Prairie Paper & Ink

8 Mini Slimline Christmas Cards! w GinaK Sparkling Season Set | STAMPtember® 2022 Exclusive

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!! It's time for another STAMPtember® Exclusive Collab release!

Today's collab is with Gina K Designs!!

You can check out the Limited Edition GinaK Sparkling Season Stamp Set HERE

or

the Limited Edition GinaK Sparkling Season Stamp and Die Set HERE

As of this post there are still some of the Limited Edition Pink & Main Snow-One Like You Stamp Set HERE and the Limited Edition Honey Bee Warm Wishes Stamp Sets left (the stamp and die set are sold out!).

With all the collab sets released this month they are one and done. Meaning when they sell out they are not restocked and are gone for good. There will be PLENTY of amazing sets released this month and I hope to have video inspiration for all of them so stay tuned.

Here's what I created with the Sparkling Season Stamp Set:

I created 8 mini slimline (3.25 x 6.25") cards with the set and a pack of Tonic Christmas Magic patterned paper.

I heat embossed the ornaments onto the patterned paper with black glitter embossing powder, and white heat embossed the sentiments onto some C9 Stardust cardstock.

On the insides of the cards I stamped a sentiment from the Sparkling Season set with black ink and stamped the snowflakes with Stardust 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!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube! You can also consider supporting me on my Patreon!

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! 

GinaK Designs Shimmering Snowflakes | STAMPtember® 2021 Exclusive

Hello friends! It's time for another STAMPtember® Limited Edition Collab set!

Today's collab is with GinaK Designs!

As with all the Limited Edition collaboration sets - they're one and done. Once they sell out they are not restocked. You can check out the Limited Edition GinaK Designs Shimmering Snowflakes Stamp Set HERE and the GinaK Designs Shimmering Snowflake Stamp Set and Coordinating Wafer Dies HERE!

As of posting this these Limited Edition sets are still available!

Altenew From the Rose Bush Stamp Set and Coordinating Wafer Dies HERE

Altenew From the Rose Bush Stamp Set HERE

Art Impression Hug in a Mug Stamp Set HERE

Memory Box True Friend Stamp set HERE

Lawn Fawn Eat, Sleep, and Be Merry stamp sets left HERE

OK here are the cards I made:

I stamped the largest snowflake from the Shimmering Snowflakes set onto Simon's 120lb Smooth White Cardstock using Simon's Ocean Ink, then stamped the sentiment with Nocturne ink. I die cut the snowflakes using the coordinating wafer dies and also popped them up with extra die cuts to give them more dimension.

I created the backgrounds using Simon's Sea Glass Cardstock that I stamped with the CZ Design Ornamental background stamp and Surf ink, then ink blended Seafoam ink around the edges. I added splatter using Brutus Monroe Pearl Shimmer Mist.

On the insides of the cards I stamped another of the snowflakes from the Shimmering Snowflakes set, this time with the Seafoam ink and then stamped another sentiment from the set. I paired the cards with some Metallic Sea Glass Envelopes 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!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube! You can also consider supporting me on my Patreon!

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! 

 

GinaK Designs Snowflake Cascade | STAMPtember Exclusive Limited Edition

Hello everyone!!! It's time for another EXCLUSIVE collaboration for Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember! 

Today's collab is with GinaK Designs!! You can check out the Limited Edition Snowflake Cascade stamp set HERE or the Limited Edition Snowflake Cascade stamp set and wafer die combo HERE. As these are limited edition they are only while supplies last (and if last year's GinaK collab set was any indicator - this one will most likely go QUICK).

I went with my favorite black and gold and white combo for my card using the Snowflake Cascade set:

This is a 3.5 x 8.5" slimline card.

I painted an ombré background onto Arches hot press watercolor paper using my black Gansai Tambi watercolor. I then heat embossed the snowflakes from the Snowflake Cascade set onto the background with white and gold embossing powders.

I edged the background with the gold watercolor from the Gansai Tambi palette, and splattered it as well. 

I pulled out a black slimline envelope and stamped it with the snowflakes using white pigment ink and Delicata Golden Glitz ink, which I also used to stamp on the inside of the card. I gold heat embossed a sentiment from the Snowflake Cascade stamp set and added that to the inside of the card and that was it!

To see how this card and envelope came together you can check out my video below:

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

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube! You can also consider supporting me on my Patreon!

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! 

Hello Beautiful Card | Prima Watercolors | SSS Spring Flowers Background

Hey everyone! I made this card for last week's Color Throwdown Challenge. You can check out their post HERE for a ton of inspiration with these colors!

I clear heat embossed Simon's Spring Flowers Background after stamping it with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink onto Arches Cold Pressed watercolor paper. I used Prima Watercolors from a couple of different palettes (I linked to the ones I used below) to color in the background.

I of course added splatter with Perfect Pearl powder mixed with water - you can see in the video how shimmery it is!

I used the GinaK SSS exclusive Summer Roses set for the sentiments. Tonic's Golden Sunflower embossing powder was a PERFECT match for this background (I love when that happens!!). I also pulled out my fave Etched Dragonfly wafer die - and painted the bodies with Forever Blue Perfect Pearl powder mixed with water. It's a subtle shimmer - but that's what I wanted since there's a lot going on on this card!

On the inside of the card I used more sentiments from the Summer Roses stamp set with the Golden Sunflower embossing powder 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!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube! You can also consider supporting me on my Patreon!

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! 

Joy of the Season | Gina K Designs STAMPtember® Exclusive

Hello everyone! The next STAMPtember® set has been revealed! This one with Gina K Designs!

You can check out the Joy of the Season set HERE <-----click!

Also there's a category on Simon Says Stamp for ALL the STAMPtember® exclusives HERE <-----click! Like previous STAMPtember® collaboration sets - these are exclusive to Simon Says Stamp and while supplies last. Once they're sold out and/or STAMPtember® is over they're gone! 

Here's what I created with the new set:

I just LOVE the row of trees stamp in this Joy of the Season set - I can think of so many ways to use it!

I started off creating a background with my Mission Gold watercolors on Strathmore Ready Cut watercolor paper. I then mixed Ranger's Perfect Pearl powder with a little water and splattered that on the background. Once dry I stamped the row of trees with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Now here's where I did something different than normal: I used a matte spray sealer. I sprayed that on my background to seal everything. Normally I never do this (just an extra step and isn't usually necessary IMO) - but make sure if you do use something like this to use it in a well-ventilated area (I just use one of my SSS card subscription boxes and take it outside to spray it - I do the same thing the rare times I use spray adhesive).

The reason I sealed the background was because I wanted to use embossing paste over it and didn't want to risk the embossing paste absorbing any of the color. Usually if that happens I don't mind in the least but for this card I wanted it to stay white (it probably would have but I wasn't willing to risk it as I didn't have time to re-do it!).

I used Simon's Falling Snow stencil (an oldie-but-a-goodie - I've had it for years now and it's still available in the links below and still a favourite of mine!) with Aleene's Glitter Snow paste. So hard to see on camera but there's glitter in the paste - subtle but so pretty!

I white heat embossed the sentiment from the Joy of the Season stamp set onto a strip of vellum - the sentiment is what inspired the direction this card went in.

I finished off the inside of the card by stamping the row of trees with Dusty Concord Distress Oxide Ink and then stamping the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Joy of the Season 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. 

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!  

 

Some YouTube Housecleaning

Hello everyone :)

As always busy busy busy here ;), but still attempting to get things done - lately more-so on my YouTube channel.

I finally uploaded a "channel preview" - if you're already subscribed to me on YouTube you won't have seen it - it's meant to somewhat explain what it is I DO on there to people that are totally new to me:

 

You can watch directly on YouTube HERE <-----click!

And something else I've been trying that I talked about on my FB page is uploading my videos as a larger file size. I always forget that a LOT of my blog readers and YouTube subscribers are not on my facebook page, so addressing things here is needed as well.

Lately I've been getting *some* "complaints" that my videos are "blurry" or they think I need to "zoom out more" b/c it's not crystal clear. Or that I need to purchase a HD or better quality camera.

Well for one thing I DO have a pretty good camera (one that cost me a pretty penny when I purchased it!), that DOES film in HD. BUT that is a MASSIVE amount of data to upload/edit/process/upload to YouTube, and not only is it the camera but my computer and my internet connection need to be top notch as well.

What a LOT of people don't realize is that I do this mostly as a hobby (AKA I'm not making near enough $$ to classify all this as a business - literally I make nothing when one figures out all the time I put into it - I do it because I enjoy it - I LOVE stamping and have learned to love making videos and sharing them with all of you). And I pay for EVERYTHING out of my own pocket. I saved up for months to buy the camera I have (and actually sold off a lot of my stamping stuff that I'd stockpiled for years), and saved up for a couple YEARS to purchase my iMac computer. I've been paying extra to my internet provider to have faster upload speeds (which sadly is being downgraded in a couple weeks b/c the bills are piling up and I won't be working as much soon!) in order to handle all the video files.

Up until recently I've been uploading all my videos as a "medium file" (it's just an option in iMovie - I honestly am not all that savvy on "tech-speak" when it comes to all this stuff - I do what I can), which isn't the "best" quality.

So after getting too many complaints I thought I'd *try* uploading a "large file" for my videos. It takes about 3x longer for my computer to process and upload to YouTube - and so far I see a tiny bit of improvement? And I haven't had any complaints recently LOL ;) ;).

I can honestly say that I have NO plans on filming and uploading in HD - at least not in the near future. It takes a LOT of time to film, then edit, upload, process, post, etc etc etc for every single video I do - and switching to HD would basically more than triple that amount of time. Time that I just don't have. And with a baby on the way I DEFINITELY won't have that much free time!

All that being said - I only thought it was time to better explain what all this is like for me. I'm not catering to the complainers (much *wink*), it was more of an experiment on my part to try something different. I've always tried to make my videos as well as possible and explain everything as simply as possible (which was the main point in my opinion), and I KNOW that you can't please everyone! It's a learning process too - my videos have come a loooonnnggg way since I first started making them - now I'm at well over 300 (hundred!) videos on my YouTube channel. And I'm sure they will keep improving as time goes on (I hope anyway).

It's also easier for me to type all this up here for y'all rather than try to explain the whole process over and over and OVER again to the people that don't understand and feel the need to criticize.

Thankfully the vast majority of my subscribers, my readers, and my Facebook fans are more than appreciative of what I do - and I appreciate all of you just as much. I also really appreciate y'all for sticking up for me when a "hater" does creep out of the woodwork, and for sticking by me when I seem to disappear for weeks on end when my "real" life tends to take over! It makes what I do on here worth it that's for sure.

And if you're still reading at this point THANK YOU ((((hugs))))

I have to head to work now (my "real" job that actually helps with the bills and puts food on the table LOL), hopefully I will have something more "creative" to post for y'all very soon!

 

Don't forget to check out my ETSY Shop! Prairie Paper & Ink on ETSY

Prairie Paper & Ink Facebook Page

Prairie Paper & Ink YouTube Channel

I'm on Pinterest too! Click to find me.

I'm also on Twitter now

aaaannnnddd Instagram as well - amyrysavy

 

Quick Card

Since I had all the supplies sitting out on my desk I thought I'd quickly make another card to share today.

This uses GinaK's Friendship Blooms stamp set - I stamped the image onto white cardstock then colored it in with Koh-i-noor colored pencils and Gina's blending stumps with OMS. It looks rather funky in the picture but I covered the vase with Icicle Stickles.

I embossed the card base with the Floral Fantasy CuttleBug folder, then used tape to adhere the lace ribbon (from May Arts) to the card before attaching the cardstock layers.

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On a side note - my mouth is doing OK. As long as I remember to take my pain meds on time I'm good to go. I have not and will not drink through a straw (the dentist really emphasized with me to not do that as I def. do NOT want to get dry socket!!) and have been able to eat softer foods here and there. I am craving steak and potatoes like you wouldn't believe tho!!!! Since tomorrow is Canada day I have steak marinating in the fridge to be grilled up for supper. I'm going to see if I can eat it - it should be pretty tender and if it's cut up small enough I should be OK (I sure hope so as that is ALL I want to eat right now!!! No more baby food for me LOL!!)

CPS Sketch #71

Yeah I know I'm shocked I got a card done too (I actually made TWO cards!! So proud of myself - I'll share the other one later on this week) - I've been dying to stamp these past couple of days but in NO way felt up to it. Earlier this afternoon tho I was feeling pretty good for a bit so I was able to throw this card together.

The image I had already colored in the other day when I made this card - except on this image I used only Copic markers to color (pretty big difference eh?). I had it sitting here on my desk and came across this CPS sketch and thought it would work perfectly.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Periphery 6x6 pack. The sentiment is from GinaK's Friendship Blooms set (stamped onto one of her plastic tags that I attached to the ribbon with a jump ring).

The little embellishments on the panels are Bella Dots - these ones are marbly/sparkly and just went perfect with this card.

OK I need to crawl onto the couch - my meds are wearing off again and the latest dose hasn't kicked in - ugh my mouth hurts! :(

{SUPPLIES}

STAMPS: Botanical Dreams and Friendship Blooms stamp sets by GinaK Designs.

CS: Papertrey Vintage Cream, SU! Going Grey, Basic Grey Periphery.

INK: Ranger Adirondack Black, Baisc Grey (SU!), Copic Markers.

ACCESSORIES: Bella Dots, Ribbon (Michaels), Plastic Tag, Dimensionals.

New Rubbah!!

My box with the latest GinaK release arrived yesterday - YAY! I got all the new images trimmed and had a heck of a time choosing which image to ink up first. This new orchid stamp from Asela's Botanical Dreams set won!

I stamped the image onto Papertrey Vintage Cream cardstock, then used Koh-i-noor pencils with GinaK's blending stumps and odorless mineral spirits to blend them. I have to say that these pencils ARE really nice - really smooth to lay down the color and they blend really nicely too. And Gina's stumps and OMS work great too - this is the first time I've ever got to use them and I like 'em! I might actually set aside the Copics more often now to play with these.....(altho I did use a Copic marker to outline the image before I cut it out).

I used patterned paper from Basic Grey's Perhaps collection on the rest of the card, and stamped the sentiment (from Gina's Friendship Blooms set) onto one of the papers.

The bling is also from Gina's store - it's self adhesive so I just peeled and stuck 'em on :o) Ribbon is May Arts.

Have a great day everyone!

Friday Sketch! #21

OMG is it just me or has this month FLOWN by??? I can't believe that June is nearly over....it's almost midnight right now and I need to get this post typed up quick - I have a dentist appointment in the city tomorrow morning (thank goodness I'm nearly done with all these appointments!!) so I need to get to bed!!

For today's sketch I pulled out GinaK's Comfort & Peace stamp set (once a free with 3 set - now you can get it here) and made a few sympathy cards all using the same layout.

I used my SU! markers to ink up the main image and stamped it onto an oval (that I already cut with my Nestabilities die) made from Papertrey Vintage Cream CS (yup it's already become my go-to CS when I don't want to use white).

I used my Copic airbrush and a yellow Copic marker to get the "glow" around the flowers (it's softer than sponging - and I generally tend to smudge things when I use sponges!! *wink*).

The patterned paper is from Basic Gray's Sugared 6x6 pack (all the cards use various papers from this pack), and the ribbon is May Arts. The sentiments are from the same stamp set, and I stamped other sentiments from the set on the inside of each card.

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS30 to make it easier to find.

And don't forget to link directly to your creation in the comment section of this post so that I can see it too!

Here are the other 2 cards I made:

 

{SUPPLIES}

STAMPS: Comfort & Peace stamp set by GinaK Designs.

CS: Papertrey Vintage Cream, SU! Chocolate Chip & Kraft, Basic Grey Sugared Patterned Paper.

INK: SU! Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Regal Rose, More Mustard and Ruby Red Markers, Copic Marker.

ACCESSORIES: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities Dies, Dimensionals, May Arts Ribbon.

............................................................................................................................................

Don't foget to check out Gina's store ASAP - a bunch of fabulous new stamp sets are being released today!! Hopefully mine get here SOON so I can get 'em inky and make some samples for y'all!!

Make A BIG Splash!!

OK I am REALLY proud of myself right now - an idea popped in my head when I was looking at Melanie's new Jumping For Joy set and I was actually able to execute it EXACTLY how imagined it!!! *hugs self* LOL!!

I thought "How cool would it be to actually make a card where the bear "splashed" into the water? (b/c to me he looks like he's getting ready to do a big cannonball into the water???)

I made this into a spinner card - and you know in all the years I've been papercrafting I don't think I've EVER made a spinner card? SERIOUSLY! I've known how to make one since like forever - I've just never bothered to actually MAKE one. This one turned out so cute I think I'll hafta make more down the road.....

I stamped the bear, used a little Cool Shadow Copic marker on him to make him look MORE white, then cut him out. I used 2 pennies and a dimensional to make him into a spinner. You can check out a tutorial on SCS here that shows you how to make a spinner card.

For this card I just used a pencil to mark the "track" for the bear, then cut it out with my craft knife (I used Soft Sky SU! textured cardstock for that). The "water" was made with Blue Bayou CS - I drew the "splashes" on 2 separate pieces with a pencil then cut them out. All the white was made with a Ranger Snow Cap (white) paint dauber.

Haha it WORKED!! I used dimensionals that I got from WalMart EONS ago (sometime around when I first started stamping believe it or not) - they're really thick and tough and round - perfect for something like this. The top layer has doubled-up dimensionals under it so that it's high up enough for the bear to roll under it *grin*

This card is REALLY thick (about 1/2"!) as the textured CS is also up on dimensionals so that the bear spins freely on the track.

To mail something like this you'd need to put it in a box of sorts so that it wouldn't get squished during transit. It'd be worth it tho as people LOVE interactive cards (I'll admit I've been playing with it a fair bit since I completed it - Veronica thought it was pretty cool too except she thinks I should have colored the bear brown LOL!)

Time to Celebrate!

It is DEFINITELY time to celebrate as I got my newest GinaK stamps in the mail yesterday!

I lost no time getting them cut out and started making samples and here's the first one!

All images are from Melanie's new Jumping For Joy stamp set - I stmaped them onto Papertrey White CS and colored them with my Copics.

The patterned paper is from Autumn Leaves - their primary line, and the colored CS is SU (as is the ribbon).

OK I gotta run as I have a TON of things I need to get done today!

Later peeps!!

Golden Ticket?

Would you like to win a free stamp set? Or better yet a $100 shopping spree to buy stamps?? Then check THIS out. *grin*

Congrats on Your New Nest!

Happy Monday everyone!! It's a long weekend for us in Canada so today is a holiday - yay!! It gives me an extra day to recuperate after the LONG week I had (topped off with the birth of my niece!!). This week is shaping up to be OK (busy as usual) except for Thursday when I have my first of many dentist appointments *grimace*. I went to the dentist a little over a week ago and I KNEW I would be needing a lot of work done but after they laid it all out needless to say I can't wait to get it all over and done with - especially the last appointment as I will be having ALL 4 of my wisdom removed at once (I knew that that would happen too - but what I DIDN'T know is that I should have had them out years ago before they even came through - my old dentist told me I had to wait and now I'm having issues with them and it's going to be a LOT more difficult to remove them.........). Anyway I'm rambling but man this is stressing me out!! It will be worth it when it's all over tho (and my new dentist is FABULOUS so I'm not as scared to go!! *wink*)

OK so here's another fun owl card I made not too long ago with GinaK's Owl Always Love You stamp set:

I stamped the image onto white cardstock then used Copic markers to color him in.

I filled in the flowers with Fruit Punch stickles, and used Fun Flock with my Quickie glue pen just along the sides of the owl to make him just a little fuzzy.

You can click on the picture to get a pop-up window with a bigger view.

The patterned paper is Amy Butler by K&Co, the ribbon is May Arts and the baubles are from Stamping Bella.

............................................................................................................................................

Don't forget that GinaK is releasing new stamp sets TOMORROW and tonight from 7-10 Central Time there is a release party going on in their member forum on SCS! There's going to be games and contests as well as full reveals of all the new sets (I can't wait for mine to get here!)

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OK I gotta run and start getting caught up around the house as well as take care of some design team deadlines!!

Bonus Sketch!

I was asked to be a guest hostess over on Splitcoast this week for the Sketch Challenge so I made up a sketch and a sample and here it is!

I used GinaK's Owl Always Love You stamp set - stamped them with Brilliance Graphite Black ink then colored them in with Copic Markers. I went over their bodies with my quickie glue pen and covered them with carmel latte tan fun flock - check out how fuzzy they are LOL!!:

The baubles are from Stamping Bella and the ribbon I got some time ago from Michaels (I KNOW isn't it fabulous?? I wish I had bought more of it b/c I haven't seen it there since!)

Here is the sketch:

You can check out the challenge thread I'm hostessing over on SCS here.

The keywords for this one if you decide to play along and upload your card to a public gallery is SC176.