Let Me Introduce You

MY FRIENDS




I have developed some of the very best and special friends here in Pensacola. Two of them, my roommates, are Gigi and Chloe. I had begged the Flourishes to have my very own stamp set. Well, one day Lauren Pope was here when they stopped by at Flourishes. She really liked them both and went home and started drawing. That was how Gigi & Chloe got a stamp set and I could start my own group...kind of Sophie's Choices. I love my friends and the cute set Lauren created.


Join me all the way to the end of this fun time that I want to share with you.....At the end you will have a special message from me.

Want to see the set depicting these two fun gals? ... OK!

Lauren really captured their personalities.

Gigi is from a small town on the Georgia/Alabama line. She is perfectly Southern, if you know what I mean! She speaks with a very heavy drawl and she is so very sweet. She dresses perfectly every day, all day long! She loves to have have everything match and has a closet full of clothes with all the accessories to go with each and every item! No Kidding, now she knows that I am writing this and sharing it with the world.

Chloe is a free spirit and loves bold colors especially if they are stripes! She has gone green in a big way! We have all learned to be vegetarian a day every week. She is very different from Gigi in that she carries burlap or net bags to do her shopping, Gigi prefers to shop in boutiques and collect their bags. That is what she does for Going Green!

Well the girls came over to Flourishes and we made up a project with the new Gigi & Chloe Stamps. Jan, bless her heart, was there to give us lots of help and we could not have done it without her...she's the best! Yeah she's my boss too! LOL

Here is the cover of the project.........



And now for the BIG surprise inside......

Aren't they the cutest paper dolls you've seen in a long time? Jan showed us how to do this and we had the best time. Now none of us are as good as all of you, but we will get better in time. The images of Gigi and Chloe are stamped first in PTI paper then on an image layer and glued on. Why, it seems as though we could not color well with the Copics onto the PTI. The image layer worked much better. Then the dolls were still not stiff enough so we stamped the image on watercolor paper and glued it all together with ZIP glue. Then we used a scrap of watercolor paper and scored it in the middle and glued one side down. We then colored the hair, faces, legs of the images, but left the rest white, like slips.



Then we set out to create our own outfits for our girls! OH MY, was this fun! Jan let us go through her scraps and they are so cute! We first stamped on the PTI paper and then onto the papers chosen for the paper piecing. Again we glued them down with the Zip glue. Of course Gigi had to make her outfits match. Look closely at the yellow skirt and top, there is a chain belt for Gigi's outfit! Gigi used the tiny gold transfers from Flourishes...too cute!!!!




OK, I know you want to know just how these girls will hold there cute dresses on. Going Green Chloe, solved that problem for us; being the consummate recycle I know she had brought along some re positional glue that had come on some advertisement in the mail, but she also brought along a much more available package of re positional glue tape. We were cooking with grease!



Please leave me a note and let me know what you think of Gigi & Chloe. Then you will have a chance to win your own Gigi & Chloe set! You until Sunday, April 5th midnight CST when I'll pick a name out of the bowl and let you know the winner.



Here is one last look at the girls put into the storage position...Oh, did I have fun with this different post . I hope you did too.
Now hop on along to all of the Flourishes Designers that are joing me to introduce you to Gigi & Chloe. I cannot wait to see what they have doen with the girls!


Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber - D.T. Coordinator
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Stacy Morgan
Sharon Doolittle
Jan Marie

Kisses on each cheek!

Sweet Peas back in stock!

We received a small shipment of this very popular set and it is available once again. Thank you for your patience as we try and keep stock up on this great set!

Timeless Tuesday!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC9)!!!! Thanks so much to all of you who played along with us last week with the embossing challenge. Keep reading to find out who won last week!!!

For those of you who are new to the site, the Friends of Flourishes blog team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

This week Dee Jackson is hosting the challenge. She is challenging us to Go Green!!!! What does that mean? Well, it means that you have to find something to redo, to reuse, so you can say you recycled!!! I know you have many items that were created that did not quite make it on a card and you stashed it away for another time. Also, there are all kinds of non-craft items in the home waiting to be reused for something crafty. So, the time is now!!!! Let us go green and recycle those items!!!! We can hardly wait to see what you do!!!!!.

Come with me and let's see what the blog team created with the Go Green challenge!!!!

Up first this week is Silke Ledlow. She is using the I Love Roses and the
Mixed Greetings sets. I love the colors and layout she chose. Everything from the tearing shimmerzed edge to the shimmerz colored roses is just beautiful. Love the cut out dimension on the roses. Love the button with the ribbon detailing, too. For her go green challenge, the piece of green cardstock is a leftover from another project and the ribbon is recycled from a birthday party favor. This wonderful ribbon was used to tie the treat bags. Beautifully done, Silke!!!

Becca Feeken is using some warm earthtones to further celebrate our go green challenge. She is using the Chairs For You and You Are Invited sets. I love that the Chairs For You set has more than just chairs in the set. This beautiful plant with urn is one of the pieces in the set and Becca has arranged and colored it beautifully. Love how she added some gem detailing to the plant and the card. For the go green challenge, Becca is recycling cardboard backing from some packing. It's the brown background on her card. Love the pop of the big organdy with satin piping bow to finish off her beautiful card.

Next up is Betty Wright. I am using two stamp sets. One of the new releases this month Timeless Quotes and I Love Roses. I am using just the rosebud image and I have paired it with the friendship quote. I have used some of the Basic Gray Porcelain dp. For the go green challenge, I am using a jeweled hairpin that used to belong to my daughter. I tucked it in behind the ribbon knot. I did add little pearls in the center of the jeweled flowers to coordinate with the accent pearls I used.

Cindy Haffner is using the Fantasy Floral Garden set. She has combined it with some beautiful papers and colors. Love her cut out and dimensional flower. It is beautifully colored, too!!!Cindy's attention to the details is amazing. She has little punched flowers and butterflies and little pearl accents added that just makes this card wonderful. For the go green challenge, Cindy has reused this image from a stash of colored images she keeps on her desk and she is using some buttons she cut off of an old blouse she no longer wears. Wonderfully done, Cindy!!!

Be sure to check out each designer's blog links for more specific card details.

The Winner for Timeless Tuesday Challenge FTTC8

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:37
Timestamp: 2009-03-31 01:46:56 UTC

Ravengirl (Toni) is this week's winner!!! Congratulations, Toni!!!!

You need to email: flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net

By the way, if you still do not have our lovely Timeless Tuesday blog button

for your blog, check here for the codes.

We have another special for you this week. In honor of the Go Green challenge we have the clear stamp cleaner and scrubber on sale!!! We chose these items because we need to keep our stamps cleaned and condition so we can use them a long time. Flourishes is offering this sale for only 24 hours so you must hurry!!!!

Now, it is your turn to play in our challenge!!!!

Here are the rules!!!!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
• Use code word FTTC9 when linking to SCS or public gallery.
• Leave a comment on this post with a link to your creation. Please give a direct link to your blog post so we can see the Flourishes challenge post and not just the generic page. To get the full link, click to read the comments. Another page will open that will have just the one card and your comments. Copy and paste that link here in the comments section. If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Newsletter link.
  You can combine this challenge with as many others as you want.
• The challenge runs from Tuesday, 12:01 am until Monday at 8 pm EST.
• Enjoy yourself!!!

We cannot wait to see what you create!!!!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Your Flourishes Friends!!!

Video tutorial of tying bows with ribbon

Hello bloggers, Latisha here. Today I'm showing you a video on how I tie my bows. I hope you enjoy it, and even learn something new. The ribbon used can be found at the Flourishes site, its the pink 3/8in May Arts satin ribbon.

Here is a close up picture of the card, as you can see I added a few Kaiser Rhinestones.

A full view of the card.

Materials used:

Signs of Spring stamp set

Scalloped square Nestability die

3/8 in May Arts Pink Satin Ribbon

Kaiser pink rhinestones

Copic Markers

Palette ink

Please visit the rest of the design team to see their cards.

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Julie Koerber

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Jan Marie Caruso

These are a few of our.....

Favorite things!

Have you ever wanted to take a peek inside a designer you admire's stamp room and see which items she just "can't" live without? Well, I did! I wondered what Leslie loved to add to cards and what Laura stocked up on -just in case! All the girls' answers gave me a glimpse into their stamping style. So much so, I thought I'd share!


Leslie's Favorite

Leslie Miller told me when Flourishes sent her some of these little beauties, she never realized just how much she would fall in love with flat backed pearls! Did you see THIS card and how much those three little pearls added to Leslie's already fabulous creation? I did!

Faith's Favorites

I probably don't even need to tell you Faith Hofrichter's picks! They are written all over her cards -- literally! She is known for her "Faith Dots" that she creates with her Inkssentials pen and actually has had to buy this black and white sheer polka dot ribbon in bulk! You can see what I mean in THIS card!

Cindy's Picks

I had to laugh when Cindy Lawrence told me what she loved the most. RIBBON! Organdy sheer, pure silk, and rich velvet -- didn't matter, she loved it all! Just look at THIS card, and you'll see the fabulous dash of sophistication Cindy adds -- with ribbon!

Laura's Love

Laura Fredrickson is known for the way she mixes it up with decorative paper. Did you see THESE cards? True beauties! She used not one, not two, but five different papers from the Basic Grey Porcelain and Euphoria lines! No wonder she can't get enough of Basic Grey!


Christine's Fave

Christine Okken is a designer that has such a way with Spellbinder's Nestabilities. She shifts the shapes, layers them and always ends up with a one-of-a-kind layout. THIS is what I'm talking about! I can't wait to see how she uses the new dies that are on their way to the Flourishes store!

Julie's Sleeper Hit

My pick (Julie Koerber) is one that is kind of a "sleeper" in the store! Did you ever check out the teflon bone folders? I swear - it is THE best bone folder you will ever lay hands on - it creases the paper perfectly with no feathering what-so-ever! Nothing will stick to it either - so if it comes in contact with glue or paint -- no worries! Comes right off!

Latisha's Pick
Ok, this next pick is a cheat on my part! Latisha Yoast is actually off soaking up the sun with her kiddos right now! But, like Faith's picks, it's pretty easy to figure out what are some of Latisha's faves! She loves fun ribbon and .... buttons! Just check out THIS card to see for yourself! Too pretty!

Stacy's Favorite

If you've seen Stacy Morgan, you know, she rarely creates without ribbon - rarely! And, when she reaches for it to tie it up or make a bow, only the best satin will do! Just check out THESE beauties! Ooo la la!

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at some of our designers' must haves! Like I said, I was curious enough to ask -- and eager enough to share!

Happy Wednesday!

~Julie

Timeless Tuesday!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC8)!!!! Thanks so much to all of you who played along with us last week with the ribbon challenge. We had quite a few participants!!!! Keep reading to find out who won last week!!!

For those of you who are new to the site, the Friends of Flourishes blog team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

In a moment I am going to let you in on something special. Keep reading to find out what!!!! Trust me....you will NOT want to miss this!!!!

This week Betty Wright is hosting
the challenge. I am challenging you to Emboss It!!! There are a lot of different types of embossing options to choose from. In addition, there are many different techniques to combined with embossing. We would love to see what you all create.


Come with me and let's see what the blog team embossed in their creations for you this week!!!!


Up first is our challenge host, Betty Wright. I am using two stamp sets Timeless Quotes and Spring Ephemerals. The quote set is a new release this month. My sentiment is stamped directly to the new vintage Jenni Bowlin mini papers. I am using a few sheets from two packs Black Line and Red/Black Line. I love these vintage papers. For each pattern I chose, I embossed each panel with a similar pattern embossing folder. I think I have a NEW favorite paper!!!! I want them all!!!

Cindy Haffner is up next!! She is showcasing a treat for the eyes for sure!!!! She is using the Birds and Vines set. Love how she has embossed the image in gold onto the label two shape using it as part of a notecard look to fit into the mini envelop. I love the embossed sentiment tag that she has tucked underneath the ribbon, too. Love the layered punch borders and die cut detailing!!!! Great colors and details as always Cindy!!! Just beautiful!!!!





Dee Jackson is sending Easter Blessings with her beautiful card using the newly released Sweet Pea set. She is also using the Easter Blessings set for the sentiment!!!! Gorgeous colors and coloring, Dee!!! Love how she highlighted the dry embossed detailing in the background. Great effect. Love the soft sponging around the main image. Great finishing touch with the bow!!!! Great look, Dee!!!! Lovely card!!!!





Kimberly Crawford is using the Mixed Greetings set on her card!!! She has created a faux mail stack using various mailing envelops. She has tied them all off with some twine. On the top of the faux letter stack she has created the focal image card that she has embossed with the sentiment and mail image in black. The Mixed Greetings set offers some great sentiments, but it also has some terrific images. At the end of the day when you get home and check the mail, there is something to be said about a stack of bills with one pretty card in the bunch!!!! Sort of makes your day!!!! Great card, Kim!!!

Loving this springtime card Silke Ledlow has created for us. She is using the Signs of Spring set. Love her color combo and gatefold card design. Silke used an embossing folder directly to the dp pattern. She masked out the basket in the flowers she used to give the look of flowers on the ground with little chickies running by. She cut those baby chicks out and added dimensionals to create some height and interest. Love the piercing detailing, too!!! Great looking card, Silke!!!

Be sure to check out each designer's blog links for more specific card details.

The Winner for Timeless Tuesday Challenge FTTC7

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:30
Timestamp: 2009-03-24 01:49:05 UTC

Emilia (Emilia) is this week's winner!!! Congratulations, Emilia!!!!

You need to email: flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net

By the way, if you still do not have our lovely Timeless Tuesday blog

button for your blog, check here for the codes.

Now, it is time for that something special I have been waiting to tell you about!!!! In honor of our embossing challenge, Flourishes is offering all in stock Spellbinder dies on sale today!!!! This sale is only for 24 hours so you must hurry!!!! Click the Flourishes link or the sale button on the right to get straight to the Flourishes Spellbinder page!!!

Now, it is your turn to play in our challenge!!!!

Here are the rules!!!!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
• Use code word FTTC8 when linking to SCS or public gallery.
• Leave a comment on this post with a link to your creation. Please give a direct link to your blog post so we can see the Flourishes challenge post and not just the generic page. To get the full link, click to read the comments. Another page will open that will have just the one card and your comments. Copy and paste that link here in the comments section. If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Newsletter link.
• You can combine this challenge with as many others as you want.
• The challenge runs from Tuesday, 12:01 am until Monday at 8 pm EST.
• Enjoy yourself!!!

We cannot wait to see what you create!!!!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Your Flourishes Friends!!!

Jenni Bowlin Easter

Happy Spring Everyone! It's me Christine, and I'm here to finish out this week with some Easter projects for you with our new and beautiful Jenni Bowlin papers.

I was thinking about Easter Baskets, and the special meal we always have on Easter Sunday after church with our family. I thought that these 4 x 4 papers would work well for a little Easter Basket perfect as a place setting, or little gift for each family member at the table.

Here's what you'll need to start with:

Your 4 x 4 Jenni Bowlin papers (these are from Spring Picnic and Tangerine Dream) , a cutter, a scoring board, accent paper, ribbon, a scallop or eyelet border punch, brads (if desired), Ink, and (not pictured) a crimper.

First you take your 4 x 4 designer paper and score it pattern side down at about 1 1/4 inches on each side.

Fold those pieces in and cut along the score line on one side of the four corners and fold in as pictured, and then adhere, I just used regular adhesive because the paper isn't heavy, but you could also use sticky or red-line tape.

Cut an accent piece 1 inch x 7 inches, use the eyelet punch along one edge, and score at just over 1 1/2 on each side, fold this in and adhere to the top of your little basket wrapping the left-over edge inside.


Make a handle from the same pattern - or contrasting pattern of JB, 4 inches x 1 inch and scallop punch along the edges. Add some ribbon to your handle and then adhere it to the inside of your basket.

Add ribbon to the front of the basket and your sentiment flag (this can be reinforced with a brad if you like).



Add crimped strips of paper for your *nest* and then add your favourite Easter Treat!

And to add more celebration to Easter I've created an Easter banner called HOPE for our home. It uses the Victorian Jenni Bowlin paper for accent on each piece, and the Signs of Spring daffodils watercolored on each banner section. The original source for these pretty folded circles and other gorgeous banners is Kelly Lunceford.



Here are closeups of the letters.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Christine

Flourishes Focus: Putting the Pieces Together

Hi, everyone! It's me, Leslie, and it's my turn to share something I love for Flourishes Friday Focus. I've chosen to write about designer paper because it's become one of my favorite elements in card making. I entered this relationship timidly, not quite sure how to use all those beautiful patterns and colors without clashing with each other or competing with the stamped image. It can be a little overwhelming when you first venture forth, wondering which patterns you can combine, or how much you can get away with -- what's okay or not okay. Is your inner artist right or wrong? Well, I don't think there's a lot of right or wrong when it comes to art. Where would we be without the world's trendsetters? Our jaws would be hitting the floor, but probably with a great big yawn, rather than a gasp of delight.

It's difficult for one individual to tell another how to express art, since it's such a personal thing, but if you're at that "testing the waters" phase of using designer papers, perhaps there are a few fundamentals which serve well as a jumping off point. Some of my favorite papers to work with are BasicGrey, specifically the 6x6 pads since the patterns are scaled down for cards. Patterns, colors, and mood are what I look at most often when matching papers, and one pad of BasicGrey provides many coordinating options, relieving me of some of the guesswork.

Shown below are three different papers from the Euphoria pad. Not only do the colors match, but the leafy pattern is repeated in the two rose red pieces, one more prominent than the other. The lightly patterned green paper provides nice separation between the other two. Repeating pattern and matching colors -- a sure thing!

Here's a card combining those papers with Sweet Peas. I accented the image panel with a brad from the Euphoria collection. The pattern in the brad is the same as that of the card's upper panel, but scaled down even further. I watercolored the flowers with SU!'s Rose Red ink, and added a little Eggplant in the shading around the flowers and in the stamped word. There's a tiny bit of purple in the pattern on the upper panel of the card, which is what helped decide my use of Eggplant.

These papers are also from the Euphoria pad, and they illustrate another virtue -- variety. It's almost hard to believe they're from the same pad as those in the first photo, yet there's that Rose Red and Eggplant, two of the colors prominent in this collection, along with a pretty crystal blue, some green, and pink. What brings these papers together is color and mood; the two busily patterned pieces remind me of a celebration...

...so I made a birthday card. The more solid mats and scalloped border provide separation and definition, allowing the patterns to get along nicely. The presents are from All Wrapped Up, the words are from Signs of Spring, and the flourishes added into the main image panel are Ornamental Elements. I love to mix up sets as much as I love mixing up designer papers! The clear rhinestones and pretty satin ribbon are from Flourishes, too.

Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using designer papers -- color, mood, and pattern. As long as one or the other or all are common in the papers used, we can cast off inhibitions and see what develops. The rest of the design team gals have prepared some samples for designer paper fun, too. Let's go have a look: Christine, Cindy, Faith, Julie, Latisha, Laura, Stacy. There's another sample on my blog, as well.

I'm so glad you could stop in for a while. Have a super day!

-- Leslie