Four Ways Friday #78 - I Love Love Jumbo Wheel

In this week's Four Ways Friday I am sharing four different ways you can use your I Love Love jumbo wheel.  Each of these projects would be perfect for Valentine's Day!

I began with a card :)  The I Love Love jumbo wheel can create a simple and easy design for your card base.  Here I cut a piece of Baja Breeze card stock and scored it twice.  I then ran the card through the Big Shot twice with the heart border for the Adorning Accents embossing folders.  I then glued the inside flap down to create a pocket and made a small Whisper White card to fit inside.  I stamped the card with an image from Short & Sweet.  To hold the small card closed I created a band using the Everyday Enchantment (Sale-a-bration) designer series paper.  I wrapped the band around the card and adhered it together with glue.  Then I began to add onto the band - first I wrapped it with sticky strip and pleated Pear Pizzazz ribbon.  Next came a punched and sponged Whisper White circle with a punched and sponged heart on top.  The Short & Sweet "love you" mini banner came next.  Finally I added some buttons and an adhesive rhinestone.  This card is perfect for holding a message and a gift card or coupon for Valentine's Day!

Candy and Valentine's Day seem to go hand-in-hand, so what better way to use your I Love Love jumbo wheel than to create a candy holder :)  Here I started with a plain old brown paper lunch bag.  I cut off the top and used the jumbo wheel with Cherry Cobbler ink to roll all four sides of the bag.  Next I added strips of Cherry Cobbler card stock to the top of the bag - I created the scallop edge with the scallop circle punch.  Notice how I used the extra little strip of Cherry Cobbler on the bottom of the bag - this is the strip that is "waste" when you use the scallop edge punch.  I then added some mini clothespins to hold the bag of sweets closed.  I stamped the heart from I Heart Hearts and punched it out with the heart circle punch.  Next I added a bit of Early Espresso baker's twine and a mini banner stamped with the Teeny Tiny Wishes "happy valentine's day."  I couldn't stop there :)  I added a large oval and another heart along with punching out a greeting I had stamped from Sweet Season.  I love how this jumbo wheel can jazz up a simple brown paper bag and make it something special!

 

The I Love Love jumbo wheel is also great for creating backgrounds for your scrapbook pages!  Here I repeatedly rolled the wheel over and over using Rose Red ink.  I didn't use a cartridge in the wheel, I just inked the wheel up on an ink pad and then kept rolling as the ink got lighter and lighter.  I even rolled right over where I had previously rolled.  This became a great backdrop for this 6x6 scrapbook page.  And yes, if you're wondering, that's me and my dad :)

This jumbo wheel is also wonderful to use for making banners!!!!!  I began with rectangular pieces of Crumb Cake card stock and rolled the wheel across the bottoms using Crumb Cake ink.  Next I cut out the triangles to create the banners.  I used the framelits to create the backgrounds for the letters which were die cut using the Alphabet Simple Letters dies and Melon Mambo card stock.  I punched some hearts using the Heart to Heart punch and sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink before adhering them to the banner.  You probably can't tell from the photo, but those little rosettes were made from the leftover brown paper lunch bag that I used for the second project I shared with you!  I just cut 1/2" strips of the brown paper bag and then scored every 1/4" of an inch before adhering the ends together and hot gluing the rosette in place.  I added an extra large adhesive pearl to the rosette centers for some added bling.  Finally I glued some pieces of drinking straws to the back of each of the banners and thread a piece of 1/4" grosgrain ribbon through the straws.  I then finished off the look with a couple of Crumb Cake seam binding knots!

I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!  I hope it inspires you to use your I Love Love jumbo wheel to create some fun projects to express your love!  I wish you a peaceful, inspired and creative weekend!!!!

Elementary Elegance Love Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  You Never Know What You Don't Know
Just over a year ago I shared with you the news that a man I knew from the park (he used to bring his dogs there) had committed suicide.  Our interactions were always enjoyable and I never got a sense that underneath those perfectly simple and happy interactions there was so much pain he was experiencing.  I believed, or at least tried to convince myself, that if I knew him better I would have known something was wrong.  Well, I am continually reminded that that is not the case.  That we never know what we don't know.  Today a friend shared some information with me about illness in her family that she had known about for over 2 years.  I am still in a bit of shock about the news.  This is someone I know very well - someone I interact with a lot and share quite a bit with.  I interact almost as frequently with her family member who has been dealing with this for the past 2 years.  And yet, even in this case, I did not know what I didn't know.  Learning this information from my friend changes how I have viewed the last few years - thoughts I had about why she and her family did or did not do certain things (another lesson that continues to pop up in my life - how we jump to conclusions or judgments so quickly and feel so right and that what we really need to do is to recognize our conclusions are based on very limited information).  So the next time you find yourself making a judgment or thinking you know it all - recognize that you only know what you know...and what you know can never be everything that is going on for someone else.
It's February (can you believe it?!), so Valentine's Day is right around the corner!  Get ready for a series of cards and items that can be created to express your love for those special people in your life! :)  Today's card began with a piece of Pear Pizzazz card stock.  I took a small strip of River Rock card stock and used some metal stamps to deboss the word "love" multiple times.  I sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink and adhered the strip to the card base.  The focal image from the beautiful Elementary Elegance Sale-a-bration stamp set was stamped onto River Rock using Early Espresso ink.  I then cut the image out with my paper snips.  I then used my curly label punch to punch out another piece of River Rock card stock and sponged the edges.  I stamped the label with the greeting from Three Little Words and the little images (key, crown & butterfly) from Elementary Elegance).  The label was popped up using dimesionals and the whole piece was attached to the card with dimensionals.  Finally I added a bow made from Crumb Cake seam binding.  It was attached with two mini glue dots.

Out On A Whim: Stamped & Embossed Fabric Postcard

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Send Your Art Out Into The Universe

Let me be the first to admit that it is difficult for me to let go of things - especially things that I create for the first time and am pleased with the outcome.  That happened to me with this fabric postcard that I am sharing with you today as part of Out On A Whim Wednesday.  I saw a reader's challenge in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine (if you haven't ever seen the magazine and you like mixed media, you may want to check it out!).  The challenge was to create a fabric postcard and mail it to the magazine.  I had never mailed something made of fabric (have you?) and just wondering how to attach a stamp to such a marvel really got me intrigued :)  So I let the magazine sit for days...no, make that weeks...and finally sat down to create.  I had wanted to incorporate one of the birds that comes to the backyard so one day I sat and watched as the crows arrived.  I then pulled out my camera inside the house and took a bunch of photos through the kitchen window.  The crow that I have included on the postcard was sitting on top of one of the shepherd's hooks that holds a bird feeder.  I printed the photo on my computer and then outlined the shape of the bird.  I cut it out and then placed it on a piece of chipboard and cut out a chipboard template that I can now use over and over.  I used the template to cut a piece of velvet and then I embossed the velvet using the Bella Toile background stamp.  The postcard itself began as a piece of muslin that I stamped and stenciled and heat embossed with a combination of current and retired stamps, sequin waste, gold embossing powder - I just kept going :)  I pulled out some Crumb Cake seam binding and did some stamping with my Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set and Staz-On ink.  All the pieces were sewn to the muslin either by hand or with the machine.  I then added some little gold sequin stars.  The whole piece was then layered - a piece of thick iron-on adhesive interfacing in between the front and the back of the postcard.  I then ironed it all together and sewed the edges with metallic thread.  And then I smiled.  I feel like there is a special part of me in this postcard - particularly since the bird is a part of life in the backyard.  I didn't want to send it out - I wanted to keep it.  And that's what makes this even more special - just as the birds fly away from the back yard and I can't "keep" them, so too, I let go of this postcard and placed it in the mail to be sent off to the magazine.  No, I didn't keep the physical piece, but what I absolutely kept was the experience of creating this piece of myself.  I know it is difficult to let go.  At the same time, if we are not willing to let it go...did we ever really, truly have it in the first place?  If we really "have it," nothing can ever really take it away from us - it will be there forever.

Die Cut Acetate Stencil Background & Video!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  What does it mean to be "epic?"

I really should stop watching tv altogether!  There are times when I take television "vacations," and turn instead to books.  Now may be one of those times.  I am just frustrated by what I've been hearing lately on commercials!  Ugh!  The other night there was a Visa ad and do you know what it said?  "The Superbowl.  The most epic day in America."  REALLY???????  Are you kidding me??????  So I looked up the word "epic" - wondering if somehow I had never understood the word in the first place and here is what I found for the definition of "epic" as an adjective:  "of, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics."  Okay, that's not really helpful since the word is used to describe the word....so then I looked at "epic" as a noun and came up with this, "a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation."  So how is the Superbowl the most epic day in America??????  These are the most heroic and legendary figures we have???????  I can't even continue with this!  How ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, I need a television holiday!
For today's card I created die cut acetate stencils to make the background.  Here is a video to show you how....it's epic! :)

Nature Walk Dream Sign

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  For Every Action, There Is An Equal And Opposite Reaction

It is known as Newton's 3rd Law and it came to my attention when I decided to watch an episode of Oprah's Lifeclass while eating lunch the other day.  I hadn't even heard of the show, so I'm not sure what led me to watch it, but I'm glad that I did.  It's a lesson that I need to be reminded of every so often - that what we put out, comes back to us.  That the energy and emotion we release into the universe has a way of finding its way back to us.  I wonder how this impacts the things that I create.  If I get frustrated and angry as I'm creating, it is likely the piece will resist me as well.  It makes me pause to consider the energy I take into the craft room - trying to ensure that as I pass through the threshold and into the room, I take with me the intention to express my soul - to share the love for creativity that pulses through my veins.  This does not mean that every piece I create will be "beautiful" by everyone's standards or that I cannot express difficult emotions in my work.  What it does mean is that I just need to show up and be honest in my creating and the honesty I put out will bring honesty in return from the piece.  If you do not like the reaction you are receiving from the universe, ask yourself, "What am I putting out that is encouraging this to come back to me?"
I made this sign as a gift for my niece.  Butterflies hold a very special place for her and I and I try to incorporate them as a message to her in the gifts I make for her.  Here I began with a piece of clay-coated masonite.  I stamped the letters from a retired SU alphabet set.  The butterfly also came from a retired set - the letters and the butterfly just seemed to be the perfect size for the sign.  The flowers are from the Nature Walk stamp set.  All the images were stamped with Staz-On (although that's not necessary when working with this clay surface).  I sponged around the edges and into the center with ink.  I then wound some q-tip cotton on the end of a small skewer to create a tool to apply ink with to the very small spaces on the images.  I would dab the end of the skewer onto an ink pad and then dab the skewer onto the image.  It worked perfectly!  I added some crystal effects and dazzling diamonds to the flowers and some gold smooch ink to the butterfly.  I made the holes in the board with my crop-a-dile and then added a wire with beads as the hanger.  My last step was to spray seal the piece with a matte acrylic sealer.  I hope you like it! :)  Here is a close up of the flowers and butterfly: