Prairie Paper & Ink

The Finale

My last installment of cards was just posted on the A Muse News blog - you can check them out here.

*sniff sniff* it's been so fun seeing them posted and BEING the A Muse Guest Designer for May - and now it's all over..........................WAH!!!!!!!!

Ah well life goes on LOL!!!

Edited to Add - so of course I've been reading all the comments that everyone has posted ON the cards I made for A Muse - and man they have really made my day (more like month!!) a couple of them had me laughing too (Starr Mercer you know who you are - thanks for the giggle!! ROFL!!) - thanks for all the kind words everyone!! {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

EDITED AGAIN O ADD:

I saw a LOT of people wanted to know what color of marker I used on my chair card - it was a Prismacolor marker in Blue Slate - matched that A Muse notecard perfectly!!

Enabler Alert!

Starting at midnight tonight y'all can start pre-ordering the new scalloped Marvy punches over at Papertrey!! They're getting in all the current scalloped shapes plus the new sizes and the new scalloped hearts and rectangles!! :o) (for some cool ideas on how to use the punches check out Nichole's blog - she's done some really neat things with them!!)

Oh and I always get asked which punches so I own and which ones do I recommend - well I have:

The Giga Scalloped Square, Circle and Oval (Giga is the largest - it's the purple one)

The Mega Scalloped Circle and Oval (the square one is on it's way here soon!) (Mega is the next size down and fits nicely inside the Giga and they're the pink ones)

The Mega Plain Oval, Circle and Square (again the pink ones). (I want to get the Super Jumbo size (blue ones) in these 3 plain shapes as well so that they can fit inside all the Mega shapes).

Personally I use all of them a lot! I am the last person to ask for recommendations b/c I have to have them all and now all these new ones are coming out so I'm screwed!! ROFLOL!!!!

Also the new Hot Stuff set is now available from My Favorite Things (and I *think* AllThatScraps and eP will have that in to sell soon as well!!)

I wanted to share a quick card I just made but as I went to take a pic of it the batteries in my camera died - so once they're done charging I'll try to upload it later ---------- happy shopping!! *wink*

Prego Congrats

I made this card really late the other night (I totally lost track of time and when I was done it was close to 2 am!! LOL).

I was playing around with the She's Having a Baby set from My Favorite Things - I really like this set - what am I saying I really like ALL the MFT sets ROFL!!

I wanted to watercolor the image - so I stamped it onto watercolor paper (using Palette Hybrid Noir ink) and watercolored just the prego lady in (using a watercolor brush and come Stampin' Up! re-inkers).

Then I sat for a while and hummed and hawed about coloring the rest of the image in. I didn't feel like doing any more watercoloring so I instead just cut the image out and mounted it to the blue CS using dimensionals. I like how it turned out!!

The rest of the card was kept pretty simple. I did a little faux stitching, added some brown twill (from the Martha Stewart Crafts line), stamped the sentiment (also from the same MFT set) and added some white eyelets and it was done!!

STAMPS: She's Having a Baby by My Favorite Things. CS: Watercolor Paper, Bashful Blue, Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip (all Stampin' Up!). INK: Palette Hybrid Noir, SU re-inkers in Close to Cocoa and Blush Blossom. ACCESSORIES: Dimensionals, White Gel Pen, Twill Tape, White Eyelets, Sponge Daubers.

Inspiration

I've been needing a new inspiration journal for a while now - the one I have is really small and a pain to write in!! I finally decided to just make one myself using my Bind-It-All - and this was the result!!

This was actually the first major project I've done with my BIA - and I think I should have started with something a little smaller - especially as I had the girls running around me and getting into everything as I was making it so I wasn't paying the strictest attention LOL!

It turned out OK tho - the holes in the back cover aren't totally straight as I didn't push it in all the way when I was punching them, and some of the inner pages weren't punched properly either - but as it's a book I'm gonna use I'll just suck it up --------------*grin*.

I used the White BIA Chipboard covers for this (they have a really smooth finish on them that I wasn't expecting - but the paper adhered to them no problem). I covered them with paper from the DCWV Pocket Full of Posies Slab (I *just* got this in my last order and OMGosh I just love the papers!! They're pretty heavy and a lot of them have glitter on them too! I did this whole book in papers from that slab........)

I used Mod Podge and a foam brush to adhere all the patterned paper to the chipboard covers and the chipboard petal pieces.

The flower petals are from the Maya Road tin you see in the picture. I got them from eP some time ago and this is the first time I've used them - they're really cute! I traced each petal onto the patterned paper, cut out the paper and adhered it to the petals then sanded all the edges. The flower center was made by stamping a circle onto a piece of black CS in VersaMark, covering it with Heat & Stick powder (from Stampin' Up!), heating it till melted then covering it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter (also SU!) and re-heating to set.

The book was originally going to be titled "Inspiration Journal" but that took up too much space so I shortened it to "Inspire" LOL! I used black CS and my CuttleBug Olivia alphabet for that:

Tip: The Sakura Quickie Glue Pen is FABULOUS for adhering small/thin die-cut letters like this - you just trace the back of the letter with the pen then place it where you want - no mess and SO easy!!

I used ribbon I got from WalMart for the "flower stem" - just wrapped each piece around the front cover and tied it in a knot. I used up a bunch of other WalMart ribbons on the coil (which is a 1" coil by the way - it's HUGE!!) - I don't know about you guys but I have a TON of rolls of that cheap WalMart/Michaels ribbons (you can get it for like 50 cents a roll!! LOL) and almost never use it on my cards - it's great for projects like this tho!

All the inner pages of the book I cut myself out of Georgia Pacific White CS (the stuff you can get from WalMart). On a 1" BIA coil I ended up putting in somewhere close to 90 pages?? With the covers it's about 7/8ths of an inch thick. The covers I used are the 7.5 x 5.5 size.

For those wondering I use my Inspiration Journal as a place to write down different color combos that I come up with, card layouts, Splitcoast challenges, etc etc etc. I try to keep it all in one place (or all in one book!) as I tend to scribble down ideas as they occur to me onto sticky notes then lose the sticky notes!!!

*shriek*!!!!!!!!!!!

A box arrived in the mail for me today - filled with my new 144 color set of Copic Markers!!! ACK!!!

I've wanted these for a while now but never thought I'd be able to get them (at least not till I had saved up the $$ for them!!). I was *hoping* I'd get them for a Christmas present (*wink* LOL) but Tim got them for me as a Mother's Day gift (and yes I'm still in shock over that!!).

Another reason why I thought it would be a lot longer till I got them is I'm a "Gotta Have it ALL" kind of person - I *could* have got a few markers at a time or just one of the sets - but I like having all my options in front of me!! I haven't been using my Prismacolor markers as much lately b/c I keep wanting a different color or lighter/darker shade of the ones I have and it's been driving me nuts! (I know I am totally insane LOL!!).

Basically Copics are a slightly higher quality (and much more expensive) version of the Prismacolor makers (which I have quite a few of as well). I don't know a ton about these markers, and it's going to take a lot of practice (I think!!) to get the hang of using them properly!!

More and more places are starting to sell these markers (I know that those in the States can get them at Hobby Lobby and whatnot but they're really expensive unless you're using a coupon!) - a couple online places I recommend that carry the Copics are either AllThatScraps or My Favorite Things.

You can see a lot of fabulous card samples using these markers on Jeanne's blog - I LOVE her coloring!! I hope mine will be half as good as that :o)

Jeanne also did a color comparison with these Copics and Stampin' Up!'s markers - you can see that here.

Also there is a bunch of useful info on the Copic Site -------------------> here.

Ooohhhhh I'm a little nervous to use these!! Hopefully I can set aside enough time to sit down and experiment with them and see how I like them!! I haven't decided what to do with my Prismacolor markers yet - I may keep them if I find that I'll use them along with my Copics, but if I don't then I guess I'll be selling them! We'll see what happens......................

Friendship Cards

Linda posted a couple more cards I made for my A Muse Guest Designership (I just made up that word LOL!!) for May - you can check them out here. There is also going to be a little giveaway as well - I had SUCH a hard time picking out the stamps - I finally settled on two of my favorites!! Make sure to check out that post to see how you can win!! *grin*

Oh Fun!!!

A new contest was just posted on the AMAP blog called Secret Squares <-------click!! Check it out!! You can participate as long as you're registered with A-Muse-A-Palooza <------click again!! - if you're not registered make sure to (it's free!) and I would LOVE it if you put me (Amy Rysavy) as the one who referred you!!

Now.........hmmmmmm who do I think has the prize? I think I'm gonna have to close my eyes and point at the pic of them and choose whoever I end up pointing at ROFL!!!

Good luck to all who enter!!

Advice Book

I came across this pic in my files and realized I had never uploaded it here!

I actually made this a couple of months ago for my brother-in-law and his wife. It's a Stampin' Up! Chipboard ATC album. What I did was alter it and included a ton of pieces of Vanilla CS cut to 2.5x3.5". The other bridesmaids were to have the guests at the bridal showers write down words of advice/wisdom on the cards and then they were put in the page protectors inside and afterwards the book was given to the bride and groom. I thought it was a cute idea!

I did the book in their wedding colors (red, black and cream) and kept it rather simple. The patterned paper is by Chatterbox, I picked that up at my local scrapbook store sometime around Valentine's Day especially for this book. I adhered the paper using Mod Podge to both the inside and outsides of the book then sanded all the edges.

I attached the Prima Flowers using my Crop-a-dile and some WeR snaps (they are big enough to be set in Chipboard!! I love those things! I got an assorted pack of snaps and large eyelets from my local scrapbook store months ago).

The letters were done using my CuttleBug Harmony Alphabet and run through my little Zyron "x" to put the adhesive on them.

The "Love" is actually a black metal brad from Provo Craft (got them in a pack at Michaels).

I used 2 WeR eyelets on the edge of the book and threaded through some Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon to tie it shut.

This is the only picture I have of it - I quickly took it before packing it up and mailing it off to the other bridesmaids :o)

I hope they liked it - I wasn't able to attend the bridal showers as they were 6 hours away (with 2 young children and a hubby who works 6 days a week it's a little hard for me to pack up and go LOL!!) and never did hear if they did - but I had fun making it!!

Sea the Fishies??

I TOLD y'all that I am lovin' this Hit the Beach paper - I just can't stop using it!!! It doesn't help that all GinaK's new stamps go PERFECT with it - so ya I'll be using it till I run out (and then I'll prolly order more *wink* LOL!!)

This fishy stamp isn't new - it came out back around Valentine's Day I think?? But being a fishy stamp it goes great with all the new summer stamps and sentiments so of course I had to use it :o)

I stamped my fishies onto watercolor paper using Palette Hybrid Noir ink and then watercolored them with Stampin' Up! re-inkers and a watercolor brush. I then used a sponge dauber with Brilliant Blue ink on the edges of the scallops.

I made the scallops on the blue CS with SU's Small Corner Rounder punch, then adhered the patterned paper (stamped with one of the new sentiments from GinaK), and attached the ribbon (I LOVE this ribbon - I got a handful of different colors of it at WalMart for CHEAP!! And it's so nice!).

The background was done with the CuttleBug Spots & Dots folder, and I punched out holes here and there in it for the Pumpkin Pie CS to show through and that was it!!

STAMPS: Fishy Friends and Sentiment by GinaK Designs. CS: Watercolor Paper, Brilliant Blue, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie (all Stampin' Up!), pattern paper from the Hit the Beach Collection by Flair Design. INK: Palette Hybrid Noir, various SU! re-inkers, Brilliant Blue. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Giga Scalloped Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Ribbon, Brads, SU! Small Corner Rounder Punch, CuttleBug Spots & Dots Folder, Brads.

Also a little Enabler Alert - AllThatScraps now has all the new GinaK summer stamps (AND that's where I got the Flair patterned paper and the CB folder too *grin*).

Challenge 5

The 5th Weekly Challenge is up on the A-Muse-A-Palooza blog - head over there and check it out!! I definitely wanna play - it looks like fun :o)

Sand Castle

When I got home from our vacation I had this wonderful parcel waiting for me with all the new GinaK Designs summer stamps inside!! WaHoo!!!

Of course I had to use my new Hit the Beach papers as well (brace yourselves to see a LOT of this paper in the near future!! I keep reaching for it for EVERYTHING and besides this card and this gift set I made I have another couple of cards made using this paper too! I can't help it!!).

I only inked up the castle from the Sand Castle stamp then stamped it onto white CS and punched it out with my Marvy Mega Oval Punch. I used SU! markers to color it in, then added dots with a white gel pen. To finish it off I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to it too (using my Sakura Quickie Glue pen).

The rest of the card was quite simple as it's all just patterned paper. I attached everything to the card then finished it off with the matching sentiment (which I punched out with my SU! Key Tag punch - it fit perfectly!).

Man...................I wanna go to the beach!!! *grin*

STAMPS: Sand Castle and Sentiment by GinaK Designs. CS: White, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Marigold Morning, Patterned Paper (Hit the Beach Collection) by Flair Designs. INK: Palette Hybrid Noir, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Mega Oval and Giga Scalloped Oval Punches, White Gel Pen, DD Glitter, Brads, Dimensionals, Key Tag Punch.

Congrats Sarah!!

Sarah was the random winner of the Week 4 Challenge on the AMAP blog!! You can see here what she won - CONGRATS Sarah!!

Weekly Winners

The latest weekly winners are posted on the AMAP blog (for those that don't know - if you register over on the A-Muse-A-Palooza site you will be entered to win drawings like this - then you just need to stay tuned to the AMAP blog for announcements like this to see if you've won!) - if you haven't already registered (why not?? It's FREE and you have a chance to win FREE goodies - those are the kinds of things I like *wink*) make sure to do so (and at the risk of sounding like a broken record please put my name (Amy Rysavy) as the one who referred you - I'd really appreciate it!).

Ambassador Winner

A Muse picked a random Ambassador on the AMAP blog for free goodies!! How cool is that? You can see who it is (and what they got!) here.

If I'm talking Greek to you (LOL!) go to the A-Muse-A-Palooza site and see all the fun stuff they have going on!! And if you haven't already registered make sure to do so (and I would really appreciate it if you put Amy Rysavy as the one who referred you!!) and you could win free goodies (see the post above this one!)

Anniversary Card and Gift

(this picture can be clicked on to get a pop-up of a larger view)

OK here is what I made for Tim for our anniversary.

Last month I bought fishafella from Stamping Bella especially to make cards for him LOL!! I also got all the new Flair Designs Hit the Beach Papers (LOVE this stuff! It's SO fun and summery!) - and I used the water and fishy papers for this project.

Fishafella was stamped minus his fish onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Stampin' Up! re-inkers. I made fish using the SU! retired Angler set - I stamped them onto white shrink plastic, colored them with Sharpie markers, cut them out then heated them until they shrunk. I have NEVER used shrink plastic before so I have no idea if I did it right but they look fine to me! I even remembered to punch holes in them BEFORE I shrunk them down!!

The sentiment on the card is also from Stamping Bella - it just makes me giggle so I had to put it on Tim's card.

The frame is wood and I got it at Michaels some time ago (I've seen them in the wood section and at other times in the $1 bins - they keep moving them around!!) for $1.50 (so yes I bought several!). I just placed it face down on the papers, traced it out, then cut out the papers and adhered them to the frame with Mod Podge. I then sanded the edges and painted all the exposed wood with Making Memories blue paint. After the paint dried I applied a couple of coats of Mod Podge to the entire frame as it's going in Tim's office and I don't want it to get wrecked *wink*.

I used sticky strip (red liner tape) to adhere the ribbon and that was it!! I'm really happy with how they turned out (mostly b/c like I said I hadn't stamped in over a week when I started these!! They did take me quite a while to make b/c I really WAS out of my stamping groove! But I got them done right before midnight on Friday and was able to give them to him right on our anniversary!! *grin*).