WOYWW 619 - Surprise!!!

 Good morning, crafty friends! 

I do have a couple of things to show you today. Let's start with why we are here.

Slightly staged I just pulled things into the center I've been working on and show where I go from here.

Far left is my Happy Planner to Do sticker rolls. For some reason I had not set up my daily pages in my everyday planner for April. I really need a full planner day - maybe Sunday.  Far top is a retired Stampin' Up! catalog. I chose that one for my inspiration catalog this month for casing. Below that from left to right are my Sizzix sticker sheets and the remnants of die cuts on top. You can see the card I made with that HERE. The 2 stacks of Christmas cards and their inside liner sheets waiting to be stamped with the Christmas sentiment before I tuck them in the box until November. You can see that short video close-up HERE.

We have a cold week so I'm working inside during the morning hours then trying to get outside for garden work in the afternoon. At least, with the cooler temps I can work longer. I do not do well in hot weather.

Earlier this week, we had a visitor. I named him Chester. He was just here the one day, inhaled a bowl of food, napped, got loving (such a loveable boy) then headed back off into the timber. I think he may belong to the neighbor.

And finally, the surprise...

After spending Wednesday backtracking to every stop I had made, I came home with an 'oh well', they are are replaceable. Not like anyone could pick them up and know where they went. Wasn't worth stressing over.. was more of a 'where could I have dropped them' than an 'oh now, I have to find them'.

On the way home on Saturday I thought the only place I'd not looked was in my other car. I had leaned in over the driver seat to retrieve my favorite cassette to take in the truck with me. Keep in mind, I'd have sworn I already had the truck warming up when I did this. Apparently not. When I got home, I looked in the window of the Suzuki and there they lay. They'd been here at home the entire time! LOL

Prior to this I had replaced the house key as it's the only one I REALLY need on the ring as well as a different clasp that won't so easily give. 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list. 

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

COLOR CHALLENGE - Granny's Doing A Delightful Mambo By the Bay!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I do love a colorful challenge. Being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I knew before I even saw the color swatch we'd be working with Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay cardstocks. If we would like to bring Dessert to the challenge, then we need to add a Designer Series / Patterned Paper ingredient.

This color combination provides lots of opportunities for spring cards. So this is what I came up with:

I chose the swallow background designer series paper from Bird Ballad (Stampin' Up!) as my dessert. The thank you is stamped from Heidie Grace on to a Darice Banners die in Bermuda Bay. The flower border is a die from Lawn Fawn. I adhered a strip of the Sizzix Adhesive sheet to the back of each color of the flowers - Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo. 

The border was first cut from Granny Apple Green. Then I cut just the flowers off of their strips and paper pieced them onto the green base. Everything is built onto a Bermuda Bay cardstock base.

I had the opportunity to interview a local bakery/ floral shop owner yesterday. This will make the perfect Thank You card for her. Psst... she's on Facebook at Sugar Lily Bakery & Floral. - Jennifer Connor. 

I'll be back tomorrow for What's On Your Workday Wednesday. Not sure what you'll see. Dealing with a pinched nerve again today so you may just get leftovers LOL

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

FRIDAY FUNNY - Crafting from the Male Perspective

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I found this video on Monday and thought I'd share. If you have a man in your life, especially if you find joy in crafting from things most people would throw away, you will love this video about a male's perspective on the things we just have to have. 

The male perspective of what we do can be confusing, infuriating and in this case, hilarious.

When Bob gets off the boat, I'll fix us each a cup of coffee and we'll start our day with a smile. I invite you to do the same.

If you've ever had a man in your life, I'm sure this will bring crafty memories flooding back.

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

WOYWW #618 - In Between Projects and Lost Keys!

 Good morning, crafty friends.

I'm going to preface this post by saying I had a fabulous day yesterday. After getting a few blog posts written, I took off for a lovely day of bill paying and shopping. My main goal was a stop at a local quilt store called The Rusty Moon & Quilts. I love his shop - yes you heard me right. The shop is owned by The McKinney family. Kurt is the prominent figure in the store. He can help with everything from helping you select fabric to running the long arm (which is really his primary duty).  

If you need a shopping cart - and I mean, who doesn't when you enter a quilt store?! - this is what you will use:

Tool cart from Harbor Freight

I new the Rusty Moon carried Tim Holtz fabrics. Tim is revamping everything about his product and is using a different company for the new fabric line being released to stores this month. I still had a few of his original line that I didn't have. Kurt had five of them. I'm still checking other stores to see if I can pick up any more.

On the drive there I heard a radio commercial for a yard sale in the town I was headed to. When the announcer said 'vintage linens' I knew I'd be hunting up that sale! I came home with lots of yummies. Several I'll be using in journals as well as sharing in my Etsy shop in the coming weeks.

Aside from paying a couple of bills, I stopped at ACE hardware to visit with one of the gals I've made friends with there, a bakery to set up an interview with the owner for my current book in progress, a thrift store, the yard sale (which was more of a huge church rummage sale) and had the opportunity to snoop through this for research on another series:

While this isn't an official NASCAR tour bus, the bus is owned by a local hardware store owner. He and his buddies used it for a tailgate party bus at Nascar events. I had the opportunity to go through the bus, take tons of pictures. Mind you, I've been on a lot of tour buses doing interviews in my career as an entertainment writer but this is the first time I've been able to really look in all the nooks and crannies.

I'm thinking somewhere between the church and this sale lot is where I lost the ring of keys that held my house, storage and mail box keys. I didn't realize they were gone until I'd stopped closer to home for supper.  Not a major thing. All the keys are replaceable and relatively inexpensive to do so except for the mailbox key, it's just not knowing where they are LOL.

Oh... and here's what I'm leaving behind as I go on the hunt for those keys:

Remnants of my card for the color challenge yesterday, the quilt that I film on is rolled out of the way as I was doing some last minute gluing. and a general mess of stuff I really need to put away. I'll throw a white sheet over the lot this morning and film the haul video so that can be uploading while I'm out between raindrops looking for those keys.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list. 

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

 

COLOR CHALLENGE - Back to Basics

 Good morning, crafty friends!

It's Color Challenge Tuesday at SplitcoastStampers. Today, LeAnn Skinner asked us to go back to basics with the following colors:

For dessert, we could add our favorite color. I chose Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grape.

My stamp set came from the August 2019 issue of Cardmaking & Papercrafts called Summer Meadow

I subscribe to this magazine from the UK specifically for the monthly freebies. Most of their card designs are square but the stamps, dies and papers are made specifically for the magazine, making them a unique addition to my collection.

I have a dear friend who's brother-in-law passed away last week. This was especially hard for Linnie as he died of the same thing her husband dealt with prior to his passing a few years ago.  Here's the card I made for Linnie:

I began with a Basic Black cardbase. From there I stamped the background of fairy clocks (dandelion seeds) in Basic Gray. I added the stamped oval frame in Gorgeous Grape then the sentiment in Tuxedo Memento Black. The black satin ribbon is from my stash.

Here's the Color Challenge thread for this week if you'd like to play along! 

Want to see what others have done for this challenge? Go HERE

I'll be back tomorrow for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW). I warn you.. .it's a mess. LOL

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

MONTHLY CHALLENGE with DearJulieJulie - April All About That Base

 Good afternoon, crafty friends!

I'm a tad late getting in here today. I meant to write and schedule yesterday but just did not feel well all day. I determined it was all do to sinus'. The maple tree is starting to leaf out and that hits my allergies more than if I stuck my nose in a full floral bouquet.

So here I am with today's post.

The video below will give you all the details on the April All About That Base Junk Journal Challenge. 

We'd love for you to come play along. All the details and the link to the facebook group is in the description box of the video on YouTube.

I'm hoping to start mine next week. We'll see. The garden needs planted, seeds need started and I only have two full weeks to get as much done as possible before Bob comes home. 

In the mean time, here's a music video to get you moving...

Creative Blessings

~Kelly

WOYWW #617 - Multiple desks and a video

 Good  morning, crafty friends!

Starting my first full work-day without Bob. 

Last week I mentioned we were getting a new sofa. Here is a picture with two of my models:

When we had the two recliners, we had Honey's kennel between them. Since we've moved it to the end of the sofa he has to be almost shoved into it. We don't know if it's because the heat register is there or what. We've since put a board on that far side hoping to give him a more secure feeling. We may have to move the kennel entirely. He's only in it at night and during the day in the winter if we need to be gone for a long shopping trip and is too cold for him to be in his outside run. Trial and error for sure. He loves the sofa - we all do... but the placement of the kennel - not at all.

First off, here is my desk from the hotel:

I had a very productive 4 days. They gave me a suite so I had lots of room to spread out. What you do not see are the sofa and hassocks behind me where my notebooks/ writing planner are spread out or the bed with the gazillion index/ scene cards in order of appearance in the story. I got a lot done, have the story in my head and am ready for Camp Nano to begin tomorrow. 

Then there's my desk for this morning:

Cards I need to add notes to then pop into envelopes and get them ready for the mail. The Paper Pumpkin kit is the one I need to break down today and film the video for. Bob left yesterday morning and about an hour after he left I pinched a nerve in my hip. Spent the entire day on the new sofa with all three fur-babies. So, today is make-up day for sure.

As to the card parts I had on my desk last week... if you want to see how they turned out, there's a short 8 min. video below. 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list. 

I'm off to be busy.  Since I will be at the hotel this weekend, I'll have time to check in with everyone. I'm looking forward to the inspiration I always get from my crafty friends!

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly