Four Ways Friday Will Be Back When We Get Back From Our Walk :)

Hi!  My name is Buddy!  I know you stopped by today expecting to see this week's Four Ways Friday.  However, I had something else in mind.  I sat outside on the porch and gave my mom this look - you know the one.  The "don't you want to skip doing Four Ways Friday right now and come and take your adorable best friend for a nice long walk?!" look.  Well, she found me irresistible (as always), so we are off on a long walk.  My mom says she still plans to get Four Ways Friday done today...I'm not so sure since I can give her this same look when we get back home - the look that says, "Don't you want to come inside and help me chew on and play with my favorite toys?!".  But she says she is going to try to resist me later today and get Four Ways Friday done.  If she doesn't get it posted today, I know she'll get it posted no later than tomorrow.  After all, at some point I will want to curl up and take a nap and then she'll have nothing else to do other than to work on her cards for you :)  Please don't be upset with her.  After all - this is definitely a face you cannot resist! :)

Matchbox Die Television Birthday Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Seasons Are Changing

It seems my mood changes with the seasons.  I can feel the chill in the air in the morning.  The small birds seem so active now - anticipating the changing weather and eating more seeds and singing more songs.  There is a different energy in my step and I can feel my anticipation for cold breezy stays spent snuggly warm in the craft room creating.  I am looking forward to this change of seasons - to sit at home with my creativity and see what happens!  I wonder if my creations will take on more layers as I find myself layering more clothes on my body to keep warm.  Will I shed some old colors and try some new ones?  Will I venture into new mediums as the grass turns to ground?  The seasons are changing - and so too am I.
Today's card began when I found a Baja Breeze matchbox die cut bottom that was leftover from another project I  had done.  I adhered the box bottom together and for some reason it made me think of an old fashioned television.  So, I cut a triangle of Basic Black card stock and punched out an extra large oval from the center.  I then stamped the birthday cake from Bring On The Cake onto Whisper White card stock using Basic Black ink.  I colored in the image with markers and cut it out.  I added a bit of glitter glue for some bling.  Next I cut a small piece of wire and paper pierced a few holes in the top of the tv.  I ran the wire through the holes to create an antennae.  I also paper pierced a few holes on the Basic Black card stock and added a few silver brads for tv knobs (you remember when tv's had knobs, don't you?!).  The front of the tv was then adhered to the box using glue and the cake adhered to the box using about 3 layers of dimensionals to make it stand out.  Here is a close up of the tv.

Finally, I stamped the greeting using Calendar Alphabet & Numbers and Basic Black ink.  I hope you like it!  FYI, this card can't fit in an envelope - it's got A LOT of dimension due to the matchbox! :)

Lovely Letters and Nature Walk "Fly" Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Do What You Like, Even For A Little Bit!

I had a pretty tight day scheduled earlier in the week and yet I really wanted to be able to get out on my bike and enjoy the gorgeous weather.  We decided to fit in an hour-long bike ride, in between other appointments and chores and I am sooooo glad we did!  We went for just 53 minutes, but in that 53 minutes we were able to enjoy the glorious sunshine, get some exercise, and disconnect from the day-to-day requirements.  I have to remember that not every ride has to be an "epic" ride.  I don't have to reserve doing the things I love to do for only those situations where I have a substantial chunk of time to do them.  Do what you like - even for a little bit!  You'll be glad you did! :)
I began today's card by stamping the Lovely Letters onto a Crumb Cake card stock base using my stamp-a-ma-jig and Crumb Cake ink.  I then masked the edges of the card and sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  Using the color spritzer tool, I spritzed the card with Crumb Cake marker.  I then adhered a vintage paper doily to the card base using glue (I knew I would find something fun to do with those doilies!).  I made a small slit in the edge of the card and threaded through a piece of Victoria Lace ribbon and knotted it.  Next I stamped the letters for "fly" onto Very Vanilla card stock using Crumb Cake ink.  I then cut the letters out into rectangles and adhered glass glitter to the edges using Crystal Effects.  I attached the letters to the card with dimensionals.  I then stamped the images from Nature Walk with Basic Black ink onto Very Vanilla card stock and colored them in using stampin' pastels.  Finally, I cut out the colored images and  adhered them to the card with dimensionals.  Supplies Card Stock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla Ink:  Crumb Cake, Basic Black Stamps:  Nature Walk, Lovely Letters Alphabet Accessories:  Victoria Lace Ribbon, Champagne Glass Glitter, color spritzer tool, stampin' pastels, vintage paper doily

Kaleidoscope Circle Punch Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Help When You Can And Ask For Help If You Need To
When Buddy and I were walking through park on our way home, we watched as a woman pulled up to the curb at the park, opened her car door and a kitten jumped out.  The woman then got out of the car, put down an open can of food, got back in her car and drove away - leaving the kitty and the open can in the park.  It is hard for me to watch as someone abandons an animal.  I don't understand why she didn't just take the kitty to a shelter if she could no longer care for it.  It was an adorable kitty and I know someone would have loved to give her a good home.  I can't sit by and watch things like this happen without doing something, so Buddy and I retrieved the little kitty and brought her home.  We called Animal Control and they said they could come by and pick her up and that she would get her shots and tests and then be put up for adoption at the shelter.  Well, by the time Animal Control got to the house my heart was already being tested.  The Animal Control officer could not have been nicer - he said I could hold onto her for a bit if I wanted to think about keeping her.  So off he went, and there I was, holding the kitty and beginning to fall in love.  When Michael got home we talked a bit about it.  Willow, our senior cat, has been dealing with lymphoma for over a year now and she is about 17 years old.  We decided that trying to introduce a frisky young kitty into the house might not be the best for Willow - that the change and adjustment may cause a bit too much stress on her.  It was a very tough decision, but I called the Animal Control officer back and he came to pick up the little kitty.  I made him promise me that if there was ANY chance that she did not get adopted and might be euthanized to call me immediately!  That I would not allow for that to happen and would find her a home.  Sometimes you just need to be willing to help when you can and to ask for help when you need it.

Today's card was a lot of fun to make - just circles punches and card stock!  I punched out cirlces from card stock in rainbow colors.  I then layered the circles one on top of the other and adhered them together with glue.  I attached a rectangle of Basic Black card stock to the 5" x 5" Whisper White card base and then adhered the rainbow circles to the card stock using dimensionals.  I hope you like it!

Supplies:

Card stock:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Tempting Turquoise, Elegant Eggplant

Accessories:  Circle punches 1 ¾”, 1 ½”, 1 ¼”, 1”, ¾”, ½”; Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

Mixed Letters Celebrate Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Move Things Around

I find that sometimes all I need to do to try to bust out of a "funk" is to move things around.  This past weekend we decided to change around what was hanging on the walls in our different rooms.  It's amazing how the same pieces can look totally different against a different wall or how different a room can feel with different art on the walls.  If you are feeling down in the dumps or just in the mood for some change, trying moving things around on your walls - it may be just what you need!
Today's card is a mix of letters and rectangles that I moved around a lot until I found the design that I liked.  I started with a bigger than usual card base (Finished Size:  8” x 3 3/4”).  I die cut some letters from multiple colors of card stock.  I stamped the largest die cut letter with the Sanded background stamp.  The letters were adhered to different colored cardstock backgrounds using glue.  I sponged the  edges of the letter blocks with Early Espresso ink.  I also stamped a variety of letters and cut them out.  I then popped them up onto various rectangles of colored card stock and sponged the edges.  For one of the letters I adhered an old book page to a piece of chip board and die cut the piece.  I then used die cut “negative” and sponged it with ink, then adhered a piece of card stock behind thedie cut negative.  Finally, I arranged all letters on the card base and adhered them with glue.

Supplies:

Card stock:  Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight; Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Blushing Bride, Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Rose Red, Early Espresso

Stamps:  Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Broadsheet Alphabet, Sanded Background

Accessories:  Serif Essentials dies (Sizzix), Simple Alphabet dies (Sizzix), ½” circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack; book page, chipboard