Well I am LITERALLY under the wire with this card :P - it's been a crazy several days and in spite of my best intentions to get cards made ahead of time getting another cold just saps all the energy out of me. At least the creativity is still going though!? I'm just as surprised as I'm sure y'all are LOL.
I used MFT's Forest Friends stamp set and created my own patterned paper with stamped images and my Sakura Koi Water Colors.
I watercolored and die cut the bear, then wrapped up some May Arts Natural string to sit behind the image. It was getting a little lost on the background so I added a die cut vellum circle.
I finished off the inside with another watercolored and die cut bear paired with another sentiment from the set and that was it!
I don't have a video for this card at the moment. I did film it but the footage needs to be edited and uploaded first. Hoping to get that done tomorrow...
Aaaannnddd success! A little later in the day than I'd hoped (don't even get me started on the gong show of a day I had) but it's live and here and that's all that matters LOL!
Well as of typing up this post it's now Tuesday so Monday is thankfully over! I had a rough day - breaking my Big Shot was the first thing that set it off. I mention it in the video - totally my fault and I was SO mad at myself for it b/c I knew better. It's a great machine and my sandwich stack was too thick when I was playing around with it - and before I could stop myself I heard a huge snap and broke the inner workings of the machine. What a way to start the week. I WILL be replacing it with another Big Shot - I've used it for years and years now and it's been awesome - and I've made a mental note to listen to myself when my brain is telling me to stop!
Like I said that was the first thing then the rest of the day was pretty much downhill from there (isn't that how it usually happens?), however the day is over and my monkeys are all in bed (3 of the 4 aren't feeling well - nasty cold going around again and we all got it) and I still finished my card so I am ending my day on a more positive note :).
So here's the card:
I had a LOT of you asking when would I use the SSS Stacked Hearts die after I got it in a recent-ish haul video. Ideas have been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now and today I decided it was time to make something with it.
I created the background with Distress Inks and a Distress Spray Stain, and used those to coat some of the hearts left over from die cutting the Stacked Hearts die.
I finished off the inside of the card with some emboss resist using a stamp from the SSS Big Scripty Greetings stamp set and the same Distress inks.
To see how this card came together (sorry for my scratchy voice! I caught the cold the kids have) check out my video below:
Hello everyone! So something I get a LOT of requests for is more masculine cards - which I've been doing more of lately (or at least making cards that suit either/or without specifically being "for a guy") - and this one is no exception:
I used an image from Art Impressions called The Grillfather, and stamped it onto Bristol Smooth card stock with Hero Arts black ink and colored it in with my Clean Color Real Brush markers.
I had a few oops along the way when making this (this was literally a last minute card made at 1 in the morning - hence a lot of the "oops" :P) but was able to get it together and get it delivered later on that morning LOL!
The sentiments I used are from a discontinued SSS stamp set called Thought Bubble - it was the main reason why I held off posting this card and video b/c I generally get a lot of negative feedback when I post with discontinued items! However there were a lot of requests to share this card and I linked to a few different stamps sets that I would use instead of this one!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
Hello everyone! First off thank you all SO much for participating in the giveaway (still going on! It's in THIS post) and all your comments. My head has been spinning at all the feedback and social media sharing and just attention it's gathering - it's been pretty awesome.
Just like a lot of you my head has been spinning with SO many ideas, not just for the Xyron machine but for all this other stuff I have sitting here. My issue is always time - being a single mom of 4 kids I still struggle (and always will I'm sure - it's life) to find the time to do it all.
Anywho - yesterday the stars aligned and I got time to start working on one of the ideas that's been in the back of my head for a while now. And since I couldn't settle on just one I created all 5:
I will admit I tend to overthink things (mmmm ALL the time?) and I was struggling with deciding how I wanted to use these End of the Rainbow Die-namics from MFT. I had too many ideas and just couldn't make up my mind. I decided to do ALL of them, film the process and then share the end result with all of you.
The first 2 cards I used Peerless watercolours. So fun, and so quick and easy too.
Something I've been asked a lot lately - even before posting about the Creative Station Lite was how does Xyron adhesive work on vellum? So I tried it out and used it to adhere all the vellum embossed clouds on these cards. I already knew that it would make them more transparent (it's the nature of adding adhesive to vellum and why it's a challenge) - so it just depends on the look you're going for. For these cards I was OK with it - for other cards I may not want the vellum to be fully adhered.
I was fun to try though - and did it ever cut down on my time when making these. As did a couple of other tricks I show in the video (side note this isn't a paid advertisement for Press n' Seal - I think I mention it like 20 times in the video :P LOL).
This card was done with solid card stock. Another question I get asked a LOT - what is my favorite CS? Personally I love MFT's, and SSS's, and Neenah Solar White for colouring and card bases. There are other great heavy brands out there, but I don't have the time/money/space right now to get it all to compare so I stick to the 2 brands and love them.
Of course I had to pull out my Distress inks for these 2 cards.
I will admit my favourite of the bunch is the one on the left - I like the definition of the separate colors and I'm always a sucker for how Distress inks react with water!
I kept all the insides simple by stamping sentiments from the MFT Rainbow Greetings stamp set (it was just luck that there happened to be 10 individual sentiments in the set and I made 5 cards - so I used every single stamp in the set. I get a prize or something for that right??? LOL) and didn't add anything else - by this point nap time was over and I was out of time. ;)
To see how these cards came together check out my video below:
Hello everyone!! I am SOOOOO excited to share this post with y'all. Recently Xyron reached out to me and wanted to know if I'd be interested in trying out their new Creative Station Lite machine - and of course I said yes. I've had my little Xyron X sticker maker for years, and showed it in a recent video. I've always wanted one of the larger machines - and now I have one!
***make sure to check out the end of the post b/c there's a GIVEAWAY that you don't want to miss out on***
You'll be seeing it used in other ways in future videos - but for today's video I decided to make some fun magnets. I've had a LOT of you asking when I'd use the new pony/unicorn stamps by The Greeting Farm - so I pulled those out and decided to try out making them into magnets for Katelyn:
I don't want to sound like a paid advertisement (b/c I'm not getting paid to say anything! All the commentary and thoughts are my own) but I am REALLY liking this machine. I didn't realize it worked exactly like the little X I already had until I pulled it out and started using it. I've avoided getting into a lot of other "machines" out there because I don't have the time or energy to figure them out LOL! This was so simple though that I am kicking myself for not getting myself a larger one years ago.
I stamped these images onto Neenah Solar White 110lb card stock with SSS Intense Black ink and coloured them all in with Copics. I couldn't resist adding sparkle to them when I was done so I coated them all generously with my Spectrum Noir Clear Overlay before I ran them through the Xyron.
I wasn't even sure when I was making these if the dies would cut through all the layers with the magnet on the back of these - but success! So now K has these fun little magnets - and funny thing she doesn't use them as magnets she carries them around in her little purse and pulls them out to play with them :P. Maybe once I make her some more (because I ordered the coordinating dies for the other TGF set - I linked to them in the supplies) she'll have fun playing with them on the fridge like she does all my other magnets. Or maybe she'll just carry them around in her purse and whatever floats her boat. She loves them and I had fun making them so it's win win in my book.
To see how I made these magnets check out my video below:
I am SOOOOO excited to be giving away a Xyron Creative Station Lite! Thank you SO much to Xyron for offering this fabulous prize - I was all for being able to give one away to one of you! This giveaway is open to US and Canadian readers only (sorry to my International peeps - hopefully I'll do a giveaway open to everyone soon) - follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget below to be entered in to win!
CONGRATS to Kirsty B! And thank you ALL for playing along and all your sweet comments. I love doing giveaways as a small way to give back to you guys for all the support - and hopefully can do another giveaway soon!
Hello hello everyone! I don't know about the rest of you but I am LOST this week already. It was a holiday here yesterday and it's thrown my week off - I kept thinking today was Monday! The positive in all this though is it's NOT Monday and Friday is that much closer LOL!
SO - it's time for a new Color Throwdown challenge:
I've had the SSS June Card Kit sitting on my desk ever since it arrived. I'd made the one card with one of the pre-printed panels that comes in the set but hadn't had a chance to use the stamp set - till today!
I did some stamping and embossing and Distress Ink watercoloring, and then some selective dot stamping to cover up a couple of oops (see video) LOL.
The sentiments on the inside and outside of the card are from a set I designed for SSS eons ago (I talked about it in this haul video) - called It's Your Birthday! and I finally got a chance to use that set for the first time too! And I approve of it ;).
Like I said I used one of the sentiments from the It's Your Birthday! set on the inside of the card then added a couple of the embossed and watercolored flowers and the stamped branch from the Look for the Miracles set and that was it!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
Hi everyone! I've got spotty wifi at the moment so I'm struggling to get links created and things posted - so I will edit the links later on to add individual links to the Studio Katia sequins and the separate Unity stamp sets if y'all would like!
To watch directly on YouTube click HERE <-----click!
Also HEADS UP that SSS loaded up their Steals & Deals with a TON of products and put them on sale this weekend! Lots are still in stock and some of these sales are huge!! Click HERE to shop <----click!
*The code BREEZY will give you $5 off your order of $5 or more!*
If you don't follow my Prairie Paper & Ink Facebook page make sure to head on over there and like it and follow. I post these deals as soon as I hear about them and share any coupon codes and whatnot as I find them!
Hey everyone! Here's a fun boy-themed name banner I made a few weeks ago:
I don't often film when I'm making things like this - no reason why I usually just get into the groove die cutting and adhering and forget about the camera LOL! This time tho I made a point of turning on the camera and actually filming the process.
I used a bunch of MFT Die-namics sets to die cut several different colors of American Crafts textured card stock - and since it was boy-themed I decided not to add a bunch of embellishments and whatnot.
To see how this banner came together check out my video below:
It's Friday! YAY! I'm participating as a Guest Designer in a blog hop for the Grand Opening of Kennedy Grace Creations today - there is a TON of inspiration packed into all the stops on the hop (plus a chance to win!) so make sure to check them all out! I'll have links at the end of the post.
I made a card with the Beautiful Bloom - Sweet Rose stamp set and the Vintage Teacup sequin mix:
I heat embossed the Sweet Rose image with Ranger Gold embossing powder then watercolored it in with my Mission Gold watercolours - like I say in the video I'm kind of obsessed with embossing images before watercoloring them in. It makes it SOOO much quicker and easier - which is exactly what I need in my life right now LOL!
I added some Wink of Stella to the flowers once I was done watercoloring them, and pulled in more of the gold by adding a layer of Prima gold vellum - LOVE! In case you hadn't noticed (or you read my blog through a reader and can't see my header/background etc) I have a thing for mint/gold/pink color combos.
I finished off the inside with the flower stamp again, and added a strip of card stock (after a slight screw up) with a stamped and embossed sentiment from the stamp set and that was it!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
Be sure to start at the beginning of the hop if you haven't already for all the info, plus info on how you can WIN one of 3 $25 gift certificates to the KGC store:
OK folks I finally went through and edited the footage I filmed a while ago LOL! I've already posted a couple of videos using the Spectrum Noir Sparkle brush pens, and y'all know I'm enjoying them ;). Here's my "official" lengthy rambling review:
It's me again with my second post for tonight (scroll down if you missed the previous one) - this time for this week's Color Throwdown challenge. Here's this week's colors:
If you want to play along check out the post HERE <-----click! There's info in the post as well as on the CTD blog sidebar which explains everything you need to know if you haven't played along before.
I loved making this card. I LOVE this Mama Elephant Organic Blooms stamp set - and the second I saw this color combo I knew I had to ink up this set!
Like I mention in the video I think this image would look GORGEOUS done in no-line watercolour - but I didn't have time for that. I barely had time to make this card. It's been crazier than usual lately and I've been struggling with finding the time to get work done, b/c lately by the time I get my monkey's in bed it's all I can do not to follow suit LOL!
Anywho - images like this lend themselves to elegant looking cards that don't take a lot of effort AKA time - which is EXACTLY what I need right now!
I embossed the images with Ranger's Liquid Platinum embossing powder, then watercolored them in with Distress Inks. I then went in and added some Clear Wink of Stella to give it some extra shimmer. Again it's something you have to see in real life to really appreciate how pretty the WofS is - though I get a decent capture of it in the video.
I finished off the inside of the card by stamping the main image again - this time with the Pumice Stone Distress ink - then stamping one of the sentiments from the set with Hero Arts Dye black ink and that was it!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
Just giving y'all a heads up that MFT's Flashy Florals card kit just went live in their boutique! I know not all of you follow me on my Facebook page (which is where I post all of the deals and codes and whatnot that I find plus heads up like this) so I thought I'd post this one here too b/c it's a FABULOUS kit this month and I have a feeling it will sell out really quick!
This one comes with it's own background stamp! I can't wait to get my hands on this kit!
Hello everyone! I'm nearly 100% over that nasty cold I had - feeling almost completely myself and sounding almost completely myself ;). I decided to keep things (sort of) simple and made a couple of fun little "flat" shaker cards using my Fuse Tool and several different Pretty Pink Posh sequins:
This Birdie Friends stamp set from PPP is adorable isn't it? Just looking at the main bird in the set the first thing that came to mind was a bluebird - and if I can make it sparkly while colouring it blue why not? The sparkle shows up MUCH better in the video - pictures just don't do it justice.
I am really liking the Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens so far. The brush is larger than the Wink of Stella so it takes a little getting used to - and like I mention in the video the sparkle in these is more white/silver/cool toned whereas the sparkle in the Wink of Stella is gold/warm toned. For me that just makes them different enough to justify having both LOL. The Spectrum Noir ones blend together and blend out with the clear better - though again in the video it doesn't work quite as well b/c I was using cheap white card stock when colouring with them. If I'd been using my Neenah card stock or watercolour paper they would have blended a lot easier - I've seen other people create some gorgeous blends with them and that was what pushed me over the edge to finally buy them.
I created little shaker pockets with the Fuse Tool and some leftover SSS stamp storage pocket pieces. This kept these cards pretty flat and easy to mail, of course I had to adhere several more sequins to them b/c I can't leave well enough alone!
I finished off the inside with some more of the same patterned paper I used on the front of the cards then stamped/embossed and coloured in the little birdie image from the set and that was it!
To see how these came together check out my video below:
Hi everyone! After posting the SSS June Card Kit Unboxing video I wasn't feeling too great so the card had to wait. I feel better now (but I sound worse - why that always happens to me I don't know - I am feeling a LOT better but my voice is just awful - thankfully I recorded the voiceover before it got really bad), so I made this quick card today while my littles were napping and got it edited too (woot woot!).
Ahhhhh SO bright, SO cheerful and SO easy to make - just color, layer and done!
It's hard to capture the shimmer in a picture but it shows pretty well in the video - I couldn't resist coating the letters with my Spectrum Noir Clear Glitter Overlay - it's SOOOOO pretty. And it was all I could do to resist coating the whole thing with it LOL!
Other than the bakers twine and the glitter brush everything is part of the June kit. I added links to some of the items that are available individually if anyone is interested too.
I used the Clean Color markers on the stamps from the set that comes in the kit to stamp a couple of the images on the inside of the card just to finish it off.
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
Hello everyone! The June Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp just went live, and mine JUST arrived earlier today - so I filmed a quick unboxing video to share with y'all, and hope I can get a card(s) and video(s) posted with it ASAP! :)
I have an affiliate relationship with Simon Says Stamp and they sponsor my blog. Affiliate links and this sponsorship help keep this blog and my social media running (and food on the table etc!), and affiliate links are at NO additional cost to the consumer. Please see my Disclosure/FYI statement below in the sidebar for additional info! ❤️
