Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Just a quick post to apologize for not having a card to share with you today.  I will also likely not be able to post Four Ways Friday as I have family visiting and have been quite distracted!  I plan to be back in full swing by Monday...maybe sooner...  Hope you have a fabulous weekend wherever you are!

Summer Mini Stamp-a-Stack Card #2: Pretties Kit

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Some Lessons You Just Need To Keep Learning!

Take a time out.  Enjoy some down time.  Pause and breathe.  This lesson seems to be one I need to keep learning over and over again.  I enjoy my quiet time and I realize when I don't nourish my soul with downtime I begin to feel frazzled, distressed, scattered and down right yucky!  I need to make my solo time (maybe that should be spelled "soul-o" time) a priority each and every day in order to maintain the level of peace I wish to have on my journey.  Some lessons you just need to keep learning...hopefully this one will become a natural part of my daily life soon.

This card is the second card for my upcoming Summer Mini Stamp-a-Stack.  I used the largest flower from the pretties kit and some Staz-on ink and stamped an image from the Elements of Style stamp set onto the flower.  Some silver card stock punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and a 1" circle punch of the greeting decorate the center of the flower.  I also stamped the greeting in Staz-on so that I could cover it with Crystal Effects :)  The embossed background was created by running the Baja Breeze card stock through the Big Shot with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.  I hope you like it!

Summer Mini Stamp-a-Stack - Card #1: Motorcycle Journey

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Nature Has A Funny Way Of Breaking What Does Not Bend

Today's lesson comes from lyrics by the singer/songwriter Jewel.  I reflect on these particular lyrics a lot.  Today there was incredible wind here in Colorado and a number of trees came down due to the strong force of the wind.  It always amazes me how many trees are able to withstand the force - the push and pull.  They remain standing because they can sway - because they are flexible in the face of all of that force.  We can learn from those trees - to bend a bit when life is pushing us in a direction and we don't want to go; to stretch and flex when we exercise hard; to sway so as not to take the brunt of what someone is throwing at us.  Today I wish you flexibility - the ability to bend, not break, under pressure.

Today's card is for my upcoming Summer Mini Stamp-a-Stack.  I love the motorcycle stamp - it is incredibly versatile and a great image for making both masculine and feminine cards.  The Sentimental Journey stamp set is a great compliment.  This card could be used for a birthday, father's day, or wishing someone a successful journey as they embark on a trip, a new job, or pursuit of their passion.  I sprayed the Kraft card stock with a mixture of alcohol and Chocolate Chip reinker that I keep in a small spray bottle.  I also stippled a bit of Chocolate Chip ink on the background using a stencil brush.  The motorcycle image was stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I tore the edges of the Night Of Navy card stock.  The Red Riding Hood panel was stamped with words from the Sentimental Journey stamp set in Riding Hood Red ink.  The compass was stamped in Close To Cocoa and punched out with the 1" circle punch.  Finally, the greeting flag was created by stamping "journey" in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla card stock and sponging the edges.   I hope you like it!

Four Ways Friday #7 - Rub Ons!

Ahh the best laid plans!  Sorry it has taken me a few more days than expected to post last week's Four Ways Friday...hopefully you'll feel it was worth the wait! :)

This week's Four Ways Friday features Rub Ons!!!!  How many ways can you use your rub ons?  Here are Four Ways I used mine!

For this first project I decided to use rub ons on glass!  They work great (although you don't want to wash the jar once the rub ons are in place).  If you make a mistake when you are putting on the rub ons, no problem!  You can always scrape them off and apply a new one!  I also love to cut up my rub ons so that I can use specific words as opposed to the entire phrase or greeting.  I took the word "sweet" from a "sweet new baby" greeting.

This butterfly card uses rub ons in their traditional manner.  I placed the rub on on a piece of Almost Amethyst card stock and created a flag to attach to the card.  I made this small butterfly card with the butterfly die in my Big Shot - just crease a piece of Whisper White card stock and be sure to place the crease just inside of the edge of the die cut outline in order to create the card v. cutting out the full shape.  I used black craft ink and clear embossing powder to emboss the background from the Charming stamp set.  I outlined the edge of the card with my versamark marker and then embossed the edge with gold embossing powder.  The butterfly was colored with ink and sponge daubers.  The center of the butterfly was made with a piece of wire and gold beads along with some of the crystals from the Pretties Kit.

For this third project I satisfied my curiosity of wondering what would happen if I put Crystal Effects over a rub on!  It works!  You can make great embellishments this way!  I punched out a piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock with my Modern Label punch and then added the rub on and covered the whole piece with Crystal Effects.  It is popped up on the card with dimensionals.  The background is an image from the Short & Sweet stamp set stamped in Versamark.  The little boy is from the Very Thankful stamp set.  I stamped him twice and cut out the heart from one of the images.  I colored him and the heart with markers and popped the heart up on a dimensional and covered it with Crystal Effects.  The finished card size is 3x3.

For this fourth and final project I decided to use rub ons on a window sheet/transparency.  Once again I made a uniquely-shaped card by creasing a piece of Kraft card stock and running it through the Big Shot with my Scallop Square die.  I placed the crease about half-way up the die to create the card and also die cut the piece of window sheet at the same time.  I stamped the motorcycle on the underside of the transparency using black Staz-on ink (this is why the motorcycle is facing toward the left) and then applied the rub on to the front side of the window sheet.  I stamped the Kraft card stock with an Itty Bitty Background stamp in Soft Suede ink.  The eyelets were used to attach the window sheet to the Kraft card.  A piece of Whisper White card stock was attached underneath the window sheet to create some interest and to highlight the rub on.  Finally a small tag was created using the Tiny Tags stamp set and the tag punch and attached with a small piece of linen thread.

What other ways do you use your rub ons?  I'd love to hear your ideas!  See you later this week for another Four Ways Friday! :)