Debi's Crazy Life;

You know what? Sometimes simple is best! This stamp set, Sidekick Saying screams for simple and I think this card came out so simple but nice that I will probably use it for my workshops next month. What I used: Sidekick Sayings stamp set (hostess) purely pomegranate, pretty in pink, old olive and whisper white card stock Petals & Paisley designer paper Black Stazon stamp pad Old Olive stamp pad (for watercoloring leaves) Pretty in Pink stamp pad (for some light sponging) Purely Pomegranate double stitched grosgrain ribbon

Hi everybody. Sorry that it has been a week since I posted. It has been kinda crazy around here getting my oldest son ready for college but I made time this morning to stamp even though we need to finish his packing today. This card combines two techniques together; emboss resist and versamark resist. For this card I used the new Snow Burst stamp set from the Holiday mini and the greeting is from Many Merry Messages. The background of the card is where I did the techniques. The large snow flakes where stamped with Versamark on glossy white card stock then embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I stamped the small snowflakes in Versamark and brayered soft sky ink over the top. Buffed it a little with a paper towel. Layered the background on blue bayou, added the chipboard (smoshed it in a white craft pad to color it), blue bayou double stitched ribbon and cut out snowflakes.

Today's card is a TriFold card. Cami over on splitcoast originally came up with this design. My card uses the Two Cute stamp set and Cutie Pie designer paper. Instead of explaining how I did it (because my kids are being impossible today, errrr!) I am going to refer you to the tutorial done by Beate Johns linked here . I messed mine up so many time (see previous kid comment) that mine is done slightly differently, read this as "refuses to waste another piece of designer paper, since the first one is now in several small nearly unusable pieces". Okay enough whining.

Monday I got some new toys from my old demo who is now my upline. One of the things I got was the Pretties Kit. I have been hoarding them, petting them and drooling on them. (Picture me as Golem with his precious) I went so far as to let a friend look at them the other day, but not touch, LOL. So today I decided I needed to just do it and open the box and gasp, use them. Here they are aren't they, well, pretty, my precious, er I mean my pretties? I really did use some of them. First I put a crystal bead and a white pearl on a hat pin. Then I got all wild and crazy and used my aquapainter and a soft sky reinker to dye a couple of flowers and held them together with a rhinestone brad. What do you think? And since I was on a roll this morning I got out another new stamp set called Autumn Harvest and played around with it and the distressing tool from the cutter kit. The leaves may be a bit too much, but over all I am pleased with it.

I have never been into the whole cowboy thing, thought I do confess a fondness for country music. I live in the middle of farm and apple country in Upstate New York not out west BUT I love this whole new line with Stampin' Up! I have had so much fun with the Outlaw designer paper, Wanted and Illuminations stamp sets as well as the Sanded background. I love, love, love this look, don't you? What I used: Illuminations stamp set, Sanded background. Outlaw designer paper Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow and Really Rust card stock Chocolate Chip classic ink pad and Sage Shadow reinker for adding a little bit of color to the swirls Wide chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, sponge, aquapainter, big eyelet, hemp twine

Today's card uses the new hostess stamp set called Oh, So Lovely. This is a really sweet set really meant for pretty cards instead of rustic cards like this one. But I just wasn't in the mood for a pretty card today since there is a problem with my septic system and I have sewage all over my backyard, and 4 of my kids and a couple of the neighborhood kids are here for the day. All day, a really long day! Well stamping will brighten even the worse day. The card it self is pretty simple. What I used: Oh, So Lovely and Much Appreciated stamp sets and Sanded background Blue Bayou, Sahara Sand, and Chocolate Chip card stock Black Stazon, Versamark, Chocolate Chip and Sahara Sand classic ink Blue Bayou and Always Artichoke classic ink for watercoloring aquapainter, sponge and Blue Bayou double stitched grosgrain ribbon, glassy glaze embossing powder, heat tool. How I did it: The main image is on sahara sand card stock. First I stamped the background stamp from the set in sahara...

Working on my holiday samples. This is what I came up with for these new sets. The first one uses the Peace to the World set. I know the color combination is odd but I really like it; always artichoke, soft sky and sahara sand.The image is watercolored using an aquapainter and reinkers. The star and circle are popped up. The ribbon is the soft sky double stitched grosgrain. The second card uses the new Holy Triptych stamp set from the Holiday Mini. The main image is embossed in black then colored with markers. I need the stamp-a-m-jig to get the holy family stamp lined up just right inside the tag stamp. I got the idea to stamp the gold swirls on the background from a card I saw on SCS made by StampingQueenJAR. The greeting is embossed in black as well and the cord is wrapped around 3 times then tied behind the main image. The third card uses the new stamp set Snow Burst for the upcoming Holiday Mini. This card is pretty simple but really sparkly in real life. I reverse mask...

I need a bunch of thank you's so that is what I will be making over the next couple of days. What do you think? For this one I used the Wanted stamp set to make the really cool medallion in the center of the card. I stamped the image twice on chocolate chip, once on really rust and once on confetti cream card stock. I used my brand new scallop circle punch to punch out the bottom chocolate chip layer, the 1 3/8 inch circle punch to punch out the confetti cream layer, the 1 1/4 inch circle punch to punch out the really rust layer and 1/2 circle punch to punch out the last chocolate chip layer. I glued the confetti cream layer and the really rust layer together first then used a foam dimensional to add the top chocolate chip layer. I then attached all the layers to the chocolate chip scalloped circle with foam dimensionals again. The confetti cream background is stamped with the Sanded background stamp in chocolate chip classic ink, stamped off twice first then the edges were...

I am back from Indiana and took a little bit of time to stamp. To the right is one of the cards I did Saturday playing around with a couple of the Dare to be Dirty challenges hostessed by current and past Dirty Dozen Design team members. I was kinda bummed to miss a large portion of the challenges. This card was a lot of fun. I took the main image (which is from Blossoms Abound and stamped with Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi, stamped off first on the more solid images) and cut it into three different pieces, the center one is slightly bigger then the other two. I then mounted each of the piece on Basic Black card stock. The strip of Wild Wasabi card stock is also mounted on Basic Black then has a piece of Purely Pomegranate double stitched grosgrain ribbon tied around it. I laid the whole card out, stamped "my friend" in basic black classic ink then adhered the whole thing together. Very simple card but the black really makes it "pop"! Most of you th...