Prairie Paper & Ink

Friday Sketch! with Guest Tammy Fielder (Aug 28/09)

WOW I can't believe it's the end of August already!! This month (actually all of summer really) has just flown by!!

I have a new sketch for y'all - this week it's another one from Tammy (I LOVE her sketches!). As always if you haven't checked out her blog you can do so here:

Here's the sketch:

and all the usual info (PLEASE read all this if you're new or not sure how to post direct links - I've had to delete several submissions over the past few weeks as they weren't uploaded properly :o( )

- keyword to use when uploading to public galleries is AMYRTFS5.

- link directly to your creation when posting a link to your card - why you ask? Check out this link for more info. (I've been editing the links that lead just to a blog to the proper link directly to the post - BUT generally I don't have time to do that. If I don't then I'll just delete the link - if yours is missing this is generally the reason why and you can just re-enter the proper link to your creation in the gallery/blog post!)

-not sure HOW to link provide a DIRECT link? Check out this post by Kristina Werner - she explains how to with her video (it's meant for her color inspiration challenges but it's the same idea) - check it out HERE <----click!

-you are welcome to save this sketch to your computer (right click then save to your computer) and upload it to your blog post along with a direct link to this post with credit given to me for the sketch :o)

- have your card done and linked before next Thursday at 10pm EST in order to have it included with the participants links - other than that there is no time limits - this is all for fun! If you've missed the deadline feel free to include a link to your creation in the comment section of this post!

- ANYONE can participate- you can use whatever products/stamps/embellies you want - sky's the limit :)

- I WILL remove any links I deem inappropriate (self-promotional, spam, card not following sketch in any way etc etc etc).

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AmyR's Friday Sketch! Participants

1. Janice Melton 2. Sonja Webster 3. Mercy Kerin 4. Kimberly O'Rosky 5. Kirsty T

6. Tammy Fielder 7. Pam Varnell 8. Sparkle 9. RobbynW 10. Misti

11. Lily 12. Krista Visser-Driessen 13. Judy Applegarth

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Update with Pics

I got home Monday night from our weekend in Calgary - we definitely had a fun time!! I had brought my camera but of course left it in my other bag that I didn't carry around with me when we were out and about.

SO:

-we arrived Friday evening and spent some time with Julie'ssisters and one of her friends out on their new deck - just chillin' out. There was a huge fireworks display a few miles away that we saw over the rooftops - very cool.

-Saturday was our Copic class. It took us a little while to find the store (thankfully we didn't get hopelessly lost like we thought we might!!) and we were nearly the last to get there (and got front row seats as a result LOL)

-the class was great. Honestly I knew most of what Sherrie was teaching but I still learned a couple of new things and was reminded of a few techniques that I haven't used in a long time. She's a great teacher and being a stamper as well she really shows techniques that work well with stamping.

-If you ever get the chance I recommend taking a Copic class - you can learn a lot (and FYI I think there's spaces left in the Edmonton class this weekend - you can find out here).

-we took a picture with Sherrie after the class:

Sherrie is TALL - I'm 5'8" and was wearing flats - and she was crouching a bit (Julie was cheating and standing on her tip toes ROFLOL!!).

-notice my awesome pink butterfly earrings?? I got those at WalMart for $5 during the lunch break - total score!!

-I gave out my first autograph during the class. That was a little surreal LOL! We wanted to get a picture with her as well but she left before we got the chance :(

-Oooohhh I almost forgot to mention - me and Julie were able to get the sets of the NEW really light Copic markers!! They only had 2 sets in the store so I grabbed them ASAP - I've been wanting them ever since I heard about them months ago *happy dance!*

-after the class we headed to that new mall (is it called Crosswinds?? I can't remember) and stayed there till it closed. The place was PACKED and the traffic was insane but it was so fun (and freaking HUGE - just walking the loop in the mall is 2 kilometers - and that's only phase 1!! Phase 2 is supposed to be done sometime next year so we'll definitely come back some day)

-I actually tried on and bought clothes!! I've lost 20lbs in the past couple of months (thanks to Isagenix - after watching Julie's results I HAD to get on it and it WORKS!!) - and though I'm planning on losing way more I had to get a few things for when I start working out of the home. It was so nice to be able to shop and find things that actually fit rather than getting depressed over everything being too small for me.

-Sunday was our IKEA trip - me, Julie and her sisters all went together and spent a good 4 hours there. Between the three of us this was the end result:

 

We PACKED the box with all of our stuff - and had to squeeze all out luggage in the back seat (thank goodness her sister is skinny as she sat in the back seat too LOL!). We couldn't have bought another thing.

-most of my purchases were for my new business. The only thing I got for my stamping studio was a couple more BYGEL racks for my punches.

-we came home on Monday, got all my stuff unloaded and I got everything unpacked and went to bed early.

So that was pretty much it!!

I was going to stamp today and whatnot but I ended up taking Veronica to the city to get her some school clothes and whatnot as she starts on Monday! That and I needed to get more paint for my esthetics studio. So we made a day of it - it was a lot of fun just to spend one-on-one time with her. Once she's in school I'll hafta do something special with Josie too :o)

Anywho that's it for now. It's been another long day and I want to relax for a bit!

Friday Sketch! (Aug 21/09)

This week's sketch is another oldie-but-a-goodie sketch.

You can check out the original here <---click!

Here's the sketch:

and all the usual info (PLEASE read all this if you're new or not sure how to post direct links - I've had to delete several submissions over the past few weeks as they weren't uploaded properly :o( )

- keyword to use when uploading to public galleries is AMYRS6.

- link directly to your creation when posting a link to your card - why you ask? Check out this link for more info. (I've been editing the links that lead just to a blog to the proper link directly to the post - BUT generally I don't have time to do that. If I don't then I'll just delete the link - if yours is missing this is generally the reason why and you can just re-enter the proper link to your creation in the gallery/blog post!)

-not sure HOW to link provide a DIRECT link? Check out this post by Kristina Werner - she explains how to with her video (it's meant for her color inspiration challenges but it's the same idea) - check it out HERE <----click!

-you are welcome to save this sketch to your computer (right click then save to your computer) and upload it to your blog post along with a direct link to this post with credit given to me for the sketch :o)

- have your card done and linked before next Thursday at 10pm EST in order to have it included with the participants links - other than that there is no time limits - this is all for fun! If you've missed the deadline feel free to include a link to your creation in the comment section of this post!

- ANYONE can participate- you can use whatever products/stamps/embellies you want - sky's the limit :)

- I WILL remove any links I deem inappropriate (self-promotional, spam, card not following sketch in any way etc etc etc).

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

AmyR's Friday Sketch! Participants

1. Jeannie 2. Misti 3. Laurel S - mini album page 4. Mel Barkwith 5. Shannan Teubner

6. Sparkle 7. Ingunn 8. lily 9. Rachel A. 10. Lacey

11. Megan 12. Amy Leggate 13. Lisa T

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I'm a bad blogger - but I've got a card to share!!

OK if you don't want to read all my rambling (warning - long post!) then just scroll down to the dotted line as that marks the end of it *wink*

SO - obviously I've been MIA all week - and really not posting much at all this summer.

I had mentioned that I had a lot of things on my plate - LOTS going on and most of it non-stamping-related. Yup that's it.

First off Veronica's starting grade 1 this fall - actually she goes back in a little over a week OMG!!! So I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to manage getting her dropped off and picked up 5 days a week as I'm going to be working.

For those that have been following my blog for some time - y'all know that besides everything I do on here (cardmaking, designing stamps for ATS, managing the ATS design team etc etc) I also took some esthetics courses last year and have been doing gel nails, mani's, pedi's etc out of my home.

Since we moved into this house a year ago I've had a separate room for my esthetics business, and I've been slowly growing my clientele.

Anywho - as of September 1st I'm opening a REAL esthetics salon downtown a few blocks away. My mom owns the local coffee shop here in town and bought a building that is actually a mini mall. There will be her coffee shop, another business that was there before, and MY little salon!!

So for the past few weeks I've been picking out paint, dealing with the bank and whatnot to get a business loan, painting and all that fun stuff.

Now that things are finally getting done and I'm not so stressed out I can focus on other things - ie. stamping!

I am NOT quitting this blog, or quitting stamping/designing stamps for that matter. In fact I hope to be BETTER at posting on here more often.

I've been so frazzled these past few weeks as this is a BIG change for me - I've been a SAHM since I had Josie almost 4 years ago - and "re-entering" the workforce AND running my own business is a little daunting!

I love what I do - whether it be doing nails, stamping, or designing my own stamps. So I have no plans on quitting any of it - I'll just hafta work at organizing my time in order to fit it all in - that AND of course my family which is my #1 priority (I don't know how Josie is going to be with her big sister being in school 5 days a week - they get along SO well and play with each other all day every day - so I'm a little worried about that).

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Now - on a more stamping-related front - I'm headed out on a road trip to Calgary later on today. I'm going with Julie as we're both enrolled in the Copic Certification class that Sherrie is teaching.

I am SO excited for that. And I'm thinking this will be just what I need to really get me back into the stamping groove!

And not only that but Julie and I are making a weekend of it - we're hitting up IKEA and the mall and who knows what else we'll do (I heard there's a fab new outlet mall that JUST opened up in north Calgary that I REALLY want to check out) - Julie said we're going to Olive Garden Sat. night for supper so I'm excited about that too (I've never been there - seriously).

I'm so excited!! Whatever new tricks/tips I learn with the Copics I'll be sure to share on here with y'all. I just can't wait - this is going to be such a fun weekend!

ANYWHO:

Today is the review-preview day on the ATS blog for my 2 newest sets - Fresh Flowers and Sympathy Sentiments.

It took me a while but I made a card using the Fresh Flowers set (I have DEFINITELY lost my stamping mojo - my brain just isn't working lately - it took me forever to make this).

I also killed 2 birds with one stone and follwed my sketch from last week.

I inked up the flowers with my SU markers, then stamped them onto white cardstock.

I made the pale blue "shadowing" with my Copic BG10 marker and the Colorless Blender.

It's hard to tell but I added a subtle sparkle to the petals with my Clear Spica pen.

I cut out the image with one of my circle nestabilities and then edged it with black in rather than matting it with black cardstock.

The sentiment is also from the Fresh Flowers set - I stamped it onto white cardstock then punched it out with my SU! Word Window punch.

The butterflies were punched from cardstock and vellum using my Martha Stewart punches.

On the inside of the card I used more patterned paper (all the patterned paper on this card is from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie line, as are the buttons), and die cut a larger white circle that I stamped the flowers again on to and that was it!

Make sure to check out the DT review-preview post with more samples HERE <----click!

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Also the Friday sketch will be posted either later today or early tomorrow morning - I forgot all about it sorry!!

Friday Sketch! (Aug 14/09)

It's Firday!!

Time for a new sketch:

and time for all the usual info (if you're new to these sketch's make sure to read all of this please!):

- keyword to use when uploading to public galleries is AMYRS73.

- link directly to your creation when posting a link to your card - why you ask? Check out this link for more info. (I've been editing the links that lead just to a blog to the proper link directly to the post - BUT generally I don't have time to do that. If I don't then I'll just delete the link - if yours is missing this is generally the reason why and you can just re-enter the proper link to your creation in the gallery/blog post!)

-not sure HOW to link provide a DIRECT link? Check out this post by Kristina Werner - she explains how to with her video (it's meant for her color inspiration challenges but it's the same idea) - check it out HERE <----click!

-you are welcome to save this sketch to your computer (right click then save to your computer) and upload it to your blog post along with a direct link to this post with credit given to me for the sketch :o)

- have your card done and linked before next Thursday at 10pm EST in order to have it included with the participants links - other than that there is no time limits - this is all for fun! If you've missed the deadline feel free to include a link to your creation in the comment section of this post!

- ANYONE can participate- you can use whatever products/stamps/embellies you want - sky's the limit :)

- I WILL remove any links I deem inappropriate (self-promotional, spam, card not following sketch in any way etc etc etc).

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

AmyR's Friday Sketch! Participants

1. Mary Brown 2. Tina Hale 3. Joan Ottevanger 4. ruhama 5. Amy Young 6. StephC 7. Laura (scrapnextras)

8. Katie Skiff 9. Jeannie 10. susan 11. Megan 12. Roxx.T 13. Sparkle 14. Jamie M.

15. Amanda W. 16. Chris Shouse 17. Kimberly O'Rosky 18. lily 19. Rachel A. 20. Kimberly L

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Making Your Own Stamp Cleaner VIDEO

I tried to post this on here last night but YouTube was acting all wonky. It's working fine now tho so here it is:

How I Clean My Stamps VIDEO

Now that I'm finally starting to feel better (I still can't believe I've been sick for over a week!) I can FINALLY start to get things done - one of which was to upload a couple more videos to YouTube that I've been meaning to do for a while now.

A question I've been asked a lot is "how do you clean your stamps?" - so rather than type up a lengthy post I did a video of it.

Enjoy!

Simple Sympathy Card

Yup - I'm STILL sick. Definitely not as bad as I was but not back to my old self. Tim's sick too so we've been spending a lot of time on the couch watching movies together after the girls are in bed. And my plan of being better and "getting a ton of things done over the weekend" just ain't working darnit!!

I actually DID stamp something yesterday tho:

It's been a LONG time since I've done a truly simple card - and this one came together in about 15 minutes or so.

I used my new Sympathy Sentiments set and stamped the floral image onto the white cardstock using SU!'s Pink Pirhouette ink (retired).

I then stamped the sentiment using ColorBox Creamy Brown chalk ink - the color was the closest I had to SU!'s new Soft Suede cardstock (I got the assorted pack of cardstock and none of the ink or ribbon - *shock* I know!).

Then all I did was round the bottom edges, add a bit of black cardstock that I tore the bottom of (another thing I haven't done in forever on a card - tearing the edge), then added a bit of pink pirhouette CS that I scalloped with SU!'s scallop edge punch.

I lined the inside of the card with more pink cardstock, then stamped the floral image onto the white with the pink ink.

I stamped one of the verses from the Sympathy Sentiments set using the same Creamy Brown ink and that was it.

No bling, no ribbon, no glitter - just simple. And ya know I actually like it!

what a week

I had so many good intentions for this week - one of which was to make and post a bunch of projects and to catch up on commenting on all the submissions to my Friday Sketch!'s for the past couple of weeks.

None of it happened. My post on Monday saying I woke up feeling horrible is pretty much how it's been all week. Yesterday I lost my voice because I'd been coughing so much - and today it's not a whole lot better.

And of course all this means I've got NOTHING done - whether it be stamping or cleaning my house! I'm feeling better today (not much of a voice tho) so I'm going to start plugging away at things as I can - I will attempt making a sketch to post but no promises at this pont!

I'm just glad it's Friday - this rotten week is almost over and I'm getting better so hopefully I can get a bunch of things done on the weekend.

I hope y'all had a better week than I did and YAY for the weekend!

Spectrum Glittered Butterfly Technique VIDEO

OK I FINALLY got a chance to edit and upload this video.

I woke up this morning with a wicked-sore throat and felt horrible - so needless to say I spent the day on the couch not doing much of anything! 

And of course since I've been on the couch and napping on and off it's getting late and I'm not tired enough to sleep (tho I'm praying a good night's sleep will see me waking up and feeling fine! I can't get sick - I've got too much to do!) - so I sat on the couch and edited this video and uploaded it to YouTube.

Remember THIS post?? <---click! Well this is the video showing how I made the glittery butterflies:

So here's the video! I hope y'all enjoy!

August Stamps are Up!

AmyR Stamps Fresh Flowers:

 

AmyR Stamps Sympathy Sentiments:

You can check out the latest August releases HERE on the ATS site <----click!

SNEAK PEEK - AmyR Stamps Fresh Flowers Set

Today is the last day of sneak peeks on the ATS blog with it being the sneak peek day for my soon-to-be-released Fresh Flowers set.

This along with my Sympathy Sentiments and all the other stamps will be available at All That Scraps TOMORROW (Monday August 3rd) at 10pm EST!

This set comes with 2 different floral images, in a line image version as well as a solid version AND I've also included smaller versions of the flowers that can be used to stamp on the inside of the cards.

There are also 7 different sentiment stamps included in the set for a total of 15 stamps :o)

For this card I inked up this carnation line image with my Stampin' Up! markers and stamped it onto CCD white cardstock.

I went in with more SU markers in lighter colors to add a litle more detail, then took my lightest yellow Copic marker (Y00) and the colorless blender and added a subtle "glow" around parts of the flowers.

The patterned paper is from October Afternoon's Weathervane collection.

The sentiment is from the Fresh Flowers set and I stamped it onto a scrap of cardstock then punched it out with my new SU! Modern Label punch (I LOVE this new punch! So perfect for sentiments!).

On the inside of the card I just added more patterned paper that I stamped with the same image used on the front - this time using brown ink.

The sentiment is from my Birthday Sentiments set - I stamped it onto a scrap of cardstock then punched it out with my SU! Key Tag punch. After adhering that to the inside that was it!

Don't forget to check out the DT samples on the ATS sneak peek post HERE <---click!