Four Ways Friday #46 - Double Cog XL Punch

Have you ever bought an item that has just sat in your craft space and you look at it and wonder, "Why did I buy that?"  That's what the Double Cog XL punch has been for me...until now!  I decided to challenge myself to make it the focus of this week's Four Ways Friday and now I am actually excited about this punch!

Okay, so it didn't take much to stretch my imagination to use the cogs with a stamp set that already has gears in it!  Here I punched the cogs out of Very Vanilla card stock and then sponged them with Soft Suede ink and teamed them up with the Sense of Time stamp set.  The clock and greeting were stamped in Early Espresso and the gears in Soft Suede.  I added a bit of sponging and spritzing to the clock along with a few brads in the clock centers.  The card base is Natural Ivory (LOVE this color!).

If this card doesn't make you smile then you are definitely in need of a vacation :)  The cogs seemed to look like big monster truck tires (and no, I don't spend my spare time at monster truck rallies...not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with spending your spare time at monster truck rallies...and somehow I still thought "tires!" when I started playing with these cogs!).  Here I punched the cogs out of basic black card stock and applied Crystal Effects to them to make them shine!  I teamed them up with the truck from Loads of Love - I used my basic black marker to ink up the stamp only on the parts of the truck that I wanted and then stamped it onto Whisper White card stock, cut it out, and colored it in with Poppy Parade marker and a touch of silver marker (non-SU).  I also added some crystal effects to the windows after stamping the man from Loads of Love Accessories.  A strip of Basic Gray card stock became the road and the "live big" is from the Think Big stamp set (retired).

As I was playing around with the cogs, I started layering them and realized that cogs could be flowers!  Here I punched out multiple cogs from random designer series paper scraps.  For each flower I layered and adhered 2 of the large cogs.  For the centers I adhered one small cog onto the circle center punch from one of the large cogs.  I then adhered these to the card with dimensionals.  I added a rhinestone jewel in the center of each flower for a bit of bling.  For the stems I did a bit of sewing on the sewing machine.  The leaves were cut from the 5-petal flower punch and then scored down the center with a bone folder.  The greeting is from the Something To Celebrate hostess set.

Don't robots need cogs too?!?! :)  Here I cut up a few of the cogs to make arms and eyelashes.  The small cogs were great for eyes!  I did a bit of economical stamping too - I used the larger cap from my Tombo glue as a stamp to make the rectangular body shapes and cut them out.  I also did some stamping with the tube from my paper piercing tool to make the stamped circles around the eyes.  The greeting is from Alphabet Soup (retired).  I covered the eyes, small circles, arms, and "feet" with Crystal Effects to make them shine!
I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!!!!  I had a lot of fun playing around with a punch that sat for many months gathering dust.  I hope this inspires you to look at the Double Cog XL punch in some new ways!!!  Have a wonderful and creative weekend!!!!!

Bird Feeder Scene Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Sit And Watch The Birds

We visited a friend the other day and found ourselves sitting at the kitchen table, looking out the window at the bird feeders and the birds.  There used to be a beautiful cherry tree out the window and when the cherry tree came to the end of its life, our friend just didn't have the heart to take the whole tree down.  So, he left part of the trunk to serve as a place to hang bird feeders.  The birds love it!  I find watching birds to be one of my most favorite ways to relax.  Sitting here at the computer I can look out my window at a bird bath that gets frequented by robins.  When I am in the craft room I can look out the window at the back yard and watch all of the feeders and a different bird bath.  I have thought numerous times of moving my craft room to another location in the house in order to have more space, however the ability to sit and watch the birds as I create is too beautiful to give up!  When was the last time you sat and watched the birds?
As you have probably guessed, today's card is a thank you card that we are sending to our friends for the perfect day we spent with them in the kitchen, looking out the window.  I used the Season of Friendship stamp set to create the tree trunk - I just inked part of the stamp with a Chocolate Chip maker and stamped onto Whisper White card stock.  The feeders were drawn free-hand and then cut out.  I attached them to the card with dimensionals and then poked holes in the card to thread wire and hemp twine as the "hangers."  I added a touch of crystal effects to both feeders.  The background was sponged with Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery.  I then stamped the far tree from the Le Jardin Botanique (retired) stamp set after coloring the stamp with Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive markers.  The grass and the little black bird are from the Sunshine of Life (retired) stamp set.  I stamped the grass at half strength using Old Olive ink.  The bird in the tree is from the Bliss (retired Sale-a-bration) stamp set.  I stamped him with Early Espresso and then colored him with a touch of Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake.  The greeting from Happy Harmony (retired) was stamped in Basic Black.  The panel was mounted onto a piece of Poppy Parade card stock and then onto a Certainly Celery card base.  I hope you like it :)

A Few More Elegant Ice Note Cards

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Find A Way To Carry Something You Make With You

The other day I was reading a magazine that I had brought with me on the plane and I became aware that I was holding one of the cloth bookmarks I had made in my hand and I was feeling the fabric between my fingers as I was reading.  It brought a smile to my face - looking down at the bookmark and recalling the steps I had gone through to make it.  As I felt the soft fabric between my fingers it almost transported me to the craft room!  It made me realize that although I was not in the craft room, I could always carry a little piece of it with me on the road :)  I have also started carrying one of my small handmade journals with me as well.  I used to carry a plain old spiral notebook, but I find that having my personal, handmade one creates that same feeling of comfort - that sense of being home :)  What piece of your art can you carry with you?
Today's card is part of the ice skating set that I made for my friend for her birthday.  I once again used the Elegant Ice (retired) stamp set.  Here I stamped the ice dancers onto Whisper White card stock using Basic Black ink.  I then used a hobby blade to cute out the image.  It looks tedious, but if you have a nice sharp blade, you can work pretty quickly, even on an intricate image like this one.  I mounted the cut out image to the So Saffron card stock using cut up dimensionals.  Here is the final card that was a part of the set:

Here I stamped the skater and colored her dress and skin using markers.  I then added a bit of dazzling diamonds to her dress with 2-way glue.  I stamped the medal and used a gold metallic marker (not SU) to color the medal and a marker to color the ribbon.  I then mounted it to the panel with dimensionals and then added crystal effects to make the medal shine!  The greeting is from Fabulous Phrases and was stamped, with the help of my stamp-a-ma-jig, with Basic Black ink.  I hope you like both cards!

Elegant Ice (Retired) Note Cards

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Go The Other Direction

On my morning walk with Buddy, we traditionally go in the same direction.  I find that on certain days it's like I'm on auto-pilot - like someone else or something else is guiding my body in that direction.  So I decided to change things up and reverse the route!  It was absolutely refreshing!  It's funny - when you walk in the same direction in a neighborhood, you tend to see things from the same vantage point.  When you reverse the route, you see things so differently!  Instead of seeing front doors, we were looking at backyards :)  I think the same can be true with how we approach making a card.  We may get into a habit with how we create - maybe we pick the colors first; or the stamp set first; or the layout.  Whatever it is you do first when you create, try going in a different direction - start where you don't normally start - you may like what you see!
I have a very close friend who is a skating instructor and I knew I had to create some skating cards for her for her birthday!  I purchased the retired Elegant Ice stamp set and had a lot of fun!!!!  Here I stamped the skater image once and cut it out.  Then I stamped her dress a second time, after coloring directly on the stamp with Rose Red and Pink Pirouette markers.  I then cut out the dress and adhered it to the first cut-out image.  I colored her skin using markers.  I then stamped the greeting from Warm Words (retired) with VersaMark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Finally, I adhered the skater to the card using dimensionals.  Here are a few different versions of the card...

One Stamp Wonders #2 - Live Laugh Love Birthday Card & Video!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Read A Good Book And Then Recycle It!

Have you heard about Paperback Swap?  It is a great website where you can list and trade your books!  Here's how it works.  You list books on the site and if another member requests a book from you, you mail it to them free of charge and you pay the shipping via media mail.  Once they receive the book, you receive one credit.  You can then use your credit to request a book from any other paperback swap member and, once you request it, they send you the book for free and they pay the shipping!  I have been participating for a number of months now and it really works!!!!  If you decide to give it a try, feel free to let them know I sent you :)  It's a great way to enjoy reading and to do so economically!  (I fully support using the library too!!!!).
Today's card is also about how to reduce, reuse and recycle!  In this second video of One Stamp Wonders, I show you how to use just one rubber stamp to create a beautiful and easy card!  I hope you enjoy the video!

Four Ways Friday #45 - Charming Stamp Set

For this week's Four Ways Friday, I closed my eyes, reached onto the stamp shelf, and pulled out the Charming stamp set!  Sometimes chance is the greatest inspiration!

Small, decorative stamps lend themselves really well to making background papers!  Here I used the small decorative stamp from the Charming set and stamped it multiple times in Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette and Rose Red onto Very Vanilla card stock.  I then crumpled the paper and sprayed it with  a mixture of alcohol and champagne shimmer paint in a spray bottle.  I sewed the panel to a Pink Pirouette background and then sewed those layers to the Marina Mist card.  I stamped the greeting from Thank You Kindly with Early Espresso on Pink Pirouette card stock.  I then sewed around and around with the sewing machine.  I added the panel to the card with dimensionals and then added the Rose Red button with the tied crochet thread using glue dots.

It can be easy, at times, to overlook the beauty and simplicity of ink and paper alone.  Here I used sticky notes to create a mask around a central square of space and then stamped everything inside the masked area - the words, the butterfly, the flowers, the flourish frame - all using Basic Gray ink on Whisper White card stock.  I stamped "create" on a small piece of Whisper White card stock, cut it out and mounted it on the card with dimensionals.  I added the tiniest touch of dazzling diamonds to the flower centers.

The floral image in this stamp set is so elegant!  Here inked the stamp, multiple times, using my Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers.  I stamped the image 4 times on the card and then added dazzling diamonds to the flowers using 2-way glue.  I stamped the flourish frame and the greeting from Short & Sweet onto Whisper White card stock and punched it out with the extra large oval punch.  I sponged the edges with Rich Razzleberry ink and then added it to the card front with dimensionals.

This card began with Natural Ivory card stock as the base.  I then stamped the circular decorative image with VersaMark using my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I heat embossed with white embossing powder and repeated the stamping and embossing two more times.  I added rhinestone jewels to the centers of the embossed images.  The sewing came next - a bit of back and forth with two different sized stitches.  Finally, I stamped the greeting from Curly Cute using Early Espresso ink.  Here is a close up of the embossing.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!  I hope I've inspired you to look at the Charming stamp set in some new ways!!!!  Have a wonderfully creative weekend!

Fifth Avenue Floral Monogram Notes

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  What Ever Led Us To Believe That We Own This Planet?

I just finished reading the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and my brain has been swimming in thought from the book.  Have you read it?  I don't want to share too much since it is definitely worth reading and considering.  The book spends time discussing how we seem to believe that the world belongs to us - that it's our possession.  It's a strange thing to think about - owning the world.  And even more strange to watch how we can treat something once we begin to convince ourselves that it is ours to do with as we please.  I get discouraged when I contemplate my contribution to damaging this gorgeous planet and I keep trying to do things to minimize the negative impact that I make on this planet - composting, recycling, reusing, being a vegetarian.  I know there is more I can do.  There are so many things each and every one of us can do to slow the damage...or maybe even reduce the damage...that our attitude of ownership has caused to this beautiful planet.  What can you do today?
Today's card is one of a set that I made for my mom for her birthday.  Yesterday I shared a few of the occasion cards that I included in the set.  I decided that some general monogram note cards would also be a great addition to the set.  I used the "E" from the Classic Alphabet (retired) for the monogram.  I find this combination of Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, and Sahara Sand amazingly soothing.  I might have to put this color combination on my list of favorites! :)  I hope you like it!

Fifth Avenue Floral Birthday Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Art Is My String!

I can't remember if I've told you this story before.  If I have, it's always good to hear again...and there's a good chance I'll tell it again in a matter of months from now!  I read once that back in the day, on the Great Plains, farmers learned to tie a string from the back door to the door of the barn because each farmer knew at least one person who had died in a snowstorm when they couldn't find their way back to shelter.  The storms would be so intense that they couldn't see and they would lose their way between the buildings.  By tying that string between the buildings, they were able to find their way in the storm.  Art is my string!  When days feel like blizzards; when my emotions are going every which way but a happy and supportive way, art helps me find my way back to center.  If I'm in a bad mood, I can go into the craft room and create for a bit and the storm blows over and the calm moves in.  I hope you have a string that helps you find your way - whether it is art or another passion - we all need our strings :)
Today's card is part of a set that I made for my mom as part of a birthday gift.  I stamped the flowers from Fifth Avenue Floral and one from Eastern Blooms in Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze and Sahara Sand.  I added a touch of dazzling diamonds to the flower centers.  I adhered a piece of textured Sahara Sand card stock and then sewed across it with the sewing machine (yes, I'm addicted to sewing on cards now!).  I used VersaMark and Early Espresso ink to heat emboss the Sincere Salutations greeting onto Pink Pirouette card stock.  I then punched it out using the decorative label punch.  I hope you like it!  Here are a few simplified versions of the card...

Always Monogram Note Cards

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Your Experience Influences How You See The World...And Then You Need To Decide What To Do With That

I just finished reading a book called "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave.  It is an incredibly powerful book and the main character has an amazing story to tell (I won't tell you too much since it's a great book and you might want to read it).  I was struck by how much her experience influenced how she saw the world.  I realize the same is true for me.  I was assaulted when I was 16 years old and that influenced, then and now, how I see the world.  At first I walked around in absolute fear - fear that it would happen again - fear that I would be followed - fear that this time, it would be worse.  It has taken me years to begin to think about what I want to do with that fear and that experience.  Yes, I am still very aware of my surroundings and I do wonder what danger lurks around every corner.  I'm just not sure I want to continue to hold onto the experience in the same way anymore.  Yes, I still want to be aware of what's around me and be prudent in my actions.  I don't, however, want to view every person walking in my direction or behind me as a potential threat - it is just not energy I want to carry around every day - it is weighing me down.  I am not sure how I will go about changing the influence this event has had on my life.  I guess awareness is the first step - awareness that I want to change how it influences my life.  Wish me luck!
Today's card is actually a set of cards that I made for a friend for her birthday.  Once again the Color Coach came in handy - I love how these colors go together!  Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard and Garden Green...who would have thought?! :)  I began by stamping the bird from Always using VersaMark and Elegant Eggplant (you can make any of your classic inks "heat embossable" if you stamp your stamp in VersaMark first and then onto the ink pad color of your choice - this will not hurt your ink pads).  I heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I punched the curly label out of More Mustard card stock and stamped the branch image in More Mustard.  I then sewed that piece to the card using my sewing machine.  I stamped the monogram from the Classic Alphabet (retired) in Elegant Eggplant on Whisper White card stock and punched it out with the 3/4" circle punch.  I then stamped the flower at half strength using More Mustard ink.  A 1" circle was then punched from Garden Green cardstock.  I adhered the monogram to the Garden Green circle using glue and then adhered it to the card using a dimensional.  Here is a close up of the stamping on the card:

One Stamp Wonders #1 - A Note of Thanks & Video!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  What If You Only Had One Stamp?

This is the question that led me to begin a new series of videos called One Stamp Wonders!  What if you only had one rubber stamp to play with?  What could you do?  This question led me to start looking at other items in the craft room in new and interesting ways.  This is the first card and the first video in the series.  I hope you like it and I hope it challenges you to ask yourself, "What would I do if I only had one stamp to stamp with?"  Enjoy!

Four Ways Friday #44 - Butterfly Extra Large Punch

For this week's Four Ways Friday I decided to play with the Butterfly Extra Large Punch.  I may have to keep playing with this punch...I have a feeling there is a lot more you can do!

I love how butterflies float off the page when they are made out of vellum!  Here I combined the punch with the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set.  I stamped the floral butterfly onto vellum twice using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  You can definitely heat emboss on vellum - you just need to be careful not to burn the vellum!  The first butterfly I punched out using the butterfly punch and the second one I punched out using the 2 3/4" circle punch.  I then adhered the punched out butterfly on top of the second butterfly using glue.  I backed the vellum with a 2 3/4" circle of Blushing Bride card stock and then punched a hole in the Sahara Sand card using the 1 3/4" circle punch.  I adhered the butterfly circle behind the hole.  I stamped and heat embossed the greeting from Elegant Greetings (retired) and added a bit of stitching.  Finally I stamped the small flower from Flight of the Butterfly with VersaMark and then added a touch of dazzling diamonds to the flowers.  Here is the inside of the card...

For the second card I used the butterfly punch to punch out butterflies from Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Sahara Sand card stock.

Here I combined the butterfly with stamped images from Fifth Avenue Floral and Eastern Blooms.  I stamped a floral image on the butterflies as well and added a touch of dazzling diamonds.  The sentiment is from Fabulous Phrases.  These butterflies would also look great adhered to the outside of a gift bag!

Don't forget that punches are a great way to create stencils and masks!  Here I punched the butterfly out of a sticky note and was able to use the "negative" as a stencil.  I sponged Pink Pirouette ink inside the stencil and then stamped over it using the Dot, Dot, Dot stamp.  I then used the punched butterfly portion as a "mask" and placed it over the dotted butterfly and proceeded to sponge Baja Breeze all over the place :)  I then stamped some of the floral images from Fifth Avenue Floral in Sahara Sand before removing the mask.  Some sponging around the edges of the tag and a greeting from Bring On The Cake, stamped in Early Espresso, finish the stamping.  The last touch was a large eyelet and some ribbon to package this box of note cards.

I hope this card makes you smile :)  I smile every time I look at it!!!! :)  Yes, there was once a butterfly punch in Pink Pirouette...but it met with a pair of scissors!  I cut the butterfly in half lengthwise and then again, in half, to separate all the wings.  A large wing acts as the head for this bunny rabbit and the two smaller wings are the ears.  I adhered them together using glue and then added a mouth from Make A Monster and some google eyes.  I punched out part of a 2 3/4" circle from Baja Breeze card stock and ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I mounted the bunny and then the circle onto the Whisper White card base using dimensionals.  The greeting, from Teeny Tiny Wishes, was stamped in Basic Black and a small flower button finishes the look!
I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!  I hope it inspires you to take another look at your butterfly punch and have some fun with it!  I hope you have a wonderful, and creative, weekend!!!

Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder Save The Date & Thank You

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  You Can Start Today!

I ran a marathon at the end of November 2010 and after that experience...and with winter as an excuse...I stopped running in any consistent way....okay...maybe I stopped running period!  I just couldn't seem to get motivated to go out in the cold and snow and get my body moving.  It led to a bit of a funk.  Well, Spring is definitely in the air and I got motivated to start again!  That's the wonderful thing about starting something - you can choose any day, any time, to just start!!!!!  So now I've begun to get the legs moving again - 3 times and counting!!!  Yeah!!!!!  I may not be running as fast or as far as I was in November, but at least I have begun and once you start something, you never know where it might take you!!!!!
I wanted to share with you the Save The Date and the Thank You card that Elizabeth and I created to match the wedding invitation.  The Save The Date was so simple.  We printed the info on the Very Vanilla card stock using the computer and then heat embossed the small paisley heart from Paisley Prints (retired) on the card stock.  We then adhered it to a piece of Brushed Silver card stock.  We made a faux bow with Very Vanilla satin ribbon and attached that to the card using snail.  Finally, we stamped the large heart with VersaMark onto a piece of Very Vanilla card stock, heat embossed with silver embossing powder and punched it out with the heart punch.  It was adhered to the card with dimensionals.  The last touch was to put a magnet strip on the back of the card so that it can be stuck on the fridge as a reminder :)

For the thank you card we pulled out the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder again and ran the front of the card through the folder in the Big Shot.  We silver heat embossed the "D" from the Lovely Letters alphabet and then punched it out using the 1 1/4" circle punch.  We mounted it onto a 1 1/2" circle punched from Brushed Silver card stock.  We also used the decorative label punch to punch out Brushed Silver card stock and then used dimensionals to adhere the monogram to the decorative label punch.  A small piece of Very Vanilla satin ribbon was added with snail between the layers.  Finally, we heat embossed the small heart using silver embossing powder and then punched it out with the small heart punch and added it to the card with 1/2 a dimensional.  Here is what the entire ensemble looks like together...We hope you like it!!!!

Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder Wedding Invitation

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Collaborate!!!!

I really enjoy getting together with other people to stamp!!!!  The other day my friend Elizabeth came over and we got to work on trying to create a wedding ensemble.  We knew we had to incorporate the paisley shape for the bride (that's what the bride requested) and we also knew silver needed to play a role, but beyond that we were on our own!  So, we put our heads together and created something that would never have been made if we had been alone!   We were really happy with what we came up with...hopefully the bride-to-be will like it too!
The card is a simple standard-sized card.  We ran the front of the card through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  We stamped the paisley heart from the Paisley Prints (retired) stamp set onto Very Vanilla card stock with VersaMark, heat embossed with silver embossing powder, and punched it out with the heart punch.  We wrapped a piece of Very Vanilla satin ribbon around the front of the card and adhered the heart with dimensionals.  Here is a look at the inside of the card...

We printed the RSVP postcard and the actual invitation layer on Very Vanilla card stock using the computer.  A layer of brushed silver card stock and a small silver embossed paisley heart from Paisley Prints adds elegance to the inside.  Hope you like it!  Check back tomorrow to see the matching Save The Date card and Thank You card!!!! :)

Walk This Way Punny Cards :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Have Some Pun! :)

As a kid I used to collect stickers and I still remember the fun puns that Sandra Boynton created in her sticker and stationery artwork.  She drew a lot of animals and I particularly remember her birthday stickers that said "Hippo birdie two ewes!"  And yes, there, on the sticker, were a hippo, a bird and two ewes :)  It's fun to try out being punny with your stamps!  Here I used the Walk This Way (retired) stamp set.  I stamped the ewe in basic black and then used the faux frosting technique to create his fur.  The "thank" is from one of the Thank You Kindly stamps and I stamped out the "ewe" with the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers set.  Of course, I couldn't stop at just one pun...so here's another...

I hope you're smiling...even if you think it's corny :)  I just added a bit of Bashful Blue ink and Whisper White craft ink to the faux frosting mixture to give this ewe the blues :)  The greeting is a combination of "i'm so sorry" from Teeny Tiny Wishes, "ewe" using the Calendar & Alphabet Numbers stamp set, "are" from the word "care" on one of the stamps in the Best Yet (retired) stamp set, and the letters for "blue" from the Calendar & Alphabet Numbers stamp set.  I hope you like these puns...now go have some pun of your own :)

Elements of Style Experiment

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Experiment!

I think back to those days in science class where we did experiments.  Sometimes we got the anticipated result.  Other times things didn't quite go as we hoped...and sometimes that was even more interesting! :)  I have to continually remind myself to experiment when it comes to making art.  To allow myself to not worry about the finished product and instead allow whatever process is happening to unfold.  This card was like that.  I started with the thought of doing some poppin' pastels.  So, somewhere underneath what you are seeing is a floral image that was stamped in Versamark and then pounced with Rose Red pastel.  The hummingbird also started as a poppin' pastel technique.  And then I went into experimentation mode!  I sprayed with ink and shimmer spray and crumpled and distressed and inked and sewed and sewed some more...I just kept going.  Is the final product what I expected?  No.  But allowing the process to unfold was a lot more interesting!!! :)

Four Ways Friday #43 - Sock Monkey Accessories Stamp Set

This week's Four Ways Friday is all about using the Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set...whether or not you have the Sock Monkey set too!  I actually don't have the Sock Monkey set, but I find plenty of ways to put the Accessories stamp set to good use!

A simple way to use the Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set is to just stamp and color the images on their own!  Here I stamped the Easter basket with VersaMark and heat embossed using black embossing powder.  I then colored the image using markers.  A bit of dimension was added with some dazzling diamonds and a touch of Crystal Effects.  The greeting is from A Good Egg stamp set.  Striped grosgrain ribbon and punching with the eyelet border punch finish the look!

You can repeat the stamped images too!  This is a simple, one-layer card.  I began by stamping the greeting from Bring On The Cake and colored it in with markers.  Then I stamped gift box image from Sock Monkey Accessories.  I used my black marker to ink up the stamp so that I could stamp the bottom boxes without the box (ie I did not ink up the bow part of the rubber stamp with the marker).  I inked up the full stamp for the last box.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to help me align the boxes.  I then colored using markers and added some dazzling diamonds and Crystal Effects - sooooo easy!

You can also stamp, cut, and paper piece your images too!  I LOVE this adorable little ice cream cone!  I stamped the image twice onto Whisper White card stock.  First with Crumb Cake ink and then with Pink Pirouette ink.  I then cut out the full Crumb Cake stamped image and cut out only the ice cream scoop on the Pink Pirouette image.  I then used glue to adhere dyed sand to the ice cream scoop - here is a close up...

The greeting is a combination of the "so" from one of the stamps in Teeny Tiny Wishes and "sweet" from another stamp set (I can't remember which one...oops!).

And just because the accessories were made for Sock Monkey, that doesn't mean you can't use them with other characters! :)  Here I combined the bunny ears with one of the monsters from the Make a Monster stamp set!  The ears fit perfectly!  I colored the monster in and even added a bit of Crystal Effects on the inner part of the ears.  The googly eyes give him even more whimsy!  The greeting is a combination of "happy easter" from A Good Egg and "earthling" from the Greetings, Earthling stamp set.
I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!  Happy April Fool's Day!!!!!  Have a wonderful and creative weekend!!!!!!!

Bliss Collage Stamping

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  You Can Create A Lot Of Color With One Color!

I never thought that this card would be described as having "lots of color," but that was exactly what Michael said when I showed the card to him!  As I looked at the card a bit more closely after his comment, I realized that you can create a lot of color and contrast with just one color.  I used different shades of brown - Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, and Early Espresso to create this card.  This is one of those "build it from the ground up" kind of cards.  I started with the idea to make some paper flowers and then, once they were sewn to the card front, I just kept embossing and stamping and spraying...there was no stopping me :)  Challenge yourself to see what kind of texture and contrast you can create with one color - you'll be surprised how much color you can create!
Today is the last day to get ahold of this beautiful Bliss Sale-a-bration stamp set!  The flower, the butterfly and the vintage-looking leafy image (what else would you call it?) are all a part of the set!  Today is the last day of Sale-a-bration and your last chance to get a free stamp set, like this Bliss set, with a $50 product purchase.  Feel free to shop HERE now :)  For this card I combined the Bliss stamp set with words from Fabulous Phrases and a definition from Define Your Life.  I hope you like it! :)

So Cute & Fabulous Phrases Cupcake Birthday Card

Today's Question From The Craft Room:  Is Too Much Of A New Technique A Bad Thing?!

Are you sick of cupcakes with faux frosting yet??? :)  I have to admit that I have fallen in love with this technique!  It's not a new technique, but it was new to me and I'm loving it!  I moved on from making the pink frosting to combining some white craft ink with the Crystal Effects and clear embossing powder and voila!  Vanilla frosting!!!!  Yummmmy!!!!  If you haven't yet seen my video on how to make this faux frosting, you can check it out HERE.
For this card I ran a piece of Bermuda Bay (retired) card stock through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I then used the scallop square punch to punch squares from Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White and Daffodil Delight card stock.  I made 4 of the little cupcakes using the cupcake stamp from the So Cute stamp set (this was one of the sets I chose as a FREE Sale-a-bration set)!  I stamped the greeting using words from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set and Real Red and Tempting Turquoise ink.  A button with a bit of crochet thread adds a finishing touch!  I hope you like it...and I'll try to do something other than cupcakes for the rest of the week....but I can't promise :)

So Cute Birthday Card With Cupcakes

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Plan Ahead :)

I'm feeling quite proud of myself!  I'll let you in on a little secret...I actually wrote this post on March 17th!  Can you believe it!  I knew that things were going to be hectic and I wanted to be sure to have posts for you every day, so I figured the best way to do that was to plan ahead!  Blogger let's you schedule your posts so you can create them one day and then schedule them to post on another day - brilliant!  I'm hoping to stay ahead of myself with the posts - I think that will allow me to feel a bit less pressure and give me a bit more space to create some cards for submissions to publications.  When I submit cards I'm not allowed to post them until I hear back from the publishers so it can feel like extra work at times since I want to send in submissions and I want to have something to share with you too!  So hopefully this plan ahead strategy will work!  I figure I have a week and a half lead time now...let's see if I can keep it up!!! :)
I went a little crazy once I learned the faux frosting technique!  It is so simple and easy and has a great impact.  So, of course, I have a few more cards for you with the faux frosting technique :)  For this card I made 4 of the cupcakes with Pink Pirouette frosting and colored the wrappers with Baja Breeze marker.  I white heat embossed the greetings - the "happy" and "birthday" are from Fabulous Phrases (love that script!) and the cupcake image and "cupcake" greeting are from the cupcake stamp in the So Sweet stamp set.  The color combination is Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze (I love my Color Coach - it provides great color inspiration)!  I did a touch of sewing on the bottom of the panel before attaching the panel to the card with dimensionals.  Finally, I added some buttons and a few rhinestone jewels to complete the look.  I hope you like it!

Friends Fur-ever Birthday Cards

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  There Are Some Things You Should Tell Your Neighbor About

I lived in an apartment for a very long time and it was funny how little I knew about my neighbors.  It seemed that because we lived in such close proximity to one another, we didn't go out of our way to get to know one another.  Now that we're in a house, we find that knowing our neighbors has been wonderful!  I think it's fair to say we have gotten to know quite a few of them since we walk Buddy all the time.  We either end up walking with some of our neighbors who have dogs too or we pass by neighbors who don't have dogs while they are out in their yards or going to and from work.  I got a call from one of my neighbors today about a crime alert email he had received.  He knows I walk a lot and just wanted me to know that there had been a strange car in the area that had been reported to the police since the man inside the car had tried to order a woman into the car.  I really appreciated his telling me so that I can keep an eye out on my walks and be sure to have my cell phone with me at all times.  There are some things that you should be sure to tell your neighbor about - it's nice to know that we are all looking out for one another!
I just can't seem to get enough of this Friends Fur-ever stamp set!  I hope you're enjoying these cute dogs as much as I am!  For the first card I did some simple stamping and coloring.  I stamped the birthday greeting from Bring on the Cake and colored it in with my Bashful Blue marker (and a touch of Daffodil Delight for the flame).  I then used the stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the dog and gift box from Friends Fur-ever in Basic Black.  I colored the box and collar in and then added a touch of dazzling diamonds to both to give them some bling!  I mounted the panel onto Pumpkin Pie card stock and added a bit of striped grosgrain ribbon before mounting the panel onto the Whisper White base with dimensionals.  I also wanted to share this card with you that is just a variation on the first.  Here I used the retired "Think Big" stamp set and stamped the dog right above the "g."  I stamped, colored and cut out the balloon and hand drew the string.  I added Crystal Effects to the balloon to give it some shine.  I hope you like both cards :)