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

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

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

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

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

 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

Free Craft Tote Promotion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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