Prairie Paper & Ink

Lawn Fawn Woodland Critter Huggers | AmyR Valentine 2018 Series #4 + Giveaway!!

Hey everyone! While this is technically supposed to be "Blue Monday" AKA the saddest day of the year (who comes up with these things?) I am in a GREAT mood as I'm back on track with the Valentine series AND I have a big giveaway for my Canadian peeps at the end! (Those not in Canada don't worry - I still have more giveaways coming that will be open to everyone).

I've had this Lawn Fawn Woodland Critter Huggers die set sitting on my desk ever since it arrived, and this weekend finally got a chance to make all these critters with it and OMG is it ever fun to play with!

I also finally cut into my Lawn Fawn card stocks that I may have been hoarding for some time (I've been rather open about my "collecting" of Lawn Fawn rather than actually "using" it......what can I say I just love owning it LOL). The Lawn Fawn card stock is REALLY nice - a great weight and so many fun colors. They released several more "neutral" colors which made me really happy as there weren't any previously. And of course the colors were perfect for creating these critters. 

I ended up adding some Ghirardelli chocolate squares to my characters and held them in place with a glue dot and added a little stitched heart die cut to finish them off.

The chocolates slip out easily, and I used mini glue dots to adhere the arms and the hearts so that if the kids want to play with these later or add other things it's easy to pry the arms apart (whereas liquid adhesive would be permanent and the only way to take the arms apart would be to tear them).

On the back of the fox critter hugger I made a pocket with the new Stitched Gift Card Pocket Lawn Cuts die. It fits the critters perfectly, and will be great on cards and tags too!

To see how these all came together check out my video below:

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!

To celebrate me passing 60,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel, ScrapNStamp Canada is giving away not one, not two but THREE $60 gift certificates to their store! One of the giveaways will be right here, the other two will be on my Facebook Page and my Instagram page (and yes you can enter all three to increase your chances to win ;)). This giveaway is open to Canadian residents as ScrapNStamp only ships within Canada. Those not in Canada stay tuned as I have more giveaways coming!

To enter follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

December 2017 Happy Mail Haul! | Cards from YOU + Giveaway!

Apologies for being SO late with this video! For those that don't follow my Instagram and Facebook this is what I posted a week ago:

The December Happy Mail Haul video is going to be late. Well it’s already late but it’s going to be later. I opened up everything and got it all organized and am so overwhelmed and emotional that I can’t film it right now. The thoughtfulness of some of you has touched my ❤️, and some of the deeply personal letters just have me at a bit of a loss. I just wanted to post this and say that I wish I could respond personally to every letter and card and gift sent to me - but it’s just impossible. Know that I read them and that you are being heard, and that while I can’t personally respond to them that I think about you/your situation/what you’re going through and the fact that MY videos brighten your day and make things even a little bit easier, or give you a little bit of an escape means more to me than you’ll ever know. Know that I send you a HUGE virtual hug and that as annoying as it is to hear (because I’ve rolled my eyes when people have said it to me) this too shall pass. That’s it from me for the moment. I WILL get this video filmed soon to share with all of you - once I can look at it all and not be a blubbering mess 😭lol. ❤️❤️’s and Hugs to all of you - I really do have the best corner of the interwebs and love you all to pieces ❤️❤️❤️~AmyR

SO, I sat down today and filmed it all to share with all of you: 

You can watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

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

January Theme: Love/Valentines Day

February Theme: Kindness/Thank You

March Theme: Animals/Critters/Bugs

April Theme: Mother's Day/Coffee

Like I mention in all the Happy Mail Haul videos - I am not strict with the themes.. 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!

Now for the Giveaway!

Again thank you Michelle for sending these to me and allowing them to be used as a giveaway! All you have to do to be entered is follow the steps in the rafflecopter widget below (and make sure you're using an e-mail address that you check frequently as it's what I use to contact the winner!):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and THANK YOU!! <3 <3 <3 

Simon Says Stamp February 2018 Card Kit Unboxing! | A Colorful Crafty Life

Hey everyone! Apologies if I sound off in the video - not only was it super early in the morning here when I filmed it but I've come down with a cold and I'm sure y'all can hear it - sorry!

This kit was SO much fun to dive into and share with y'all - I'm really excited to start playing with it and all the different things that came in it.

 

You can watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

And I have links to the kit as well as to the Q&A and Subscription info, as well as to all the items individually:

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

SSS Stripes Card Wrap & From the Rooftops + Giveaway!!

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be hopping along with a bunch of other fabulous designers showcasing products from Simon Says Stamp's Friends release! This is Day 2 of hopping - you can check out Day 1 HERE if you missed it!

The Simon Says Stamp Friends release is AMAZING - I did 2 separate Release & Review videos on it - you can check those out below if you missed them. Also stay tuned to the end of the post as there's give-away info!

Simon Says Stamp Friends Release & Review!

Part 2 | Simon Says Stamp Friends Release & Review!

If you didn't get here from Nichol's blog you can start at the beginning at the SSS blog HERE <----click!

Here's the cards I made:

I had so many of you asking how the new Stripes Card Wrap die worked so I combined that with the new From The Rooftops stamp set (as well as 3 new sentiment dies on the inside) to make my cards.

These are 4 1/4" square cards.

This Stripes Card Wrap die is really easy to use once you've done it once or twice. I explain it all in the video, and once I got started I decided to make 3 cards with it.

I used Ranger watercolor paper for all the inner cards (that are 4x4") and stamped the images from the From The Rooftops stamp set with Versafine Onyx black ink then watercolored them in with my Sakura Koi watercolors.

On this card I splattered a bunch of Copic Opaque White paint to make it look like snow.

For this card I masked the buildings after watercoloring (and everything was dry) then splattered on the Copic Opaque white lightly so that it looked more like stars.

On all the cards I added sentiments that I'd stamped and heat embossed on black card stock with white embossing powder.

I finished off all the insides of the cards with die cut sentiments using new dies from the Friends release and that was it!

To see how this card came together check out my video below: 

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-------click!

Next stop on the hop is Kelly Latevola's awesome blog <------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!    

Now for the GIVEAWAY!

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from all the blog posts comment sections. Simon will choose winners over the weekend and post on the Simon Says Stamp store blog on Wednesday January 17. The winners can email SSS to claim his/her prize :) Good luck!! <3 

Honey Bee Lotus Blossoms Smile Card | Distress Ink Watercolor

It's Friday already?!?! This week has been pure insanity. Anywho - I was able to kill two birds with one stone and make a Honey Bee card using the colors from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge:

You can check out what the rest of the CTD team made with these colors HERE <-----click! and play along if you haven't already!

Here's what I created:

I used Honey Bee Stamps Lotus Blossom stamp, and created several masks with it from some Post It paper. I then stamped the image multiple times onto watercolor paper using black ink, masking as I went along.

I used MFT's new Extreme Black ink for my stamping - so far so good! I've only used it this one time but I can say I'm happy with the results so far! And of COURSE I had to add in some of the new Black & White Striped patterned paper - it was calling to me ;).

I then used Distress Inks to watercolor in the flowers. For my sentiments I used the Honey Bee Smile Honey Cuts die and the coordinating Smile stamp set.

After everything was adhered I added several Honey Bee Rainbow Rhinestones to finish off the front of the card.

For the inside of the card I stamped the Lotus Blossom image multiple times with the Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, then stamped another sentiment from the Smile set with black ink and that was it!

To see how this card came together check out my video below:

 

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Ellen Hutson S'Whale Watercolor Cards | Dr PH Martins Hydrus Colors

Hey everyone. Just like I've been saying all week, I'm playing catch up and trying to get back on track with everything. 2018 has definitely been a rough start for me and it boggles my mind that we're almost halfway through January already!!

OK - back to the post. Ellen Hutson released new stamps and dies this week:

You can check out their new release HERE <------click!

I was invited to guest design on the CLASSroom blog to celebrate the release - and am sharing the cards and video here too!

I used the new S'Whale stamp set and coordinating die set to make my cards, along with a new-to-me set of watercolors. The Dr Ph. Martin's Hydrus watercolors have been on the market for however many years, and I got a set of them some time ago, and finally cracked them open to play with and make these cards.

I used hot press watercolor paper for my background and for the stamped and heat embossed images. The backgrounds were basically just me dropping in color and pushing it around (easier to show in the video!).

I popped up the whales and the sentiments with foam tape, and added some Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins.

I finished off the insides of the cards by stamping the cluster of fish images repeatedly, added more sentiments and that was it!

To see how these cards came together check out my video below:

 

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

MFT January 2018 Release & Review!

Hey everyone! I FINALLY have my MFT January Release & Review video and all the links to share with y'all. It's been one setback after another for me lately (no joke, the minute one thing has been taken care of something else pops up and it's been insanity). I have been SO excited about this release, and my notifications across social media and people messaging and e-mailing asking where the video is and was I aware about what they've released etc etc etc LOLOL!

YES - totally aware. I shared a snippet on social media last week during MFT's sneak peeks, then filmed this Release & Review video then was sidetracked taking care of sick kids and now I'm coming down with something (one thing after another!).

SO - here's the LOOONNGGG video - grab a cuppa and settle in if you like listen to me ramble my stream of consciousness as I rave over all these new goodies. And if that's not your thing you can skip the video and just check out all the new products below: 

Watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

You can check out the entire release at MFT HERE <-------click!

Simon Says Stamp has it all in stock HERE <------click!

And for my Canadian peeps Scrap N Stamp has it all in stock HERE <------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Pretty Pink Posh LOVE Shaker Card | AmyR Valentine 2018 Series #3

Hello everyone! I am excited to be participating in a blog hop and birthday celebration for Pretty Pink Posh today!

If you didn't get here from Shannon's blog you can start at the beginning at the Pretty Pink Posh blog <-------click! PPP has giveaways (info on that at the end of the post) and specials going on during this 3 day hop - more info on the specials at the end of the post!

You can check out the new Pretty Pink Posh products HERE <-----click!

I had the hardest time deciding which stamps and dies to use first - but the Valentine-themed ones won out:

I used the new Love Shaker Die and Cupid Friends stamp set along with the new Iridescent Heart Confetti to make a fun Valentine shaker card.

I heat embossed the images onto Bristol Smooth card stock with white embossing powder then used Distress Oxide inks and a water brush to color them in.

The Love Shaker die cut and the background were sponged with the oxides, backed with clear acetate then turned into a shaker that I generously filled with the Iridescent Hearts Confetti.

I finished off the inside of the card by heat embossing the sentiment from the Cupid Friends stamp set and stamped the little solid heart cluster with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink and that was it!

To see how this card came together check out my video below:

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <------click!

Next stop on the hop is Laura Bassen's awesome blog <--------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

You can shop the new Pretty Pink Posh release HERE <------click! 

PRIZES: Pretty Pink Posh be giving away 2 $50 gift certificates to random comments left on the different stops every day! That’s right, we’re giving away a total of SIX $50 gift certificates! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on my post!

 

Pretty Pink Posh January 2018 Release & Review!

Hello everyone! So many awesome new releases this month from my favorite crafty shops - Pretty Pink Posh being one of them! I was invited to participate in their blog hop to celebrate their 4th birthday and release - you can check that out HERE if you missed it!

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

Like I mentioned in the video I don't have the entire release to show to y'all but I've got the links to everything!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

SSS Picture Book Birthday Card

Hey everyone! Monday is almost (finally) over - it's been a rough start to the week to say the least. One of my kids is sick and I've been on clean up duty. Really hoping it's just a 24hour bug and that the other 3 kids (or me) don't catch it (it's the worst when my kids are sick - I just feel horrible for them).

SO - needless to say I haven't created anything new. However I had mentioned over a month ago that I'd made a card using a whole herd of Simon Says Stamp's Picture Book animal wafer dies. I was able to get that video edited and uploaded so here's the finished card:

This is a 5x7" card - I wanted to add so many animals and balloons to it that it all wouldn't fit (without really crowding them) onto the standard A2 card size.

There's NO stamping and NO embellishments on it either. I thought about it - but I really like the look of the die cuts from all the coloured card stocks and wanted that to be the focus.

All of the balloons and all of the animals are popped up with foam tape, and all the balloons are attached with heavy white thread. I used the foam tape on the animals to hold the ends of the threads in place, though if I were to re-make this card I'd just run a piece of tape along the bottom before adhering the animals. It would save having to fiddle with the threads (which I did a lot of LOL and just edited out of the final cut of the video).

On the inside of the card I added the number 12 that I die cut (the dies I used were retired some time ago - I linked to similar ones that Altenew released recently) along with a Happy Birthday die cut. I used SSS's glitter paper. If you love glitter and love die cutting you NEED their glitter paper - it is AMAZING. Die cuts like a dream and the glitter doesn't flake off and it doesn't have a smell. Some glitter papers have a horrible smell to them that just lingers. These papers don't have any sort of odour to them.

So that finished off this card - to see how it all came together check out my video below: 

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-----click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Ellen Hutson Photo Lady | Copic Markers and Distress Oxides

OK I'm back with my second post! If you missed my Quick Tip post from earlier you can find it here:

Quick Tip - Creating Stickers out of Die Cuts

Now for the finished card:

I used Ellen Hutson's Leading Ladies - Photo Lady stamp set and coordinating die set for this card. I also found an older polaroid die set that just went perfectly with these images.

I ended up fussy cutting out the phone she's holding, and used a craft knife (I LOVE the PenBlades - they're SUPER sharp and the fact that they retract so easily is a good thing for me. I tend to be a klutz and cutting myself happens way too often so these make that way less likely to happen (so far so good and I've been using them for around a year or so now)) to cut around her hand. In the end it looks like the image was stamped like this with her holding the phone!

I sponged several Distress Oxide inks onto my background and splattered them with water. I did the same thing with the centre of the Polaroid die cut just to make it all "go" together a little better.

I finished off the inside of the card with another sentiment from the set and a couple of the remaining camera images and that was it!

To see how this card came together check out my video below:

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Quick Tip - Creating Stickers out of Die Cuts

Hey everyone! I am still having a rather rough time recovering from the root canal I got earlier in the week (I'm not surprised. I've had a root canal done before and it was not a fun process for me during recovery - so this was expected). I'm so far behind with work and deadlines and giveaways too (the giveaways will be coming soon - I have some BIG ones still to do!) and it's just been rough!

That said - I was cleaning out files on my computer and came across videos I hadn't uploaded to my channel (again not surprised LOL. I was posting SO much in the fall and for my Christmas Card series that these ones got buried under everything else) - so I'll be doing that today! 

First up is this Quick Tip video. I haven't done videos like this in a long time - it's on my list to start doing them more regularly again. 

You can watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-------click!

The completed card video will be coming later (after I re-record the voiceover - the original became decided to disappear during the purging of my files but as I still have the edited footage this is a task I can manage right now!)

 

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!   

Honey Bee Thanks Card | Color Throwdown Challenge #474

Hello everyone! It's Friday!! I haven't posted much at all this week - I've posted a couple of updates on my social media (Facebook and Instagram are my main ones, I am on Twitter but still haven't figured out what all I'm doing on there yet LOL) regarding my dental issues.

I had a root canal yesterday, and it's looking like it'll take me a couple of days to be back to normal. Right now I'm on pain meds still and REALLY sore. But the main appointment was done and now I get to figure out how I'll find the time (and $$) for all the future appointments needed as this was just the beginning sadly! I'm all about figuring it out though.

That said, the pain and pain meds and stress and anxiety took a toll. This week was rough, and made it really difficult to get any work done. I still have giveaways planned, and deadlines and projects due and all that fun stuff. So stay tuned! I did finally get my card made for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge:

There's still time to play along if you'd like - you can check out the CTD blog post HERE <-----click! to see what the rest of the team created and to play along too!

Here's what I came up with:

I used Honey Bee Stamps Ten Things stamp set - it has these 3 great feather images in the set that I stamped onto white card stock with grey ink.

I then heat embossed the Large Thanks stamp onto vellum with Avery Elle's Rose Gold embossing powder, trimmed it out with scissors and adhered it to the panel with some of my favorite Darice foam strips.

It's almost impossible to capture the sparkle in a picture (you can see it better in the video) but I added Spectrum Noir's Clear Sparkle overlay to the feathers for a bit of "pop"!

I finished off the inside of the card with a sentiment I built from stamps in the Honey Bee Thanks and Giving stamp set. I stamped that in the same grey ink then stamped the feathers (again I had trouble getting a decent pic of it) with the same Insulation Pink shade as the card stock. It's so subtle but it's there, and that finished off the card!

To see how it all came together check out my video below: 

Or watch in HD over on YouTube HERE <-------click!

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 products  have little icons below the image it means there's more than one place it can be purchased. You can hover over the icons and it will tell you what store that link will take you to. 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!