Hey friends! Now that I can finally get in here to post (sort of - things still aren't working properly) I have a new update:
SO - since the issues are still continuing (and have been going on for the last year and STILL no clear answers from the people who run TypePad) I have set up a new website. I am still hoping that I can transfer my content over to it as the thought of losing 16 years of content makes me want to throw up. This will be a VERY long work-in-progress - and THIS blog will stay up (unless the powers-that-be decide otherwise) until I either get things transferred or the whole site goes dark.
Also like I mentioned in the video - follow.it emails ARE from me! I finally fixed the email issue (and then TypePad crashed like a week later - the irony lol) and those emails ARE legit. I don't know if/when/how I can transfer any of that to the new site so it will just stay as-is. Some people are already figuring out how to subscribe to my new blog but I don't even know how LOL! Baby steps. I have a lot on my plate and will slowly figure it all out!
From here on out all new posts will go up on amyrysavy.com. My YouTube channel will stay the same, you can always find me on my Facebook page and on my Instagram, and this blog will stay up until I can either transfer everything (literally a massive undertaking - no idea how long or whether it's even fully possible).
And only because people have asked - yes I do have a tip jar --------> (it's on the sidebar and you'll have to scroll down a bit to find it) here on my blog (I set that up yearrrrsssss ago by request lol and it's just sat there as a little inconspicuous button) and I do have a Patreon. Neither of which I promote much as it's just not a habit to push it lol!
Hey friends! So it took me forever - but I finally FIXED the email subscription!
I had to switch to a different provider - I'm now using Follow.It
If you've already subscribed to my emails here on my blog check your email (and especially check your junk or spam folder!) to see if you've received a Follow.It email. I was able to import all of my confirmed email subscribers into the new site (and as always - I do not keep your emails or use them for ANYTHING) and it should start working pretty much as it used to (you'll only get an email when I post something new). I'm trying to keep it all as simple as possible and hopefully this should work!
If you haven't signed up feel free to do so. E-mails only go out when I post something new here on my blog - it will just give you a snippet of the post and you can click over here to check it out if you want and that's it! The sign up is on the right of my sidebar and is quick and easy!
As always - THANK YOU to those that follow whether it's here on my blog, my YouTube channel or my Facebook page or Instagram! I appreciate all of you! ❤️❤️❤️
Affiliate links used throughout this post at no cost to you! Affiliate linking is what enables me to provide content (more info on that in the sidebar of this blog ------> as well as at the end of this post). THANK YOU for all of your support!
Hey friends!
OK first off about the email issue (which still isn't working - it's frustrating):
🚨FYI - For those that have signed up in the sidebar on the right here on my blog to receive e-mails whenever I post something new - SOMETHING isn't working. We're looking into it. I have no idea why it stopped working and hope to either get it fixed or figure out an alternative asap! That said I HIGHLY recommend y'all follow me on Instagram, and especially follow/join me on my Facebook page as I update those immediately every time I post something new (which is often!). And just like with everything (including my videos on YouTube) - the more you engage - commenting, liking, sharing etc - the more you'll see my content in your feeds. I am at the mercy of the algorithms and robot overlords with EVERYTHING to do with this job but I hope these tips help and I will continue to trouble shoot behind the scenes!🚨
OK on to the second since a lot of y'all have been asking (and it's literally ALMOST here!!!!):
YES I will be posting a TON of videos for STAMPtember®!!!
For those not familiar, STAMPtember® is our month-long celebration for all things stamping and crafting.
On September 1st there is the Simon Says Stamp branded product release. These products will be a part of Simon's regular product line and available in the SSS store beyond STAMPtember®. So there's no worries with the BIG (it's always a BIG one 😉😁) release on the 1st. They stock up plenty and will restock whatever sells out.
Throughout the month of September there will be MANY collab releases. These are stamp sets (a lot of times with coordinating die sets) that are created by a bunch of amazing brands that SSS sells in their store. THESE collab sets are limited edition and will not be restocked so you’ll have to act fast if you see something you love. There is no set schedule as it is all a surprise. Simon did announce that the first collab set will go live September 3rd (so I'm not giving anything away 😉). All the collaboration sets (with the one exception being the Tim Holtz collab) go live at midnight EST on the nights they're to be released. Not every night is a collab set night, some nights will be something else (they release several limited edition kits for STAMPtember each year!), the 14th is always the SSS monthly kit release, and who knows what else Simon will have up their sleeve.
Specifically about the Tim Holtz collab: That will be announced separately and you all will be given some notice ahead of time because last year it sold out incredibly fast (as in sold out in 7 hours - it was nuts). More was ordered this year to hopefully prevent that from happening - again that was already announced on the SSS page so I'm not giving away any secrets!
It's all fun, TONS and TONS of inspiration (I'm one of many designers who will be posting a bunch of videos throughout the month) and freebies and who knows what all will happen.
It's a ton of fun and like I said above - make sure to follow me on my Facebook page especially as I generally post each new collab set there with a link as soon as it's available so no one has to go hunting for it!
OK back to the post - if you've missed any of my previous Halloween posts so far you can find them all at the links below:
So I went in the complete opposite direction from the pastel-themed Halloween cards I've been making recently - this time a little more spooky/scary/ghoulish:
I started off with Simon's Chunky Sweater Stencil and I applied crackle paste over it that I'd mixed with different colors of Distress Paint (and if you look closely you still might see the outline of my phone......I share that oops in the video 🤷🏻♀️😖🤪).
On the card base and on the card stock I die cut with the Giant Hugs Card Wrap wafer dies I blended several colors of Distress Inks (all the specific colors I used are listed and linked in the supplies at the end of this post!). I added a bunch of splatter with a mixture of Candied Apple and Ground Espresso Distress Paint.
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.
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 and provide for my children! 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!
Affiliate links used throughout this post at no cost to you! Affiliate linking is what enables me to provide content (more info on that in the sidebar of this blog ------> as well as at the end of this post). THANK YOU for all of your support!
Hey friends!
More halloween cards from me!
🚨FYI - I am aware of the e-mail issue. For those that have signed up in the sidebar on the right here on my blog to receive e-mails whenever I post something new - SOMETHING isn't working. We're looking into it. I have no idea why it stopped working and hope to either get it fixed or figure out an alternative asap! That said I HIGHLY recommend y'all follow me on Instagram, and especially follow/join me on my Facebook page as I update those immediately every time I post something new (which is often!). And just like with everything (including my videos on YouTube) - the more you engage - commenting, liking, sharing etc - the more you'll see my content in your feeds. I am at the mercy of the algorithms and robot overlords with EVERYTHING to do with this job but I hope these tips help and I will continue to trouble shoot behind the scenes!🚨
OK back to the post - if you've missed any of my previous Halloween posts so far you can find them all at the links below:
I have an entire playlist on YouTube HERE using Glacier Pastes in videos as it's the closest look you can get to foiling (IMO) without using actual foil and all the extras needed.
Anywho I love how the pale purple stars looked on the black cardstock and how reflective they are - plus I LOVE the Scattered Stars stencil - it's one of my faves.
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.
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 and provide for my children! 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!
Merry Christmas everyone! I had planned to have my first video up and start the giveaways but I opted to spend extra time with my kids today. We had a great Christmas (even though it's SO cold here - we hit -42C with the wind chill this morning) and I made turkey dinner with all the fixings and just stayed warm!
I will be starting the videos and giveaways tomorrow! Stay tuned as there's a LOT up for grabs and I am beyond excited to share it with you all!
First off though are a couple of great sales I wanted to share:
Lastly - THANK YOU!! I posted a collage of all the Christmas Card videos I did for my AmyR Christmas Card 2017 Series on my social media - and thought I'd share them here as well:
All in all I created 26 videos, 58 Cards, 4 tags and 6 ornaments! I had a lot of fun, and sadly didn’t get to make near as much as I wanted to (or had ideas for!) but at the very least I did what I set out to do! I hope y'all enjoyed them - if you missed any you can check out my YouTube playlist with all the videos in order HERE:
Now I’m on to working on all the giveaways and videos to accompany them! Thank you all SO much for your support, comments, likes, thumbs up and follows. 2017 has been great and I am very much looking forward to 2018 - however before we get to the New Year I have a BUNCH of videos and giveaways for y'all as a way to say thank you! <3 <3 <3
First off a heads up that all classes (with the exception of the Crafted Kindness bundle) are $5 off at Online Card Classes this weekend! You can check them all out HERE <-----click!
Also if any of you missed it - I've updated my Sales & Coupons page <------click! with all the current deals going on at my favourite crafts stores this weekend. I HIGHLY recommend checking them out and I HIGHLY recommend all those fabulous businesses, all are family run and it's thanks to them that we have the awesome products for card making and I am extremely grateful for all!!
Now - back to Online Card Classes. Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner (who own OCC together) have gathered up a bunch of amazing designers to create the Crafted Kindness Mega Video bundle <-----click!
I was very honoured to be involved in this! All the after tax proceeds from the purchase of this bundle will go to hurricane relief. To celebrate I am gifting 2 classes to followers on my Instagram account (just look for the images above on my account and all the info will be there!). I always do giveaways here on my blog so for once (and for the first time) I thought I'd spread the love around and do a giveaway over there!
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!! :)
I want to say thank you to ALL of you that take the time out of your day to visit my corner of the interwebs. I never in a million years thought I'd be where I am now, and I am very much looking forward to what's ahead. I love what I do, and love sharing all of it with you (good and bad, b/c hey it's life). I am also thankful I've been able to start doing giveaways like this and finding ways to pay it back to guys in small ways just to show my appreciation! :) :) :) ((((hugs))))
I included a link to the No Place Like Home Card Kit from MFT that I'm giving away, as well as a link to the NEW Beautiful Butterflies Card Kit that some of you may have not seen yet! :)
2016 was a crazy year for us - so many things happened, so many things changed, but I am thankful that my kids and I are happy and healthy and looking forward to a great 2017!
I went back through the cards I shared with y'all last year - and chose out a post for every month of 2016 that was my favourite. I'll have links to them all below!
I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you for your support here on my blog, and on my social media account and the personal messages sent to me. I very much appreciate you all visiting my corner of the interwebs and all the comments/messages/likes etc!
I know I haven't done a Life Update video in a really long time - and now I wouldn't even know where to start LOL! So I thought I'd open up the discussion and do another series of Question & Answer videos like I did last year. Feel free to leave your questions in the comment section of this post and I'll get to answering them in a video soon!
Bring it on 2017 - I am determined to make this a great year for me and my kiddos :) :) :).
I still find it hard to believe I started this blog 10 years ago!
To celebrate I filmed this quick video:
Sorry it's out of focus :P - I didn't have time to try and get it focused and re-film everything so since it's such a quick video I thought I'd just post it and get on with the giveaway!
3 winners will each receive one of the AmyR Stamps set pictured above. I get asked a LOT if I'll ever design stamps again - who knows! I have a lot on my plate with just life in general so at this moment I'm not even going to think about it. If I do though you all will be the first to know!
I am honoured that so many of you ask though - all the support I've received through my blog and YouTube and social media has been so VERY much appreciated over all these years. This giveaway can't even being to pay it all back but I'll keep doing giveaways every chance I get.
Follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget below to be entered in to win and good luck!
CONGRATS to Chrissy, Amber and Brandi! I've sent e-mails to all 3 of you and am waiting on replies with your mailing addresses so I can send out these sets to y'all! Thank you all SO much for playing along (a lot more than I was expecting!) and for your sweet comments! I don't have words for how much I appreciate all the support!!
Well if you're reading this it means my blog is back up and working again. Typepad was hit by another DDoS attack yesterday so the network was down. I was getting e-mails and questions on my Facebook page and my YouTube channel so I posted a quick update video for everyone.
FYI Facebook is the best place to find me when things like this happens - at least it's always active LOL! My blog was down for almost a week last month after similar attacks (not directed at me but at my blog provider).
I tried a couple of times last night to post this but I kept getting error messages and things freezing up on me (so while the blog was showing up for readers there are still issues behind the scenes) so I finally gave up.
I will link to the update video HERE <------click! And then see if I can get the video to embed in this post (that was one of the biggest issues - trying to get a video IN the post).
Anywho in the video I gave an impromptu studio tour - nothing too exciting, and then decided I'll do a question and answer video since it's been a long time since I've done that. So if you've got any questions for me post them in the comment section below!
And if things cooperate I plan on posting more today and throughout the next few days so keep checking back in!
Hey peeps! Not everyone seems to be reading the little "notes" I've been adding above and below my videos lately regarding the quality and linking over to YouTube so I thought I'd take a minute and make a whole separate post about it.
Simply put people have been complaining the when they watch the videos that I embed in my blog posts the videos are blurry (I won't post what exactly has been said as some of it was getting out of hand and rather rude...).
Now first off when I watch from my computers I don't find them to be too blurry - definitely not HD but not bad. However I think it really depends on your internet connection and all that jazz.
**That's why I link to the video directly on my YouTube channel right below every video. When you're on the YouTube page you can click on the little gear symbol (lower right corner) and choose which resolution you want to watch in - and for quite a few videos now I upload in HD so there are several options to get a clearer video!
That option isn't available when I embed into my blog (if it is and someone knows how to change that just let me know!), and I assume it only allows a lower resolution (again if that can be changed someone let me know!). Of course YouTube wants you to watch on their site. Personally it doesn't matter to me where people watch it, I'd rather they could watch right here in my blog as I've always got more info and links and all that in the blog post. But whatever works!
This has been my PSA for the day *wink* - have a great one!! :) :) :)
I thought I'd try something new and start posting a "Sunday Recap" post with links to all the posts I've done in the past week. We'll see how it goes and if you guys like that I can keep doing them each week, or never do it again LOL!
So here's what went up on the blog the week of Feb 16-22:
I made a card for MFT's Challenge on Splitcoast for LOVEFEST.
Having all my posts listed from the past week gives a nice reference for anything missed - and it's nice for me to see how productive I was/can be! Let me know what you guys think!
And some of you have already noticed the change - but if you're reading this through bloglovin', feedly etc etc you'll have to click over to my blog to see how it looks now!
I am SO happy with it! My poor blog has needed a face-lift for a really long time - and I just don't have the tech skills to figure it all out (something I'd love to learn how to do - I have the programs and even a Wacom tablet with NO clue how to properly use them :P) - so I found someone who did (that didn't have a 2-year wait list AND who could work with Typepad - that wasn't easy!)
Tiffany helped me bring my ideas to life and I am SUPER happy with the end result! I took screen shots of it all:
So fresh and fun - great way to end 2013 and start the new year!
I'm loving it and I wish overhauling my stamp space was as easy as this was (for me - all I had to do was say what I wanted and reply to e-mails LOL) - I mentioned on my Facebook that I *really* want to overhaul my stamp space and purge/organize/CLEAN it all up. I actually talked about it in my update video then edited that part out as I went on and on and on LOL.
That plus I get a ton of requests to list everything online to sell - and I'll say it here first that sadly it's not too good of an option for me. Even if I were to list things for cheap - or even give things away - the shipping from Canada is killer. I couldn't ask people to pay the outrageous prices - and we don't have flat rate boxes like the US does (if we did that would be fabulous). It definitely sucks as I'd rather give all of you the opportunity to benefit from this but it's not a feasible option.
However I do plan on doing a stamp area tour at some point - people have been asking for one for months now - and I just haven't got around to doing one. So hopefully soon - it's at the top of my New Years resolutions list!
Speaking of which - I asked on Facebook but for those that aren't on there with me - what is YOUR New Years resolution as far as stamping/scrapbooking/crafting?
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! ❤️
