Four Ways Friday #98 - Pleasant Poppies Background Stamp

When I saw the Pleasant Poppies background stamp in the catalog I immediately knew we were meant to be together! :)  Of course, once the stamp arrived, I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I figured that using the stamp for Four Ways Friday would be great motivation to get it inked up and stamped!

Let's start simple, simple, simple!  For this first card I just inked up the stamp with Basic Black ink and stamped it onto a Whisper White card base.  Next, with the help of the stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes with Basic Black ink vertically along one of the stems.  I love the graphic look of this card.

It's hard to believe it's already August and that 2013 is around the corner.  I have had some events come up that I needed to mark on a 2013 calendar and, since I didn't have a 2013 calendar yet, I decided to make one! :)  Yes, I still love keeping a paper calendar because I love being able to glance at an entire month at a time to see what is coming up.  I printed off a calendar on my computer - using iCal on my Mac - and printing 2 months per page.  I then cut the pages in half and had a stack that looked like this:

I used a prong fastener to mark the holes on the left-hand side of the pages.  I then cut the front and back covers from Crumb Cake card stock.  I actually glued 2 pieces of card stock together for both the front and back covers in order to make the calendar sturdy enough to withstand a year of handling.  I used Versamark to stamp the poppies on the cover and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  The numbers were die cut from some mat board that I had, using the Typeset Alphabet in the Big Shot.  I also used the Chevron embossing folder to create a Baja Breeze panel to decorate the front cover.  A ribbon slide, Baja Breeze seam binding and a scallop-edge piece of First Edition designer paper added the finishing touches.

I kept embossing for this third project.  I used Versamark and Basic Black ink to stamp the image onto watercolor paper.  I then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Next I took my Aqua painter and a few of my ink pads and began water coloring the flowers and stems.  I used Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Garden Green and Always Artichoke.  The Tangerine Tango card base was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  The watercolor panel was layered onto Basic Black card stock before being adhered to the card.  Finally, I stamped the greeting from Lovely Little Labels onto watercolor paper and punched it out with an oval punch.  I layered that onto a partially punched curly label punch.

Remember to look at your stamps in different ways.  I realized that the stems on the flowers created a really cool pattern so I decided to just stamp the stems in multiple colors (Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, and Tempting Turquoise).  I then attached the stamped pieces to a Whisper White card base.  The greeting was stamped onto Whisper White using Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers.  I layered the greeting onto a piece of Old Olive card stock that I had paper pierced.  Finally I added a Rich Razzleberry button which I threaded with a piece of Old Olive card stock.
I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!!!!  Have a beautiful, creative weekend!!!!!