Prairie Paper & Ink

Infuse Trio

I've had the 6x6 pack of the new Basic Grey Infuse paper sitting here for a while now and finally got a chance to cut into it!

I used the new 3/16" Corner Rounder (Stampin' Up!) punch to make the scalloped edge on the paper, and then sponged Chocolate Chip ink on the edges.

I stamped GinaK's Flower Trio stamp onto white CS, colored it in with my Copics and added mini brads (by Bazzill) to the centers.

The "doodles" on the giga scalloped circle are from the Scalloped Frames & Doodles Large Circles Set - I stamped them then punched out the scalloped circle.

To finish off the card I added these fun flowers that Lauren sent me - they're made of felt and other fun materials (some were plastic) and they're so cool!

Card measures 4.25" square.

STAMPS: Flower Trio, Sentiment, Scalloped Frames & Doodles Large Circles Set all by GinaK Designs. CS: White, Wild Wasabi, Real Red (SU!), Prism Suede Brown Light. INK: Palette Hybrid Noir, Chocolate Chip, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Mega Circle and Giga Scalloped Circle Punches, SU! 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch, Felt Flowers, Brads, Ribbon, Dimensionals. 

OY

I can't believe it but I pulled an all-nighter and read Deathly Hallows cover to cover last night!! I've been staying up LATE every night getting through all the other ones and finished Half-Blood Prince last night and couldn't stop myself from starting the new one. I HAD to know what happened so I just read through the whole night!

I'm not saying anything about the book - but I'm glad I read it through - and I am really looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight ROFL!! I am sad it's all over (I TRIED to savour it all - but just couldn't! Ahhh well............I'll re-read them all again sometime and THEN I'll take my time *wink*)

ALSO - I might be heading over to our other place tonight to do more painting and I'll try to remember my camera to take pics of that nasty bathroom to post on here! And for those that asked - I DID pick out SU colors (LOL!) - the living room (and my "studio") are going to be Soft Sky, the kitchen a color VERY close to River Rock, the girl's bedroom a paler version of Certainly Celery, and our room is going to be a beige color. All pretty light and nice colors - I'm most excited about the Soft Sky - I brought a piece of the CS in to Home Depot and had them color match it (I used all Behr paint this time - it's usually between that and Ralph Lauren - I like both brands) as there was no color even close to it - and it looks SO nice!

Lastly - quite a few OTHER things are going on right now:

Stay tuned to GinaK's blog as she will be revealing her (AWESOME!) Design Team for the soon-to-be-released new Stamps for a Cause set (which she'll be revealing soon along with the charity it benefits!)

My Favorite Things will be releasing 4 new stamp sets on the 1st - check out the other designers on the team on the MFT site and you can see their blogs and whatnot and all the FAB samples they've created so far!

Nichole has been posting up a storm on her blog about the new Spellbinders dies that you can start pre-ordering from Papertrey on the 1st. She's posted a TON of helpful info and is answering questions on her blog and whatnot too. I'm really tempted by the dies - they look really cool.........I'm sure eventually I'll get them but with everything else I have going on right now they'll have to wait! Nichole also posted today about *2* new sets being released Aug 15th - and asked a couple of questions of everyone regarding shipping and whatnot - you can check out her post here <-------click!

Gotta run - need to get something made for the girls for supper and then hopefully head on over to the other place to paint some more!

Skinny Dippin' AGAIN???

Sorry this isn't a sample using the soon-to-be-released MFT sets - rather I used the Hit the Beach set from MFT. I had made that Skinny Dippin' ATC some time ago and this was taken from that.

I used my old stand-by layout - tracing the square chipboard piece with the 4 holes (From SU's On Board Accents Chipboard set) onto patterned paper (this was the Spring Flowers (I think that's what it was called?? I'm drawing a blank) from last year's either Spring or Summer mini) and cutting it out.

I stamped the images onto white CS, colored them in with Copic markers, then adhered them behind the circles.

The sentiment was made using Karen Foster Snap Stamps (mini casual), and the scalloped border is 4 giga scalloped squares glued together.

The flower is bazzill and the shimmer brad (I LOVE those things!) is Making Memories.

This card measures 4.25" square.

Where To Begin.......

Well we got to see the place we're renting over the next year this morning........let's just say I am learning to make the best of it!! The kitchen is not too great (and that's sugar-coating it) and has less than half the amount of cupboard space we have now (which is saying something as we don't have a ton here either!!) so I have NO idea where I'm going to put everything.....thank goodness there's a sort of pantry and a closet in the hallway that I can use to store all my Tupperware and whatnot LOL!

There are only 2 bedrooms on the main floor - so the girls will be sharing a room - I always planned on this eventually it will just be a little sooner that's all - so it will be interesting to see what happens!! The bathroom is HIDEOUS - I seriously have never seen such an ugly room. The kitchen I can deal with but the bathroom is a whole 'nother matter - I'm at a loss about what to do with it (really ugly DARK wood from floor to ceiling - it's like walking into the dark ages!!) - it's SO ick - and Tim likes it!! He thinks it's like something you'd see in a cabin (and ya you prolly would - but this ISN'T a cabin........MEN!! lol) and thinks it should be left as is................ummmmmmmmm nooooooooooo...........

I was super happy with the living room tho - it has an area slightly off of it that will work perfectly for my "studio" and my mammoth desk and whatnot will all fit so that made up for a lot of the other disappointments *wink*

The basement is a moot point - there's storage space and a couple bedrooms but it's not overly kid-friendly so I'll rarely ever be down there but it will work for Tim - he can have an office and set up our exercise equipment and whatnot.

The backyard was REALLY neat tho - super-private with lots of shrubs and trees and a fire-pit and whatnot - the girls just loved it and Tim and I will be spending a LOT of time out there after we've moved in - I LOVE building a fire and just sitting there late at night doing nothing!

ANYWHO - more to the point. The ppl that own the house said I can pretty much do whatever I want with the place so I lost no time in running to Home Depot and getting enough paint to do the entire upstairs. I just can't live with the colors that are in there now (really dark and drab) and I may as well choose some colors that I'm happy with. So don't expect to hear much from me as I have a TON of work to do - I was there for a couple of hours this evening priming the living room (and in this heat it wasn't very much fun!!) and plan on going back over the next couple of days to get as much done before we actually start moving.

Anyone know a good solution for removing primer from skin?? That stuff splattered ALL over me and short of scrubbing my skin raw it's not coming off too well - and in this muggy heat I just FEEL sticky (and even tho it's dry I can still SMELL the primer and it's so gross!!) and it's under my nails and everything (too hot to wear any type of gloves - but next time I'm sucking it up and wearing them anyway!).

Sorry I don't have a card or anything to share - I have some new ones made (I finally got a chance to use my CC Designs Summer Set, and MFT will be releasing 4 new sets on the 1st - I've got a chance to make a couple of things) but haven't had a chance to take pics and whatnot of them and upload them - maybe tomorrow!

Feelin' Crabby?

LOL yup I could say I do!! We're supposed to be able to go see the house we'll be renting sometime today and the wait is killing me!! It doesn't help that the temperature has gone up again and they're saying it's going to be HOT for the next few days (I really should have bought that air conditioner from Costco!! I know I'm going to regret it!).

I thought this card would be a good one to post today as it suits my mood (*wink*):

I just got some American Crafts ribbon from ATS - I LOVE all the different color assortments and patterns - the only thing I DON'T like about it is it's all one-sided - so when tying I have to twist it a bit so that the "right" side shows. Otherwise tho it's really cool ribbon *grin*.

I used all Stampin' Up! CS for this card - the colors matched the ribbon perfectly!

I used Gina's Crabby Dancer stamp and colored it in with Copic Markers and stamped the stitched circle around it before punching it out with my Mega (pink) circle punch.

I stamped the dotted circle and then punched that out with the Giga (purple) scalloped circle punch.

I did some sponging and corner rounding on the various pieces of CS, added some ribbon and brads then attached the various pieces and that was it!

This card measures 5.25" square :o)

STAMPS: Crabby Dancer, Sentiment, Scalloped Frames & Doodles Large Circles Set all by GinaK Designs. CS: Papertrey White, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Ruby Red (all SU!). INK: Black, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Ruby Red. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Mega Circle and Giga Scalloped Circle Punches, SU! 3/16' Corner Rounder Punch, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, American Crafts Ribbon, Bazzill Brads. 

Some of the Last Ones......

Here are some of the last ATC's I've made - these were all for the swap I hosted near the end of the A*Muse*A*Palooza competition.

I was inspired by the cow ribbon I picked up at the Michael's $1 bin for this ATC. I had *just* enough for the 10 ATC's - there was less than 1/2" left!!

I stamped the cow first, then the grass and flowers using Brilliance ink (SO vibrant and rich in real life!), then adding the sentiment (which was punched out with SU!'s Word Window punch).

For this one I used the A Muse Kissing Couple stamp, and since I don't have their "smooches" stamp (YET - it's on my list to order when I use my gift certificate!) I wrote it myself with a black marker.

I used the Marvy Super Jumbo (blue) oval and Mega (pink) Scalloped Oval punches, and added a bit of May Arts ribbon with a mini glue dot.

The patterned CS is from Chatterbox, the scalloped oval is Prism CS, and I used my Copic markers to color in the images.

For this one I stamped the A Muse tractor and hay wagon onto Soft Sky CS and colored them in with my Copic Markers (that's one thing I really love about Copics as they color well even on colored CS's - you can see how well the yellow turned out).

I made "hay" by cutting snips into the yellow CS using my paper snips - then attached it to the bottom of the ATC and tied on the ribbon which I attached with staples at each end.

FYI - I am still going to try to keep my blog updated as often as possible while I am getting ready to move. I wanted to post this announcement (and it will stay at the top here while new posts will appear under this) letting everyone know that I won't be able to reply to e-mails for a good couple of weeks.

I've been getting a LOT of e-mails lately and a lot of requests for different things and I just don't have enough time in the day to get replies out - it will be at least 2 weeks or more before I can even think of getting to them all as we're getting down to crunch time and will actually be moving SOON! I'm supposed to be able to see the place we'll be renting this weekend so everyone PLEASE think happy thoughts for me as I am REALLY nervous about it!

(thankfully like I said I can still update on here and haven't packed up my studio (that will be the LAST thing I do as it's the only thing that keeps me sane!!)) - now I'm off to do some more packing before bedtime!! :o)

Our Castle....

I just made this card the other day and as I was browsing through SCS I saw this week's Sketch Challenge which was to make a tent topper card so this was perfect!

I used GinaK's Sandcastle stamp - colored it in with Copic markers and cut it out. I adhered it to the Bashful Blue circle with dimensionals (I used my Marvy Super Jumbo (blue) circle punch) for the circle), then used a mega scalloped circle (pierced and outlined with a white gel pen) and giga scalloped circle to frame it.

The "pattern" on the Creamy Caramel CS was made using the stitched mega circle stamp from Gina's Scalloped Frames & Doodles Large Circles Set, and I added the sentiment and a bit of the new Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon (LOVE it!!) from the SU catty.

I used the new SU corner rounder punch (love that too) as well as did some faux stitching and that was it!

STAMPS: Sandcastle, sentiment and stitched circle all by GinaK Designs. CS: Papertrey White, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Real Red (all SU!). INK: Palette Hybrid Noir, Creamy Caramel. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Super Jumbo Circle, Mega and Giga Scalloped Circle Punches, Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen, Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch.

Back to purging and packing (yay for me).....*wink*.............................

Lookee here.................

My "winnings" from the A*Muse*A*Palooza competition arrived!! Yay!!

I got a celery AMAP t-shirt (the shirt is really nice - good quality - I dunno if I'll actually wear it tho - I'm toying with the idea of framing it or something so that I can "display" it in my studio (when I actually HAVE one that is.......)), the $250 gift certificate (oh yeah!) and a ginormous A Muse postcard that has pics of cards made by their design team using the newly released stamps (with a nice note on the back of it from the A Muse crew!)

Thanks A Muse!!

(I have my wish list all written out - I keep adding to it tho!! I want to order NOW but with things the way they are around here right now I need more time to think!!) They came out with a BUNCH of new stamps - you can see them all here. The little stamp shop and matching sentiments are MUST-HAVE's in my opinion *wink* and of course I have to get the mini and micro oval

FYI - ANOTHER SWAP UPDATE:

ALL swaps were mailed out today (Tuesday) - I had to drive to another post office in another town to do it b/c my local PO is a real pain to deal with (I went in there to get them out ASAP and they were giving me nothing but trouble so I picked up my box of parcels and went somewhere else). I'm just glad they're sent out - one more thing OFF my to-do list!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have the new Harry Potter book sitting here just taunting me. It's on the corner of my desk only 2 feet away from me as I type this. I'm still re-reading through the rest of the books (SERIOUS case of OCD here - I can't start the new one till I've gone through the other one's now that I'm more than halfway through). It doesn't help that I'm not getting much TIME to read either!! I can handle it - I'm more worried that someone will spoil it for me and let slip what happens..................ACK!!

It's still really hot and humid here too - trying to purge things and pack is NOT fun in weather like this. I LOVE purging tho - it feels so good to get rid of all the junk and miscellaneous things that makes one wonder WHY they ever held onto it in the first place.......the more stuff I can get rid of the better as I don't feel like packing as it is!!

Hopefully I can get a few more cards uploaded onto here over the next couple of days.......we'll see what happens!! :o)

Hoo Boy................

I've been alluding to the fact that I have an over-full plate right now - well the reason for that is b/c we just sold our house!! It was in some ways a spur-of-the-moment decision (we've talked about it for months now, but then decided one day to go ahead and list it on the market). It was "officially" on the market for 2 days - and before we could even think we got an offer and everything went through!!

SO.........we have till August 7th to be out of here!!!!!!!!!!!! ACK!!!!!!!!! Thankfully we DO have a place set up to move to but it isn't available till the 1st (we'll be renting either till we find a place we LOVE or the plan is to build a home starting this spring) - so basically I have ONE week to get everything out of here and into the other place!! This is going to be interesting...................I'm now glad that we don't have gobs of furniture and possessions (my stamping studio doesn't count!! *wink*) to move - we've only been living here for a little over 3 years and have only slowly been buying things as we need/can afford them. But after going through the house I can see that we still have a TON of stuff and a LOT of work to do!!

So ya I have my work cut out for me. I have been stamping like a mad person to keep up with my design obligations (at the very least I want to have things saved onto my computer so that I can upload them onto here as I have time b/c once I pack up my stamps and whatnot (*sob*!!)) I don't know how long it will be before I can UNpack it all!) as well as it being a pretty good stress reliever! It doesn't help that we're in the HOTTEST days of summer and our house doesn't have air conditioning - it is so hot in here that I can barely think let alone pack!!

SWAP UPDATE:

I am waiting on ONE more parcel to arrive!! I got a few more on Friday and I plan on mailing as many as I can out today (Monday) and tomorrow and will wait till Friday at the LATEST for the last one to arrive - if it doesn't then the last 2 groups will get mailed out minus one ATC per group :o( Mail to/in Canada is NOTORIOUSLY slow but I really hope the last one comes through SOON! So don't worry anyone - I haven't forgot!! I have all the parcels sitting here at my computer and want to get them out ASAP - I especially MUST get them out before I start packing in earnest!!

Salsa!!

I got a chance to play with my stamps last week (yes LAST week - I haven't made a card in at least 5 days - maybe more! *sniff*) and I pulled out the new Junkitz paper pack (the Salsa Celebration 6x6 pack) and used one of the pink patterned sheets for this card.

I stamped the flower from Doodle This onto the patterned paper twice, cut them out then glued them together. I attached a matching rhinestone to the center with some mono multi, then attached it to a celery circle (I used my giga circle punch for the celery CS, and the mega circle punch for the saffron circle).

The "so very" and "sweet" is from the Stampin' Up! Sell-a-bration So Very set (retired), and the ribbon is from the new Fairy Tale ribbon pack.

I made another card with the Doodle This set and paper from the same pack - I'll try to get it up on here tonight or tomorrow. :o)

Warm Fuzzies

I was sitting at my desk the other day staring at all my containers of Fun Flock that I got in from AllThatScraps (eP also carries it as well). Fun Flock isn't a new thing - more like an old trend revisited - but it's new to me!! I've played with mine a bit but haven't gotten satisfactory results with it until now.

I used the solid heart image from GinaK's Autism stamp set (more info on that here) - stamped it with VersaMark onto white CS, then poured on Heat & Stick powder and heated it till sticky/glossy. I then dumped on some Chili Red flocking and pressed it down real well and tapped/brushed off the excess.

I repeated this two more times and then cut out all three "fuzzy" hearts and attached them to the CS. You can click on both of these pictures to get a pop up window with a larger image - can you see how fuzzy they are?? I LOVE it!!

I DID re-heat the images after I brushed off the excess flock - I don't know if it is necessary or not but I always re-heat to "set" the heat and stick powder so I did do it with this (but I heated it from UNDERNEATH the CS just in case!). If you rub with your fingers some *will* come off but not much - just lightly touching it seems fine (and how can you NOT touch it - the fuzzy teture is just begging to be touched LOL!).

All the CS used on this card is by Prism - I recently got a couple of assorted packs of it to try out - so far I really like it! One side is smooth and the other is an "orange peel" type of texture - and there's 81 colors in the Prismatics line so LOTS of colors to choose from. I got my packs from AllThatScraps - they *just* started carry the Prism line, the only other online retailer (that I know of) that carries Prism is Cornish Heritage Farms.

I kept the rest of the card rather simple as I wanted the focus to be on the hearts and to also make it a good masculine card as well :o) I stamped the sentiment from the same Autism set on the bottom and added some Bazzill Brads, rounded the corners of the suede CS and pierced them as well, then attached the hearts with dimensionals.

STAMPS: Love You to Pieces (Autism Awareness set) by GinaK Designs. CS: White, Suede Brown Light, Suede Brown Dark and Blush Red Dark Prism CS. INK: VersaMark, Versafine Onyx (black). ACCESSORIES: Heat & Stick Powder, Chili Pepper Red Fun Flock, Dimensionals, 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch, Paper Piercer, Brads.

Rockin' Blog?

Lauren tagged my blog as one of her top 5 favorite blogs - WAY cool! Of course I visit HER blog all the time - her stuff ROCKS!

Now I need to tag 5 other bloggers and say why.........this is SO hard to choose!! I have like 10 times that on my list!!

I love Gina's blog - between her family, her business, and goodness knows what else she does (every time I talk to her she has even MORE things on the go!) she still manages to keep her blog updated and also gives away TONS of goodies - in fact I'm almost positive that if you go there now there will be a giveaway of some sort!

Tracy is a new blogger - I've excanged quite a few e-mails with her and she is a really sweet person!! I always enjoy seeing what new thing she uplaods!

I *heart* Trudee - I've idolized her ever since I first discovered her work way back when on Splitcoast - and she is a complete SWEETHEART to boot!  I wanna be Trudee when I grow up!!

I have the pleasure of knowing Julie personally - she's actually my Epicure (a Canadian direct sales company that sells spices and whatnot) downline! Heck we only live a little over an hour away from each other and we've only met in real life once! That has so gotta change...........

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the things Emily aka Scoopy comes up with - she's on the A Muse design team and can she ever rock their stamps!! If you scroll down to some older posts on her blog - you will come across the series of cards she did - one for each letter of the alphabet - I LOVED all of them - totally brilliant!!

OK there's 5 blog links - I always hate doing these kinds of things b/c it's so hard to choose!! I literally have TONS of blogs that I peek in on (I definitely try to keep up with a lot of them, I just don't have the time to comment on them all and I wish I did!) - you can see a lot of AWESOME blogs just by checking out my "Blogs I Browse" and "Sites that Link Here" lists on my sidebars - there are hundreds of great ones to check out!!

Oh Baroque

So.....I have yet ANOTHER confession to make........I got this Baroque Motifs set like 3 weeks ago - and this is the ONLY card I've made with it. But that isn't the confession.......

The confession is - I reallyreallyreally like flourishes - but I can't use them!!!! ----------- ACK!! I don't know why but when **I** go to use any type of flourish it just doesn't look right to me!! And then I fiddle with it till the card is ruined - toss it out - and move on. I have a flourish set I got from Technique Tuesday AGES ago and have yet to actually make something decent with it.

I couldn't resist this set tho - the flourish is just SO nice and the flowers and words so pretty........and yet I've destroyed who knows how many pieces of CS trying to make a nice card with it.

Am I flourish-challenged????

(I think so)

I basically copied ( this card <-----click!!) I did a while ago to make this card. I didn't know what else to do. I used all craft inks (celery, saffron and pink passion), attached a tab punched out with the round tab punch, cut out a flower and attached it with dimensionals, as well as attaching the main panel with dimensionals.

Who knows - maybe if I fiddle some more (when I get TIME to fiddle.............. *wink*) I can figure out what it is that makes me unable to use flourishes or what it is that makes me THINK that I can't!! ROFLOL!!!

Oh Yeeaaaahhhhhhh.......................

I got my first order from the Fall/Winter SU catty last week and the majority of it was ribbon ROFL!! I couldn't help myslef (it's a sickness.....).

The new ribbon is SOOOOO NICE!! I got a couple rolls of taffeta (very pretty and lightweight), 4 of the 6 In Color stitched ribbon (I wish I had got all the colors - I'll have them eventually tho!), some of the wide grosgrain (I REALLY like this stuff - it's quite impressive when you see it in real life!), and the Bashful Blue 1/4" grosgrain (FINALLY!!! I have been wanting bashful blue grosgrain since FOREVER!! And it IS a perfect match!).

NOT pictured is the Fairy Tale ribbon - I caved and got it (it's 17.95 for us Canadians!!) - and it is SOOOOO pretty - even at that price I'm glad I got it!!! :o)

Yup --- all this ribbon and yet I STILL got sucked into the sale at Michaels on the weekend and got like 7 more rolls from there....................*wink*