Happy 30th Birthday Matthew

I made this card for my son's 30th birthday.  His girlfriend Rose asked me to make him a card and so I used my Stampin Up stamp set from a long time ago to make this card.  I had some baking embellishments that I added as well.  I hope he likes it.  His girlfriend is a baker so I am sure she will like it. 

Christmas Time

Hello - boy its been a very very long time since my last post - I took quite a break and tried out watercoloring painting which I really enjoyed but really missed making cards so this year I decided to make a few Christmas cards for special people in my life.  This was one of the cards that I made using my Magnolia stamps - I still love these stamps so much - they are so so cute!!  I really enjoyed my time in my craft room making cards - I forgot how therapeutic it is for me.  Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Your stamping friend Debbie

Fire up the Grill

 

Hello - As summer is coming to an end I decided to pull out barbeque Tilda - I bought her last year and I may have used her once if that and I really think she is cute so I made this card.  The barbeque is a die cut from Memory Box which I thought complemented this Tilda perfectly!  I haven't done much coloring at all in the past 6 months as I was so busy preparing for my son's wedding.  Now one month after the wedding I am finally able to spend more time in my craft room - I am so happy about that - as soon as I started coloring again - it just felt so right!  I love to sit and color - it is very relaxing for me.  This card was made with some older Bo Bunny paper that I had in my paper stash as well.  I thank you for stopping to visit and if you are Canadian I hope you really enjoy the labour day weekend coming up.  Yes I know today is only Monday but before we know it - the weekend will be here - hoping for some more great summer weather too! 

 

Your stamping friend, Debbie





 

Wedding Wishes

Hello - wow it has been a very long time since my last post but I have been so very busy with wedding stuff.  My son and his beautiful fiancé were married on July 27th and it was the perfect wedding - everything was so beautiful.  Now that the wedding is over I will be able to get more time back in my craft room and I am happy about that.  I did make this card for them for their wedding.  I used the adorable Whimsy stamp (the cute wedding couple) - I am sorry not sure what the name of the stamp is and the background stamp - as well not sure what company that stamp is from - I purchased it some time ago from our local stamp store.  I do know that there was lots of coloring with this card but I totally enjoyed the process!  I added some die cuts and flowers and a fiskars border at the top and that pretty much finished off the card.  It may be hard to see on the photo but the bride's dress is covered in sparkly glitter - very pretty in real life!  Thank you for stopping by my blog for a visit and hope you have a wonderful day!  Oh one more thing - everything was colored with copic markers.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Happy Birthday Katie

Hello - I just purchased my very first Saturated Canary stamp!  I always admired the cute images!  My future daughter-in-law's birthday is at the end of this month and so I picked up this adorable birthday image.  She is painted with my watercolor paints (something fun I wanted to try) and her shirt is paper-pieced.  The paper is Bo Bunny - Prairie Chic Collection.  I used my cricuit to cut out the birthday presents (Beyond Birthdays) and the pendant to the upper left is Memory Box.  I used my old quikutz die cuts for the letters to spell Katie.  I added some lace and a few small flowers and layered with blue and brown cardstock.  The image was cut out after I painted it.  I am fairly certain that Katie won't be looking at my blog so she won't see her card in advance.  She is busy with school work and planning for her wedding this summer.  My postings are already becoming sparse due to all the wedding preparations and I know once the wedding gets closer my cardmaking will be put to the side until after the wedding - I did buy an adorable new Whimsy stamp for the wedding card and I will be making that soon so it is done and I will post that one once I get it finished.  Well we are having some beautiful sprng like weather where I live so I am excited about that - I love the warmth so the sooner spring and summer get here the happier I will be.  Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and hope your week is fabulous.  

Bye for now

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Love is in the Air

Hello - today will be a short note as it has been so busy for me lately.  Even though I have been busy I did manage to get a card made - I find that when life becomes overwhelming I need to go and make time for myself in my craft room and that is what I did this past weekend.  Since Valentines Day is just around the corner I figured this card would be suitable.  I love this Tilda and the reason I love her so much is her versatility,  I have used her before for Christmas cards and she would work so well with almost any other type of occasion.  I used sizzix dies for the corner on the top left side, the love sentiment and the heart behind Tilda and memory box for the swirls on the right side of the card behind the flowers.  I am not sure where I got the background musical stamp from (it is actually a Christmas stamp and if you look real close at the words it is the words to jingle bells - lol!!)  But I doubt anyone will notice - the words are pretty tiny.  I also used the background paper from the new Magnolia magazine - it is so pretty!!  Well that pretty much does it for today's post - hope you are enjoying your day wherever that may be - we have been experiencing unusually mild almost spring like weather here where I live and I am loving it - bye for now and happy cardmaking!!

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - I don't make any new year resolutions because it causes too much pressure on me but if you are one that does make resolutions - all the best with whatever your resolutions or goals may be.  Hard to believe it is 2013.  I am looking forward to my son's wedding in July - there will be lots to do in the upcoming months but I am very excited about it all.  This is my first card for 2013 and I like how it turned out but I will say that it was not my design - I found this idea in an older Magnolia magazine so I in no way take credit for the design.  It was kind of fun just "copying" and then adding a few of my own elements.  I almost always try and come up with my own idea for a card and sometimes that can be so time consuming and even frustrating so I decided to start off the year with a card that wouldn't cause me all of that.  This Tilda is one of my favorites over the past few years and I have used her quite often.  She is colored with copic markers and the background is Tim Holtz Stormy Sky distress ink sponged around.  The sentiment is a Whimsy sentiment.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and I hope you are enjoying the start of this new year and hope your year is filled with creativity.  For me I find creativity feeds the soul and so I am hoping to spend lots of time in my craft room this year nourishing myself in this way.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Something Special to Share

Hello again - I know I don't post for a couple of months and then all of sudden I do two posts in one day but I had to share this most special Christmas gift that I was given EVER!!  My dear grandmother passed away almost 1 year ago (she was 94 years old and very special to me).  She owned a beautiful fur coat that my grandfather had bought for her many, many years ago and she owned ths fur coat until the day she passed away.  My grandmother has 2 daughters - one is my mom and the other my aunt and between my mom and my aunt there are 4 grandchildren (actually 5 but my brother is mentally handicapped and has been since a small child).  However my aunt was going to get rid of the fur coat after my grandmother passed away but my mother said she wanted to have it.  My mother had a brilliant idea (my mother is an amazing woman) anyways she thought it would be such a wonderful gift to have my grandmother's fur coat made into special "keepsake" bears - 1 for each of her grandchildren whom she adored.  My mother found a lady to make the bears and then my mom knitted the clothes they are wearing.  The lady who made the bears was able to get 6 bears from the coat and so my mom and my aunt also will get one of the special bears too!!  My mom asked me to come over yesterday and pick out a bear - It was so special and this bear is so special too - I ended up choosing the one on the farthest left in the picture - he is adorable!!!.  Even though they were all made from the same pattern they all were so unique in their looks - that is the amazing part of "homemade" that I so love.  Anyways my aunt and my 3 cousins I am sure will be touched as well this Christmas season by this so very special gift.  I had to share this as it just means so much to me and it is a really heartwarming story - my grandma will be smiling from heaven I know when she sees us all with one of her fur bears.  My grandmother loved to do handwork as well so I know she would just love this. Mom if you are reading this post - I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart - you are the best!!!!!  So thoughtful and kind!!!   I wanted to share this with my crafty blog friends as I know they will love to see the bears as well!!  

Have a very Merry Christmas to all - I may post a card or 2 yet before Christmas but in case I run out of time may your season be filled with Joy and Peace and great family memories!!!!

Love your stamping friend, Debbie

Let it Snow

Hello everyone - I know it has been ages since my last post - I couldn't believe it has been since October - I have been busy with work, wedding plans for my youngest son who is getting married in July and I also started to take watercolor painting lessons as well which took away some of my stamping time.  I no way intend to give up my stamping and making cards as I have such a deep passion for it that will be with me for the rest of my life.  As this Christmas season was so busy I made the same card (assembly line style) for most of the people on my list - this was very unusual for me and to be honest the very first time I had done it - but it did work out well this year and at least I was still able to send out homemade cards.  The card I made is this adorable Edwin - I don't own very many Edwin stamps but when I saw this Edwin sitting in the snow with his skis I couldn't resist him.  Magnolia also had some gorgeous blue snowy wintery paper as well to compliment this stamp.  I really enjoyed making this card - I used my Sizzix die for the tree and MS snowflake punch.  His cute snowsuit is paperpieced and I added some jewels for extra sparkle.  I will be making a few more special cards to give to my dear friends and my mom before Christmas yet and will hopefully get a chance to post those as well.  Thanks for stopping by to visit and I hope you have most of your Christmas shopping done and can enjoy the last few days before Christmas.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Thinking of You

Hello - The start of a long weekend always makes me happy.  Here in Canada we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Monday and I am looking forward to 3 days off and being able to spend more time in my craft room creating.  I made this card a few days ago and I am not sure what it is but I wasn't happy about how it turned out and I put it in my "discarded" drawer - I have a drawer that is getting full of cards that are not up to "my" standards - it can be very frustrating sometimes having this type of personality - expecting so much of myself - I decided that this was probably the best of the worst (of the past few cards I made) so I decided to post this one.  I love this Tilda she is called "Tilda with Ugg shoes" and she is from the Australian collection.  I used paper that was in my paper stash drawer and added flowers, Marianne die but, Martha Stewart punch and Memory Box die.  The sentiment is from C.C. Designs.  Thanks for taking time to visit my blog and if you are Canadian "Happy Turkey Weekend".

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Star Student

Hello everyone - this card I made using the adorable Autumn Tilda with pencils.  I just love these new Autumn Magnolias - each one is just as cute as the other and that makes it so hard to choose which ones to buy as well.  I used an older 6 x 6 paper pad set from My Mind's Eye for some of the paper and to cut out the school and apple.  The sentiment is also from the same paper pack.  I colored Tilda with copic markers but did paper piece her dress.  I added some black gingham ribbon and a black Fiskars die for the border on the bottom.  Our warm summer like weather unfortunately ended yesterday with a big wind storm bringing in much cooler autumn weather - ugh!!  Oh well I guess we were very fortunate to have the warm weather as long as we did.  It is Thanksgiving weekend coming up here in Canada so I am really looking forward to a nice long weekend and of course more time in my craft room.  Have a great day and thanks for visiting my blog.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Autumn Splendor

The first day of fall was 2 days ago and here where we live in this beautiful part of British Columbia the weather is amazing!!  It is like summer weather but with a taste of fall in the air - I always love autumn and the spectacular colors that accompany this time of year.  The leaves are just in the beginning stages of turning colors and the cool crisp evenings and mornings are perfect for walking my dog.  As I am in the autumn mood I decided to make this card. Tilda in her autumn splendor - I love how she is standing and holding her flowers and basket.  I used Bo Bunny Apple Cider Collection 6 x 6 paper pad.  This paper pad has gorgeous fall papers - it was hard to choose which ones to use.  The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms - I love this sentiment as it really is what fall is all about - a visual masterpiece.  It reminds me to make the most of each and every day as each day we have is so special.  Tilda is colored with copic markers and I have added a Sizzlit die for the background leaves, a flower, jewels and some lace.  Thank you for stopping by to visit my blog and I hope you have a wonderful day and week.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

I have entered this card into the challenge at Tilda's Town

From Halloween to Christmas

Hello - I have been on a long break - lots of different things going on right now - I finally did manage to make a card and this time I made a Christmas card using Make it Crafty Christmas elf  "Twinkles".  I bought the entire Christmas Elves Collection - there are 6 of them all together and they are all just as cute as this one.  I used my Marianne die cut for the circle/star background and the sentiment is cut out of designer paper.  I colored the image using my copic markers and added some shading with prisma pencils (a new technique for me).  I added some sparkle to the bells at the ends of her hat and layered with design paper from my paper stash pile.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

The Good Witch Hazel

Hello - I know it is kind of early to think about Halloween but I was asked to design a card for our local scrapbooking store using this adorable Whimsy Stamp called "Hazel".  I decided she was way too cute to be anything other than a good witch and take a look at the bat on the end of the broomstick - he is also way too cute!!  I enjoyed the challenge in coloring this image as I was trying to incorporate an imaginary light source coming from the left hand side and therefore I paid close attention to how my shadows would fall.  I am really trying to focus on this more and more in my coloring as it does make quite a difference.  I tend to look at things differently now-a-days and pay close attention to color and shadows and light sources.  It really is a learning process but a fun one.  I used a few different papers from Graphic 45 called "Happy Haunting Collection" (love this paper!!) and I layered with black, purple and orange cardstock.  The fence is from Memory Box and the pumpkin patch is cut out of the design paper as well as the sentiment and the stars in behind.  I am going to enter this in the current Whimsy challenge "lots of layers".  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and hope you have a wonderful week.  I have listed the copic markers I used below.

Hair - E25, YR24, Y26, Y21
Face - E000, E11, E21
Dress - C8, C5, C3, C2, C0, V17, V15, V12

I also used a few prisma pencils to get greater depth in some areas.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Your Next Stamp Challenge - A Sketch

Hello - hope your week has been going well for you.  I am amazed at how quickly the weeks go by as it is already Thursday again and that means another Your Next Stamp challenge.  This week it is a sketch - head on over to Your Next Stamp to see the sketch lay-out.  I used Dress Up Ellie to make this card and added some bling!  I hope you enjoy the rest of the cards made by the design team - they are sure to bring on a smile or two.  Maybe you can get a chance to play along with this challenge and if so check out all the details at Your Next Stamp and have fun!!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and see you next week for the last challenge of August.

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Your Next Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello - hard to believe another week has gone by - where is the summer going?  Another Your Next Stamp Challenge and this week it is "Anything Goes" so I decided to use the adorable Fhiona and Pony stamp to create this card.  I used a Sizzix die for the outer frame and added some sky paper in behind.  The leaves/branches to the side is also a Sizzix die, the grass a Fiskars border bunch, the flowers and sentiment letters are Quikutz dies and the flag die is Memory Box.  I sure love my Big Shot machine and how versatile it is and how it allows me to use all these different dies and it cuts so perfectly the first time around - I can remember the hand-held device I had for my Quikutz dies and how hard it was to push it down and then so often it would not cut right through the paper and I would have to keep re-doing it - that was such a pain!! Thank goodness for the Big Shot - I absolutely love this cutting machine and would highly recommend it to anyone.  Hopefully you can get a chance to head over to Your Next Stamp to check out what the design team created and maybe play along yourself.  Thanks for taking time to visit my blog and have a wonderful day!

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Your Next Stamp Thursday Challenge - Books

Hello and it is Thursday once again and that means Your Next Stamp has another challenge on the go!  This week the theme is "Books" and when I found out that the theme was books I immediately thought of back to school .  All of the designer paper on this card is from My Mind's Eye 6" x 6" paper pad called School Daze.  It is a fabulous paper pad if you are able to get your hands on one of them - lots of back to school paper perfect for card making.  The adorable image is actually cut out of a larger YNS stamp called "Ellie Loves Music". The books she is sitting on and the A+ is cut out of the design paper.   I added an apple brad and heart brad in her hair and some ribbon on the top.  I hope you get a chance to head on over to Your Next Stamp and check out all the wonderful creations from the design team and maybe you can get a chance to play along as well.  This blog will be sure to make you smile - guaranteed!!  All of these stamps are so sweet!!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and hope you have a fantastic happy day!!

Your stamping friend, Debbie

A Coloring Challenge for Me

Hello everyone - I hope you had a fabulous weekend - here in Canada we had an extra day off yesterday so it was very nice.  This weekend we reached some very hot temperatures so in the afternoons I was more than happy to be in my craft room where it was a bit cooler.  I bought this adorable Whimsy stamp called "Little Jack and Bobbin Snoozin" - it just gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw it and then once I stamped it out I realized that there is a lot to color.  It took me a few practice rounds as I am not that good with my copic markers yet and I did finally finish this image and was fairly happy with the results.  I also actually kept a list of the colors I used you can see the list below.  This card is mainly coloring except for the SU corner punch and brad I used and the sentiment is also a Whimsy stamp.  I did add some twine on the fishing rod to make it look a bit more realistic.  You will note there is a dog in this image as well and if you follow my blog you will know that I love most any image that has a cute dog in it - another reason for buying this stamp - lol!  Well it is back to work for me today but thankfully a short week so I am happy about that.  I hope you have a wonderful day where-ever you might be and thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Copic Used:

Grass - G99, YG67, YG63, YG03, G21, G20
Tree - E29, E25, E53, E99, W1
Hair - E31, E50, E53
Skin - E11, E01, E00, E000
Dog - W5, W3, W1
Shirt and Apple - R37, R35, R32
Hat - E33, E31, YR20, Y21
Overalls, B97, B95, B93, B91
Flowers - Y06, Y17
Leaves - G95, YG67, G20
Sky - Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass and homemade cloud template
Book - W7, W5, W3, W1
I also added some prisma color markers to deepen shadows (a brand new technique for me but quite effective)

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Your Next Stamp Thursday Challenge

Hello - Well I am very excited to have been chosen guest designer for the month of August for the adorable Your Next Stamp company.  The first challenge of the month is to make a card using the colors dark pink, light pink, orange and yellow.  I used this cute YNS stamp, called girlfriends, and created this card from paper in my paper stash drawer.  I thought it might be hard to come up with this color combo but fortunately my paper drawer is very full and I was able to find the right colors.  The image is colored with copic markers and the sentiment is also from YNS.  I would suggest that you head on over to http://yournextstamp.blogspot.ca/ to check out what all the other designers have created and then join in the challenge yourself!  I just love these images as they always make me smile!!  -   Hope you are enjoying your summer - one more month to go and then fall will soon be upon us again - I am going to savour every last drop of summer I can as I just love the heat!!
Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog and happy stamping!!

Your stamping friend, Debbie

Christmas in July

Hello - well July is almost over and that means summer is half way over too - I am sad that summer is going by so quickly - I am really enjoying the hot sunny weather.  Now having said all of that - you may wonder why I am making a Christmas card? - I wouldn't be doing this on my own but the scrapbooking store I design for had asked me to make a Christmas card.  I was a bit reluctant at first but then decided to take it on as a fun challenge.  I have to admit it is not easy to make a Christmas card in the summer somehow it all just doesn't come together as well.  I did struggle with this card and I have to admit it is not one of my more favorites but maybe it is because my creative mind isn't tuned in yet to winter/cold and Christmas - anyways it was still fun to be in my craft room once again and create.  I am not sure which Tilda this is or which Christmas set she belongs to but she is adorable!  I paper pieced her hat, scarf and boots and then colored the rest of her with copics.  I used a Sizzix die to cut the tree in behind and added glitter and star brads. I also used my circuit machine to cut out the lamp post in the background.  I added some pretty prima flowers and used my Memory Box die to add some black swirls behind the flowers and added some ribbon and a Whimsy sentiment stamp.  That pretty much sums up this card - I kind of went a bit overboard on it as far as embellishing but sometimes it is hard to know when to stop - lol!!  Hope you are all having a wonderful relaxing Sunday where-ever that may be.

Your stamping friend, Debbie