Year End Sale coming soon!

Many of us will be very busy this week getting ready for the holiday - the three Flourishes included! We hope the holiday's are joyful for all of you and wish everyone the very best for the new year!

Speaking of a new year, you may know that retailers do a year-end inventory - one of those tasks that have to be done, but we don't like doing!

So - we're having a year end sale so that we won't have to count as much! The sale will begin the day after Christmas, December 26 and continue through New Year's Eve - December 31. What's on sale? EVERYTHING!

Take 10% off everything - you must use code: yearend in the promotion code box at check out to get this discount.

So have a very Merry Christmas and stop in the store on December 26 and save!

Festive Flourishes Friday--I'll be so blue!

Are you ready for another Festive Flourishes Friday Challenge? Well, don't be so "blue" this holiday season! Join us for week three of the Festive Flourishes Friday Challenge! The theme is just as it sounds ~ "You'll be doing alright with your Christmas of white but I'll have a blue, blue Christmas!"Grab your favorite Flourishes stamp set and dress it up with a dose of blue! It doesn't have to be a Christmas card! Any style will do!

Remember, you can join our challenge at any time and, if you make up past challenges and complete all four - your name will be thrown into the hat for a free stamp set of your choice! Simply share a link to your card with a comment here on this post or upload your card to SCS using the keyword FFFC3. Of course, we'd love it if you added the FLLC keyword too so that your work shows up in the SCS company gallery!

Well, as we get to the fabulous "blue" creations, we have a new some exciting news! We have a new face that's joining our Friends of Flourishes team! She's lovely inside and out and to say she is a talented cardmaker would be an understatement! Say hello to Silke Ledlow!


"Hello everyone!!! My name Silke Ledlow, better known as *Sparklegirl*. I'm a mom to 3 beautiful girls, Sarah, Rebecca and Miriam. My husband Jerry and I have been married for almost 15 years. I was born and raised in Germany - to be exact - in beautiful Bavaria!!! We are living in beautiful Georgia and enjoying most of our time outdoors with our Boxer puppy *Luke*.

I was introduced to stamping about 4 years ago and have been hooked ever since!!! It has become my *outlet* from a busy day!!! As you can imagine I'm excited and humbled to be on the *Friends of Flourishes* Team!!!"

And, Silke.... we are excited to have you!!

Now.... to the "blue" creations! Silke starts off this week's Festive Flourishes Friday parade with a gorgeous creation using the Stamp Simply Thank You Set! I love the crisp, elegant simplicity of this card. It's almost as if the flower is saying, "Am I not the prettiest thing you've seen?" :-)

Kimberly Crawford brings us the next creation using the All That Glitters set in a fine shade of blue.... I love the antique gold she added for a pop of glitz! So elegant! And, the way the pine cone ornaments are just hanging there? Stunning!
Becca Feeken's creation just looks like something you'd find hanging on the wall at Grandma's house. It's got class, an antique sophisticated flair with ribbon and a darling crocheted flower. I love the subtle look of the roses from the I Love Roses set and the way she centered up the sentiment from the Thinking of You set. Beautiful!

Cindy Haffner dressed up the Poinsettia from the Poinsettia and Boxwood with a lovely shade of blue that just sparkles like diamonds! I love how she framed up the sentiment from the Holiday Greetings set for a little extra pop of interest!

Dee used a gorgeous midnight blue for her card featuring the All That Glitters set! I love the way the branches of the evergreen tree looks like it is shining in the moon's light! Just looks so serene and pretty - don't you think?

Betty Wright is up next! Her card has a "blue bird come fly away with me theme that is just so stunning in shades of turquoise and teal! She used the I Love Roses set and the Bird And Vine set! I love how that little bird is off in flight!

Yours truly (Julie) decided to join in on the fun this week! And, the Bird and Vine set is also one I reached for! I tried to keep it simple with some decorative paper, pretty ribbon and pearls! The sentiment is from the Holiday Greetings set!

Next on our stop is Christine at Christine's Creations I can't believe how Christine strung the elements of the Autumn Flourishes together to create this stunning wreath decked out in blue! Truly Brilliant!
And, we should point out - this is Christine's last week on the Friends of Flourishes team! Next time you see her fabulous creations it will be here for our January release! We welcomed her aboard to the Senior DT and she graciously accepted! We couldn't be more thrilled! I am a huge fan of Christine's watercolor talents. Her talent just makes Flourishes images look so stunning!

BLOG CANDY ALERT: To honor the two new additions to our fabulous teams, we are offering up some blog candy to usher them in! Silke is giving away two sets ~ the Stamp Simply Thank You and the Spring Ephemerals! And, Christine is giving away the fabulous Poppy Patch Set! So, click on their names, head on over, give them a congrats.... and sign up for some candy!

Thanks for joining us on the blue Christmas tour! I've been told that the SCS Limited Supply Challenge this week is also a Blue Christimas! So, check it out and enter your cards there too!

Have a great weekend!
~Julie

A simple Christmas Ornament

I’d like to extend my warm wishes to all of you this holiday season. It’s been a wonderful year for Flourishes and we are grateful for all of you who have been a part of our lives. Our Design Team Coordinator, the insightful Julie Koerber, recently shared with us the thought that we, the three owners of Flourishes – Jan Marie Caruso, Sharon Doolittle and I, should share more of our designs and personal experiences on this newsletter. You’ve heard from Jan Marie and Sharon, and today it is my turn. We plan on continuing these chats and we welcome your thoughts and ideas of what you may want to hear from us.

This time of year is filled with holiday traditions and I’d like to share one of mine with you. In our home I’m the one that decorates the tree and it is something I love doing. My tree will not win any decorating awards – no color coordinated ribbons and ornaments here! While I have a few of those expensive Radko ornaments, the majority of ornaments on our tree are from places we’ve lived or traveled. One of the first ornaments I purchased (decades ago!) was a Santa on skis – it was made of wood and had the look of a wooden toy of the 1950’s and cost only a few dollars at a local store. I had recently graduated college, moved into my first place and felt so grown up in buying a tree and ornaments. This Santa ornament has aged over the years – the wood is a bit brittle, the paint faded and the little bit of fuzz that was glued on his chin for a beard is long gone. Each year he is bubble wrapped and stored away only to wonder if he will make it intact for the next year, or will I find him broken beyond repair.

This year as I decorated our tree, it took longer than ever. Most of the ornaments are inexpensive but have special meaning of our life together and brought back so many memories – a tree scrapbook! There’s the cable car ornament from San Francisco – we watched the Giants play at Candlestick park that July - wearing winter coats; the chili ornament made of glass from Santa Fe – from one of our many trips to the beautiful southwest; the bear on a toboggan ornament from Yellowstone – one of our favorite places to visit; the ornament of Santa on a motorcycle – a nod to our travels on the Harley; and to celebrate our move to Florida – the pink flamingo ornament! So even though my tree will never grace the pages of a decorating magazine, it gives me so much more – the priceless memories of lifetime spent with someone I love.
This card is to honor those special ornaments – not the most expensive or even the prettiest, but the ones that hold the most meaning. Please share with me the story of your favorite ornament - is there a special one on your tree?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy

P.S. One more thing - the Santa on ski’s ornament? He came through intact once again this year – another year older and more faded, but still going strong!

Look What I've Missed!

When I click on Splitcoast in search of some great Flourishes inspiration, it's a click here, click there kind of thing. I log on, click gallery, company galleries and BAM, I'm there.

Well recently, I decided to surf differently. I clicked on and searched the word Flourishes. OH MY! I have been missing out on great Flourishes art left and right! Most people don't know - in order to get into the Flourishes gallery, you have to use the FLLC keyword. Want to see some of the work that made my jaw drop? Well, here it is!

This first one is from the talented Bonnie. When I saw this rustic, distressed card, I gasped. It is so simple, yet so elegant. I love the touch of gold she added. It makes the tree from the Flourished Christmas set look even more regal! Don't you think?

Jessie had two cards that made me stop in my tracks! The first is a lovely duo using the Coffee with Friends set! I love that pink and black combo! Too cute!

And the second card is just lovely with a soft wash of color for the Poppies in a really elegant card layout.
I had to laugh when I saw Ginny's card because she says she gave the sleigh from the Sleigh Ride set a dash of Liberace with all the sparkly gems! :-) Ginny, maybe I love this card because in my book - there is no such thing as too much bling! I would LOVE to ride in that sleigh! And, I left Judy for the grand finale because there were several of her cards that caught my eye!

I love the soft look of this treat box below that she made using the large poinsettia from the Poinsettia and Boxwood set. All that layering! The pearls! The silver thread! It's just luscious!

This poppy card is too elegant for words with all the punched borders and accented corners! She has a lot of extras on this card but it still looks perfectly balenced and beautiful!

And, lastly this creation with the bird ornament from the All That Glitters set! I love the way Judy layered her creation with multiple layers from the Curved Rectangles die by Spellbinders! It just makes this creation look so rich with all the gold leafed edges and the way she added gold cording and embossed the bird!

So, see? I have missed quite a bit over the last couple months! That's why I am making a pitch! If you would like to have your art included in the Flourishes Company Gallery on Splitcoast, please use the keyword FLLC. We would LOVE to see YOUR gorgeous creations and "ooooOOOooo" and "AAAhhhhhh" over them as well!

Have a great rest of the week!

~Julie

Tips with Clear Stamps

Hi Sharon here, the middle Flourish. I have a few tips that I have found helpful in using polymer stamps and I would like to share them. I have switched to using clear stamps for a little over a year now and I must confess it did take me a little while to become accustom to the fact that clear stamps do darken when used with dye inks. The fact that I can SEE where I am stamping has more than made up for a inky looking stamp. No matter what it looks like "It still stamps" and the image will come out clear and sharp with a few changes to the way I stamp.
As you can see in the first picture I have placed a cushion under my paper, that cushion is a small piece of foam. The foam gives your surface a little "give" while stamping and allows full coverage for detailed images.

Another tip is to apply "full even" pressure in the middle of your acrylic block.
I have moved my hands back and forth, carefully, with heavy pressure, I have not had any problem with my stamp block slipping or moving on the paper while moving my hands. That is a different matter if you are stamping on clear card stock or acetate, you don't want to move your hands, just apply even pressure.

Another tip is to have a well inked pad and apply the pad to the stamp rather than the stamp to the ink pad. That way I am assured of full coverage on my image.
It you look at the picture on the right you will see that the image
on the right is lighter in shade. I used my reinker on the Palette Hybrid ink pad, then reapplied the color. As you can see the image came out much more clear and sharp with out any "holidays". That is what it is called when I paint my walls and do not get full coverage, but unlike a stamped image you can put a second coat on a wall. When making a card you want to get it right the first time.

Here is the finished card using a stamp that was exchanged when a customer could not get a clear, even image with it.

Stamp set; Flourished Christmas, Holiday Greetings

Ink; Landscape by Palette

Paper; white card stock from Office Depot & Red Metallic

Misc; red rhinestones

Flourishes Featured Stamper -- #30 Winner!

I honestly can't believe that we've had 30 weekly challenges! Where does the time go! One thing that does stay the same, however, is the wonderful, wonderful art that is done using Flourishes stamps! Week by week, I am amazed!

This week, one stamper picked up her Flourishes stamps time and time and time and time again! And, each one of her creations was just stellar! So, without further ado..... This week's featured stamper is.....

Stacy Morgan!

I love Stacy's clean and elegant style. And, as you are about to see, it really shows through this week with each and every one of her creations!

I love the pop of red Stacy used in this beautiful card done with the Bird And Vine set....

And, in this one with the beautiful tulips from the Stamp Simply Thank You set....

These cards in a set are pure gold --- don't you think?? :-)

And, lastly, this creation warms the heart with a dash of red and green!
Stacy, your creations are fabulous!! Congrats!

Now, for my pick from the Flourishes SCS Gallery! Well, this one - Lace Heart - really caught my eye! Oh my, the detail on this card is incredible!!! It's by the talented "Aussie Parcher" on Splitcoast!

So, ladies, your name will be thrown into the hat for a free stamp set of your choice for December! The drawing will be the first Monday in January...... so stay tuned! And, keep those fabulous creations coming!

~Julie

Thinking of You--A collection of cards!

Hi All,, it's Jan Marie back with you today. I am sharing a collection of cards that I recently created for our release.

I am posting this a little early as Mike and I are traveling tomorrow to pick up James (Jocko). It will be a quick trip there and back tomorrow. The Tuesday we are heading down to Orlando to spend some time with Mike's middle daughter, Jennifer is a LtCol in the Army and is stationed in Germany. She has been in Orlando for a few days now and we will travel to spend next Tuesday-Friday with her before she returns to Germany. So the other two flourishes, Nancy Sharon or Juile will do the posting until I return. I make even take a picture or two to share with you. I hope you enjoy these cards for the new Thinking og You set. I just love it!

Today I am focusing on the second set in our release days. This set is called Thinking of You and is the newest addition to our Simply Sophisticated Series . We all need that special card that we can make, that is appropriate for the situation, easy, and just Simply Sophisticated !! I love to make collections of cards that have a unified look as a set, but individually beautiful on their own. This set is an absolute must have in a stampers collection; it is so easily adaptable, allowing for easy one color application as I have done here. This set has endless applications and can easily be incorporated with other set images.

*the ink color,

*scoring to add the effect of another layer,

* the use of pearls (liquid and flat back) and

*chocolate brown ribbon.
I kept the card colors soft.

Here is the card done in green, You are in Our Thoughts & Prayers, the graceful elegance of the card and sentiment says it all. I scored with my Scor Pal making two vertical lines down the front of the card. The images are the right and left images of a floral spray that I staggered. Then I added a row of tiny white liquid pearls to accentuate the scoring, and more liquid pearls to the flowers. This card is probably my favorite of the collection!

This Pink Happy Birthday card uses the largest floral image from the set. For this card I used a sentiment from our Flourished Words set. A rectangle Nestabilities frames the image. For this card the sentiment the delicate script of Flourishes Words was the perfect choice. Three flat backKaiser pearls add the final touch.

The blue card, With Our Love is easily done with the floral frame and small basket of flowers. The sentiment again is from our Flourished Words set. Here the “Nestie” of choice to frame the image was the new large labels. This time I placed four small liquid pearls.

The last card in the series is a Lavender, Thinking of you Card. An Oval “Nestie” outlined with tiny liquid pearls make the delicate and vintage look to this card. The Oval floral frame and the sentiment inside give this card an especially feminine look. The small brown bow embellished with a flat backed Kaiser pearl are the exclamation points on this card.

And as I always say…Viola!

Card Elements:

Papers: SU cardstock- Blush Blossom ,Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery,

Almost Amethyst

Inks: SU Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Brown Velvet May Arts from Flourishes,

Liquid Pearls-White Opal, Nestabilities, Scor- Pal

Techniques: Dry Embossing-Simple Stamping

Here is a look at this wonderful and versatile set…..Thinking Of You

Thanks for peeking today in my little corner of the Atelier…my very own “Creative License” spot!

Ciao,