Customer Spotlight

In addition to our Designer Spotlights, Flourishes will be doing spotlights on some of our customers as well. These may be stampers you know well, or others that may be up and coming "stars"! Either way, we would like to show you their work and tell you a little bit about them.

Velta Wesson is a lovely lady from Montgomery Alabama. She is a mom to a 30 year old daughter who is her pride and joy. She has an Australian Shepherd named 'Piper,' who is also her best friend. She loves all kinds of art and has tried many of them...sewing, crocheting, knitting, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, and card making. She works as a full-time writer/paralegal analyst and card making is her passion. She has also worked as a graphic designer for a magazine in Montgomery.

We first saw Velta’s work when, while working in the Flourishes Studio, the mail arrived with a package containing some of the most beautiful Christmas cards we’ve seen. All work stopped and we just drooled over cards that were created on beautiful metallic paper, adorned with rhinestones and embossed in gorgeous glitter. We could not believe she would send us these cards, that obviously had taken some time to make.

Please tell us how you became interested in stamping and what do you like most about it?

I began making cards in 2005. I wanted to make a handmade card for my best friend. The card was passed around the office where I work and everyone was really going on and on about how beautiful it was. To me it is like therapy and I love giving handmade cards to the people I care for. Just to see the looks on their faces makes me happy. I became interested in stamping in late 2005, when I was looking at some stamps at A.C. Moore. There was a woman beside me and I asked her if she knew much about stamping. She handed me her card and it read that she was a Stampin Up demonstrator. From then on, I was addicted. Stamping relaxes me and it is rewarding as well. There is no feeling like giving. It takes so much more love and thoughtfulness to make a gift for someone. The time and effort spent hopefully is worth it when you see the joy in the eyes of the person when they realize they have received such a personal expression of love.


How would you describe your stamping style?

As for my stamping style, I love anything elegant and have always believed that “simple is elegant.” I get disappointed when I overdo embellishing my work, and I have tossed many a card in the trash because of this. When I was 17 years old, I was watching the ladies at a local department store wrapping presents; and it came to me that packaging and presentation was key to what sells. If you have a beautiful package it makes what is inside more interesting. I began making my own bows for packages at that time because it made the present so much more special.


Do you sketch out your projects ahead of time?

I sometimes sketch out my projects ahead of time when I get an idea of what embellishments would go well with patterned paper. However, that is rare. Most of the time I go with the stamp I am using and the ideas just revolve around the stamp. It seems that I fancy spontaneity.

Your Christmas cards used metallic card stock, rhinestones, and glitter embossing powder and you made them look soft and elegant, a real challenge when using these types of materials – how were you able to accomplish this?

I love “sparkly!” What better way to show that than to use Swarovsky Crystals, metallic card stock and embossing powder. It helps with the color coordination that I come up with in each and every card I make. Of course, Flourishes stamps beg for embossing powder and crystals, which is one reason I am so passionate about your stamps. I have had comments on my site that range from stunning, beautiful, and gorgeous. I mean “wow” I hope these people realize how wonderful that makes me feel. I create what I feel at the time.

Tell us something about yourself that we don’t know but would be surprised to learn.

I have a passion for giving and sharing what I do. It is what makes me stop and think that my life is truly full. I made Barbie and Ken doll clothes for years, and the beauty of that intricate work was really appreciated by my daughter and my niece. I also made them Halloween costumes, fake fur wraps, jewelry, and many other “girly” things. I believe that they harbored everything that I made for them when they were growing up and my talent for making these items has metamorphosed into my current art. I also play guitar.

When I was in college, I wrote poetry and I still have that 3-ring binder of my own verses. When I make my cards, I also write my own sentiments for the inside of the card. To make it look professional, I use my computer to print these verses on a separate piece of paper and then glue that paper inside the card I have made. This is just another added indulgence that I enjoy.

You can see more of Velta's lovely cards on her blog Impressions by V.