This & That

We had a super fun day today. First off it started with me getting Taylor Swift tickets for Kirsten and I to go and see her when she comes to the Calgary Stampede in July '09...I'm so excited!! Kirsten doesn't know yet and I'm not really sure when I am going to tell her because a 5 year old really doesn't understand the concept of time when something is almost 8 months away...8 sleeps maybe, but not 8 months:-)LOL

Then, my sister Kim and her friend Steph came over to make cards and it was great!! Kirsten got to play along too and she loved it!! She did so well and had a blast!! I worked on a secret project for my hubby for Christmas but I'm not yet finished...I do know that he will love it though and that's all I'm saying for now because I'm not really sure how often he peaks in here!

I am slowly but surely getting my laundry finished up and all of our bags packed. We are having Lance's Dad down for dinner tomorrow tonight. He is going to be keeping an eye on things for us when we are gone, so Lance kinda wants to show him a couple things and we thought it would be nice to have dinner together before we go.

I have been nominated not once or twice, but 4 times for the Proximade award and wanted to share it with you all now. I know it's been going around and I am so honored to receive it from not only 4 amazing blogger, but 4 great friends as well!!

A heartfelt thank you to Nikki, Emma, Gill & Karin, you really are fabulous!!

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind blogger's aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight blogger's who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. So, I seriously am going to bail on this one...I can't for the life on me pick just 8...!!

Now, onto my next award...





This one is from the sweet and oh so talented Zoe! Thank you so much sweetie, I LOVE your blog too!! Have a peak, she is very talented for only 8 years old and even has a fabulous challenge blog for kids under 16!!


Well I should carry on...thank you for stopping in and I hope you have a super day!!
~Kelly

Simple Holiday Wishes

I need A LOT of Christmas cards and I don't really think I am going to get them done, acutally I know I'm not going to get them done, but I may just have a chance with a super simple, yet pretty cards like this.

I totally CASED this idea from Angie's Chic N Scratch blog. She has super fun, great ideas and a really fantastic blog so I chose this one just because it would be so simple to mass produce. It would be even better on shimmery white cs, but I don't have any left, so CTMH White Daisy will have to do the trick. I used SU Pacific Point ink and cs, my SU scallop circle punch, the snowflake stamp is from SU So Many Scallops (which fits perfectly in the scallop punch, as if you didn't know that already though:-)),the sentiment is from CTMH Festive Thoughts, added a rhinestone to the center of the snowflake and some silver cord from SU. So I guess I didn't copy Angie's verbatim, but the basic idea I sure did and I love how it turned out...thanks Angie for a great super simple, fast but pretty card!! Go on over and check out her site and Stampin Academy videos too!!

Thanks for visiting me today...only 4 more sleeps for me until we go to Vegas!!!

~Kelly

*****ETA...I am so full of beans...my wonderful friend Veronica emailed to ask how I puched out the centre circle piece and that's when I looked back at the card and I realized that although my initial idea was to use the SU Scallop punch, it didn't work because I used the stamp that would need to be punched out with it instead...anyway, I used my scallop circle and circle nesties to punch these out:-) Sorry for any confusion*****

High Hopes Challenge #9-Merry Fishes

First off, I would like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to my cousins in Utah (Hi Jason, Lynnise, Erick, McKenzie & Hyrum), all of my U.S. SBS 15 sisters and of course all of my American blogging friends. I hope you have a fabulous day with your families and friends!

Oh my goodness, the High Hopes Challenge this week is an awesome sketch by Ila! I used some of my new SU paper called Frosty Day and I really like it. I already had colored this image with other paper in mind and then that didn't work out, so I'm happy this paper coordinates so well!!

I used some Shimmerz on his hat brim and pom pom and my Sakura Stardust pen on the fishies a little and then covered the snowflake diamond stickles. I just bought the Martha Stewart snowflake and leaf sprig punches and really like them...I haven't been out and about yet to find the new border punches, but one of these days I should get there!!

The kids have skating tonight and then will miss next week as they are over at my Mom and Dad's while we are on vacation, so I need to run and get some lunch and then have a snooze....Kirsten already said she wants to have a sleep when Landon does, so that works for me. They both actually have a cold and a runny nose, so a snooze would do them good!!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a super afternoon/evening!!

~Kelly

Stampavie Sketch Challenge #1 on PCP

I am so happy I finished my card in time for the first Stampavie Sketch Challenge over on Paper Craft Planet. It's a great sketch from Michelle O. I used the little tree stamp with all the stuffies and presents from Rachelle Anne Miller. I got mine at 7 Kids College Fund and this is the first time I've inked it up. I needed something small enough to fit in an oval and this is the biggest oval nestie that I have, so it worked for me!! I am totally loving this Evensong paper from CTMH, so pretty!!

I added liquid glass to the ornaments, stardust stickles to the star, holly stickles to the garland and went over the tags on the stuffies, added some dots and loopyloos with my stardust pen..very shimmery IRL.

My hair appointment went awesome yesterday. The shop was closed, so it was just Carla (my hairdresser), Landon and I there anyway, so even if he was a tyrant it wouldn't bother anyone else....BUT he fell asleep on the way into town!! I carried him in from the durango and layed him on the couch and he slept until she was almost done straightening my hair...only about 5 mins left and that was it, so it went very well!!

I didn't get a pict last night but hopefully I will maybe tomorrow and I'll update my blog!!

Hope you have a super day!!

~Kelly

Welcome Baby Berry

I just love this paper from DCWV Nan's Nursery-Baby Girl, love it! I really like the boy stack too...I'll have a card done with those papers later this week!!

I made this one for some friends of mine that just welcomed their 3rd child, a baby girl..they have a boy and a girl too!!

I used sketch #26 from this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge and really loved the layout. i tried my hand at faux stitching and that really didn't work out, so I started over...not a good sight I tell you!! I really think it looks nice and I have a great CTMH set called Simple Stitches, but for the life of me I can't get it to look half decent!!

I am getting my hair done this afternoon and am taking Landon with me..oh that should be fun!!! My hairdresser is so awesome, today is actually her day off but because I didn't have anyone to watch Landon last week, she changed my appointment and since no one will be there I can taking him with me! It should actually be ok, I'll bring a tractor and some cows and he'll be right at home!!

Have a super day!!

~Kelly

Would you like some Copics....17 to be exact?

Wow, I really am not sure what rock I've been under, but thankfully I discovered Debbie's Passion for Crafts blog while out there in blogland. I've seen the post on some other people's blog, but just hadn't checked it out yet. Now that I have, I am telling you that you have to go and check it out...you have to...just trust me on this....While you are there, check out all of her fabulous creations, but not only that, she is celebrating 12 000 + hits and is giving away 17 of her fav Copics (her fav colors to get going as ell as for skin and outlining), plus 2 fab Sugar Nellie stamps by Elizabeth Bell, K & Co paper and embellies!

Good luck!!

~Kelly

How Do I Look?

**** Scroll on down to the next post to see my Mojo 61 card****

I decided that since the Christmas season is upon us that I would like to update the look of my blog. My gosh I went through almost all of the Christmas backgrounds on The Cutest Blog On The Block and finally decided that I liked this one best. I think I did "test" every one that I liked. For some reason or another I can't quite get the feel of the backgorund until I change my html and then preview it for myself...mayeb a Little OCD, I dunno!!

Anyway, thanks for coming on over to see my facelift:-)

Have a great Sunday!!

~Kelly

Merry & Bright-Mojo#61

Wow, I know I seem to be saying this a lot this month, but time is just flying by! I did manage to squeak some time in and made this card for Julee's Mojo Monday #61. I love her sketches, so fun and easy to follow.

Now I know you are thinking it looks crooked and it does to me too in this pict (maybe just the angle or something...sure, let's go with that), but I swear IRL it is not..I even measured in between the green layers and it is bang on:-) I am having some crooked issues lately aren't I!! LOL!!

Kirsten had a super time at the birthday party today! I think she is getting a cold though...so we'll hang low tomorrow and hopefully she will be feeling better! Sine we were over at my parents and they helped decorate the Christmas tree, they are in a mad panic to get ours up, so I think we may do just that tomorrow. I would like to have the house all decorated anyway before we go to Vegas, so I think it's as good as time as any to get it all done!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit! Please don't be shy, leave me a comment so I can come and visit you too!!

I hope the rest of your weekend is fabulous! Happy Sunday!!

~Kelly

Oopsie Daisy

I did actually use the Upsy Daisy stamp set on this one, but I also made an oopsie too (I stamped the sentiment a bit crooked, so I just turned that panel on a bit of an angle and now I think you can't even tell!!)

Lance needed a sympathy card for a coworker whose father in law passed away, so this will be going to them. I don't have any sympathy related stamps, just Thinking of You ones, so that is the sentiment I used. I first stamped the image from Upsy Daisy in CTMH Chocolate ink, then used my Stamp-a-majig and stamped it again just a smidgen to the right in CTMH Hollyhock and then a smidgen to the left in CTMH Blush.

All papers, ink and ribbon are from CTMH and the stamps (2 different sets...one is Upsy Daisy and the sentiment is from Essence of Love, both by SU).

Thanks so much for visiting!!

~Kelly

A Gift For You

I'm not sure who will get this, I sent this one to a new home already and it should be there very soon....


We made this for our project for this months CTMH get together! It was our last one and Nikki so kindly made each of us one of these ( I forgot to take a pict of the one she made me though...) with a yummy chocolate bar inside (ate that already LOL!!) and gave us each a package of the CTMH monograms in our initial!! She so kind, she rocks!!

I really love this fun paper, it is perfect for boy scrapbook pages or cards, but I think with the funky stars, pretty ribbon and rhinestones, this will work just fine for a girl. I actually have the Starstruck stamp set that goes with it, but I really love the Shining Star set, so I went with that one instead. I added some little rhinestones here and there, stamped the sentiment and punched it out with the SU word window punch, added another star with a rhinestone and called it done!

We are off to my parents today after school for a sleepover...I have some shopping to do, Kirsten is going to a birthday party on Saturday so we need a gift for that as well. We will then come home tomorrow later afternoon just in time for skating tomorrow night....

Hope you have a super day!!

~Kelly

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you so much to Karin over at Scrap Everything who so kindly passed this great blogging award onto me earlier this week!!


I think I am now supposed to pass it on to 5 other Kreativ bloggers...so here it goes:


Chelle at The Many Adventures of a Painter Girl

Nicole at Nicole's Scrappin Corner

Rach at Papercrafts by Rach

Veronica at So Many Stamps, So Little Time

Tammi at Tropical Dreams

It's so hard to pick just 5 because my blog list is soooooo long!!

Have a great Saturday!!

~Kelly

Fairy Merry and Oh So Sparkly

I know I am too late to be entered into the draw for the prize from the High Hopes Challenge blog, but I still wanted to participate in last Sunday's challenge. The challenge was...Sparklemania.....and check it out... I think my card turned out pretty sparkly!!

I am really loving my Shimmerz...thanks Jennifer!! They are so shimmery!! LOL! I actually used 3 different colors, Opal, Angel Wings and Bubblegum, but since I colored the image already with my Copics, you really can't tell that they are any different. I also used holly and orange peel stickles for even more sparkle. Here is a bit of a close up to try and see all the glimmer a bit better, but I think you can see it pretty good in the main pict too...

I used Taylor's Sketch as well from Friday, sketch #42..no cupcakes mind you, but still followed her sketch!

I hope you have a fabulous Sunday...oh and go on over and check out the new High Hopes Challenge...maybe I'll be on time for this one!

~Kelly

Simple Christmas Cards~AMYRS46

Amy over at Prarie Paper & Ink has a great sketch for her weekly shetch challenges. It's not really a hard sketch, actually very simple, but oh so pretty...I think anyway!!

I was far too lazy to pull out the embossing powder like Amy did and after I discovered I only had 2 sheets of Shimmery White cardstock left it made that decision much easier and way less mess:-)

I used SU Shimmery White cs, CTMH Inks in Indian Corn Blue, Twilight and Moonstruck for the blues and Tulip for the sentiment and inside saying. Then I used Tulip, Hollyhock and Blush for the pink/red ones, Juniper for the sentiment and the inside snowflakes.

Oh yes and some MAMBI rhinestones for some added bling. I couldn't really get a decent picture of the shimmer in the cs, but it is very pretty!!

Here is the blue one...

and the inside...very simple, but still pretty...

Here is the pink/red one...

and the inside....

Maybe if you click to enlarge it you can see the shimmer better, but I promise, it is very pretty IRL!!

These are the perfect type of card to mass produce...which is exactly what I'll be doing this year...speaking of that I really should get a move on it, just over 2 weeks until we go to Las Vegas for a week!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a fabulous day!
~Kelly

Sketch Saturday # 24~Thinking of You

I finally got a chance to play with this fun sketch from Sketch Saturday. It is sketch #24 and is kinda funky...I'm cutting it close to getting it in on time I know:-)

Anyway, I really love the wonderful rich colors in this CTMH paper pack called Perfect Day so I decided to go with that.

I used Little Missy from High Hopes and all the paper is from CTMH, colored Little Missy with my Copics and although you can't see it in the pict (because I forgot about it until after I took the picture, but just imagine!!) I added stickles to the flower centres for some sparkle!

I will be sending this off to my SBS sister Joana today along with big hugs. Her Dad passed away suddenly and I want her to know that I am thinking of her and her whole family!!

Off I scoot...my washing machine decided to leak all over the place on Monday...Lance took it to the repairman who said there is nothing wrong...hmmm...ok, so anyway, I have mountains of laundry to get to after not having it for a few days..it's amazing how fast it piles up!!
Have a fabulous weekend!
~Kelly

Fantastic Blog-o-versaries out there!

Wow, it's been a year of blogging for some fantastic ladies!! November seems like a good time to start a blog and that's just what these 4 ladies did...have a look see at all of their wonderful creations, you will get loads of inspiration from each one of them. Then have a little look at the goodies they have to give away!!

Fran at Franmade-ends November 17th
Katharina at Creative Ideas by Katharina-ends November 17th
Claudia at Pretty Pressings-end Nov 22 at 10:30pm Michigan time
Kristine at Kristines Cards and Photos-end Nov 26th

Good luck!!

~Kelly

Made Just For Tagen~ A Spoon Full Challenge #25

Michelle O over at Donkey Smiles had a special request for a card for her nephew Tagen who just had an operation and will have a long recovery period. You can read a bit more here. I wanted to make him a card and hopefully it will brighten his day!! It will be so fun for him to see where all of the cards come from!!




I will also be able to enter this for the A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #25 this week which is to make a card for a child!



I used all CTMH paper, Pink Cat Studio stamps, the paisley CB folder and colored Billy in with my Copics...but I didn't have a color to match the blue and red in the paper, so I actually used the CTMH markers in Twilight and Barn Red...but I don't love how they leave the marker lines...that's a big reason why Copics are so awesome!!
Here's a pict of the back and I just marked on it where it came from so he can add it to his map!!



Thanks for popping in and have a fabulous day!!

~Kelly


**** I forgot to add that I used a sketch from Julee's Verve Stamps Holiday Release Sketches that I got from Paper Craft Planet****

The One & Only~PCP Sketch Saturday Challenge

Hello, hello!! We were invited but unable to attend the 50th birthday celebration of a friend of the family's on Saturday, but here is the card I made for Dana.

I'm sure most of you have heard of Paper Craft Planet by now..if not, check it out...it's like Facebook, but totally for paper crafters!! Anyway, I joined the Sketch Challenge group and the first sketch was up this past Saturday. My card ended up being square instead of a 4.25" x 5.5" card, but I like it!! I hope I stuck close enough to the original sketch for it to count though!!

I used CTMH paper and SU stamps as well as dew drops and some natural hemp from CTMH. I didn't use the genuine part on the top of the "the one and only" because I didn't have the room and also because I thought it looked neat just like this.

I better scoot and get to bed cause I'll sure be pooped tomorrow:-)

Have a great week!!

~Kelly

A Frame for Clara

{ok this layout looks all nice and groovy in blogger...who knows if it'll be like that when you're reading it...sorry if it's not}

I just finished up my frame for Clara. I am so happy with the way it turned out!! I really wanted to put picts in and I may still before I give it to Stephanie, but my printer is out of my photo ink cartridge right now, so I just went ahead and finished it for now. I made the smaller picture strip for the bottom part for 3 smaller picts and the top one will hold a 5x7. I just stamped the 5x7 area so it wasn't so blank and white...same with the Hollyhock squares down below.

Here is the front...I know I said this yesterday, but I really love the DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl stack...I also got all of the matching embellies to go with it, but didn't use them. I used a ton of different products on this frame, so if there is anything that catches your eye that you are unsure of, just shoot me off an email and I"ll let you know what it was!!

Here is the back...I painted it in a glimmer white color first, then that didn't cover worth toot, so I went over it with this pretty green and then mixed the shimmery white and green again for a 3rd coat! Once it was all dry, I took one of my funky textured CTMH brush thingies and swirled it in CTMH Hollyhock ink first and then made all of the circle marks on the back of the frame and stand. I stamped a Heidi Swapp "All My Love" stamp and then added the date (CTMH Friendship alpha) and one of my personaled stamps to finish it off.

I finally had a chance to use my Shimmerz and I LOVE them {you can buy them at All That Scraps}!! Thanks Jennifer for the enabling!! Here is a close up of the letters...first I inked up some kraft colored Heidi Swapp chipboard letters with CTMH Hollyhock and then used Bubblegum Shimmerz on them. They turned out a bit darker than I had originally planned, but they still look really pretty...you can always go darker, but it's pretty tough to go lighter!! I used 2 flower shapes from a Doodlebug package of glittery alphas and just sponges CTMH Hollyhock ink on them and added a green Doodlebug glitter brad to the center.

Then I used a funky flourish shape, actually two of them to make the whole shape from Breezy Design. They are called Toppings, I used the Girls one and you can use glitter, flock or foil after you have out the rub on down....I chose pretty green glitter to go with the colors in my papers and then added some MAMBI rhinestones for fun!

I think that's all...oh, I tied some pretty white taffeta ribbon from SU and added two little bows to either side of the frame as well....so pretty and oh so girly!! Then her birthday info at the very bottom!! I hope Steph likes it!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kelly

Welcome Clara Jane~TECC41

One of my sisters best friends Stephanie recently welcomed a sweet baby girl into the world. I am also making a 12 x 12 frame for her as well, but just waiting for some picts and the pertinent baby info....I did have it all written down and then decided to clean off my desk...I think it was on my desk somewhere!! Anyway, this is the matching card. I used Taylor's Sketch #41 from yesterday for my layout. Although it doesn't have cupcakes on the front, I am still really pleased with how it turned out.

I also finished the inside and the back as well....

I used DCWV Nana's Nursery paper (man I love that stuff), CTMH Hollyhock ink and cs, the image and sentiment are from SU and finally the Fiskars Threading Water punch.

Anyone have a Just Rite Monogram stamper? I have been pondering getting one but after looking on Taylor's site today for cupcake stamps and seeing all of the choices, I really don't know where to start...any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you so much for visiting here!!

Have a wonderful evening!!

~Kelly

Friendship

Since I still had the paper out from the card I made the other day, I thought I might as well use it again!! Here is a card I made for this weeks A Spoon Full Of Sugar Challenge #24 which just so happens to be a fabulous sketch by Trina.

Paper, ink and stamps are SU, Copic markers to color in the flower, Kaiser pearls for the center of the flower and MM pearl brads.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day!

~Kelly

Paper Craft Planet

After seeing a post on Julee and Monica's blog, I thought I would check it out...it's awesome...kinda like Facebook but better because it's specifically for papercrafters....stamping, scrapbooking, digi groups too!! Check it out at Paper Craft Planet!

Have a great day!!

~Kelly

3 years...already??

I cannot believe Landon is 3 years old already!! time sure does fly and they grow up oh so fast. his birthday was actually yesterday, but we had his party here on Sunday, so I thought I would share some picts with you all!

The fabulous cake my sister Kristy made for Landon...his special request was a black and white cow, and he got just that...it was perfect, thank you Kristy!



Singing the birthday boy Happy Birthday

Just checking things out....

His very first bull rider toy (it's all about bull riders and cows lately) from my sister Kim

His brand new black cowboy hat

With his new hat, rope and roping gloves

Couldn't leave out my beautiful girl

That's all I have for tonight. For some reason I really thought with Kirsten being in school 3 days a week that I would have a wee bit more time to get things done...and by things I mean anything not just specifically stamping, although that would be great...but instead I seem to be running in a hundred different directions....anybody with me out there or am I just the worst at managing my time???

Have a fabulous night!!

~Kelly

You're on my Mind

Wow, it's been a few days!! Life has been nuts, but I did manage to get a card made today for Laurie & Alison Schmidlin and family. You can read a wee bit more here and at the very top here! I really love Laurie's blog and I thought the very least I could do is send them a card to let them know that I am thinking of the whole family.

I really love this SU set, Upsy Daisy and I love this paper too, so what better combo than these two! I stamped both the image and the sentiment on Shimmery White SU cs, so that may be the bit of a glare you see in some spots. It kind of looks like when I stamped the chocolate over top of the groovy guava in the main image, that I didn't get even or complete coverage, but I really think it must just be the flash and the shimmery cs because IRL it looks fabulous!!

I also finished the inside and back of the card as well..have a look...

I actually really like this card, I just may have to make another while I still have all of the supplies out!!

Today was Landon's 3rd birthday!! I can't believe my baby is 3 already...wow, time flies and they grow up far too fast!! I do have some picts from his party yesterday, so I will share those with you tomorrow!!

Have a fabulous night!

~Kelly