Prairie Paper & Ink

Still Pink

OK I've decided to keep the pink!! For those of you who are still seeing the orange - I have NO clue why it's doing that. Hopefully it will fix itself!! The *only* thing I can think of is if you're coming here from a bookmark and it hasn't updated yet?? I dunno (as JulieHRR says I'm a total TECH TARD! ROFLOL!!).

Anyway the pink is stayin'. I'm glad y'all are liking it (those that can see it!) - I think it's much more fun!! :o)

Anywho I've been working on more scrapbook pages and I will get around to taking pics and posting them all here - don't expect too much tho b/c a lot of my first pages aren't that great!! I've come a long way since I started! I have one more 2 page layout to finish and then my first book will be filled and I can *finally* start working on pics of Josie (so basically I'm about 9 months behind - OMG she's gonna be exactly 9 months old tomorrow!!! Wah!! Time goes by WAY too fast!! :o( ).

I still plan on getting pics of my stamp area so you can all see where I spend *most* of my time and how I store it all (the ribbon storage will be coming *soon* like maybe later today).

I've also been working on more cards w/ Alexa's stamp set. I have an idea simmering w/ that but I need to work on it a bit more first.

Anywho I'll try to post some stuff a bit later. Josie is down for a nap so I gotta get as much stuff done as possible before she wakes up!!

It's Pink

You might have noticed my blog is now pink instead of that orangy/brown color. I love pink - it's totally my favorite color. I only chose the orange color b/c it seemed more fitting for a *Prairie* Paper & Ink blog - LOL!!

Anywho I decided to change it today and went w/ this b/c all the other ones available just didn't seem to suit me.

I'm still trying to get the hang of everything and slowly learning what all I can do w/ my little blog - it's a learning process I tell ya! It's fun tho.

What do y'all think?? Should I stick w/ the pink??

Toot Toot!!!

It's here!!! My first Splitcoast tutorial went public today!!! For some it will be a repeat as it was the first tutorial I did on here (ribbon dyeing) but look for more new and SCS exclusive tutorials coming up in the next few months!!

Here's the card I did for the tutorial:

I stamped the dress on Shimmer White CS w/ Basic Black ink then colored in w/ re-inkers and an Aquapainter and cut out. I matted it on Bashful Blue and free-hand cut it out.

I made the frame out of Brocade Blue CS and stamped w/ Paisley in Whisper White Craft ink. The card base (Bashful Blue) is also stamped w/ Paisley (BB). I stamped the Barely Banana w/ Linen in Barely Banana.

Both the dress and the frame are mounted on dimensionals. I tied the dyed ribbon on the frame and added a prima flower w/ a Bashful Blue brad.

This card measures 4.25" x 4.25".

SETS: Blooming with Happiness, Paisley, Linen. CS: Shimmer White, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Barely Banana. INK: Basic Black, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Barely Banana. ACCESSORIES: White Grosgrain (dyed Bashful Blue), Prima, SS Brad, Dimensionals.

Roses in Winter

When I first saw the Roses in Winter set I *hated* it - I thought it was so ugly!! (this was when I first started stamping and I didn't have a clue about 2-step stamping and had never heard of Splitcoast - oh the horror! lol)

Anyway after I saw all the gorgeous samples in the gallery on SCS using this set I *had* to get it. I've only made maybe half a dozen cards w/ it since I got it. I was finding it more difficult to get it to look good than I thought it would be!

But as I was making this card (and not liking how it was looking) I realized that I need to keep at it and that it looks better after I add all the other elements:

I used this weeks Color Combo Challenge and the *just* uploaded Sketch Challenge for this card. (When I first saw the sketch I wondered if I'd be able to make anything w/ it - but once I started playing w/ it I found it quite easy!!)

I stamped the first part of the roses in Marigold Morning (rocked in Cranberry Crisp) then the second part I did the same but pressing harder in the CC. The third part I just stamped in Cran Crisp. I added a teeny bit of True Thyme to the combo for the leaves.

I used my Color Spritzer w/ the Cranberry Crisp Ink to spray the CS and sponged the edges w/ the Marigold.

The ribbon was dyed w/ Marigold Ink (it turns out looking totally different when done but still matches the paper and ink). Look for my ribbon dyeing tutorial to be on SCS and in their newsletter later today!! :D *little happy dance here*

I did a little faux stitching here and there to just add a little something.

The sentiment is from the SU set Friendship Flowers - one of my new favorite sets. I really like the font used for this set!!

SETS: Roses in Winter, Friendship Flowers. INK: Cool Caribbean, Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning, Basic Black. CS: Cool Caribbean, Cranberry Crisp, Basic Black, Whisper White. ACCESSORIES: White Grosgrain (dyed Marigold) and Black Gingham ribbon.

Robeez

I bought Josie 2 more pairs of Robeez shoes today. A local store had them on sale so I snapped up the cutest ones!:

I *love* Robeez - we were given 2 pairs of them (the little pink ones w/ flowers and the dragonfly ones) as gifts when Josie was born. They're made out of leather and suede and are SO soft and yet they stay on!! There's a bunch of other info about them on their site that I linked to at the beginning.

I just love them b/c I can throw them in the washer and whatnot and it doesn't wreck them. Josie loves them. I'm contemplating getting a pair for Veronica too - I never had any for her - when she was born I had never heard of them before and the couple of places I had seen them were WAY too expensive!

I just had to share this b/c I was so excited to get them on sale as they aren't cheap and yet they are SOOOO cute!! Josie has outgrown her first pair (the flower ones) and the dragonfly ones won't fit till she's about a year old so I needed to get a new pair b/c she's pulling herself up and it won't be long before she starts walking!

I highly recommend them - and the fact that they were invented by a Canadian woman makes them even more cool!! LOL

Monograms

This isn't a new card. I did this some time ago and as I was going through my old gallery uploads I came across this and wanted to blog about it.

I made this using SU's Monogram B, Toy Box (retired), It's Your Birthday, Linen and the Inky Antics Turtle. It's one of the few cards I'm really proud of!

I stamped the B using Brocade Blue on Whisper White CS, cut it out and used my Layer Ease (now retired) to make a perfect mat for it w/ Certainly Celery CS.

All the images were stamped w/ Basic Black on Whisper white and colored w/ Prismacolors and Gamsol then cut out. I stamped Linen w/ Creamy Caramel on the Whisper White card base and sponged the edges w/ CC.

I mounted the B and the Turtle on the card w/ dimensionals and tied a little hemp to the B for some added interest.

This turned out to be a great little boy card, and since I don't have boys-  I gave it to my little brother for his 2nd birthday (yes there's a big age gap between us - he's 20 years younger than me!).

Anywho I just wanted to share this. I need to get back to getting some housework done and hopefully some more scrapbooking!! :o)

2 a.m.

Yup it's 2 a.m. and I'm still up. It doesn't help that I fell asleep on the couch and Tim let me sleep for 3 hours!! It was sweet of him to let me sleep but now I'm wide awake when I should be in bed!! LOL

We're going in to the city tomorrow (today!) to have dinner and see a movie or two - I am SO looking forward to getting out and doing stuff w/ just the two of us. I kid you not when I say I haven't left the house since Monday. I am a total homebody so I enjoy being at home but being a SAHM and getting out of the house only once a week can really get to a person!! Normally I get out more but this past little while I haven't and I can't wait to go!!

I got 4 scrapbook pages done today and they all turned out really well so I'm happy. I get a really deep sense of accomplishment when I complete a SB page that I don't get from card-making. I think it's b/c SBing means so much to me as I am preserving my family's memories for us to enjoy for hopefully decades to come. I will try to start posting pages this week - I need to figure out the best way to scan/take pics of them and all that first and it's going to be quite the job to pull them all out and do that. It will be nice to get to it tho b/c I've always wanted copies of all my pages either saved to a disk or in my SCS gallery in case anything happens to my book.

Anywho I categorized this post under Card Creations so I guess I better upload a card for y'all to look at eh?? LOL here's the very first Halloween card I ever made (I didn't upload it at first b/c I had started making it w/ the intention of submitting it to SU for the Halloween Category but missed the deadline - so I finished it and it's been sitting her ever since!):

Here's my Frankie. I really love the Booglie Eyes set from SU - it's just SO cute.

I stamped him on Whisper White using Basic Black and then colored him in w/ Craft Inks and an Aqua Painter. I used the stamp from Beyond the Basics w/ Only Orange Craft on the Black CS.

I used Sweet Shop Ribbon and the Dots & Dashes DS paper along w/ all my circle punches to embellish.

Scrapbooking...

I pulled out the scrapbook last night - so I won't be making a ton of cards like I've been doing lately!!

I scrapbook in spurts - when I do it I go all out and make a HUGE mess and have a ton of fun! I don't get a lot of pages done b/c I take my time w/ it - sometimes spending a whole day on a 2 page layout.

I *savor* every minute of my scrap booking and yes I am like 2 years behind on Veronica's pages (she's 3 1/2) and I haven't even started on Josie's (she's almost 9 months now). In fact I haven't done *any* scrap booking since Josie was a couple months old.

When I scrapbook I don't do many cards - my desk is of a decent size but when I'm doing my 12x12 pages I have NO room for anything else - plus I really do make an awful mess and my "OCD" kicks in and I *can't* work on anything else until it's all cleaned up! I bought 2 clear plastic 12x12 containers at Michael's (for 50% off of course *big grin*) so hopefully that will help me w/ the mess as I can put the page(s) I'm working on in there if I need to do something else.

I *will* be posting pics of my pages - including the old ones. I've done about 40 pages so far and it's come a long way since I first started.

I'm actually pulling apart some of my older pages *shock* *gasp* and re-doing them. I'll take pics before and after tho. I'm not doing it to ALL my old pages - just the few that really look wrong to me. When I first started SBing layout meant nothing to me - I totally didn't get it. I just slapped on the pics and journaling wherever and didn't give it a second thought. *Some* of the pages still work like that but some really are a mess and need to be put in a proper layout to look how *I* really wanted them to. (I know some ppl think it's a crime to re-do old pages but I *have* to do this - there are a few pages that just bug me and since it's my book I'm gonna make them look right! lol).

So that's what I'll be doing for the next little while - this SBing spurt prolly will have some cards here and there as the instant gratification feels so good after laboring over pages for hours at a time!! :o)

Stamping Up a Storm

I was actually able to do a lot of stamping yesterday. I finished 4 cards and normally would have got a lot more done but nothing was turning out like I thought it would. Finally I gave up as I was just getting too frustrated!

Out of these 4 I like 3 of them now but the 3rd there's just something not right but I can't put my finger on it. I think if I fiddle w/ it anymore tho I'll wreck it so it's staying as it is.

I did this one for last week's Sketch Challenge on SCS. I used the Sarah Designer Series paper and Mellow Moss as the card base instead of Certainly Celery (CC is the color match to the paper).

I took a strip of the blue patterned paper and folded it over and over then actually sewed it onto the CS - it turned out kinda cool!

I used my new Bella Fibers too - which was tough b/c my ho-arding tendencies were kicking lol in but I MADE myself cut it and dye it! I used Brocade Blue re-inker and water for the fibers - worked really well - I noticed that the way the fibers are twisted and whatnot makes the color lighter and darker in places - very cool.

I stamped the flowers using markers then re-stamped just the flowers and cut them out and glued them on top - added the touch I thought was missing.

*Finally* used my new Take Three set too! I just inked up the Thank You w/ a marker and stamped that.

SETS: Wild About You, Take Three. CS: Mellow Moss, Whisper White, So Saffron, Sarah DS Paper. INK: Mellow Moss, Brocade Blue, So Saffron. ACCESSORIES: Bella Fibers, Mat Pack & Paper Piercer, Sewing Machine.

Did this one for *this* week's Sketch Challenge and Limited Supplies Challenge (using only ribbon as an accessory).

This card tool a looonngg time as nothing was turning out right! I kept pulling things apart and changing them and finally put it all together and left it. I *hated* it last night after it was done but coming back to it this morning I think it's acceptable. The lion is cute so it's all good lol!

The lion was stamped in Barely Banana twice and I cut out the face and mounted it on a cut out mane (stamped in Apricot Appeal). I used a Basic Black marker to highlight the eyes and nose. I used my Almost Amethyst Marker and the Color Spritzer to splatter the white CS (in fact I used it on all the White CS on this card - I couldn't put it down!)

This was the first time I used the Word Search BG - I stamped it in Black then used the Alphabits set and the small circle punch to punch out the letters to spell "Welcome Baby" and glued those on top.

I used the Dotted BG in Barely Banana on BB CS and tied the stitched Almost Amethyst (from the Sweet Shop collection) on it to finish the look.

SETS: Wild About You, Word Search BG, Alphabits, Dotted BG. CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst. INK: Basic Black, Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst. ACCESSORIES: Sweet Shop Ribbon, 1/4" Circle Punch, Color Spritzer, Sponge Daubers.

*This* is the one I'm still not happy with. I think maybe it's b/c I watercolored the image - it prolly would have looked better on this card if I had stamped it on Whisper White and colored it w/ Markers. Also done for this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS.

I used Iridescent Ice EP on the cut out balloons and the sentiment (stamped in craft ink).

SETS: Hip Hip Hooray. CS: Confetti White, Handsome Hunter, Pixie Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Dots & Dashes DS paper. INK: Black Stazon, Basic Black, Pixie Pink (Classic and Craft), Pumpkin Pie, Gable Green, Handsome Hunter, VersaMarker (to cover balloons for II EP to stick). ACCESSORIES: Double Rectangle Punch, Apple Green Grosgrain, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, AquaPainter, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Last one:

Had to use my Inky Antics Halloween Turtle Clear set. I colored it w/ Prismacolors and Gamsol - then added Crystal Effects mixed w/ Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the mask and pumpkin. I hand drew his hair and added the little dots here and there on the feet, head and arms.

For the Prima Flower centers I pressed black CS into VersaMark and embossed w/ Iridescent Ice EP and punched out.

This was another one for this weeks Sketch Challenge! (I really like this sketch lol!)

Whew this was a LONG post and took a lot longer to upload and type than I thought! I have to run and start making lunch!

RAK from Beate!!

I got a card from Beate Johns!!! :D

Isn't it soooooo nice?? I *LOVE* how she used the Designer Label Punch for the "buckle" to hold the belt - how cool is that??

And the Paisley looks so nice in craft - I'm gonna have to do that.

This is the Limited Edition SU A Light Heart set that's only available until Sept 30 - it's such a great set and SU is donating money from each set sold to the Heart and Stroke Foundation - a great cause to support!! Contact your SU demo to order this set.

Thank you Beate for such a pretty card!! It really made my day! :o)

Hail

We got hit by a hailstorm last night. It came up out of nowhere and did a fair bit of damage. The hail was the size of marbles and came down SO hard - I thought for sure the windows were gonna break!!

My hubby got hit in the head w/ one as he was running out to shut the car windows - and then he had to stay in the car till the storm passed b/c the hail was coming down too hard for him to get back inside. Thankfully our car is a piece of junk so the hail damage doesn't matter to us - but I'm sad b/c all my flowers got totally stripped! Here's a couple of pics I took after the storm (they're not too good as it was around 9pm when I took them and still raining):

This was just outside the front door.

My flower bed on the side of the house (thankfully that spot as well as the front were protected somewhat by the house b/c that's where all my favorite plants are!)

And this is what all my potted plants look like - the hail is melted now but all my poor plants sure took a beating!!

Wish Big

This week's SCS Color Challenge was a bit of a stretch for me. I like the combo (More Mustard, Old Olive and Bordering Blue) but I would normally add a purple or a pink to the mix to suit me so it was hard not to!

This is what I came up with (using my new Think Big set from the Holiday Mini - I am loving this set and it's the first time I've used it!):

I stamped the card base (using the Word by Word SU BG) w/ Bordering Blue Craft Ink for a more subtle look.

The "Big" was also stamped w/ BB craft on BB CS. Then I embossed it w/ Iridescent Ice EP. After I cut it out I didn't like how it looked so I stamped it again on white and cut out the centers and glued them over the blue ones (I *could* have just stamped it on white and cut it out but it looked different than stamping it on the BB CS).

I used the On the Spot BG on the Old Olive piece and the largest SU circle punch on the side. I stamped the birthday stamp from circle of friendship using BB classic ink and quickly embossed it w/ clear EP. I then cut it out and mounted it on a circle of BB that I rolled in BB craft and embossed w/ II EP.

I made the ribbon slider by stamping {DREAM} w/ More Mustard Craft Ink (embossing w/ II EP) on MM CS and using the Horizontal Slot punch on either side of it.

In the end it was a fairly easy card to make just a little bit time consuming as I did so many different things w/ it!! :D

Sassy Girl

I love the Sassy Girls set from MissyB Designs - it's so funny!!! I bought it just b/c of one of the quotes.

I used Urban Lilly paper I picked up at my LSS that she loved.

The image is colored w/ Prismas and Gamsol (stamped w/ Basic Black on Whisper White CS). Other CS I used was Apricot Appeal, Always Artichoke and Regal Rose (all SU).

Ribbon is May Arts.

On the inside of the card I put this:

*This* quote is what made me get this set for sure - I HAD to make this card w/ this quote to send to her - I think she'll get a good laugh out of it!

~~ETA - the friend this is for is a non-stamper - her name's Jen and I went to school w/ her and we both have girls 2 months apart (her first, my second). I didn't bother naming her before b/c none of you would have a clue as to who I was talking about lol! (Plus I just have this thing about keeping it all non-personal - thus the reason I don't post pics of my kids and hubby - which *is* going to change b/c my hubby is so good looking and my kids are too cute ROFL!! I just feel weird posting it all for *everyone* to see YKWIM? But a lot of other bloggers do it and so far as I know are totally fine with it so I need to start getting comfortable with it - especially if I want to start blogging my scrapbook pages (a plan I've had in the works for a while). But anyway I'm really rambling and have things that need to get done! lol)~~

**Happy Dance**

I got a call from SU yesterday - I was chosen to be a helper at the upcoming Saskatoon Regional on Sept 9!! I'm actually pretty excited about it - I thought by now it was to late to be picked so I wasn't expecting a call at all!!

I'll have to call my upline and see if she'll be able to do my swaps for me as I will be helping w/ check in and all that. It will be so cool to meet all the SU employees that will be there (and maybe even the new SU president - he's supposed to be there tho we were told Shelli won't be).

I'll come back later and post a card or two that I've done in the past couple of days. I have like 4 or 5 loads of laundry that need to be folded and put away and I can't put it off any longer - we're running out of clothes!! lol

Alexa's Set

My MissyB sets arrived on Friday. I haven't been able to do much w/ them - but I was able to make 3 cards w/ Alexa's set. Here's the link to my first post about this set and the link to Lauren's thread on Splitcoaststampers.

I stamped her on Whisper White w/ Basic Black ink and colored her in w/ Prismacolors and Gamsol.

I added DD Glitter mixed w/ Crystal Effects to the frills on her dress and her necklace.

The patterned paper is from Rob & Bob.

All CS and Ribbon is SU.

This one I stamped on a square of Whisper White (using Basic Black) and then hand drew the corner squiggles and circles. I used the Marvy Uchida Giga Square Scallop punch to frame the main image.

I colored the butterfly w/ Prismas and Gamsol.

Patterned paper is also Rob & Bob, ribbon is from Michaels, and the jumbo brad I got at the Dollarama.

I really like how this one turned out. As w/ the other 2 I stamped her on Whisper White using Basic Black and colored her in w/ Prismas and Gamsol.

Patterned paper is Rob & Bob, and the ribbon is from Michaels.

I used Fiskars scallop scissors to frame the main image.

Sentiment is from one of Inky Antics clear turtle sets.