO love challenges ~ they really give you a great springboard

for coming up with card ideas, 

including ones you might not have thought of before :)

The first challenge:  Use your dies as a stencil!

I jumped right in with one of my favorite Altenew stamps ~

Geometric Menagerie Stamp set

I started by using the lion die and my Tim Holtz inks and 

did a random stamping around the panel.  

 Next, I stamped out another lion and ran it through the Cuttlebug

as well as the sentiment from the set.

If you decide to play along with us, all you have to do is create a card/project 

and upload it to your blog and/or to your SCS Gallery using the keyword C4C429. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Kelly

CCEE ~ National Tartan Day!

Hiya friends!

I hope you have your kilts on - today is National Tartan Day!

Lois, hostess of this month's round of unique and interesting challenges over at 

CCEE Stampers has sure come up with some good ones.

Like today!

Being of sound mind and body Irish/Scottish roots,

 I absolutely love the idea of making a card with any type of plaid in mind!
Her challenge was to use plaid somewhere on your card to 
celebrate Tartan Day.

My card is using a new to me stamp company that's quickly popping up over

 the internet!  They are BEYOND adorable!  I'm absolutely smitten ♥
 Perhaps you have heard of Hello Bluebird stamps :)
I was intriqued so I ordered a set and WOW!  

So. Very. CUTE!

Here's my card using plaid from Doodlebug,

a die from MFT and the rest is from the adorable springtime set 
 is from Hello Bluebird.
And some enamel dots to complete the look! :)

 Be sure to check out the other CCEE Stampers and their pretty tartan cards!
You can find them here on the CCEE Stampers blog.
Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

World Autism Awareness Day!

Hello, sweet friends!

I hope you had a blessed Easter celebration

(if you celebrate ♥) 

                     

April 2nd is commonly known as World Autism Awareness Day

a day that brings awareness to the spectrums of Autism.

 This day is special to me because my niece has Asperger's syndrome (ASD)

and we, as a family, collectively learned the best was to make sure her life

 is an enriched and beautiful as she is to us!

Naturally, I was SO excited when Denise,

  creative mind and owner of The Project Bin,

created a set of stamps called "Spencer's Set".

 For my card today, I'm sharing with you TWO cards ~

one action wobble to match the accompanying "why fit it!" sentiment

and another more contemporary, elegant card.

First up - let's wobble!!

I created a simple framed A2 size card and popped it up on 3d foam.

And for the heart, I stamped it directly onto designer paper

and cut it out with the die from In My Heart ~ it's a perfect match for 

the heart in Spencer's Set! 

I added an action wobble behind the heart, which I purchased here

(but if you do an internet search, there are many options!

If the video attachs, you can see that it bounces and spins ...

definitely stands out like the sentiment says!

Next, I created a card that's a little more contemporary for

my favorite teacher .... my daughter!

Our oldest daughter is a special education teacher 

and an absolute natural at her job.

She's my hero!

 I chose patterned paper that had numbers on it ~

and like the card above, I used In My Heart die and Spencer's Set.

Here's a peek at both stamp sets:

 Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly 

 

National Crayon Day!

Hi friends!  

You may remember that last year, I started fun facts posts on my blog :)

It's always fun to seek out what

 obscure holidays there were and what fun (unusual!) events 

people like to observe and celebrate.   Well ...

Color.  Me.  Happy!

Today is National Crayon Day!

I am no spring chicken 29 again (a-hem!) and still love to color with crayons!

There's something absolutely joyous about opening that brand new box 

of crayons, and not even gonna fib, I love the smell!

 Crayola brand is STILL my very favorite ♥

 Now, as an adult, I still buy them during school clearances

 or back to school sales because, yes!

I still color with crayons! 

And my daughter is a teacher - there's ALWAYS a need.

Here are some fun Crayon Facts!

• The smell of crayons is the 18th most recognizable scent for adults in the U.S.
• Crayola makes 3 billion crayons a year
• The favorite crayon color of most Americans is blue
• The 100-billionth crayon was made by Fred Rogers of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood in 1996.
• In 1962, Crayola changed the name of the color “flesh” to “peach”

I've had this little Lawn Fawn crayon stamp/die set for a little while now,

and I bought it late last year just to use for National Crayon Day.

I adore it!

I have been using my distress oxides lately for backgrounds,

 so I used one of those for the colorful backdrop for the crayons.

I colored, die cut them in varied colors

and a couple of them are popped up on 3d foam for added dimension.

So what is your favorite crayola color - 

do you have one?

Mine is granny smith apple!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wishing you a colorful start to your day ♥

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Birthday Giveaway!! ♥

Good Morning, friends

and a blessed Good Friday to you all! ♥

My birthday was this week and it's been WONDERFUL!

Since at most parties there's a little thank you goodie bag,

 I thought why not host a giveaway!

I live in gorgeous South Florida with beautiful beaches and the ocean close by,

so Lawn Fawn's "Life is Good" stamp and die set came to mind when 

thinking of a gift for the goodie bag :)

Random.org will chose one lucky winner 

from my Instagram, YouTube or blog to win

this stamp and die set from Lawn Fawn featuring ... of course ...

Sandcastles!  

(Shells not included -

those were a treasured gift from my son who

 found those for me at his beach retreat!)

This is my year of #kindness ~ I'm passing it on!

Wishing you a weekend of beautiful things!

Big hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

 

The **Nitty Gritty** per regulations:

*This is not a sponsored ad or giveaway,

merely products I love and purchased on my own accord

for the sole purpose of this giveaway.

*Winner could be chosen from any of the 3 sources -

the more entries, the higher the chance!
*Giveaway ends 4/7 EST 12 am -

 *Winner will be announced 4/8.
*This contest is open worldwide.

Good luck!

Peek-a-boo Easter Porthole card ♥

Hi friends!  

Today I have a fun-fold card for the CCEE Stampers challenge.

But first, it's that bittersweet time to say goodbye to the Drive By Crafts

Design Team as my 3 month term has come to an end.

It was been wonderful being part of such talent

and I know I'll continue to be a customer ~ I hope you will be, too!

My card today is a pretty Peek-a-boo surprise inside Porthole card!

I love all things with a storybook character look,

so for my last DBC card submission, I inked up

the adorable Cottontail Cuties stamps and dies from Neat and Tangled. 

Since Easter is going to be here soon, I thought it would be fun

to make a few more cards!

I first stamped the Cottontail cutie girl onto the cardstock,

and then masked that off to stamp the bunnies

 as if they were peeking from the sides of her.

After stamping, die cutting and coloring the rest of the images,
I set those aside to make the card base and port hole,

created from a circular punch or you can easily use your circular dies, too.

 

I added various designer paper to create a sky/grass and 

adhered that to the inside of my card to create my little spring scene - 

another favorite thing I like to do with card making ♥

One the images were adhered into place,

I stamped the sentiment to the front panel and onto the dsp on the inside.

 I think this might just be one of my favorite types of fun fold cards 

and certainly one of my favorite spring stamp sets :)

You can find the products I used here in the online store

or more details about Drive By Crafts on the blog.

And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss 

out on upcoming sales, new arrivals AND awesome discounts!

The clearance section is amazaing!

Now head on over to the CCEE Stampers blog and see

what super fun folds the girls made this week!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DBC ~ You Make My Heart Melt!

 Hi friends!

I'm on the Drive By Crafts blog today with this card ~ You Make My Heart Melt ♥

I think this is probably one of my favorite cards of this year :)

I absolutely adore it ~ 

from the distress ink blending to the shimmery snow to the cute little kitties ...

it's just so cheerful :)

{and we can always use cheer and happiness} :)

Here's how I made this card from Products at Drive By Crafts online store:

I used the You Make My Heart Melt stamp from the My Favorite Things stamp selections and stamped those out with Brutus Monroe Raven ink.

Oh I love this ink!  So crisp and clean and spot on!

Then, I ran the images through the Cuttlebug with the matching die-namics ~

but remember, you don't need the dies - just fussy cut your images!

I colored the images and then set them aside to work on my background.

 

Since this card is going to a sweet friend,

I knew I wanted pinks and purples as a background.

The exact shades I wanted were Ranger Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry Distress Ink

and Ranger Archival Ink is Magestic Violet.

Using my mini blending tool, I blended both the raspberry and violet inks outward 

until the entire A2 size cardstock was covered and put it aside to set.

For the lake, I wanted to simulate the sparkle of the sun on the ice,

so I added clear Wink of Stella to the image - instant ice skating shimmer!

*A little tip!  I'm a little (okay - a lot!) heavy handed when it comes to blending,

so I hold a scrap piece of paper over the area as I've blended ...

keeps the ink off my fingers AND smudges off your paper! :)

For the frame, this part took a bit of creativity

 and thinking outside the box ... or outside the frame!

I used my My Favorite Things die-namic frame but discarded the actual die cut,

and used the outer area that looked like a window box frame.

So I basically kept the part you toss and tossed saved the part you keep!

I added Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam to the under side of the white A2 size frame and inverted it and attached that to background to frame it out.
I repeated this with the kitties and the owl - popped up on 3d foam for dimension.

And lastly, I used my white embossing powder and heat gun to 

embossed the sentiment to the card and popped that up, 

too.

To create the water color movement in the ink,

I took a medium size paintbrush with plain water and flicked it onto the ink

background.  It breaks up the monotony of the background color.

 And that's my card .. I hope you enjoyed my rambling today :)

You can stop by the DBC blog and see more inspiration,

as well as take a little drive through the DBC store here or the blog here.

 

My time is almost up being on the Drive By Crafts Design Team ~

it's been a fun ride! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

3M: Snow buddies!

Hello - twice! :) 

 

  I'm playing catch up on my blog today! 

 I'm due to have several cards posted

but circumstances of late = and life = have kept me from my regular routine ...

the routine of being home for a whole hour in the day, LOL!

But! 

 Where there is snow, there is FUN! 

At least for me :)

 

 And the 3M this month was hostessed by Jeanette and

she must agree that it's SNOW MUCH FUN because she sent

this absolutely DARLING Unity stamps called 3 Snow Buddies.

 

I tried and tried to make a pretty card ~ I really did.

 This was such a cute image,

but I failed ....

alas, I have to post and that's just how it it sometimes ...

However, you will be dazzled by Barb's card and Jeanette's card!

And Barb is up next month and already sent the image

(she's speedy for sure!  Just like me!  *snort!*)

 

Thanks for your visit!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Walking down memory lane ...

 Good Morning, friends!

It's Monday and that means it is the day I post a card for The Project Bin.

Denise has been hard at work behind the scenes creating some truly wonderful new stamp sets, like these for a quick view!

 

For today's card, I'm using Kinda Sorta

and WOW!  Do I ever love this font!

Such a pretty saying,

made even more beautiful with how lovely these scrolled letters are ♥

 

Here's another look at the satamps!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, Bigger blessings ♥

Kelly

Drive By Crafts ~ Winter Woodland Wonders ♥

Good Morning - again! 

I have 2 blogs posts today!
For a dose of yummy coffee goodness

from Honey Bee Stamps, please check this post :)

I'm up on the blog today over at Drive By Crafts 
bringing you a card with one of my absolute favorites:  Storybook characters ♥
I love LOVE the look of classic children's storybook illustrations ~
add in some winter/snow and I'm just smitten!

I have quickly fallen for Avery Elle stamps
and Drive By Crafts has quite a few to chose from.
Today, I'm working with the winter woodland wonders {nice alliteration!}
 stamps and dies and this set is everything I hoped it would be and more!
Absolutely adorable little woodland friends,
playfully peeking out from the birch trees to say hi on a winter day.

So here's how I made my card:
 I stamped out the birch tree, birdie, rabbit and deer using Momento black ink 
and ran those though my die cut machine with the coordinating dies from the set. These are so nice to use and line up with such precision!
 Once those were all die cut, I colored each of those using soft and subtle colors for that beauty you see in children's illustrated books.
 Once that was done, I simply added Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam to each of the cut outs so the card would have a lot of dimension. 
The 3d foam difference really makes your cards pop when it comes to little animals ~ it gives them great definition!
 Lastly, I added a sentiment (from Avery Elle 'More Stories') 
and popped that up on 3d foam and sequins 'snowflakes'. 

Close up of the woodland cuties!
As you know I'm a big fan of dressing up the inside of my cards,
but for busy/dimension cards with a sentiment, 
I usually just let that be the focal point.

 Such a fun and easy card to make with the supplies from Drive By Crafts!
And shhhhh - little confession ........
I'm keeping this card for me :)
It reminds me of my time visiting wonderful friends this January ...
lifelong friendship, beautiful hearts, lots of smiles!

Quick links to the products I used ....

Avery Elle Winter Woodland Wonders

Avery Elle Winter Woodland Wonders dies

Scrapbook Adhesive 3d foam - assorted

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥
~Kelly

I'll enter this to 2CraftyCritterCrazies - critters
Crafty animals - animals
Southern Girls - Pop it up!