Happy Tuesday!

Its a very happy Tuesday for me...just because!

Last week I shared the cards I made at the Columbus Scrappers Retreat..today,I am going to share some of the pages I made while there also.

Started scrapping my June trip to NYC. 

Two Times Square pages. They were supposed to be a double layout, but in the end I don't think they look like they belong together.

I really loved central park.

So I scrapped TWO layouts of it!

And scrapped a page of my beloved granddog Brutus. Miss him so much!

There are four more pages that I scrapped, but they are going to be gift projects, so I can't share them just yet!

Happy Scrappin!

Fly Little Dragon Fly!

I joined a DragonFly card swap...and decided to make my own dragonfly's from stamped images.  Can't say that I am in love with my results, but the process was definitely fun.

I started by stamping some SU! Dragonfly's, colored them with markers, and coated them with Glossy Accents.

These are the finished cards. 

Happy Scrappin!

Back at it!

Hi again! I'm back, after having been gone 4 days at the Columbus Scrappers Summer Scrap booking retreat. I LOVE my retreat times! Yet, they leave me really tired (who sleeps at retreats?) and I need a few days to catch up..plus missing two days of work makes my email inbox blow up like crazy, so I have catch up there too.
Wanted to take a few mins today though, to START sharing some of the fun things I made during my fabulous four days away!

Let's start with the cards! I like to begin retreats with projects that are either in progress, or small easy to do projects to get my creativity brewing.  I started this retreat working on 3 SU! Paper Pumpkin card kits. I LOVE how they turned out!

This is the March 2015 Kit. That stitching took me a long time!

Both of the above designs are from the June 2015 Kit

And these final two are from the July 2015 kit. 

Happy Scrappin!

Sneaking in some art time on Alumni Weekend

Its Grove City Alumni weekend, so I'm creating in between softball games. Mostly, putting finishing touches on things almost done, and progressing on a painting that isn't there yet..

Although not finished yet, this red poppies acrylic piece is coming along. Needs a lot of depth still. We'll see how that goes!  I am just a beginner in drawing and painting, but I really love doing it. I get such peace with a brush in my hand and the smell of paints in the air.

I did finish up some "scrap" cards...love using up the bits n pieces left over from other projects. And these get to be used in a swap too! Fun!

And I'll close with a pic from the ball fields. Our Cindi is the last of the Monaghan's (for now) to still be playing in the tournament.

I had a comment! Wow!

I didn't expect ANYONE to be reading after five years. Thank you dear Sherri. I love you and somehow we must find time to get together.

On to today's fun! First off, I received a sweet card from FB friend Laura yesterday. In my "Cards I Wish For"(CIWF)  group, I had wished for a card with tulips..and just look at the beauty I received!

I just adore the watercolor look of the stamped tulips. So sweet! Thank you Laura!

Yesterday, I also finished my second PL, It goes into the mail today. This time, Jessica from Cincinnati and I swap Project Life Pocket Letters.  We both do project life style scrapbooks, so we had lots of those style cards and embellishments. Here's shots of the one I am sending her...

No real front or back to this PL. Just lots of fun cards to use in our Project Life Scrapbooks

(btw, all the "goodies" are hidden in between the 4x6 and 3x4 pocket cards).

I have just as much fun decorating the packaging as I do make the PL!

Go Make Something fun today!
Hugs
Kelly

Pocket Letter Pals

Remember Pen Pals? I have had a couple over my lifetime. Now, I've discovered a community of folks who share art with their pen pals.  Pocket Letters (PL), are ATCs, placed into baseball card page pockets. Then you add goodies to the backside of the pockets and send to a pal. You can be a one time, or an on-going, long time pocket letter pal.

I've been lurking for a while in this community...waiting to have some time to invest in making some Pocket Letters. Well, I am finally in the pocket letter pool.

My first one goes into the mail today. Funny thing is the reason I am back to blogging is because with each pocket letter, you include a real letter to your pal. (There is the PenPal part).  When I was creating my introductory "all about me" letter, the template I used asked for my email and my website. which reminded me of my blog, and the fact that I take pics of most things that I make. (So I can redo them if I want.  My brain went duh! why not post them all on your blog. So here, I am.

The recipient of my first PL doesn't read my blog (yet) so I feel ok to post pics of it here.

I gotta say, making these are addicting! I can't wait to get one back from her!

Laura and I decided on a cooking theme, since its something we both love. This is the decorated front side of my PL.

and here is the backside with the goodies., I tucked in cooking themed die cuts, washi tape, twine, flowers, and some chalk treat labels. Also in the top right pocket you can see my letter to Laura. 

I wrapped it all up on some tissue paper, made a belly band and name card to hold it together. I also 3 butterflies  that I made a few months ago for NSD. I punched them from some gelli prints that I printed onto recycled  newsprint paper, added  black sequin bodies and attached them to paperclips. Paperclips also seem to be a hot embellishment these days! I think these are tres chic!

Do you swap?

I've discovered facebook swap groups....heaven help me...a new addiction...like I don't have enough?

Here's a peek at some things I've mailed off recently.

well, I can't get it turned around the right way on here, but this card reminded me to use my embossing folders more often. They made a huge impact. I also love love love mono-or dual toned themes. 

In one of my groups, someone wished for a card with a giraffe. I had so much fun making this cute fella.

This one isn't a swap..its for a dear friend of mine.

5 years, really?

That's a crazy amount of time to neglect a blog. I sure haven't stopped creating though. I've actually found my sweet spot I think. I create 3-4 mornings a week now, and often several hours on the weekend. So I have much to share...a wider variety too. Time to get at it.

I began a summer challenge over at Yellow Daisy. Not sure if I'll finish it, but I've done several ICADs that I had fun with.

Both of the represent bits n pieces of my some of my internal struggles. It does feel good to document feelings in an artform. Easier for me to "feel" them that way.