You bring me JOY!

Hi friends!

You may remember this commercial for the Cadbury Egg tryouts,

where different animals auditioned to be the bunny!

I just love it and how cute it is,

seeing each of the cute animals trying so hard to be the bunny ♥

It reminds us to be our unique and authentic selves,

and do the simple things .. 

like find the joy in every day!

 

This HOPPY set of cards for the online spring card class

is taught by Julie Ebersole!

I loved her clean and simple style cards ~ it's relaxing and serene,

just what I've needed lately!

I have a bunch of cards to mail this week

so I chose a joyful stamp and die set that's whimsical and sweet ♥

For my card duo today, I've used a My Favorite Things 

stamp and die set 'Bubble Over With Joy'.

I've colored one card partly with colored pencils like Julie did

and one with promarkers.

Even though I've used a heavyweight #100 cardstock,

it's a one layer CAS card so even lighthanded, markers can seep :)

Here's a peek at the inside, lifted flap:

Thanks for hopping over to my blog today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Oh Happy Day!

Hi friends!

I hope your Monday is off to a good start 

or if you are like me,

 today is off to a good start! :)

I am honestly losing track of the days

and if it wasn't for the huge block calendar hanging in the kitchen,

I'd be forever lost!

 We're up to Day 10 in card camp

and I'm taking a break in between chores to photograph and blog.
It moves fast!

This is another card I worked on last week for spring camp,

taught by the incredibly talented Yana Smakula.

I've long admired her YouTube videos and her cardmaking style

so I was thrilled to see her name pop up as a teacher!

For this card, I used a lot of paper ...........

and the large Simon Hurley background cling stamp from Ranger Ink.

It's super fun because the lines are wonky and abstract

and it was perfect for creating this springtime scene!

Are we in spring?

It's 150° here in Florida and just so so SOOOO hot!

For this card, I've used the springtime stamp set from Hello Bluebird

and the matching dies 

and popped it all up on 3D foam.  

This card is thick and has a lot of dimension!

Here's my groovy wonky abstract paper,

all from my scrap pile,

and where this card went from this to finished!

  Thanks for hopping by today!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

RSG ~ We need some T.P.!

Hi friends!
.

Today is my husband's birthday and our home has been so. much. fun!

It's been lively and a happy kind of loud and we've had a grand 'ol time all day ~

 ending just now with his very VERY favorite - steaks on the grill!
 .

Well ~ not for me ..

I'm happily a vegetarian :)

But between that, the panko fried shrimp and empanada that I hand made
 ~ and my daughter's yummy calamari ~

AND

a Spanish style 'nata' cake, we're all stuffed!

The kids and 2 friends of our daughter are playing board games

 and it's a HOWLING mess from what I'm hearing ...

lots of laughter and hysteria!

I'm debating between hiding in my room or joining in, LOL!
 .

So .... my card!

 .

This is my card for the Ready, Set, Go Challenge group ...

a group where the challenges are a little more extreme

and make us think way way outside the box. 

Jeanette is the hostess for April and gave us this challenge:
.

  For the April 2020 Ready Set Go theme, 
I want you to find a heartwarming story from this pandemic.  

Use it as inspiration for your card. AND… because that in and of itself is too easy for these extreme themes… I also want you to pay homage to the early reports of people buying/hoarding toilet paper. How? By including something on your card that begins with the letter “T” 
and something that begins with the letter “P”. 

 Ready, Set, Go!

You can see Jeanette's card here
and Barb's card here
as they posted their cards earlier this week.

This challenge was hard for me

not because I couldn't figure out what card to make ..

but because I had TOO MANY IDEAS!

There have been so many heartwarming stories amidst the sadness.

But for this challenge, I settled on an action - rather than a specific story.

 I've LOVED the stories of teachers reading bedtime stories like this one

to the children in their classrooms over the internet.
No doubt for the younger school children,
 this has been hard to understand
and the teachers reading stories to their classroom children is heartwarming ♥

.
I used from Our Story by Birdie Brown from My Favorite Things 
and imagine the little ones snuggled up reading along
or listening as the teachers read from their favorite story books!

My letter T:   tabby cat, teachers
My letter P:  patterned-paper, paper-piecing

As always, I hope all is well in your little corner!
I'm still 'carding' away at camp ~
and loving every minute of all my *homework!*

Big *air* hugs, bigger blessings!
~Kelly

Heading back to camp!

Hiya friends! 

 Happy Weekend!

I'm taking a small break in our weekend

to get a little blogging done ~

lots and lots of cards flying off my desk!

because ....

I went back to camp!

One of the fun events I signed up for last year

 was Kathy R's online coloring road trip so 

naturally I jumped to sign up for the Spring Card Camp 2020!

We are already on Day #8 and it's been a-ma-zing!

 I've learned already that I have a (new) favorite technique ♥

You'll see that soon :)

But!

 Starting with Day 2, I've made 2 panels (so 4 cards total)

 using the incredibly talented Kristina Werner's technique to make two from one.

I used one of my favorite Altenew sets 'halftone circles' to get a gradient color

and used a variety of different colored distress oxide inks.

I also stamped the sentiments from the same stamp set

with WOW Embossing white embossing powder and popped it up on the front.

 I did random stamping coloring and let my stamps lead the way.
My daughter thought this was outer space with planets, LOL
and my other daughter pointed out that the upper left corner
 looks like Mickey Mouse!

I love that this is so bright and whimsical with fun colors.

 It's cheerful and happy,

which is a lot of what we need right now ♥

It's simple but was tons of fun to make!

I'll be sharing all of my 'homework' in the next few days ~
stay tuned!

 Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

CCEE2016 ~ Fun with stencils!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers - stencils!

Stencils are such a fun way to decorate our cards

and so many companies have fun ones out there these days.

Frances is our hostess for the month of April 

and her challenge is to create a card that uses at least one stencil, 

either for a background or focal image.

 I love this challenge because I love stencils!

They are a great way to create designs and scenes on a card ~ like this one.

I've used a stamp set by My Favorite Things called You Gnome Me.

I wanted this set for forever

and was sad that they retired it ~

 but super thrilled to get it when they did

for such an amazingly low price during their big retirement sale ~ yay! 

My stencil is from Stamp Anniething and one I love - burlap.

I created a little scene with the fun gnome

but making 'sky' and 'grass' and added some stitched clouds.

Originally, I stamped the HELLO directly onto the cardstock

and it didn't look quite right so I added an extra cloud with it stamped on it.

 I keep my stencils tucked into an OLD DUSTY album ~

originally designed for pocket journaling.

I bought it before my son was even born (and he's almost 16!)

The front opening is for a photo so I added a quick distressed panel

with a little sunflower stamp ~ I love sunflowers ♥

 And the deep 8 x 8 pockets are PERFECT for storing the stencils.

Since I'm still cleaning and purging and moving things around,

I keep it handy on my desk next to Alice's markers and colored pencils.

My little granddaughter has her own sets

so it's a nice balance between the cup and bin! 

 And that's a tiny tour of my stencils, LOL!

Be sure to stop in the CCEE Stampers blog to see what the Design Team

created with their stencils.

As always, you can link up your cards, too ~ check the bottom of the blog post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

DDD ~ Texas Bluebonnets!

 Hi friends!

I pray you are all welll and safe amidst the Coronavirus sheltering in.

My card today is for the Dueling Darlings group 

where 2 hostesses chose 1 theme and duel' with creating cards from kits.

This month, Suzy and her sweet sister Deb, chose the theme

and created absolutely sweet kits with Texas Bluebonnets and blue bell ice cream.

I'm a Diva so my kit is from Suzy.

She lives in Texas and said the magical moment of the blooming bluebonnets  

blanket the fields with a sea of blue!

I followed the sketch at Splitcoaststampers this week

and used her paper for the background, the stripes and the inside.

I colored the beautiful image from Deadbeat Designs in prismacolor makers

and used a wonky rounded stitched die from My Favorite Things to shape it.

 I carried over the design to the inside here:

If you are on SCS, you can see all the cards today

by visiting the Dueling Darlings thread and gallery.

I'm one of the hostesses next month and already sent them my card kits ~

stay tuned for what it could be!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Faith ['fāth]

Hi friends!

I'm back with another card using the new stamp set

 from The Project Bin ~ it's called Defined.

I adore this stamp set ♥ 

You can see it on The Project Bin blog

in addition to the amazing DT samples!

 

Easter has just passed and a refreshing reminder of our Faith,

something to cling to in these uncertain time upon us.

In the scope of things,

our trials and tribulations here in our home

seem so small compared to what I'm seeing.

  Here's my card using the Faith stamp in the set.

I used my stitched wonky dies from My Favorite Things on my 

base of purple watercolored paper from Lawn Fawn.

Using a die cross, I die cut a leftover piece of designer paper

that reminded me of stained glass ♥

Faith ~ the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.

That's something I can get behind :)

 

 Here's the wonderful stamp set in in it's entirety 

↓

You can find this stamp set in the shop HERE

and there is a wonderful gallery to browse.

If you click on any stamp set,

 it will take you to a gallery of card samples!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Stamp What?! ~ Jest Between Friends!

Hi friends!

Thank you for your sweet words on our *Coronavirus Flood*

{what we call it just so we can remember when it happened!}
It's all cleaned up and we are back to normal!
 So, I thought it would be a great time to clown around :)

This is the 4th card for my new this year blog series called "Stamp What?" 

My son had a wonderful idea to chose a stamp set for me at random

and I'd make a card with whatever he surprised me with.

The plan = use my old Stampin' Up! stamp sets, whatever he choses

 and we call the Old Dusties! :)
 

 

 For April ~ Jest Between Friends, 

circa 2004 Summer Mini set

 Such a fun choice!

For the record, I'm not the biggest fan of clowns :)

But what drew me to this set, in addition to the joy of coloring him/her,

is the sentiments in the set.

My dad was a HUGE Victor Borge fan

and loved watching his comedy and piano shows.

When he moved in with us, we didn't get the channels that he'd watch

so we bought him a bunch of VHS tapes to watch in his room.

Oh the sound of the laughter coming from down the hall!

 

 Barb and Jeanette are playing along with this crazy creative idea

and you can see Barb's card here and Jeanette's card here!

I hope you are inspired as well to grab some older,

 perhaps forgotten,

 stamps and give them a fresh new look ...

jest give it a try! :)

Take care of YOU and be safe!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly

Hot Mess~ Happy Easter!

 Hello friends!

Happy Easter!

Rejoice ~ He is Risen!

Today's card is for the Hot Mess ~ Success card group.

The group's name is a big giveaway - we make messes *smile!*

The idea is to create a card that requires the use of being creative

but in a slightly - or majorly! - messy way.

It's always great fun and I never really know what I'm going to come up with.

I'm the hostess this month and love neutrality without restrictions

and creative freedom so my challenge was 'anything goes!' 

And, if you are Splitcoaststampers and played along with the VSN Florapalooza,

you'd have seen this little flower card ♥ 

I used the watercolor tissue paper technique and it's a multi step process

but!

It's easier than it looks and you never know what the end result will be.

I started with a base of white tissue paper

and used my Tim Holtz reinkers directly onto the media mat.

Gently mixing up the colors with spritzed water, I repeatedly dipped

white (dry, this step is important!) tissue paper into the water/reinker mix

 and let it do it's magic!

I've done this technique before where I used it right away by heat drying it

and I've found you get the best result 

- a nice and sturdy to work with piece -

by letting it dry overnight but that's just what works for me :)

Once it's dry, it's sturdy enough to go through the die cut machine

with a metal die but be SUPER DUPER careful taking it out ~ it can rip!

I glued it to a base of white cardstock

and stamped the flower stamp from Elzybells (I miss this stamp company!!!)

and the sentiment stamp from Heffy Doodle in Stazon ink,

added a ribbon and glued to my card.

 I'd say my Hot Mess was a Success!

I even created several more of these background pieces in a variety of colors.

It reminds me of Easter egg dying, which we'll be doing later today :)

Since we are a group, you can see the other cards made here:

Barb

Jeanette

Terry

I wish you all a blessed day, whatever it may hold for you!

We are having an Easter feast at home with just our kids, my daughter's husband, and our granddaughter who will have games, an egg hunt,

egg dying and a few other Easter surprises.

During this time of sheltering in and social distancing, it's nice to BE together!

Big hugs and bigger blessnigs! ♥

~Kelly

Crafters of Faith: Friendship!

 

Hi again!

I'm playing 'catch up' with my cards ~

I colored the images for The Daily Marker challenge

and had to set them aside each night until I could create a card ♥

Today's card is for the Crafters of Faith card group,

a faith based card group I created on Splitcoaststampers 

as a way to connect to other christian crafters.

Each month, we take turns chosing a scripture and a theme.

Tracie is the hostess for April and she chose a theme of friendship!

 Proverbs 27:9 A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

 For my card this month,

 I've used My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Crafty Friends.

I've had this stamp for forever and it's just been re-released from the vault.

That's what I love so much about MFT Stamps ~ 

if you love one, give it a little bit - it will come back around! ♥

In this time of social distancing and staying indoors, and away from, Covid19,

many of us friends are

 zooming, skyping, texting, and cardmaking more than ever!

That's the beautiful gift of crafting ~

we can do it with friends near and far, side by side with family or online :)

I'm also playing along with the Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoaststampers ~

 and I chose a sweet little fabric as my spring board.

 If you are an SCS member, you can find the challenge in the IC thread ♥

I've used the fun paper pad from Pink and Main for my paper choice

and used a small bit to paper piece her little shirt, too.

At the time of year, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus,

I've much to be thankful for.

As choatic as it's been for our family,

 I am grateful that we have our health and each other.

Be well, friends and stay safe!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly