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

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

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

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!

So Thankful :)

Today, we're packing up the family car and heading North  :)

Being in South Florida, pretty much everywhere is "North!"  
We are taking a small vacation to celebrate little man's birthday,
albeit a month late.  Due to work, college and school schedules, we postponed it until a time when we can all be together, 
a moment I'm so thankful for :)

He and I were bike riding through the mangrove trails the other day 
and I was so moved by the wonders all around us - 
the gorgeous day we were having, the sound of the wind rustling in the
trees overhead, the feel of a slight change in the air.
We aren't blessed to have a real "Autumn" here in Miami
so it's nice to feel inspired by what's around us in nature and memories :)

I think I sprinted into the Cabana when we got home just 
to find a stamp set to create the card I envisioned!
I wanted to create a card to mail to a friend for our 
blogging group card swap and got right to work on this one.
I used my 'it's fall about you' stamp set from TAWS.  
I started with a pretty CAS card base and built up a layer
of multi-colored, fall leaves by stamping onto the dsp and layering them together.  I have been drawn to the rich colors this fall, 
like the deep plums and brilliant blues - they are fun to pair up 
with the more obvious colors of Autumn.  
And, I don't get to say it very often, but I'm really tickled 
with how this card came out :)

Wishing you an abundance of beauty this weekend :)
I'm thankful for you!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly



I'll enter this card into:  Creating with Dragonflies #13 - Leaves/Nature/Trees
HouseofGilli - AG/Thanks
OneCrazyStamper: October/Thankful
ReadyTeddyGo - Autumn

Shelly'sImages:  Photo Inspiration

We go together ....

like Salt 'n Pepper :)

20 years ago today, almost at this hour, I married my husband - the exact other half of me.  As I look back on this blessed day and reflect on our beautiful wedding day - I smile.  I smile because I know that on that day and each one since, we have had a life together that asks for nothing less than what it's been up to now.  A life of faith, 4 beautiful children, and a bond that after 29 years together {I think we had the world's longest dating/engagement} :) is still as strong today as it was then, if not stronger ~ although I do jokingly tell my husband he can stop taking the "in sickness and in health" part so literally :)

He's truly a rare gem of a man ~ with so much beauty in his soul, it's almost hard to imagine the depths of his love and I know that I am absolutely, unequivocally blessed.

Might I add, he's also one funny man, too.  Which comes in handy when you are married to a 'Dr. Phil' ~ he knows when that little bit of humor will unravel my attempt at being tough and unbreakable ;)   Many friends when we met that we could not be more different ~ like salt 'n pepper!   Naturally, I was inspired to create a quirky little card for my hubby with the sense of humor and amazing burst of love :)  

Side view of the card

 

Here is the card inside, left blank :)

I followed the TAWS challenge to use a color photo for inspiration - lots of orange and blue (awesome Miami colors, too!) I inked up the stamps and sentiment from the TAWS Kitchen Gadgets 2 stamp set.  This card was a blast to put together.  I love creating cards with 1. lots of bursts of color and 2. using different elements for embellishments ... I'm such a tactile crafter and just love touching and rearranging all the things to go on the card.  It somehow ends up looking a little collage-y in the end, but it's such fun!  

I used up some Basic Grey Lauderdale papers from a mat stack

Thanks for stopping by today! 

I'll be entering this card into the TAWS Be Inspired #26

 challenge here!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly