Nestabilities Update

We've received word that our Nestabilities order has been shipped!! We hope to have these wonderful products by next week and we will get them out to you right away. The store will continue to show these items as "preorders" until we can verify our final inventory.

On another note, yesterday at the studio we received the proofs of three new sets, to be released in October. Keep your eyes open as our design team starts posting sneak peeks of these sets!

Show us your cards!!

Calling all Flourishes Customers!! We'd love to see what you have created using the Flourishes Stamp sets - cards, journals, and any other stamped item. Please send us a good quality photo in jpg format to flourishesllc@cox.net. We'll post as many as we can to the Flourishes Customer Gallery found here.

New Stamp Sets!!

We are filled with excitment here at the studio - the proofs of our three new sets have been reviewed and we are ready to issue them for sale. We're getting into the holiday spirit - with two holiday sets and one floral set - and having so much fun playing with them. Please visit the store and take a look at the stamp sets and card making combo kits. Also, we've uploaded some new artwork in the gallery for your inspiration.

One of the sets, Peace, has an image created exclusively for us by calligrapher Joan Machinchick. This Peace Dove has a classic and elegant look that can be used year after year. Joan has also created some wonderful holiday words for us which we will be including in more holiday stamp sets next month. We are so impressed with the beauty of Joan's work and want to share a bit about her with you.

Joan Machinchck was introduced to calligraphy while a graphic design student at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and continues to study in workshops and at annual conferences.

Her primary interest is in the creation of artist's books, both one-of-a-kind and in limited edition. Her books frequently combine painting, printmaking, collage, illustration and calligraphy with digital printing and photography. Her artist's books, invitations, articles and book reviews have been published in Somerset Studio, Scripsit, Letter Arts Review magazines and the Journal of PaperWorks - the Sonoran Book Arts Collective, as well as several books, including "Hand Lettering for Crafts" by Sandra Salamony (Rockport) and "The Art and Craft of Handmade Cards" and "Paper in Three Dimensions" both by Diane Maurer-Mathison (Watson-Guptill). A now semi-retired graphic designer and illustrator and owner of Lake Claire Design Studio, she enjoyed working with a wide variety of clients, ranging from publishers, entertainment professionals, gourmet companies and health care facilities to a NASA/Johns Hopkins research satellite project. She provided monthly watercolor maps for Chesapeake Bay Magazine and has custom designed wedding and event stationery. Included in her book design and illustration projects are an award-winning book about the history and lore of the Magothy River, "My River Speaks" by Marianne Taylor (Bay Media, Inc.) and "Learning to Sail" by Di Goodman and Ian Brodie (International Marine, a division of McGraw Hill). Her books and calligraphy have recently been exhibited in small group and juried shows in the Maryland/Washington DC area, including Adkins Arboretum, the Washington National Cathedral, Anne Arundel Community College, the Library at St. John's College, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, The City Gallery in Baltimore, the Washington Calligraphers' Guild 30th anniversary exhibitions in Harrisonburg VA and at Strathmore Hall and in a collaborative artists' books show at Details Art & Design in Tucson, AZ. This year she exhibited her artist's books in a solo show at Circle Gallery in Annapolis, MD and her digital images and calligraphy at The Gallery at Woods in Severna Park, MD. She is a member of The Washington Calligraphers Guild; the Association for the Calligraphic Arts; Maryland Federation of Art; and PaperWorks - The Sonoran Book Arts Collective.

Clear Stamps

What is a photopolymer?
It is a polymer that cures or hardens when exposed to light. The word polymer means "many parts". Photopolymer provides a durable longer lasting clear stamp die.

Our stamps at Flourishes come from a leading manufacture in photopolymer. Clear stamps provide a high quality product that is deeply etched and is resistant to yellowing due to exposure to UV rays.

Facts to know about all clear stamps

Conditioning
You can use clear stamps straight out of the package. You may want to condition them first as brand new stamps want to repel ink. Use a standard pink eraser to "scuff" the surface. It will help to hold ink and get a better image.

Storage
This is for all brands of clear stamps.
Although Clear Stamp Inc. have a high resistance to yellowing from UV exposure it would be safest to store them in a light-free container such as card board shoe box. Even indoor light can harden some clear stamps.
Acetone, bleach, or oil-based products can make your stamps, gooey, discolor or harden.

Cleaning
Once you ink a clear stamp they will never be as clear as they were in the package.
Baby wipes without lanolin are a great method of cleaning. You can also use mild soap and water.
Solvent-based inks aren't the best choice for polymer stamps, the cleaners are pretty hard on the stamp. StazOn cleaner may actually damage some clear stamps. We are checking with our manufacturer to see if we fall in that category.
Be assured Flourishes will be stocking a cleaner that is gentle enough for use with polymer stamps.