The Christmas Season!

It is here. I love this time of year. It is a wonderful time of celebration because Jesus came. Our Lord Emmanuel.

I was asked to make a card to accompany a food shower. This is what I made.

Stamp set: Christ is Born

Ink: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

CS: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Holiday Treasures DSP, Shimmery White

Accessories: Tool Kit, Wide Oval and Scallop Edge punches, oval non SU punch, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon.

Have a wonderful season! I will try and post again soon.

HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

The Holiday Extravaganza Sale is Going On Now!! Shop online for bundles of holiday products for yourself or everyone on your list. Bundles priced 20 - 50% OFF. Nov. 26 - Dec. 1. Quantities are limited so head here http://debradaam.stampinup.net .

Embossing and a Punchy Turkey!

For November's class we started out making a turkey out of punches and then moved on to a couple of embossed Christmas cards.


There are many different punchy turkey's and it was a fun project that I thought I would never make. The punches I used are all © Stampin' Up! They are listed as follows: Scallop circle, Boho Blossoms, 3/4 circle and 1 inch circle. The scallop circles are each cut in half. The one closest to the Body is also cut in half again in the opposite direction. The beak is one petal from a boho flower and the waddle and feet are from another boho flower. DSP is Haiku, the body is So Saffron, the Beak is More Mustard and waddle and feet are Tangerine Tango.



This technique is Markers on Vellum. We stamped with versamark on the vellum and embossed with White EP. When cool you flip your piece over and color on the back with your markers.
Scandinavian Season is my favorite set. We also used the Ski Slope DSP. Rhinestone brads were used for the tree topper and to hold the Baja Breeze ribbon in place. Isn't this just a fun festive card! I love it!





This is Faux Metal Emboss. I took a billion pictures and they are all washed out. I don't know what the deal is. Anyway...
The star and snowflake are also from the Scandinavian Season set. How versatile!! The star is embossed using the Brushed Gold CS and the Gold EP. We then punched it out with the Large Star punch. To make the snowflake piece we used the Brushed Silver CS and the Silver EP. For this technique you have to layer your cs with several layers of ep. To do this: apply versamark directly to your metallic cs, cover with ep and heat. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times so that you have several layers of melted ep. Before the last layer ink your stamp in versamark. As soon as your last layer is melted immediately press your stamp into the melted ep. Press firmly and rock you stamp to get a good impression. Then punch out your image.
The Holiday Treasures DSP was used for this card. We also used the Alpine Ribbon Originals. There is a Brushed Gold piece that we used the Scallop punch on. I hope you can see it. Behind the star is we used the 1-3/4 Circle punch.

This is my last Tech Class for this year. That sounds soooo weird. My head is not even into November yet.

Pearly Bella Beautiful Borders

Bella Toile is a gorgeous background. I paired it with Beautiful Borders for some quick cards to send.

This is the first I've used Beautiful Borders and I love it!!! Now I need to make some cards with it using the actual words that it comes with.

After stamping the border strip on Shimmery White, I sponge daubered the Baja Breeze over it.

Sets: Beautiful Borders, Bella Toile, All Holidays

CS: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Shimmery White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze

Accessories: Sponge Daubers, Tool Kit, Scallop Square Punch, Square Punch, Small Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Chocolate Chip Taffeta, Pretties Kit

Watercolor Wonder Crayons-October Tech Class

For my October class we worked with the Watercolor Wonder Crayons. These are my favorite way to watercolor and are very easy to work with.

This card was basic watercoloring. Just stamp a lined image and use the crayons to color and then spread that color by using the aquapainter. I also added shadow around the image.

Stamp sets used: Crazy for Cupcakes on the card and Bloomin' Beautiful for the tech card.

Ink: Black StazOn

CS: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Close to Cocoa, and Watercolor paper

Accessories: Ribbon, Chunky Sprinkles, Crystal Effects, Aquapainter, WWCrayons

This card was done by coloring with the crayons directly on the rubberstamp. I LOVE the looks of this. Start with coloring your image with the lightest color you are using. Then keep coloring using colors lightest to darkest. Then spritz the image with water and stamp. Beautiful!!!

Stamp set: With Gratitude, Bella Toile

CS: More Mustard, Old Olive, Watercolor paper

Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: WWCrayons, gold brads, Riding Hood Red ribbon

All items © Stampin' Up!

Sooo, if you have the Watercolor Wonder Crayons you need to use them!!! And if you don't have them, you should really get them. *grins*

Christ is born!

The Christ is Born set is just lovely!!! I hope to use this for my cards this year. We will see. I am thinking I might not send cards this year.

When I saw the sketch challenge the result you see is what popped in my head. See the challenge here.

Set: Christ is Born

CS: Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Shimmery White, Holiday Treasures DSP, Vellum CS

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Ruby Red, Old Olive

Accessories: Filigree Brads

The markers were used on the poinsettia to give it a softer look and so that the Christ is Born would show. The coluzzle was used to cut the vellum as well as the half circles.

HeartLIFE Missionary Christmas

HeartLIFE is a girls program at our church. They have a missionary that they encourage through the year with cards and such. I was asked to prepare some Christmas cards for one group of girls. They are 15 years old so a nice age group to do this. There were only 3 of them so I let them each make all 3 cards. They were delightful to work with.

This card used:

Snow Swirled

Cs: Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red, VVanilla

Ink: Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Snow Blossom Punch

This card used:

Scandinavian Season (my FAV Christmas set)

Scandinavian wheel

Cs: Real Red, Baja Breeze, Choc. Chip, WWhite,

Ski Slope DSP

Ink: Choc. Chip, Baja Breeze, Real Red

Accessories: Twine, brad, dimensionals

This card used:

Bella Toile, All Holidays

Cs: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Kraft,

VVanilla

Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Bravo Burgundy grosgrain, 1-3/4 circle punch, 5-petal flower punch, non-SU punches, zigpainty

I did not use any glitter or bling and that is a total shocker!!!

Everything © Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Bloom with the Fruit of the Spirit

I am in a Bible study called Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore. This Bible study is about exploring the Fruit of the Spirit. I decided to make bookmarks for all of the ladies participating. Living in the Spirit is very relevant to the believers life. I want to daily change my day and not just my life. I need to live in the Spirit to have purpose beyond me. To live in the Spirit, I need to not be self-absorbed. We all live self-absorbed don't we? I want to have abundant living in the fulness of the Spirit.

Here is the bookmark. It is honkin' HUGE isn't it!!! LOL I used chipboard coasters for these and colored the edge with Chocolate Chip. I used the set Bloomin' Beautiful because it has flowers and because of the word "bloom" and the blossom definition. I just had to use it and I sure had a lot that I wanted to cram on this bookmark. I wanted the Fruit of the Spirit printed on there and I just used the computer to do that. I covered the chipboard with a chocolate piece of Bella Rose DSP. The scalloped edge piece is Riding Hood Red and the green over that is Old Olive. Shimmery white was used to stamp the blossom definition and the flower. The flower is stamped in Chocolate Chip Craft and embossed with clear EP. I colored with inkpads with the aquapainter. The hardware is the Vanilla HPH sponged and wiped off with chocolate chip ink. I also added the Filigree Designer Brads.

The ladies will get these next Wednesday.

All items © Stampin' Up!

Michelle's Swap

This is the card for Michelle's (SDiegoGal) Swap.

I used the set Inspired by Nature. It is a silhouette set that © Stampin' Up! has come out with. I used the Craft White and Blush Blossom to create a silouette embossed look. For the "live with passion" piece I stamped in Blush Blossom and used a sponge dauber to add color. LOVE those daubers. Colors used are Blush Blossom, Tangerine Tango and Chocolate Chip. I added paper piercing at the top to add some balance.

Everything here is all © Stampin' Up!

Jami's Swap

These are my contributions to Jami's Swap for the new catty. You had to use a new set and then there were specifics you had to follow.

This card was in Round 1. We had to use a punch and I chose the new Wide Oval Punch. The new set is A Rose is a Rose. This is my favorite set out of the whole catalog. The colors used are Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and the "Thank you" is stamped with Chocolate Chip. This set is a 2-step stampin' set and it is easier to use if you have a stamp-a-ma-jig. I inked the solid image with Pink Pirouette and then added a bit of the Riding Hood Red with a sponge dauber. Then I used the red in the 2-step. The base is Pink Pirouette and the DSP is Bella Rose.

This was my Round 2 contribution. We had to use hardware in this round and I chose the Mini Library Clips. The set used here is Flight of the Butterfly. This is a free set that I got at convention. Isn't it cute!?!?! The colors used are Basic Grey, Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy. This is another 2-step stampin' set. Again the stamp-a-ma-jig was used. (I love that thing)

All products are © Stampin' Up!

Crazy Ski Slope Cupcakes!

What a fun set Crazy for Cupcakes is!!! And the Ski Slope DSP is beautiful. I had to do something with them right away. I made this on Friday and used the sketch that Taylor put up. You can see that here.

I used the set Crazy For Cupcakes. Colors used are Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive and Baja Breeze. Those are brought through the Ski Slope DSP. The card base is Baja Breeze as well as the one inch ribbon. The base is stamped with Twill background stamp to give texture. I used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color the image. The blue frosting was colored using the lid of the Baja Breeze lid. The image is stamped with the Chocolate Chip Craft pad and embossed with clear EP. I added the Filigree Designer Brad to balance out the card.

All items © Stampin' Up!

A Couple Faux's and a Pouch

This month was a lot of fun! A little pocket treat pouch and 2 cards. First the pouch. It is called the Diaper Fold Pouch. For some reason I do not like that it is called that. So I just call it the Pocket Treat Pouch. LOL


Isn't it the cutest thing! I used Haiku DSP. I used the colors in the paper on this project. They are Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, more Mustard and So Saffron. I watercolored the pumpkin using the aquapainter and taking ink from the lids of the pads. I gave the choice of putting a jack o lantern face on as well. And they had the choice of the words "Happy Halloween" as well as the "for you".




This technique is Faux Seersucker. To make the seersucker look you use the crimper. Put your stamped image through the crimper one way and then quarter turn it and put it through again. VERY cool.
I used the Stitched background and the set Stitched Exotics. Colors are Bordering Blue, Bravo burgundy and Always Artichoke.







This is the Faux Framing technique. You use the coluzzle or a punch to make a mask to sponge ink onto your cardstock and then stamp inside the shading.
I used the new set A Rose is a Rose. This is my favorite set out of the catalog. I love it!
The colors are Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss. I also used the Scallop Punch along the edge of the card and sponged that. LOVE that punch.




All projects are strictly © Stampin' Up! this month.

Haiku Rose

I love the new A Rose is a Rose set from Stampin' Up! As well as the new DSP Haiku! I just love the colors.

I used the colors in the paper. Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, More Mustard and So Saffron. Sponge daubers and sponges were also used.

August Class Projects

For my August Class we had fun making these projects!

This is just put together with a stirrer and you could put it in a planter or in a glass vase with marbles. Just something fun! and I got the idea from page 97 of the Idea Book and Catalog.













This card is my favorite. I love the floral image and it is wonderful to work with.
















I love the peek a boo in this card.

The layout of the card is a case of a card from convention that I got from my 5th upline Jill Olsen.




I am looking forward to next months class. More new stuff!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!

Psalm 1 - Divine Design

I have been going over Psalm 1 lately. It has been on my mind for a few months. Then we ended up having a sermon on this passage on Sunday morning. Verse 1 was the focus. *Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.*

I appreciated the way Pastor Steve had us look at this. Some I have heard before. Others I have not. It sure made me sit up and pay attention.

To allow genuine godly joy, we have to say no to certain things. Our walk is not a list of do's and don'ts. It is a life found in Christ. Not just the facts, it is how you define the fact's. We are to be in the world, not of the world. There is a difference. How am I responding? What am I taking my counsel from? Am I becoming used to the world and how they respond? Or am I responding the way God wants me to? I am a boat in the water. I need to make sure I dont let water in the boat.

Am I walking with the ungodly and wanting to be like them? To be approved by them?

Am I standing with the ungodly and paying attention?

If we start being comfortable with walking we then start standing. And soon we will be sitting. We need to not be that comfortable.

I love verses 2 and 3.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and in His law he meditates day and night,

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season,

whose leaf also shall not wither,

and whatever he does shall prosper.

That is what I want to be. That is what I want to focus on. That is what I want my walk to be. To say no to things that take away my godly joy. I want to have godly joy.

Back from Stampin' Up! Convention

Don't these look scrumptious!!! They were! For our first lunch these were in the middle of each table. What fun!

I am excited to be home and share. Stampin' Up! has paired up with Sizzix. The result is the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up! The Big Shot is a sturdy manual die cutting machine used to die cut materials for use on crafts, home décor projects, and even clothing! The Big Shot machine is a 6-time winner of Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Award for best die cutting equipment and dies.

Club starts this Friday, August 8. Let me know if you are interested in attending. Cost is $12, or if you are a club member it is FREE. Contact me for details.

Here are a couple of the Make n Takes:

See the bag in the background? This was one of the items made available for purchase at convention. Very cool and deep and bigger than others on the market. Love it!

Tissue Holder

I made these for my roommate's. The lid is velcroed and so is one side to slip in a new little tissue container when needed.

Scroll down to see convention swaps.

Convention 08 WOOHOOO!!!!

I head out the door in a couple of hours and I decided to share the swaps I am taking.


This is a watchmaker tin ornament for a 3D Swap I joined.



















This is for a the same 3D Swap only a different group.






















This is an ATC for another swap I joined.




















This is also an ATC for the ATC swap.















This is for the WOW swap I joined. It is a Gate-Fold Card that is held closed by the ribbon.

July Tech Class

Better late than never! I have been busy getting ready for convention next week and just now am taking the time to share July's class.

This one is Pastel Emboss. I have to say this is the first time I had ever done this technique. It is not my favorite, but I did enjoy it.
Stamp Set: Always
Ink: Versamark
CS: Bravo Burgundy, Black, Pretty In Pink, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Pastels, White EP, Burgundy Ribbon








This one is Poppin' Pastels. I have used this technique many times and it is one of my favorites. It is just a quick easy technique that I really enjoy.
Sets: Lovely As a Tree, With Gratitude
Ink: Versamark
CS: Almost Amethyst, Choc. Chip, Vanilla
Accessories, Build a Brad, Pastels

All products © Stampin' Up!


I have been working on swaps for convention and hope to get those blogged before I leave.

Divine Design-BVC08-Psalm 37:23,24

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Psalm 37:23,24

What a wonderful promise. I am thankful to God that He upholds me with His hand.

Recipe: Stitched Exotics and Stitched stamp sets. Cardstock: So Saffron, Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke. Stampin' Pastels, Versamark pad, Artichoke ribbon, slot punch. I used the Poppin' Pastels technique.

June Tech Club/Class

Techniques for the month of June were Spotlighting and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig.

For the month of June we had a sneak peek of the new stamp set Fresh Cuts and the Fresh Cuts Cards. I love both!


For the Spotlighting Technique I used shimmery white cardstock. I love this cardstock and it is my favorite. I stamped the image twice with black StazOn. I then punched out the piece I wanted to spotlight with the 1-1/4 inch circle punch. I colored with a blender pen and the pad lids. I had never done this technique before and I enjoyed it very much.





In the Stamp-a-ma-jig Technique I used the Fresh Cuts notecards. I use this a lot to make sure what I am stamping is straight or for a 2 step stamp that is a little difficult to line up. The colors and cardstock I used were Lavendar Lace and Sahara Sand. The flower punch works wonderful with this set. The stamp-a-ma-jig was used to line up the flower in the center and for you at the bottom of the card.

Dave and the girls

Dave has been picking berries in the sideyard. YUM! He took the girls out one night with him to help.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday Jaclyn!!!

It is hard to believe our sweet Jaclyn is going to be 20 and has graduated from High School. She will be attending the Young Adult Program in the Fall and she is very excited about it.
















We let Jaclyn go with us to order her cake so she could pick colors. Every day for 2 weeks all she talked about was picking up her cake. Probably about 20 times a day she asked to go pick it up. Maybe even more!!! She was soooo excited.









See the cookies on the side? My dear friend and neighbor Ann made those. She made several kinds and they were SCRUMPTIOUS!!!


Jaclyn was excited to blow out her candles. She even wanted to help light them!

Jaclyn and her friends have a lot of fun as you can see!


Pictures tell alot. (I actually forgot to take pictures of people until the end.) All of Jaclyn's pictures just make me tear up. She has come a long way for only given a 2 week life span. Jaclyn has been a blessing in our lives. I am thankful that God has given her to us and the lessons I have learned because of her.

Debra

NEW Decor Elements!!!

Stampin" Up! has a new product line!!! I am excited about this! I love the images. This is only Phase 1.
Contact me for more information.

Stampin' Up! Retired List

The Retired List is out! You can see it HERE. These sets are only available until August 10. Then they will be gone. Contact me if you need to order something on that list!

Praise the LORD! Divine Design - June

Let's praise the Lord together! Praise His holy Name! That is what I wanted to do this month. Praise Him! So I chose Psalm 150 for my Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge. You can see the challenge here.

Psalm 150

1- Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

2- Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

3- Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

4- Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise

Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

5- Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

6- Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Recipe

stamp set: Boho Backgrounds; Stamp pads: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink; Cardstock: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White; Accessories: Ribbons, Styled Silver HPH

One of the brads says GENUINE. That is what my faith is. That is what my praise is. That is what the Lord God is. Praise His Name!!!!

I've been tagged...

Jennifer tagged me a week ago and I am just getting to it today! I love her work and you can see it here: http://justjennifersstamping.blogspot.com/

So, here are the 5 things you're supposed to do once you've been tagged.
1- 10 years ago...I was running the kids to and fro. The older 2 were in high school and Jaclyn was in elementary and of course dealing with medical stuff for her... And I worked part-time at a tailor shop.

2- 5 things in today's 'to-do' list...1] This blog post 2] Make a grad card 3] attend grad open house 4] shop for a dress or skirt and top for J 5] meet with my sister to close her show

3- Snacks that I enjoy...1]I love cheesecake 2]I like to munch on crunchy stuff. [like skittles {I know, these are more chewy} or m&m's or salty stuff]

4- Things I would do if I were a millionaire... I would pay off my kids debt. Take the entire family, both sides, on a trip somewhere.

5- Places I have lived...My dad is a pastor and we moved a little in our time. When I was a kid we lived in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. But the last 31 years I have lived right here in the Kalamazoo/Portage area.

Okay...Now who gets tagged next?! A lot of blogs I visit have been tagged in the past and I am trying to choose those that haven't been tagged. Visit these wonderful blogs. Enjoy!!

http://onestampinmama.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

http://beantowngrasshopper.blogspot.com/

http://paperpatty.blogspot.com/

http://stampinbygeorge.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Patrick and Sarah!

Sarah and Patrick were just married about 7 weeks ago. They had a celebration at their new home this afternoon. I am so happy for my niece and her new husband. They just live about 5 minutes from us and I am excited about that! My picture didn't turn out too well. Sorry about that.




I ordered a name and address stamp for them and covered this tin and made 10 notecards with their initial.





All items © Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted. Stamp sets: Together Forever, Lovely Letters, Pad: River Rock, Accessories: Rose Red Marker, Tool Kit, River Rock Ribbon, Pomegranate Ribbon, White grosgrain ribbon.

Loving Fresh Cuts!!!

This set is just fun. I made 11 of these for a swap I am in. It is due June 1st and I just sent them out today. I am glad I waited to make them so I could use this set. On the flower sprig I inked it in River Rock and then used a Blender Pen to add Purely Pomegranate to the flowers and Wild Wasabi to the stem. I love that look. Then I used the 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds to add some pizzaz. I also added some piercing using the Tool Kit. Colors used are River Rock, Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi. The ribbon is Wild Wasabi. All images © Stampin' Up!

Have a great day!

More Fresh Cuts and a Challenge

The new set Fresh Cuts is just beautiful! It is available in June and will be in the new Fall/Winter © Stampin' Up! Catalog and Idea Book. I can't wait!!!

The sketch for this card is from Taylored Expressions. Taylor has a Cupcake Challenge every Friday and I decided to play this week. You can go here to see what it is all about.

For this card I wanted to punch the main image by using Crystal Effects to make what I wanted to stand out. The flowers on the vertical panel have the Crystal Effects as well as the three cut out flowers. I also added a dollop of Tombow Multi to the center of those and then dipped them in Dazzling Diamonds. On the large panel and the three flowers I used the Rock n Roll technique. It is my favorite and I hope you aren't tired of it. The image on the vertical panel I used markers to color that image and the huff and stamp technique.

The recipe I used is:

Stamp set: Fresh Cuts

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, pads and Markers

Accessories: Tool Kit, Jumbo Eyelets, Rich Regals Brads, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Tombow Multi

Enjoy this wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I need to get a card up for that.