WOYWW 787

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I've had a busy couple of weeks and Wednesday's just seem to fly by before I realize.

Before I go further, on my last visit I meant to post the ATC I received from Susan Renshaw. The ATC was part of a card and beautifully created. Thank you, Susan! I hope you've received yours by now. 

Now my desk for this:

The digital from Spectrum Art Creations & Friends FB group. Madi from Spectrum Art Creations offered up a free 4th of July digital along with a challenge for us to use any of the images to create anything we'd like to enter into the Flash Challenge. Deadline is midnight July 4th. I got right on fussy cutting the images this morning and created this tag:

I have tomorrow and Thursday to create more entries. First on my list for today is to make a Memory Dex card. The more entries I get in the more chances I have at a $5 GC for their on-line store. 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to
Sarah’s Craft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah 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

TAG TUESDAY!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I have a seasonal tag for you today. This will be the first of several I have planned over the next couple of days. 

We were given a free digital in the Spectrum Art Creations and Friends Facebook group and a Flash Challenge. The images are cute patriotic perfect for the 4th of July deadline. 

The video for this tag is still uploading but you'll find it on my YOUTUBE CHANNEL later this afternoon.

In the mean time, here's the tag I came up with on the fly this morning:

The cow and crown are from the digital kit. Everything else is from my stash. I can't say enough about how much easier getting to my scraprack is now that I've taken the spinder/ collections off the rack and stood them up book-style on the shelf. I just didn't have enough bases for all the stuff! LOL

I'll be showing that in an updated video. 

I'll drop the tag video in at the bottom when it's finished.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT - MAIL IT - Fairy Challenge Cards

 Good morning, crafty friends.

My schedule is always off kilter when Bob is home. Combine that with the fact I was supposed to be gone last wee (the trip didn't happen), I am just now sitting down determined to be on track this week. Bob leaves Tuesday.

Today's cards are ones I made a couple of weeks ago for two reasons. I used the technique inspired by Tim Holtz and his postage stamp stickers. I couldn't see ordering those when I have beautiful ones from a set called Autumn of Fairy Tales that I'd ordered from Spectrum Art Creations. You'll find them HERE, though the set I used is not shown.

So aside from Try It Tuesday video, these cards also work for the Spectrum Art Creations and Friends Facebook Group challenge this week to make something showcasing fairies. I also used fairy postcards purchased from their shop. (I believe these were Spectrum Art Creations aka SACs Originals)  The butterfly button was also purchased from one of their Saturday Live Sales.

I'll be back tomorrow to link up a Try It Tuesday video then hopefully for WOYWW on Wednesday. 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT - MAIL IT MONDAY

 Good morning, crafty friends!

For my post today, I'm sharing the entire collection of cards I made from Madison's paper challenge. I made 14 cards using 3 different One Sheet Wonder layouts. I've already started mailing some of these. Was nice to have general sentiments handy.

Group 1 featured Petal Pink bases. The large petal flowers on the top left card were made from the Stampin' Up! 4-leaf clover punch. The card on the top right used one of the retires flower punches.

Group 2 featured Melon Mambo. Since the paper featured flowers, I used the Stampin' Up! medium daisy punch (retired).

Group 3 featured Tangerine Tango as a base. the floral border is Poppy Flower from Studio Light. The Shamrock punch was used as well as a swirl  embellished with black enamel dots and various sentiments from my stash.

 

That's it for me today. I am taking part in a 3-day on-line Junk Journal Retreat (even while Bob is home!) so will be squeezing in posts as I go. 

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

MAKE IT MAIL IT

Good morning, crafty friends!

This post is going to be short today. I didn't sleep well last night, have a headache this morning and just want my pillow for a couple of hours before I start a full crafting day.

This is one of five cards from a One Sheet Wonder. I'm taking part in a challenge at Spectrum Art Creations & Friends FB group. Madison sent us three sheets of paper. (2) 6x6 and one was about 4x7. This is from the 4x7.

The challenge deadline is tomorrow night so I have several to finish as well as at least one more of Madi's challenges I've been wanting to do. I just need to see where what I want to make fits in with the challenge - right after my nap!

Creative Blessings1

~ Kelly

MAKE IT - MAIL IT MONDAY - Sort of...

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Well, the card I'd hoped to show today didn't work out. I'd planned to use a card kit from Hunky Dory only to discover the 'kit' was only card bases... not all of the elements.

Of course, last weekend was Bob's first one home so I didn't do any crafting to have anything ready for today. 

Here is the card bases/ envelopes I ordered from Spectrum Art Creations, with the intention of pulling items from other papers. I guess I forgot that part. LOL

TWIN FOLD OUT

They are called 'Luxury Fold' card bases. Similar to a pop up card but everything is revealed as you open them 'out' and the bases are pre-cut/ scored so all you have to do is cover in pretty papers of your choice. 

Click HERE to see the wide variety of HunkyDory products. I ordered mine from Spectrum Art Creations. They bring products in from all over the world and offer the best prices you'll find anywhere! Also, if you don't see what you're looking for in their store either on-line or Etsy, just send them an email and they'll do their best to find it. If you love something, others probably will, too!

This is Bob's first full week home but I've talked to him about a working schedule for me so we'll see how that goes this week. No post tomorrow but I should be back Wednesday for WOYWW. I missed participating last week nor did I accomplish much in the way of tasks on the office. If I remember right now, I curled up with a book I needed to post a review on for my author channel. I hope to be more regular with postings from here on out. 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT- MAIL IT MONDAY! Plus Bonus items!

 Hi everyone!

I finally got to spend all day yesterday creating! Felt good to play with stuff again.

I took part in the TEA CHALLENGE in the Spectrum Art Creations FB group. Did you know, January is National Tea Month?  

I chose mostly items from Stamperia to work with, predominately from their Alice line.

I rice paper sheet with four teapots from the Alice collection started it all... so I made 4 different items. Each piece enters me into a drawing for a $5 GC from the Spectrum Art Creations on-line store.

We were required to use a minimum of three items on each piece we made.

Since this is Make It - Mail It Monday, let's start with the card I made for a friend:

I used a Merry Merlot card base with a Very Vanilla mat (Stampin' Up!) then used one of the rice paper panels on top of the mat.  Aside from the rice paper, I used chip board elements from the Stamperia Alice collection and Stamperia lace.

Next item:

I've been making items during challenges and tucking them away for a future Alice journal.

This one used all Stamperia items (background paper, rice image, chipboard elements( plus I added a metal spoon I'd purchased from Spectrum Art Creations (SACs for short). The lace and ribbon were from my stash.

Next item:

I'll try to incorporate at least one memory dex card from each themed challenge, or at least one per month.

Thie background paper on here was from Ciao Bella. The rice paper and chip board items were Stamperia and the brown braid trim from the SACs on-line store. You will find the trim HERE in a wife variety of colors. I have most of them LOL

Next item:

For my final tag, I knew I wanted to incorporate a shaker element:

I used Stamperia paper for the background and the front rim of the shaker. I used trim and the metal spoon from Spectrum Art Creations. For the shaker part, I used snowball micro beads from Stampin' Up!  Guess you could say I made Bubble Tea ;-)

There's one more item not part of the Tea Challenge, but separate.

Madison owns Spectrum Art Creations. She is on the autism spectrum. Such a delight, very talented and smart. Wow, what a memory that girl has. Every once in awhile she will drop something in our shipping box for a 'Madison Challenge'. This time she gave us circles. I think there were five in the baggie.

At first I thought about a mixed media piece but then I remembered my craft Christmas tree. Most of the ornaments are from the Christmas Notebook ornament swap going back twenty years. I decided I wanted an ornament from Madison. She is sending me a copy of her handwriting. I will shrink tht and add it to one of the leaves of the ornament. Madison will always have a place of honor on my crafting tree.

That's it for me today. My left eye is giving me issues. May have gotten some cat dander in it. 

I'll be back Wednesday for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and show off my new cat.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #752

Good morning, friends!

I woke up to 23*F this morning.... for the third day in a row!  Way too early in the season for this here in the Ozarks. 

My desk this morning:

I had the space almost cleared off of the #31DaysofHalloween project you saw last week but I still wanted to get one more challenge project and posted by deadline last night. I had to do something with the 3D Pushout design sheet (by Find It Trading - purchased from Spectrum Art Creations Saturday Live sale)

I used the Botanical Garden collection to make this card:

While the flower wasn't supposed to be Christmasy, I remembered this paper from a retired Stampin' Up! collection called This Christmas and knew they'd go perfectly together.

I'll try to remember to show the  pictures next week that I took of our roadside wild plants yesterday morning. 

In the mean time...

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

 

WOYWW #743

 Good morning, crafty friends!

NOTE: Before I go any further, I want to remind you to check back here tomorrow for a visit with our very own, Tracy Easson!  Tracy takes us inside (and outside) her workspace where she creates her beautiful artwork. She also shares a tip on starting your own crafting business.  

Getting this post up and staying out of Bob's way as he prepares to leave this morning. I think this is his last 2-week trip. Beginning October 1, he'll be back on the 3 weeks on/ 3 weeks off and back up in Chicago. 

He's going to miss this shorter drive.

I've been busy working on challenges for the Spectrum Art Creations Friends FB group. Tomorrow is the last day to turn in the August challenges. So far this month I've done:

* 3 #SACsAug23 challenges (using products I've purchased from them at any point to make something)

* 8 items made from Mintay products including 4 cards posted HERE

I still need to make at least 2 Christmas cards before end of day tomorrow.

Please keep my SACs family and others in your prayers as they are in the direct hit from the hurricane.

Okay... what you came to see:

This is the remnants of all of those projects. I'll need to clear the way this morning to work on G45 Christmas cards.

Weather has cooled and tomatoes are beginning to produce. I've been dehydrating bell peppers. Tomorrow I'll start on tomato sauce.

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

MAKE IT- MAIL IT Monday!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Okay, today was supposed to be a Memory Dex card. I'll be doubling up on the next go round. Between Bob being home, celebrating our anniversary then a bad hotel experience for me over the weekend, just wasn't in the 'cards'.

However, I did have four cards made up for the Mintay Challenge with Spectrum Art Creations so that's the video and pictures for today.

I had to use Mintay papers/ products purchased in July/ August. Earlier this month I purchased two 12x12 sheets from the Bird Song collection and two 12x12 sheets from the Secret Place collection. I kind of mixed and matched everything around.

I've already done 4 projects I'll show you on Friday. For now, here are the four cards I made. I needed some general Thinking of You kind of cards:

Each card began with a Soft Succulent card base and one of the journaling cards from the collection. I used a stamp from one of my Paper Pumpkin kits, added velvet ribbon and pearls from Stampin' Up!

If you want to see the walk through, here's the video:

I'll be back tomorrow with tags from left-overs.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT MONDAY - Back to Business!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

You would not believe what I was able to accomplish in the past couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience.  I still have a ways to go as the sofa bed will remain out until after the first week in October. In the mean time, while everything is sorted by category, a lot of items are positioned strategically around the room waiting to be put back once the sofa bed is folded up.

No card today. Instead, I have a project I've had in the work for a couple of months. I didn't like the the way the project was taking shape so I sat the pieces aside. Sometimes you just need to let a project breathe before you find the right  direction.

Here is a group shot:

The Spectrum Art Creations challenge called for us to do something with a napkin we had purchased from them. I loved this castle napkin and knew what I wanted.

I started by painting the coasters blue so that the sky in the background would have that tone. Instead, the blue overtook the image. After several weeks of contemplating, I flipped the coaster over, put a coat of white chalk paint then applied the napkin. MUCH better!

I cut the butterflies from panels of the same collection and glued them to vellum to give them a bit of stiffness. I show you in the video linked below how I made the antennae. I added quotes from a Tim Holt chat book.

Here's a close up:

I'll be back tomorrow for Tag Tuesday!

In the mean time, here's the video giving you a view of several items I have in the works:

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

MAKE IT - MAIL IT MONDAY!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Today's project picture is not the best as it's a screen grab from my video. I filmed the video before leaving on Friday for a writer's weekend but failed to take a picture of the card. I'll try to remember to come back and replace it proper when I'm back home.

I'm still using products purchased from Spectrum Art Creations so I can get more entries in the monthly drawing challenge in the facebook group.

I was inspired by the Down Under sticker book from KaiserCraft. You will find the book HERE - and it's on SALE!

Here's the video so you can see how the card came together and a much clearer picture, overall:

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CHALLENGE - #sacs2

 Good morning, friends!

With eleven projects in my arsenal I thought I'd share another one today. With the cold air in a lot of parts of the country (did you see the snow in AZ?), I thought this tag was perfect to play with.

I used STAMPERIA - Cozy Winter. I added a double layer of Cathedral Lace ( Hobby Lobby), fibers I had in my stash and Crystal Stickles. I cut the tag using a Tim Holtz largest tag die.

In this side of the tag I cut the basket of gifts, the tree, and the individual presents from the fussy cut image sheet and layered everything. I added stickles to the ornaments on the tree.

For this side, I centered the die over the sentiment in the 6x6 paper pad and added stickles to the florals and cotton boles. This was actually the front. I chose the music sheet for the back based on the wording here.

I'll be back tomorrow with Week 3in the January Color Challenge. 

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly

MAKE IT MAIL IT MONDAY - Bo Bunny!

Good morning, friends.

I just realized that I mis-titled the post last Monday. Especially since I talked about cards LOL

So here we are, correct title and a new card.

I spent the past weekend working on a massive Christmas Creative Challenge for Spectrum Art Creations. Before leaving for a six-week tour of Europe Madi set up a list of forty-two challenges using the items we had purchased from them. We had to use at least 50% of the purchased product in each challenge. Out of the forty-two, I made eleven.

Granted, we had all of December then were given a requested extension until January 15th. But as you know, I spent most all of December cataloging all the SU paper pads. I was not going to leave that project partially done and move to something else.

#SACS20 was easy. All the components were in a kit from Bo Bunny called, NOTEWORTHY.  All I had to do was choose which elements to work with. I layered the flowers in each corner as well as the bird, added stickles and the card was finished. 

I'll be back tomorrow to show you another item I made from the list. 

Creative Blessings

~Kelly
 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! - First Project Details

 

Good morning, everyone!

I am so ready for a new year and to get back on track. I'm not sure what happened in 2022 but I just couldn't stay on the merry go round.

I've chosen my word of the year - CONSISTENT

My plan is to stay consistent on the following areas:

Blogging

Social Media Marketing

YouTube

Writing

6M4L - I'll explain in a later post

Today, I'm kicking of 2023 with a challenge I've wanted to play in for the past couple of years but I never seemed to get in on the ground floor.  

MEGJOURNALS offers a January and a July version of this challenge.

You'll find all of the details HERE:

Basically, you have a prompt every day of the month to do something in your journal. You do NOT have to play every day. You can skip prompts that don't jive with you. Other than that, it's just a time to let go and be creative as it comes.

The journal can be anything. If you go to Meg's YouTube Junk Journal January Playlist, you'll find all the several options from great creators. There are 29 collaborators in this project. 

I decided to do flat sheets then I'll put them together with binder rings.  

The other thing I'm doing is blending this with Madi's Spectrum Art Creations Christmas Challenge - which she has extended to January 15th.  There are 42 Challenges for us to do  - each one completed enters us into a drawing (for each number so 42 chances to win!)

I'll explain that part in a minute. But first, this is what I'm starting with:

For Madi's challenges we have to use at least 50% of products purchased from her in each of the projects.  I'm starting with the brown packing paper that comes in my orders. I'm going to cut each down to 4.25" x 6". Technically the working space will be 4x6 but the 1/2" gives me binding room.  I'm going to cut the mats from the brown paper, glue together in the center then stitch around the parameter.  The stencil, stencil butter, washi and Lyndi's Magical powders were purchased from their Spectrum Art Creations store. That stencil, by the way, is their own design.

Then I have all of this lovely ephemera to play with when doing the prompts:

Some of the pieces came in a box from my friend, Terri, in London. Others, like the book paper (Stamperia), the botanical cards, tickets and ephemera packs are from Spectrum Arts. I also have a box of clippings from the personal journal I did last week. 

Here's the video for that journal:

I will be back tomorrow where we will talk about Birthday and Anniversary cards for the month of January. 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

HAUL TIME - Tim Holtz + G45 Project

 Good morning, everyone!

I'm deep in cleaning mode today and finishing the bee journals - finally! Will have them to show on Friday.

In the mean time, here's my latest haul video. All about Timmy! I usually order his new Halloween stuff and this year is no exception. The only difference is instead of ordering through Simon Says, I caught an excellent 40% off Sale at JoAnn's plus $2.99 flat rate shipping! Whooo Hooo! JoAnn stores are the only brick n mortar to carry his line this year.

I have more coming as I've put in an order through Spectrum Art Creations during a LIVE sale. They'll have more on Saturday - yay!!! There's still a couple of things I'm missing.  PLUS I think I'll find some at the 75% off sale at Hobby Lobby this week. I have a good idea from one of the managers when to expect the mark down. Their truck just got there yesterday and they are short staffed. So there will be a second Timmy haul video in the future.

In the mean time, here's where I'm at so far:

I also have a Graphic 45 challenge that I want to enter. I'm pushing for end of day on Thursday. I got the idea from Jan Hobbins' December Daily box. She is one of Tim's makers and I just love the idea of a vignette box with the file tabs for each day.  You can see her game plan HERE.  I want to do one using the Graphic 45 CHARMED collection. 

I'll be back on Friday to show off the bee journal as well as what will be going into my shop then I'm taking a couple of weeks off. We have company coming plus I'm thinking of a short get away before Bob goes back to work. 

Creative Blessings

~Kelly

WOYWW 669 - Catching up - A bit long!

 Hello, friends!

Just when I think I'm back on track, something knocks me backwards or completely over.

The last week in February, going in to March, Bob and I both got hit with serious stomach flu that took both of us seven full days from when it began to having energy to do anything again. Bob even took a couple extra days off work while I recuperated as I was about two days behind him.  He left on Thursday and I had a full week to try and get back on track before we got 2.5" of snow the following Thursday. By Saturday, most of it was gone and I needed a town run. I managed to slip on 1/4" dusting of snow, onto my back, cracking two ribs and knotting up the muscles. Almost three weeks later and I'm still in recovery mode. I'm not lifting much weight nor bending over to certain points. Bob came home last Wednesday and has been doing most of the heavy stuff. 

I've gone from pain the first week to gradual soreness. Some days more sore than others based on what I attempted to do the previous day. LOL

Okay, that's my catch-up and probably more than you wanted to know. So here's what Bob and I did on Monday...

Filming/ crafting table

Over the past couple of months I've made the decision to stay in as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator at least through June. They have a compliance policy that prevents  me from promoting any other products so no more linking to my favorite on-line store - Spectrum Art Creations - or other companies I might buy from and use in projects. No affiliate links, means I've had to drop the Dear Julie Julie design team - nor can I apply for the Spectrum Art Creations or Graphic 45 design teams - UNTIL I'm done being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. In my opinion, I don't think the 'compliance' rule should apply to those only wanting to be a hobby demonstrator. I wasn't interested in building a business... I just wanted catalogs when they became available as well as knowing when specials rolled out. 

Why am I staying? Because I have 1 downline. Neither of us were ever trained. Unlike me, Rhonda wants to do this as a business so I'm training her. When she's ready to fly solo, I will give up my SU demonstrator status and go back to playing with ALL of my toys.

With that decision, I've moved almost all of my non-Stampin' Up! items out of the way and set this station up strictly for Stampin' Up! supplies - easily in reach for when I'm crafting and doing videos. All of the current ribbons, embellishments, adhesives, tools are in (2) 3-compartment trays along the back of the table.

To keep Tabitha (tabby cat) happy, I've made space for her to get into the window sill without knocking everything over.

I did wind up moving items to the left of the embelishment books (standing up) between them and where you see the scissors. She'd walk up over the magazines but then couldn't get turned around to come back out. LOL What we don't do for our animals!

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

CARD CHICKS -September

 Hi everyone!

I have been so horrid about getting to my blogs lately. For the last 2 months I've not really wanted to do much of anything except be a lump on the newly cleared sofa. HoneyB seems to enjoy it, too, as that is where he sleeps most days. He is even pretty good about sharing.

I didn't do the Card Chicks card for August. I was deep in 'find the studio' mode before company arrived. The sofa has stayed cleaned off for an entire month!!! That in itself is progress LOL

I do have the September Card Chicks card - and on time! Yeah... it happens lol

My friend, Maggie (Texas), was our hostess this month and she sent a lovely kit of muted shades. She is also an avid butterfly hatcher (She hatches hundreds of monarchs ever year from her back yard habitat) so she had to include flowers and butterflies in her kit. 

I've made one card from the kit so far:

The Front

Inside

Maggie sent DSP from Stampin' Up! Bloom & Bliss as well as Beau Chateau (the chicken wire print)

Sweet Sugar plum (retired color) paired well with the Bloom & Bliss so I used that for my base and the mats both outside and in.

The images were from Heartfelt Creations Floral Butterfly Collection 

I used Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils ( Assortment 1 & Assortment 2) 

I used Basic Black, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo and Rich Razzleberry

I am hosting next month. I'm pretty sure Graphic 45 DSP will be paired with SU DSP just for something diffrent to play with. 

I've been buying an abundance of Graphic 45 lately at the SpectrumArtCreations sales. We gather on YouTube Live every Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. EST. Come join the fun! We play games as well as shop. You might want to put dinner in the crock pot because Madi and Team are live until midnight EST. Make sure to sign up for their weekly newsletter to be in on a special Secret Word game! Only newsletter subscribers are eligible to play!

I'm getting back up to speed and a regular schedule again.

Creative Blessings

~Kelly