In the Limelight!

A new month at Flourishes means a new face to introduce to the fans of Flourishes and a fond farewell to a very talented designer who has given us a glimpse into her creative world!

I don't know about you, but Asela Hopkins blew me away this past month with her stunning tutorials. I have always, always, always been a fan of her use of color. When you look at her work, you just see her art background in every creation! Thanks Asela! We've so enjoyed having you here in our "home" on the web!

Now.... an introduction of sorts! I've known this "Krafty Kat" for a while now and each time I see a new creation of hers, I think -- unique! She always puts a little something extra into her creations that makes you think.... 'Now, why didn't I think of that?'

So,without further ado, meet..........

We asked Jenny to share a wee bit about herself before she jumps in tomorrow with her first Limelight project!

A little about me..... I'm 36, married to the love of my life and we are completely controlled by one nine pound cat who runs our house. I just left my job after 15 years and plan on devoting my time to stamping/papercrafting and working with a local stamp store, Impressive Ideas. I am looking forward to having more free time and enjoying this wonderful hobby daily.

I originally was a scrapbooker, I have to admit... I would walk down the stamp aisle in the craft stores and think... "What??? I totally had no clue!". I slowly started embellishing my scrapbook pages with very simple stamp images. It was all stamping basics. I was a scrapbooker after all. Well, not too long after that, I went to a stamp show, thinking no biggie, I'll cruise around and maybe pick up a few small things. OMG! I saw stamping demonstrations everywhere I turned. I was amazed at the possibilities and techniques involved with stamping ..... and after several trips to the car to unload all my purchases........ my scrapbooking slowly ceased. I was hooked and a full blown stamping addict! Several years later, I am still totally addicted and loving every minute of this hobby. Sharing it with other creative minds is the icing on the cake!

I am thrilled to be working with Flourishes this month, the Flourishes artists really have knocked my socks off this year, creating some stunning images to work with. I immediately leaped for joy, did a happy dance and responded 'YES', when I was asked to participate! I hope the mojo doesn't go MIA! I look forward to sharing some creative ramblings and projects with you and I hope I don't disappoint!!!

Jenny, there's no way you'll disappoint! We know you'll rock it! :-) So come back tomorrow and see this Krafty Kat cooked up! I know I can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Julie

How would you like to be on the Wall of Fame???

Are you a member of FLIP? A.K.A. Flourishes Loyalty Incentive Program? Well then, How would you like to be on the...........

As a member of our royal and loyal court, we want to see the beautiful things you do with Flourishes Stamps! We want you to be on our Wall of Fame! We have a start showcasing some of the beautiful cards sent to us from Flourishes loyal customers....


All this wall needs now is a dash of your artistic style! We'll be honoring FLIP members right here on the Flourishes blog! And, if your card is chosen as the monthly winner to land on the Wall of Fame, we'll have a special surprise... just for you! Simply upload your cards to Splitcoast Stampers using the key word FLIPWOF or link up some of your favorite Flourishes cards right here on this post using the Mr. Linky box below! Before our December FLIP sale, we'll pick one lucky card maker to be the next honoree on the FLIP Wall of Fame! Good luck! We can't wait to see your works of art!

KEEP IN MIND! You must be a FLIP Member to submit. Just another reason to get your 'membership card' today! :-)

Flourishes Focus: Coloring up the Season

Hello Flourishes fans, Latisha here.  Today the design team is coloring on their cards, a Coloring in the Season if you will.  I am showing you a couple of cards that have a fall theme, but some of the ladies will have a Christmas feel to their cards.  When I think of fall, my mind goes to really earthy rich tones, like orange, red, brown, gold and green.  Have any of you seen the new Indian Summer paper from Basic Grey?  Wow is that some beautiful fall paper or what!  For my first card that is where I got my inspiration from.  If you look closely, you will notice that the trees have been paper pieced using the Indian Summer paper.  After I paper pieced the trees, I started to color in my image using some Copic markers.  Its easier to see the blending I did on the grass and stone walkway than on the house.  The way I blend is from lightest marker to darker.  I add a little bit of a darker color, then I go back with my lighter color to make the blending seem more natural.   I distressed the edges of my paper, and sponged the edges with some brown ink, this look can also be accomplished by taking the edge of your Copic marker and running it along the edge of the paper, its a lot quicker too.  Before I adhered my stamped image panel, I ran some ribbon around the front of my card and tied a bow.  This is a clean and simple card, but with the coloring and paper piecing its makes the card seem like is has more depth and dimension than it really does.

For this card, I stamped my leaf images onto paper, colored them in, again with Copic markers and then cut them out.  Once I cut my leaves out, I popped them up with foam tape/dimmensionals, it just give the card a little more depth to it.  Oh, before I adhered the leaves, I tied my ribbon and stamped my sentiment.   The best advice I can give you, on becoming better with the Copic markers is to practice, practice, practice.  You can even go onto Youtube and search Copic markers, there are many tutorials on there.  Before I became Copic Certified that is what I did along with going to Marianne Walker's blog, she is the queen of Copics.  I hear through the grapevine that Flourishes is adding more Copic color collections!!  Stay tuned for more information on that!

For more coloring inspiration head on over to the rest of the designers blogs.  Christine is not playing along today, but go to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday please, yesterday was her birthday.  Happy Birthday Christine!!!

Pay these talented ladies a visit:

Julie Koerber

Cindy Lawrence

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast (me)

Stacy Morgan

Welcome Convention Goers!

It's time for the Virtual Rubber Stamp Convention over at Rubber Stamp Chat. And, that means a little something special...... just for YOU!

Join us for our Fall Convention Sale where we are offering YOU 10% off everything and anything! All you need to do is add the special promo code rsc09 in the promotional code box at the time of check out.

You have to act fast though! This offer is only good during the Rubber Stamp Chat Convention and will end at the close of November 2nd.

Click HERE to shop! Remember, FREE SHIPPING on all orders in the United States over $60!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC39)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC39)!!! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's sketch march challenge!!! Keep reading to find out who won!

The Friends of Flourishes blog design team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate each week. Random.org decides who wins!! Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

It is the last Tuesday of the month so we have a guest challenge host this week. Our challenge host is Kathy Jones(Wattle) all the way from Australia. Please give Kathy a warm welcome! Thanks so much, Kathy for hosting a challenge with us. Kathy is challenging us to use border punches or borderabilities. You decide if you want to use just one border, mix different patterns, or layer several for a fanciful look. Whatever you decide, we would love to see what you create! Have fun with this one! The skies the limit!

Let's see what Kathy Jones created using borders! She is using Flourishes Gerbera Daisy set. She colored the daisies using Flourishes Copic Color Collections in Crocus. Kathy cut out the entire arrangement and popped it up on a textured oval center. She then layered that with the Spellbinders label 5. I love all the beautiful cut work detailing and dimension. Kathy accented the whole arrangement with fleur de lis punch border frames. She finished her gorgeous card with some kaiser pearls. Beautifully done, Kathy!!!

To see what the rest of the blog design team created for you using borders, please click the

blog links to check them out.

Dee Jackson

Kimberly Crawford

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Kathy Jones

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC38)!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:15
Timestamp: 2009-10-27 03:32:28 UTC

Marsha Drain (Watercolor Thanksgiving) Congratulations!!! You Won!!! Please email: private message gbedwright at SCS for your coupon code!!!!

Now, it is your turn to play! Here is what you need to know!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
• Use keyword code FTTC39 when linking to SCS or public gallery.
• Be sure to use the Mr. Linky to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!
• If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Blog link.
• By all means combine this challenge with other blog challenges.
• The challenge runs from Tuesday, 12:01 am until Monday at 8 pm EST Enjoy yourself!!!

We also have the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday blog button working properly again. If you need the code, check here.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and playing Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge with us! Your comments are alway greatly appreciated, too!!!

Your Flourishes Friends!

Watercoloring Doves and Holly

Great minds think a like! I had no idea that Tuesdays challenge was watercoloring when I was working on my card for todays post. It's Asela again and I'd love to share how I watercolored this gorgeous image Dove and Holly using watercolor pencils. You will need pencils in these colors (or similar to these) Ultramarine, Peacock Blue, Dark Green, Crimson Red, Terra Cotta and Sunburst Yellow. I also used a round Sable brush and clean water. For the paper I

used Flourishes Classic White paper. Versmamark and Detail Black Embossing Powder were used to create the image for coloring.

Stamp the image twice using Versamark and then heat embossing it with detail black Embossing powder. It's important to use DETAIL embossing powder on this image. The illustration has a lot of fine lines and you don't want to lose them when you melt the powder. Regular power will be too thick.

When I watercolor I always like to wet the areas that I will be coloring first using clean water and my brush. This way when I start to add color to the areas they will bleed out into the areas that I wet and the colors will be soft. When you

watercolor always think of going light to dark. You can't remove color, but you can always add more color to make an area darker.

I wet my brush and then touch it to the tip of the watercolor pencil. I make sure to scrub the brush on the tip of the pencil. This picks up the pigment and then I can apply it to the paper. If you use an Aquapainter brush make sure to dab the tip on a napkin to remove some of the water, it may be really soaking wet. Since I wet the areas that I want to color first with water if you don't remove some of the water off of the Aquapainter brush you may soak the fibers of the paper too

much and cause it to bleed out side of the lines.

Watercolor around the outside of the birds and the holly. Color in the berries red. This yellow is very bright but you will mute it by adding Terra cotta over some of it. This will create an antiqued look.

Add the Terra cotta a little bit at a time, lightly wetting the paper. Since this is NOT watercolor paper it may warp a bit because it isn't that thick. I apply plenty of glue on the backside when I adhered it to the red panel. Or you can lightly wet the back side and place it between 2 sheets of white paper and set heavy books on it overnight.

Color in the 2 birds first using the lighter blue and then adding the darker blue for shading.

Cut out the smaller bird and adhere it to the larger stamped image using dimensional tape.

Cut out the bird, a panel measuring approximately 4 x 3 inches. Sponge around the edges with a mustard color dye ink. Adhere to a red panel that is 1/8 inches larger around then the bird panel. Create a card base that is 4 1/2 x 4 1/4 (folded size). Add scrapbooking paper and embellishments. Adhere panel to the front of card leaving 1 inch above the fold of the card base. Paper pierce one corner.

I have really enjoyed being a part of Flourishes team this month and I hope

that you enjoyed my tutorials. Thanks for all the sweet comments!

I have included one last PDF file of this tutorial for you to print out and save.

Download Dove and Holly Tutorial Flourishes

Friday Focus - Fancy Folds

Hello Flourishes Friends! It's Christine here today with another Friday Focus. Do you ever have those times when you'd like a really special, or really fun and different card for an Occasion? Today I'm going to show you a couple of Fancily Folded cards that would fit the bill wonderfully.

I call this first card the"Christine Tri-Fold Book". I was playing around with an idea one day and this is what I came up with, I first did this card HERE if you'd like to see another example. Essentially it is a graduated height Tri-Fold that you can do open like an accordian or closed and sealed like a book.

Here is what the finished card looks like...then I'll show you how to get there!

Closed (excuse my finger holding it together :)

And slightly open:

Alright to start with you'll need the following paper sizes cut:

5 1/2" x 12" panel for your base (here in Soft Sky)

a 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" panel to add to this (also in Soft Sky)

Then you'll need smaller panels for each section after you've assembled it as accent pieces to decorate.

I scored the 5 1/2 x 12 panel at 4 1/4, 7 3/4 and 11 1/4. Then I added the extra 4.25 x 2.75 inch panel to that little leftover fold. Adhere with something like Sticky Tape or Scor Tape to hold it firmly together. Below are the pieces adhered together.

Then you want to create your graduated heights. First begin by trimming of the tiny piece above the lowest level. I trim right in the crease right past the fold line, so it will lie flush with the seam and not show any of the scored edge.

Then you want to take that middle layer, the one next to the lowest panel and trim it down about 3/4 of an inch, this way you've created your graduated layers.

Next I did all my "pretty-ing", I created layers for each panel in 1/8" smaller sized pieces, rounded the corners with my corner rounder, and added all my stamped accents. On this card I used the new set Drummer Boy and colored all the instruments and Holly and bows with Copic Markers accenting with a white gel pen.

You have 2 options with this style of card, one you can leave it openable like an accordian as below:

Or you can seal the middle panel shut to be more like a book. Which I did here:

Here are some closeups of the panels:

See how the ribbon disguises the front panel attachement?

And the last panel:

And just for good measure, how about another style of Fancy Fold? This is a Z-Fold done vertically rather than how many of you may have done it in the past - horizontally. This idea is from the very talented Valerie Stangle . She did a tutorial for this style on World Card Making Day link is HERE. (see the first post).

These doves from the beautiful new Dove and Holly set are watercolored and sponged, I just followed all of Val's steps to create a real show-stopper style of card. (I'll have more pics of this one on my blog if you're interested).

Alright...the very talented Design Team girls have also jumped into this challenge of creating Fancy Folds today, so be sure to give them a visit!

Christine Okken (that's me :) !)

Cindy Lawrence has done an Easel Fold Card

Julie Koerber made a fun card in a box with some fancy folds

Latisha Yoast has made a Criss-Cross Fold Card

Leslie Miller has an Accordian Gate Fold
Stacy Morgan has a Wallet Tri-fold to show you.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC38)

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC38)!!! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's sketch march challenge!!! Keep reading to find out who won!

The Friends of Flourishes blog design team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate each week. Random.org decides who wins!! Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

Dee Jackson is our challenge host this week. Dee is challenging us to watercoloring. You can use any medium for watercoloring that you like and any theme you want. Pretty simple and straight forward. Looking forward to seeing what you create with the watercolor challenge!

Now, let's see what Dee Jackson created for you with watercolors this week. Dee decided to make a beautifully watercolored Christmas card for you this week. Dee is using one of the newly released sets called Dove and Holly. Dee stamped the image on European watercolor paper. She colored the image with watercolor crayons using a brush. She layered some black and green cardstock, added a decorative punched border edge, and a black satin bow, and it was finished. Just gorgeous, Dee! Beautifully done!!!

To see what the rest of the blog design team created for you with the watercoloring challenge, please click the blog links to check them out.

Kimberly Crawford

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC37)!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:9
Timestamp: 2009-10-20 01:05:45 UTC

Alison (21 Century Pillow Book) Congratulations!!! You Won!!! Please email:
flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net for your coupon code!!!!



Now, it is your turn to play! Here is what you need to know!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
• Use keyword code FTTC38 when linking to SCS or public gallery.
• Be sure to use the Mr. Linky to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!
• If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Blog link.
• By all means combine this challenge with other blog challenges.
• The challenge runs from Tuesday, 12:01 am until Monday at 8 pm EST Enjoy yourself!!!

We also have the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday blog button working properly again. If you need the code, check here.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and playing Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge with us!

Your Flourishes Friends!

Strawberries with Copics

Hi again! It's me, Asela, I'm so excited to be back to share with you another card I created this time using Flourishes gorgeous set "Strawberries". Oh my! The illustrations in this set are to die for. I love to color. And one of my favorite mediums to use are Copic markers.

They are so versatile. I can get beautiful looks from them or just use the colors without blending for really cool modern looks.

I used Copic Markers RV10, RV14, RV29, YG03, YG63, BG96 and a white gel pen. I love Flourishes Classic White card stock. It really works great with the copic markers and blending technique.

I began to color the image using RV10 for the strawberries and YG03

the leaves and smaller strawberries. I have to tell you that we were stationed in Southern California for 4 years and when ever I would drive to the base I would have to go right through fields and fields of strawberries. The aroma was wonderful. And the strawberries there were the best I have ever had!

Next I begin to add the darker colors in the leaves and the fruit. If you've ever seen strawberries in the fields you would notice that the smaller fruits were really green and even the larger ones aren't fully red. It's not until later on that they turn that beautiful deep red that we associate

with them. I used YG63 on the leaves and RV14 for the fruit.

I start to blend my colors together using the lighter markers RV10 and YG03 over top of the darker colors. Notice that I've added a bit of YG03 to the center of the fruit. When you are blending RV10 over top of RV14 it can really wash out the color. So, you will want to take the tip of your RV10 and touch it to the tip of RV14 and then apply the RV10 to the areas where the darker colors meet the light colors. This will help the two areas blend without having the lighter marker completely remove the darker areas color.

When you are finished blending the reds add white gel pen to the seeds. (I added just a touch of RV10 to the center of the white flowers.)

For greater contrast I also added RV29 around the outer edges of the strawberries and BG96 on the inner parts of the leaves. Using my medium tone markers to blend.

Stamp the single image of the strawberry and color it in using RV10 and YG03. Follow along with the strawberry images so you can get a better look at how the colors blend so nicely together to achieve an almost watercolored look. Remember, if you work while the area is still saturate with ink the colors will bleed into each other easier and you will have that really soft look that you get when you watercolor with a brush. If you apply your markers and then later try to blend

the areas later on, it will work, but it doesn't blend as easily.

Add RV14, YG63 and blend using YG03 and RV10. You keep blending over the same areas until you get the desired look. Copics don't make the paper pill, that is, it doesn't damage the fibers like water based products do. So don't worry. Blend away! (Caution: Stay away from the edges of the image if you are applying lots of ink because the fibers of the paper can

soak the ink past the stamped black lines.)

Add white gel pen to the seeds. And cut out the strawberry.

I cut the piece of paper that the strawberries were stamped and colored on to fit the front of my card front. Take a ruler and measure the center of the panel, on the back of the paper draw a line vertically dividing the paper in half. Divide the paper in thirds horizontally and draw 2 lines. (If the paper size doesn't divide evenly make sure that the top third and bottom third are the same size - center can be the odd man out!) Use an exacto knife to cut apart the squares. Sponge the edges of the squares using a light brown ink pad. Add to the front of

your card using dimensional tape. Adhere the single strawberry to the front of the squares using dimensional tape.

I've included a PDF page for you to print out as reference.

Download Strawberries Tutorial Flourishes

A Season That Sparkles... the final winners!

As we wrap up this week with a beautiful Christmas bow, we've got to fill you in on who won all SIX of our new releases from the Season that Sparkles Challenge! We had some fabulous entries! And..... after all the names were thrown into a hat, the winner is..........

Betty Benton

Betty, you will win the Musical Score and Words, Christmas Drummers, the Holly and the Ivy, Santa, I Believe, the Holly Background... AND the Christmas Wreath sets! CONGRATS!

Betty, all you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put Season that Sparkles Challenge Winner! in the subject line. Be sure to share your snail mail address and we'll get your stamps sent right out to you!

And, now to the winner of yesterday's candy drawing for the Christmas Wreath set. Random.org drew the number 22 which means..... Crystal is the winner!

Crystal said...
Another stunningly gorgeous set ! I can not wait to see the whole release ! Beautiful job, ladies on all the preview samples.

Friday, October 16, 2009 6:35:00 AM

Crystal, all you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put Christmas Wreath in the subject line. Be sure to share your snail mail address and we'll get your stamps sent right out to you!

Thanks everyone who joined us for all the fun this week! We had a blast! Don't forget, Asela Hopkins will be here tomorrow for another fantastic tutorial. This one is downright mouth watering! :-)

See you back here soon!

A Season That Sparkles is.... HERE!

After almost a week of tempting you with sneaks of some GORGEOUS art from some of the most talented stamp illustrators in the land.... we're going to just pull the lid off and unveil these beauties! Thanks to those of you who joined us for our POWER HOUR Release Party! We had a blast!

And now.... the moment you've been waiting for! Say "hello" to....

Christmas Drummers

Musical Score & Words

The Holly & The Ivy

Christmas Wreath

Santa, I Believe...


Holly Background


Thanks for joining us this week! If you want to get your hands on these beauties, all you need to do is click HERE! Remember, the best deal by far is our New Release Bundle. It's a one week only special -- all six sets for 10% off!

Happy Stamping!

A Season That Sparkles.... the final day!

This week has flown by and today brings the final day of sneak peeks for Flourishes' October release! This set is a true classic! It's an image that, when you look at it, you can almost smell the cloves and a hint of mulled cider!

Introducing.....

This set is the second offering from the talented Marcella Hawley. It is just a beauty and will create such elegant Christmas cards. It's a pair of images that truly stand on their own with out a lot of extras! Want to check out the other creations as we wind up our DT hop for the week? Just take a trip to visit....

Leslie Miller
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
Sharon Doolittle
Jan Marie Caruso

Do you want to win this set? All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post and you'll be in the running! Random.org will draw a number and we'll have the winner in tomorrow's post!

Now for the winner of yesterday's goodies! Random.org drew the number 31, which means the winner is.....

Monica said...
I love, love, love this Santa! He is a definite "must have"! Thanks again for the chance to win!
Thursday, October 15, 2009 8:17:00 AM

Monica, all you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put Santa, I Believe and Holly Background Winner in the subject line. Be sure to share your snail mail address and we'll get your stamps sent right out to you!

And remember! Tonight is our big POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY!! It's an hour full of fun with games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

And... it's almost last call for our Season That Sparkles Challenge! If you play, you will have a chance at winning all SIX of our new releases for October. Click HERE for the details. You have until 5 Eastern to get your card linked up to Mr. Linky on the challenge post!

We hope you've enjoyed our sneaks this week! We can't wait to show you the full sets! Join us tonight for fun and you'll get the first look! :-)

A Season That Sparkles...Day 3!

We hope you've been enjoying this week's sneeks! We can't tell you how excited we are about this collection and today's offering comes with a special surprise by way of an introduction. We have a new illustrator that has joined the Flourishes team. Some of you might already know this "face" in the papercrafting world.....


Becky is what you'd call a scrapbooking superstar! She not only runs her own free on-line scrapbook and cardmaking resource site called PageMaps (it's a gold mine for scrapbooking and card sketches!), but she's the author of a wildly popular idea book - almost by the same name - Scrapbook PageMaps: Sketches For Creative Layouts. She's literally traveled the world teaching scrapbooking classes. Come on - who can say they've taught in Dubai, New Zealand or Tokyo? Becky can! She's a graphic designer by trade, which means it's only natural to see her creativity flow like this through the creation of stamps for cardmakers! With the flick of her pen, she gave life to a well-loved character that is about as heartwarming as they come.

Introducing.....
This stippled Santa is so classic and as you'll see when you tour the Design Teams' blogs today - can be done up in an ornate way, with a touch of gold or even just stamped in one color. He looks absolutely perfect each and every way. Becky also designed a coordinating background called Holly that takes that beautiful leaf cluster in Santa's hat and makes it into a background that you can use for so many different things around the holidays!

Before you hop on over to the DT's sites, we wanted to share some of Becky in her own words!

Q.What's fun about creating images for stamping?

A. The creative possibilities are endless, not only in the actual creation of the stamp designs themselves, but what card makers and stampers do with the designs. I'm not a very good stamper, so I am constantly impressed (and pea-green with envy!) when I visit stamp galleries and see what crafters are creating.

Q. What inspired you do illustrate such a beautifully vintage Santa Claus?

A. As a lover of anything and everything vintage, nothing beats a charming, old world Santa. It also allowed me to work in one of my favorite mediums-stippling with a rapidograph pen!

Becky even made a darling card using the Holly background to share. It's fun. It's festive! It's perfect for the holidays! Don't you love all the little extras?

Thanks Becky for the introduction and a fun look into the creative process! If you like what you see here, take note, Becky is already working on her next bit set! Stay tuned! It's another set with a vintage and very classic feel!

Want to hop to the rest of the DT and see what they crafted for this classic? Head on over to see.....

Leslie Miller
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
Sharon Doolittle

Do you want to win this set? All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post and you'll be in the running! Random.org will draw a number and we'll have the winner in tomorrow's post!

Now for the winner of yesterday's goodies! Random.org drew the number 72, which means Melanie wins!

Melanie said...
What a beautiful stamp set! The cards made by the DT are just stunning! Thank you for the chance to win.

Melanie, all you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put The Holly and the Ivy Winner in the subject line. Be sure to share your snail mail address and we'll go and slip those stamps in the mail for you!

MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

• Did you see our A Season That Sparkles Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all SIX of our new releases for October. That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.


• Mark your calendars for our RELEASE PARTY coming up this Friday! It's our power hour of fun with games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

The fun continues tomorrow right here! We wrap up the week with a beautiful set that has a real homespun flair. Come back and see the second offering from the ever-so-talented Marcella Hawley! See you then!

A Season That Sparkles... Day 2!

Welcome to day two of Flourishes sneak peeks! Today we take a step back in time to honor one of the worlds' oldest Christmas carols.....

Introducing.....

This gorgeous set drawn by the ever-so-talented Marcella Hawley is named after a hymn that has been around for upwards of one thousand years! I didn't know this but, way back when, the druids used holly as a symbol of the winter solstice. Today's offerings feature a classic look complete with two gorgeous turtle doves!

As you make your way around to see what the designers created, you'll see there are plenty of artistic interpretations of these beautiful birds! They're grey, brown, blue and even pink! :-) So, fly along and take a peek!

Leslie Miller
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
Sharon Doolittle

Do you want to win this set? All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post and you'll be in the running! Random.org will draw a number and we'll have the winner in tomorrow's post!

Now for the winner of yesterday's goodies! Random.org drew the number 15, which means Donna wins!

Donna said... Love that Christmas carol and this looks like a wonderful set to go with it! Thanks for the chance to win it! Tuesday, October 13, 2009 7:29:00 AM


Donna, all you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put Musical Score and Christmas Drummers winner in the subject line. Be sure to share your snail mail address and we'll go and slip those stamps in the mail for you!

MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

• Did you see our A Season That Sparkles Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all SIX of our new releases for October. That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.
• Mark your calendars for our RELEASE PARTY coming up this Friday! It's our power hour of fun with games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

It's going to be a fun week at Flourishes! Tomorrow's release is one that will have you looking for cookies and saying... "I believe!" :-) You'll see why when you come back tomorrow!

A Season That Sparkles.... Day 1!

Come, they told me pa rum pum pum pum. Just those few words bring the sounds of a Christmas classic. It's one that Flourishes wanted to bring to the table to help card makers worldwide revel in this beautiful holiday imagery. But, Flourishes did it with a twist! In our debut sneak peek for our October release, you'll see we combined the beautiful imagery of the Nutcracker Suite with the age old story of the Little Drummer Boy. This combination of two Christmas Classics is sure to bring that touch of whimsy to your Christmas cards and creations!

Introducing....

This gorgeous set drawn by Lauren Pope features a handful of images that are sure to add a rich and regal touch to your Christmas cards! We even have an added bonus, a background stamp that will be unveiled with this set on Friday called Musical Score. It's a timeless classic featuring the words of "Angels We Have Heard On High." Now, don't forget to march on over to visit these fine designers! And, just a note... the Friends of Flourishes Team also have done amazing samples with these two sets! You can see them all HERE.


Leslie Miller
Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence
Jan Marie Caruso

Do you want to win this set? All you need to do is leave a comment here on this post and you'll be in the running! Random.org will draw a number and we'll have the winner in tomorrow's post!

MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

• You'll want to keep scrolling down to the next blog post! It is Tuesday afterall, and that means another Timeless Tuesday challenge! Today our Friends of Flourishes team used this set and background for a super duper fun sketch that you can try and play along with! There is even a $10 Gift Certificate on the line! Click HERE to go right to that post!
• Since we are talking about challenges, did you see our A Season That Sparkles Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all SIX of our new releases for October. That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.
• One last fun fact to throw your way.... Mark your calendars for our RELEASE PARTY coming up this Friday! It's our power hour of fun with games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

It's going to be a fun week at Flourishes! Tomorrow's release is one that might have you singing a little bit of the 12 days of Christmas! You'll see why when you come back tomorrow!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC37)!!!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC37)!!!

Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's Think Pink challenge!!! Keep reading to find out who won!

The Friends of Flourishes blog design team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate each week. Random.org decides who wins!! Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

The blog design team is celebrating Flourishes release week with you. We are sharing two of the six sets that will be released this Friday!!! Christmas Drummers & Musical Score and Words. Cindy Haffner is our challenge host this week. She has a sketch challenge for you. Instead of it being just one sketch, though, it is a sketch four ways. The same sketch turned a quarter turn to give us four different looks. We like to call it a Sketch March in keeping with the drum and musical sets we are showcasing. So, you can decide if you want sketch option A, B, C, or D!!! You may even want to do all four!!! We would love to see which sketch you choose and what you create!!!

Let's go see which sketch each blog design member chose and what they created with the new releases!!! Keep in mind we are all using two sets that will be released this Friday night! These sets are called Christmas Drummer and Musical Score and Words!

Up first is our challenge host, Cindy Haffner. Cindy is using sketch choice A. She used a die cut as the base of her card and a spellbinders pendant die to focus on the half circle behind the main panel. I love how it peeks out of the frame design ever so slightly. Cindy stamped the musical score background image on two of the background layers. Her focal image is the kneeling nutcracker. Cindy colored the nutcracker with Flourish Copic Color Collection in Flesh Tones 1 and Flesh Tones 2 ..... She cut out the kneeling nutcracker and popped him up for added dimension. She finished with a sentiment from Christmas Drummer set. Beautifully done, Cindy!!!

Next this week is Dee Jackson. Dee chose sketch D as her sketch to work with. She is using some basicgray dp for the background. Dee is using Flourishes classic white cardstock. Instead of a vintage feel to her card, Dee chose to use her elements to focus on a clean and sleek look. She colored the french horn using Flourishes Copic Color Collection in Buttercup. She stamped her image and sentiment using Momento Tuxedo black ink. Dee finished with some sheer coordinating ribbon and kaiser pearls. This is wonderful, Dee!!!

Next, is Kimberly Crawford. Kim is focusing on the Musical Score and Words set. Kim used some Cosmo Cricket dp. Kim is using an assortment of spellbinders die cut shapes that she distressed on the edges and sponged to create a vintage feel. She actually used a pencil to roll the edges to give an old-fashioned feel to the paper. I love this look and distressed design. Kim stamped the musical score background in green and sponged over the top as well. I love the combination of old world and modern elements. Not to mention all that wonderful sparkle. Kim finished with some coordinated gingham ribbon and little sentiment tag. Fabulous card, Kim!!!

Next up is Silke Ledlow. Silke is using sketch A. She stamped lightly the musical score background and added some like sponging to distress the edges. Her focal image, the standing nutcracker, is from the Christmas Drummer set. The nutcracker was inked in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with the Flourishes Water and Evergreen Copic Collection. I love the cracked glass technique with this image and design. Silke finished the card with the new Chocolate Kaiser Pearls and Satin Ribbon. The soft colors and detailing are beautiful!!! Gorgeous card, Silke!!!

Up next is is Betty Wright. I chose sketch B to work with. I am using Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock. I stamped the musicals score for my background. I heavily sponged the edges to create more of an old world vintage feel. I created another background layer for my focal area. I stamped this section using one of the little holly leaves with berries images along the other instruments, but I only colored the drum and cut it out to make it stand out. I colored with Flourishes Copic Color Collections in Dusty Rose, Daffodil, Flesh Tones 1, and Warm Neutrals. I finished with some gold pearls, gold cording, and a sheer ribbon bow.

Last up this week is Makiko Jones. Maki is using sketch C. Maki is using basicgray eskimo kisses dp. I love the colors and patterns. Maki curved the clear trumpet image ever so slightly when she mounted it, so when stamped, it would have this wonderful arc used to create this gorgeous trumpet frame. She clear embossed the trumpets using versamark. She used the Buttercup Flourishes copic color collection. Love the soft pink hue of the musical scored background peeking through. She layered with the sentiment from the Musical Score and Words background set. She finished with light blue satin ribbbon and kaiser pearls.

Please check out our individual blogs for more card details!!

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Kim Crawford

We also have the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday blog button working properly again. If you need the code, check here.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC36)!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:46
Timestamp: 2009-10-13 03:45:01 UTC

Sharon d (Summer Blossoms) Congratulations!!! You Won!!! Please email:
flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net for your coupon code!!!!



Now, it is your turn to play! Here is what you need to know!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
• Use keyword code FTTC37 when linking to SCS or public gallery.

• Be sure to use the Mr. Linky to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!

• If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Blog 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!!!
  
  

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and playing Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge with us!

Your Flourishes Friends!

It's all in the details!

When you look at a really great card, one thing you might not notice right away are all the little elements that go together to make a really fabulous design. You know you love the images and the colors, but do you really look at all those little extras? This weekend, I spent some time looking at some of our designers work to show you just what I mean. Not to mention, all of these things I am about to point out are very inexpensive additions. Without these extras, these cards would still be pretty but with them, they are over the top fabulous!

Take a look at what Cindy Lawrence did with a few pearls. Her gorgeous hanging ornaments now take on a very regal flair! All thanks to some Kaiser Craft Pearls! Did you know these little cuties come in a handful of different colors? Hhhhmmmm..... ;-)

Just look at the razzle dazzle Christine Okken created with a few rhinestones! It makes her gorgeous poinsettia even more lovely!

Leslie Miller wanted to create some shine on her Christmas wreath, so what did she do? She picked up her Inkssentials pen and let it do the work! Do you see what can happen with a gentle flick of the pen? So much dimension can be created in seconds!And, last but not least, just look at the fun created when you add a little sentiment on a fun metal tag! These Mini Messages Tags come in three metal colors - copper, silver and gold and can really add pizazz to your cards and creations! I just love how Laura Fredrickson added it to the point off of her Nestabilities shape! The image and sentiments are from our Think Pink set!

Now... another fun thing to fill you in on! We can't tell you just how popular our clear boxes are. They come in two sizes and the small one -- will fit two of our 4 by 6 stamp sets! The larger one is perfect for backgrounds. One question we've heard time and time again is - how do you store them? Well, they fit perfectly in those decorative photo boxes! Organize the boxes according to theme and you'll never have to search again to figure out where you put one of your favorite Flourishes sets! Here's the fun part! With every purchase you'll now be given a index sheet to use on your clear boxes!

See? Just peel the backing off and it fits perfectly on our clear storage box!

So, as you gear up for one of the busiest card making times of the year, just think about some of these tools of the trade! I know that I am planning to stock up so that whatever I need to create that card in a flash... is right there at my fingertips! :-)

Happy Stamping!

~Julie

Classic Chair with a Twist!

I love this chair! There is nothing better than curling up in a big comfy chair. It has such a classic design and so many fun and creative possibilities. I'm so excited to be back again to share another project with you.


You will need - Chairs for You , a black ink pad, Copic Markers E31, E33, E35 and R02, a scrap piece of fabric (I used some from an upholstery sample swatch book), Flourishes Classic White paper, scrapbooking paper and ribbon. And of course some cute little pearls!

Stamp the chair onto Classic white paper and also onto your piece of fabric. When chosing fabric for your project keep in mind scale. You need to pick a pattern that is in proportion with the scale of the artwork or else it will look wrong. So look for smaller patterns. I loved not only the coral color of this fabric but also the vertical stripes. Very classic.

Color in the rest of the fabric. (Looks like orange in my photo, but its not really quite that orange but more of a pinkish coral color). Remember that the devil is in the details. Make sure that the color marker that you use matches as close as possible to

the fabric color. Always test your marker on a scrap piece of paper exactly the same as the paper that you are coloring on. I used E31 for the wood and R02 to color the areas of the chair - skirt and arms.

Start adding shading to your wood and to the skirt and the fabric arms of the chair. Use Copic Markers E 33 . I added the E33 to the R02 colored skirt for shading. Add E35 for more contrast in the wood tones. I didn't' do a lot of blending to the wood, since wood does show grain and I felt that it was important to show the marker pen lines.

Cut out the fabric, going around the edges of the chair pad and back. Using your R02 add some shading to the cushion. Also make sure to go around the entire edge of the piece of fabric using E31. Use a very fine black marker to fill in any lines that did not stamp dark enough on the fabric.

Stamp the little dog on a small piece of paper. Use E31, E33, E35 to color him in. Carefully cut him out and adhere him to the front of the chair using dimensional tape. He is so cute! Reminds me of Toto from the Wizard of OZ.

So not only do you have lots of gorgeous scrapbooking papers to chose from when you think about piecing art work together you also can start to think about all the things that you can cover using scrap pieces of fabric.

I hope that you will start thinking of all of the wonderful possibilities that you have .

Download Chairs for You Tutorial

A Season That Sparkles!

Can you believe we are less than a week away from all the sneak peeks for Flourishes' October release? I will tell you, this will be one of our BIGGEST releases ever. We have 6... yes 6 sets that we will start to sneak peek starting next Tuesday! So be sure to hop back!

Like we do before each release, we want to get you in on some fun! Play along with us for our A Season That Sparkles Challenge and you will have a chance to win each and every one of our sets for October! Wouldn't you love that prize?

Glitzy packages, the new fallen snow, a Christmas ornament shimmering from the lights on the tree - all of these things equal magic during the holiday season. Capture that sparkle on a card and share your creativity!Please leave your link below using Mr. Linky. If you upload to Splitcoast, please use the KEYWORD: FLLCOCT. This contest will close Friday, Oct. 16th at 4PM CST.

To get ready for the big reveal, our DT had a blast getting glittery to give you some inspiration!

Stacy Morgan used some Stickles to make her Sweet Peas twinkle - literally - in the sun!

Leslie Miller added some pizazz with the help of some gold tinsel embossing powder to her tree image from the Flourished Christmas set. She assures me that it sparkles even more in real life - so what do you say - maybe we should all just pay her a visit! :-)

Laura Fredrickson used some of our clear card stock, stamped her Seasonal Wreaths with Stazon and used Stickles on the back of her creation. This is truly festive... don't you think?
Lastisha Yoast must have been covered head to toe with glitter after creating this beauty. She took one of the new pendant dies from Spellbinders to cut out her shape before covering it with tacky glue and glitter! She used the All that Glitters set for her main image.
This gorgeous journal that Christine Okken created using the Cherries and Peaches set uses a mix of sparkly mediums! For her cherries, she covered them with Crystal Effects and then microbeads -- don't they just look "sugared?" The leaves were colored up and then accented with some Spica pens.

Cindy Lawrence wrapped up her creation made with the All Wrapped Up set with a gorgeous splash of color and a little razzle dazzle with the help of some glitter glue!
And, last but not least, I picked up the Spica pens to color up my entire wreath from the Seasonal Wreaths set. I love the vibrant color in real life and the micro sparkle!

To read up more on how the DT created their cards, don't forget to visit their homes on the web to find out more!

Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Cindy Lawrence

And, if you make a card for our Season That Sparkles Challenge, be sure to link up here! Only those that link up with Mr. Linky will be in the running! You have until 4PM Central next Friday!



Thanks for stopping by! We can't wait to see what you create! Remember, the ever-so-talented Asela Hopkins will be back Sunday as our Limelight Designer. This week, she raided her fabric drawer to add some pizazz to a card! You'll love it!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC36)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC36)!!! A big thank you to Francie Gumprecht(Francie G) for guest hosting with us last week. Also, a big thank you to those of you who played along with the out of the frame challenge. Keep reading to find out who won! I also have the September monthly drawing winner posted today, too.

The Friends of Flourishes blog design team are bringing you exciting and different challenges each week. Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate each week. Random.org decides who wins!! Everyone can PLAY and anyone can WIN! Make sure you continue reading to find out how.

This week we have an announcement. You all know Makiko Jones from her Limelight work this past summer with Flourishes. The Flourishes decided to ask Maki if she would like to be the Blog Teams Guest Designer for October, November, and December. We are so thrilled to have Maki join us for awhile. Please give a warm welcome to Maki!!!

With that said, Maki is the challenge host this week! Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Maki is challenging us to make a card or project for a woman in our life and to use PINK as the main color. There are no limitations on theme. Whether you want to make a Happy Birthday, Thinking of You, or Congratulations card to name a few, just remember it is for the girls and to think pink!!! We look forward to seeing what you create!!!



Let's go see what the blog design team created for you Thinking Pink!!!


Up first is Makiko Jones. Maki is using the Gerbera Daisies and Think Pink sets. Maki chose to combine colors of pinks and greens for her card. She is using a basicgray houndstooth pattern dp and layered die cuts. Maki stamped the gerbera daisies several times using Momento Tuxedo black ink. She colored with Flourishes Copic Color Collections using Holly Hock, Dusty Rose, and Fields. She cut out some of the daisies and popped them up for added dimension. She finished her card with a pink bow and a layered scalloped circle of Hope sentiment from the Think Pink set. Beautifully done, Maki!!!

Next up is Silke Ledlow. Silke is using the Think Pink stamp set. Silke is using melon, crisp white, and black as her color scheme. The focus is think pink so the dominant color is pink. Silke stamped the T shirt and sentiment using momento tuxedo black ink . Silke softly colored the T shirt using Flourishes Copic Color Collection in Hollyhock. Silke finished her card with some black gingham ribbon with button accenting. For some striking detailing, Silke lined the sides of the card with some black rhinestones . Beautifully done, Silke!!!

Up next is is Betty Wright. I am using the Home Tweet Home and Gerbera Daisies sets. I am using a melon cardstock with Flourishes classic ivory cardstock, and kraft. I colored the branches, leaves, and bird using Flourishes Copic Color Collections in Holly Hock and Flesh Tones. I layered the largest spellbinders fancy tags. I softly stencil some light pink around the edges of my oval die cut. I added a small pink gingham Hope ribbon and sentiment from the Gerbera Daisies set. I finished my card with some kaiser pearls and clear rhinestones.

Cindy Haffner is next. Cindy is using the I Love Roses and Strawberries set. Cindy has designed a unique and dimensional tag. She combined several oval scallop die cuts to frame the single stem rose beautifully. She colored the rose using Flourishes Copic Color Collection in Hollyhock and Fields. She softly sponged the oval frame with some light pink ink. She added some texture and a Hope ribbon with burlap string wrapped bow. Love the clip with smile sentiment from the Strawberries set. Lovely tag and beautifully done, Cindy!

Next this week is Dee Jackson. Dee is using the Thank You set. Dee is using a combination of light pinks, dark pink, and white. Dee is using a solid distressed sheet of basicgray dp in the background. Dee stamped the tulips using Momento black tuxedo ink onto Flourishes Classic White Cardstock . She colored using Flourishes Copic Color Collection in Holly Hock and Evergreen. She cut out one of the flowers and leaves and adhered to the top of the others to create a fluid arrangement. Dee finished with a gorgeous satin pink bow!!! Beautifully done, Dee!!!






Last up this week is Kim Crawford. Kim is using the Think Pink stamp set. Kim is using some Basicgray Lemonade dp with shades of blues and pinks. She stamped one of the sentiments from the Think Pink set on ruled paper and cut out with a circle spellbinders die cut. She added a deep rich paper ribbon of hope. Lovely card, Kim!!!

Please check out our individual blogs for more card details!!

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Betty Wright

Cindy Haffner

Dee Jackson

Kim Crawford

We also have the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday blog button working properly again. If you need the code, check here.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC35)!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:28
Timestamp: 2009-10-06 02:44:25 UTC

Cammie M(Sweet Violets Paperie) Congratulations!!! You Won!!! Please email:
flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net for your coupon code!!!!

September Monthly Drawing Winner

is
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:28
Timestamp: 2009-10-06 02:52:16 UTC

Sonya Appel(sea777)Congratulations!!! You Won!!! Please email:
flourishesllccustomerservice@cox.net for your coupon code!!!!

Now, it is your turn to play! Here is what you need to know!

• Anyone can play whether you have Flourishes stamps or not. Of course, if you have Flourishes stamps, by all means, use them.
  

• Use keyword code FTTC36 when linking to SCS or public gallery.

• Be sure to use the Mr. Linky to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!

• If you use either your blog link or online gallery, please give an active Flourishes Blog 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!!!
  
  
  
  
  
  

  As always, thanks so much for stopping by and playing Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge with us! Don't forget to use Mr. Linky!!!!

  Your Flourishes Friends!
  

Glitter Daisies

I couldn't believe it when I received an email from Julie asking if I'd like to be the Limelight designer for October. Julie is one of my stamping idols. I was so excited.


This spring I sat at the same table as Jan Marie during a Copic Certification class that Flourishes hosted. It was such a blessing to meet her and learn about the Flourishes beautiful stamp lines. As an illustrator I appreciate other talented artist. And love the quality of the clear acrylic stamps that Flourishes produces.

One of the sets that I have coveted for a long time was the Gerber Daisies. I'm going to share some photos that show how you can create gorgeous coloring using glitter and glue.

Stamp your image onto a clear piece of acetate (Crystal Clear Card Stock) using black Stazon ink. I add the glues and the glitter to the side that has the inked image on it. So when I am finished and flip the acetate over the image will be reversed. This is a fun alternate way of using the stamp set. (If you don't

want the image flipped than add the glitter to the

side that you did not stamp the image on to.)

You will need Alene's Tacky glue, small paintbrush, glitter and water for the next step. I squeezed some glue onto a palette and added a small amount of water to it. Stir it up. It should be the consistency of Elmer's Glue. Not to thick but thin enough to spread with the brush. You will be working in small areas, one at a time as the glue does dry fast. Remember, you are working with glitter and it can get messy. Also, you want thin layers of glue, not big globs.

Using your small brush begin applying glue to the petals of the flowers. Sprinkle the glitter over the top and press down gently. Tap the excess onto a scrap piece of paper. You will be using the glitter that you just tapped off, don't discard it. Go back and continue to add more glue. Doing small sections at a time. Do NOT fill in all of the petals. You will be adding another color of glitter to give the flower more dimension. This gets very messy.

Next color you will be adding is the orange from the set. Add the glue to the petals that you did not add glue to and sprinkle the orange over top. Press gentle with finger. Tap of excess and look to see if you need to add more yellow or orange to the petals. It's easy to go back over top of the glitter with the glue in areas that you see are thin. You should have a good covering of glitter on all of the petals.

Next you will be adding the green. And then the red to the center of the flowers. These glitters are not a solid color and therefore give you a very luxurious look. The daisies are the perfect image for this technique. I can see using so many of the other beautiful images that Flourishes has colored with glitter!

Once the glues is dry gently tap off any remaining glitter. Please be careful when handling the image as the glue is only on the surface of the acetate and can be easily scratched off. Take a very soft wide bristled brush and gently brush off the glitter that sticks to the acetate due to static. Flip your image over onto white card stock (or any color card stock you wish.)

Adhere the acetate to the

cardstock using tape. I created my card by sandwiching the acetate below scrapbooking paper, creating a window.


I look forward to seeing all the beautiful Flourishes creations you do!

World Card Making Day FUN!

Did you all see that Flourishes is hosting a FUN challenge over on the SCS challenge thread for World Cardmaking Day?? Well, we are and all you need to do is click HERE to see what kind of fun we are cooking up!

You have until Sunday at midnight in order to be in the drawing for prizes!! We have three goody bags that we'll randomly draw for!! What's inside?? Oh... only a stamp set, a pack of paper and some of the most luscious ribbon EVER!!! So, get those creative juices flowing and let's see what you've got!

Happy Stamping!!! ;-)

Join us for some FUN!

Happy World Cardmaking Day!!!

Flourishes is so excited about this day that officially kicks off the holiday card making season! It's a time when we as card makers can come together and "virtually" craft together! And Splitcoast Stampers is hosting one big shin-dig!!! A party that will bring thousands and thousands of stampers together to 'virtually' create with eachother!

Being a member company over at Splitcoast, we've banded together with other member companies to kick off a few challenges on this one of a kind day of fun! The challenges start at 10 eastern and Flourishes will host it's own challenge at 7 PM Eastern - so stay tuned! There's another interesting twist on this celebration! SCS and all the member companies are helping give a shout out to Operation Write Home (Formerly Cards for Heroes)and helping to spread the love! This organization takes donations of hand made cards to send to the troops serving overseas. You can read up about their operation HERE! And if you'd like to send your challenge cards to this fine cause, all you need to do is click on the link for all the details on how to make it happen!

There are goodies on the line if you play! We are giving away three goody bags with a stamp set, paper and a ribbon grab bag full of our most lucious ribbon! It's a random drawing - so all you need to do is play and you are in the running!

Click on the World Card Making Day Blinkie to the right on our sidebar and that will take you straight to the WCMD Forum on SCS! Fun stuff!

We have some more big news today and we are tickled to announce that the fabulous.....

.....will be joining us in the Limelight each Sunday to give us a glimpse into her creative process! I snuck a peek at her card for tomorrow and let's just say she's looking to create a disco ball of sparkle in tomorrow's limelight! If you've never visited her blog, click HERE for a royal treat!

We also want to give a huge thanks (clapping now!) to the ever so talented Michelle Giraud. Her style is just incredible and we were so blessed to have her sharing her talents with us all September long! Thanks Michelle!!! You are one talented cookie! You can click HERE to visit her blog and keep tabs on her there!

So, be sure to hop back here later today for more news on our challenge and don't forget to come back tomorrow to see what Asela cooked up! :-)

Happy Weekend!
~Julie

Flourishes Focus; Finishing Touches

Can I share a secret? Ever since Flourishes introduced their Finishing Touches embellishment line, I have been having a love affair with them. I sometimes have to hold myself back to two of them. They are a fabulous elite line of "hardware"; so beautiful, elegant, and versatile. I have two cards to share with you, but since I can hardly share all the potential of these little gems, you'll gain more inspiration when you visit the design teams' blogs, as they will definitely be finishing touches on your blog surfing today!

On my first card I used one of the Beautiful Brads and I set my sentiment in a Mini Message. I can't believe it hadn't occured to me to pair Basic Grey's "Lemonade" series paper with Live Love Lemons before...what a perfect match! I stamped the image on Classic White in Memento Tuxedo Black. The lemons were coloured with Copic Markers, specifically the Buttercup and Evergreen Collections. I added a pink shadow using the Hollyhock Collection and the Pastels kit. The belly border was punched with a Martha Stewart punch and it's wrapped with the gorgeous May Art's "Maize" sheer polka dot ribbon. Through the ribbon I tied some gold cord and suspended the sentiment in the Mini Message frame. I used gold, but they are also available in Silver and Antique Copper. To balance and finish the card, I added a flourished Beautiful Brad in the corner and that was that!

I cut into my new Savannah paper pack by 7 Gypsies for this card! Beautiful paper...it was touch to actually "cut" it! The inner portion is all from one piece cut to 4" x 5 1/4". Then I cut it lengthwise and widthwise, and turned over two of the pieces to reveal a complimentary solid paper! Perfect! Falling Leaves came to my rescue along with an old Kaleidacolour pad, appropriately named "Autumn Leaves". I stamped the leaves randomly on the solid side then pieced the card together. The luxurious May Arts reversable satin ribbon in Brown/gold is wrapped around the seam, and the flowers are layered using a Finishing Floral brad in Antique Copper for the flower centre. The sentiment was stamped on vellum to give it full attention without losing the beautiful designer paper images. Here's a close up of the flower:

Are you ready for more? The design team is all geared up and ready to WOW you with more ideas and inspiration. I'm sure you'll agree they've truly added the perfect Finishing Touches to their creations!

Julie Koerber

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast

Stacy Morgan

Well, that's it for me! Have a fabulous Flourishes Friday and a wonderful weekend too!

Flip Code Fixed

I apologize for the confusion today on the code. I simply forgot to active the code when I sent out the message. It is fixed so all of the "Flippers" can shop till they drop!

Polymer Hugs,