Prairie Paper & Ink

Just a Slow Day

We went to a wedding yesterday for a friend I went to High School with. It was very small but very nice. We left our oldest w/ my MIL and brought our youngest w/ us - then we wished we had left both w/ their grandma! We had to leave early b/c Josie was just plain grouchy - she wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat and was miserable. Next time we go to a wedding we're leaving the kids behind!! It would have been so nice to be able to stay for the whole reception and relax and dance - especially w/ close friends. My hubby and I do get out every once and a while just the two of us but we rarely get the chance to spend time w/ other couples. I never realized how much I missed it until we had to leave!! Oh well, we'll hopefully get the chance to get together sometime soon.

I have a lot of e-mails to respond to and things to organize. I also need to post pics of my ribbon storage as so many have requested it. I *will* get all this done  just prolly not today! Today has been a slow day - I feel SO tired and it's a struggle to do anything. I'm hoping tho that this lasts just for the day as I have way too much I need to get done! My hubby has the day off so he's been taking care of the girls which has been SO nice!

I got my missyB sets on Friday as well - I got them all cut out and mounted to the cling foam too - and was it ever a big sticky mess. I cut the images out of the rubber first then mounted them to the foam (as opposed to just sticking the whole sheet of rubber to the foam *then* cutting out the images) b/c I had other images I wanted to get on the foam as well. So doing it this way I *was* able to get a LOT more images mounted on the cling foam but it took forever and my hands and scissors were practically glued together! Note to self - order extra cling foam next time!!! I've started working on some samples to post w/ the missyB sets - I'll be doing that as well over the next couple of days.

Mmmmmmmm Ribbon...

Hi, my name is Amy and I am addicted to ribbon. All kinds of ribbon. I own over 150 spools or ribbon and countless yards of loose ribbon. I do *use* my ribbon - but mostly so that I can use it up and buy even more! lol

I picked all this up at my LSS - most of it is Maya Road ribbon - which I *love* b/c they have several different patterns in similar color combos (makes it fun to use different patterns on one project) and a couple of May Arts ribbons. I also picked up a few spools at Michaels. Problem is I'm running out of space for my ribbon!!! I have 2 wall racks FULL and unless I start using it up quick I'm gonna have to start storing it in a drawer somewhere b/c I have an addiction and won't be able to stop buying it!! It *can't* go in a drawer tho - if I can't see it I won't use it.

LOL anyway I'm off to roll all my ribbon and find a place to put it all before the baby wakes up!!

~~ETA - LSS is Local Scrapbook/Stamp Store - in my case it's Just Scrap It! in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan :D ~~

Card Kits

I ordered several card kits from Jen Caputo and have had them sitting here for a good couple of weeks now.

This is what they look like:

A "card kit" consists of 2 pieces of thick acid free chipboard (each w/ 2 pre-punched holes), 2 binding rings, and 10 protectors that are sized for cards (the standard 5.5" x 4.25" size).

I ordered a few kits and an extra pack of protectors as I have several ideas for what I want to do.

I just love that they are *perfect* for displaying cards, or for a place to put your swaps, or RAKS or whatever.

I've re-done one so far that I plan on putting the cards I'm really proud of in (it will be my "portfolio" per say) - and it was fun! It took a while to do but I enjoy spending extra time on stuff like this!!

I was actually able to cut into my beloved Chatterbox paper for this - I *looooovvveee* Chatterbox paper!! All 3 papers I used are from the Sun Room collection (I love how it sounds like Interior Design - I have actually been sorely tempted to frame this stuff and put it up on my stamp room walls - it's just SO pretty and has a really nice texture to it!). Anywho enough about the paper - otherwise I'm gonna have to start expecting some sort of comp. from Chatterbox *wink*.

So I covered both pieces of chipboard, and I ran some polka-dot ribbon (from Michael's) over the seam on the front cover.

I stamped and cut out the stem and flower pieces from SU's Petal Pushers set (went perfectly w/ this paper) using Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, and Brocade Blue Classic Ink. I then adhered the flower parts together, covered the center w/ Crystal Effects and microbeads, and then painted the rest of it w/ Crystal Effects. I  adhered it to the book w/ SU's Stampin' Dimensionals®

For the stem I cut it out and adhered it to the book, then I noticed that it blended in to the paper too much - so I mixed a bit of Certainly Celery re-inker w/ Crystal Effects and used a small paintbrush to apply it.

I used a piece of SU's HodgePodge Hardware and pressed it into a VersaMark Pad and embossed it w/ white embossing Powder. It ended up taking several coats to completely cover it - I was too lazy to take it outside and just spray paint it white - tho that would have been a good option! I hand drew the letters for my name on a piece of Chatterbox paper and punched it out using SU's large oval punch. Grosgrain ribbon and a couple of dimensionals adhered the hardware to the cover.

The chipboard letters are made by Karen Foster - I picked those up at my LSS (see one of my very first posts to this blog) - some time ago. They're self adhesive - I sponged craft ink on them (Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Brocade Blue, Ruby Red) and once they were dry I stuck them on.

I cut a few flowers from the scraps of Chatterbox paper (didn't want to waste ya know!) and adhered them and added a little glitter mixed w/ CE to the centers.

For the insides I glued down the 3rd pattern of paper:

I used a SU glue stick to adhere all the paper to the chipboard - I *love* SU's gluesticks for things like this -it applies SO easily (think creamy) and holds up really well.

And here's a picture of the back:

Once it was all put together I tied various ribbons (SU and Michaels) to the binding rings and that was it!

Right now I have about 12 cards in it (2 will fit in each page protector) and it's about 1 3/4" thick. I'm thinking I will be able to fit about 30 cards altogether - tho these have a lot of layers and embellishments so I think I could fit much more if they were simpler (and flatter!).

Daisies...

I love SU's Uniball White Gel Pen - and I saw so many cards using it to color flowers stamped on colored CS I *had* to try it for myself! I gotta say I like the look!!

This was a color combo that just came to me one night - tho this card didn't turn out like I thought it would. The CS I used was Cool Caribbean, Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand and Certainly Celery.

I used markers to color the leaves and flower centers, pierced and sponged the white mat, and stamped the Sahara CS w/ the Linen BG and the card base w/ Fine Lace and sponged the edges.

Turtles!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new Inky Antics Turtle stamps!! (and yes I'm shouting - these things are WAY too much fun!!!) I made 4 cards w/ them one right after another - I was on a real roll and couldn't stop!

My first card. This princess set is adorable and SO cute. I stamped it all then colored it w/ Prismacolors and Gamsol.

I added Crystal Effects and DD Glitter as well.

The patterned paper is Rob & Bob (I stamped over it w/ the word stamp from the same set.

Ric Rac is from May Arts and the purple ribbon is from Michaels. Prima flowers and MM jewel brads completed the look!!(CS - Whisper White, Gable Green, Orchid Opulence - all SU)

This one is my hubby's favorite of the set ("b/c it's not all pink and girly" or so he says lol).

I did this one in Prismas and Gamsol too (actually I colored ALL of them this way so I can stop typing it now!).

I made the photo corners (you can see how to do that in my tutorial section) and stamped the green CS w/ the word stamp from the set.

All the stamps I used on each card are from one of the new clear IA turtle sets. I stuck w/ one set per card (which was easy b/c they come w/ a LOT of stamps!)

CS - Going Grey, Garden Green, Whisper White, Vintage Violet, Choc Chip (all SU).

I *love* how this one turned out. I kept adding to it and my hubby told me to leave it alone before I ruined it (so nice of him eh? lol but he was right - don't tell him I said that tho!).

For the Prima flower centers I pressed Whisper White CS into a VersaMark pad, then embossed w/ Iridescent Ice EP and used a hole punch.

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

Now *this* little guy was a lot of fun - would you believe me when I tell you this was the *first* Halloween card I've ever made? It's true! (I did all these over a week ago so that other Halloween card I uploaded the other day was actually my 3rd).

I've never seen the use in Halloween cards as it's not that big of a deal around here - however I'm gonna have to start sending them b/c they're a LOT of fun so I'll prolly be making a lot more!

It's hard to tell in the pic but I used a Sakura Stardust pen on the hat and candy and top of the spider handle.

The card base was stamped w/ SU craft ink (I LOVE the look of it on black - it's perfect for Halloween cards!). CS - Basic Black, Lavender Lace, Only Orange, Whisper White (all SU). Ribbon from Michaels.

These all took quite a while to make w/ all the coloring and whatnot - I took my time w/ them and had fun!

I haven't done a whole lot of stamping lately as I've been swamped w/ e-mails, taking care of my girls and the house, and hubby's been working a lot of overtime (in some ways good $$-wise but I barely get to see him!). I am also *trying* to do some swaps for Regionals (I wasn't even going to do *any* b/c I have a LOT of cards but I love swapping so I decided I'd do some for the fun of it!).

However I hope y'all like my card additions for the day and hopefully I'll be able to do some more later!! :D

Clear Stamp Storage

Lisa Johnson (Lisa Lisa on Splitcoast) was asking how others store their clear stamps. I recently acquired 6 new clear stamp sets and I too wondered what on earth to do to store them.

Most clear stamps come on a clear acetate sheet in a clear envelope w/ another acetate sheet that has all the images in black on it. This is all well and good but once you start accumulating several sets it gets to be a total pain in the @$$ to have to constantly peel open the envelope, pull out the acetate sheets, peel off the image sheet, then peel off the stamps you want to use. And then you have to do it all over again to put it all back. This whole process was driving me bonkers.

I really enjoy my clear stamps (tho I highly doubt I'll ever give up rubber and wood mounted - but the clear stamps *are* fun to play with!!) but the whole process in using them was getting really tiresome. So... I came up with this (and this isn't a new idea - I got the idea for using CD cases from SCS) and it is SOOOOO much better!!

All my clear sets except one are from Inky Antics (the other one is from Autumn Leaves) and all but the AL one fit 2 sets to a case.

This is the Autumn Leaves set. I cut the acetate sheet that had all the images on it and used double sided tape to stick it to the *inside* of the case. (I had originally thought to stamp all the images on Stazon on the outside of the case - however solvent ink is *not* recommended for clear stamps - and it does really stain them and it's a *very* time consuming thing to do!!) The stamps are then pressed over their own acetate image - making it easy to know where they belong.

With clear stamps you can stick them to both sides of the cases as they're thin enough that they won't touch. You can also do this w/ unmounted rubber - however if the rubber also has cling foam you can only use one side of the CD case as they are too thick and the case won't shut.

 

With the Inky Antics clear sets I can fit one set on each side of the CD case.

I cut a piece of (cheap) white CS the same size as the inside of the CD case (it was about 5.5" x 4.75") - which makes it a lot easier to see the stamps inside as it separates the two layers.

 

I cut the labels off that came with each set and used Tombow Metal Glue to adhere each label to the end of the CD case (the top set's label is on the left and the bottom set is on the right).

I bought 4 Stackebo CD holders from IKEA and screwed them into the wall beside the shelves where I store my SU sets. They fit *perfectly* there right beside the closet and each one holds 20 CD cases - so I can store up to 160 stamp sets (if I fit 2 sets per case) in a very small amount of space.

I paid I think $6 Canadian each for them.

You can't order the Stackebo items off IKEA's website - you have to go to the store to buy them. It's definitely a cheap and simple storage solution as it takes up very little wall space! :D

BTW I got all my cases by emptying out all our CD's from the ones we already had lol - we keep all our CD's in the big zipper cases so they were wasting space anyway. I did find this website BlankDVDMedia - where you can order CD (and DVD) cases in bulk. I'm sure there are a lot of other sites out there too (including e*bay).

And the Winner Is...

Sarakay!!!

2nd Place winner is Stefanie (scrappedsilly)!!!

E-mail me your snail-mail addy's you guys so I can get your goodies sent out to you!!!

Congrats!

Thank you to *everyone* who left a comment! I am shocked at how many there were! (and it took some time to type up every # in Word, print it out and then cut them all up into little squares [thank goodness for my Carl cutter!!] so I could do this draw!!) My oldest daughter had fun drawing the names, after the first 2 she wanted to keep doing it - sadly tho I only have the 2 prizes!! :(

Something Cute...

I did this quick card thanks to a tip I came across on SCS courtesy of Sue (zowie on SCS):

I used an eyelet hole punch to punch out circles in the oo's in BOO - and on the inside:

so in essence he's peeking through the card - TOO kewl! Thanks Sue for such a cute idea!

I used strips of the Relics paper that I DTP'd Basic Black ink on. I also ran Red Grosgrain against my Basic Black ink pad (wearing gloves of course!) and then heat set the ink w/ my Heat Tool. After tying it I roughed up the ends w/ my fingernail.

I rubbed pastels on the sentiment and a bit on the card base. The inside image was also colored w/ pastels and the applicators.

So a very quick and funny card - you just need to take care when lining up the holes b/c all the characters in the Booglie Eyes set have really close-set eyes (in fact the holes on mine are a little too far apart but I wanted to get this done in a hurry b/c I have a hair appointment right away!).

Exciting News!!

WooHoo!! I got the OK to share - Beate Johns on Splitcoast has asked me to be a continuing guest tutorial author!! *happy dance*

How cool is this???

She e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago wanting to know if SCS could share my Ribbon Dyeing Tutorial. I just 'bout fell off my chair when I saw her name pop up in my e-mail!! I felt like I had just been contacted by a celebrity - and she's a *total* sweetheart!! I called my upline to gush over who I got to "talk" to and she's like "You actually talked to THE Beate Johns???" LOL

As of right now it looks like I will have a tutorial at the end of every month. A couple will be repeats from here but I have several planned that will be "SCS exclusive".

I have been just about bursting wanting to share this but waited till I got the OK from Beate and "da man" (ie Daven - head cheese at SCS) and I *just* got the e-mail from Beate so I *ran* over here to post. I am sooooooo excited about this!!!

FYI - after doing a *few* tutorials and personally putting SO much time and effort into them (designing, taking pictures, writing out steps and formatting etc etc etc) and this blog I have a SERIOUS appreciation for Beate, Daven, Julie, Jenn, Britta and ALL the rest of the SCS team who spend so much time and effort on the weekly tutorials, newsletter, gallery, DD Gallery, forums etc etc. It is a LOT of work!!! They deserve a HUGE round of applause *claps hands*!! My time and effort is but a drop in the bucket compared to them and for that I am *truly* grateful for all their hard work as SCS is THE BEST stamp site evah!!

So Many Stamps...

And so little time. A comment on my previous post asked exactly what sets did I get w/ my order yesterday. Well...

• Happy Everything
• Perennial Favorites
• Wishing You the Best
• Because of You (and matching wheel)
• Close as a Memory
• Take Three (and Julie I really thought about mounting them separate but decided not to b/c I think it will be MUCH easier for me to mask off the images/words than have to use the SAMJ each time I wanted them together!)
• Bugs & Kisses
• Hip Hip Hooray
• Celebrate in Style (I finally got it! I've wanted it since last year and don't know why I didn't get it when it was new - oh well I've got it now!)
• Be Happy
• Wild About You
• Do the Hula (another one I've wanted for a long time - my plan is to use it when scrapping our Hawaii vacation pics - someday when we actually go there! lol :D)
• Circle of Friendship
• Riveting (Level 1 hostess set)
• Booglie Eyes

So ya - there's the list. I also got a few accessories (patterned paper, brads, some CS) but mostly just the sets. It sure looks worse seeing them all listed there, I *almost* feel guilty! (it's just a passing emotion tho - half of it was free! lol).

I made a quick card w/ Close as a Memory and the Cheesecloth BG a few minutes ago:

The flowers were stamped on vellum paper. I got the color combo from the Earth Elements brad pack (Old Olive, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy).

The vellum is adhered w/ the NQN brad and a tiny dab of glue under the ribbon. I roughed up the WW CS on the same edges as the torn vellum.

Just quick and simple - I only had to wait to make sure the ink on the vellum was dry - the rest took a couple of minutes!

What a Mess...

I couldn't stop myself and ordered more stuff from SU. I decided I may as well do it before month-end b/c I would get a bigger volume rebate which meant almost half my order was free. Now THAT was nice! Well *several* sets later...

I *had* to cut and mount all of them. I can't stand having sets sitting unmounted - it drives me nuts! It took me over 4 hours to get them all done w/ everything else I had to do. (And I rubbed a spot raw on one of my fingers w/ the scissors - now that's when you *know* you're a rubber addict!)

And now I feel totally overwhelmed and don't know where to start! I want to stamp something but I can't decide which set to start with! LOL What an *awful* dilemma to have to face eh?? I know - poor me.

It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so hot and if DH were here to watch the girls (he went fishing - well I "let" him go fishing - just means more stuff for me - we have a sweet deal worked out LOL! Fishing for stamps!! :D). Maybe once I get the girls in bed (and it *hopefully* cools off) I can tinker around and make something!!

This is It!!!

My 30 day free trial here ends today. I thought it would be a no-brainer that I would be continuing w/ this blog - however due to recent events I really had to think about whether or not I wanted to continue. I have *loved* sharing my creations, ideas, and ramblings with all of you. And the response has been overwhelming - I *never* thought I would get this many hits (nearly 20,000!!) in my first month! Having my hard work taken from me w/out my permission (tho it did have a happy ending!) made me wonder if it would be worth it in the long run.

After a LOT of thought I have to decided to stick with it!! I am having too much fun w/ this and although it is MUCH more time-consuming than I ever thought it would be - I feel very rewarded w/ the results so far.

To celebrate my little "milestone" - I am going to do a draw (see I told you I didn't forget!! lol) for some free goodies!! :D

 I was able to get a few extra super-cute Michaels stamps - even the prego girl! (I spent a good 15 minutes practically *inside* the bin of 'em digging through to find that stamp as I thought it'd be nice for a give-away as many ppl have had a hard time finding it! - a friend who was w/ me was like "Um...why do you need more than one? It's a *stamp*." - lol after I explained I was only a *little* nuts it was all good!)

I've also got yards of May Arts, SU and other brands of ribbon (over 15 yards I know for sure - I was just grabbing stuff here and there!).

And of course PRIMAS!! A dozen Prima Daisies (from the Emma Daisy Rack collection), and prolly a few hundred (I'm guessing there's at least 300 in the bag of all sizes) Primas in assorted colors (I have a LOT so I took some from every jar!).

I hope this all sounds good. I love free stuff lol! The padded envie I have for this stuff can't hold another thing! And whoever comments on this post will be entered to win it all! :D Cross you fingers!

I will be keeping this post at the top until the middle-to-end of next week when I'll draw the name and mail off the goodies! Good Luck!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*Edited to Add...*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

OMGoodness I NEVER expected such an overwhelming response to this!! I have read each and every one of the comments (nearly 190!! wow!) and am totally blown away at all the kind words - THANK YOU!!!

So I'm gonna add a little second place drawing:

I did get another prego girl stamp from Michael's (I got the only 3 they had lol!) thinking it just *might* come in handy sometime - and well now it's handy! So that and another dozen Prima Daisies from the Emma Daisy Rack will go as the 2nd Place Drawing.

FYI - these flowers are *gorgeous* and they're pretty big! Make a circle w/ your thumb and middle finger - they're a bit bigger than that. I LOVE these daisies and so want to get another rack but they start at around $40US (my LSS had them for $56.95 and it was sooooo tempting but I did resist [for now!]) so I really need to put off getting any more till I use up what I have (giving them away is helping *wink*).

I'm thinking I will do the draw this weekend - holding it open till next week just sounds silly now!

Big {{{hugs}}} to all you guys! I really appreciate your support!! :D

Quick Creations

I was just a *little* busy over the weekend (total understatement lol) however I DID finally get a chance to play w/ my new IA clear stamps! I have a couple of the cards I made ready to share - the rest I'm saving for later (sorry! - but I don't have a lot of time for posting so this was the best I could do for now!! :D)

This one I did for this week's Limited Supply Challenge - using only part of a sentiment:

I *love* these 2 new IA clear flower sets - they're so cool! This was just a quick 5 - 10 minute card. I stamped the flower and whatnot, matted it w/ Choc Chip CS, stamped the celery and tied some ribbon and put it all together w/ a piece of Taken w/ Teal CS. Just the Thank You from the sentiment was inked (from SU's Much Appreciated set) w/ Choc Chip ink. The main image is also up on dimensionals.

This was another rather quick card - and I love how it turned out!! This week's SCS Sketch Challenge was to use a circle in your layout so I wanted to do something to incorporate that:

I stamped the flower and outline from the IA Fabulous Flowers twice - the second one I cut out and adhered over top of the first. I punched a circle of black CS and adhered it to the center then covered it w/ teal-colored glitter (got that at WalMart) and Crystal Effects. After it dried I added more Crystal Effects - and the picture picked up the gloss - too cool! It looks really neat IRL. The Friend is from the SU Noteworthy set (retired).

I traced a CD on Cool Caribbean CS, cut it out w/ my paper snips and then used my paper cutter to cut a straight line through it before I adhered it to the card base. I wanted it to kind of mimic the curves of the ticket corner punch. Added some polka-dot ribbon (also from WalMart) and put the main image up on dimensionals and that's it!

That's it for now. I have been totally swamped w/ e-mails and whatnot over the weekend and am still trying to get replies out. Hopefully now that things are so much better I will be able to catch up to everything I need to get done and find some more time to play one here! :D

Oh Happy Day...

Today is a new and much better day!!! Thanks to Sharie (BIG {{{hug}}} for her) this whole mess over my tutorial has been straightened out. She sent out a new e-mail giving me full credit for my pictures and steps (I can't show it here b/c of confidentiality reasons - and besides it's basically just my tutorial using the blender pens w/ re-inkers and the color spritzer and whatnot - you can see that if you click on the tutorial link on the left side of my page). I feel SO much better - I was physically *sick* for the 2 days - the stress really got to me and my stomach and whatnot hurt SO bad I could barely stand it. I prolly have a couple of calls to do when the weekend is over and maybe a letter or 2 to write but all in all I am happy that this ruckus has been straightened out!!

Sending {{{hugs}}} to everyone who has commented here and sent e-mails and PM's (I think I still have a few to reply to - and I WILL get to them!) - the hugs and valuable advice are SO appreciated! You guys made it so much easier to bear!

FYI - I have added a copyright notice to the bottom left of my page stating that my words and pictures are copyrighted and nothing may be copied/changed w/out my permission. Feel free to send links on to friends/downlines etc. but if you want to use my tutorials and whatnot PLEASE contact me first! My pictures and instructions are protected when I put them on here and using them for personal/financial gain w/out my permission is in violation of copyright law. I *hate* sounding so strict but in todays Internet age steps are needed to protect those of us who like to share our time and creations w/ others w/out being taken advantage of!

On a happy note - I got all my new Inky Antics clear stamps on Friday. Yay!

Of course now there's a sale on but I'm glad I got them anyway - PLUS I got 2 free wood mounts w/ my order!

I am finally in the mood to use them - they all sat here unopened the past couple of days - I was NOT in the mood to create *anything* - talk about being totally deflated!

But now all things are good and I'm excited to get these babies inked up! It helps that I went to bed early (I didn't get much sleep Fri night as I was a *little* stressed out) and got up WAY earlier than I usually do so now I have some time to play before the girls (and the hubby) get up. I'll post any creations later today. :D

Mom's Birthday Card

My mom's birthday is this Monday. I had already made her a card some time ago but when I pulled it out I wondered "What was I thinking?". Have you ever done that? I find my tastes and style change often when it comes to stamping. Things I thought looked good 6 months ago I think are garbage now.

So I made something new for her:

I stamped the flowers from SU's Polka-Dot Posies (Summer 06 mini) in craft ink (here Bashful Blue and Blush Blossom - the centers are Choc Chip) and embossed them w/ Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I cut them out and adhered them w/ dimensionals. The sentiment (from the level 1 set Warmest Regards) was also stamped in Craft (Choc Chip) and embossed w/ II EP.

The patterned paper is the Petal Patch SU paper also from the Summer Mini. I *had* to have it as soon as I saw it and I've been hoarding it ever since. I *really* need to stop doing that as I end up w/ a TON of patterned paper and no where to put any new stuff!!

Just a quick card w/ a little glitter (and ribbon of course) to make it special.

CS: Blush Blossom, Choc Chip, Whisper White, Petal Patch Designer Series paper INK: Craft: Blush Blossom, Bashful Blue, Choc Chip; Certainly Celery Classic Ink. Accessories: Celery Grosgrain, Iridescent Ice EP, Dimensionals.