Prairie Paper & Ink

Halloween Treats

ETA (edited to add): Thank goodness for TypePad's feature of being able to type up and save posts to go live at a later date - hopefully I can get the creative juices flowing over the weekend as a great way (for me anyway) to feel better is to create!

The theme for this month's Senior Design Team challenge was Halloween Treat packaging - and to be totally honest I was a little stumped. We don't really celebrate Halloween, but with Veronica starting school this fall and the girls LOVING to dress up (and loving candy is just a given) me thinks it will be a holiday that will be celebrated more and more at my house!

This year I thought I'd take a different track from something candy-related - I found these packs of children's playing cards at the local bargain store for cheap - but they're not very "Halloweeny". So I decided to dress them up a bit and then I'll be sending these with Veronica to give to her classmates come Halloween.

I created a band out of black cardstock that wraps around the boxes (using my ScorPal to score all the lines - I had to move the CS around a bit to get the lines in the right spots but once I determined where I needed to score each piece I had a stack of the pieces scored in a couple of minutes!), then cut a slightly smaller band using Papertrey's Father Knows Best 12x12 paper. I purposely cut the patterned paper in 3" strips so I get 5 strips from each sheet (4 across and one along the bottom of the sheet).

Then to embellish each sleeve I cut ovals with my nestabilities dies out of Papertrey white cardstock, and stamped the raven and "Trick or Tweet" sentiment from the Birds of a Feather set using Summer Sunrise and black inks.

To finish off the sleeves instead of adhering the ovals I punched holes in either side, threaded through some Summer Sunrise Satin Ribbon and tied it in a knot - the band then slips off and the box of card games slips from the sleeve.

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Don't forget to check out the fabulous projects the rest of the senior team came up with!:

Lisa

Lauren

Heather

Debbie

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{SUPPLIES}

STAMPS: Birds of a Feather

CS: Papertrey Select White, Black (SU!), PT Father Knows Best 12x12

INK: Summer Sunrise, Black.

ACCESSORIES: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Hole Punch, Summer Sunrise Satin Ribbon.

Feeling Better Already

Thank you all SO much for your condolences. I am actually feeling a LOT better about all of it.

Yes my grandma's passing was sudden but we all KNOW that was how she wanted it to be - not drawn out or painful or getting cancer or anything like that. She was 90 years old and lived independently to the very end, still had her drivers license and her car and drove it every day! She lived in a teeny town not far from me and every day she'd get in her car and go pick up her old lady friends (all of whom couldn't drive - she was their ticket to fun) to go for coffee at the local restaurant or to get groceries at the tiny local grocery store.

She was a great woman, never said a mean word to anyone, and had a strong faith in God. I know where she is and I KNOW that's where she wanted to be more than anything. I will miss her terribly but at the same time I am so happy for her knowing that she got what she wanted and didn't have to suffer.

I am not going to sit and wallow in pity or grief - I was pretty upset all of last night and this morning but after thinking about it and thinking about what grandma would want I know she wouldn't want us all sitting here and crying over her being gone. She's where she wants to be and she wants us to be happy for her - and you know what I am. I hope that I can live half as fulfilling a life as she did, and be half the example she was.

Love you Grandma xoxo

Taking a Breather

Just letting everyone know that I might not be posting for a few days. My grandma passed away last night and none of us were prepared for it. She was fine 2 days ago, got sick (thought it was the flu), then became unresponsive and when my sister called me last night out of the blue telling me to get to the hospital - well I did and thank goodness I didn't wait as grandma passed 15 minutes after I got there.

I don't have anything else to say right now - I didn't sleep at all last night and can't think straight so I just need to step back from this blog and my e-mail right now and help my mom out as much as possible.

Till later..........

I Wheely Like You Bella

This has to be like the fastest post ever - I have someone coming over here in like 10 minutes to get their nails done - so hurry hurry!

I made this card this morning using my new I-wish-i-looked-so-good-on-a-bike-ABELLA (LOL at the title! Should have picked a Bella with a shorter name *wink*) - isn't she CUTE?? I WISH I looked that cute - bicycle or not!!

Anywho - colored with my Copic markers, sentiment is from A Muse (yet again too perfect for this image!) that I cut out with my petite oval nestabilities.

The patterned paper is from the 6x6 SEI Dill Blossom paper pack, the card base is Papertrey Aqua Mist, ribbon is May Arts, embellies are Stamping Bella's Dots (espresso smalls).

Toodleloo!! (is that how you spell it??)

Monday

LOL that seems to suit me today!!

Anywho sorry for the late post - I had NOTHING to share this morning - I have been trying to get some other projects done that NEED to be done soon - and just wasn't feeling it. So I started on something just for fun (which really is one of the best ways to get out of a rut or to just get the creative juices flowing - just pay around!) - and seriously EVERYTHING was going wrong - I dropped everything I picked up (I really should wear shoes when stamping - a large whale-handle punch is NOT a nice thing to have dropped on your foot!!), I kept knocking things over, stuff was rolling off and under my desk......you get the picture!!

I was determined tho to get at least ONE card done - and I did - and you know it actually turned out!! Here it is:

I got this Woofin' It Up stamp from Stamping Bella a while ago and it hadn't seen ink yet (along with a good dozen or so other stamps I got from there!) - so I got it inky and colored them in with my Copics.

I decided to use this Basic Grey Archiac patterned paper, sponged the edges with brown ink, then added some Prima flowers (attached with buttons from my stash).

The sentiment was punched out with my SU! Word Window punch (the one I dropped on my foot ------ nice....) then sponged before attaching it to the card.

Adhesive Gift Wrap Inspired

Sounds like a strange title for a post eh? But really sometimes the weirdest of things inspire me, and I also find them so cool I HAVE to share LOL!

I recently got a couple rolls of adhesive wrapping paper from Hallmark - I was told it's like a sticky note etc etc. I wasn't too sure how great it would be - but the patterns and colors are what sealed the deal (what can I say I'm a sucker for funky-looking wrapping paper LOL!) no pun intended!! Anywho the paper sat here for a while and today Veronica has a birthday party to go to so I knew that I HAD to use one of the wrapping papers - and decided to make a card to match.

How cool is this wrapping paper?? It's hard to tell from the picture but the paper is glossy so it sticks to itself really well - I only needed to use tape on the ends of the gift to hold the flaps down. I found this video on the Hallmark site (click here!) that explains it better than I can. (FYI the gift is a ballerina barbie doll - I had to get it wrapped up ASAP as Josie was quite mad at me for not giving it to HER as soon as we got home with it LOL)

Like I said I had to make a card to match the gift - so I pulled out my Lizzie Anne Designs Once Upon a Time set and colored in the images to match the paper.

I masked the princess then stamped the castle (using gray ink instead of black to make it look like it was further off in the distance) before matting the image with a scalloped rectangle (nestabilities die).

I used my Making Memories ribbon slot punch to make the hole for the ribbon (the sheer is May Arts, the grosgrain ribbon is from WalMart).

The froggie was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock, colored with Copics then punched out with a circle punch. I used a larger circle to mat it then adhered it to the main image with dimensionals.

I decided to cut a piece of the wrapping paper to use on the card - I first cut a small enough piece with scissors then used my paper trimmer to make the straight cuts (I wasn't sure if it would even work in the paper trimmer with it being self-adhesive but I just held it lightly enough to adjust it before cutting it).

And of course the card wouldn't be complete without a little bling! Some Grape Ice Ice Stickles and DoodleBug Limeade Sugar Coated brads completed the look.

I am so loving this wrapping paper - I just wish I had more gifts to wrap with it........*wink*

Want a Gift Certificate?

Then head over to the All That Scraps Blog to THIS POST <------click! ATS is moving to a bigger space and they want to know what YOU would like to see them carry! A random draw will be made of all the comments and the winner gets a $25 gift certificate to ATS!!

Friday Sketch! #24

Happy Friday everyone!! I am SO glad it's finally the weekend!!

Here's my card for this week's Sketch installment - using Stampin' Up!'s (retired) Garden Silhouettes stamp set, Papertrey's Simple Alphabet and Women of Life set.

This one turned out to be the favorite of all the "Secret Sister" cards I made - so I saved it for now. I used SU! patterned paper as well.

The image was stamped using SU markers then I went over it with Fruit punch Stickles and punched holes to tie the Regal Rose ribbon through.

The sentiment was stamped then punched out with a Marvy scalloped punch and adhered with dimensionals.

I finished off the card with 3 glitter dots (I love those things - they're flat backed and plastic and I just use a dot of glue to attach them and in real life they are SO glittery!!).

Here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS33 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!

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AND here's something new - from now on with each Friday Sketch I am going to post the links to all of LAST WEEK's sketch players just for fun :o)

So here are the couple that played along with Friday Sketch #23:

Trena's Cute-y Pie Plant Card

Becky's More Fresh Cuts Card

Life -is- Sweet

OK I FINALLY got a chance to play with CC Designs Sweet Treats set - isn't it SO cute?? I have a soft spot for this monkey - I had this idea in my head of monkey hanging from a branch with an ice cream cone and it dripping everywhere - and she captured it perfectly!!

I colored him in with my Copic markers (still practicing with my shading and whatnot) and highlighted him with my white gel pen.

The patterned paper and brads are from Basic Grey's Cupcake line. The sentiment was punched out with Su!'s Key Tag punch.

The ribbon is May Arts, the flower is by Maya Road (it's one of their velvet ones).

Bestest Friends

OK here's another Bella card I just finished - using the same patterned papers from the Autumn Leaves collection as yesterday's card.

This image was also colored ahead of time with these papers in mind (on the rare occasions where I color images and am not planning on using them ASAP yes I generally pull out some patterned papers or embellies that I can pull color inspiration from. I rarely color images and set them aside tho b/c well.....I tend to lose them! I can't even begin to count how many images I colored all at once then set aside for later only to never find them again!!).

This is huggybellas from Stamping Bella, I colored them in with my Copics, then took Christmas Red Stickles and blinged up the flower, bow, shoes etc. The sentiment is also from Stamping Bella (punched out with my Stampin' Up! word window punch).

The felt flowers are from Target (that my bud Lauren sent me eons ago - I still have tons left!) - I stuck them to punched out circles of cardstock, then attached jumbo brads for the centers.

Now I hafta jet as I can hear Josie is up from her nap and she is NOT happy. Better run before I have a full-scale meltdown on my hands!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bella!

A little (OK a LOT) later than I had planned - but here's the card I promised!!

I had this balloonabella image colored in and sitting here for over a month now, and wanted to finally make it into a card! So I pulled out this patterned paper by Autumn Leaves (and no it's not a coincedence that the Bella's colors match - I was planning on using this paper the whole time....I can't seem to color images with NO idea as to what papers and whatnot I'm going to use with them - I need something to work with!).

I used Baby Blue and Candy Cane Stickles on the images (and the one Prima), used a jumbo brad for the flower center, a DoodleBug brad in the corner (around the A Muse sentiment).

Have a great night everyone!! :o)

Some Tidbits...

Wow thanks everyone for all the responses to my previous post!! I am not quite done reading all of them yet but I will!! And big (((HUGS)))) to everyone for all the compliments and whatnot - it feels SO good to hear that my cards and whatnot are appreciated!!!

OK so here are a few tidbits that came up that I wanted to address:

I don't see the whole card and this is why: I don't subscribe to blogs. I list them in my favorites and check them all when I have time. Yours is the only blog that, for some reason, 'squishes'the photo to compensate for the favorites column on the left. So....if I CLOSE my favorites, I can see everything! HTH! (Wendi)

Wendi wasn't the only one to say this - and yes it happens for me too when I check my own blog (I like to see how the posts look and whatnot as they format a little differently on the actual blog from when I'm typing them up).

So if you have a favorites bar it needs to be closed in order for the whole blog to show properly. This is also the same is you are viewing and your window is NOT maximized - you won't see everything - click to make it full screen and it should look a LOT better!!

I don't know why my blog "compensates" and then squishes itself when the screen isn't maximized - there is no setting that I know of to change that!! I always view other blogs full screen (or through Google Reader) so I wouldn't know if it's JUST me or if it's all TypePad blogs or what???

When I get an email message, there are no pictures attached. I must go to your blog to see the pics. I haven't a clue why but I figured it was how your site was set up.

THAT I did on purpose - when you get an e-mail notifying you that I've posted to my blog I purposely made it so that it's just a tiny snippet and not a full post. I didn't do it so that I would get more hits but b/c it would seriously start to overload people's in-boxes b/c of the file sizes and whatnot. Way back in the beginning I was having the e-mails sent out with full posts and it was causing a lot of issues and tons would get bounced back as people's in-boxes were too full.

So that won't be changing - the e-mails will have to stay as just little snippets (sorry!) and I hope that those of you that subscribe via e-mail don't mind the extra step of having to click to visit the blog -

which reminds me - when you DO click via the e-mail it opens in a small screen which again you need to maximize to full-screen in order to see everything!!

I am an unfortunate viewer that doesn't get to see the right side of your cards either. No idea as to why, but always assumed it was your way of protecting your work?? Anyway, I really enjoy seeing most of your cards! LOL I appreciate all your hard work to share with us!

For those of you that are like this (only seeing part b/c the right side is cut off) I THINK it's because of the size of your monitor? Obviously ya'll aren't going to go out and buy a larger monitor (I still have my old computer that has a 15" monitor (seemed SO big at the time!) and the blog shows everything fine on it...so that may not be the issue at all) but FYI all my pics can be clicked on to get a pop-up with a full view.

EDITED TO ADD: Yes I know that was a totally clueless bit above (from me) - I have NO clue about computers, monitors anything like that (as y'all can now fully tell!! *wink*) - but here's a good comment I cut and pasted:

I was just going to make the same comment as the person above me did :)  I mentioned in the last post under comments that it had to do with your display settings...that is what the commenter above is talking about.  The viewer needs to right click on their desktop and click on properties...when in properties they need to check their display settings.  If their resolution is set to lower numbers...800x600 then they would have larger icons on their desktop then if they were at 1280X800 (this is what I have) What all this means is...things are bigger and they have to scroll left to right to view the entire screen...like you would up and down to read and entire post...does that make sense?  Is the person that can't see the right side of the card able to see the right side of your blog...the second column?  If not...then then need to look at the bottom of their screen for a scroll bar to scroll to the right...or just change their resolution settings as described above. HTH!!!

i can't see the whole thing...haven't been able to since you went to a three column blog. i have heard that with three column blogs you have to set it up some how so every computer can see your entire post but i don't know how to set it up....sorry :(

Hmmmmmm I will hafta look into that - mebbe there is a setting or something that I need to change so that it will format properly?? I have NO clue (if any other TypePad users DO know tho I'd appreciate any and all advice!!).

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I appreciate everyone's input on this - I'll be fiddling and looking through my settings to see if there is anything on MY end that can be tweaked to make the blog better for everyone :o)

Also another FYI but all the pics on here can be clicked on to get a pop-up window with a full view - so if no matter what you are doing you can't see the whole thing you can click on it and see them that way!

As for the inside of my cards I rarely show that. It's only been recently that I actually started putting something in the insides (usually just a strip or two of matching patterned paper or maybe a stamped sentiment or similar image.....) and I keep it pretty simple. When I do add little "extra's" to the inside of my cards I add the extra pics so y'all can see it too!

OK that's enough of my blabbing for today - hopefully I can get something stamped soon so I can share a card later!!

Can You See Everything??

I got a comment asking why I don't post pictures showing the entire card - which I DO - so I was wondering if this was just on one person's computer or are there a lot of you that can't see the whole card when you come here?

All my pics show the whole card, and then on some I'll add close-up pics to show some of the dimension/detail/etc etc that are only part of the card.

All I can think of is that her computer is only loading part of the pictures?? I have NO clue, and if it's happening to more than one person then I'm really up a creek LOL!! I'll figure something out tho......

I'd be pleased to hear from several of you so I can see if this is a wide-spread issue or if it's only happening to one or two people!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Friday Sketch! #23

Sorry this is so late everyone - I was SO tired last night and then had to get up early this morning to take the girls to their last swimming lesson (in the rain no less) then ran errands. (FYI they played in the water and whatnot and participate a teeny bit if they're playing games - but I'm thinking I will just get a pass for public swimming instead of enrolling them in more lessons as they do way better when there's no "pressure" lol)

Anywho onto the card:

I stamped cakeabella onto white cardstock, colored her in with Copic markers then added the sentiment (from A Muse). It's hard to tell but I used Stickles on her dress and the cake.

Patterned paper is from Me & My Big Ideas, the floral edge on the CS was made with my Martha Stewart Punch (I am really liking her shaped edge punches and want to get more! There's a scallop one (I think it's called simple scallop??) that I LOVE and I still can't find it in stores!), the rhinestones are from Michaels (dollar bin).

Here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS32 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!

Bonus Sketch Challenge

Yesterday I posted the ATS Design Team's cards for the weekly challenge over on the ATS blog - they were all using this sketch I made up - so I thought I'd post it here for those of you who like to play along!

You can see the blog post HERE. and the challenge post over on the ATS forum HERE.

I didn't get a chance to make a sample of my own yet - mebbe I can do that today!!

Happy creating everyone!