Prairie Paper & Ink

Alcohol Ink and Foil | SSS Cosmo Flower Frame | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #7

Hey everyone! Crazy to believe that it's the end of April already!! I'm still making Mother's Day cards - so many ideas and so little time as usual. I've been having technical difficulties the last few days between my blog provider and my old computer (laptop update for those aware of my laptop crashing a couple months ago - it's bricked. Even after a new hard drive was installed EVERYTHING was done and it's never going to work again. We can re-purpose that new hard drive elsewhere but I'm now trying to figure out what I will do as a new MacBook isn't something I was planning on having to purchase!) I'm behind on things as usual.

Last week's Color Throwdown Challenge was this:

You can check out what the rest of the Design Team created with these colors HERE <-----click! There's a little bit of time left to play along with this challenge before the new one on Wednesday!

Here's what I created:

I decided to experiment for today's card and so I pulled out some alcohol inks in colors that went with the Color Throwdown Challenge, and also added a bit of foil accents to my background. It's definitely something you need to experiment with to find the timing and whatnot that will work - you want the build-up of alcohol ink to be sticky still but not "runny" if that makes sense. Then the foil will stick to that and you get this really neat effect that is much more obvious than just adding any of the metallic alcohol mixatives (which I really like those as well it's just a different look).

I used Simon Says Stamp's Cosmo Flower Frame wafer die and white card stock for my card front - it let so much of the ink background and foil show without taking away from it.

The die cut and stamped sentiment are from Simon's All My Love stamp set and coordinating Love wafer die.

To finish off the inside of the card I used the Simon Loving Heart stamp set and stamped one of the sentiments with black ink and stamped some of the hearts from the set with a pink dye 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! 

Honey Bee Stamps Cloudy Skies | Honey Bee Cloudy Skies | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #6

Hey everyone! I have yet another Mother's Day card for this years series - with this one being very non-traditional as well as being suited for Father's Day, significant others, etc etc etc.

I was inspired to create a rainy day scene using stencils and die cuts after coming across the Honey Bee Stamps Happiness stamp set and this sentiment. I used the raindrop stencil from the HB Fall Showers stencil set along with my Nuvo Blue Topaz Glimmer paste (SOOOOO pretty) on some light grey card stock.

I used the Cloud Borders dies and darker grey card stocks, and the Happy die set and yellow card stock and vellum to complete my card front.

To complete my scene as well as the theme/sentiment I used the Sunburst A2 Cover Plate die and blue and yellow card stocks. I then created a sentiment using stamps from the Happiness set and white heat embossed that onto another grey card stock that I'd cut with one of the Cloud Borders 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! 

SSS Take Heart | Foil Accents 2 Ways | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #5

Yay! It's Friday!! If you missed my sale info post from earlier you can check it out HERE <-----click!

On to today's card:

I wanted to create a card using the second smaller stamp set and the wafer die that comes in the SSS May card kit (unboxing video of that HERE and first 2 cards and video HERE) - so that's what I did.

I stamped the tea cup flowers image and the hummingbird onto Arches cold press watercolor paper and coloured them in using a Daniel Smith dot chart and a water brush. 

I was completely inspired by the Pinkfresh enamel heart that's adhered to the cup - the gold foil "splatters" in it got me wondering how I could achieve that look on my card.

My first attempt was to spray the new Distress Resist Spray onto the patterned paper, coat it with Sticky Embossing powder and heat it with my heat tool until it melts (unlike regular embossing powder Sticky embossing powder will melt and become shiny and sticky). I then used a DecoFoil gold foil sheet and rubbed it against that sticky embossing powder with Simon's teflon bone folder and peeled it away to reveal gold foil splatter - success!!

To get the gold foil accents on the flower centres and the tea cup I used Tonic's Smooth Precision glue pen - it worked too but I need to experiment with it more.

I finished off the inside of the card with remaining bits of the patterned paper I'd used on the front, and a heat embossed sentiment from the Mom & Dad Icons stamp set 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! 

WPlus9 SALE at Simon Says Stamp!

Hey everyone! Just a heads up for those that aren't on my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter or Instagram:

Simon Says Stamp has a SALE on all WPlus9 products <--------click! in their store - save 25% with the code WP9427

Here are some of my favourites from WPlus9 (so hard to narrow it down lol): 

SSS Quick & Easy Sentiment Cards | May 2018 Card Kit

Hello everyone! It's only Tuesday but it's shaping up to be a chaotic week, however I was able to squeeze in some creating with the May 2018 Simon Says Stamp card kit. If you missed my unboxing video with this kit you can check it out here:

SSS May 2018 Card Kit Unboxing! | Kind Heart Card Kit

I fell in love with the new Everything Together stamp set (one of 2!) that comes in the kit - anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for good sentiments! So I made those the focus of my cards:

As well, anyone who knows me knows I struggle a LOT with stickers/pre-printed embellishments etc when card making. They're just not something I tend to use, however I was determined to use some of them on today's cards:

I stamped the sentiments with SSS Intense Black ink onto Ivory card stock then used SSS Rectangle and Circle dies to cut them out. I then cut the coloured card stocks with the larger shape dies to frame the sentiments.

The patterned papers that come in the kit were die cut with SSS Stitched Rectangle dies and I added some of the Pinkfresh puffy stickers that came in the kit as embellishments.

I finished off the insides of the cards with more sentiments from the Everything Together stamp set 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 Bold Blossoms Faux Watercolor | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #4

Hello everyone! For today's card I revisited an oldie-but-goodie "faux watercolor" technique I'd done a couple of years ago and wanted to try out again:

I stamped images from MFT's Bold Blossoms stamp set onto Canson XL watercolor paper using MFT dye inks (Razzle Berry, Blu Raspberry, Grapesicle and Sour Apple) then sprayed it with water which causes the inks to run a bit. I love the mottled watercolor look it gives after it's dry!

I stamped the flower centres with black ink and added some splatter with some Black Soot Distress Paint (that you NEED to give a good long time to dry - trust me on this one. I smeared my first attempt at filming this card because I didn't let the splatter dry long enough!).

I die cut the uppercase MOM using the new Mom Die-namics and stacked it with multiple die cuts from purple card stock before adhering the patterned ones to the top. The sentiment is from the new All About Mom stamp set and was white heat embossed onto black card stock.

I finished off the inside of the card by stamping the floral images in a cluster in the centre and adding another heat embossed sentiment from the All About Mom stamp set 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! 

SSS May 2018 Card Kit Unboxing! | Kind Heart Card Kit

Hey everyone!! Another post and video from me today - if you missed my previous post you can check it out HERE:

 Tonic Shimmer Powders w a Background Stamp | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #3

And if you missed the sale info I posted here it is:

Just a heads up for those that aren't on my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter or Instagram:

Simon Says Stamp has loaded up their Steals & Deals <------click! Tons of items on sale - some at HUGE discounts! These deals don't last long and sell out quickly just FYI!!

Also - code SPR5F will get you $5 off your order!

Happy shopping!! ;) ;) 

Now on to the card kit! For whatever reason Canada Post is taking FOREVER to get me my packages again - so I wasn't able to post this last week when it all went live - but it's still available and I've had a lot of you asking where my unboxing video was!

So here's my Unboxing video of the May kit!

 

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

And here are all the links!

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! 

Tonic Shimmer Powders w a Background Stamp | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #3

Happy Friday!!

I had so many requests for me to show the Tonic Shimmer Powders after I showed them in my last haul video - so here's a card with them!

I stamped the Simon Says Stamp Center Cut Kaleidoscope Background stamp onto Canson XL watercolor paper and white heat embossed it. I then sprayed it liberally with water and tapped 3 of the Tonic Nuvo Shimmer Powders over that. You want to LIGHTLY tap these - DO NOT squeeze the bottles otherwise a ton of powder will come out. These behave very much like ColorBurst powders which I did a video on HERE during my Christmas Card series!

It's hard to show the shimmer of the powders in photos - but in the video you can see it better. 

I pulled out my oldie-but-goodie You Matter stamp set and coordinating You wafer die from SSS as well as the Happy Mother's Day sentiment from the Mom and Dad Icons set for my sentiments. I coated the die cut and stacked You with Spectrum Noir Onyx Glitter pen, and white heat embossed the sentiments onto GinaK Passionate Pink card stock.

I also added a bunch of jewels from Little Things by Lucy's Cards in colors that coordinated with the shimmer powders ;).

I finished off the inside of the card with another die cut You - this time from the Passionate Pink card stock, then stamped the sentiments with Ink on 3 Blackout 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! 

Simon Says Stamp SALE!!

Just a heads up for those that aren't on my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter or Instagram:

Simon Says Stamp has loaded up their Steals & Deals <------click! Tons of items on sale - some at HUGE discounts! These deals don't last long and sell out quickly just FYI!!

Also - code SPR5F will get you $5 off your order!

Happy shopping!! ;) ;)

Clearly Besotted Spring Tulips | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #2

Hello everyone! Like I discuss in the video I had such a rough day yesterday, everything was going wrong and soooo many attempts at making anything just ended up in the trash (which has NEVER happened to me before - I have always been able to salvage and make a card work out - not this time). Then all of a sudden the day turned around and things started working and not only did my card come together perfectly but the day went great and ended up being one of the best days ever LOL!

So here was the Color Throwdown Challenge for this week:

You can check out what the rest of the team created HERE <------click! and play along if you'd like!

Here's what I came up with:

I used the Clearly Besotted Spring Tulips stamp set on Distress Watercolor cardstock that I heat embossed with white embossing powder then coloured in with Distress Inks and a water brush.

The "mom" die cuts are from MFT's Mom die-namics - I stacked them 4 times and sponged the top layer with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. The black and white stripe was stamped onto the card base using Clearly Besotted's Basic Diagonals stamp set and Ink on 3's Blackout ink.

I finished off the inside of the card by stamping the tulips with the same 2 Distress Inks I used on the front of the card then stamped the Happy Mother's Day sentiment from MFT's All About Mom stamp set with the Blackout 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! 

WPlus9 Sympathy Lilies | AmyR Sympathy Card Series 1

Hello everyone! So it's been highly HIGHLY requested that I do a Sympathy Card Series - so I'm starting now but like most things I'll be posting all over the place and on no set schedule. When I do post sympathy cards they get tagged in my Sympathy/Get Well Soon category here on my blog, and down the road I'll organize a playlist of all the videos on my YouTube channel.

I JUST posted a haul video earlier today, and instead of hoarding everything like I usually do I decided to use a bunch of it and put it to the test:

I used WPlus9's Sympathy Lilies stamp set, stamping the cluster of flowers onto Tonic watercolor paper with Ink on 3 Blackout ink. I then used the new Vickie Boutin tube water-colours (I discuss my thoughts on those in the video - end verdict for me is I've gifted them to my older kids for them to use. They're OK but with all the sets of watercolor that I own now I just know I'm not going to reach for them).

I heat embossed the sentiments from the Sympathy Lilies set onto a vellum and black card stock before wrapping the vellum around the card front and gluing the die cut sentiment over it.

I finished off the inside of the card by inking up the flower stamp with MFT's Field Day dye ink then stamping it off once on scratch paper before stamping it onto the inside of the card. I then stamped the sentiment that's in the Sympathy Lilies set with the Blackout 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! 

Haul | Tonic, Nuvo, Tim Holtz etc!

As I type this it's currently snowing heavily outside. Thick, heavy, wet white snow everywhere. Blah.

OK on to the fun stuff:

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

And here are the links to everything I showed/talked about/etc!

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 Even More Spring Flowers | AmyR 2018 Mother's Day Series #1

Hello everyone! After making this card last week for the Color Throwdown Challenge (you can still play along with this color combo till later on tonight - the info and link is in the post!) I wanted to make another card with those colors:

I used Simon Says Stamp's new Even More Spring Flowers stamp set and heat embossed the images with detail white embossing powder on Prima watercolor paper. I then used Distress Inks and a water brush to color them in before die cutting them.

The sentiment is from Simon's Best Mom Ever stamp set and I stamped that onto a panel of Bristol Smooth card stock that I die cut with a SSS Wonky Rectangle die and sponged Distress Ink onto.

I finished off the inside of the card with a strip of patterned paper and stamped the flower and leaves in the same Distress Inks I used to color in the images on the front. I then added another sentiment from the Best Mom Ever stamp set 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! 

Honey Bee Stamps Perk Up Platypus | Distress Ink Watercolor

I can't believe the weekend is almost over already. It's going to take me a while to get over this bronchitis (average is 2-3 weeks? uuuggghhhhh...) but I'm starting to power through a little better than I was last week so any little bit is an improvement!

I have been a little obsessed with the Honey Bee Stamps Penny the Platypus stamp and die sets since it was released a couple of months ago - I pulled it out again to make this "non-traditional" sympathy/thinking of you/perk up card:

I stamped the platypus onto Bristol Smooth card stock with Versafine Onyx black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then used Distress Inks to color her in with a water brush. I did the same thing with the "to-go" cup that comes in the set, and once dry I due cut them with the coordinating dies. 

The cool thing about the die for the platypus is that it die cuts the image as well as die cuts around the arms so that you can tuck in any of the coordinating images for her to hold - LOVE that!

I used the Honey Bee Coffee Covers Background Stencils on the card base, and a sentiment from the Blah Blah Blah stamp set that I heat embossed onto Dark Chocolate GinaK card stock with white embossing powder.

On the inside of the card I used one of the Gift Card Slots dies to die cut the notches into the patterned paper before adhering it and inserting a gift card. I stamped another sentiment from the Blah Blah Blah stamp set 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!     

MFT Too-Cute Turtles | Distress Ink Watercolor

Hey everyone! The cold I was dealing with turned into bronchitis - so I'm definitely moving slower than usual. Since card making/blogging/videos is my job and only source of income though I have to keep plugging ahead if I want to pay the rent (I only add that "disclaimer" as I end up with a bunch of comments and e-mails telling me to take a break as a lot of people still assume I do all this just as a hobby! Being self-employed like this means no paid sick days).

Anywho - I'm feeling better-ish at the moment, I was at least able to do the voiceover for this video. It took multiple takes and I spliced it all together to make it into one anyway lol!

I've had this MFT Too-Cute Turtles stamp set sitting on the top of my "to-use" pile for a while now, so I inked it up and stamped the images onto some Bristol Smooth card stock with Versafine Onyx Black ink and used Distress Inks to color them in.

I only used 3 inks for all the colors of the images - my go-to Distress Ink combo of Picked Raspberry, Mermaid Lagoon and Mustard Seed. I am loving the Tim Holtz Glass Media mat and having the white "palette" are on it means one less thing I need to pull out when I'm playing around with inks.

I did ink smushing with Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks to create my background and used multiple MFT Die-namics sets to create my scenes for the cards.

I finished off the inside of the cards by stamping the turtles with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide and the sentiments with Versafine Onyx Black ink 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!