Debi's Crazy Life;

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!

Just beginning to process all I have learned and seen at the Stampin' Up! convention in Salt Lake City. Got in very late last night. Was very excited to find that a member of the founder's circle lives about 40 minutes north of me and we were on the same flight back to Syracuse, NY. We chatted briefly at the airport. I hope to get a chance to meet her again and pick her brain. I have over 600 pictures to sort through before I can post some for you. Will try to get that done tonight or tomorrow, unfortunately laundry needs to come first. Earlier I told you about some of the new stuff in the catalog so I thought I would share with you some of the up coming specials. August 11th - September 30th 15% off 9 different NEW stamp sets! Snow Swirled It's a Stretch Putt Putt Eastern Blooms Pocket Silhouettes Upsy Daisy Under the Stars Heard from the Heart Contempo Alphabet Free Stamps August 11th - October 11th Purchase the standard Starter Kit (and become a demo) for $199 ...

Today is the last day of convention. I will be swapping these cards today. Very simple card but I love this color combination. The new Baja Breeze goes beautifully with Chocolate Chip! What I used: A Light unto My Path stamp set Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze and Whisper White card stock Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa classic ink pads Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon sponge

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Can you say BIG SHOT????? Because we got one!!!! Stampin' Up! has partnered with Sizzix to make a SU Big Shot diecut machine and our own exclusive dies! Can youn stand it? Gotta go, tell you more later.

Tonight I am going to Wendy's (Wendybell) house to get together with a bunch of SplitCoastStamper's challenge chasers. I created these swaps to share with everyone there. I borrowed this set from a customer of mine (thanks Celia!) and I thought it would look fabulous with the wet water color technique. Since this is a two step set, after I stamped each layer I spritzed the card stock with water. After I had stamped both layers, I allowed the card stock to completely dry then lightly stamped it with the canvas background stamp, inked with close to cocoa, stamped off a couple of times first. The rose red background is stamped with canvas as well and the chocolate chip strip is stamped with sanded background. I also used the color spritzer tool and a chocolate chip marker to add another layer of distressing. What I used: Pretty Peony and Elegant Greetings stamp sets Canvas and Sanded background stamps Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Confetti White card stock Rose Red, ...