Four Ways Friday #2

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Enjoy A Massage

It had been ages since I had my last massage so yesterday turned out to be a real treat!  I was given a gift certificate for a 90-minute massage and I must say it was the perfect gift.  How often do we stop and allow ourselves to be pampered?  I kept telling myself I would get a massage "some day," but with the pace of life, my "some day" kept getting put off.  Until I received my gift.  My hope is that this will start a new healthy habit - one of treating my body as well as it treats me everyday!

Today's Four Ways Friday focuses on the Friends 24-7 stamp set.  I really love this set!!!!  For my first card I used the popping pastels technique.  I stamped the image in versamark and then pounced on the images using sponge daubers and my chalk pastels.  I added a little spritz with the spritzer tool.  Another great technique that I used on this card was running my white organza ribbon across my Cameo Coral ink pad numerous times in order to get Cameo Coral ribbon!  What a great way to get ribbon of whatever color you need!

This second card came together quickly!  I stamped the image on the base layer of the card.  One trick I used was to ink up the image and then spray it lightly with water before stamping.  I love the watercolor effect this creates.  I did the same for the image I stamped on the Confetti card stock.  I used my bone folder to break down the fibers in the card stock and peeled back the corners and one full layer of the Bravo Burgundy card stock for a sueded effect.  A few brads and the greeting complete the look.

The third card uses the same watercolor effect technique.  I stamped the image multiple times, using this technique of spraying water onto the stamp after inking it and then stamping onto the card.  I punched 5 flowers from the 5-petal flower punch and used my bone folder to loosen the fibers and then I scrunched and crunched until I liked how the flower looked.  A touch of ribbon and a rhinestone brad add a little elegance.

For the fourth card I decided to create a flower by stamping the image multiple times - each time creating a 90 degree angle from the stamped image that came before.  In this way I created a flower with 4 petals and then created a center for the flower using the scallop circle punch and the 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circle punches.  A corduroy button brad in the corner along with some spritzer tool spattered color complete the card.

I hope you are inspired to use your Friends 24/7 stamp set in new and exciting ways!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you are enjoying Four Ways Fridays and if you would like to see this feature continued every Friday.  Also, if there is a stamp set you would like to see featured in a future Four Ways Friday, just let me know!  I'll do my best to respond to what you'd like to see!  Are you wishing you had the Friends 24/7 stamp set?  Feel free to click HERE to shop now! :)