Prairie Paper & Ink

Another Quick Update

Thank you all again for the well-wishes for my mom!

She had surgery on her foot on Friday - there was more than one break and they couldn't be set properly so the specialist had her in for surgery.

And of course my home phone line is completely down (I've been having issues with the phone for MONTHS now and when I finally couldn't take it anymore and contacted the company - they sent someone out to "fix" it last week and guess what - it worked for like 3 days and now I have NO working phones in my house!! But at least I have internet LOL. I have to wait 'till Monday to get it fixed!) - so I've only been able to use my cell phone.

I called mom to make sure everything was OK and that her surgery went OK (she said it did but then said she had a horror story to tell me about the surgery - but wouldn't tell me till we can talk face to face as she doesn't like me "wasting money" by using my cell - typical mother *grin*) - and hopefully I will be seeing her tomorrow.

Oh and for those that asked HOW it all happened - she was trying to move a HUGE (like 5 or 6 feet high) mirror that weighed 50-60 pounds and it slipped and came down on her foot and crushed it. How she managed to do that without screaming or swearing a blue streak (as I would have done - y'all would have HEARD me!!!) is beyond me but she was in massive pain.

ANYWHO - I've been running around like a crazy person for what - 2 weeks now?? I'm hoping things calm down for a good long time now.

I've been dying to create - I have a TON of new stamps sitting in my studio (a bunch are from the new All That Scraps release that's happening on Monday!! ACK!) and I just have been so drained that I couldn't stamp to save my life.

I didn't get anywhere near all the projects done that I wanted to for Halloween - but I am learning that there are a lot of things that I can't control and that rather than stress about unfinished projects or plans that aren't working out it's just better to cut my losses and move on. It's not an easy lesson but I'm working on it!

And at the moment since *I* can't post anything stampy y'all should definitely check out the ATS blog right now - there are a bunch of sneak peek posts up and if you leave comments on them you will be entered in to win the stamps being previewed!! Good luck!!

I'm exhausted - it's been a LONG day and I am secretly hoping that I can sleep in tomorrow - that would be beyond fabulous! And maybe just maybe I can get some time to stamp!! *crosses fingers*

~till later

Brewed Fresh and a Quick Update

This has to be a super-fast post as I need to get to work!

Thanks for all the comments and well-wishes for my mom in my last post. She went to a specialist yesterday about her foot and is supposed to get surgery sometime within the next week (I had a feeling it would come to that as I knew it was more than just a break - it looked like some of her toes were crushed - OW I know!!) - so we'll see how that all goes.

Anywho I actually have a card to share - sorry the pics aren't the greatest and I never got a chance to finish the inside - no time!

I just used one of the Fluffles images that I had colored in at work a couple of weeks ago (ugh I have a BUNCH of Halloween images all colored and had all these plans of posting a bunch of cards using them and it looks like Halloween is going to get here before I can post even half of them!! :o( ).

FYI it's actually the countdown and sneak peeks to All That Scrap's November release - you can check out all of that HERE <-----click! I haven't had a chance to make any samples for it yet (even tho I've got a set coming out as well!) - I started making a card or two and I think the stress was just getting to me b/c I just butchered it - it looked AWFUL so I threw it out!

Depending on how the next couple of days go I may be able to squeeze in a little stamping (aka ME) time and get some sneak peeks and whatnot up on here.

***Oh and before I forget there are only a very few Winter Kits left for pre-order and I think that the sale of them ends TONIGHT - so get yours while you can!!!!***

ANYWHO - here's the card:

Brewed Fresh Fluffles

 Fluffles Brew image colored in with my Koh-i-noor pencils blended with Gamsol.

Sentiment is from the Spooky Sentiments set (punched out with a SU! punch).

Drippy Goo punch by Martha Stewart used on the green cardstock and covered with Lime Ice Stickles for da bling!

Patterned paper and brads are from Basic Grey's Eerie collection.

Gotta jet - talk to y'all later!!

Totally MIA - non-stamping post!

I know I haven't posted in almost a week!! SORRY!!

I've been MIA (missing in action) for a reason tho - my mom broke her foot last week while we were all at work and it's been crazy ever since.

She not only owns the local coffee shop but she does a TON of catering as well - so her being out of comission these past few days meant that myself and my sister (who works for her already) have been working a bunch of extra hours to help out and whatnot.

Mom was supposed to get the bone set this morning but I haven't heard yet how that went (it wasn't a clean break and nothing could be done 'till the swelling went down) but I am assuming I will be helping out a fair bit more over the next who knows how long.

So between my salon and helping my mom I don't know how things are going to go.

I had a TON of cards planned and all kinds of things I've been wanting to do on here (some tutorial and video ideas are on the back burner as well) - I will still get them done and posted - just not as many as soon as I'd wanted!

I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you that left all the nice comments on my last post!

I know I am pretty hard on myself - but something I never mentioned is that I have a borderline social anxiety disorder. I never knew until a couple of years ago that there was an actual name for it and that I wasn't the only one like this LOL!

Basically it just means that I get REALLY nervous in crowds and when I am supposed to be the center of attention (like in high school when I had to do presentations in front of the class) I almost have a panic attack.

I've gotten over a lot of the issues (no longer being in high school helps!!) but they're still there. Even typing about it now my heart rate is up just *thinking* about doing a presentation!! I still don't like being the center of attention - for me to speak up in front of a crowd is a REAL struggle - sometimes I can suck it up and just say what I want to say - and other times I just can't do it and keep quiet (aka wallflower!!).

So that's where all my issues concerning me doing videos stem from. Now that I've started doing them and have broken the ice by showing my face on one I think I'll be doing more of them!!

So there's another peek at the real ME - I know some people don't like when I post personal things on here (thinking it should be all about stamping!!) but it is MY blog (that I pay good $$ for!! lol) - and y'all can skip over it if you want! :o)

It will be back to stamping-related stuff SOON (really soon I hope!) - but I just thought I'd share!

Copics - My Favorites/Most Used - Beginner Recommendations VIDEO

Here's the long awaited and tons requested post!!

I have received TONS of e-mails for me to do a post listing what colors I recommend starting out with when choosing Copics.

It's taken me forever to do this b/c narrowing it all down to just a FEW is so difficult!

So I went through my markers and pulled out the ones I use ALL the time and always reach for.

THEN I made a video for it. This might not sound like a big deal but for ME but it is! It's been hard enough just doing videos (I hate the sound of my voice! It was so difficult to start doing videos and have to listen to myself when editing and all that - it's torture LOL) with me coloring and whatnot - but for me to sit in front of the camera and TALK - ACK!!!

I am someone that hates having my pictures taken (I am not what you'd call photogenic - and trust me it's not just me that thinks that - weird things happen when someone pulls out a camera - I just look awful most of the time in pictures) and the thought of doing a video and y'all seeing ME and everything made me sick to my stomach - no joke.

So that was another reason why it's taken me so long - I just really didn't want to do a video of all this - but it was the best way to do it - so I did it!

I sat down before I went to work yesterday and listed all the markers and whatnot and blabbed on a bit. It wasn't as horrible as I thought (still tho I now have a permanent reminder that I need to lose MORE weight! 25lbs so far isn't enough (tho still fab!)) - and I didn't bother doing any editing or anything (another reason why I didn't want to do videos - unlike a photo where I can remove pimples or whatever and make it look a teeny bit better I definitely can't do that for a video LOL).

SO here it is - and you can watch it on YouTube HERE <-------click!

 

 

Here's all the markers I mentioned:

Markers Listed
E50
E51
R20
R27
R29
E25
E27
C-1
0 (Colorless Blender)
BG10
YG03
G05
G07
Y15
Y17
YR04
YR07
YR12
YR14
RV04
RV06
BV02
BV04

I also get asked a lot WHERE to buy Copics. Honestly I've bought most of mine from All That Scraps (I'm usually placing orders there for different things so I'll add Copics when they get new colors in stock that I don't already have).

I've also bought some from Stamping Bella (again b/c I was already ordering stamps and whatnot and they've got some colors that I didn't have).

There are a LOT of other retailers out there - some that offer bigger discounts and whatnot (but watch the shipping! I checked out some sites b/c the prices seemed really great 'till I saw the shipping to Canada - then it was a no-go) - so you can just google Copic sellers and I'm sure there will be a ton.

The shipping is always my biggest concern - that's why I mainly only order from All That Scraps and Stamping Bella (need a Bella fix every once in a while LOL!) b/c they have awesome shipping prices (usually FREE if you order enough - and even if not it's still cheap!) so I always recommend them - plus great customer service.

I hope this helps you guys!! :o)

SALE

I forgot to mention this!!

I got the ATS Newsletter (if you're not subscribed you can do so HERE <----click!) and Christine is having a SALE!!

She's got a ton of products listed in the Sale Category <----click! and all the Halloween products (excluding the Eerie 6x6 paper pad) are in there as well (good time to stock up!).

All CC Designs stamps are 25% off!! <----click!

**The Winter Kit is NOT included in this sale b/c it's already deeply discounted (I think it's priced at roughly 50% off retail?? Something crazy like that! So if you haven't pre-ordered the Winter Kit you so should b/c it's only available for a few more days!!)**

That 25% off includes all the AmyR Stamps as well - you can check them out HERE <-----click!

Happy Shopping!!! *grin*

Birthday RAKs

I received a couple of birthday cards in the mail yesterday (right on my birthday so for once good timing at the post office LOL!) so I wanted to post them here and say thank you!!

This one came from Janneke (she's on of my girls on the ATS Design Team *grin*) - THANK YOU Janneke! It's so cute!!

And this one came from Melanie on Splitcoast (a SCS BRAK - Birthday Random Act of Kindness) - SO pretty! Thanks Melanie!!

Anywho I hafta run to work - I've been running around the past couple of days doing housework, paperwork, answering e-mails (I got to most of them - I'm ashamed to think how old some of the e-mails were! What can you do tho....), and trying to get some things ready to post on here - so I'll be back later!
 
 

About my Videos

I've been receiving questions and comments about the videos that I've posted on here and just wanted to quickly post this so that y'all will see it.

I already added this little blurb under my latest posted video:

**Also in the videos when I'm talking about "links being in the sidebar" that is the sidebar next to my videos ON YouTube. When you watch videos on the site there is a sidebar on the right/lower right where the person that uploaded the video can post more info and links and whatnot. So that's what I'm referring to - sorry for any confusion that may have caused!!**

I upload all the videos that I make to my YouTube channel - you can check that out HERE <---click!.

After it's uploaded there I can post it here on my blog as well.

I forget sometimes that when y'all are viewing a video on here you can't see the sidebar I'm mentioning in the video.

From now on I'll try to remember to post a link to the video on YouTube along with the video's I post on here so that we're all on the same page *grin*!

Friday Sketch! (Oct 16/09)

I've been having internet issues all morning - hopefully everything is working and this post is showing up properly!

Here's the newest sketch!

Keyword for this sketch is: AMYRS76 

I made up a separate page with all the sketch/linking info etc etc.

If you are new to the Friday Sketch! PLEASE check out and read all the info HERE <----click!

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

AmyR's Friday Sketch! Participants

1. Misti 2. orit 3. CheriG

4. rinat 5. Lisa Gobea 6. Jessica

7. Hazel 8. Linda van Vliet 9. shaz

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

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

Here's the card I made that inspired this sketch:

Congrats Graduate

For once I used NO image stamps - JUST sentiments!!

When my Congrats Sentiments set first arrived and I had to make a sample for the sneak peek the idea for this card popped into my head.

I didn't have time to create it then so I jotted down the idea and finally got a chance to create it this week *grin*

Basically all I did was stamped the lined paper backgrounder from CHF onto white cardstock with light blue ink, then I stamped several of the sentiments from the Congrats Sentiments set onto the lines (and no I am not that good at lining them up - I used my acrylic stamp positioner to do that!!).

I stamped the congrats separately onto red cardstock and punched it out with SU's Word Window Punch then adhered it at the top.

I decided on which sentiment I wanted to feature then "highlighted" it with a yellow Copic marker. To really emphasize the point I punched out the red arrows (another SU punch) and adhered them with dimensionals all pointing to the sentiment.

Oh and the edge of the "lined" paper was done with another SU punch (I really went with the punches on this card eh?? LOL)

All the patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's The Boyfriend collection.

On the inside of the card I did the same thing, then just stamped another of the sentiments from the Congrats Sentiments set in red ink and that was it!

It ended up being a pretty quick and easy card to create - and I'm SO happy with it! I kept trying to add more to it (I tried REALLY hard to add ribbon!!! Of course!!) - but realized it looked SO much better without a ton of stuff on it!

So I hope you guys liked my sketch sample (and the fact that I actually MADE a sample for the sketch for the first time in how long!! Hopefully I can keep this up!) and I can't wait to have y'all play along!

Have fun!!
  

CC Designs Winter Kit

The CCD Winter Kit is now available for pre-order HERE <-----click!

This is one of the fabulous samples that Lesa has made using some of the stamps from the kit - there are images and accessory images and a sentiment set (created by yours truly) and it's all available for a fabulous price!

You can check out more samples along with more info about the kit HERE <------click!

And you can buy the kit HERE <-----click!

Happy Fall Fluffles

I made this last night with one of the Fluffles images that I had colored at work.

I wasn't really feeling it and things just weren't working like they were supposed to! I wasn't going to even post it but I've got nothing else to share right now - I am really not happy with how it all turned out.

The saving grace is Fluffles of course - he's just so darn cute!!!

I colored him in to look like our cat - I've even got that little "m" above his eyes LOL.

I used my kooh-i-noor pencils with odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps to do all the coloring.

When I put the card together I had a container of Flower Soft Autumn sitting on my desk so I added some of that for fun and it's one of the things I'm regretting now. I like the look of it (it's pretty cool stuff!) but it covered up the leaves too much and now y'all can't see how awesome I did coloring them LOL!!

All the branches were cut from cardstock with SU!'s Little Leaves die then glued into place.

The "happy fall" sentiment is from my Autumn Sentiments set - that combined with Fluffles was too perfect ;o)

Oh and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's new Indian Summer paper pad (mebbe that's why I'm grouchy and really not diggin' the card - the weather here is STILL cold - it snowed all weekend (tho not much left on the ground thank goodness!) and it feels like WINTER! I have my fingers crossed that we get some nice fall weather - an indian summer would be fabulous!).  
 

Drawing in a Sidewalk Around a Stamped Image VIDEO

By popular demand here it is - enjoy!! :)

You can also watch the video over on YouTube HERE <-----click!

**Also in the videos when I'm talking about "links being in the sidebar" that is the sidebar next to my videos ON YouTube. When you watch videos on the site there is a sidebar on the right/lower right where the person that uploaded the video can post more info and links and whatnot. So that's what I'm referring to - sorry for any confusion that may have caused!!**

Trick or Treat smell my feet......

First off Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!!

As I had mentioned on Friday we celebrated yesterday at our house and everything went really well. Thank you all for the recipe suggestions!! I got SO many that I have to try out!

And of course I now have a TON of leftovers - but I'm thinking I'll hafta make a turkey pot pie for supper either tonight or tomorrow to use up most of it and be done with it (I love Turkey but one at Thanksgiving and one at Christmas is more than enough for me - especially now that I am the one cooking them!!). 

The cooking and housecleaning took up most of my time this weekend and I didn't have any energy for anything else - so I took the suggestion posted that I take a break on the Friday sketch and I'll post a new one this coming Friday!

Oh and Princess Sparkles had a fun weekend too - there are 8 granddaughters (with another one on the way - my brother's girlfriend is pregnant - and they found out the other day it's another girl!!) on my side of the family (NO boys!!) - the oldest being 10 - so they all had a blast with the kitten. I think she was pretty glad when everyone left LOL!! She did VERY well tho with all the kids fawning over her, teasing her, putting her in the toy shopping cart, etc etc etc!!

Anywho here's a new card for today:

Trick or Treat Emma

I cannot get over the cuteness of all the Sugarplum Halloween and Fall images. I still have a couple left that haven't been used and posted on here - and I'm determined to get that done before it's too late!

I stamped this Sugarplums Cow Emma onto CCD White Cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink then colored her in with my Copics.

COPICS USED:

E50, E51, R20, E25, E27, YR12, YR14, YG25, YG67, C00, C-1, C-3, BG10, BG0000, Colorless Blender, BS Olive (multiliner).

I drew the sidewalk in around her (and I did do a how-to video for this - I'm uploading it right now and will post it once it's live!) and colored it in with Copics as well.

The sentiment is from my Autumn Sentiments set - I stamped it onto the aqua cardstock then punched it out with a circle punch before adhering it with a dimensional.

I added orange Stickles to her pumpkin basket for some bling, and used a Martha Stewart border punch on the brown cardstock to make the spiderwebs.

On the inside of the card I added an orange strip that I punched with the Spiderwebs border punch.

I then stamped a couple of sentiments from the Spooky Sentiments set onto more aqua cardstock and punched that out with an oval punch and adhered it over the orange and that was it!

The Friday Sketch! will be late (as usual!). I haven't had a chance to come up with a new one and I'm now working all day today.

To top all that off this weekend is Thanksgiving for us here in Canada and I'm hosting for my side of the family (and Tim's parents :o)) on Sunday so I've got 20 people to cook for and a house to clean from top to bottom - ACK!!

Gotta run - hopefully I can get the sketch up (and mebbe even a card or two!) either later on tonight or sometime tomorrow!

Ooohhh almost forgot - anyone have an AWESOME recipe for a pasta salad type dish?? One of my relatives would always make a chinese noodle salad (made with ichiban noodles) at Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was AWESOME (I think there was cabbage in it too) but I don't know the actual name of it and I can't get the recipe from them (LONG story!!) - so if anyone knows what I'm talking about or if you've got a favorite post it here in the comment section!! I'd love to try it!

Now I've really gotta run!

Happy Fright Night

This was my view outside my studio window about an hour ago:

And it's still coming down :o( It's supposed to snow most of the day and more tomorrow - double :o(

I don't mind snow - but I was hoping it would hold off 'till December at least! Major wishful thinking on my part as we usually have snow on the ground by Halloween. I'm not ready for winter!!

And on an un-related note - I have a TON of e-mails and messages, YouTube messages etc etc etc - most of them related to Copic markers - the majority of THOSE asking about what colors would I recommend to start with etc?? At this point I'm either going to try and either do a video response or a post on here to address all of it at once b/c I just can't respond to every one otherwise I'd be sitting at the computer all day every day!

Speaking of which I need to get this post done ASAP. My mom called and I need to go in and work at the coffee shop for a few hours b/c one of the employees called in sick.

SO here's the card for today:

Happy Fright Night Fluffles

I had stamped out all the Halloween and Fall Fluffles images that I own and have been coloring them in during my spare time when I'm at work and between clients.

I got a few done so here's the first card made using this Fluffles Ghostie image.

I used my koh-i-noor pencils and odorless mineral spirits with blending stumps to color the image in.

I then die cut it and sponged all the edges.

All the patterned paper is from the new Basic Grey Eerie collection - another new thing that I got recently (I went a little nuts and placed like 3 orders in a row and had a lot of fun when all the boxes arrived - and most of it is STILL sitting in a box here in my studio!! I'm starting to chip away at it and use it  these papers being some of it).

I used the latest Friday Sketch (by the fabulous Tammy!) for this card.

It's been SO long since I've had time to make samples for the sketches - I've felt so bad about that. These past few weeks have been a major adjustment - but I'm finally starting to get into a routine :o)

Anywho,

I die-cut some circles from the patterned paper and solid cardstock.

The "Happy Fright Night" sentiment is from my Spooky Sentiments set (I thought it was rather fitting for this Fluffles LOL).

I couldn't do without my Martha Stewart bat punch either *grin*

The inside sentiment is from my Autumn Sentiments set.

The die cuts on the inside were done with the Nestabilities Labels 4 dies.

Gotta run!!   
 

 

Mummy Trevor

I made this card last week sometime and finally got a few minutes to get pics of it so I could post it!

I'm still in a Halloween mood card-making-wise - I have a BUNCH of Halloween images colored so I better get my butt in gear and get them made before the end of the month!!

I had colored in the Mummy Trevor imagesome time ago with my Copics and then it was just sitting here on my desk waiting to be put on a card!

I originally used pale grey markers to color the bandages, but when I was making the card I wanted to use this new Reminisce All Wrapped Up paper as they go perfectly together!

**Side note - I got all these Reminisce Halloween papersa couple of weeks ago in an order and OMGosh - the online pics do NOT do them justice!! The All Wrapped Up paper is actually textured and shiny, that black paper with the batsis also shiny and the bats are all solid black glitter (LOL you guys should have seen me when I was pulling them out of the box - I was just a little excited when I saw them in real life!!), the white with webs is shiny and glittery too, the black with webs is the only "plain" one of the bunch - no shine or texture or sparkle - I love the pattern tho.**

What can I say - I loves my patterned paper *grin*

ANYWHO - like I was saying I wanted Trevor to match the paper a bit more so I went over his bandages with my E53 and E0000 markers to give them a more cream-colored tint and that did the trick.

COPICS USED:

C00, C-1, E35, E37, E47, E57, E50, E51, E53, E0000

And of course y'all can't see it in the pics but I used my clear spica pen on his bandages as well so they're all slightly shimmery :o)

I pulled out my Martha Stewart bat punch and some black cardstock for the bats and just glued them on (that punch is my ultimate FAVORITE Halloween punch - after that being the MS Spooked Cat punch (I don't know what it's really called) which I don't have! I've been searching for it for a while now and STILL can't find it in stock anywhere!!).

I also pulled out some old Halloween sparkly Making Memories brads (still sticking with my "gotta use it all up" mantra - b/c yes I've been hoarding those things since last year? Or was it the year before????) and put them in each corner too.

For the inside I added more of the patterned paper (LOVE how it looks!) then die cut a couple of ovals and added some more bats and that was it!

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

Also for those that asked here's a quick update on Princess Sparkles (OY I still find that name ridiculous LOL - I was hoping it would have been a boy cat and then I would have named him Oscar or Fred or something (still silly but so much easier to say than Princess Sparkles!! But of course having two little girls there's no way I would have got *my* way)) - she's doing good.

She's at her super-playful stage right now - which the girls are loving. I think it's cute too but it's annoying at the same time b/c if you so much as try to pet her or pick her up she'll jump on your hand and "attack".

Josie gave her that little pillow when Tim first brought her home - it says "The Princess sleeps here" - rather fitting of course.

And of course they picked out the pink fuzzy cat bed with the pink bow on it. It is SO soft, and the cat LOVES curling up in it (and chewing the sides, and fighting with it).

I had to laugh when Tim got home from his trip b/c the kitten's area is all decked out in PINK and fuzzy things. He knew it would happen tho (he's seen enough Barbie movies with these girls to just go with the flow LOL!!).

I had to put my foot down tho when we were at the pet store as the girls wanted to buy a ton of outfits for Princess as well so that they could dress her up. One I wasn't going to spend a bunch of money on that and two I knew that a cat wouldn't appreciate being shoved into a million different outfits everyday!!

Gotta love kids (and pets!).

This was supposed to be a quick post but I've rambled on as it is! I gotta get to work!

TTYL!! :o)