Four Ways Friday #94 - Reason To Smile

There are a few weeks left to purchase the Reason To Smile stamp set for $5 with any $50 product purchase!  You can find the details on the top right-hand side of my blog.  I decided to put this set to good use for this week's Four Ways Friday!

I love when a beautiful and simple stamp comes together with ink and card stock to make a wonderfully graphic card!  Here I just stamped the floral line image multiple times - at full and half strength - with Island Indigo ink.  I then added a greeting from Petite Pairs and layered the Very Vanilla stamped layer onto an Island Indigo layer before adding the layers to the Very Vanilla card base.  So quick and easy!

I decided to create my own tape for this card!  I took a piece of kraft tissue paper and stamped it with Staz-On and one of the small flower images from the set.  I then adhered a strip of double sided tape to the tissue paper and cut the edges to match the tape.  I then removed the backing paper from the double sided tape and adhered the tissue paper tape to a Crumb Cake card base.  I added some sewing and a focal flower from Reason To Smile.  The greeting is from Pennant Parade.

 

A piece of Naturals pattern stack designer paper served as the beginning for this card.  I stamped the designer paper with image from the Reason To Smile stamp set - using a combination of Primrose Petals (at full and half strength) and Early Espresso ink.  I love how you can create beautiful backgrounds by stamping on patterned paper!  A few punched edges, a bit of embossing, and a touch of punched out stamping complete the card :)  The sentiments are from Fabulous Phrases.

 I always enjoy decorating little gift bags and this time around I decided to make the bag too! :)  I started with a long thin piece of designer paper and then machine stitched the stems using white thread.  I then used Stampin' Pastels to color the thread.  Next I sewed up the bottom and edges of the  little back.  I stamped the 2-step stamping large floral image using Summer Starfruit ink and punched the flowers out with the 1 1/2" circle punch.  The flowers were added to the bag with dimensionals and decorated with dazzling details.  The leaves were hand cut and sponged.  I sewed a piece of Pool Party seam binding to act at the bag handle.  The greeting is from Elements of Style.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!!!!  Now is a great time to get ahold of this wonderful stamp set for only $5!!!!  I wish you a wonderfully creative weekend, filled with love and laughter :)

Throwback Thursday: Oriental Gardens

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Sometimes Confusion Comes When There Is So Much Around Us

My craft room is bursting at the seams!  Full of all kinds of materials to play with and create with.  My room feels a bit like a mostly organized, very full closet!  Usually I find that if something isn't visible to me, it does not get used.  The other side of that is that when everything is visible (or somewhat visible) to me, I get confused about what to do!  It's almost like I freeze and just stare around the craft room like a deer in headlights - not knowing what move to make.  I am still battling with the idea of placing my next Stampin' Up! order.  I love the idea of having "new and fresh" to play with.  At the same time, I am already confused by what I have...so adding more things will likely add to the confusion.  That doesn't feel like a result that I want.  So for now, I am in "stall" mode.  Somewhere between placing an order and not placing an order.  Of course, the order that I am currently entertaining began as a "What if I ordered absolutely everything I want from the catalog and holiday mini?  What would that add up to?!"  So that's where I began...and you can imagine the damage an order like that would cause!  No, I'm not going to do that.  And I will likely not choose to refrain from ordering at least a little something.  But until I know what that little something is, I will hang out here in limbo and try to get creative with what I have...if I can get through the confusion :)
Today's Throwback Thursday features a beautiful set called Oriental Gardens.  I love these large plant images.  Here I just stamped the image twice - at full strength and half strength - with Always Artichoke ink.  The sentiment is from another favorite retired set called Sincere Salutations.  If you want to recreate this card with a new stamp set, Summer Silhouettes is a great set!  It has a wonderful leafy image that would look beautiful!  As for the greeting, you might try Delightful Dozen.  It has a lovely "get well soon" sentiment that would work well with Summer Silhouettes!  Enjoy!

Out On A Whim Wednesday: Decorating Matchbook Notepads

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Support Other Artists!

Last Friday I took myself on a fun date :)  I went and walked around the Cherry Creek Arts Festival here in Denver for a few hours.  Talk about inspiration!!!!  It was wonderful to be around all of that creative energy and to watch people walking about to appreciate the creative outpouring the artists had on display.  I often walk through art fairs/shows and take note in my mind of all the different things I might be able to try/make myself.  This time around, I still had that thought in my mind.  At the same time, though, I recognized that without these artists sharing their work, my creative well might have been a bit drier.  So, I decided it was time to give back to these artists and actually buy some things.  It was my way of putting energy back into the well.  To support another artist demonstrates to the Universe that creativity is something to be cherished and honored.  I came home with two new pieces of art - one by artist Olive Kraus and the other by artist Angie Pickman.  It felt wonderful to be able to support these two talented women and to add their energy into my home :)  When was the last time you supported another artist????
Today's Out On A Whim Wednesday began with a gift from my cousin.  When I visited her a number of weeks ago she handed me this box:

She had purchased this box of mini matchbook notepads quite awhile ago - thinking that she would figure out something to do with them.  Unfortunately, they ended up sitting alone in her craft room...until she gifted them to me!  I figured it was time to break out these mini pads and start to decorate them with stamps, designer series paper and ink!  This is the first one that I completed - using the Comfort Cafe designer series paper, a handcut tag, some stamping from Notably Ornate (retired) and Tiny Tags, a touch of sponging, a snip of linen thread, and a scalloped edge.  I hope you like it :)  You can expect to see a few more of these in the near future.  If you don't have these mini matchbooks, think about using the designs/ideas to create focal images on cards :)  See where the inspiration might take you!

Bring On The Cake Banner Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  "Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.  You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." - E.L. Doctorow

I came across this quote in the book Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott.  It struck me that creating art - even in the form of a card - is much like driving a car at night.  Sometimes we just know what color we want to use.  Or maybe we have selected a stamp that is calling to us, but we don't have the color planned out...or the design for that matter.  And that is okay.  We can make the whole creative journey that way - just seeing only as far down the road as you can at that given moment.  So get started...the road is waiting!!!!!
Banners still seem to be all the rage when it comes to paper crafting!  So, I decided to join in the fun and create one big banner as the focal point for this card.  I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock and then hand cut the banner end.  I stamped multiple images from Circle Circus around the edges using Cajun Craze and So Saffron ink.  Next came the greeting from Bring On The Cake that I colored using Cajun Craze and So Saffron markers to give it that dual color look.  I then sewed the banner to the card using my sewing machine and a straight stitch.  A few dimensionals on the bottom of the banner give the banner a little lift!  I hope you like it :)

Toilet Paper Ribbon/Lace Roll: A Video!!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Some Days I'm Not Sure What I've Learned

As I sit down to write my lessons from the craft room, I try to reflect on what I have learned that day or the day before.  Maybe something struck me during the day as significant - something I saw, or read, or experienced.  Some days, though, I am left wondering, "What did I actually learn today?"  Maybe that's the learning in and of itself.  That some days we don't grow or learn anything - or maybe we just don't realize yet what the lesson to be distilled from the day is.  I'm sure there is something I learned today - something that is significant for my life - something that will help me along my journey.  Just because I can't recognize it right now, doesn't mean it wasn't there.  Maybe the lesson will become clear in time...
Today I wanted to share a video with you on how to put those good 'ol toilet paper rolls to use :)  (Lorraine, this one is especially for you since I know you have a stash of rolls waiting to be turned into something special!!!!) :)  Enjoy!