Snippets of Whimsy by BZstampr

Just a snippet, a tote and a kitten

2011-11-19T10:11:00.001-06:00

This is a cute tote bag I made recently from a kit, Totes on Bolts. The pattern is by Penny Sturges. I really didn't know what I was buying when I got it. I just thought it was a pattern with the fabric included. It was really neat in that the panels of fabric included little dots and dashed to indicate where you should cut with scissors or a rotary cutter. It also included optional fabric choices which I thought was neat. I'm not going to say it was easy because I found myself not too good at following the instructions. In hindsight though, it was spelled out clearly. I just wasn't used to following instructions. I'm glad I did because I love the bag. It has about 8 pockets on the inside that I customized to fit my phone, security key for work, and other items I love to carry with me.

Someone else likes my tote because Little Bella discovered it was cozy for a nap. I laughed when I went to put my phone in my bag and found her nesting. I made a lot of pictures of her before she decided to get up because of me. I just had to share this and I hope it makes you smile.

Little Belle has been with us about five months now and we're crazy about her. She is polydactyle and acts more like a dog sometimes than a cat. She finds things and hides them under a rug to bring out later for playing with. Funny kitty.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend. It's just beautiful here in Alabama and I'm planning on painting a ceramic Holly Christmas tree today.

Happy crafting!

Debbie

First Baby Quilt

2011-10-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

This is my first baby quilt made for Sophia, my first great-grandbaby. She is due Oct. 12 and I hope and pray she makes a safe arrival into the world.
The front of the quilt is made with a cream colored flannel, with flannel for the tree trunk and the monkey. The butterfly and palm fronds are made from scrap fabric I had on hand. The monkey does have ears that flopped over after I washed the quilt. I think I'm going to tack them down.

The monkey is from Simplicity pattern #2428. The tree was my own design. I cut the butterfly using my Cricut Expression using the Storybook cartridge.

The backing fabric is Urban Zoologie by Robert Kaufman. I purchased it on Ebay from nauvooquiltcompany.
She was a terrific seller and I love the soft fabric.

I don't know if you can see my "leaf shape" quilting but I wanted to do something unique and I'm fairly happy with it. What I don't like if how the flannel got all nubby when I washed it. I washed it alone and it already looks old. I hope it will look okay after more washings.

I hope you like my first baby quilt. I did finally understand how to make my mitered corners. It took me to about the third corner, but it finally clicked as to what to do.
Let me know what you think of my first baby quilt.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Debbie

Reason for no blog posts

2011-10-09T11:45:00.000-05:00

If you don't want to read about a kitten you may want to skip this 'wordy' post.

In the first picture you'll see Little Bella. She was a tiny 4-week-old stray kitten who took up hiding in our car motors the first of July. This is after we took to the vet for a check-up and treatments for various problems. We tried to give her to an animal shelter but they wouldn't take her due to the large volume of kittens/cats/dogs received after the April tornado's came through our area.

She fell asleep in my hands on the way back home and my husband and I decided to keep her and we are so glad we did. It's been an exciting journey to say the least. She was so frightened of every sound and of us. I think she loved our big cat, Mr. Whiskers, and clung to him, much to his dismay.

She was pretty sick and had a reaction to one of her shots and I thought she wouldn't make it, but she did as she is tough and strong. She's not scared of us anymore and is so much fun to watch everyday.

In the second picture you can see she has been well loved and taken care of. She's so full of energy! She has grown like a fertilized weed and has taken to tearing down wallpaper in our bedroom. Geeze... I need to repaint it any way. She finally made it into this crock and she is just about too big for it but she is a determined kitty so she succeeded.
She went from weighing less than one pound in the beginning of July and weighed about 5-1/2 pounds at the beginning of September. She has six toes on each front paw and an extra claw on the side of one back leg. The extra claw doesn't touch the ground and doesn't seem to be hooked to a muscle. The vet said just to leave it if it didn't get hooked onto anything.
The front paws are a different story. Whew! Who knew that paws that look like little baseball gloves could do so much work. She uses her paws like hands and will stand up like a monkey and pick something up she is after. Very strong feet I must say.

In the last picture you'll see the kitties taking a nap together after a bathing session. They were so cute I had to grab my camera. They play together a lot until Mr. Whiskers (the big cat) gets tired of Little Bella and shoves her away.
What's this got to do with blogging? Well.... it may sound crazy to you but I didn't want to leave Little Bella alone when I got home from work to go outside to my Strawberry Studio that's in my backyard. I felt like I needed to spend time with her so we could 'bond". She was so frightened and sick and little I just couldn't leave her. I also didn't want to take her into my studio which would have been a whole new place for her to get used to. Silly huh? I couldn't help myself. I fell in love with this kitty and she needed a lot of love and attention.
She's used to us now and follows us everywhere we go. To the bathroom, to make the bed, to do laundry to the ice dispenser on the fridge. She even comes running when we clean out the litter box. She must approve what we do and makes sure to 'mark' her spot when we get it clean. We should have named her "Tazmo" because she has been a Tasmanian devil of the wild kind. We enjoy her though and my husband and I call the furry friends "the children" now.
Little Bella will have an extended stay at the Vet's office this week as she is getting spayed. She won't be too pleased with that I'm sure and I'm worried she will think we abandoned her. We are sending a toy and her tuna treats with her, hopefully to remind her of her home.
Okay... now you know why I stayed away from my Strawberry Studio.
If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed my little Snippet of what I've been up to.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I really appreciate the time everyone takes to visit my little lazy blog.

Have a great day!
Debbie

Conversation Blocks

2011-07-10T14:58:00.001-05:00

I made these cute blocks a couple of months ago. I used Stampin'Up Newsprint DSP and the Broadsheet alphabet stamps. Love-love-love them so much. The wooden blocks were made by my Uncle David many years ago. I painted the blocks black and then cut the squares using my paper cutter. I used a varnish on each side after I finished adding all my stamped letters.
I started out with 14 blocks and had to figure out the words I wanted to spell out and any other holiday sayings I wanted to spell also. Then I stamped multiple letters and added the letters to different sides. That part took forever I must say.
It was an interesting project. I felt like I was creating a puzzle of sorts to try and come up with a lot of words. It's cute and I am able to spell Stampin'Up! and bzstampr to name a few.

I hope you like my block project. I think about my uncle, and the many talents he shared before he passed away, every time I look at them.

Well... it looks like we have a storm popping up. I better get off the 'ol computer and maybe read. Whoops... I hear thunder. geeze... better git!

Thanks again for taking the time to visit with me today.

Take care,
Debbie

Mug rugs

2011-07-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

This was my first attempt at making mug rugs. I took the quick way and didn't use traditional quilt binding. I used fusible fleece on the front and sewed right sides together and left an opening so I could turn it out. Then, I top stitched around outer edges and did a wonky stitch vertically and horizontally for my quilting. I cut the yellow stars on my Cricut Expression. I had to put Heat N Bond on the wrong side before I could cut them out. After fusing the star to the front piece of the mug rug, I zigzag stitched around it.
It was a quick project. They measure about 8"x10". I can't wait to make more because it was easy and fun. I even washed them to see how they would hold up. I wanted them to get "wrinkly" like an old quilt but they came out rather smooth.

I hope you like them.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit my blog.

Debbie

Coffee bean bag pillow

2011-07-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

I'm still here....
I was afraid Blogger wasn't going to let me post something. It was giving me error messages. hum... what's up with that? Can't a lazy blogger be 'lazy'?

Look at this giant pillow. It has a 24"x24" pillow form inside. The front is an actual burlap coffee bag with the graphics on front. How cool is that? I thought it would be hard to sew but it wasn't as bad as a fuzzy shirt I made for my granddaughter one time. The back of the pillow is made from canvas. I bought a 6'x9' painter's canvas for about $10 and it's strong and I see a bunch of tote bags in its future.

The coffee bean bag was so smelly when I received it that I had to leave it outside for a week. Then I had to wash it with water and leave it outside a couple more days. That did it and it smelled like sunshine.

I had read some horror stories online about sewing the burlap but I had no trouble at all. I cut the burlap pieces with pinking shears and that was a little tough but not too bad. It really went together in less than an hour.

I like it ... how 'bout you?

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll have more projects to post in just a little bit.

Have a great day!

Debbie

My Stampin'UP! stamping blitz

2011-03-14T18:15:00.003-05:00

This is the result of my latest stamping blitz. I used only SU! products. My main focus was on using the Sew Suite stamp set (#122009 clear) and the Sweet Stitches DSP (#121781) from the Occasions Mini. I used my technique that I discovered a couple of months ago where I just start with about a dozen card bases and start adding paper. Then I decide what I want to add with stamped images and punched shapes. I did this blitz over the course of a few days. I'm thinking it's faster than what I used to do. We'll see my next blitz with another beautiful stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog.
I hope you don't mind a bunch of pictures so here goes....

Well.. there you have it. They're not fancy but they were quick and easy.

I hope you enjoyed the blitz. Let me know if you have any questions about any of my cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I really appreciate it when you leave comments too.

Happy stampin',

Debbie

Hot Apron

2011-03-07T19:52:00.000-06:00

I made this apron Saturday for a dear friend. It has red with white pin dots fabric for the pockets and ties. The sides of the apron curve around to the back. I fussy cut some of the peppers out of the background fabric and appliqued them onto the pockets for a little different touch. Red bias tape goes along all the outside edges of the apron.

I used my iPhone 4 to make the picture so it's not as good as what my Canon camera could do. I just wanted to share something with you today.

Hope you like it and I so appreciate you stopping by today.

Debbie

My little helper

2011-03-07T19:42:00.001-06:00

Our fur baby, Mr. Whiskers, loves to come into the Strawberry Studio if he knows I'm in there. He just checks things out then wants back outside.
He showed up at our doorstep about 1-1/2 years ago. We took him to the vet and had him fixed and got all the shots he needed and he's just the best pet. My husband wasn't too crazy about cats before Mr. Whiskers came along, but he loves this little fellow and Mr. Whiskers loves my husband. He chooses to sit with him most all the time and just sits with me if hubby isn't home. How funny!

I was going to share a bunch of cards with you today but my pictures are still in my camera. So... I'll share those pictures tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Debbie

Just Blown Away

2011-02-19T10:39:00.003-06:00

I'm just blown away on a Saturday morning. Just checking my emails and discovered I received a sweet award from Belinda Keller. This is my first award ever. I've seen awards on other blogs but I've never had one. Didn't know what you had to do to get one either. She's such a sweetie to pass this award along to me. I'm very flattered to say the least.

Thanks so much Belinda. Visit her blog today and say hi.

When you receive this award you are to pay it forward and follow these rules:

1) thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog

2) share 8 things about myself

3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered

4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

So lets see 8 things about me........

Well.. tomorrow (Feb. 20) is my birthday. I get to do a lot of celebrating too. It started a week ago when my sweet hubby bought me an iPhone 4. It's my first smart phone and I'm loving it so far.
I love gadgets and gizmos. (Such as the iPhone) but I love my Cricut; sewing machine; AccuQuilt Go; Big Shot die cutter; Bind-it-all; Martha Stewart score board; hundreds of markers; tons of paper; and a few thousand rubber stamps. I also love organizing cubes, boxes, crates and anything that might help me to be more organized.
I recently rejoined Stampin'UP! for the third time. The first time was in 1997 and was with them for a number of years. They really do have the best products around.
I was a sign-painter for about 18 years. I painted signs after working full time and would sometimes put the sign in front of a gas heater to get it to dry faster so I could paint the other side. Geeze... How did I ever live through that?
I'm still living my dream of my new craft house "Strawberry Studio" that we built in the summer of 2009. I pinch myself everyday because it is truly a dream-come-true. I noticed yesterday when I walked in it still smelled like a newly built house. It is full of recycled/re-purposed items that didn't cost a lot of money.
I started sewing when I was about 10-years-old. Sewed through a finger back then and learned fast not to do that again. Made a lot of my clothes in those days because I was skinny as a stick and a straight-shirt dress was in style.
I started painting and drawing when I was big enough to hold a pencil. In the first grade my teacher popped my hand with a ruler because I was drawing instead of listening. Oops... She just didn't know I needed the practice.
My husband and I took in a stray cat about a year and a half ago. He was nearly a year old then and we love him to pieces. His name is Mr. Whiskers and he is very spoiled. This may not seem like anything special, but my husband hated cats and we both just never wanted pets because we worked so much. Now I just work part-time (after eight years of a one-hour commute one way) I retired from that job.

PHEW! I hope that wasn't TMI! (Too Much Information)
My turn to 'Pay it forward' goes to some of my favorite places to visit. You will too like them too. They are in no particular order as they are all wonderful.

1. Jo Wilson
2. Diana Gibbs
3. Lynn Pratt
4. Trena Brannon
5. Denise Hill
6. Melanie
7. Mary Fish
8. Gretchen Barron

Thanks again Belinda for including me in your choices for the Stylish Blogger Award.

Have a happy Saturday everyone and thanks for taking the time to visit my blog.

Debbie

Diabetes donation purse

2011-01-12T17:19:00.002-06:00

This is a beautiful paper purse (all Stampin'UP!) that I made a couple of months ago. I found the tutorial from the VERY talented Lynn Pratt blog www.stampndesign.blogspot.com. Her sweet baby girl, Ashley, is five and was diagnosed with type I diabetes last year. With a donation to the American Diabetes Association in Ashley's name you'll get the tutorial from Lynn for making this purse.
The directions were very easy to follow as she walks you through step-by-step with plenty of step-out photos of how your purse should look along the way. She also gives you tips to make the process easy.
Visit Lynn's blog. You won't be disappointed.
Don't ask me how I got the ribbon handles to stand up on my purse. It just worked out for my photo shoot and I was tickled it worked after a few tries.

Thanks again for stopping by my blog.

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio.

Debbie

Card making blitz

2011-01-12T17:08:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you thought I had disappeared but I'm here and I've been busy all along making cards like crazy. I just forget to make pictures of them and I'm a lazy blogger.

The above picture is a shot of my desk with the 17 cards I made in just a couple of days. The paper, ribbon and buttons are from Taylored Expressions key ingredients kit from June 2010. I love her kits and Taylor promotes that you can make about 16 cards from each kit. I've been wanting to put myself to that challenge and see if I could come up with 16 different ideas. geeze.. I'm lucky when I can come up with one idea most of the time.

I usually sit down to make one card for a particular person. I take forever to choose a stamp set, then paper and whatever else I may want to use. By the time I've got all this stuff gathered up it's time to cook supper. I tend to get on my own nerves because it takes me forever to make ONE card.

I tried something different this time. It's an idea I've been wondering if I could do it. It's really simple too. Geeze... why didn't I think of this sooner. (I'm sure all you stampers know this idea already but I've not read about anyone stamping this way.)

Okay... this is what I did for this card making blitz. I folded all the card bases to 5-1/4 x 4-1/2 or 4-1/2 x 5-1/4. I decided to not over-think my card design and I just started cutting layers, applying trim and worrying about the sentiment after I finished most of my cards. Then I stepped back and looked at the card to see what I wanted it to have for a sentiment and/or a stamped image. I just didn't over think it. I felt like I was doing something backwards from how I usually go about making my cards. It worked for me this time and I plan on trying it again. I did spend a good bit of time in my Strawberry Studio but that's what I love to do anyway. Now I was just more productive than usual.

I don't know if you can tell by the picture but I think the cards turned out okay. I used one item cut from my Cricut Expression and only had to add a little bit of Whisper White and Very Vanilla cardstock from Stampin' UP!

I didn't make individual pictures because I thought you'd get tired of looking at them. If there's something here that interests you just let me know and I can make another picture.

Sorry about the long post... hope I didn't put you to sleep. Then again, if it's late at night that may be a good thing.

Take care and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog. I hope to improve on my blogging this year so hang in there with me.

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio!

Debbie

THIS IRRESISTIBLE OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL NOV. 30, 2010

2010-11-13T11:31:00.000-06:00

If you've been on the fence about joing Stampin'Up! to becoming a demonstrator, now is the time to jump off that fence and join the fun. You won't find a better time to join a great company and a great group of fun, idea-sharing demonstrators.

It's like a sisterhood among Stampin'Up! demonstrators. Everyone is more than willing to help you get started by sharing their techniques and business ideas. You can't go wrong.

Don't wait too long to take advantage of this amazing offer from Stampin'Up! Please contact me through my Stampin'Up! website at http://www.debbiereaves.stampinup.net/ to learn more.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.

Debbie

A puppy to make you smile

2010-10-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

Meet my granddaughter's new puppy, Cody. He's a mixed breed Chihuahua/Poodle. Waaaay too cute. Her dad (my son) bought him for her yesterday. She just loves him and he seems to love her a lot too.

He cried a lot for her to hold him. I told her that's the same thing babies do. He got a little car sick in my car yesterday but not too bad. I was afraid Scarlett was going to get sick too, but she was okay. Yay!

Don't you think he's cute?

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today!

Have a great day,

Debbie

Punched up card

2010-10-16T15:34:00.001-05:00

What do you think of this funny card? I used a bunch of SU! punches to create the shapes.

Stamps: Boots and hat from the Wicked Cool stamp set (#120600).

The eyes are from the Oval large (#119855). I colored the blue iris part of the eye. The pupil is 1/2" circle punch (#119869), the eyelids are punched from the Scallop Oval Extra-Large (#119884) cut one in half, then snip the little eyelashes. The paper sorta curls up on its own. Weird, huh?

The Pumpkin is made using three 1-3/4" circles (#119850) with the Oval (#119855) centered over the three circles. I edged each shape with Soft Suede (#115657) ink pad.

On the boots... I stamped them two times, and cut out two of the ones going in the same direction so I could place them under the pumpkin.

Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Stampin'Write markers, Soft Suede, Staz On white.

Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, White Stampin' Pastels to create the fog around the pumpkin.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I've been playing for hours now in the Strawberry Studio. Hum... maybe I'll get more cards made. We'll see. (I keep leaning toward trying to organize something.)

Have a great day!

Debbie

Because I Care card

2010-10-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

This card was a total CASE from Tina at www.mytherapymycreations.blogspot.com.
When I saw her card I just knew I had to try it. Mine doesn't quite measure up to hers, but it was fun to make.
Stamps: Because I care (Level 1 Hostess set)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Stampin'Write markers, Basic Black classic ink pad, Crumb Cake classic ink pad.
Accessories: Basic black satin ribbon, Glue dots, brads from Designer Hardware Vintage Trinkets (too cute IRI), Snail adhesive, sponge

My mojo has been in hiding so it really helps to find a card I can CASE. Maybe the ol' mojo will find it's way back home. (I have ideas, they are just stuck and can't get out.)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog I really do appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!
Debbie

A Spooky Card

2010-09-27T17:31:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to show a cute card I made last week. Top photo is the front and next photo is the inside. I hope you can see the embossed bats in the background.

Stamp set: Wicked Cool (#120600) clear mount
Paper: Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Markers: Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Basic Black
Ribbon: 5/8" white Organza
Additional items used: Clear embossing powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, 1-3/4" Circle Extra-Large punch, Hobby Blade, Cutting mat. The Googly eyes are not Stampin'UP! but I couldn't help myself and had to add them to the O's.

Thanks for looking! (I've got to go and fire up the grill for burgers.) Whoo-hoo!

Have a great evening,

Debbie

Cool ideas from the Stampin' UP! Starter Kit

2010-09-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Free Craft Tote Promotion

2010-09-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Don't let this tote-ally awesome opportunity pass you by!

September 1 through October 18, receive a FREE craft tote--a $39.95 value--when you join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator!

Imagine sharing your love of Stampin' Up! with this stylish and practical tote, patterned after our Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper and large enough to carry 12" x 12" card stock and a Paper Cutter, as well as punches, ink pads, and accessories. And with two Starter Kits* to choose from--Standard and Digital+--at a new lower price, there's never been a better time to join the Stampin' Up! family.

Contact me TODAY to get started with this tote-ally awesome opportunity. Don't already have a demonstrator? I'd love the privilege of being your demonstrator. Click on the new 2010-2011 catalog at the right to go straight to my Stampin'UP! website.

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio!

Debbie

*Sample Starter Kit contents pictured in tote

Greenhouse Gala Craft Tote

2010-08-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness! I just had to blog my latest delivery by UPS. Whoo-hoo!
Isn't it beautiful? It's my Stampin'UP! Greenhouse Gala Craft tote.This bag is available for purchase one per demonstrator only. If you're a SU! demo be sure to grab yours before they're gone. The print is patterned after the Designer Series Paper (see page 173 of the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog).
I hope to be able fit a workshop inside this large bag. Okay Stampin'UP! sisters... will I be able to carry a workshop in this bag? Maybe excluding the catalogs? What do you think?

Thanks so much for dropping by. I must go and caress my SU! tote a little while. So many cubbies and pockets oh my!

Have a great night!

Debbie

How about another sewing themed card

2010-08-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

This is another card I threw together. I was just playing around with all the cute stamps and multi-colored the words with markers and stamped it on the white card base. The other elements were made on separate card stock and cut out. I love to color and cut things out with a craft knife. Doesn't bother me if I have to do that. It's fun! All the stamps (except the ruler) are from Darcies. Visit her at www.darcie.com to see her sewing themed stamp sets and all the other beautiful sets that are available.
The ruler is from www.localkingrubberstamp.com and was made in Canada.

Okay... it's time for me to get busy cutting out some card stock. Come on over and play....I've got lots of paper and stamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio.

Debbie

Another sewing themed card

2010-08-10T16:29:00.000-05:00

Okay... I'm on a roll today. I thought I'd post some of the other cards I made using the sewing themed stamps. I really did just throw this card together. The red was a scrap tossed on my desk and I had made the flowers a while back. See earlier post about the vintage flowers.
All stamps are from www.darcie.com except for the ruler. It came from a little set I ordered off Ebay from Canada at www.localkingrubberstamp.com. I am in love with Darcie Heater's new style of stamps. I remember her from a cutesie style of years ago. She has some of the most adorable stamps I've seen in a long time. Visit her site to see all the new things she's coming out with. The scallop oval is from Stampin'UP! and you can visit my site at www.debbiereaves.stampinup.net to order it if you like.
I just re-joined Stampin'UP! I don't know what happened to me but when I saw the new catalog I just fell in love with them all over again. I look forward to sharing my love of stamping with anyone and everyone. I think I'll just carry my favorite stamps in my purse along with an ink pad and just pop it out when someone says "what tha heck is stamping?" I'll be prepared. I guess that will be a very big purse too. No problem... I have a couple of sewing machines and I'll just have to whip one up. It's true. People still ask what I'm talking about. Wouldn't it be cool just to stamp something right then? I'm going to work on that idea.
If you're looking for a Stampin'UP! demonstrator you've found me... I'm your gal! Just let me know what you're interested in and I'll share what I know.

Alright... my poor finger with six stitches has decided to hurt today more than any since I had surgery this past Friday. I have typed a lot today. No telling how many letters are missing from words I typed at work. Shhhhh...don't tell. Let's see if the editor catches it.

One more card coming up with a sewing theme...

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio!
Debbie

Strawberry card

2010-08-10T16:11:00.001-05:00

This card was made using the Big Shot and the BIGZ strawberry die. I traced around the red portion so I could have a white mat and make the card a little stronger. The die is so cool because it has two berries connected at the stem so it can be folded over into a card. There's also a leaf die on it.
I just wrote a review of the Big Shot for our craft column "Haute Homemade" for our local newspaper. You can find it at www.annistonstar.com . Type in Debbie Reaves in the search box since I don't know how to direct you to the article. Please share the love in a comment box if you liked the article.
I also made a cute banner with five berries and each one had a letter on it to spell out "B L O O M". It turned out real cute.

Let me know if you had time to visit the article and I sure do appreciate it. I'm not a writer so I think it's a big deal if I write an article.

I especially want to thank you for dropping by here when I know you'd rather be stamping..cutting...or something else. Having a snack would be good too!

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio!
Debbie

Sewing themed card

2010-06-14T16:45:00.001-05:00

This card looks better in real life. The colors are very vivid but it looks a little dull in the picture.
I've been on a "sewing themed" rubber stamp kick for the past few months and I've been buying up sets that I thought were cute. The sewing machine is from one of the sets I purchased on Ebay from someone in Canada. You can't tell it but it's popped up with Pop-Dots and colored with Copic sketch markers. The cute ruler ribbon and designer paper is from Taylored Expressions "April Key Ingredients" kit of the month. I used the ruler stamp from this set and stamped a background on the yellow card stock.
Let me know if you have any questions about this card. I have more sets to use and can't wait to get to them.

I've got to get ready for my Zumba class. I've been taking classes since April and it kicks my butt every time.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Debbie

Sign On the Wall

2010-06-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

The sign is hanging behind my desk for the moment. I may have to paint another one on wood to hang on the porch. I'm afraid the canvas wouldn't hold up outside. Don't look at the junky shelves. They work for me, but they look kind of bad from behind the camera.
What do you think of my sign?

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Debbie

Finally Got A Name

2010-06-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

July 3rd will be the one-year anniversary of my sweet little craft house. I kept waiting on a name to present itself to me. Ya know... I had to feel it.
I had felt bad about tearing up my and Scarlett's little strawberry patch (that was producing berries) in order to build the craft house, so I thought it would be nice to honor it by naming the craft house .........................

I've totally lost my touch on painting and I just couldn't get it back yesterday when I was working on this canvas. I was a sign-painter for about 18 years but it's been YEARS since I've lettered anything. I remembered how to letter, but was very rusty. I was trying for a vintage sign and hopefully this fits the bill.
Let me know what you think of my little craft house name and sign.

Hey... just for you Jo! I really miss you girlfriend, but I know you are having a blast being retired.

Happiness always blooms in the Strawberry Studio!

Thanks for stopping by!

Debbie

Vintage paper flowers

2010-04-17T08:20:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time since I blogged. Time can just fly by before you know it.

I've been playing around with making vintage looking paper flowers using pages from an old book. Now, I'm a lover of books and would never want to use sheets from a book I cherished, but this one wasn't very interesting. It looks like some type of engineering book.

Okay...to the flowers.

Don't you just love them? I found this fun blog while blog hopping one day.

Here's the link to the lady that makes the flowers. www.leahfung.typepad.com. Her blog is called Leah's Desktop Dictionary. The Web site is loaded with video's. I've only watched the one about the flowers though. Oh... it's V blog# 38. I hope you'll be able to see it. Let me know what you think.

I followed the instructions and made a bunch of flowers. The pink/gold color is a mixture Scarlett and I made up last year using a pigment powder (Moon Dust) added to a small spritzer bottle of water. I shake it up before spraying.

I cut my scalloped circles on my Cricut Expression and used three for each flower. I think I started with a 4" circle. I added leaves from Prima Flowers. I found a big jar of them at Hobby Lobby.
I have since added the flowers to some cute cards that I will share here shortly.

Share some blogging love and let me know what you think of the flowers. I've received a lot of requests for some of these. I'm going to try another method of making them and I'll post which one I think is easier as soon as I get that rolling. (I know...it takes me forever.)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Debbie

Flowers for Me

2010-02-23T18:53:00.004-06:00

My sweet hubby sent flowers to me for Valentine's Day. We also bought a new dishwasher after ours died. It was installed on the day of snow (Feb. 12) and was such a messy day. A pretty day...but messy. Hey the dishwasher is great. It's so quiet we had to go in the kitchen and listen to be sure it was running. Yep! It's that quiet.
Oh... and my hubby also bought me a harmonica. Yeah... I've always wanted to learn how to play one. After just a few days of practicing I could play 'Oh Suzanna'. How funny! I tried to learn from You Tube but there were so many different instructions I just bought a book. It has been the most helpful. My husband couldn't believe I could play something in just a few days. The bad thing is that if I practice in the house my cat will come up and bite me on the arm letting me know I sound like an ally cat or something. He bit me twice the first time I played around him. He doesn't like it at all. He runs after he bites me. It's true and I've tried it more than once. He is my coach letting me know I'm not ready to go public yet. So... I just go to my craft house and play to my heart (lips) content. You can get out of breath doing this ya know. I am following the book and must practice everyday.

The first snow picture is the view from my front porch. It had not been snowing for long and it piled up quickly. I thought it was beautiful but we don't get snow very often. You can see it didn't stick to the streets.

The second photo is the view from a window in my craft house right where the Pfaff sewing machine is sitting. What a beautiful sight. Yeah...the snow looked beautiful too!
Hope you enjoyed my treats today. I have been stamping cards but not made any pictures of them.
I have a new toy I may share in the next day or so... if you are interested.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a supah dupah day tomorrow!

Debbie

Sweet Treats

2010-02-23T18:30:00.006-06:00

I guess better late than never. Did I tell you I was a lazy blogger?

I thought you might like to see what I made for the grand kids for Valentine's Day. Cute little pizza boxes. I found the template on splitcoaststampers.com. I forgot to make a picture of the boxes open with the chocolate truffles inside. Yum! Easy little boxes to make.
I used some beautiful digital paper that I purchased from Gina K Designs to cover the outside and line the inside of each box. I cut the round hearts and the word 'love' using Gina K papers with my Cricut Expressions and the Sure Cuts A Lot software. The long skinny hearts were cut using a Sizzix die and machine.

I hope you like my little boxes and if you have questions please let me know.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

More Blessings My Way Come

2010-02-05T15:56:00.003-06:00

I've lived through pain and hard times in my life, but I must say I've had a very blessed life through it all.
This is just another blessing in my book. Someone was going to throw this sewing machine away because they didn't want it anymore. I was asked if I wanted it. I went to see it before making a decision and just jumped up and down when I saw it was a Pfaff. (A wonderful brand for decades.) I definitely wanted this to go home with me.
We don't own a truck so my husband has a friend with a truck and they went in the cold, misty rain last Saturday (Jan. 30, 2010) and picked it up. It was a real nasty day for weather. A wonderful day for me.
My husband goes along with anything I want, but his friend wanted to know what tha heck was I going to do with this machine. I said, "I don't know, but I'm sure there's a reason it fell in my lap." Another of our friends came over and put a new cord on it. I spent last Sunday cleaning it up, oiling, and playing with it. Bonding with it ya know....
I was able to download a copy of the original manual and it helped me find all the spots to oil. (It's a German made machine, and some of the oil spots are marked with "Oel.") Cute huh? There are about 25-30 "Oel" spots and I was careful to only use 2-3 drops like the manual said. Well... after I put everything back together, the machine just wouldn't sew very well. The manual stated not to over-oil. After spending an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong, I gave up and went in the house. I told my husband I'd messed it up, and he reminded me if was free and not to worry about it.
Before I went to bed, I had to just check it one more time. I went over everything I did and had forgotten my new machine does everything automatically (nearly) and on this machine, you have to dis-engage the motor (turn dial) to wind a bobbin. Geeze.... I tightened that dial up and popped in some fabric. The G-Force pushed me away from the machine. Un-believable! It's so powerful and sews so fast. It does zig-zag and other stitches that I haven't played with much. It sews perfect.
I am one lucky chick-a-dee. I'll tell ya. I know God has a plan for me. I just have to figure out what it is. So I have a perfect little spot in front of the window for the machine. I'll just have to sew myself a seat-belt so I can sew without rolling away. It's too funny...but true.
I wanted to buy an industrial machine about four years ago to use in my tote-bag business. I just never found one and I had stopped making the bags after I went to work. Now...I'm getting in the mood to give that a try again. We'll see.
I'm always flip-flopping between sewing and stamping. Now that I finished the mini-quilt, I'm ready to get back to stamping for a little while. Whoo-hoo!

If you read this far... I sure do thank you for putting up with me.

Thanks for stopping by.

Debbie

Valentine's Mini-Quilt Wall Hanging

2010-02-05T15:32:00.002-06:00

This post is for my 'blog cheerleaders", Jo and Trena. I hope you get to see this. I know...I'm a terrible blogger. I stay busy in my little "strawberry cottage" crafting away. I just don't make a lot of pictures of what I make.
I found the free pattern on the AccuQuilt Web site. I didn't have the heart dies from AccuQuilt, but I used my Cricut Expression to cut out the different sizes of hearts required. I ironed the Heat n Bond Lite (Sewable) onto my fabric before cutting. I left the backing paper on the fabric, but I think I should have removed it before cutting. I'll try that next time. There were a few little spots that I had to cut with a craft knife, but it didn't take too long.
I didn't want to buy any more red fabric to use around the outer edges of the quilt, so I just used one of the scallop stitches on my machine to stitch around the outer edges.
I also cut the square too small and had to add a 2" strip around all four edges. Geeze... I know the rule about measure twice-cut once, but no one mentioned the 'memory' part. I forgot from the time I started measuring and cutting, what size I was making. Any hoooo... I added the strips then stitched right next to the stitch line. It turned out kinda cute.
My quilting is a little crooked...I was just 'eye-balling it' and should have marked the fabric with something. I used another cool "stipple" stitch on my sewing machine for the quilting lines. Love...love my Brother SE-350. (Jo.... are you sewing up a storm on your SE-350 yet?) hum? I wanna see projects too!
I have plans to sew more thingies... not sure what they'll be just yet.
Take care my blog cheerleaders! Maybe I'll get better at blogging this year.

Leave the love here.

Thanks for being you!

Debbie

My Day 12 of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-12T16:01:00.004-06:00

What a cutie! This was the most difficult of the 12 tags for me to make. The roses were a challenge. I have to thank Tim for that because had I not followed his blog I wouldn't have tried making roses. I love how they turned out. I didn't have any grunge paper but I used two different card stocks. One was thicker than the other, but they worked equally well. I didn't have enough of the "blingie" gemstones to make the flourishes that I needed, so I used Stickles glitter glue and made little dots. I hope you can see them in the photo.
This was such a fun challenge for me. I think I'll now try to follow some other blog challenges to stretch my brain out of it's comfort zone. Woo-hoo!

If you've been following along with me I sure do appreciate it and I hope you've enjoyed it too.

I'm off to make a Birthday card for a friend and then out to dinner in her honor.
Have a great evening!

Day 11 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-11T18:23:00.003-06:00

Yeah!! I'm on the home stretch with my tags. This one was the easiest so far and I hope the one for tomorrow won't be too difficult for me. Woo-hoo!
I cut the cute deer our of white card stock and cut a 'shadow' from red card stock. I embossed the white deer with black flourishes then inked it up with red distressing ink from Ranger.
I stamped some very small images then colored and punched them out with a 1/2" circle punch. The I glued the image behind a clear stone that sort of magnified the image a little bit. Then the stones are glued in the middle of each Prima flower that I colored with my Copics.

I hope you are enjoying this journey with me. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to watch Harry Potter with hubby and granddaughter.

nite!
Debbie

My Day 10 of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-10T20:04:00.005-06:00

WOW! This one was a doozie! I just love it though. I was able to use a lot of my Copic markers on this tag. It also has heavy duty aluminum foil on it. I didn't have the things that Tim used, so as usual, I had to improvise. How cool is that?
I had to stamp each letter on some of Tim's grungeboard that I found at Hobby Lobby. I used my 40% off coupon and picked up a package of plain grungeboard sheets. It's a very thick flexible chipboard type material. It's sort of like a rubbery chipboard material. I had to cut each letter out with an X-acto knife. It took me about 45 minutes to stamp and cut each one out. Tim used die-cut grungeboard letters, but I improvised. I know he doesn't like to use a craft knife but I enjoy using one. I glued the letters to the tag, then glued the aluminum foil on top of all the letters on the tag. I had to gently smooth out the foil around each letter using a round end of a wooden stick thingie I have. (I have no idea what it's originally used for.) Then I colored each section with a Copic marker. I used a black one to trace around each letter for an antiqued look. I just stamped a snowflake and cut it with my knife. I glitterfied the snowflake but it's wet right now, so it probably doesn't show up well.
I think the tag turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

Well... I'm super tired and ready to call it a night. I sure do appreciate you stopping by my blog to see what I'm up too.

Have a great night and Happy Friday tomorrow!

Debbie

My Day 9 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-09T19:21:00.002-06:00

This tag just touches my heart. That's my granddaughter 10 years ago. I still call her 'baby-girl'. She'll never be too old for me to call her that. I love this picture of her. She loves Christmas so much. She loved Frosty very much at the time. She had to hug him everyday and talk to him. So sweet and precious! I treasure the memories.
So.. I guess you can tell I love this tag. It may not be just like Tim's but the idea is the same.
How sweet. I colored the metal items with my Copic marker. The film strip was one that I cut up. The little pictures are from Tim's Web-site. He gave us permission to use them. He has a film strip ribbon available for purchase, but I had to improvise. (It's been like a treasure hunt to see if I could find something in my craft house to use for my substitutions.)
Let me know what you think about my sweet little tag for day 9. Thanks again for stopping by my little blog.

Take care and have a great evening.

Debbie

Our cat...Mr. Whiskers

2009-12-08T19:01:00.002-06:00

Mr. Whiskers came to live with us in September. He dropped by one day and wouldn't leave. So, we decided to keep him and took him to the vet and spent a small fortune to get him healthy and neutered. Poor baby has a right front paw that had been broken at some time in his little life (he's about one-year-old) that causes him to hold that leg up when he walks or runs. The doctor said it would never be better, but gave him a cortisone shot. We have since moved him into the house. Not exactly what we wanted to do, but we've fallen in love with him and treat him like a little kid. He's got it made. He lets us know when he wants to go out and guard the yard. He just sits around looking at everything, then he comes back in.
He doesn't bother the tree...but I did leave off the ornaments from the very bottom of the tree just in case.
He's getting fat and has gotten very frisky since his surgery in October. We thought it'd slow him down, but geeze... he likes to play hard and sleep hard. He makes this chirping sound (for lack of knowing what to call this sound) instead of meowing. It's so funny! He only meows when he wants to come back in the house from being cold. Cracks me up.
I thought I'd share the picture I made this morning of him under the tree. He was smelling of the presents but so far hasn't had much interest in them or the tree. He'd rather play with a little stuffed toy or my granddaughter's dirty sock.
So if you come visit us, you may have to walk over a dirty sock or a playful cat. He will grab your feet if he's wanting to play.
Do you have any idea what the 'chirping' sound is? I don't know how to explain it, it's not a purr, but this little sound from the inside. Crazy...

Gotta go now.... thanks so much for dropping by. Hope you are enjoying my 12 tags of Christmas. I think I'm going to make a display board to put them on. I better get on that tomorrow. Maybe I'll share it here.

Have a great evening!

Debbie

My Day 8 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-08T18:51:00.004-06:00

Phew! I just finished cooking and eating the most wonderful pork chops. Yum-O! I'm not usually crazy about pork chops, but these turned out so tender. I marinated them with Italian dressing and cooked them on my griddle. Very good....

Okay... here's my Day 8 tag. Isn't it cute? I cut the lamp post on my Cricut Expression using white cardstock. I colored it with my Copic markers. Used a Martha Stewart punch for the greenery on the lamp post. The bells are stamped and I either had these very little ones or some that were just too big. The large key is an Angel Company stamp image colored with a gold marker. I attached a key charm to the larger key with a little brad. I used a piece of sheet music layered under the stamped images. I made the little red bow on the lamp post with my Bow Easy.

Let me know what you think about this tag and thanks so much for stopping by.

Take care,

Debbie

My Day 7 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-07T19:12:00.003-06:00

This is my day 7 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas. Visit his blog here to see what it's all about. I know you've seen this Santa before, but he's so cute and the only vintage-looking one I have. It's hard to see the little metal tag in the picture, but it has "wish" debossed in the middle. It started out as a silver tag and I colored it with my Copic markers. It's cute, but just doesn't show up well in the picture.
Let me know what you think about my version of Tim's tags. I've made it this far so hopefully I'll make it to the last tag. woo-hoo!
I've had a super busy day so I'm off to rest a little. (My desk looks like a tornado hit it.) It's been a fun tornado though.
Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great evening!

Debbie

My Day 6 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-06T16:55:00.005-06:00

This is my Day 6 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas. I must admit it was the easiest one so far for me. Visit his Web site here to see what it's all about.
I cut the tree out of green cardstock on my Cricut Expression and added some Aleene's glitter snow. The truck was printed from a graphics software package on my computer. I printed it on cardstock and colored the white areas of the truck with a gold marker. There's a red button added where the spare tire is located. (At least I think it was the spare tire.) I stamped the "Merry Christmas" and the flourish. The background is a page from an old book. I glued it down then tore the edges. I used Ranger Distress inks around the edges of the tag and also in the middle of the tag.
The metal charm was silver so I colored it with a dark brown Copic marker. It's attached to the ribbon with a little brass safety pin.
The tree is wrapped with twine to the top of the truck. The tree and truck are attached to the tag with foam dots.
This one was easy-peasy!
Let me know what you think about my tags so far. Sometime before Christmas... I've got to finish my Christmas cards.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I hope you'll take the time to leave a little comment.

Have a great evening!

Debbie

My Day 5 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-05T16:12:00.002-06:00

Now this tag was a little more of a challenge than the others. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to create the ornaments.

I used clear acrylic and punched out the shape I needed on the first three ornaments (from left to right) then the one on the right is actually a rubber stamped image. I stamped my images on white cardstock then used Crystal Laquer to glue down the acrylic piece on top of the stamped piece. Then I stamped the top of the ornaments and cut them out and glued in place.

I couldn't find any of my wire to use to 'hang' the ornaments so I used embroidery floss. I think it looks okay. I discovered I don't own any green embossing powders (how did that happen?) except for the teal green I used for the pine boughs I stamped and embossed. No problem... I'm fairly happy with it. Everything else just fell in place after I finished the ornaments.

I cut the word 'greetings' out with my Cricut Expression. Now that is one gizmo that I've really enjoyed since receiving it last Christmas. There's just no end to what you can do with it.

Let me know what you think of my tags. I'm just excited that I've made it this far.

It's been fun and I've lost track of time as I've spent my day in my little Craft House. If I had put a bathroom in here when we built it... I'd never have to go in the 'big' house. (Well... I would have to go get snacks.)

I do hope you are enjoying following along with me on the 12 tags of Christmas project. Visit Tim's Web site here. The more comments he receives, the more prizes he will give away. I'm trying my best to win something.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know if you like my tags.

take care,

Debbie

My Day 4 tag of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas

2009-12-05T15:58:00.005-06:00

So here's my Day 4 tag of Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas. How do you like it? It wasn't as hard as I was expecting. I had to do some serious substituting for things Tim used that I didn't have.
That's been the fun part of this project to me. Going through my 'stash' of goodies and seeing what I haven't looked at in a while.
I used an assortment of different stamps for the background. On some of the stamps I just colored in the portion with markers that I wanted to use. Isn't that neat? I've always heard of doing that, I just never tried it. It makes you look at your stamps in a whole new way.
The large pin holding the framed wreath was bright silver before I colored it with my Copic markers (after I did some sanding on it.) I wanted to take away the shine of the silver so I could get a dull bronze finish. Maybe it looks okay. The little star was a silver charm and I also colored it with a Copic marker. Gotta love those alcohol markers. Just give it a few minutes and it's dry.
Hang in there with me... I've got tag 5 coming up next. WOO-HOO!

As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by and visiting my blog.

Have a great evening!

Debbie

My "Day 3 Tag" for Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

2009-12-03T17:15:00.003-06:00

Oh my goodness! I've made it to day 3 of Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas. I'm not so sure about my tags for today's project but I did what I could with what I had.

Let me know what you think about my 'plaid' tags for day 3.

We're off to see Scarlett singing in a Christmas Choir program. She loves to sing and we love to hear her belting it out.

Have a great evening and thanks so much for stopping by.

Debbie

My Day 1 and 2 of Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

2009-12-02T19:10:00.007-06:00

This is a first for me. I don't usually follow along on any of the challenges I see on-line (too lazy) but I just love the tags Tim makes at Christmas. So... I'm going to try and follow along and make one each day.

I made the first one yesterday but the tag was wet last night and I was too tired to make a picture.

I'm substituting when I don't have the same products Tim uses. (I just gotta order some of his goodies.) I have some, but not everything he uses. No matter... it's fun to see what I can come up with.

So let me know what you think about my tags.

The Snowman tag is my DAY 1 tag.....

The Christmas tag is my DAY 2 tag......

Do you think I can do it? Life keeps me busy but I'm going to give it a try. Hang on to your keyboard... it may get crazy. (I haven't even finished my Christmas cards yet.)

Thanks so much for stopping by and let's see how I do with this cool project.

Please visit Tim's blog here and leave a comment. The more comments he receives the more prizes he'll give away. How fun is that!
Oh... and I'd love for you to leave a little love for me on my blog...maybe it'd encourage me to blog more often.

Have a great Thursday!

Debbie

World Card Making Day

2009-10-04T17:00:00.004-05:00

I finished these two cards up yesterday. I colored the cherry image, from Flourishes http://www.flourishes.org/, with my Copic markers. They have the best clear stamps I've ever used. They came right out of the package ready to use. I didn't have to clean or prep the stamps. They really are the best clear stamps I think I've ever used. I'm in love with them. I bought several sets from them recently and can't put them away. I used designer scrapbook paper for the background and the sentiment is an old Penny Black image. I added Crystal Lacquer to the cherries and layered one leaf and one cherry for added dimension. I added the bow to look like it was tied onto the bunch of cherries.

The peach image is also from Flourishes. Another great set. Both the cherries and peach set have small and large images that can be used in a lot of different ways. The images are added to the cards with Pop-dots to raise them up.

Let me know if you have any questions about either one of these cards. Do you think they look good?

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my little blog. I really do appreciate it.

Have a great day!

Sunday International projects for September

2009-10-04T16:19:00.007-05:00

The little gift box was cut using my Cricut Expressions die cut machine and the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge. I used the new Borders 2 ATC stamp set, from the Best of Dee Gruenig Collection, using bleach (our technique for Sept.) onto the dark wine card stock. Isn't that a neat look? I added the little scalloped square (cut on Cricut using Accents Essentials cartridge) on the bottom of the box. Added pink brads to the corners and attached the Prima flowers on the top flap with a pink brad also.

Easy to make and cute to look at.

What do you think about the little gift box? On the Zebra card, I was trying to make my own background paper so I stamped the Zebra from the Jr. Jungle ATC stamp set, from the Best of Dee Gruenig Collection, repeated across the white panel. Then attached it to red, then onto a black card base. The oval pieces were cut on the Cricut. The sentiment is from the new Greetings 2 ATC set from the Best of Dee Gruenig Collection.I love Dee's stamp designs. She is so talented and it's so much fun to watch her demonstrate how to stamp. You'll just have to go to the Sunday International Web site and see the new videos Dee has created of her using the new ATC stamp sets.

I used to watch Dee on the Carol Duval Show on HGTV. Anytime Dee was on there it was a fun show. Her ideas are so great also and you can tell she loves to share the art. I have some of her video's and now DVDs to try and learn her techniques. She's uber talented.

I used the Borders 2 ATC set to stamp this background and used a sentiment from the Greetings 2 ATC set. I think it turned out kinda cute. It has started me on a quest to design my own backgrounds using some of my smaller ATC stamps.

Do you like the look?This is the inside. Super easy. Using the same pink card stock as on the front I stamped my images in brown.

The bookmark was made using the Jr. Jungle ATC set and stamping with bleach onto the dark wine colored card stock. It's so fun to watch the stock change colors. Different card stock yields a different color when stamped with bleach. You never know what you'll end up with. The bookmark was cut on the Cricut Express using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge. I cut two and layered them together. I used a gold Krylon marker to go around the edges of the wine colored bookmark... then added the gold ribbon. Now...if I'd just put the bookmark to good use and read a book. It's been a while since I read a book but I hope to read one while on vacation during Fall break. Can't wait either.

Well... what do you think about my projects for Sunday International?

It truly has been a thrill to design for them. If you ever have the chance to design for someone, go ahead and give it a try. It will challenge you to learn new things and add a twist to some old things you may have forgotten.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit with me today and I sure do appreciate you stopping by.

Take care and have a great evening!

Debbie

A rose is a rose

2009-09-27T15:53:00.004-05:00

This rose just bloomed overnight on a little bush Scarlett and I planted in the pouring rain the first week of August. We were soaking wet but had a wonderful day! I bought two rose bushes... 2 for $10 at Lowe's. I don't have a green thumb at all so I have no idea how these things will survive. We'll see how it goes. This particular rose bush hadn't been looking too good while the other one has had a lot of blooms on it. I can't think of the name of them right now, but I don't think they're suppose to grow tall.

Isn't it just beautiful! I took the picture early this morning as I headed to the craft house with my cup of coffee.

I don't know what the other bush with red leaves is. We bought it when we got the rose bushes. It's beautiful but didn't have a tag on it and the checkout clerk at Lowe's didn't know what it was. It was coming a rainstorm while we were there so I didn't wait around to find someone that may know what it is. Do you have any idea what it may be?

Enjoy the view. (Hey... I've been stamping a lot... but my mojo has been on vacation and my ideas aren't flowing like I want them to.) geeze... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Right now I have a roast with potatoes in the crockpot and I made homemade chicken noodle soup last night. It was wonderful. I hope the roast will be as good. Oh... I better go pop some green beans on the stove to cook while I try to find my mojo.

Don't you just love food! (And... I made homemade chocolate pudding a couple of hours ago. Over-cooked it I think but it's still good.)

Have a great Sunday evening and thank you so much for stopping by. Let me know if you're enjoying my blog.

take care,

Debbie

New family member

2009-09-27T15:39:00.003-05:00

We never expected to have any pets at our home. We used to be away from home most of the day and my husband isn't crazy about cats. But... we have a cat now. It took up at our house last weekend and decided to stay with us. He's a cutie and I think he's young but I'm not sure.

My granddaughter fell in love with him and immediately wanted us to go buy cat food and a flea collar, so we did. He's a very laid-back kitty and just lays around sleeping or looking through the door wanting some attention.

We've decided it he wants to stay he'll be well cared for. I won't let him in the house though so I know he may decide to run away. Who knows? So far he's hanging around our home for now.

Let me know what you think about Mr. Whiskers. He's a super sweet kitty. My husband even talks to him and feeds him. (This is what I should have made pictures of... cuz I never figured it would happen in my lifetime.)

Take care and thanks so much for stopping by.

Debbie

My First Column

2009-09-27T15:20:00.006-05:00

Talk about nervous! That's how I felt when asked to join in on the new 'crafty' column for the newspaper I work for (http://www.annistonstar.com/). Just type in my name in the search box and it'll take you right to it. I love crafting so I thought I'd give it a try. My love of crafting tools was the source for my first column and I hope you enjoy it. I've included a picture of the lap quilt and the "gizmo" at the end of the article.

Haute Homemade: The gizmo queen's favorite gadget
by Debbie Reaves Community Editor
12 hrs ago 23 views 0 0
Once upon a time, my friends called me the "Gizmo Queen." That's because I have an undying love for gizmos. Not the kitchen kind (even though I have a few), but the crafty kind.Some of my gizmos collect a little dust, but others are always within reach of my crafting zone. The new AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter is one of the ones I keep handy.I first came across an ad for the fabric cutter while thumbing through the fall issue of Quilts and More magazine. There it was! A gizmo I had never seen before!The ad stated it was a revolutionary way to cut fabric fast, accurately and easily. No mistakes.I needed more information, so I ran to my computer and went to the Web site. Oh no … it was the last day of a special sale they were running on the fabric cutter. I had to grab my purse and close the deal. (I mean, they were giving away things for free with the purchase of the fabric cutter … I just had to go for it, right?)It was a good thing I'd been saving money for awhile, as it cost $349.I had a tiny bit of buyer's remorse, but I got over it. I do love gizmos, you know.A week later I had my newest toy. It turned out to be the nicest thing for cutting out fabric shapes to use in quilting.I don't claim to be a quilter; I made my first one last year. I am fascinated by the art of quilting. But I found it very hard, and cutting out the fabric was time consuming.This new gizmo makes the cutting easy. Pick a die with the shapes you want, place the fabric on the die — up to six layers at once — place the plastic mat on top and roll it through the cutter. In a matter of seconds you have your pieces cut and ready to use.It was wonderful! I starched and ironed my fabric scraps ahead of time, and then starting rolling them through the fabric cutter. In less than an hour, I had 90 4 ½-inch squares and 90 2 ½-inch squares.It was easier for me to cut four layers of fabric at a time. The crank got a little tough to turn with six. But it's worth it.I made a lap quilt with 90 squares in about two hours after cutting the fabric pieces. It was fun, and I can't wait to get more dies.A die with three different shapes came with the fabric cutter. My special also included eight free quilt patterns for different projects. Other dies are available at http://www.accuquilt.com/.You can shop around on the Internet and find bargains on the cutter with free shipping. That will come in handy as it weighs about 20 pounds. It's a sturdy piece of equipment that even came with a dust cover.Now that's my kind of gizmo.

Welcome to "Haute Handmade," a new column for crafters. Our two main columnists: Deirdre Long, the Star's Escapes editor, has been sewing for about 15 years, since she was 10 years old. She also knits, crochets and upcycles old items by redesigning them into new creations. Debbie Reaves, the Star's Community editor, has been sewing for 40 years. She was also a sign-painter for 18 years, and crafts with all things paper, from rubber stamps to scrapbooking.

This last photo is the die as it goes through the AccuQuilt GO!
I hope you like my first column and I hope you'll leave a comment here or on the newspaper Web site directly under the column.

As always... I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog.

Have a great day!

Debbie

Cricut Craziness

2009-09-14T18:28:00.003-05:00

The whole reason I started my blog was because I fell in love with the Cricut Expression. Crazy huh? Just go back to the beginning and see my posts about this cool contraption! It does some pretty neat things. Mine has been lonesome lately with me playing with other toys. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! I'll be back with my Cricut any day now. Cuz... I've got ideas that need to be put to the test. You'll see.....

Any hoooo.... Cricut is celebrating having 100 cartridges available by giving away 100 cartridges over the next five weeks. (20 per week.) This information is from their newsletter that I receive and always read. Naturally I did what I had to do to get in on the action. One of the things to get my name in the hat twice was add this link on my blog. How easy is that? So... here it it. It goes back to the cartridge product page at Cricut. Whoo-Hoo! If you're wondering just what the Cricut is all about... have a visit on their Web site. Cool machine! Did I tell ya I just love mine?

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

Have a great evening!

OH... I did make something this weekend. No pic yet. It was a patchwork lap blanket. I'll share it with you later and tell you what toy I used to help speed the process along.

Nite now!

Debbie

Snippets of the present

2009-09-06T11:43:00.004-05:00

Now... take a look at my sweet little "old craft room." This is a view from the door. As you can see.. the walls don't have much on them. I can't bring myself to make new nail holes. Scarlett and I did hang a painting she made just for the room. It's hanging to the left above the side of the bed. She was so sweet and enjoyed painting it so much!
The antique Singer sewing machine (circa 1927) is a precious gift my mother gave me last year. My father refinished it back in the '70s. He had it sewing like a dream. It still has the belt on it that my dad bought for it. It's just stretched out and I haven't taken the time to buy another one. The machine is in beautiful shape and would sew (I think) if I just replaced the belt. (Project for another day.) Just to the right in the photo is a side view of another treasure my mother gave me. It was my grandmother's dresser/make-up stand. My mother has had it for only a few years and she knew I loved it. She surprised me by giving it to me last year. Both items hold a special place in my heart and now in my home.
I was looking for a peaceful design. I usually go for 'real country' but this time it's a mild version of something... I don't really know what it is.

The sweet dresser has a very heavy slab of marble on the top. It's not attached... it just sits there. It's just beautiful. The mirror has cardboard on the back and is still in pretty good shape. My mother thinks it's from the 1950's but she's not sure.

The bed is new and sure looks dark in the photo. It is a sleigh bed with an Espresso color finish on it. The bedding is dark brown micro suede type fabric. I just love to touch it. geeze.... The sheets have a khaki, light and dark tan and blue design it them. They look so good with the brown comforter. I found the blue pillow at Wal-Mart and it matched the design on the sheets. The curtains match better in person than they do in the picture but I guess that's life. I didn't make them. They were cute and I was tired. (That's life too!)

I did just make the curtains for the closet. Made them too short so I went back and added a dark brown fabric panel to the bottom. I also did this cool zig-zag stitch across both panels that mimics what is on the comforter. It sorta goes in a wave shape but you can't tell it in the photo. Geeze... (that's life too!)

Okay... hubby is hungry for lunch so I guess that's my call to 'feed my man.' He's good to this old gal... guess I better throw some burgers on the grill.

Hope you enjoyed the snippets of the past and present. How do you think I did on the walls?

Thanks again for hanging in there with me on such a long post.

have a great day too!

Debbie

Snippets of the past

2009-09-06T11:12:00.005-05:00

I thought I'd share some pictures of the craft room that I loved and enjoyed for the last five years and the transformation that I gave to it after moving into my new little yellow craft house.
This may be more than you wanted to know about my craft rooms.. but some folks wanted to see it.

The first photo was made from standing just inside the door. I really had a lot packed into this 10x12 bedroom. Now that I've moved out of it I realize I was a queen at organization because I had things packed away in all sorts of places. The television (lower right in photo) was sitting on top of a night stand that had four drawers full of stuff. geeze...

In the second photo I stood on something to make a view from above of the table that Scarlett and I shared as we stamped. She sat at one paper tablet and I sat at the other. I eventually removed the work station (at left on table in photo). It was a great thing to use but it was taking up table space. So I tucked it away for a long time and recently gave it to a dear friend who is making her own craft room. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did. (Hey Jo!)
Photo 3 just shows the table skirt and the chair covers that I threw together using my serger for the most part. I didn't even hem the skirts, just serged the edges. It worked wonderfully and I did the same process in my new craft house too. Quick... and easy. I stored (and still do) a lot of rolling carts behind those curtains. Believe it or not I even know what's behind the curtains.

Next photo shows a little closer shot of the work table. I just recently covered the paper holder (right hand side of table.. looking pitiful) with Mary Engelbreit fabric and it looks so cute! The little green cabinet in the corner was painted green with "milk paint". It was kinda weird but looked rustic like I wanted it too. I painted the sunflowers (one of my favorite) on the front for a little decoration. I still love to paint... but I flip-flop around with doing different things. Mostly stamping though.

Last photo is just another view from the door. You can see the shelves on the walls that I loved and they held a lot of stuff. It was hard to put them up since I used a lag bolt type thingie that was recommended to use with the shelf system. Needless to say, after I got the bolts into the wall studs they didn't want to come out. Oh me.... it was a nightmare. I had to cut the heads off the bolts, then cut the bolts off at the wall surface to get the things down. Then I had to use Sheetrock compound to resurface the walls. Four walls had shelves. It took me two months because it was a horrible job. I only put two sets of the shelves back into my new craft house because it was so bad before. PHEW... I'm through whining now...

I hope you've enjoyed this little snippet of the past. It's been fun to look back on it because it was also a dream come true to me. Many happy hours were spent in that room.

Stay tuned to the next blog post for a look at the makeover this room recently went through.

If you've read this far, I just want to says thanks so much!

I hope you have a great Labor Day!

Take care!

Debbie

Craft Room wall decor

2009-08-30T16:57:00.006-05:00

This is something I made on my Cricut Expression a few weeks ago. The vase is about 9 inches tall and the flowers are 5" or 6" at the widest point. The butterfly looks more like a dragonfly to me, but I love them both so it didn't matter. I've got it all attached to the wall with poster putty. I made the black dots with a 1/2" hole punch and they're also attached with poster putty. I just can't bring myself to add more holes to the walls. I know eventually I'll nail something up, but I'm not ready right now.
If you can see the little X O N that's real small, it stands for hugs and kisses Nanny. My granddaughter calls me Nanny and this was a gift, along with a couple of Mary Engelbreit mini tea pots, from her and my daughter-in-law many years ago . They're little resin letters by Mary Engelbreit. Sooo cute and I love them so much! And... they're attached with poster putty too. (Can you tell I like the stuff?)
I'll be making more things with my Cricut to hang on the walls. Next thing will be words or sayings. Maybe one that reminds me to blog more often would help.

I hope you have enjoyed this little Snippet of a post today and I sure hope you're having a great weekend!

Take care! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Debbie

Anniversary Card

2009-08-30T16:40:00.005-05:00

I made this quick card for my hubby for our anniversary that's tomorrow. He'll be out of town so I gave it to him today (Sunday.) He walked into the craft house while I was putting it in an envelope so I told him it was "hot off the press." I went ahead and gave it to him and he proceeded to sit down at the computer and make a card for me. He did use card stock and Hallmark software that he loves to use for his cards. (He does like to save a buck here and there.) Any hoooo... I don't care where the card comes from as long as we are together. We went to grab a bite for lunch and we did a little reflecting on how blessed our years together have been (13 married, 16 together.) We took turns naming the blessing and wonderful times we have had together as a family. He said he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. um... except for maybe the golf course I'm thinking :-)
I think my picture may be on the fuzzy side, but I did color on the stamp (Stampin'UP!) and then stamped it on watercolor paper (SU!). Then I did a little blending with an aqua painter. I used Ranger Distress Inks (Sunday Intl.) around all edges of paper. The tag is from an old Basic Grey scrapbook pack that had been lost in the crafting jungle for ages and I was so happy when I found it yesterday along with a bunch of other stuff I had been missing. Whoo-hoo... it was just like going shopping without spending the money. (Maybe I should start hiding things from myself and find it later...NAH!) The card base is actually a natural kraft stock but it doesn't look it in the picture. Hope you like it.

Have a great evening and thanks so much for stopping by!

Debbie

Dream Craft House Updated Door

2009-08-03T15:07:00.007-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I decided to paint the door on my craft house green. The doors on our home are the same green, but on this one I decided to leave the panels at the bottom, and the window trim, white. I think it looks so cute and really sets off the house. What do you think?

It took me forever to decide if I wanted the door green or not. I was wanting clean lines but I wasn't crazy about the white door. I already had scuff marks from moving in. Now I'm glad I went with the decision to paint it green.

I also wanted you to see just how close my craft house is to our house. It's an easy hop out our back door to go to the crafty zone. I just need to remember to turn on the outdoor light on our house because I forget and stay way past dark crafting and one time couldn't see to get back to the house without feeling my way. Geeze...

Now... what do you think about my shelves? My builder didn't make it back to build my shelves so I bought these utility metal shelves. I had been wanting to check them out and I'm glad I have them now. They are 14.5" deep and hold up to 350 pounds of distributed weight. I'm sure I can overload them in a heartbeat! The baskets on top are old and so far they are empty. The funky little shelving in the middle is something my husband found in the trash at a store and brought home to me many years ago. It was a rack that held merchandise that had slotted holes that went onto each prong. (For lack of knowing what tha heck you call them.) The plastic baskets came from the Dollar Tree and they just sit on the 'prongs' to hold tons of stuff. I used to have this rack in the closet of my old craft room and believe me I had that baby loaded down. I did notice one of the welds had broken at the bottom. I think I'll be kinder to it now and not load it down so much. Hum.... what to save....hoard? I mean.. I've got what... six bucks in it. I just love it and couldn't part with it. I've got the red fabric covers held up with binder clips and curtain hooks. I didn't finish the edges because I'm not sure I like all the red. I may go to unbleached sheeting and see how I like that.

Now you see the rest of the story. The shelves are holding a lot of the things that were in the closet and on shelves of my old craft room. I've still got some things missing. (Going crazy looking for them too.) More recycling is here. My hubby picked up these whopper sized onion crates at a grocery store. They are strong and slide out like a drawer. They have a cute printed label on the ends that say "Oso Sweet" with a mountain scene. You may be able to click for a larger view. I just love these crates. I also have two under the computer table. I've got them flipped over so I can sit things on them until I can figure out some other type of storage. I love recycling or re-purposing things so crates have been a staple in my craft rooms for many years. I have four cantaloupe crates serving as shelves sitting under a window now. (Next to the fabric file cabinet.) I don't think my organizing is very "organized" but it's a work in process.

We'll see how it goes. I like the shelves covered, but I like easy access too.

Well... I know I'm a lazy blogger but I just do whatever I feel like doing. I am spoiled ya know!I've got lots more to share but it's time to stamp while I have the energy. (I could use some chocolate about right now!)

Better go before my computer freezes up. (Happens all the time now.)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a great day!

Debbie

June projects for Sunday International

2009-07-04T15:40:00.003-05:00

Tis is my fruit card. You can't see it in the photo, but all the little fruits are cut individually and attached with pop-dots for added dimension. Second photo, is a simple recipe card. I made several to include in the Red Recipe Card holder box.

Third and fourth photos are the Red Recipe Card holder box that I made.

Hey bloggers!

Can you believe it's July 4th? Where did the first of this year go? I know it's been a blur to me.

June was a whirlwind of activities for us. My dream craft house came true and I've been enjoying getting it organized. Far from being done, but it's coming along.

So... let me know what you think about my projects.

Have a great evening and thanks so much for visiting!

Debbie

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T15:29:00.004-05:00

I've been having so much fun in my new Craft House. I can't focus too well because I'm still in shock and awe that I have it.

We're having an easy, laid-back kind of day today. We cooked on the grill last night with Scarlett helping. Today... we'll eat leftovers.

Today turned out to be a great day to me. I bumped into some friends at Wal-Mart that I used to work with. (Hey Waneda and Bruce!) I could have talked to them all day. They had wandered into my neck of the woods and I just couldn't believe it when I saw Waneda. She was always a joy to work with. That's the sad part of leaving a company that you spent 26 years at. Your friends. Cherished memories...Sharing our lives with each other. Waneda and I shared a lot of crafty things together. She's a fabulous painter and can create some cool things. (Girl.... I sure do miss our chats about crafts!)

Bruce.... helped me to create this hugh stash of paper that I have. (Thanks Bruce for being there when I wanted paper cut to size.) I still have a ton of paper from the old days. A stamper can never have too much paper.

As always, thanks so much for visiting.

Take care,
Debbie

Dream Craft House Inside Update

2009-06-29T19:41:00.009-05:00

See the cute flowers in the old rusty milk can. I've had that milk can for maybe 20 years. It's so heavy, it's hard to move around. Yeah... check out that cable wire going across the front. The cable guy came today and ran that line to hook up my computer. I love having the computer in the craft house now.

I hope you're ready for a visit inside my craft house. I've been busy making curtains today and hanging them on the curtain rods that took me forever to put up. I'm getting pretty good at using a cordless drill.

Here ya go... come on it and see what I've done today. This is the computer center just to the left of the entrance. The red skirt is what I made yesterday.

This is just a different view of the computer center. My Cricut Expression is on the left of the table. I wanted it close to the computer so I can use the Design software that can be used with the Cricut. (That's a whole other story.) Let's put it this way.... I don't know how to use it very well, but I'm learning.Next picture is just panning from the left on around the room. The metal file cabinet was a great find for $20 at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. The antique sewing machine is from a friend who is another 'great find.' (Thanks Deirdre!)

This wonderful spot is my fun zone! There's the $30 desk from the Re-Store. This is Scarlett's fun zone. She's got a bunch of beautiful cards to hang on her bulletin board. She doesn't know the refrigerator is in here. It's a gift from some dear friends. It's holding some bottled water for now. (Thanks Jim and Rita!)

Okay.. I've taken you in a full circle around the room. What do you think about it? Don't you think it's just a cool creative space? I know I'm ready to start stamping. How do you like that skirt around the center work table? Can you see the little curtain rods that hold the skirts? They were just about $3 each.

Okay... one more view. This is from my desk looking at the television and the door. (Yep... I really hung that television up myself.) No easy task but I figured it out.

Now... what do you think of my wonky curtains? There was no sewing involved. I was just too tired to sew anything else. It's about three yards just draped over the rod. Looks okay to me. I bought way too much red fabric so I thought this would be a good way to use it up.

I sure hope you've enjoyed the tour. The next journey has just begun. I feel my mojo calling out.... it's saying "It's crafting time!"

Thanks so much to everyone that has shown an interest in my journey. Stay with me and you'll see what happens next.

Thanks for visiting and have a great night!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 19-21

2009-06-28T18:51:00.006-05:00

(First picture) is a combination of day 19-21. The three days involved getting the plumbing finished on my sink, putting the metal roof on the porch, adding the gutters and finally the under-pinning of the white plastic lattice work. I can't begin to tell you how happy and excited I am to finally be moving in. It's like Santa just arrived and gave me a dream Christmas!

(I added flowers to the milk can yesterday.)

(Second picture) This long table is what Scarlett and I used to work on in the old craft room. I had the short end and half of the long end. She sat to my left as we worked (played) side by side. It now sits to the left just as you walk in the door of the new craft house. We'll move the computer there just as soon as the cable company comes and moves the line tomorrow. Today I made a skirt to hang under the desk that covers the front edges. (To hide more crafting goodies.)I've got to make one more for the end near the door. I'm using tension rods that hang between the 2x4 legs to hold the skirts. I had the same system in the old craft room, but now I have a new color of fabric. I'll show pictures when it's all done. :-)

Third picture is of a metal cabinet my mother gave me about 10 years ago. She used it for maybe 25-30 years in the insurance business she owned. It was an ugly dark green and I painted it up way back then. It has a ton of scratches on it and we broke something on it when we moved it into the new craft house. I don't think it did too much damage though. (My mother wasn't too wild about me painting it since it was an antique.) It is a constant source of joy every time I look at it or get a stamp out of it. It holds two layers of stamps in each of the drawers. Today I cleaned out one drawer to hold extra ink pads. I'm going to have to move some more stamps to make room for newer stamps. I wanted the cabinet close to me so I could have easy access to the stamps. (Scarlett did too!) My Stampin'UP! stamp pads are on the top right of the cabinet with my Sizzix Die Cutter and dies on the left and center. (Not that you care what I have on the top.) ;-)

Scarlett's bulletin board looks black in the picture, but it's black with pink dots. I hung mine up today on the other side. It's black with little red cherries on it. (Mary Englebreit fabric.) I love her fun and whimsical designs so much!

Last but not least... fourth picture... is just as you walk in the door. I'm so loving my work table that's in the center of the room. Oh my goodness.. to be able to cut fabric without bending over a little counter top is just wonderful! I've glued a tape measure on one long side and it's just perfect. (Only gave $30 for the table and $30 for each desk at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.) I thought that was a good price and I wanted to buy used items as much as possible. I love to re-purpose as much as I can. Scarlett and I painted the top of the work table white to give it a clean look.

Yesterday and today I managed to install (myself) a television on the wall, mini-blinds on each window, made skirts for the work table (I hung curtain rods just underneath the top of the table running from leg to leg to hold skirts) and the long L-shaped computer table. Made skirts for my desk and Scarlett's. Her fabric matches her bulletin board. (My fabric is another Mary Englebreit print.) I've emptied all boxes and put away nearly everything. I'll show pictures when I'm done with everything. I've got to make the curtains next and I wanted something wonky... but am too tired to be creative about it.

Oh... talk about being spoiled. Good friends of ours gave me an old small (three cubic feet) Kenmore refrigerator to use in the craft house. It's so cute! It's a brown tone that goes along with the dark wooden desks. It has a little freezer and 3 shelves. Just a little cleaning with bleach and it's humming away. It even has a little produce drawer. (I guess that's what it is... I don't really know. It's just a drawer.) Good friends are the best collectibles... don't you agree?

Scarlett managed to get a lot of card making done Friday and Saturday. She is having a great time working at her own desk. She just loves it so much! We're making new memories to cherish for a lifetime! Oh... and I put up the shelves up next to me and and next to Scarlett, and I put up my bulletin board today also. (But I think I said that already.) When I say I'm tired.... whew.... I'm tired! My body is crying out in pain. My typing is probably all scrambled up. I hope I make a little bit of sense though. (Okay... phew... now I'm back after my computer froze up. It's in need of a trip to the computer doctor for a tune-up.)
Okay... now that I've said way more than you probably wanted to know... I just want to say thank you for hanging in there with me on this wonderful journey of my dream come true. I still have to pinch myself to believe that it's true. I'll share more pictures as soon as I get finished with my sewing. (New rubber stamps have been calling my name for a week now. They're just sitting there waiting on me to get finished with the sewing projects.)

Thanks so much for visiting and reading this far. I hope you've enjoyed the journey with me.

Please come back and stay a spell!

Have a great week!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 19-20

2009-06-25T19:44:00.003-05:00

Okay... I waited too late to make a picture of the outside of the craft house and the inside is a big mess. It'll be better tomorrow. But.... the metal roofing is on the porch and most of the gutters are up. The baseboards are done and the vanity/sink is in. The plumbing isn't completed but will be tomorrow. OH.... and I have a door knob. Whoo-hoo! It's just wonderfu!

Scarlett and I did a ton of heavy lifting and moving today. I haven't even moved all my junk and I'm thinking I've got way too much stuff. Geeze! The now retired craft room still has a TON of stuff that I'll just have to filter through. Maybe I should have purged more than I have already.

My sweet hubby bought me a television tonight to put in the craft house. It won't be hooked up until tomorrow. That's going to be so cool.

Thanks so much for sharing this fun and happy journey with me! I know I'm a super lucky gal!

Have a great night and thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 18

2009-06-23T19:35:00.003-05:00

Hey... come on in...... did you close the door? The flies are just terrible today. What's up with them?

You get a real "Snippet" today. Hum... not too much showing in the picture today except something wonderful! What do you think all those other things are in the pic? Well for one thing the floor is just beautiful. The baseboards are not in yet, but that will be done tomorrow.

I called the builder to see if it was okay to start moving in some things. Oh my gosh... I am soooo tired and my back is killing me. With the help of my grandson and his girlfriend we moved most of the heavy things in there. I must say I am the proud owner of a pallet dolly. Whoo-hoo! Nope... it's not a doll sitting on a pallet. It's the coolest thingie for moving heavy items. Kinda like a carpeted frame on wheels. It'll save your back for sure. It was only $24.98 at Lowe's. I tried to find one to rent, but no one I called rents them out. geeze....

Then Scarlett and I moved everything to where we wanted it to be. I nearly cried it was so wonderful! There we were like usual.... just me and Scarlett in our craft room. She was so precious telling me how wonderful and special the room and her desk was to her. She said she was so happy she couldn't believe it. I just know we are in for some great times!

I can't wait to have everyone visit my completed craft house. I have a ton of sewing, curtains, table skirts, to do but that will come later. OH.. I just can't wait for you to see it.

Thanks so much for visiting and let me know what you think so far. Have you had fun following my journey or are you bored to tears? I promise I'll get some cards up as soon as the move is done. Whoo-hoo!

C ya!
Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 15-17

2009-06-22T21:07:00.002-05:00

Day 15 was this past Thursday (6-18-09) and there was only two workers the whole week. They finished painting the outside and added the trim to the inside and finished out the windows. The lights were added on Friday and touch-ups made to the sheetrock.

Scarlett likes the porch but she didn't want to wave at me. She's pre-teen and just wants to be cool!

Scarlett and I went swimming after I got off work today. I have to say the water was a warm 90 degrees. That's what you get on a southern summer day! It was still nice. We played in the water by me pulling Scarlett as she floated on a tube. I guess I was the horse....

I can't believe my cute little porch is here. It's just soooo cute! I love it! Scarlett loves it too. We had to sit on the porch and test it out today. It faces the west and the trees manage to block the sun so I expect it to be pleasant to sit there while we read or cook out. It measures four feet out from the house and 15 feet left to right. The house is 21.5' long with an eight foot ceiling. Dark green metal roofing will go on the porch to match the roof on the house. Won't that be so cute?

Scarlett helped get the old craft room torn down. It's been taking days to pack up everything. Tonight we took the rolling carts out from under the L-shaped work table and cleaned it off. It's going to be a doozie to take apart... I think. Now that it's cleaned off I'm thinking I may be able to take it apart. Some great friends that I used to work with put it together for me and for some reason I didn't watch.

The laminate floor is possibly going down tomorrow and hopefully the roof on the porch. Then all that's left to do are two gutters and some underpinning, the sink and some shelves to be built. What a wonderful journey. The last time I had anything to do with a new building... I was six years old. My parents built a house when I was in the first grade. It was so exciting to see what was accomplished every day.

Okay... I hope this post wasn't too long winded and I sure hope you are enjoying the journey with me. I can't wait to show you the inside after it gets filled up with the fun stuff. Whoo-hoo! I am truly grateful and so fortunate to have such a blessed life. (Thanks babe!)

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. I really appreciate it.

Have a great week and come back and sit a spell when you can.

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 14

2009-06-17T19:52:00.002-05:00

It may be hard to tell but the outside of the building is painted. He's not done... there's detail work to be done. I may paint the door dark green to match the ones on our house. I haven't decided yet...

The worker bees will sand the sheet rock tomorrow and I hope they'll get to paint the inside, but I don't know.

Scarlett and I made large paper templates to match the size of our desks. We put them on the floor and she wanted to take a chair out there to see how much room she'd have. I think she's pretty excited about having her own desk to craft at.

I took her swimming again today. She would live in the water if she could. I stumped my toe on the cement edge of the pool as I was getting out and didn't realize how bad it hurt until I put on some shoes. geeze... then when I got home.....

I dropped a heavy drinking glass on the kitchen counter today and it just exploded all over the place. Some went into my hair and all over the kitchen. So I had the pleasure of getting that mess up and cleaning the heck out of the counters and floor to be sure there was no glass left.
I managed to find some on the window sill after all was said and done. I just don't want anyone to get cut.

Just a Snippet in a day of my life....

Hope you enjoy my journey!

Thanks for visiting.

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 13

2009-06-16T20:17:00.005-05:00

Look at this... we have walls, a ceiling and lights! It may just be lights for working but it's lights.

I flipped the switch so I could take my pix and it was soooo cool to see the house coming to life.

I waited until it got a little cooler hoping that my camera lens wouldn't fog up, but it still did. So... I cleaned the lens fast and snapped the picture faster!

I have to say... it's the strangest feeling to turn the lights on and look inside my sweet little craft house. There's air conditioning in there and soon there will be a covered porch. I hope I'm moving in before the end of next week. How fun is that! Boy... I'll really see how much 'stuff' I have then. What a wonderful dream come true! I feel like the most blessed girl in the world right now. Hey... dreams CAN come true!

I took my granddaughter swimming again today. She loves it and told me she had fun today. It was no different than any other day she just said she had fun.

Have a great day and thanks so much for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 12

2009-06-15T17:09:00.004-05:00

WOW! I can't believe how fast the house seems to be coming along. The electricity is on and the air conditioner is in. The insulation is in with extra in the ceiling. When you're in the house it just seems to be tight and well insulated. Plus it was nice and cool in there today. I'm about to bust I'm so excited!!

The builder said he thought he'd be done one day next week. Oh... I just have to pinch myself to be sure it's really happening. (Thanks babe!) I love you (and the Craft House).

I've made more cards but haven't made pictures yet. I'll get to it soon.....

I took granddaughter to a discount store to buy a few little shirts that she liked today and then took her swimming at a friends pool.

That's about it for us today!

Thanks so much for visiting..... I sure hope you are enjoying the journey with me.

Take care,

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 11

2009-06-13T06:35:00.005-05:00

This is Saturday morning, but the pix are from yesterday which was day 11 on the craft house.

It may be hard to tell in the photos but the siding is up on all sides. The electrical wires are installed. The inside photos show the back of the building. My corner will be to the left and Scarlett's will be to the right. Our backs will be to the back wall with two larges desks to work from. Mine is about 5'x6' on top and hers is 5.5'x6'. Geeze... that's huge ... but exactly what we needed. Quadruple more workspace than we had before. How fun is that!

I'm going to put shelves on the walls to our sides and there will be an antique metal literature cabinet under the window between us holding the bulk of my stamps. I can't wait to show you the pix of everything when it's done. I ran out of room a long time ago to store stamps and it's still a challenge today. I'll be having some shelves built that will go on the right side wall just as you walk in. Then there will be a sink about in the center of the right side wall.

It was so hot while I tried to make the photos my camera lens kept fogging up. Hopefully you can see what's going on.

We had an exciting morning on Thursday morning... around 2 a.m. the sheriff's deputies rang our door bell to tell us someone had set our trash can (the large rolling kind the city provides) on fire. It was a mess! One of our neighbors saw a car sitting in the street for about 30 minutes and then they threw something in the trash can and it blazed up. Talk about nerve wracking... I nearly had a heart attack. I just knew something had happened to someone in our family. Thank goodness it was just a trash can. I'll take that any day of the week. My husband asked the deputy why would someone do that and he said we were not the only victims that night, there were others. geeze.... now the melted trash can is stuck to the driveway and pavement and won't come up with a shovel. We're hoping there's a solution to getting that heap of plastic off the ground. I just thought I'd share this snippet of my life with you today.

Now that I've babbled too long I just want to say thanks for visiting. I hope you are enjoying this journey with my dream come true.

Have a great weekend, I'm off to Georgia to see my mother.

take care,

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 10

2009-06-11T20:23:00.004-05:00

WOW! I can't believe it's been 10 days since the start of my cute little craft house. I type the words, I walk in the building, but I still can't believe it. It truly is a dream come true in the making.

I do hope you enjoy the journey with me.

We had some very heavy rain storms starting at lunch time. The workers had already finished for the day. They managed to get the metal roof (dark green) installed, and put up some siding on a few outside walls. It's just so exciting! I've never had anything new like this in my life ( or anything old for that matter).

It was hard to take a picture because the humidity was so high. The camera lens kept fogging up, so I worked fast.

Hope you are having a great evening. Please leave a comment if you are enjoying the journey of my Dream come true or if you have any questions.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 9

2009-06-10T19:20:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure what this is called around the roof line but it's just beautiful!

After I took Scarlett swimming at a friends pool, she and I washed windows in the craft house today. She had to hold the ladder for me to wash the one at the back of the house.

It looks as though the spraying of the ants yesterday really helped. I didn't see but one or two today. Woo-hoo!

How fun it was to dream today that my little craft house was really taking place. I'm so happy I could bust! I have my hubby to thank for this. He's the best!

Thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update Day 8

2009-06-09T19:15:00.005-05:00

The little craft house looks so cute today with its door and three windows. I'm not sure what's next... I think the siding and insulation. That will be so neat to see the siding go up and then painted to match our home. I still can't believe this is happening. Maybe I will when I move all the tons of stuff I have into the craft house. I guess it's a good thing I've been craft room cleaning.

How fun! I just love seeing what's been completed everyday.

I just had to spray around the inside of the building for ants. I used half the can of spray. We seem to have an abundance of the little critters lately. Maybe the spray will soak into the wood and keep them away forever. One can hope.....

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Debbie

Fabulous Friend

2009-06-08T18:14:00.003-05:00

This card just goes to show that a stamp doesn't have to be new to be beautiful! This flower looks like an orchid to me, but I'm flower stupid and my grandmother was a florist for 30 years! (Go figure!)
The flower image was an unmounted stamp that I bought at a stamp convention many years ago. It was on a table marked "pound of rubber" and that's exactly how you paid for it... by the pound. No wonder my back was hurting before I left the convention... I couldn't hold all the stamps I had purchased. Much less... you had to buy the blocks of wood to mount them on. I still have a few of those wood blocks left to this day. I was so excited I bought the stamps, then the blocks then walked the show. Was I ever hurting (but sooo happy) by the time I left for the day.

I colored everything with my new Copic markers that I'm still learning how to use. They're pretty cool I must say! The designer scrapbook paper, the sentiment and the scalloped oval punch are Stampin'UP! I used a green die-cut I made on my Cricut Expressions to layer the flower on. So easy... just set it to the size you want and let it go. I attached the die cut, flower and sentiment with pop-dots. The beautiful green ribbon was a gift with one of my orders from www.ellenhutson.com. Ellen has wonderful customer service and has been helpful and responsive when I've had questions.

Okay... that's it for a Monday. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Chicks flew the coop

2009-06-08T17:57:00.004-05:00

I don't know if they really flew the coop but the chicks look like they're going someplace. I used my Dee Gruenig "Mini Kitchen Set" available from http://www.sundayint.com/ and colored directly onto the stamp. I colored each chick then tapped onto "inked" stamp with another color to get the spotted look. The white chicken only has the tapping for its body color.

Now below is the inside of the card. I kept it super simple and I'll probably go back and rub the teal ink pad around all edges of the card interior, but so far it's simple.
The sentiment on the front of the card and the one on the inside are all on one stamp. I just colored the top portion I wanted for the front, cleaned the stamp and colored the bottom portion to use inside. You get a lot more use from a stamp if you can use it more ways than one. The sentiment is from Dee Gruenig ATC Stamps Set 2 available from http://www.sundayint.com/.

I haven't written up all the instructions for this card yet, so if you have any questions about what I used, please send me an e-mail.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update day 7

2009-06-08T17:48:00.003-05:00

We have a roof. Woo-hoo! It's just soooo beautiful!! I love it so much! (Thank you so much babe!) Isn't it the cutest thing?

The workers bees will have a good week with no rain (I hope) to get a lot more work done. The metal roofing will be ordered, the siding will go up, and the windows installed. It's really happening and I still can't believe it. What a dream come true.

I sure hope you enjoy the journey with me.

Thanks so much for visiting and have a great week!

(Next up.. some cards I made yesterday)
Debbie

Dream Craft House update

2009-06-07T08:57:00.004-05:00

Since it rained on Friday, the builder and one worker-bee came and put up the OSB on the walls and some beams across the top on Saturday. Any hooo... I think it's coming along pretty fast. I sure do love it. It's so much fun to walk around inside the building and pretend where everything is going to be placed.

My husband and I walked around inspecting everything last evening and it's still hard to believe it's happening. I'm so blessed in more ways than one.

Hope you enjoy the journey with me.

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Dream Craft House update

2009-06-06T10:19:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Day 5 on the craft house and was a wash-out due to rain. Oh well... they did have some lumber delivered.

Now.... today is Day 6 and Saturday, and the builder and one worker-bee started bright and early, (7 a.m.) putting up the wood panels on the outer walls. Woo-hoo! They are trying to get work done while it's not too hot outside. It was mid-60's this morning. Perfect day!
(Pix will follow after worker-bees leave.)

Scarlett and I worked for four hours in my craft room going through old stuff to see what can be thrown away. It was a very painful experience I must say. I had a VERY hard time parting with some of the things that I've hoarded for a few years now. No tools or things like that. Just containers I was saving for future projects, or maybe a ton of old labels and rolls of paper. Some of these items were from where I used to work.

I worked 26 years for a large volume printing company that would throw away tons of paper after a print job was over. Back then the company printed a lot of clothing, furniture and all types of tags that you see hanging on products in the store. We always had some cool paper left over from the jobs. If I was lucky, the paper-mover (a sweet man) would save it for me. Then I'd get it cut to 8.5x11 or 7x10 and share it with other stampers in the office. Us girls had a stash to die for. We were very fortunate that our bosses didn't care that we recycled the paper for our own use.

Then I was extra lucky in that the sales reps for the paper companies would give me their expired "sample" boxes of paper. Oh me... these had the coolest colors and textures that you'd ever want. So I would share that with all my stamping buddies. We were a spoiled lot of girls. Needless to say, I still have a LOT of this paper. Most of it is acid free and kept out light as much as possible. I did part with some of the old label material I had. I've even donated tons of it to the school my granddaughter goes to, daycare centers and friends that want to start stamping.

So sorry to digress.... geeze... just thought I'd give you some "background story" reading material. Probably not too interesting huh?

Also yesterday, Scarlett and I covered two cork boards with fabric to use in the new craft house. They each turned out beautiful. We hung our latest cards on them. I'll show pix of those later. I didn't even feel good yesterday and the last few days, just super tired. I forged ahead with my high-energy granddaughter and got a lot done.

Stay tuned for craft house pix later today. WOO-HOO! (I just have to do that!)

have a great weekend and again... Thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Birthday card

2009-06-06T09:43:00.009-05:00

This is a cute little birthday card I made for a Design Team project for Sunday International. I just went kinda crazy with the grid background stamp from the ATC Stamps Set 2.

This may not be on the Sunday International website yet so here are the instructions.

JOY BIRTHDAY CARD details
STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s ATC Stamps Set 2 (SI)
PAPER: Die cut ATC envelope (SI), Whisper White card stock (Stampin’UP!) purple and orange card stock (my stash)
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers and Marvy Blending Blox, assorted colors (SI)
ACCESSORIES: Pink Offray ribbon, Cricut Expression die cutting machine, pop-dots, glue runner, Exact-O knife, scissors, ruler, corner rounder, paper piercing tool, ruby colored glitter glue, mini-brads (Stampin’UP!), yellow mini-flower brads (my stash)

1. Using Sunrise Blending Blox, rub stamp pad directly onto die-cut envelope to create a striped pattern
2. Using Marvy markers and ruler, draw lines on envelope to create a plaid pattern in shades of pinks, purple and dark blue, assemble envelope
3. Cut ATC card to 3.5x2.5, round each corner, stamp kimono, flowers, sentiment, gridline and symbol images, color in the details on kimono, punch holes in top two corners of ATC
4. Cut 8” length of narrow pink ribbon, punch holes 1” from ends using paper piercing tool, attach ribbon into the top two holes on ATC with mini-flower brads, set aside for now
5. Stamp JOY on small piece of white cardstock, (to fit front of envelope), use purple marker to color edge of cardstock, attach green mini brads to top and bottom corners on right side, cut scallop border on Cricut Expression using pale orange cardstock, , trim off two scallops so it will fit white cardstock piece, use paper piercer to punch holes around the scalloped edge for stitched effect, layer the scallop border piece onto left edge of white cardstock piece
6. Cut purple scalloped round shape, attach to lower right edge of envelope
7. Stamp fan image and fold accordion style to create fan, put glitter glue on dots of fan handle, attach to purple die cut with pop-dots
8. Stamp grid image at an angle on folded card front, stamp flower border around four edges of card front
9. Attach the finished envelope, at an angle to front of card with pop-dots , insert the finished ATC into the envelope exposing the yellow flower brads
10. Stamp sentiment inside of card, stamp dragonfly image randomly from bottom to top inside of card, create stamped border to frame sentiment

If you have any questions let me know.... as always thanks so much for visiting!

You may not be able to tell it in the photos, but the darker pink plaid you see if the little ATC envelope folded up to be a pocket. The second photo is the ATC removed from the pocket, to show detail.

Dream Craft House update

2009-06-05T05:30:00.003-05:00

Thursday was day four and we are still impressed at the speed at which the guys are working. It's one man and two of his nephews. I call them worker bees.

Scarlett, my granddaughter, took her drawn floor plan (on graph paper) to the building and marked off little lines where everything should go. She wanted to see if her drawing was accurate. She was so excited to show me there was room for everything. How funny!

It rained later in the evening, but I don't think it hurt anything. I can't wait to see what happens today. Everyday when I get home, Scarlett and I run out there to check things out. Whoo-hoo! It's still hard for me to believe it's happening. I continue to live a blessed life.

Have a great day and thanks for taking the time to visit.

Debbie

Exciting Things at Sunday International

2009-06-03T19:37:00.008-05:00

You've just got to go over and visit http://www.sundayint.com/ and check out Dee Gruenig's new releases. This is from my Sunday International newsletter.

(Its finally here! The first release of Dee's ATC sized stamp sets are now available to order. There are four new stamp sets available to purchase, unmounted or mounted, on EZMount and ready to use. As a special introductory offer, we are offering free shipping to retail customers when you purchase two or more of these great new sets! Please enter coupon code "NEWATC" during checkout. )

Now... check out the cute little ATCs that I made using my Junior Jungle set. It's just too cute for words! I just loved stamping with it and laughing at what I could do with these images. It comes with 24 stamps and can be used for so many other things.

Here's the how-to for each one... and thanks so much for visiting!

TROPICAL ATC

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Junior Jungle ATC Set (SI)
PAPER: Whisper White card stock (Stampin’UP!), natural kraft cardstock (my stash)
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers (SI)
ACCESSORIES: Post-it note, black ink pen, white marker, StarLightz glitter gel pens (Wal-Mart), pop-dots, cloud template (my stash), hole punch, white glue, glue runner, cosmetic sponge

1. Cut white cardstock to 3-1/4” x 2-1/4”, Cut natural kraft cardstock 3-1/2” x 2-1/2”
2. Color light blue marker onto a plastic surface (I use my acrylic blocks), use dampened cosmetic sponge to pick up the color, add marker to sponge if necessary to get darker sky color
3. Use cloud template to sponge a sky, move template around to achieve desired look
4. Use torn Post-it note to make sand line for shoreline, and use Post-it note to cover sky, use blue marker to make the ocean
5. Color then stamp palm tree onto left side of image, Stamp fern on left side and leaves on right side
6. Stamp each image on scrap paper, cut out each one and attach using pop-dots, use white glue on the flower, mosquito and fern, curl the alligator tail and palm leaves out with your fingernail for added dimension
7. Punch a round yellow colored circle, cut in half, attach with pop dot in center of blue skyline at waters edge
8. Use white marker to make white marks in water and at waters edge
9. Use glitter gel pens to add yellow lines on round edge of sun and in water beneath the sun
10. Attach the completed image to natural kraft stock, write message with black ink pen

Jungle ATC

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Junior Jungle ATC (SI), Tiny Dot Letters alphabet stamps (Hero Arts)
PAPER: Whisper White card stock (Stampin’UP!), natural kraft cardstock (my stash)
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers (SI), Distress Ink Pads-Ranger (SI)
ACCESSORIES: Pop-dots, sponge, glue runner, scalloped oval punch Stampin’UP!

1. Cut white cardstock to 3-1/4” x 2-1/4”, Cut natural kraft cardstock 3-1/2” x 2-1/2”
2. Use sponge and two shades of Distress Ink to create background
3. Stamp fern image around sides and top of white cardstock
4. Color and stamp animal and flower images onto scrap cardstock, add extra color onto leopard, after stamped, for shading (Shading on little cat was done on the stamp)
5. Attach all images with pop-dots
6. Use marker to make dots for the ground under the animal’s feet
7. Punch oval shape and stamp desired sentiment, attach with pop-dots
8. Attach completed design onto natural kraft stock

These were really easy and a lot of fun. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Stamping is a lot of fun to do and share!

NEXT UP.....

A fun little birthday card made with the Junior Jungle ATC set. Check it out...

Jungle Birthday Card

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Junior Jungle ATC, ATC Stamps Set 2 (SI)
PAPER: Whisper White card stock (Stampin’UP!), Dark blue, light green and black cardstock (from my stash)
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers, assorted colors (SI), Marvy Blending Blox (SI), White Brilliance pigment ink pad in Moonlight White
ACCESSORIES: Stampin’ Pastels, Stampin’ UP!, small pom-poms, small green brads, paper cutter, Exacto knife, soft paint brush, glue stick, white eraser, 1/6” hole-punch, pop-dots

1. Cut black card panel to size 4-1/4” x 2-3/4”
2. Stamp palm tree, small and large monkey and elephant in white pigment ink, let dry for a few minutes
3. Color with pom-poms and chalk in desired colors, adding highlights with light and dark chalk colors
4. Brush excess chalk away with soft paint brush, then use white eraser to clean up the edges of colored images
5. Use green chalk to color the ground to anchor the animals
6. Layer the black panel onto light green, then onto dark blue cardstock
7. Use Blending Blox Shades of Caribbean to rub color around all four edges of card
8. Attach the layered panel onto white top folded card base
9. Cut small piece of light green cardstock, Stamp Happy Birthday using Shades of Caribbean, also ink edges of stamped piece
10. Punch 1/6” holes on each end of stamped piece, put green brad in each hole, attach to card bottom with pop-dots

That's it for now. Again, I just want to say thank-you for stopping by and taking the time to read about me and my projects.

Have a Great Day!

Debbie

Dream Craft House

2009-06-03T19:20:00.003-05:00

Dream Craft House

Wow… I know I’ve been away too long. I’m getting back on the blogging train and hope to write about a dream come true.

I feel so blessed and fortunate to get to have a craft house built in our backyard. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for many, many years. I really never thought we’d be building a little house (more like a room) so I’m just on cloud nine right now. I do thank God everyday for the many blessings that are in my life.

So… check out the pix and you’ll see my backyard before the digging started. Yep… we have a pretty small back yard with a steep hill at the back of it. Hey, I’ll take it where I can get it! Just after three days we’ve got the foundation and sub-floor (if that’s what it’s called). We’ve had so much rain for the past month, I don’t want another drought, but I do hope the guys can have more dry days so they can work.

I’ll do my best to keep a record of how things are coming along including the move-in. Phew… that will be a job. I’ve got a room that’s busting at the seams with stuff, so I’ve got to do some major cleaning out and see if I can part with anything.

I jumped the gun and bought two desks, a work table, and a wide file cabinet from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore at wonderful prices, but I bought them three weeks ago. Geeze… they’re under my carport just waiting for their new home. One desk is for my granddaughter and one for me. She and I painted the top of the work table white.

My granddaughter has been busy drawing floor plans where she thinks everything should go. She’s a hoot and having a great time watching the progress. She’s in the photos and loves posing for the camera.

I hope you’ll enjoy going along on the journey of a dream-come-true in my life. If you’ve got any ideas about organization please send them my way. I’m just so confused about what I want… shelves or cabinets or carts… oh my! I really don’t know what I should do.
If you’ve read this far you’re just the best… and I truly appreciate it.

Now stay tuned for some pix of my recent stamping adventures!

Debbie

Embossed Rose box

2009-02-27T16:05:00.003-06:00

This started out as a plain white die-cut box from Sunday International. I haven't embossed anything in a while so I thought I'd play around with embossing in clear on the white box. Pretty cool... huh?

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: Die cut box from SI
INK: Ruby Red and Marvelous Magenta ink pads “StampinUp!”, Versamark ink SI
ACCESSORIES: Offray ribbon, clear embossing power “StampinUP!”, white tissue paper, sponge, paper towel, mini stick-on stones (my stash)

Emboss rose image in clear on front and back of box/ emboss tiny heart image on two sides
Rub Ruby Red ink over entire box covering all edges of box, wipe off excess on the embossed images with a damp paper towel
Attach 3 little stones on top left corner of box front and back, rub edges of box with magenta ink to darken edges a little
Add tissue paper to box, attach ribbon to tie handles together

2009-02-27T15:53:00.002-06:00

I was trying to use my heart stamps from my Dee Gruenig Watercolor Valentine set to make a four-leaf clover card.

Here's the how-to.

Four-leaf clover card

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: Scrapbook printed paper “Paper Studio” (Hobby Lobby), white card stock “Georgia Pacific”
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers from SI #127 Lime Green, #129 Posh Green, #120 Lavender
ACCESSORIES: Offray mini flower, printed paper “Provo Craft paper stack”, green cardstock-from my stash, eyelet punch “Martha Stewart”, computer/printer, copy paper, pop dots, sponge, water, acrylic block

Left side folded card/ color, stamp and cut out four heart images, attach to card with pop-dots with the point of the hearts touching in the center to form clover design
Color, cut out ribbon image, draw a clover stem with marker/attach to base of clover, attach ribbon with thin pop-dots/ attach mini flower with pop-dot
Attach punched green cardstock just above bottom edge of card/attach printed paper to top edge of green cardstock
Print sentiment in green ink on white copy paper/attach it to the cardstock overlapping the printed paper
Color #120 marker on an acrylic block to use as ink, spray water next to the ink/ use sponge to pick up the water and ink (you’ll have to re-do this a few times) rub the sponge around the edges of the card front for a muted hint of color

Stamped boxes

2009-02-11T19:03:00.005-06:00

Close-up of the flower

Just one more snippet before I'm done.

Oh, before I forget, my husband just asked me if I was 'blotting' then quickly he said 'blogging'? Now that's the funniest thing I've heard all day. I guess if I was stamping... I could be blotting. Made me chuckle.

This is a cute little box from the large stash I received from Sunday International to play with. I just wanted to show you something that was so simple and fun to do using stamps.

My Little Purse Box Instructions

STAMPS: Flower, Second Nature from Autumn Leaves; Flourishes, from Autumn Leaves
PAPER: White cardstock, Georgia Pacific (for the flower images)
INKS: Tempting Turquoise, SU!, Twinkling H2O’s, Kaleidacolor rainbow dye inkpad-Caribbean Sea, Black ink, Staz-On.
ACCESSORIES: Sheer organza rainbow ribbon, Hobby Lobby, pop-dots, anywhere hole punch

Rub Tempting Turquoise stamp pad directly onto the flat box, covering all areas, then rubbing with a tissue to blend
Stamp Flourishes (1 stamp image only) in Caribbean Sea rainbow randomly over the background, turning stamp for variety
Stamp flower 2 times on white card stock, color with H2O’s in your choice of color, cut both images out, take one image and using your thumb nail rub the petals of the flower to make them curl up and be rounded, attach curled flower on top of the other with pop-dots, attach to front of box with pop-dots
Punch hole in each side near top edge, attach ribbon by tying knots to the inside of box
Ink the edges of the box with the rainbow ink pad

Watercolor Rose Card

2009-02-11T16:16:00.002-06:00

Can you tell I've been busy? This is just a small portion of what I've been up to.

I've also been making boxes, stamping boxes, and messing up boxes among other things. I did get some cute boxes out of the mix though. I can't wait for you to see them!

I've also got to get busy and do some sewing projects and make Valentine's Day cards too! I don't know if I can woo-hoo right now. Sounds like a lot to pull off for an old gal like me. I thinks me needs a nap! Do I hear a 'woo-hoo' for that?

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: White CS (Georgia Pacific), Black (Provo Craft stack pack), Very Vanilla (SU!)
INK: Ruby Red re-inker and marker (SU!), Clear Resist (Ranger Ind.), gold chalk ink (Anna Griffin), Baby Pink #116, Posh Pink #118, Ruby Red #114, Lime Green #127, Posh Green #129, (Dee’s Signature Series Brush Markers-Marvy), gold leafing pen (Krylon)
ACCESSORIES: Brass heart-shaped brads (CraftsEtc.), sheer gold ribbon (JoAnns Fabrics), Pop-dots, glue runner, hole punch, ruler, clear embossing powder (SU!), heat tool, Tim Holtz alcohol ink applicator, small piece of felt, rubbing alcohol, facial tissue, spray bottle of water, watercolor brush (Dick Blick)

7x10 white card stock side-folded to 7x5 / rub gold chalk ink around all four sides
Cut black stock to 4-1/2 x 6-1/2 / cut very vanilla stock to 4x6
On the very vanilla card stock use clear resist ink / stamp the Rose image randomly all over the background / emboss with clear powder
Use the ink applicator with felt attached / put several drops of the Ruby Red ink from re-inker bottle onto the felt / spritz a little alcohol onto the inked up felt to get it wet / rub the applicator all over the embossed card stock covering all the background with ink / rub off excess ink with facial tissue, being sure to clean the embossed images / use heat gun by moving it around a lot to dry the stock
Using ruler as a guide, run the gold leafing pen around all four sides of the embossed piece of card stock
Take a long piece (approximately 18 inches) of the gold ribbon and put a little strip of the glue runner on lower back of the embossed stock to hold ribbon in place / wrap the ribbon around to the front of embossed stock / bring toward the lower left edge of front and tie into a knot two times / trim the ends of ribbon as desired / take another piece, about 8 inches, of gold ribbon, and tie this around the knotted ribbon at center, (it’s a knot on a knot) / trim the ribbon ends a little shorter than the first ones / attach the embossed layer to the black layer
Using the markers directly onto the Rose image, color using the lightest color first, going to darker for detail / spray water into the air and hold stamp underneath to catch the mist stamp onto Very Vanilla card stock / using an acrylic stamp block as a paint pallet, color the markers in little circles onto the block / use the watercolor brush to pick up the color / add detail to the stamped image where desired ( I outlined the rose petals and leaves with darkest colors) / wet the paper around the outer edges of stamped image / then color with lime green in the wet area for a faded background effect / dry with the heat gun / tear around the stamped image / rub the inked up applicator used earlier around the torn edges
Attach the colored Rose image onto the black card stock / tear around the edges of the black to fit the shape of the torn Rose image / attach a brass heart-shaped brad to upper left and lower right of this layered image / use pop-dots to attach this to the front of card
Now you have an elegant card using just one stamp, some paper, a little ribbon and two brads.

Spring Ribbon Card

2009-02-11T16:08:00.003-06:00

I love to sew and have been stamping more than sewing lately, so I thought I'd combine the two. Lots of stampers add sewing to their cards and it's such a sweet look and very easy to do. You'll just have to save the needle to a piece of tape marked 'just for paper' when you get ready to sew again. I'm sure the paper will dull the needle pretty fast. Since I'm new at sewing on paper, I'm sure it'll make a difference what size needle you use, I'll experiment later on to see what I come up with.
Let me know what you think about my little "spring ribbon card" and thanks so much for looking!

Spring Ribbon Card

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: White, patterned paper, dark purple (Georgia Pacific, Die Cuts With A View)
INK: Baby Pink #116, Ruby Red #114, Lime Green #127, Posh Green #129, 120 Lavender, 110 Caramel, 112 Bright Orange, (Dee’s Signature Series Brush Markers-Marvy), black pen
ACCESSORIES: Assorted ribbons, ( American Crafts, JoAnns Fabrics, Wal-Mart), Pop-dots, glue runner, ruler, watercolor brush (Dick Blick), sewing machine, thread, scissors, die cut tag made with Sizzix Die Cutter

Fold 10x7 card stock to 5x7 / Cut dark purple card stock to 6-1/2 x 4-1/2 / Cut patterned paper to 4x6
Cut desired amount of assorted ribbons into 2-1/2 to 3 inch lengths (I used 11)
Using a zig-zag stitch, place the ribbon pieces under the pressure foot in a V shape along the left side of 6” length of patterned card stock, with tails of ribbon going to the left
Layer the patterned paper to the dark purple with the glue runner (just to hold in place), and stitch around the remaining 3 sides
Glue this stitched layer to the folded card / color with the Lime Green marker, around all four sides for a layered look / use the ruler to lift up the stitched ribbons and hold them out of the way while using marker on left side
Color and cut the 3 Flowers in pots image (cut close to the shape of the image) / use pop-dots and place the image in lower right corner of card front
Color edges of die cut tag with lavender marker / write the word “Hi” with Baby Pink / make little black stitched lines with pen around edges of die cut tag / cut a 4 inch length of narrow ribbon, put through hole / attach tag to card with pop-dots.

Other Crafty Items

2009-02-11T16:03:00.003-06:00

Sweet Treat Can

I used a large Coffee Mate (2.2 lbs.) can that is great for re-purposing. (Just rinse out with hot water and dry immediately.) At Christmas time I put gifts in the can and then wrapped it to look like a big piece of candy. Now that's re-purposing!

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: Scrapbook printed paper “Paper Studio” (Hobby Lobby), white sticker paper, (SU!)
INK: Dee Gruenig Signature Series Marvy markers from SI, # 119 Fuchsia, #12 Grey, #128 Grass Green, #114 Ruby Red, #1 Black, #124 Ice Blue and #127 Lime Green
ACCESSORIES: Offray ribbon in pin-dot black sheer, Cricut Expression die cut machine-(Accent Essentials and Storybook cartridges) “Provo Crafts,” glue, scissors, paper cutter, watercolor pen, Crystal Lacquer.

Cut printed scrapbook paper to fit can. I used two different coordinating prints. Tear the lower edge of one piece to layer over the other one. Put the torn-edge piece at the top edge of can. Glue each piece to the can by applying glue to the back of the paper and overlapping the edges when wrapped around can.
Cut the words “Sweet Treats” at 2”, using the Storybook cartridge on the Cricut Expression die cut machine. Cut a round-shape using the Accent Essentials, to fit the lid. Thread the ribbon through the die-cut holes and tie a bow. Using glue, apply the letters to one side of the can, in a staggered line.
Stamp the rose, two hearts, and the open heart images on sticker paper, color using the markers directly on the stamps. Use the watercolor pen to blend the stamped images. Cut each one out, apply the rose at top left of the word “sweet” and apply the open heart at the lower right of the word “treats.” Apply the two solid hearts in the center of the lid.
Lay can on its side. Apply Crystal Lacquer to the rose, let it dry. (Don’t apply too much as it will run due to shape of can.) After the rose is dry, stand the can upright, and add Crystal Lacquer to the two rose images on lid. Let dry.
Wrap ribbon around the top of can that matches the one in the die-cut on lid. Form into the bow of your choice. I tied ribbon into a knot and then tied another ribbon around the knot.

This can is going to be great to hold my homemade “Chewy Chocolate Cookies” for a Valentine’s Day treat.

Scrapbook Pages

2009-02-11T15:54:00.003-06:00

Just another little snippet of what I've been up to lately. I have to admit, I've been in a fun-zone in my craft room. Lots more things I've made, I just need to get them photographed. So hang in there with me for more 'snippets of whimsy' by BZstampr.

You can really do more than cards using rubber stamps. Just look at the fun and easy scrapbook page I made. Doesn't it just make you want to smile? I can't wait to put a picture of my granddaughter in the frame. She's going to a Valentine's dance and I'll get a picture of her before she goes. Woo-hoo! (Oh.. I better not woo-hoo... she's growing up too fast!) She's 12 going on 20.

Let me know if you have any questions about stamping in general or creating scrapbook pages with rubber stamps.

Scrapbook page for SI, Jan. ‘09

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: 12x12 white card stock (Paper Studio), Kromekote-white (Marcos Paper), Black (SU!)
INK: Pixie Pink, Red, Black, Bordering Blue, Going Grey marker, Bordering Blue marker (all SU!), black calligraphy marker (Zig markers)
ACCESSORIES: Offray pin-dot black ribbon, 3-D Crystal Lacquer (Sakura), Glitter glue (Ranger Ind.) white glitter (Art Institute Glitter, Inc.), small white brads (SU!), blue painters tape, ruler, sponge, pop dots, glue runner, distressing tool (Making Memories), Exacto knife

Using blue painters tape (tape it against your jeans to reduce the stickiness) / place tape ½” away from outer edges of white 12x12 cardstock, creating a frame ( this gives you a nice, straight edge to stamp around)
Sponge Pixie Pink randomly around the outer edge / stamp Heart Border in Pixie Pink on top of sponged area-using tape as a guide
On inner edge of tape, stamp Heart in Pixie Pink, randomly with point of the heart going off onto the blue tape / stamp little heart in between the larger heart images, filling in spaces
Carefully remove the blue painters tape
Using a ruler as a guide – place ruler along the outside edge of the just-stamped heart images / draw a line with large end of black calligraphy marker held against ruler for guide, around the perimeter of the stamped hearts (boxing them in)
Move ruler over a little less than 1/8” from the first black line, using small end of black calligraphy marker, draw a line around perimeter just like in step 5
Stamp XO border stamp in black 4 times, onto the white Kromekote stock / cut out / trim off an “x and o” on one end of two of the pieces (to make two shorter pieces)
Form a rectangle shaped frame with the stamped XO pieces, using the shorter pieces for the left and right sides / mount to upper left portion of page using pop dots
Stamp the Open Heart image in Pixie Pink, 2 times on Kromekote stock / cut out both (cut out middle portion also), snip the edge of one image and loop it through the other image / loop both hearts on lower right edge of mounted frame / secure the lower heart to page with small strip of pop dot
Stamp Amore image in Pixie Pink edged with Going Grey marker onto Kromekote white stock / cut out close to edge / layer this to black cardstock cut a little larger that the stamped image / use distressing tool to rough-up the edges of the black cardstock / mount this to upper-middle right side of page with pop dots
Stamp the Letters image 1 time on Kromekote stock / color with Bordering Blue, Going Grey, Pixie Pink, Red, black / cut out and layer onto black cardstock cut to same shape as Letters image / mount with pop dots to lower right corner of page
Cut six 3” pieces of the black pin-dot ribbon / fold over 3 pieces into a V shape, make 2 of these / on each one, cut a little hole near fold with Exacto knife to secure with white brad / using the brad, secure one of the V shaped ribbons at the top and bottom of the Amore image
Cut about 14 6” pieces of the black pin-dot ribbon / tie in center with one ribbon strip / punch two holes (one on top of the other-as in a colon :) in the page at the lower left section (making room for the bow) / run 1 ribbon strip up through each hole / attach the tied ribbon pieces in a bow-shape
Stamp one Heart image in Pixie Pink on Kromekote stock / cut out / layer with pop dots over the center “tied” portion of the ribbon strips (it looks like a shaggy bow)
Add Crystal lacquer to the heart image on shaggy bow, also on ribbon portion of letters image, the letters AMORE, and the two open hearts,
Add red glitter glue to the heart on the shaggy bow, add white glitter to the letters AMORE and the ribbon portion of letters image / let dry overnight
Insert a photo in the frame of you receiving roses on Valentine’s Day.

Sunday International Stamped Cards

2009-02-11T15:41:00.002-06:00

Key to my Heart card

WOW! I'm finally back to my baby blog. It's been a while so I hope you like what I've been up to lately.

I'm having a lot of fun being on the Design Team of Sunday International. http://www.sundayint.com/. The team consists of some fun-lovin' stamping gals and it's just a pleasure getting to know each one of them along with working with Sunday International. Visit the SI website and see all the other wonderful rubber stamp images they have to offer. Woo-hoo! (yep... I say this all the time.)

Here's the 'how to' of my card. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Sometimes it's easy for me to assume my directions are simple. (You know... simple mind that I am.)

STAMPS: Dee Gruenig’s Watercolor Valentine POSH#-82
PAPER: White CS-Georgia Pacific, White KromeKote C1S-Marcos Paper, Pink Passion-SU!
INK: Pink Passion, Real Red, Mustard, Rust-SU!, Birthstone-Kaleidacolor Rainbow pad
ACCESSORIES: Round brads-SU!, brass heart-shaped brad-CraftsEtc., rainbow ribbon-Hobby Lobby, Pop-dots, tape runner, corner rounder, corner rounder-notched, Exacto knife, scissors, Pink passion marker-SU!, distressing tool-Making Memories kit.

Cut white base cardstock to 10x7, Top-fold to 5x7
Cut white KromeKote 4.5x6.5 / round corners with notched corner rounder
Stamp small heart image randomly over background using rainbow pad getting stamp on half of light pink and medium pink (first 2 colors on left)
Rub edges of stamped panel with Pink Passion / glue down onto folded card base
Outline edges of stamped panel with Pink Passion-brush tip
Cut Pink Passion stock 2.5x4 / distress the edges with distressing tool
Stamp and cut-out Key image / tie rainbow ribbon around center of key / mount with pop-dots onto Pink Passion layer
Insert rust colored round brads to each corner of Pink Passion layer
Place in center of Pink Passion layer
Glue at an angle to left side of layered card-front
Stamp Envelope image and cut out
Stamp Heart image and cut out / insert brass heart-shaped brad into edge of heart
Cut opening (V-shape cut) in envelope / insert heart (also with pop dots)
Use pop dots to layer envelope to lower right-edge of card front
Stamp AMORE image / cut each letter out / mount with pop dots to Pink Passion card stock / round the corners / glue in a staggered line onto top section of card front / let pieces rest on top of each other just a little.

Birthday Card Snippet

2009-01-16T18:55:00.006-06:00

Just a little snippet of the card I made for my granddaughter's birthday last week. I'm slow to get things on my blog, but pictures are waiting. (Hey... at least they are out of the camera and on the computer.)
I have carried my camera with me to show off my pictures. After I saw the commercial with the lady showing off her CDs in the photo album, I thought the least I could do is get them out of my camera. :-) woo-hoo!
So... a snippet it is. Made this with my Cricut Expression,Stretch Your Imagination cart. Mounted it to a top-folded card and trimmed it a little bit for the shape to match up. Added glitter to the dark pink areas and stamped her name on the cake.

Happy Friday night and happy stampin'

I'll be back!

Cricut cards

2009-01-04T13:21:00.001-06:00

I had time to play with my Cricut Expression this weekend and made a few cards.

The ‘apple basket’ (Doodlecharms cart), with basket cut from scrapbook paper and cardstock, and ‘basket shadow’ cut in black. The apples are backed with white ‘blackout’ to show up the white highlight on the apples. I colored the leaves and stems with opaque markers so it’d show up on the dark card stock. I used pop dots behind the basket and a thinner one behind the front apples. Stamped ‘thank you’ (SU!) using a marker. I layered using red check scrapbook paper. Then I inked around all edges with a mustard color stamp pad.
‘Hello’ card was just a fluke. I cut the ‘coneflower’ (Walk in my Garden cart) a little too big, but used it anyway. Inked around the edges, used bronze stickles to highlight flower center and write the word ‘hello at the bottom. Layered flower onto scrapbook paper with a leafy design in green.

‘Sunflower’ card was the easiest one to make by using the card feature and ‘sunflower’, then used card frame (Stretch Your Imagination cart.) Naturally I inked around the card edges and inked the center of the sunflower.

‘Thinking of you’ purse card was another fluke. I was looking around on the Doodlecharms cart and thought it was a basket. It turned out to be a baby bag. I used it as a purse, cut from light and dark lavender papers. Used purple flower brads on each side of purse. I used green round brads to attach the two green background papers together. The bottom one has a torn edge that I inked. I also inked around the purse. I used a ‘thinking of you’ stamp (Penny Black.) I used pop dots to raise the purse. The purse has a green ‘shadow’ layered behind it, but you can’t see it very well.

‘Party hat’ little envelope and card. This envelope is small enough to hold a gift card. I was just playing around again, and used scrapbook paper for the envelope. I cut a ‘party hat’ (Doodlecharms) and glued it to the front. The card inside is actually two cards glued back to back. I used little pieces of scrapbook paper behind the die cut window on each side. I stamped ‘happy birthday’ (SU!) and ‘thinking of you’ (SU!) on either side.

The Christmas bouquet was made the first weekend I had my Cricut. I saw something like it online. A very big shout-out goes to Lciaccio31. She is very talented and has some of the most beautiful work I’ve ever seen. You can see her work at http://www.scrapbook.com/. I used the Christmas Noel and Joys of the Season carts to cut various images for the bouquet. I stuck a couple of poinsettia's here and there. It took a long time to make but turned out pretty good for my first Cricut project.

I hope you like my projects. Happy crafting....... see you later!

Cricut Expression for Christmas

2009-01-01T13:16:00.000-06:00

I'm a craft nut that loves many different types of creativity. I've been painting and sewing most of my life. (And that's a long time.) I started stamping in Dec. of 1995. A friend I worked with at the time got me interested and as they say.. the rest is history.

I was hooked so bad I bought every stamp that I could get my hands on. Eventually I became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up and then later The Angel Company. Both companies have wonderful stamps and it was a lot of fun. I have a fairly large collection of stamps now after 13 years of stamping. I did sell a good bit on Ebay when I started running out of room for storage. Now I just look for new ways to store them. The advent of unmounted has helped somewhat.

I don't know what you'd call my stamping style. I drift all over the board sometimes. I like clean-cut styles and also like the antique grunge look too. I love collage and lots of layers. My favorite technique is watercolor. I use watercolor pencils by Staedler, leaving them in the metal tin and use my water brush to touch the tips of the pencils to get my color.

I'm fortunate enough to have been chosen to be a designer for Sunday International beginning Jan. '09. I've been on cloud 9 ever since the announcement. I'll start in the next week or so designing for them. It's a new journey for me and I'm very excited about it.

I have an 11-year-old granddaughter, Scarlett, (she'll be 12 Jan. 9) that has been crafting with me since she was about a year old. She used to sit in my lap and stamp. We've always had such fun when we craft together. She likes to carve her own stamps and is doing such a wonderful job at it. She amazes me with her talent. We love our crafting time together.

I got a Cricut Expression for Christmas '08 and am in love with this machine. (Is that sick?) I made some pajamas (cover) using Mary Engelbriet fabric for it the first day I got it. Scarlett and I wore out the cutting mat the first weekend we used it. (Got it two weeks before Christmas.) She made a bunch of cute signs, using the markers and then coloring in the shapes. I made a Christmas bouquet. I craft lifted the idea from the net and my hat is off to Lciaccio31 (http://www.scrapbook.com/) that made one and posted it. My co-workers just loved it.

I'm looking forward to mixing stamping with the Bug. It is the most unbelievable machine I've ever seen. I love gizmos and it's by far the coolest I have. (Well... my embroidery/sewing machine is pretty darn cool too!) So is... paper cutters, the Sizzix, Zyron machines, label makers. Geeze... can you tell I love gizmos! I used to be called Gizmo Queen by my friends.

What is one to do when one is hooked on many crafts? I guess "craft 'til you croak!"

Hey... I hope you didn't fall asleep while reading my first blog. I'll try to keep you awake in the future with some of my ideas and creations. Scarlett's too!

I look forward to hearing from fellow crafters out there.

Thanks so much for visiting... do come back.

Debbie