Debi's Crazy Life;

Tomorrow is a new year. I don't know about you but the holidays always make me think about how grateful I am to have my family and friends and how incredibly blessed we have been. I also take a good close look at my life and what might need to change and what I need to do this year to meet my goals. And yes I am one of those annoying people that have a plan, a one year plan and a 4 year plan (4 years instead of 5 because hopefully my husband will be retiring from his law enforcement job in just under 4 years). I am not crazy about the whole goal thing but I find I function better with direction. This year I accomplished 3 out of 5 of my major goals, so today I am revising my list for the new year. I have to tell you that several of my goals for this year are creative in nature and should result in my having much more material to share with you. And speaking of stuff to share with you, this is what I did for todays splitcoast sketch challenge . You know how much I love new s...

Okay I know I am a little late, and I have been neglecting you terribly but I still wanted to wish you the bested in this blessed season. Now I got the absolutely best Christmas gift ever! You want to know what it is????? Please allow me to introduce my daughter Ellie. Her adoption was finalized right before Christmas and we couldn't be happier. Here is the whole family, aren't our children beautiful? Now I did do a bit of stamping, just a tiny bit last week of the last Elzybell design team challenge. You can find the challenge **HERE** and the rest of the design teams projects **HERE** What I used: brilliant blue, green galore, whisper white card stock my minds eye designer paper brilliant blue, green galore classic ink pads white taffeta ribbon

Can you stand it????? The latest retirement list is out and Stampin' Up! is offering 10% off of all the stamp sets on the list as well as free shipping with a $70 (that can be a customer order or a workshop). You can view the stamp set here but if you want to order them you need to go to my business website , to order directly from me.

I am so sorry that I haven't been posting. I messed up my back (yes, again gotta quit lifting the little guy I babysit for) and haven't been able to sit without being in pain. No sitting means no computer and no creating! But I am starting to feel better and wanted to take the time to up date you and share a couple of creations with you. I also want you to know about so free stuff you can win over on Elizabeth's blog. She has prizes to give away every day until Christmas! To be in with a chance to win all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and a winner will be randomly picked throughout the month to win the prize for that day. The two projects below I created for the last two Elzybell challenges but was not able to share them with you.

Just a really quick card this morning before I head out to get some of my Christmas shopping done. It is missing something but my caffeine hasn't kicked in yet so please forgive me. What I used: a cardinal christmas basic black, real red, kraft card stock black stazon, real red classic stamp pads various re-inkers for watercoloring real red narrow grosgrain ribbon

Once a year or so I find myself unable to resist getting up on a soap box. Today is that day, so if you are only looking for a stamping masterpiece from me today you will have to wait and see if I have time to stamp later today. Today is National Adoption Day. All across this country thousands of families will finalize the adoptions of their children and this is a wonderful thing. We too had hoped to finalize Ellie's adoption today but were not able to. But as wonderful as this is there are still 130,000 children in this country, freed for adoption but with no permanent families. Let me repeat that number, One Hundred Thirty Thousand children in foster homes, group homes and institutions that want permanent homes with loving families and don't have them. That number should take your breath away. Merely typing it brings tears to my eyes. I'm a foster/adoptive parent and I know some of these children. I have adopted two of them and are in the process of adopting a ...

It's time for another Elzybelles challenge, this week, paper piecing. To check out all the challenge details click here , to see what all the design team has done, click here . I have to say that I love Elizabeth's images for paper piecing. They are the most suited in my entire stamp collection. Basically when paper piecing you stamp the image multiply times on various different papers and cut out each of the tiny pieces then layer them back into a whole image. If you don't like cutting probably not a technique you are going to love but the result is very cool. It is also a fabulous way to use up some of those teeny tiny scraps of designer paper or card stock that you just can't bring yourself to throw away. What I used: Elzybell cat in window chocolate chip, soft sky, whisper white, wild asparagus designer paper various scraps including vellum basic black, close to cocoa classic ink pads ribbon, red brads sponge diamond cuttlebug embossing folder

I know I am a little rusty from not stamping in a while so this didn't come out exactly as I envisioned it but I will share it with you anyway. The owls are colored with Watercolor Wonder crayons and an aquapainter. What I used: Owl Together Now chocolate chip, kiwi kiss, whisper white card stock Urban Garden designer paper basic black, close cocoa classic ink watercolor wonder crayons and aquapainter kiwi kiss satin ribbon

Hop on over to the Elzybell blog and check out the winning cards in our holiday card contest!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in nearly two weeks. My life is chaos. We have filed our adoption petition with the courts for Ellie's adoption but do not yet have a court date. My Christmas cards are not finished yet and my 15 year old son is driving me crazy. None of these are good for getting my stamping mojo going. But todays color challenge over on SplitCoastStampers was just to good to not try. What do you think? The snow is highlighted with a white gel pen and a glitter pen. The cuttlebugged background has whisper white ink sponged over the snowflakes to make them stand out. The main image is watercolored with certainly celery, pacific point and basic gray classic ink. What I used: stamp by Elzybell basic gray, whisper white, certainly celery, pacific point card stock certainly celery designer prints paper basic black, basic gray, certainly celery, pacific point classic ink whisper white craft ink snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder white gel pen, glitter pen p...

You all know I am crazy right???? Well I have been seeing these adorable spiders made with peppermint patties and punched card stock everywhere. I thought they were just so cute that I showed them to my daughter who then proceeded to beg me to make them for her classmates. After I agreed I realized that if I made them for her class I needed to make them for her younger brother and sister's classes..... Well they are finally done all 61 of them. What was I thinking??? What I used: Peppermint Patties Basic Black, Whisper White, Only Orange, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore card stock Scallop circle punch, photo corner punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/4" circle punch

Black and white and one other color is todays Elzybell design team challenge. Pop over the Elizabeth's blog to see what all the other design team member have done with this challenge. I love black, white and red together. I did have to cheat a tiny bit by adding some orange for the snowman's nose and brown for his arms but I think I stayed with the general principal of the challenge. What I used: Boy with snowman by Elzybell Art stamps Basic black, real red, whisper white card stock, SU designer paper water color paper Black Stazon ink pad Stampin' Write markers, aquapainter snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder black brads wide Real Red grosgrain ribbon, black narrow grosgrain ribbon

It's challenge time again for the Elzybelles. Our challenge; Inchies! I haven't done much with inchies, those tiny little works of art, as a matter of fact I believe this is my first venture. While I was racking my brain for ideas on how to use them, I came across a card where my cyber buddy Julesiana had used the inchie to spotlight part of an image. It seemed like a good idea so I ran with it. Thanks Jules. Also don't forget that there is still time to enter the Elzybell holiday card challenge . You still have until October 21st. What I used: Elzybell holly lamp, Bella Toile background, Many Merry Messages stamp set Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, Confetti White card stock Black Stazon ink pad, Riding Hood Red classic stamp pad black brads, Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain

Football season is always the busiest time of the year for my family. Our second son Daniel has been playing football since the age of eight so the months of August, September and October are consumed by practices and games and all the other fun stuff involved with the season. Our daughter Jessika has been cheering for our PopWarner team for 3 years now so that involves once again, practices, games, competitions and good grief CHEER HAIR! I can only imagine what my life is going to be like when Ellie starts cheering and Manny starts playing. This weekend was homecoming. Homecoming at my children's school is near and dear to my heart since they attend MY hometown high school. Homecoming in our small town is one of the wonderful things about living where I live. It starts out with the spaghetti supper Friday night then continues with the Varsity girls soccer game, bonfire and dance. Saturday begins with a 5K walk/run race and parade then concludes with a Varsity football gam...

Lately I have been playing around with some 3D projects instead of doing just cards. This is one of the things that I have done. I am not ready to show you the rest.... What I used: A Rose is a Rose stamp set, Big Deal alphabet set lower case J decor elements Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White card stock Bella Rose designer paper Whisper White taffeta ribbon

Time for another Elzybell challenge! You can play along too! Just follow this link to find the sketch we are using. If you want to see what the other members of our design team have done, follow click here . Isn't this bear the cutest??? I made this card for a friend, Laura who is expecting a baby soon. She and her DH already have a hand full of girls between them and are hoping for a boy this time. The main image is colored with Stampin' write markers on water color paper. I used an aquapainter to blend the colors, add highlights and soften the colors. What I used: Elzybell bear with towel Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper White card stock water color paper Wild Asparagus by Mind's Eye designer paper coluzzle cutting system, small corner rounder Certainly Celery narrow grosgrain ribbon

I rarely do square cards but sometime the image is of a size that ya just gotta go for it. I had to do a fall card today because here in Central New York it is feeling a little fallish. There is a chill in the air, leaves are starting to turn and football season is well underway. Time to go pick apples and pumpkins and stop by the nursery to pick up some gorgeous fall mums . Don't you think? Nothing really tricky on this card. The only thing that I did that may not be apparent at first glance is that I rock & rolled the leaves. What does that mean? All I did was ink the leaf stamp with really rust then rolled the leaf stamp edges of the chocolate chip stamp pad. Clear as mud? What I used: Season of Friendship stamp set Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White card stock Autumn Vine designer paper Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Really Rust classic stamp pads Alpine ribbon originals slot punch, corner rounder mat pack and paper piercer sponge

As I continue to search for this years perfect Christmas card, I made this one to demo at a workshop last week. What do you think? What I used: Snow Burst and Cute and Curly stamp sets Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Whisper White card stock Holiday Treasures designer paper Baja Breeze and Old Olive classic stamp pads Curly label punch, scallop edge punch Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon

I have been so incredibly busy. I don't know why I thought that once the kids went back to school that I would actually have more time to my self!?!?! I have been stamping though! These are the cards I created for a Stamp-a-Stack I did for a fundraiser for a local summer camp. I am also going to offer the same Stamp-a-Stack to my customers in October. Check my demo website calender for more details...

It is almost time for the Holiday mini to be released! So you know that I just have to tease you by showing off some of the lovely stuff that will be available to you after October 1st. Now I know this card is a little stark but this is what I was going for. Something simple and quick that I can use with my customers. What I used: Season of Friendship Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue and Whisper White card stock Chocolate Chip and Brocade Blue classic stamp pads wide Brocade Blue grosgrain ribbon

Hop on over to the Elzybell Blog to play along with the design team sketch challenge! I pulled out my scrap box for todays challenge and paper pieced the main image. Each little piece of the main image was stamped on various different designer papers or solid scraps then cut out and layered back together. A great technique to use up little scraps or when you just don't feel like coloring. I sponged the edges of the main image with close to cocoa ink and I added glitter to the star in the window with a Sakura glitter pen. What I used: Elzybell's mother and child Old Olive, Kraft, Whisper White card stock various scraps Basic Black, Old Olive classic ink pads chocolate chip 1" double stitched grosgrain ribbon 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches sakura glitter pen ruby red, summer sun, close to cocoa Stampin' Write markers

The power is finally back on! Hurricanes are not usually a problem for us in Central New York but ever so often we get some freak weather like Ike brought us. Sunday night the wind was howling! Power went out in the middle of the storm and didn't get turned back on again until last night. I am not very good at stamping in the dark so I haven't gotten much stamping done lately but I did do a little bit today. What I used: Holy Triptych and Many Merry Messages stamp sets Basic Black, Going Grey, Riding Hood Red card stock Bella Rose designer paper Basic Black, Versamark stamp pads silver embossing powder and heat tool Stampin' Pastels and blender pens Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon

Sorry everyone that I haven't been around. My oldest son leaves this afternoon to spend the fall semester in England and I have to admit that I am sort of a wreck. He is a great kid and I know this is a wonderful experience for him but why does it have to be so very far away? Anyway getting him ready and trying not to freak out has been taking all my time and energy. I did manage to bang out a quick card this morning. This card arose from the scrap heap of yesterdays attempt at stamping. The main image of this was stamped with Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder. The message is also stamped with Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder and layered over the top of the first image to soften it. The only tricky part on this is how I did the ribbon. If you look closely you can see that I cut a slit to the left of the red strip and the ribbon is threaded through the slit and tied arough the grey piece of card stock. What I used: Holy Triptych and Many M...

Today is the first Elzybell Design Team challenge. The sketch was created by our own Jeanne Streiff. Below is the card I created for the sketch, click here and follow the link to play along. What I used: Elzybell boy & snowman Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red, watercolor paper Wild Asparagus designer paper Black Stazon ink pad and Whisper White craft pad Stampin' Write markers, aquapainter Coluzzle cutting system, small corner rounder Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon

No time for stampin' because today was the first day of school! (Well I did actually do some stampin' but I'm not sharing it until tomorrow) Yipee! You missed seeing me doing my happy dance in the middle of the driveway. Probably a good thing you missed it because it probably wasn't pretty. My friend MaryPat was a little sniffly as her youngest daughter got on the bus with mine. He daughter is my baby girl Ellie's best friend, they looked so cute this morning as they got on the bus. I wish I could show you how adorable she looked but as I have told you all before until the adoption is final I can't share. This first picture is of my handsome young man Daniel on the first day of his sophomore year of high school. Can't believe how grown up he looks! Princess Jessika heading off to third grade! First time on the big kid bus and first year in the elementary II. She did okay getting on the bus at 6:55 this morning, bet it won't be so easy next week...

I needed a birthday card for my dad and you know how hard it is to come up with a birthday card for a guy. When I was at the Stampin' Up! convention this year I saw the cutest swap card that used the Owl Together Now stamp set. I don't have the actual swap, just filed it away in my memory so I can't give credit to who I got the idea from, sorry. I colored the owl with colored pencils, because that is what was sitting out on my desk at the time. Cut him out and popped him up on a dimensional. The not quite navy ribbon is actually white taffeta ribbon that I dragged across an ink pad to get it the color I wanted. What I used: Owl Together Now stamp set Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White card stock Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy classic ink pad Prismacolor pencils wide Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon white taffeta ribbon word window punch

I suppose that Lilac is not really a Christmas color but evidently in my world it is. I love this cute little eskimo girl and penquin. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and blended the colors with a paper stump (Wendy a stump is a blending tool made out of rolled paper) and odorless mineral spirits. I added some glittery accents, rather hard to see in the picture, with a Sakura glitter pen. The background was made with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. What I used: Elzybell Eskimo Gifts Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Basic Black card stock Basic Black classis ink pad Prismacolor Pencils, stump, odorless mineral spirits Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder making memories ribbon sakura glitter pen

It was love at first site for me with this stamp set, Flower Fancy, from the new Fall/Winter Stampin' Up! catalog. I love any two step stamp set anyway but the big happy flowers in this set just thrill me. I am sure you will be seeing a lot more of this stamp set from me in the future. My desk still had yesterdays scraps left out on it so most of the same supplies were used for todays card. What I used: Flower Fancy and Heard from the Heart stamp sets Paisley background stamp Basic Black, Kraft, Rose Red, Whisper White card stock Basic Black, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss classic stamp pads basic black narrow grosgrain ribbon mat pack and piercing tool

Yesterday I received my design team package from Elizabeth at Elzybell Art Stamps. This cute little guy in a car was one of the stamps I chose. My oldest son is finally taking his drivers road test next week so I made this good luck card for him. Poor guy has been driving for 3 years (not on his own) but we wouldn't let him get his license because of how much our insurance would go up. Finally worked it out with our insurance company so that we could afford for him to drive. He is so looking forward to the freedom of the road. What I used: Elzybell boy in car, SU itty, bitty background Basic Grey, Basic Black, Baja Breeze, Whisper White card stock DCWV Rockstar designer paper Basic Grey, Basic Black classic ink pads various re-inkers and aquapainter for watercoloring black brads

In the beginning of August I announced that I had been chosen to be a member of the Elzybell design team. I have been waiting ever so patiently for my stamps to arrive from across the pond but in the meantime, one of my fellow design team 'belles Jeanne stamped some images for me so that I could play while I wait. This adorable image is from the "What's Moo?" clear stamp set from Elzybell Art Stamps. Isn't it adorable? I colored the image with colored pencils and blended the colors with mineral spirits and a stump. What I used: Elzybells "What's Moo?" Stampin' Up! Paisley and Canvas backgrounds Basic Black, Kraft, Rose Red, Whisper White card stock Basic Black, Rose Red, Versamark prismacolor colored pencils, stump, mineral spirits black gingham ribbon white eyelets (SU retired) OH MY GOODNESS!!! My son just walked in with the mail and guess what is in it?!?!?! A package from the UK from Elizabeth of Elzybell Art Stamps. Gotta go open it a...

Everybody loves cupcakes right? Well the frosting anyway... When I saw this cupcake stamp in the new catalog I knew I had to have it. Not my usual style but I do have 5 kids so there for they are invited to about a million birthday parties every year. This stamp set is intended to be a thank you card and I am sure I will use it that way sooner or late but today I put masking tape over the words when I inked the stamp then removed it when I stamped so that I could omit the words. The cupcake is paper pieced. I stamped the cupcake (or parts of it anyway) 2 times. Once on blush blossom, once on close to cocoa and one on ruby red. After I cut out the bottom of the cupcake I ran it through my rarely used (but very handy) paper crimper, I then sponged a little close to cocoa over the ridges to make them stand out a little more. The frosting part of the cupcake has dots on it that I highlighted with a ruby red marker, then a versamark pen then added iridescent ice embossing powder to...

Sometimes simple is just best. Like sugar cookies (my favorite, yummy), nap time, a sunset, a hug from your favorite someone, warm soup or a toddlers smacking kiss... I like simple, sometimes anyway. And today is all about simple, sort of. I had a lot of fun coloring the image for my card today (which is not simple) but when it came time to make it into a card anything but simple seem to distract from the main image. So I went with a very plain card body, simple greeting and minimal layers that just seem to make the image pop off the card. I created the main image using the Autumn Harvest stamp set which was originally in the Holiday mini, last fall, and made it into the new big catalog. Picture me doing my happy dance because I just love this set. I started out by making masks of both pumpkins and the leaf. On watercolor paper I stamp the small pumpkin first using Black Stazon ink. I placed a mask over the small pumpkin then stamped the larger pumpkin. I placed another mas...

I made this card using the second panel I made yesterday. It was made exactly the same way but I stamped this after yesterdays, without re-inking the stamp. I wanted the soft look so I also over stamped the image with canvas inked with close to cocoa (stamped off multiple times) and sponged the edges with close to cocoa. What I used: Inspired by Nature stamp set and Canvas background stamp Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White card stock Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip classic ink pads Old Olive and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers Elegant Eggplant narrow grosgrain ribbon sponge

I have come up with every excuse know to man to not stamp since I got back from convention. No idea what my problem is, overwhelmed I guess. Updated my customer list, tweaked both my blog and my website, did a mailing, called a bunch of my customers, shopped for back to school supplies, everything but stamp. Heck I even cleaned the cat boxes today before I stamped and I had promised myself that I would except no more excuses, I would get back to it today! My sore throat from nasty allergies and my daughter's upset tummy seemed like good excuses to but no I had to do it. Thankfully todays color challenge on SplitCoastStampers was exactly the inspiration I needed. With todays colors I could finally make the card I had envisioned when I first saw this stamp set at convention. I may even make another one later today since when I stamped this I also did a similar panel of second generation stamping (stamped a second time without re-inking) identical to this one. It is very soft...

Thought I would share some of my pictures from convention with you. This is the convention center. Me and my crazy roomies; Karen (imastampin) and KellyJean (kellyjg) waiting for opening session to begin. Shelli Gardner... Sweet Bev (bevmom) after winning free stuff! Me and my roomies at the SplitCoastStampers dinner... Stampin' Up! headquarters in Riverton, Utah. Packing line were all of the lovely packages get shipped from. Ronald McDonald excepting a check for $126,ooo for the Ronald McDonald house from Stampin' Up! Crazy Challenge Chaser friends at convention. Annette, Amanda, Karen, Wendy, Bev in the back row. Melissa, Kelly H and KellyJean in the front row. Some of the people at the stalkers and freaks gathering at Wendy's (Wendybell). The men in Brown bring us free stamps! Me with free stamps!