Prairie Paper & Ink

Friday Sketch! #7

I've been battling a major tension headache for the past 2 days so I hope y'all can bear with me!

Thankfully I had the card and sketch made up for todays post ahead of time - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get it done! :(

So here's my card:

The stamps used are from GinaK's Heartfelt Hits I stamp set.

I stamped the image onto Papertrey White cardstock, then colored it in with Copic Markers.

I used my Giga Scalloped Punch to punch it out then edged it with pink ink and a sponge.

(you can click on the pic to get a pop-up window with a bigger view)

I used my Lemon Spica Glitter Pen on the "liquid" in the glasses for some shimer - and used it to fill in parts of the sentiment as well.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Two Scoops collection, and the buttons are also from the same collection.

The ribbon is May Arts (one of my FAVORITES!) - really shimmery and SO pretty in real life!

SO here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS15 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!**

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

Happy stamping! :o)

Papertrey February Release Countdown - 2

I gotta say that when it came time for me to choose which of the Papertrey set(s) I wanted to feature for my countdown post I had the HARDEST time choosing!! All the sets are fabulous (as usual!) and I can't wait until y'all get to see them in full!

I ended up choosing the Just Hatched set (Nichole created it to go with the Egg Boxes you can see here) because it's also great for cards too! So here we go!

I started off by cutting out an oval using my CuttleBug and Oval Nestabilities die (from the Classic Oval Large set)

I prefer to cut the image first THEN stamp on it (one of the great benefits of clear stamps - since you can see through them and line them up perfectly!).

I then chose one of the stamps from the Just Hatched set.

The stamp is clean - but I had already used it a few times before taking these pictures. You can see how stained it is in this picture.

I actually LOVE that it's stained - I find it MUCH easier to find which stamps I want when I'm going through my clear sets since the staining makes them easier to see (and read when I'm looking for particular sentiments!).

I wanted to stamp the image using two different colors.

To make that possible I pulled out my tape and covered the areas of the stamp I DIDN'T want to get ink on.

I then used my Burnt Umber Palette cube and inked up the "Little One".

**FYI I used my label maker to label all the cubes when I first got them since they don't have the names on them like the full-size pads do.**

Once the wording was inked I pulled off the tape and inked up just the border with the WaterLily Green ink.

I purposely left the rest of the wording on the stamp un-inked - I only wanted the "Little One" sentiment for my card.

<-------and this is one of the reasons why I LOVE clear stamps!

I was easily able to line up and stamp the image onto the oval I cut at the beginning.

When planning this card I decided to use Prism Frosted Teal card stock (which is a PERFECT match to the Palette WaterLily Green ink).

The CS has a bit of texture to it but I wanted to liven up the card a bit - so I pulled out one of the stamps from the soon-to-be-released Polka Dot Basics set.

It only took a minute or two to stamp the entire piece. Nichole designed the stamps to line up PERFECTLY - you don't need to move them from side to side to line up the dots when stamping them - making it SO quick and easy to stamp an entire card base!

I will be reaching for this set over and over again - it's a definite MUST have stamp set!

After stamping the CS I wanted to add just a *little* something more - so I pulled out one of my rectangle Nestabilities dies and embossed it onto the CS.

Do you know I've NEVER done this before? And yet it's so easy!

I placed the die where I wanted it to be embossed, and to hold it in place I used two little pieces of tape before putting it in the sandwich stack and running it through my CuttleBug.

After embossing the Teal card stock I used a corner rounder punch on each corner and sponged the edges of it and the white oval with Burnt Umber ink.

I cut a scalloped oval frame for the main image with another Nestability die and Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!) card stock.

To finish the card I added some wide Polka Dot ribbon (Michaels) and brown brads then adhered the Teal Card stock to a base made of Papertrey White card stock.

This card measures 4.25 x 5.5".

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

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS: Just Hatched and Polka Dot Basics stamp sets by Papertrey Ink.

CS: Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Prism Frosted Teal, Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip.

INK: Palette Inks in Burnt Umber and WaterLily Green.

ACCESSORIES: Nestabilities Dies, Sponge Daubers, Ribbon, Brads, Dimensionals, Tape.

EDITED TO ADD:

There were several questions asked in the comments on this post - here they are:

I am trying to decide if I need a cuttlebug or a cricut or both - which do you recommend??

Honestly - I don't own a cricut. The only die-cut machine I own (and have ever tried!) is the CuttleBug. I someday hope to be able to purchase a cricut b/c I think it would be a really fun machine to own (especially as I get into scrapbooking more and as my girls get older and start school I think it will be a useful tool to have for projects and whatnot).

Can you tell me what the difference is between the Cuttlebug and the Sizzix Side kick? Is it a size thing? Also will the Nestibilities work in the Sidekick, since I already own that?

I can't say anything about the differences as I've never used a SideKick - however I do know the Nestabilities will work in the SK - but you can't emboss with them. You can find out more about the compatabilities of the Nestabilities dies and the different die-cut machines HERE.

Where did you get the small block with the grid lines? I'd like to get one so that it is easier to line up the polka dots.

The block is from this set by ProvoCraft. And it's actually quite a large block - 2 x 6.5".

Where did you get Palette ink cubes?

Papertrey sells them individually and All That Scraps sells them in sets.

how were you able to emboss without cutting up the paper?

I use the compatability chart here - when you follow the instructions for embossing you won't cut the paper :o)

Are you using your new photography lights yet?

Yes I am - all the pictures taken for this post (and almost all of my recent posts) were taken with my new set-up!

On your Papertrey February Release Countdown - 2 you had a picture of the Cuttlebug with plates A, C, and B.  Are those the only ones you used to cut out the oval nestabilities die??  If that's true, I'm going to order them, I thought that it took a lot of messing around to get them cut out.

Yes those were the only plates I used - you can see the chart for the CuttleBug here (you have to scroll down a bit) for what you need. For just cutting with the Nestability dies you just use the plates you will have with your CuttleBug, and then to emboss you just need the tan polymer mat that both Papertrey and All That Scraps sells (and again the chart with the sandwich for embossing is here).

Heartfelt Hits

I finally got a chance to sit down and play with one of GinaK's newer sets - Heartfelt Hits I. It's the first set in a series of stamps that are based on popular music titles - how cool is that??

I also had to use this new patterned paper from Basic Grey - the Two Scoops collection.

For this card I first cut a scalloped rectangle with my nestabilities die and ran it through again to emboss it.

I then stamped the image and colored it in with Copic markers.

Her dress is patterned paper - I stamped it separately, cut it out then adhered it over the main image (aka - paper piecing).

It's rather hard to tell but I used my Scor-pal to scor lines near the edges of the patterned paper - it just gives it a little extra something when you haven't matted the paper with other card stock.

I finished off the card with some gold brads, ribbon and gold cord and the sentiment from the Heartfelt Hits set.

STAMPS: Heartfelt Hits I by GinaK Designs. CA: Papertrey White, Basic Grey Two Scoops patterned paper. INK: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers. ACCESSORIES: Nestabilities Die, Dimensionals, Gold Brads, Cord, Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Fastest Valentines Day Cards Ever!

For me anyway - I made all three of these cards in under 45 minutes!

All the papers are from a pack of My Mind's Eye paper that I got at my LSS (Local Scrapbook Store) over a month ago.

On this first card the big heart is a die-cut that came with the paper pack. I stamped the sentiment (a Michaels stamp from the 1.50 bin) and punched it out with a Marvy Mega Scalloped Heart punch, sponged the edges then adhered it to the larger die-cut heart.

I finished off the card with some more patterned paper, May Arts ribbon, and a heart jumbo eyelet (from Stampin' Up! - they retired them a year ago).

This one has NO stamping ----- *shock*!!!

The sentiment is another die-cut from the MME paper pack - I just adhered it to a scalloped rectangle (cut with a Nestabilities die), added some jumbo heart eyelets and ribbon and adhered it to some more MME patterned paper and that was it!

Last but not least is this card - my favorite of the three.

The sentiment is another Michaels $1.50 stamp, and the rhinestone heart is also from th dollar bin at Michaels.

The sentiment was punched out with my Marvy Mega punch, then I used the heart dotted border stamp from Papertrey's Borders & Corners {heart} set in pink ink.

I sewed the dotted paper to the card with my Janome Sew Mini, added a circle of the "I Love You" patterned paper, some ribbon and rhinestones and that's it!! :o)

All three of these cards are standard A2 size (4.25x5.5").

GinaK Release!

GinaK is releasing SEVERAL new stamp sets tonight!! You'll be able to check them all out and order them SOON over on the GinaK Designs website.

Sorry I don't have any samples to show you of the new sets - I don't have the stamps yet! :( Here's hoping I get them this week!

Sunday Q&A

Do you have any card samples for 16 and 18year old boys? I need to make some thank you cards for them to send out. Any suggestions? thanks for your help.

You know what - I don't think I've EVER made a card for a boy in that age range.........I don't have any extra time right now to make anything - but if I needed a card I would probably keep it simple. Finding stamp images that appeal to older teenage boys is also difficult but what I would do is use larger sentiment stamps and let them be the main focus of the cards.

Colors like red, blue, green (more primary colors) along with black and white would appeal the most in my opinion (if you know the recipients favorite colors or their favorite team's colors that would be the way to go I'm thinkin'!) and then just keep it SIMPLE! :o)

EDITED TO ADD: Here's a comment that was posted below by Rhonda with some AWEOME suggestions - thanks Rhonda!!

cards for teenage boys -

I have a great stamp for that.  It's Godzilla!  Don't know who makes it, as I bought it used and unmounted; but it never fails to raise a smile. 

You can do well with the skull motif things that are prevalent right now.  Sports, cars, and motorcycles, too.  In my experience they also enjoy llamas and monkeys that are funny but not cutesy.

Decorating the card front with pop tabs, washers, bits of chain, and dog tags or guitar picks works well.  Die cuts that you've cut from Mountain Dew or energy drink cans are good, too.

I teach a class of teen boys at my church, so I'm as reasonably in touch with what they like as any 43 year old woman can be!

Hmmm, digital...I was just thinking, that could be a way to save money.  If you find a design that you really liked and bought, you would always have it available from your computer.  Am I correct on my thinking?  (comment from this post)

Yup that's right! Once any digital paper packs are downloaded onto your computer you can print off as many as you want! So you'll never run out of your favorite patterned paper!

Do you have a Scor-Pal or something similiar?  I am looking for information on the scoring tools and wondered if you had one or had any preferences?

I have a Scor-pal and I LOVE it! I got it a couple of months ago and use it ALL the time - mostly just to score my card stock for standard card folds - but I'm starting to fiddle a little more with it and making envelopes and plan on trying more "fancy fold" cards with it.

I highly recommend getting one!!

I have looked at many of your Bella Creation cards and was wondering what color you use to get the great flesh tone on these lovely ladies.  I just love your blog, keep up the great work.

I generally use either Copic E21 - Baby Skin Pink, or Copic E00 - Skin White for Caucasian skin tones. When I want to give the skin a bit of a "tan" I'll use a color like Copic E31 - Brick Beige.

but just wondered what colour Copic did you use on the polka dot rubber boots? ((I wish I had a real 3-d pair just like these ones *wink*)).
(MFT Umbrella card post)

I used Copic BG49 - Duck Blue

How did you make that puddle of water look so realistic? (same post as above)

I forgot to mention that I used a Sakura Clear Glaze pen - something else that would have worked (and would have been even shinier) is Ranger Glossy Accents.

Egg Boxes

Nichole posted yet another (HUGE) sneak peek of a new *exclusive* Papertrey product on her blog HERE.

Aren't those boxes the cutest? You can see mine 3rd from the bottom of that post. When the sets and accessories go live on the 15th you'll get to see more pictures and have access to all the supplies used as well.

FYI my Q&A Sunday post will be up in a bit!

New CC Designs Stamps!

That's right! Tonight you can order the new CC Designs stamps from All That Scraps! The new stamps are SO cute - sadly mine haven't arrived yet (I am REALLY loving Canada Post right now.......*grumble*) but the ATS DT members who DID get theirs already have been posting a TON of samples and they are wicked-cute!

Here's a few links to some of their cards:

Monkey Business by Linda

Just Hangin' Around by Christina

Monkey Josh Page by Jennifer

This Hug's For You by Jenn

There's lots more to check out too - you can see them in the DT gallery or check out the DT member's blogs.

So happy shopping everyone --------- *wink* ---------- and I'm gonna go crawl back onto the couch and finish watching the movie I put in for the girls (they're doing OK but Veronica's been complaining her stomach hurts - I am reallyreallyREALLY hoping she doesn't get worse - this bug is a NASTY one!!) and take some more Tylenol to hopefully beat this headache!

More to come later....

Friday Sketch! #6

OK it's a day late but here it is! I'm feeling a bit better - I don't hurt all over but I'm fighting a headache and praying it doesn't get worse.

Veronica got sick last night and threw up all over so I'm keeping a closer eye on her and Josie today - they seem OK but they usually get sick in the blink of an eye without warning......

Thank you for all the well-wishes too - I really appreciate it! :o)

Now on to the sketch:

This card was actually based on a layout I did on a CC Designs card in THIS post.

I altered the original sketch a bit to fit this bella image (I LOVE this new style - and I'd kill to have a butt like that LOL!) that I stamped and colored with Copic markers.

I masked the bella (tutorial on that here) and stamped A Muse's Mini Oval for the ground.

The patterned paper is from a K&Co slab I got at Costco.

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Essential Sentiments set (a MUST have!) and I stamped it onto the card base and punched out a window with Stampin' Up!'s word window punch.

Ribbon is May Arts.

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

So here is the actual sketch based on the original card posted here:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS14 to make it easier to find.

And don't forget to link directly to your creation in the comment setion 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!**

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

I am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! I need to go back to Friday Sketch #5 and check out everyone's cards.

Which reminds me - it doesn't matter to me WHEN you get your card done - whether it be today or tomorrow, next week or next month! I just do this for fun and add the keywords and whatnot so that IF you decide to participate then I can see it too - I LOVE seeing what other people create based on my sketches - I get a total "rush" LOL!!

Happy stamping! :o)

Being sick is never fun

It just hit me that I was supposed to post Friday's Sketch today! :(

I woke up this morning feeling like I've been hit by a bus - I hurt all over and have ZERO energy. Tim has been sick for a couple of days now - he even took 2 days off work he felt so awful (he NEVER takes days off so he's pretty sick!) and now I'm feeling cruddy.

I'm really hoping the girls don't get sick b/c whatever bug is going around is a nasty one....

And of course I have a TON of projects to get done and need to get to the post office and it's storming out so bad we can hardly see across the street.....

I still hope to have a sketch posted by the end of today - I have a bunch of ideas - it's just a matter of getting enough energy to actually get stuff made.

Papertrey CARDSTOCK?????

That's right! Not only is Papertrey going to have their own cardstock in UNIQUE Papertrey colors - there's matching ribbon and ink too!!!!

*SHRIEK*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Find out more HERE.

When I first heard about this I was literally bouncing all over the place - and it's been SO hard to keep it quiet!! Knowing Nichole personally and working with Papertrey since the beginning I KNEW that this was not only going to be HUGE - but that the quality would be to the highest standards - and I was right!!

And of course the first 2 colors being released are absolutely gorgeous - I am already itching to see next month's colors LOL!!

Under the Weather?

Here's a quick little card I made the other day with My Favorite Things Rain or Shine stamp set.

I used Stampin' Up! designer paper (I think it's called Spring Flowers? It's retired anyway...) on the dress and doggy coat and umbrella.

The umbrella was made with an oval punch - I punched out the paper then used scalloped scissors to trim it.

I finished off the card with a little May Arts ribbon then called it a day!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to check the post below this if you want to get a chance to win a Marvy Giga or Mega punch of your choice!! :o)

Want To Win A FREE Punch?

That's right - you can win a FREE Marvy Giga or Mega punch of your choice!

What do you have to do?

Head on over to the All That Scraps blog (yep it's new! A little brain-child of Christine's and mine) and give us your thoughts.

Good Luck!!

A Gift For You

Here's a quick Bella card for today - I am trying to get multiple projects done right now then have oodles of pictures to take - I'm hoping ot be back later with another fun post but we'll see how my day goes!

Here's the card deets:

Bella stamp is presentahbella by Stamping Bella.

I stamped it with Brilliance Graphite black ink then colored her in with Copic Markers.

The sentiment is from A Muse (TOO perfect for this Bella - I swear so many of my A Muse sentiment seem to be MADE for the Bellas LOL!).

Patterned paper is from my K&Co slab that I got at Costco.

Ribbon is from Michaels, and the Prima Sprites are attached with a button from my stash.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone!! :o)

Dinosaurs

When I saw the Prehistoric Pals stamp set in the Spring/Summer Stampin' Up! catty I HAD to buy it. It IS a great boy set - but having 2 girls I don't have a whole lot of use for boy cards - but I got it anyway.

Lately both Josie and Veronica have been obsessed with the movie Jurassic Park -------- yeah..............it IS all Tim's fault - he was watching it a couple of months ago and they watched most of it with him - and weirdly they LOVED it! I remember when that movie came out I was SO scared of it (the scene with the T-rex running after them gave me nightmares LOL!) - and here my almost-5-year-old and 2 year old girls LOVE it!

They will sit and watch the entire thing then run around the house chasing each other and roaring - Josie even has a little T.Rex toy (from the Toy Story movie) and she runs around with it pretending it's gonna get her or Veronica.

Classic moment: They were sitting watching the movie and the scene where the T.Rex tries to get at the kids in the car (seriously I still can't believe they like this movie....) Veronica looks over at me and says "Mom the dinosaur is hungry - so he needs to eat people." I didn't even know WHAT to say to that - so I just laughed hysterically then called Tim at work and blamed told him what she said.

For the record I don't let the girls watch much TV (I NEVER have the TV on - I'll watch LOST when it's on and a show here and there - I've watched about 2 hours of TV in the post month or so? Really how else do I get so much stuff done.....???) - and when it comes to movies it's usually Disney, Strawberry Shortcake, Veggie Tales - you know KIDS stuff. So this whole Jurassic movie obsession came out of nowhere ......

ANYWHO - after that novel here's a couple of cards I made with that set. I DID do boy ones - I got SU!'s Jersey Shore paper with that order and LOVE the color combination so I went with that:

This was such a quick and easy card.

The T.Rex was stamped with Wild Wasabi ink, matted twice - then I staped on a couple of ribbon "flags".

It's hard to tell but the blue strip of patterned paper is also stapled on.

The sentiment is from SU!'s It's Your Birthday set - I stmaped it then punched it out with the Key Tag punch.

The base is Wild Wasabi textured card stock (I am LOVING this stuff! It really pushes simple cards to the next level without doing anything more to them).

The sentiment on this card is also from the It's Your Birthday set - I stamped it with VersaMark and embossed it with white embossing powder.

I cut a small slit in the spine of the card to slip the ribbon through.

SUPPLIES:

They Say Card: STAMPS: Prehisoric Pals, It's Your Birthday set by Stampin' Up!. CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Only Orange, Wild Wasabi, Jersey Shore Paper. INK: Wild Wasabi, Basic Black. ACCESSORIES: Key Tag Punch, Stapler, Ribbon, Dimensionals.

BEST Brithday: STAMPS: Prehisoric Pals, It's Your Birthday set by Stampin' Up!. CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Brilliant Blue, Jersey Shore DS Paper. INK: Brilliant Blue, VersaMark. ACCESSORIES: Ribbon, Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder.

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

On another note - GinaK announced the new Design Team here <----click! as well as additions to the Senior DT (that I'm on) in that post. AND she also did a feature on her stamp illustrators here. Stay tuned to her blog this weekend as there is going to be a new release on the 10th!

Speaking of the 10th - CC Designs is also releasing new stamps on the 10th (I have my fingers crossed that they arrive this week - they're supposed to!) - so stay tuned for some sneak peeks closer to the weekend....

AND Papertrey is going ALL out this month - you MUST check Nichole's blog everyday b/c she has a LOT to share with you! I have a TON of work to do to get my samples done in time and so many things to show y'all and needless to say this is turning out to be a VERY busy month for me..............ACK!!!!