Four Ways Friday #48 - Calendar Alphabet & Numbers

This week's Four Ways Friday is all about the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set.  I thought it would be too easy to use them for a calendar...so I decided to play a bit!

The color combination for this first card was inspired by a pillow I saw in a catalog - I loved the spring feel of the orange, pink and green together!  I stamped the flower from Fifth Avenue Floral with Jet Black Staz-on and then colored with a combination of markers and smooch ink (the gold dots are all smooch).  I made the banner by cutting the points off of small stars that I had punched using the star punch.  I then heat embossed the letters using white embossing powder and the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set.  The word "birthday" is from the "happy birthday" stamp in the Teeny Tiny Greetings stamp set.  A piece of thread was adhered to the card with glue and then the banner letters were adhered on top of it with glue.

 This second card is an easy way to make use of the alphabet letters.  Just stamp the letters onto card stock and cut them out individually.  Here I stamped the letters in Basic Black on Very Vanilla card stock, cut them out and sponged the edges with Basic Black ink before mounting them on the card with dimensionals.  The heart is from Paisley Prints (retired) and was stamped in VersaMark, heat embossed with silver embossing powder and punched out with the large heart punch.  I attached a piece of Very Vanilla card stock to the inside of the card so that writing in regular ink would show up inside.

Don't forget that you can stamp your letters onto surfaces other than paper!  Here I took a piece of white cotton fabric and sprayed it with ink mixed with water.  I also sprayed it with a mix of alcohol and champagne shimmer paint for some sparkle!  I let the fabric dry and then stamped the letters - you can use regular ink or Staz-On for this purpose.  Before adding the fabric to the card I masked off the card like this:

and sponged the area with Tangerine Tango ink.  I removed all of the masks, except for the bottom one and stamped the floral image from Always in Chocolate Chip ink across the colored area.  I also stamped the butterfly from Dreams Du Jour and added dazzling diamonds to the flowers and butterfly.  I added the fabric strip to the card using matte medium - I find that this works well for adhering fabric to card stock.

Last but not least I decided to make a tag.  I repeatedly stamped the letters in Pretty In Pink ink to form the word "yummy."  I sponged the edges of the tag with both Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip ink.  I punched the bottom edge of the tag with the lace border punch and then added strips of Pretty In Pink and Baja Breeze card stock.  I punched the Baja Breeze with the scallop border punch and used a hole punch to punch a hole in each of the scallops.  The monkeys are from Fox and Friends.  I stamped the monkeys in Chocolate Chip ink and cut them out using my paper snips.  I adhered them to the card with dimensionals and added a piece of chocolate chip ribbon for hanging.  A few rhinestone jewels finish the look.  I can't wait to find a yummy treat to put this tag on!!!! :)
I hope you've enjoyed this week's Four Ways Friday!  I am a big fan of alphabet sets - they are so versatile and allow you the freedom to create any greeting/saying you choose!  I hope you have a wonderful creative weekend and, if you are a mom, a very happy Mother's Day!!!!!! :)

Nature Walk Mother's Day Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Find A Rhythm In Repetition

We live in a world of constant change.  I am sometimes amazed by how many images get flashed across a tv screen in a second!  It's mind boggling!  It's no wonder that it can be challenging to hear your inner voice - the whispers of your internal wisdom - when change is going on all around you and distracting your attention.  Repetition is one way to calm the change and enable your inner voice to be heard.  Meditation takes advantage of this - the repetition of the awareness on your breath or the repetition of a mantra over and over again - a word or a sound - so that your mind is no longer distracted and your internal thoughts can rise to the surface.  I find that walking meditation works for me.  When I walk Buddy in the morning and just focus on my steps, my mind seems to open and I am much closer to my inner wisdom.  What repetition can you focus on today?
Today's card is the card I made for my mom for Mother's Day.  I decided that this special card for such a special woman really didn't need a lot of glitz and glamour - just simple and beautiful, just like her!  The card base is Very Vanilla.  I cut a small piece of Natural Ivory card stock and rounded one edge.  I stamped the floral image in Crumb Cake, multiple times, across the bottom.  The greeting is from Cause For Celebration (hostess) and was stamped in Early Espresso using the stamp-a-ma-jig.  The bird was stamped onto Whisper White using Jet Black Staz-On ink and then colored in using an aqua painter and Bashful Blue ink.  The beak is Soft Suede and the legs/feet a mix of Soft Suede and Going Gray (retired).  The bird and the panel were both mounted onto the card using dimensionals.  I hope you like it!

CitraSolv Transfer Together Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Unclutter
Is unclutter a word?  Or is it de-clutter?  Either way, I know it's something that I continually struggle with!  Some people are really good at letting go of things.  For some reason, it's one of those tough things for me to do.  No, I'm not someone who can be featured on the show Hoarders (and I really do feel so sorry for those individuals that have such a difficult time releasing things) and, at the same time, the psychological impact that clutter has on me is definitely not a positive one!  There are two spaces in particular that seem to get out of hand very quickly for me - the craft room and my office.  The office becomes a mass of pieces of paper everywhere - piles of paper, receipts, sticky notes.  The craft room gets overwhelmed at times by new supplies, remainders from completed projects, projects in process.  I know that some people work comfortably in the clutter around them.  I find that it just stimulates my inner critic to start telling me how cluttered my spaces are and I am so tired of that never-ending voice.  So I have begun to unclutter and I am doing my best to be supportive of myself in the process.  I know it will be a process and not an instant occurrence.  What I do know so far is that with each small step I am feeling better - lighter - more free.  My goal is to clean my space and clean my mind of the clutter of the messages of that inner critic!  Wish me luck!!!! :)
Today's card was also an attempt to unclutter - just simple ink and card stock.  The profile is of my wonderful companion, Buddy!  I decided to try transferring a laser printed image of him using Citra-Solv.  There are quite a few videos on how to do CitraSolv transfers on YouTube.  I found this video HERE particularly useful!  If you try this technique, you may want to do it outside - this stuff has a very strong citrus odor...the odor will eventually leave the card stock - it just takes a few days.  I transferred Buddy's image and then added the greeting from Define Your Life in Basic Black ink.  I hope you like it! :)  You will likely be seeing some more of these transfers soon!

Yippeee!!! An Honorable Mention!!!!

I had to share my excitement with you!  As you know, I have been trying to ignore my inner critic and continue to submit my work to try to get it published.  I decided to try and enter Stampin' Up!'s monthly Stampin' Success challenge for July - I actually sent it in quite early and was waiting to hear....and today look what was in my inbox:
"Congratulations! Your May Art Contest entry was selected for recognition with an honorable mention in our July issue."
I was so excited!!!!!  This means that my name will be listed in the honorable mention section in the July issue of Stampin' Success (Stampin' Up!'s magazine for demonstrators) and the projects will be posted in the on-line extras of the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website.  I also get to choose any stamp set I would like from the current catalog for free!!!! :)  Of course, I will share the projects with you once the Stampin' Success magazine comes out (which will be some time next month).  The theme for the contest was Land That I Love and features projects honoring the United States and Canada.  If you haven't tried to submit your work anywhere, why not give it a try????  Tell that inner critic to go take a hike! :)

Not Quite A One Stamp Wonder Robot :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  What Takes Your Attention?

Today I was wondering about the things that seem to attract my attention.  I wish I could say I am proud of all the things that attract my attention.  There are some that I feel great about:  my family (four-legged and two-legged members!), my art, nature.  There are also quite a few things that I attend to that I am not very pleased about:  this darn computer...when I'm just mindlessly checking news and compulsively checking email, idle thoughts, negative self-talk.  It seems that I let my attention be drawn to things that aren't constructive for me - that aren't helping me move forward on my journey.  And now the big question...what do I do about it?!  It seems the first step is noticing what I am attending to, then deciding if that is where I want to put my attention.  If the answer is "no," then the next step is to accept the challenge of stopping giving that thing my attention.  I know it will be a learning process and I am ready to learn.  There is an old saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.  So I am going to keep my eyes open for all of the "teachers" that will come my way to help me with this lesson.  I know my cat, Willow, is already one of those teachers.  It is amazing to watch her attend to what is of utmost importance to her - usually it's a mouse in the backyard by the bird feeders :)  I am inspired by her focus!
Today's card missed being a One Stamp Wonder by one stamp!  I just couldn't help myself!  This robot needed a cupcake! :)  I stamped the head by inking up an acrylic block.  The body is the lid from a stampin' spot.  The lines on his body are from the ridges on a snail holder.  His arms. his antennae, and the polka dots are a pencil eraser used as a stamp.  His eyes are a combination of stamping the end of a marker and then stamping the lid of a 2-way glue pen.  The cupcake is from the So Cute stamp set and the greeting is from On Your Birthday.  What kind of robot can you make with your supplies???? :)

National Scrapbooking Month Promotion!

 It's National Scrapbooking Month and Stampin' Up! is offering 30% off on select stamp sets!  Click HERE to find out more about this promotion!  The promotion runs until the end of the month.
The Summer Mini Catalog is also here!  You can click on the catalog icon in the right-hand column to view our great new products!

Bugs & Kisses Journal Art

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Make Some Honest Art

I have a confession to make...I have to admit that lately I have felt like I have not been honest in my art.  What do I mean by this?  Well, I often share cards with you that I would call "happy" cards - cards that are meant to make people smile or feel good.  However, inside of me, I know that I don't always want to smile and I don't always feel good and the card art I have been making was not letting me express the other emotions I feel.  So, I decided it was time to make and share some "honest" art.  Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times I am happy and smiling and feeling good...I am just more complex than that and my art needs to be too.
So off I went to explore some sorrow.  I mentioned Teesha Moore to you last week and this piece was inspired by her art journaling process.  It is a piece of art that I intend to frame.  I included some Stampin' Up! glossy card stock, ink and designer papers.  You may also recognize the dragonfly from Bugs & Kisses :)  I stamped him with Staz-On onto vellum, cut him out and colored the wings and body with markers.  I hope this piece speaks to you - it felt good to set some of my sorrow free.