Happy Saturday everyone! It's the 14th so Simon Says Stamp's November Card Kit was just revealed - and mine JUST showed up so I lost no time in filming and uploading my unboxing video of it. My voice is sounding better and better (still not feeling near 100% but I'll take every little bit of progress) - so I'm hoping/planning on creating like mad with all the new stuff that's showed up lately!
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
It's Friday! Yay! It's been the longest week ever for me - this bronchitis has nearly done me in. I'm still plugging along though!!
The package from Simon Says Stamp containing most of the products from their Making Spirits Bright release showed up yesterday (that was why I wasn't in the blog hops like I usually am - Canada Post decided to just take it's time in getting it to me! :(...) - so I lost no time in filming a release and review video to show you everything I've got and my random thoughts on all of it.
I'm still surprised my voice held on for all of it - this video is almost 30 mins long! So if you're a fan of the longer videos pull up a chair and a cup of your favourite poison (coffee for me this morning but I'll be switching to mint tea with honey right away - that's been helping a lot) and enjoy!
And you can check out the entire exclusive Making Spirits Bright release HERE <------click! as well as individually at all the links below (in the order I showed them on the video - all the other items not shown are at the end of the list).
I'll be back soon with cards using these goodies! :) :) :)
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Just a heads up for those that might not be aware. I have a Sales & Coupons tab at the top of my blog right below my banner - when you click on it you're taken to the page where I keep the latest sales and coupon codes (as well as new release info!) from my favourite companies. I find it's easier to have all that info in one place and on one page rather than having it all sprinkled throughout my posts here.
I wanted to post about this now as there are some time-sensitive sales going on as of right now, plus there are several great new releases and I have links to all of it on the page! You can keep checking back often as I update it regularly!! :)
Still plugging along! Things are taking me longer than usual (but really what else is new) - but I'm still getting cards and videos up (I mentioned before how it literally makes me feel better when I'm being productive - maybe it's a single mom thing LOL).
Anywho - this was this week's Color Throwdown Challenge:
Very Halloween-y and I love it of course. Check out their blog post HERE <------click! to see what the rest of the team created and to play along!
Here's what I came up with:
These are all 4.25" square cards.
I've been itching to ink up the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Pumpkinhead set for weeks now - finally got my chance to! And of course I combined them with all the crazy animal sets while I was at it.
I heat embossed the images onto Canson XL watercolor paper using Avery Elle black embossing powder (I explain my reasons for using black EP (usually my nemesis) in the video) then watercolored them in with Distress Inks.
All of the hats (from the Crazy Things set) were stamped and embossed and coloured separately and then die cut with the coordinating dies (did you know the Sizzix die sets that coordinate with all the Tim Holtz stamp sets cut on the line? Meaning there's no "white space" around the image. That plus with a lot of the sets there are extra dies to cut out certain parts making it easy to pop things up and create more 3-dimensional effects).
I added glossy accents to all the eyes, Copic Opaque white splatter to all the panels, and used my Stardust Gelly Roll pen for some shimmer on the hat buckles.
I finished off all the insides with the Happy Halloween sentiment from the Pumpkinhead set, and stamped the pumpkins onto some SSS Orange envelopes to finish everything off.
To see how these cards came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
If you'd like to be entered in to win one of these cards just follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget below (and make sure you're using an e-mail address that you check frequently - there have been several alternate winners chosen throughout this series as people haven't been responding to my e-mail telling them they've won and that I need their mailing address to mail the card!).
Well.......I still feel pretty horrible. Though bronchitis can take some time to clear up and go away - the worst part of it (besides the relentless coughing and exhaustion) is what it does to my voice! Makes it rather difficult when my job depends on it. OK whining is done for now LOL - I still have a card and video to share with y'all:
My card for Honey Bee Stamps this week is a cute one in my opinion ;). I knew immediately I wanted to use this Forest Friends set b/c it's adorable and I've been wanting to use it since it arrived!
I decided to do some Prismacolor Pencil colouring on kraft for the images. I LOVE the look of color pencils on kraft (or darker) card stocks. The colors just pop more, plus kraft is a helluva lot more forgiving than colouring on white card stock LOL! Also adding white gel pen over color pencils over kraft just makes life better.
I love the little banner dies that come in the coordinating First Friends Honey Cuts set. The fact that they're 2 dies so that you can pop the one up for added dimension to make the banner LOOK like a proper banner just makes me happy!
I also used the Ocean Borders large stamp for my background again. I love the swirls in it and they totally don't have to be "water" IMO.
On the inside of the card I stamped the images with kraft ink, then stamped the sentiment with black ink over it. The set includes a bunch of little heart stamps - I inked up 3 of them with the same pink ink I used on the card front and that finished it off!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Hello everyone! I'm back with another set of cards and another video! I may be sick but I was extra productive today (and that always helps make me feel better LOL) so I was able to get this video up to share with y'all.
I wanted to get this one posted ASAP as the sentiment set is rather time-sensitive and in limited quantities. It was the last release for Simon Says Stamp's STAMPtember exclusive releases - all of which are/were limited edition so once they've sold out they're gone for good. THIS set is still in stock as of posting this though!
Fall is my favourite time of year and I was in the mood to create a fall floral card - so that's what I did:
I pulled out an older SSS set - Floral Bliss. I haven't done my "faux no-line watercoloring" in a while so I decided to go with that for these cards. I explain it all better in the video - but essentially what I do is stamp my images with SSS Barely Beige ink, then (very simply - no fancy blending or layering really) watercolor in the images.
For these I used Daniel Smith watercolors. DS watercolors are fabulous - and technically buying them by the tube can get quite pricey when you want a variety of colors. However DS makes these great dot charts, and SSS has even released a couple of exclusive one. This is a VERY affordable way to try out some great watercolors, and when you find certain colors that you just love then those are the ones to get tubes of!
After I'd coloured in all the flowers I die cut the panels with the largest of the SSS Wonky Rectangles dies, and stamped the sentiments from the Honey Bee Stamps SSS exclusive Remarkable You set. The script words I heat embossed with SSS's Rose Gold Embossing Powder.
I used more sentiments from the Remarkable You set on the insides of the cards, again heat embossing the script words with the Rose Gold embossing powder, and that was it!
To see how these cards came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
It's Tuesday already?!? It being a long weekend for us Canadians (Happy belated Thanksgiving to all my peeps) plus getting sick has thrown me all out of whack.
My voice still isn't back to normal - however this momma's gotta work (kids need to eat and them bills need to be paid!) and I have SOOOO much to share with y'all!
SO - here's 4 fun Halloween cards LOL:
I used MFT's Happy Haunting stamp set and coordinating die-namics for these cards. I couldn't choose just one image to work with so I used all of them and created 4 cards.
All the images were coloured with Copic markers (with added white gel pen highlights of course) and all of them were popped up with mini action wobbles. It's such a quick and easy way to add extra "wow" to your cards with little-to-no effort. AND they press down flat for easy mailing too!
All the backgrounds were done by masking off all but the circle then I sponged Distress Oxide inks, and then added Copic Opaque White splatters over them all.
I finished all the insides by stamping the characters in the same Distress Oxide inks, then stamping the clouds with Hero Arts Unicorn White pigment ink. I added the moon, stamped the sentiment and that was it!
To see how these cards came together check out my video below (hopefully my voice isn't terribly annoying):
Hello everyone! I have another card and video to share with y'all that was thankfully filmed and edited before I caught this rotten cold. As I'm sitting here FULLY enjoying my morning coffee I thought I'd get this post up before I head into the kitchen to start prepping and cooking turkey (Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!).
WPlus9 asked me to guest design for them last month - which was an "of course" from me LOL. I love their stamps and am always in awe of Dawn (the owner) and her watercoloring (and her card making in general - that woman has some serious talent) as well as the rest of their team and their guests. It's a big honour to be asked back again!
I needed to make a birthday card at the time, and one of my favourite things to create is birthday cards and especially birthday cards that I can customize for the person I'm giving it to. When asked what his favourite colors were I was told "rainbow and gold" (and my response was yassssssss *fist bump* LOL).
I used WPlus9's Friends for all Seasons: Fall stamp set and coordinating dies - I love the little balloons and the adorable bear in the set. I stamped them onto hot press (smooth) watercolor paper and used my Mission Gold watercolors to color them in.
I coloured the balloons in rainbow order of course - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. The bear I coloured in grey then dropped in some of the balloon colors. Kristina Werner did that on a card recently and I LOVED how it looked so I had to try it out.
On the inside of the card is where I did my personalizing. I have the WPlus9 Whimsy Alphabet stamp set and coordinating dies and just love them - they're PERFECT of course for spelling out names or to make your own sentiments. And of course I had to do the letters in rainbow colors as well!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Thank you all for the get-well wishes - I really appreciate it. I still feel a little cruddy - and sound a LOT cruddy. The last few years whenever I get a cold it takes out my voice and it's horrible. I have a bunch of cooking to do tomorrow but I'll have help and I am REALLY looking forward to Turkey and all the fixin's ;).
However I thankfully filmed this BEFORE I got sick - so y'all don't need to hear me croak lols:
Thank you ALL so very much for taking the time and all the effort to send cards and gifts. The gifts are so not necessary - however I appreciate them too. Picking up the mail at my PO Box is a major highlight. Sharing what y'all have sent me is another major highlight - and I love it when you guys leave comments and praise for everyone in the comments on here and on YouTube. We're building a really awesome Prairie Paper & Ink corner of the interwebs and I love it :).
Please leave some love in the comments (as well as any questions etc you might have) for the senders - I know they'd love to read them!!
If you'd like to mail a card to be featured in an upcoming Happy Mail Haul video here's my mailing address:
Amy Rysavy
Box 1041 MARTENSVILLE PO
Martensville, SK
S0K 2T0
Canada
October Theme: Holiday/Christmas
November Theme: Winter/Shaker Cards
December Theme: Ice/Sparkle/Glitter
January Theme: Love/Valentines Day
Like I mention in all the Happy Mail Haul videos - I am not strict with the themes in the least. The post can be notoriously slow especially getting to me here in Canada, so I like to share everything that shows up in my PO Box the previous month regardless!
Hello everyone! I'm participating in a blog hop with Honey Bee Stamps and Chibitronics to celebrate World Cardmaking Day!
FYI my video is different than usual. I completely lost my voice - I ended up with the worst cold this week and by the time I finished editing this video my voice was just horrible. SO - I added subtitles and music. It's not ideal (and took 10x longer than it does usually to edit - so definitely something I'll only do when I have no other options) but I so wanted to share the video with you all to show how I made my card light up!
I'll have links to all the other stops on the hop later on in the post!
Here's what I created:
I was inspired by this card by Leanne that I had seen on Instagram when making my card.
I used Honey Bee Stamps Bushel and a Peck stamp set along with their Happy Fall Y'all stamp set for the flowers.
Everything was stamped onto Neenah Solar White 80lb card stock with Hero Arts Intense Black ink then coloured in with Copic markers.
All of the images are popped up on a double layer of foam tape. To create the Jack O Lantern face on the basket I first sketched it with a pencil then used a PenBlade to cut it out. I backed that with vellum that I'd coloured yellow with a Copic marker.
Behind all of that is the circuits and lights and battery from a Chibitronics starter kit. When you press on the large flower:
The face lights up!!
I finished off the inside of the card with a Happy Halloween sentiment (from the Honey Bee Stamps Hey, Pumpkin! stamp set) and that was it!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Shop Honey Bee Stamps <-------click! and save 20% off your entire regular priced purchase with the code WCMD20
GIVEAWAY INFO!
Honey Bee Stamps will be giving away a $25 gift card to HBS, and Chibitronics will be giving away a Starter Pack ($30US value) to some lucky winners! For your chance to win be sure to leave comments on all the blog hop posts (including this one!). Good luck! :) :) :)
Despite my best intentions I'm way late with my card for this week's Color Throwdown challenge. I'm fighting a cold (ugh) and the kids have been sick off and on as well. Gotta love this time of year....
Anywho - here's this week's inspiration:
SO cute amiright? Check out the CTD blog post HERE <-------click! to see what the rest of the design team made and to play along if you'd like!
Here's what I came up with:
The second I saw the inspiration picture I knew I had to use the Neat & Tangled Merry Kisses set. I paired it with their Together stamp and die set, as well as Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies.
I stamped the fox image onto Kraft card stock with Versafine Onyx Black ink then coloured them in with my Prismacolor Color Pencils.
The Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity dies I embossed into the white card stock, then adhered the foxes on top.
I finished off the inside of the card with sentiments from the Together stamp set and that was it!
To see how this card came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Let me start this post off by saying YES this is a lot of stuff (a LOT - I knew the Holiday and Christmas releases were going to be great this year and I've been planning this for months!). This was multiple orders/pre-orders placed over a span of I'm not sure how long, plus many amazing products sent to me. I received some grief when I posted part 1 of this "haul" video and just wanted to clarify and remind/inform those that aren't aware that I do this as a job. These are business supplies for me (albeit super fun ones in my opinion - but still a full time + job that I dedicate roughly 50/60 hours a week to).
I share these videos with everyone b/c I pretty much share EVERYTHING with all of you LOL! That and the overwhelming feedback is positive (I have some of the most amazing group of people that visit my corner of the interwebs - again the positive and cheerful FAR outweigh the negative) . I like to SEE products like this too - that was the main reason I started doing haul videos. And so many of you reached out and told me how much you enjoy them so I've continued on. As I've built up my business/subscribers/reach I've received more products and been able to purchase more. That plus the fact that I don't go out often (restaurants/salon/shoes/etc etc etc) so this is also my "fun".
Anywho - now that I got that out of the way (it needed to be addressed at some point - may as well do it now LOL!) - on to the video!
And links to everything at multiple sources are below!
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
That's right. Settle in with a cuppa whatever your choice is (now that it's getting cooler out here I'll be drinking tea, tho I HAVE to start my day with coffee. It's not safe for anyone otherwise.....lol) as this video is 20ish minutes. Part 2 is equally long! SO much amazingness being released! I love all these companies and all their fabulous products:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
Oh Monday - it's cold and dreary here today so let's warm things up a bit with a warm cuppa shall we?
I had so many people asking for me to use this Impression Obsession Pumpkin Cup stamp set after I showed it in a haul a few weeks ago. LOL me getting to all the Halloween themed products that I've got this year is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Sooooo many companies have released so much fun stuff (which in years past wasn't the case! I remember having to really search and hunt down products for my Halloween series - now there's TONS out there - which I LOVE), and I'm just struggling to find the time to use it all! It's a good problem to have though.
I decided to make 2 cards instead of just one - when all the supplies are out why not?
I did some masking when stamping the images onto Canson XL watercolour paper, then watercolored it all in with a really affordable (AKA dirt cheap!) watercolor set. I masked off everything but the whip cream and then splattered on some of the brown watercolor to make it look like it had been sprinkled with cinnamon.
The background was stamped with the Impression Obsession Webs Cover-a-Card background - LOVE how that looks stamped in black on dark grey card stock!
I finished off the insides of the cards with a sentiment from the Pumpkin Cup set and some more of the patterned paper from the Pebbles Midnight Haunting pack and that was it!
To see how these cards came together check out my video below:
I get asked a lot about where to purchase the supplies I use in my videos and blog posts. I list all the supplies I use at the end of my posts (below) or in the description box directly below my video on YouTube. If the product images have sets of letters below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. SSS = Simon Says Stamp, AZ = Amazon, MFT = My Favourite Things, SnS = Scrap N Stamp (Canada) etc. Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no extra cost to you. Affiliate linking is what keeps my blog and YouTube channel up and running and enables me to work from home with my kids! I appreciate your support more than words can say!
I occasionally receive product for free from stores/manufacturer with no obligation on my part to use/review - I only use and share what I personally love. Everything else I purchase myself!
I'm giving away these cards to 2 of you as well! Just follow the steps in the Raffelcopter widget below to be entered in to the random draw to win and I'll mail each to a winner!
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! ❤️
