Prairie Paper & Ink

How Sweet It Is - Stamps for a Cause

I really LOVE GinaK's new Stamps for a Cause set - How Sweet It Is!

I copied and pasted this from Gina's How Sweet It Is page:

"$7.00 of every stamp set will be divided equally between the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, two organizations that are working on research to find better ways to treat diabetes and hopefully will some day find a cure."

How cool is that? And the fact that the set is extremely versatile (you can use it for so many things all year round!) makes it a mus-buy in my opinion!

You can purchase it either unmounted (on EZmount foam) or wood-mounted HERE.

This first card I made with this set uses the flower image - I stamped it then colored it in with Copic Markers.

The sentiment is from GinaK's Rectangle Greetings set (you get this FREE when you order 3 or more stamp sets in January - more details are here) and I stamped it onto celery (Stampin' Up!) card stock then punched it out with my Marvy Extra Jumbo (yellow) scalloped rectangle punch.

The yellow card stock is Bazzill (from the Doodlebug line - that is my absolute favorite line of all Bazzill CS - I love the texture and the colors!) and I finished off the card with a pink button that I threaded the May Arts ribbon through and tied off to hold in place.

STAMPS: How Sweet It Is and Rectangle Greetings stamp sets by GinaK Designs. CS: Papertrey White, Black, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!), DoodleBug Bazzill in Buttercream. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Extra Jumbo Scalloped Rectangle Punch, Ribbon, Button.

This is my favorite image from this set - I stamped and colored it in with Copic Markers then punched it out with my Marvy Mega Scalloped Circle Punch and sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip (SU!) ink.

The sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of Soft Sky (SU!) CS then trimmed and the edges were rounded using a circle punch.

And see I used some of my new ribbon!

The punched Giga circle is again Bazzill DoodleBug CS.

STAMPS: How Sweet It Is stamp set by GinaK Designs. CS: Papertrey White, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!), DoodleBug Bazzill in Princess. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers, Chocolate Chip (SU!). ACCESSORIES: Marvy Mega Scalloped Circle and Giga Circle Punches, Stampin' Up! Slit Punch and Circle Punch, Eyelets, Ribbon, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals.

Sunday Q&A

I have a question for your next Q&A...

Do you have any tips for photographing cards? My pictures are almost always disappointing. (I have a lack of natural light in my house, which is probably my biggest problem.) It's disheartening to work hard on making a pretty card only to have an ugly photograph to put on my blog. Your cards always look great. (Of course, they're gorgeous to start with!)

Thanks,
Lisa

Check out this post I did a year ago <----- click!! I still do that now (either 2 pieces of card stock as a background or a piece of posterboard and then my 2 daylight lamps). I've moved since then and my space doesn't look anything like that but I still set up everything on my desk and take my pics!

I also have a different camera than the Fuji one I listed in that post (that Fuji was great for taking card pictures tho...) I have a Digital Canon Rebel XT (got it b/c we have the 35mm Canon Rebel and all the accessories and lenses are interchangeable) which has a MUCH bigger learning curve to it (not to mention they are a lot more expensive!).

When you sew on a card what do you do with the "tails" of the thread?  With a normal sewing project you'd backstitch to keep it from unravelling and trim the ends.  I never see backstitching on paper projects, so I'm wondering how you keep it from unravelling?  Thanks!

I pull the thread that sticks out on the front of the project to the back (easy to do since you just need to gently tug on the thread that is on the back and it will pull on the front one) then tie them in a knot and trim them off and that's it!

First, I have to say that I love your blog - so many great ideas!  My DH got me some Nestabilities for Christmas this year (yeah!).  I was wondering, do you stamp your image first or cut and emboss first?  Any info. would be greatly appreciated!

That was so sweet of your DH!! *grin* Actually I do both - MOST of the time I cut out THEN stamp and whatnot but every once and a while I stamp and then decide I want it on a Nestability shape so I cut it out. I just personally prefer to cut then stamp b/c it's easier for me that way. I've done it where I've stamped and colored an image and then went to cut it out and the die slipped as I made the "sandwich" stack and then after I pulled it out it was ruined! (I guess there is a magnet sheet you can get to help prevent this but I've never looked into it - for now it just workes for me to cut out the shapes then stamp them...)

Hello Amy,

I was wondering if the wooden storage case would hold the stampin up ink pads?

Thanks,

Shannon

You mean this one?? No it won't. And the DVD one like that I'm sure won't either. IKEA used to have wood DVD holders that were perfect for holding SU!'s ink pads (I had quite a few of them for that purpose but stopped using them b/c they took up too much wallspace) as they were just strips of wood - you can see what I'm talking about here. I don't know if IKEA even sells them anymore tho....

Hi Amy,

I know how you love you Cuttlebug, but I have a question that has been "buggin" me!

I bought the swirl embossing folder.  How do I get the embossing on my paper if

it is bigger than the folder.  I have tried putting it back thru & it doesn't match up

to what is already there & looks terrible.  Any hints?

Thanks,

Jeanette

.

Sadly I odn't have any hints to offer you - those embossing folders don't really match up at all - I have done wider papers with them and just fudged it where they met up (added my main image or ribbon or some other embellishments so it wasn't as noticeable). They weren't made so that the edges would match if you embossed larger papers - I wish they had been!

.

I went to two different Costco last night and they didn't have them anymore. :(  I did recall seeing it there once before..should have grab it while I can.  could you tell me what the maker (company) is for these ribbons so that I can have Costco do the research for me to see if any ones in town have them?

.

I looked on the back of the box and there isn't a company listed!? It just has an item # on the UPC code (Item #143921) and then under it says Imported by Costco Wholesale etc etc, and that it was made in Taiwan. They are just listed as "Ribbon Boutique" as that's the only name on the front and back of the box. I hope that helps!

.

Hi I have a question for your question period.  How do you know what size to cut the 2 nd layer on your cards.  Like when you put a rectangle on your card, how do you know what size it should be.  Hope its not a confusing question, I'm not sure it makes sense to me LOL  Thanks

.

I think you're asking about the mat I put on the card just slightly smaller than the card front? If so I cut that 1/8" smaller than a standard (4.25 x 5.5") card front - so I cut it 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".

Hey Cupcake

Cupcakeabella!! LOVE it! LOL

Yet another card I finished for the gift sets I made for Christmas presents.

I stamped the bella then colored her in with Copic markers. I went over parts of the icing with glue then poured on pink Making Memories glitter.

The sentiment is by A Muse (perfect eh??)

The patterned paper is from the K&Co slab I got at Costco (I've been using that paper like crazy and have barely made a dent in it!!)

Flowers are Prima and see I used THREE buttons on this card - yay me! Lauren has been ribbon me about my button obsession (with good reason - have you seen my button jar?) and how I rarely ever use them - so I'm trying to make a point of it..........

Ribbon is May Arts.

STAMPS: Cupcakeabella by Stamping Bella, sentiment by A Muse. CS: Papertrey White, Taken with Teal, Rose Red (Stampin' Up!), Patterned Paper by K&Co. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic markers. ACCESSORIES: Glitter, Ribbon, Prima Flowers, Buttons, String, Hole Punch.

Friday Sketch #2

Here it is! The second installment to my new Friday Sketch feature:

This is actually a layout I did a couple of months ago (you can see the original post here) and had scribbled it down in my inspiration journal to use again.

I wanted to make up several more thank you cards for my mom as well as my own use so I pulled out a sheet of Crate Paper and cut it into strips (3 x 5 3/8").

I got 8 pieces out of that so I made 8 cards.

The stamps are from Papertrey - their Little Lady set (yet another one of my all-time favorites!). I stamped the ladybug using Rocket Red Brilliance Ink and the black is Versafine Onyx black.

I even slightly curved the sentiment (I curved it as I was placing it on the acrylic block) before stamping it as it didn't look quite right straight (another thing I love about clear stamps is the ability to do that - so neat to be able to customize them for your project!).

I used my circle nestabilities dies with my CuttleBug to cut the circles and scalloped circles, and Stampin' Up!'s photo corner punch for all the photo corners.

I used sticky strip to adhere the length of May Arts velvet ric rac (added a really nice touch!).

STAMPS: Little Lady set by Papertrey Ink. CS: Papertrey White, Black, Crate Paper. INK: Versafine Onyx Black, Rocket Red Brilliance Ink. ACCESSORIES: Nestabilities Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies, SU! Photo Corners Punch, May Arts Velvet Ric Rac.

And here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using it to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS10 to make it easier to find.

And don't forget to link directly to your creation in the comment section of this post so that I can see it too!

MFT New Release

Last night My Favorite Things released 3 new stamp sets - Be Mine (the one used for this card), Happy Occasions, and Punny Farm.

I made this quick little card the other day. I stamped the solid hearts from the Be Mine set randomly onto white card stock using ColorBox pigment inks. I had a hard time picking up the detail with my camera b/c in real life you can read all the little sayings on the hearts...

I then stamped the box of chocolates and punched it out with my Marvy Mega Scalloped Heart punch and colored it in with Copic markers.

The ribbon is May Arts (dual pink/yellow - it is so shimmery and soft!), and the eyelets are Stampin' Up!

STAMPS: Be Mine by My Favorite Things. CS: White, Pretty in Pink (SU!). INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers, ColorBox Pigment Inks. ACCESSORIES: Marvy Mega Scalloped Heart punch, Sponge Dauber, Ribbon, Eyelets.

Sneak Peeks Are Starting!

Happy 10th of the Month! Nichole has posted the first sneak peek post of the January 15 Papertrey release on her blog! You can check it out here <-----click!

Sadly my PT sets haven't arrived yet (gotta love the postal system....) but I'm HOPING they get here before the release so I can get my samples made in time!! I am so excited about this release (aren't I every month??) - this will mark a full year that I've been with Papertrey (it's hard to believe a year has gone by already.....) - and I've gone gaga over the new sets - just wait till you see them!!! *grin*

Love Ya Lots and Love Ya Much!

Yup that's right - my new CC Designs sets have finally arrived!! And I got the chance to sit down yesterday and make a few cards with them so I'll share a couple of them here today:

First off I can NOT take credit for this idea at all - I totally CASE'd it from Val's card here <-----click! I LOVED her card and had to make something similar!

I decided to make mine a little boy's Valentine card (I don't even have boys but I think that's why I enjoy making boy cards - they're a little more challenging for me b/c I'm drawn to all things pink/girly/glittery LOL!) so I also kept it on the simple theme.

The little parachute was made by running a piece of patterned paper (from DCWV's Nana's Kids paper pack) through my Cuttlebug with an oval Nestabilities die - then cutting it almost in half with a pair of scalloped scissors.

I adhered the parachute with dimensionals and attached string to it (threaded it through the paper with a needle) and attached the other ends to the "falling" Lucky (seriously is he not the cutest thing ever? I love these sets....)

Lucky was colored in with Copic markers and then adhered after threading the string through his paws.

The sentiment is from MFT's Falling For You set (too perfect for this card!), the colored card stock is Stampin' Up! (the white is Papertrey), and the ribbon is also SU! (retired).

STAMPS: Love Ya Much set by CC Designs, Falling For You set by My Favorite Things. CS: Papertrey White, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Black (Stampin' Up!). INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Nestabilities Oval Die, Fiskars Scalloped Scissors, String, Dimensionals, Ribbon.

This card uses images from the Love Ya Lots set - I stamped the lion then colored him in with Copic Markers.

I masked him and stamped the Mini Oval from A Muse in pink to ground him, then went over his mane with Sakura's Quickie glue pen.

Before the glue dried I pressed Fun Flock (Caramel Latte Tan) onto it - so it's all fuzzy!! I think it turned out SO cute! (you can click the pictures to get pop-up windows with a bigger view).

The sentiment is from the set, I stamped it onto Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!) card stock then punched it out with my Marvy Extra Jumbo Scalloped Heart Punch (the yellow one) and adhered it to the card with dimensionals.

I finished off the card with a little Piggy Takes patterned paper, brown Prima Sprite and black glitter brad (from the Making Memories Halloween brad pack LOL!)

STAMPS: Love Ya Lots by CC Designs, Mini Oval by A Muse, Pretty in Pink, Black (SU!), Patterned Paper by Piggy Tales. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers, Pretty in Pink. ACCESSORIES: Fun Flock, Marvy Extra Jumbo Scalloped Heart Punch, Prima Flower, Ribbon, Brad, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch.

Quick 'n' Easy

Here are a couple more Bella cards I made before the holidays as part of the gift sets I gave to friends (at the end of this post you can see how I packaged them....)

For this card I used some more of my K&Co paper that I got from Costco, Gardenbella, the A Muse Mini Oval and a sentiment from Stampin' Up! (Much Appreciated stamp set).

I colored the bella in with Copic markers then masked her to stamp the oval (**you can see the tutorial on how I do this here).

That funky little felt flower I got from Lauren - she got me all these cool goodies from the Target Dollar spot (I would so love to have Target in Canada - wouldn't that be fabulous???) and the one container had 100 felt self-adhesive flowers in it - for $1!!!!! How cool is that?

So anyway I attached the flower with an eyelet, added some ribbon and sewed around the card base with my sewing machine.

I ran a coordinating piece of paper through my CuttleBug using a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities die before stamping the sentiment and adhering it to the card.

STAMPS: Gardenbella by Stamping Bella, Mini Oval by A Muse, Thank You from the Much Appreciated set by Stampin' Up!. CS: Papertrey White, Barely Banana and Lavender Lace (SU!), Patterned Paper by K&Co (Costco). INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Certainly Celery, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Ribbon, Felt Flower, Eyelet, Sewing Machine, Nestabilities Diecut.

.......................................................................................................................................

This card was super quick and easy to make.

I lightly outlined Sposabella's dress with a really light pink Copic marker, then colored in the other parts and punched the corners of the main image with SU's Ticket Corner punch before sponging the edges.

The patterned paper was a scrap sitting on my desk (from SU's Bali Breeze collection), after adhering it I added a photo corner (SU!'s Photo Corner Punch) and some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon.

STAMPS: Sposabella by Stamping Bella. CS: Papertrey White, Soft Sky Textured, Chocolate Chip, Bali Breeze DS Paper (all SU!). INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers, Regal Rose Classic Ink. ACCESSORIES: Ticket Corner and Photo Corner Punches, Satin Ribbon, Bazzill Brad, Sponge Daubers.

.............................................................................................................................................

To package up all the Bella cards I gave as gifts I used Papertrey's Clear boxes - scroll down a bit to see them (I LOVE those boxes - they just make a gift of cards look so much more polished and professional!).

I was able to fit 10 cards into a box (it took a little squeezing as they all had ribbons/primas/embellishments etc etc) so in order to include envelopes I added them behind the box then used a good length of May Arts ribbon to tie them in place.

I made a tag with my marvy scalloped circle punches and Papertrey's Spooky Sweets set (it has the "To From" stamp).

I then punched a hole in the tag and then just pulled the bow I had tied on the box through it to hold it in place and that was it!

Stamp Storage!

<------------ Lookie what I got my hands on!!

I had my brother-in-law pick this up for me at IKEA before they came here for Christmas - it's called a BOALT CD rack.

Best part about it is that it was only $16.99 CAN!

AND it will hold 35 cases!

GinaK's tin stamp cases fit perfectly in here, as will Papertrey's plastic CD cases, and anything else stored in CD cases.

It has 2 small holes in the back of it so it can be wall mounted - or it can just sit on a shelf (or floor as mine is now till I can find a spot to put it! *wink*). It's unfinished wood so it can be painted too (too much work in my opinion - I'm going to leave mine as-is).

There is also a DVD one that holds 29 DVD's (same price) - I had wanted that too but IKEA was sold out (Edmonton, Alberta location).

Sunday Q&A

I've been thinking about setting aside a day to answer questions that are left on here as well as e-mailed to me and Sunday seems to be a good one so here goes!

I will try to answer as many questions as I can but there is a good chance I will miss some and if I do just post your questions in the comment section on THIS post and I'll get to it next Sunday :o)

I just have a question...do you have any ideas for wedding invitations?  My niece is getting married in June 09 and asked me to make her inviations.  Her colors are pink with touches of either purple or lavender.  I don't have a clue but said I would try.  If you have any ideas or where I might find some, please let me know.  I enjoy your web site very much..
Thanks a bunch....
   Marlene

I don't really have any ideas for you as wedding invites can take MANY shapes and forms and not knowing your neice personally makes it more difficult. HOWEVER I recommend checking out the gallery at Splitcoast - you can even enter the keywords "WEDDING" "WEDDING INVITATIONS" "WEDDING INVITES" etc into the search bar and see what all comes up. With thousands of projects uploaded to that gallery I'm sure you'll find TONS of inspiration!!

EDITED TO ADD: Here's a tip posted by Kristine in the comment section (thanks Kristine!!):

Hi Amy!  I have a tip about your first Q/A from Marlene:  I saw this webisode over at Craft Tv Weekly and he shows how to make an interlocking heart card and at the end, he shows it in all different colors for wedding invites!  Looks neat and very simple.  Don't know how to let Marlene know, but here's the link:
http://www.crafttvweekly.com/player.html

Happy New Year!! :)

Did your Costco have the K&Co chipboard as well .. they have it here in Calgary .. I bought it with the ribbon as well. 

Yes the Costco in Saskatoon had those chipboard sets - I looked at them and debated about it and then put them back! I have a K&Co set of baby chipboard shapes and letters sitting here that I got at Michael's months ago and never used and I'm not sure if I'd ever use MORE of it.......

I know that you told a little bit about your sketches in your blog. I was wondering what program you used on your computer? Or would you be able to tell us where to get it?? thanks a bunch!!

I just use the Paint program to make my sketches - it's all I know how to do right now (and it took me forever to figure out how to make them on there LOL!)

Hi! My name is Olga. I live in Ukraine. I very much like your cards. I too want to do(make) such cards. But we on Ukraine do not have such materials. You could something will inform also to send me. I very much to you I shall be grateful. Answer please.

I wait for your letter!

First off I must say I still find it very cool that I have an international audience here on my blog. Secondly I really don't know for sure how people in other countries (other than Canada and the US) get their hands on a lot of the paper-crafting items I use here.......I do know that All That Scraps will ship internationally. And there are probably other online vedors who will as well (Cornish Heritage Farms is another one and I think Stamping Bella ships internationally too).

For things like this I always say your best bet is to go to the forums on Splitcoast and post your question there - they have THOUSANDS of members from all over the world and there is always bound to be someone on there who can better answer a question like this!

I'm trying to find out what exactly are One Sheet Wonders? I know it's making several cards out of one sheet of paper but is it a template or something? Or something from the new SU catalogue? Is there a pattern for them? Any info you would share would be greatly appreciated.

Yes a One Sheet Wonder is making several cards out of one sheet of patterned (or plain card stock that you stamp yourself to make "patterned paper"). There ARE templates out there (the ones I've seen are on Splitcoast in the Downloads section - just do a search of OSW) that "maximize" the paper so that you get the most out of it (and therefore the most cards).

Personally I never use a template - I just cut the paper however I feel LOL! When using 12x12 patterned paper one little trick is to cut it into 4x4" squares - that will give you 9 squares and therefore 9 cards...

I came across your blog page through a link on someone elses page. I LOVE your work!!! I liked reading about you and how far you have come in so short a time. I am curious about something and hoping you can enlighten me. How does someone go about becoming a designer for a stamp company? I am an "ok" stamper, but I would love to know what needs to be done to achieve the "designer" status. Can you let me know? I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks for sharting your work with the rest of us. You are an inspiration!!

Thank you for the sweet comments!

I get asked this a lot and I've also seen it posted quite often in stamping forums - how do you get on design teams? is a question burning in the heads of many a stamper!

Really I'm not an authority on this subject - yes I am on several but I was asked to be on them - I never applied! And you want to know something really interesting?? ALL the design teams I've actually applied to be on (I either submitted to their Design Team call or I contacted the company personally and asked) I was rejected from LOL! Altho really I don't take it as a personal rejection (I know in the beginning I did - it hurt!) - because I've come to know what it's like to run a team and to be on the lookout for new members and to go through applications.

.

When it comes to getting yourself on a Design Team - there are a couple of different things you can do. You can wait and see if there is a call for designers (most companies will post that somewhere on their website that they are doing a call - or if they have a company blog (which a LOT of them do) they will post it there as well) and then apply to be on the team and wait.

.

You can also contact a company directly and include a couple of samples of your work (and linking to your blog/gallery is a good thing too!) and ask if there are any DT positions available.

.

Like I said neither of those methods have worked for me so far but that doesn't mean they won't for you!

.

I just discovered your blog and am really enjoying reading it. I would like to read past posts but don't see a place to go back and read them. Am I missing something or is that not an option?

.

Yes all my older posts are categorized by month in my "Oldies but Goodies..." section (if you scroll down a bit on the right you'll see a little section labelled "CHECK OUT" - and then there's listed the "Oldies but Goodies..." (archived posts), Killin' Time.... (sites I like to frequent), "Gotta Shop!" (links to the places where I get my goodies), "My Tutorials" (links to all the tutorials I have done on here as well as for SCS) and "So Many Blogs....So Little Time!!" (a list of TONS of blogs!).

...............................................................................................................................................

OK that's it for now! Have a great Sunday everyone!

My Word for 2008

I was on Ali Edwards blog recently (altho I'm not a major scrapbooker I love reading her blog as I find it so inspirational) and saw her post about choosing a word for the year and though I'd share mine:

Accomplish

   
Main Entry: ac·com·plish

1: to bring about (a result) by effort <have much to accomplish today>

2: to bring to completion : fulfill <we can accomplish the job in an hour>

3: to succeed in reaching (a stage in a progression) <would starve before accomplishing half the distance — W. H. Hudson died 1922>

4archaic a: to equip thoroughly b: perfect

........................................................................................................................................

When thinking up words to choose from this one jumped out at me and was just perfect. There are MANY things I want to accomplish this year - and instead of procrastinating (something I am HORRIBLE for!) I plan on getting them done or at least trying my hardest to do so!

If you've chosen a word I'd love to know what it is and why! Leave a comment on this post so I can hear about it too!

Mass Producing

My mom used up all the thank you cards she had on hand that I had given her - so last night I sat down and made a bunch more.

I took one sheet of Crate Paper and cut it into 9 pieces (***if you cut them 4x4" you get 9 out of a whole sheet of 12x12 paper - I cut mine a little smaller for these cards***).

I used Papertrey's Butterfly Kisses and Paper Tray stamp sets to make all the cards.

The first set uses Lovely Lilac (Stampin' Up!) card stock, Brilliance Lavender and Brilliance Graphite Black Inks, and Michaels black velvet ribbon.

I ran the white card stock through my CuttleBug using the scalloped rectangle Nestabilities die to cut and then emboss each one. I then stamped the butterfly and sentiment.

The "flight trail" was made with an Ornare piercing template Lauren got for me ages ago.

The second set uses Regal Rose (SU!) card stock and ink and one of the other butterfly images from the Butterfly Kisses set.

I used my edge distresser to scrape the edges of the black card stock and rough it up, then added some black eyelets and they were done!

I was ELF'ed!!

Before Chrsitmas there was a thing going on over on Splitcoast called "ELF-ing". Basically I guess people were picking names to send little RAK's (random acts of kidness) in the form of gifts and whatnot.

Well lo and behold someone picked me and this was what I got!:

I also think that the giver was normally anonymous - but the back of the Christmas hanging had her name on it (she made it all herself! It's SO cute!) so a HUGE thank you goes to Loretta! I really appreciate your sweet gift and I am sorry it took me so long to get it posted and to thank you!

Sadly the hanging is put away till Christmas - but all the other goodies I can use on my cards!

Thanks again Loretta!

Friday Sketch! #1

Well the majority of people who answered my "when to post sketches" question said that Friday would be best - and since I'm good with that then Friday Sketch it will be! So check in every Friday for a new sketch!

And to start it off here's a fun little Valentine card I made yesterday:

Since I don't have any of GinaK's soon-to-be-released sets (insert sad face) I pulled out some of my older ones to make this card - Down on the Farm and J'adore.

This piggy stamp is one of my absolute favorite GinaK stamps - and I stamped him twice onto white card stock, then hand drew a little bow on the left one to make "him" a "her" LOL.

I colored them in with Copic markers then added a little heart-shaped brad (Provo Craft) that I covered with Xmas Red sitckles.

The heart was made by running a red piece of card stock through my CuttleBug with the Heart Blocks embossing folder, then punching it out with my Marvy Mega Scalloped Heart Punch.

I finished off the card with the word Love from the J'adore set, another Provo Craft heart brad and some wide grosgrain ribbon.

STAMPS: Down on the Farm and J'adore stamp sets by GinaK Designs. CS: Papertrey White, Black and Red (Stampin' Up!), Prism Perfect Baby Pink. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Provo Craft Brads, CuttleBug Heart Blocks A2 Embossing Folder, Marvy Mega Scalloped Heart Punch, Xmas Red Sitckles, Wide Grosgrain Ribbon.

And here's the sketch for this card:

If you upload your card using it to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS9 to make it easier to find.

And don't forget to link directly to your creation in the comment section of this post so that I can see it too!

I LOVE Costco!!

I think I've said it a million times on here how much I LOVE Costco - but I have to say it again! Wanna know why?? THIS is why:

RIBBON!!! LOTS of ribbon! 40 rolls (at 3 yards each so 120 yards total) of ribbon to be exact for $22 CAN!

That works out to only 55 CENTS a roll!

The ribbon is single-sided but a nice quality (not all stiff and cheap-feeling like some other ribbons I've bought).

I really don't need any more ribbon (some day I'll have to take a picture of all the ribbon - I've been cleaning and re-organizing my studio (New Years resolution of course) so once it's all done I'll take a bunch of pictures to share here) but I had to get it anyway.

For a lot of you this won't be anything new - a lot of the Costco's in the States got these in months ago - but this was the first time I saw it at ours so I had to get it!

I'm not really sure where I will put all this ribbon - but just having it has certainly cheered me up LOL.

Stay tuned till later today for a new card and sketch!

EDITED TO ADD:

Speaking of ribbon - Jody is doing a whole bunch of ribbon shares right now - check them all out HERE <----click! I JUST saw her post and am already drooling LOL!!