Prairie Paper & Ink

Friday Sketch! #9

Seriously how FUN is CC Designs new Monkey Love stamp set??

I've had it sitting here for a while now and have made a couple of cards with it and enjoyed every second I had playing with these stamps.

And today I can share one of the cards with you - and then thought how perfect the layout would be for another Friday Sketch - so here it is!

I colored in the monkey with Copic markers (yet another reason why it's taken me so long to share samples - I've been playing around with my Copics and experimenting with blending and shading and whatnot - and I know I need a lot more practice! I am having fun with it tho....)

The leaves were made with markers - just press down the sketch tip at an angle and voila! Instant leaves.

The rest of the card was super-quick - I used a piece of embossed paper from this DCWV paper pack, some Close to Cocoa and Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!) card stock, May Arts ribbon (LOVE this ribbon (when do I not love ribbon???) it ties beautifully - really soft and supple), and some DoodleBug Brads.

And here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS17 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!

**PLEASE link DIRECTLY to your blog post that has the card/project, or DIRECTLY to the picture in your online gallery when you post your comment. This makes it a lot easier for me to find and comment on them! I love to see what everyone comes up with!**

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Also here's a new little twist - I will be posting this sketch over on the ATS blog along with samples the the Design Team has made - so be sure to head over there to check it out - and don't forget there's a contest running over there as well!! *grin*

Baskets of Cards...

I made all three of these cards today between making meals, baking muffins, attempting to prevent Josie from terrorizing her sister (she may only be 2 and Veronica is 5 ---- but MAN that kid can be a handful!!!!)....you know --- all the usual MOM stuff *wink*

One thing I REALLY enjoy doing is taking a few stamps (or in this case a set of stamps) and either a few sheets of patterned paper or a pack (like the Basic Gray Lily Kate 6x6 pack I used for these cards) along with a few matching embellishments and crank out as many cards as I can in one sitting.

With a little thought and planning they all have some similarities to them but end up totally different! :o)

For the first card I stamped the basket from GinaK's Baskets of Happiness set then colored it in with Copic markers. I then stamped the sentiment and punched a hole with my Making Memories Ribbon slot punch.

I used Baby Blue Stickles on the flowers and the egg for a little "bling", and added a few Prima flowers with black brads.

The ribbon is the new Papertrey Spring Moss grosgrain (I am LOVING PT's new ribbons - seriously LOVING them).

It's rater hard to tell but I sewed around the edge of the Lily Kate patterned paper.....

This card took on a completely different look as I pulled different colors from the paper pack then the previous card.

Again I used Copic markers to color in the pot of flowers, then added a bit of Cinnamon Stickles to the flower centers and to the pot.

The main image was punched out with my Marvy Mega Punch and matted with a Giga Scalloped circle.

The rest of the card was quickly put together - I stamped the sentiment, added some ribbon (this time some Spring Moss Twill), adhered the patterned paper to the card base, then pierced the holes with my paper piercer before adding the main image with dimensionals.

  I made the third card using the last image from the Baskets of Happiness set - stamping it and coloring it in with Copic markers.

You can see the slight sparkle on the flowers - I added Grape Ice Ice Stickles to them.

The ribbon is yet again more Papertrey ribbon.

I stitched around the edges of the card base again and added some holes under the sentiment with a paper piercer (kind of hard to tell with the pattern in the paper).

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I hope y'all liked these cards! It took me longer than I thought to get this post typed up, I had to stop and prepare supper and feed the girls and now only have a little time left before I have to get them ready for bed. Then I have to study and answer a bunch of questions in my manual for my nail course and make sure to watch LOST and Survivor tonight (they're the only shows I watch and I am SO addicted!!)

Have a great night everyone!

ElzyBells Friendship

I don't know about you - but I am in LOVE with ElzyBells stamps!!

I got several of their winter and holiday stamps, and when the Friendship line was released I had THE hardest time picking - I wanted them all!!

The new Spring release doesn't have any new Elzy girls but those little chicks are ADORABLE (my fave is the Mini Chick Bee stamp - I think it's just the sweetest stamp ever - LOL).

Anywho I am finally getting the chance to create with the new Elzy stamps I got and made this card first.

I stamped the car onto Papertrey white CS then colored it in with Copic Markers. I made the "exhaust" by pouncing a little silver Pebbles Pearlescent chalk onto the CS, and then added some of the pink to the car just for fun :o)

The dotted background is a NEW background stamp by CC Designs.

The sentiment is also from ElzyBellsNA.

The checkered ribbon is May Arts, the grosgrain was from a share I was in over a year ago.

Isn't she just so cute in her pink car?????.........I want a pink car.......................

Quick Card Set

OK ------ I finally have a chance to sit down and post!

For those asking my first day of the gel nail course went good! The only practical I did was putting on tips and filing (I knew I wouldn't like tips but it was more the fact that it's so insanely time consuming - especially for me b/c I wanted them all to be perfect!) and now I have a bunch of studying and chapters to read and questions to answer before next week.

Yesterday was Veronica's 5th birthday. I ended up throwing an impromptu birthday dinner for her with all her grandparents in attendance so I spent the day cleaning and cooking and got hardly any pictures but I'm hoping to take some of her with her birthday presents (which she's playing with right now and surprisingly the girls have been pretty well behaved all morning - of course with all the new things to play with they're kept nice and distracted *wink*).

I am still in shock that my baby is 5 and that she's starting kindergarten this fall!.............

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Now here's a few cards I made before the weekend:

I used GinaK's new He is Risen! stamp set for all 4 of these cards, and stuck with Basic Grey's 6x6 Stella Ruby patterned paper.

The cross was stamped onto the paper using The Essential Glue pad, then I brushed on Aztec Gold PearlEx - in real life they're quite shimmery and elegant looking.

I used various ribbons, some gold brads, and Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chip and River Rock card stock on all of the cards to finish them off.

Sunday Q&A

I do have a question...what brand of ink do you use if Palette does not have the right color.

I have SEVERAL types of ink that I use ---------- besides Palette (I have them all in the cubes plus the full size Noir/black one), I of course have Papertrey's New Inks (made by Palette), I have all of Stampin' Up!'s inks (both Classic and Craft and their markers), the Brilliance Dew Drops, the VersaMagic Dew drops, and the ColorBox Cat's Eye's in Chalk and Pigment Inks. Oh and I also have several Stazon pads and a few Encore metallic pads as well......plus VersaMark! (that one's a must-have)

So it's rare that I can't find a matching color!! *wink*

Hi, I've seen your products... do you create something for wedding?
Do you have a catalogue??

I have done wedding invitations, but I won't do them again unless the price is right. They are VERY time consuming and I am particular about them being perfect (they're for a wedding afterall!) and so far most people want them for cheaper then I can manage. My time is valuable and I will NOT undersell myself (something I think a lot of papercrafters out there need to learn - I know it took me a LONG time to figure that one out!!)

And no I don't have a catalogue of my creations - just my little albums here on my blog :o)

Amy - I love your stamping and YOUR blog!  I am a beginning stamper and wondered about your favorite stamp-pad?  What would you recommend?  I;ll be using prismacolor pencils for coloring

my images!

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Well thank you! As you can see from the first question I have a LOT of inks - but for coloring with Prismacolor pencils I almost always use Palette Hybrid Noir ink.

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I have recently purchased some nestabilities and I am having problems (??) with the dies leaving marks on my cuttlebug spacers. Is this normal? I actually used a cuttlebug die this morning and it also left a mark on the spacer. Do you know if this is to be expected? What sandwich recipe do you use for the nestabilities? I really appreciate your insight.

Yup that's normal. The plates will get REALLY marked up with regular use and in time they will break and need to be replaced (most places that sell CuttleBug Machines and accessories sell the replacement plates). I've had my Bug for well over a year now and I've only broken a couple of plates - the first one b/c it was HEAVILY used and time to go and the second time because I had my "sandwich" too thick and it couldn't stand the pressure.

I use the sandwich recipe shown here.

Hi Amy...I read on your blog that you have most of the SU punches. Does that include the picture corner punch? And if so do you use it much or prefer to do the corners as you do in your tutorial?

The photo-corner punch you mean? Yes I have it (along with almost all of Stampin' Up!'s punches) and I use it quite frequently. I still do my tutorial to make my own photo corners if I want something bigger or have a certain look I want - it all just depends on what I'm going for :o)

I just love your work....can you tell me what stamps (company name) you used for your "Heartfelt Thanks" card.....seems the base of card is large polka dot of different colors and then a wonderful set which includes pretty flowers..I so appreciate your talent and thanks for sharing...........

It took me a while to figure out just which card you were talking about but then I remembered! The first one in this post right?

If you look under the card I tell which sets were used on it and the names are hyper-linked to the site that sells them (they're both Papertrey sets - Green Thumb and Butterfly Kisses)

Being a fellow Canadian, I was wondering if you had come across any postings for cards to be sent to our Canadian Troops. (There seems to be an unlimited amount of listings for the States, but I'm having trouble locating the canadian ones) We have a local senior's center that would like to make and forward cards to the troops.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated if you have any information you can pass on.

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Here are a couple of threads I've come across on Splitcoast with info that will hopefully help!:

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Canadian Military Need Our Support!

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and

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Does anyone have an address for Canadian Troops?

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I want to know: How do you mat your stamps so perfectly? Everything is
so straight and nested together. Please help!! All my squares come out
"wonky"

Thanks for any help

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Honestly I just eyeball it! I use a paper-cutter of course (I have the Fiskars one that Stampin' Up! sells) but when it comes to matting and whatnot I rarely pay attention to measurements and just "look and cut".

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Of course that doesn't really help you out at all - what might is to #1 - get a good paper-cutter - and if you're not sure which one to get ask around! There are a LOT of options out there are some are definitely better than others. #2 - measure your cuts - if say you have a rectangle that's 2x3" and you want a nice mat - cut the mat 2 1/4 x 3 1/4" - that will give you a nice 1/8" mat around the main image.

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I was trying to find something on your blog that I thought I saw a few weeks ago.  I can't figure out if there is a way to go backwards on your blog though.  I think it was you who made something with one of those mailboxes from Target for $1?  If there is a way to look it up, could you please let me know?

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First off you can get to all my older posts in my "Oldies But Goodies......" section - ll my posts are categorized by month and go all the way back to the beginning.

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Second I did do a couple of things with the mailboxes (not having a Target in Canada some VERY sweet ladies sent me a few of the boxes along with other goodies to play with - in fact I still have some of it sitting here waiting to be embellished and altered.....) - here's one of them.

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Love all the wonderful cards that you make.  What about the inside?  Do you always leave them blank for a handwritten message?  I never know what to write so it doesn't sound so cheesy!  Help!

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Yes a lot of the time I do leave the inside blank. Sometimes I stamp a nice sentiment on the inside, or I'll stamp some of the images used on the front on the inside to "carry the theme". I'll also adhere some of the patterned paper I've used on the outside on the INSIDE of the card as well (something I picked up from Cindy - loved that idea) just to dress it up a bit.

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I wanted to ask you for any ideas on how to use the shiny white SU cardstock. I got a big basket gift full of papers embellishments etc and a whole pack of this shiny CS and I have no idea what can I do with it.

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I am thinking what you got is the glossy card stock (similar looking to photo paper?) - honestly I don't use mine very much but if you check out this thread <-----click! it should hopefully give you some ideas!! :o)

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I love your cards truly AWESOME do you know any place or coupons for discounts on copic markers????

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I wish I did! So far I haven't come across anything like a discount or a sale on the Copics - if I do I will be sure to post!

Finally

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....................

Well the dishes are done, the girls were fed and are now in bed, the laundry is done AND folded and most of it's put away (I am REALLY proud of myself for that - I usually put off folding b/c I HATE it with a passion!!) and now I just need to pick out something to wear for tomorrow and make sure I don't forget anything and MUST remember to set the alarm b/c I have to be up super-early b/c it's an hour and a half drive.......

Anywho here's the card I promised earlier:

Partygirlabella was stamped onto Papertrey white CS then colored in with Copic Markers.

You prolly can't tell but the heart balloons were covered in Star Dust Stickles.

I masked the Bella (tutorial here) and stamped A Muse's Small oval for "ground" - the sentiment is also from A Muse.

The ribbon is May Arts, the flowers are Prima, and the patterned paper is from a K&Co slab I got at Costco!

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FYI Stamping Bella is having a FREE shipping promo over the weekend - you can find out the code here.

Some Papertrey News

The winner or FREE PAPERTREY STAMPS FOR A YEAR (yes a YEAR!!) was announced on Nichole's blog ------> HERE.

HUGE congrats to the winner - Christmas will be coming every month to HER house!! *grin*

Second - Lisa posted an uber-cute treat-a-lope tutorial HERE on her blog - seriously how CUTE is that??? I love it!

If you're already subscribed to Papertrey's newsletter you would have got the link - if you're NOT subscribed head on over to THIS LINK and sign yourself up. There is going to be a newsletter every week with stuff like this. Papertrey also uses the newsletter to send out notices when items are back in stock and whatnot.......it's a great little way to stay informed..........

I shall be back later with a card (or two!) to share. Right now my desk is a disaster (you can't even tell that I have a desk.....more like a pile of STUFF), I have about 6 loads of laundry to do......dishes to wash and dry and put away..........lunch to make for the girls...........need to pick out something to wear for my first day back at "school"............oh and to top it all off I have a STACK (literally! - I'll have to take a pic of them today to show y'all) of new stamps that are BEGGING to be inked up.........of course there could be worse things in life than un-inked rubbah..............*sigh*

Have a happy Saturday everyone and I WILL be back in a bit! 

Friday Sketch! #8

I JUST realized that it's Friday and that means a new sketch LOL! Good thing I had the card and sketch done ahead of time otherwise I'd be seriously scrambling right now.....

Before I get to it I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the well wishes on my new endeavor - I really appreciate it! I've received a few comments and e-mails asking me what types of gel I use and whatnot - well I won't know until Sunday since I don't receive my kit till then. So we'll see about all that.....

OK so here's my card for this Friday's sketch:

Like last week I used GinaK's Heartfelt Hits I stamp set - I love this lamp stamp LOL!

(it reminds me of that little lamp in the Pixar opening on a lot of the Disney movies that I've seen a million times with the girls *wink*)

It's kind of hard to tell but the darker yellow on the bulb and in the lettering is a Copic Spica Lemon Glitter Pen - nice and shimmery in real life!

I made the "lamplight" by masking off the card stock with a couple of sticky notes (and covering the exposed part of the lamp with another sticky note) then using a stipple brush and Stampin' Up! Barely Banana ink.

The patterned paper is Basic Grey Two Scoops, as is the button.

The ribbon is May Arts.

And here's the sketch!:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS16 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!

**PLEASE link DIRECTLY to your blog post that has the card/project, or DIRECTLY to the picture in your online gallery when you post your comment. This makes it a lot easier for me to find and comment on them! I love to see what everyone comes up with!**

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Happy stamping! :o)

 

Life is Good

Life certainly IS good. Albeit a little hectic but nevertheless GOOD :o)

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Time has just been flying by lately!

Before I get to the cards I want to share today I have some news........................

Starting this Sunday I'm going back to school and taking an aesthetics course! As of right now I'm going to focus primarily on doing gel nails and whatnot but we'll see where I take it from there.

As a lot of you have noticed in some of my tutorial pictures I have had gel nails for some time. My mom started doing them around 10 years or so ago so I've had them on and off quite a bit over the years.

Well recently mom made a major career change and now owns the local coffee shop in town and has completely quit the aesthetics business she was doing in order to be able to give her full attention to the coffee shop - which means no more free nails for me!! :(

I thought about it for a while and then decided to bite the bullet and take the course myself and the plan is for me to do it right out of the house once I'm certified. I am hoping to be able to make some extra income while still being at home with my girls...........that's the main idea anyway!!

I'm pretty excited about this decision - I've always been interested in aesthetics and have a pretty fair knowledge about gel nails and whatnot having been around my mom and watching her do them plus getting them done for the past decade. I'm also a little nervous as there's a lot of studying and work that has to be done in order to pass the course!

I am really hoping that nothing will change here on my blog since I still LOVE to stamp and am not quitting my work with the companies I am with right now. My initial course only runs for 5 weeks so it's not a MAJOR time investment - however I won't know for sure until I actually begin!

So that's the big news I had to share for today :o)

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Now on to the cards (all supplies for both are from Stampin' Up!):

Both cards use Stampin' Up!'s Time Well Spent set (the Level 3 hostess set in the Spring/Summer catalog).

This first one was really quick and easy - the flower was stamped onto Whisper White CS then colored in with inks and a blender pen.

The "Life is Good" part is a rub-on from the Eastern Elegance set.

I used Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava textured card stock along with matching ribbon and some white eyelets to take the card up a notch.

For this card I stamped the image onto watercolor paper then used re-inkers and an aquapainter to watercolor it in.

The sentiment and floral line are more rub-ons (same set).

I used my 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch to make the scalloped edge (little video tutorial on how to do that here), added some ribbon and some more textured CS and that was it!

Some Answers

Several questions were posted on my February Papertrey Release Countdown post so I just finished editing the post and added the questions and my answers at the end of it - so if you asked a question or are just curious you can check them out here (scroll down past all the pictures to get to them).

Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine Tutorial

GinaK just finished posting a step-by-step tutorial (with pictures of each step!) on how to use the Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine.

I am going to post liks to both parts of the tutorial (she split it into 2 parts) as I think it is the BEST and easiest way to figure out how to use it (it IS really easy to use - when I got mine it didn't take me long to figure it out and I have little to no sewing experience!).

I LOVE my Janome Sew Mini and I highly recommend it! (FYI I got mine online through Hancockfabrics.com - I got it on sale with free shipping and had it shipped to a friend in the US who then mailed it on to me since they don't ship to Canada. You can also check out e-bay b/c I guess no retailers carry that machine in Canada? That's what I was told and I couldn't find it anywhere I looked)

Here's the tutorials:

Janome Sewing Tutorial 1- The Bobbin

Janome Sewing Tutorial 2- Threading the machine

EDITED TO ADD:

Actually there is 4 parts to the tutorial so here is parts 3 and 4!!:

Janome Sewing Tutorial 3- Inserting the bobbin

Janome Sewing Tutorial 4- Now we're sewing!

Excellence Award and a Tag!!

I was nominated 4 times! (how cool is that???) for the excellence award by Kelly , Jennifer, Kristine, and Niki - thanks girls!!

And I am pretty sure there were other nominations and tags of some sorts but for the life of me I can't find them (my e-mail inbox is seriously overflowing and it's going to take me a while to sift through them all!) when they were originally posted....

I was also tagged by Linda at A Muse (did you see they've released new A Muse stamps and notecards and RIBBON ------ AND that there are new Elzybells stamps too? (I am in LOVE with the new little "Mini Chick Bee" stamp - I HAVE to get that one ASAP!!)) so here's my answers:

Stamping Style - eclectic - I find my style is always changing and I am drawn to and inspired by so many different things. For the past several months I've been in a much more "simple" style of stamping - and I really like it!

Inspiration - EVERYWHERE! Magazines, websites, commercials, cataloges (Pier 1, Pottery Barn, IKEA etc etc etc - those ones have FABULOUS inspiration in them!), stamps, fabric, nature, etc etc etc!

Color - I LOVE anything pink, but I also love green (which is a color that I discovered looks great on me so I'm starting to lean more towards green lately...)

Work Space - a disaster right now

Perfect Day - One where I don't have to do ANY laundry, dishes, cooking or cleaning of any sort and can just veg out and relax (hey I can dream! *wink*)

First Job - volunteer at a local roller-skating rink - I rang up purchases and played the music and whatnot.

Wildest Dream - to someday build the home that I scribbled down on paper a couple of years ago. It's not HUGE but it's definitely got a gorgeous kitchen, BIG master bath and a studio that I could lock myself in and never come out of!! *grin*

Ink - I have a LOT of ink. All of Stampin' Up!'s Classic and Craft Ink Pads, all of Palette's Ink pads (the cube size), VersaMagic Tear Drops, Brilliance Tear Drops, ColorBox Cat's Eye's in Chalk and Pigment Inks, and now Papertrey's new inks.

Family - my hubby and 2 girls

Beverage - orange juice

Biggest Challenge - procrastinating - I still can't help putting everything off until the last minute!

You're the Best!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Here is a card I made the other day using Billboardabella and one of the sentiments that comes with the stamp.

I stamped the image with Brilliance Graphite Black then colored it in with Copic markers.

The patterned paper is by SEI (LOVE this collection - really bright and cheerful!), and the ribbon is May Arts.

I finished off the card with a few Primas then scalloped the bottom of the card with my Corner Rounder punch (little video tutorial on that here).

Happy Tuesday everyone! :o)

A Breather

And a quick apology for not getting my Sunday Q&A post up yesterday - I will either get it up later this week or wait till next Sunday and do (probably a pretty long) one. It's "Family Day" here in Saskatchewan and so Tim has today off and we're just spending the day together with the girls.

I shall be back either later today or tomorrow with my posts!! :o)

February Papertrey Release

Hey all!

Here are all the samples I created for the February Papertrey release.

For all the supplies info you can check the PT gallery (FYI they are all listed by stamp set and when you click on them they are then listed by each designer's projects).