Merry Christmas to all!

In order to celebrate Christmas and get plenty of family time, the office here at Flourishes will be closed from December 25th through the 31st.


The store will be OPEN! We are participating in Splitcoast's first ever shop hop.

And the best part is, from December 26th through the end of the year,

all organza ribbon, decorative and metallic paper,

and Spellbinders Nestabilities are 20% off!

I wanted you to get the most out of your Christmas cash this year. :) So, just click HERE to travel to our store!

Here's my Christmas wish for you:

More light than you can learn,

More wealth than you can treasure,

More love than you can earn,

More peace than you can measure,

Because one Child is born.

~Christopher Fry

Merry Christmas to you! We'll 'see' you next year!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC47)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC47)! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's stenciling challenge! Keep reading to find out who won!

The Friends of Flourishes blog design 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. Each week Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate for $10 to the lucky random draw participant. In addition to this, Flourishes also gives away a monthly gift certificate for $10 to one lucky monthly challenge winner. So, if you did not complete any challenge during the month, you still have a chance to win. Just link your card with Mr. Linky!

This week Cindy Haffner is our host. Cindy is challenging us to ATC or Artist Trading Cards. These wonderfully sized trading cards 2.5 X 3.5 are perfect for making quick last minute cards. If you make a bunch ahead of time all you need to do is add it to a card base. Get creative with these trading cards and join us in the fun! Here is a link from SCS to give you alittle more insight into ATC. We would love to see what you create!

Let's see what Cindy Haffner designed for us this week ATC style! Cindy is using Flourishes Christmas Music background and Flourished Christmas sets. Can you believe she is using a rolodex card to make this beauty? I am just as shocked as you! It is simply gorgeous and completely altered from its original look. Cindy stamped the reindeer. She stamped it again onto cardstock, colored with Flourishes Copic Color Collection in Flesh Tones. She cut the reindeer out to adhere over the original stamped image to create some wonderful depth. She finished with some perfectly placed gold rhinestone detailing. Love all the warm toned sponging, too! Beautifully done, Cindy!

To see what the rest of the blog design team created for you this week with stenciling, please click the blog links below to check them out.

Cindy Haffner

Betty Wright

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Dee Jackson

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC46)!!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 6
Timestamp: 2009-12-22 03:57:23 UTC


Vicki Dutcher (Stitched Christmas)! You won!!! Congratulations!
Please 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 FTTC47 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!

Stained Glass Beauty...

Just in case you missed it, Beate Johns with Splitcoast Stampers created a beautiful tutorial last week showing us all how to create a faux stained glass mosaic. The results are absolutely stunning! Click on the box below to see just how she created this beautiful card!


For those that don't want to watch the video, there is a photo tutorial on SCS that you can take a peek at too! Just click HERE! Thanks Beate! You always inspire!

A Christmas gift

Happy Sunday, and happy holidays! Have you finished all your Christmas shopping yet? How about a homemade gift?

I've made a small set of cards for todays post, and It's wrapped up too:) We still have a few days until christmas, so why not create something special for someone you care about?

I used one of my all time favorite Flourishes sets, the Poinsetta and Boxwood for my gift.

I made a simple gift box from cardstock, and created an acetate window, to give the recipient a "sneak peek" at the contents...


I decorated the box with elegant Satin Ribbon and Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Pendants die cuts.


A close-up of the window. The poinsetta was colored with Le Plume Markers and cut out.


Inside the box.... You`ll find several of the dies used in the Flourishes store.


The set of cards...








...so now I just want to wish all of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! And thank you so much to the Flourishes Ladies for having me here in the Limelight, I so enjoyed it! ...And thank you to everyone who has visited me here and at my blog!! I'm wishing you all a happy, creative new year too!

Friday Focus **White Space**

Now don't go running off when you read WHITE SPACE.... Its nothing to be afraid of, TRUST Stacy... Yep its me bringing you the Flourishes Focus! I am going to share with you some of the ways I use white space. I LOVE a lot of white clean space on my cards. It might be my OCD coming out onto cards! I just think the clean and simple look sometimes is what makes the card pop. I will show you the two common ways I use it.

First we have the single layer of white space I use a lot. I have a little color with the ribbon and paper. My Dove and Holly is the focal point and I added a little bit of sparkle to the leaves. I used the Copic collections Spring greens, Flesh tones and Dusty Rose. Very simple.

Below is what I call my layered white space. I have used the set A year of Flowers calendar set 2. I still have a lot of white space but I broke it up into two layers, and see it still looks so clean and fresh. Copic Collections I used were Dusty Rose, Fields and Sweet Peas. I added a little white crochet ribbon and pearls to top it off.

See white space is nothing to be afraid of! Give it a TRY! Now check out what the DT came up with for their version of White Space!

Christine
Cindy
Julie
Latisha
Laura
Leslie

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

~Stacy

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC46)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC46)! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's gatefold challenge! Keep reading to find out who won!

The Friends of Flourishes blog design 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. Each week Flourishes gives away a store gift certificate to the lucky random draw participant. In addition to this, Flourishes also gives away a monthly gift certificate to one lucky winner. So, if you did not complete any challenge during the month, you still have a chance to win. Just link your card with Mr. Linky!

This week Betty Wright is our host. I am challenging everyone to stenciling. Stenciling is really popular right now in cardmaking. You can use your spellbinder templates, stencil a fluffy scalloped sky, or use other stencils either store bought or handmade to add some stenciling to your card this week. Here are a couple of links from SCS to give you alittle more insight into stenciling. Tutorial 1 and Tutorial 2. We would love to see what you create!

For my card I am using one of the new released sets called A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 and Seasonal Wreaths for the sentiment. For the stenciling portion of my card, I chose to use two of the spellbinders impressabilities. I am using Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock which is wonderful for coloring with copics. I colored my January flower using Flourishes Copic Color Collection. I finished my card with punch border, ribbon, and sentiment tags!

To see what the rest of the blog design team created for you this week with stenciling, please click the blog links below to check them out.

Betty Wright

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Dee Jackson

Cindy Haffner

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC45)!!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 15
Timestamp: 2009-12-15 02:39:48 UTC

Crystal_235 (Remember the Holidays) You won!!! Congratulations!
Please 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 FTTC46 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!

Grab a Christmas cookie and coffee, it's time to chat.

Several years ago, a bride wrote to Miss Manners asking if she really needed to send thank you cards to everyone who sent her a gift. Couldn't she just attach a thank you blurb to their party favor at the reception?

Miss Manners responded frankly: choosing not to send a thank you note communicates to the giver of each gift that his thought, time, and money spent to select a gift for you was not worth five minutes of writing and a postage stamp.

Have you ever sent a gift to someone in the mail, and you anxiously await her call or note to see if she liked it? And then, you wonder if she even got it? Maybe it got lost in the mail? Maybe you wrote the wrong address. Maybe she just didn't like it and doesn't know what to say.

But, we rarely think ourselves rude while we neglect our thank yous. It's happened to all of us--time slips away, and we just never take the moments to send a note of gratitude for the kindness someone has shown us.

Christmastime revives us with kindness and joy and generosity. Let it also renew in us a readiness to acknowledge the kindnesses shown to us through gifts. Generosity and gratitude go hand in hand. Let's set our minds to give and receive with joy!



















Here are some thank you cards for inspiration! Our newest florals -- A Year of Flowers Calendar Sets 1,2, and 3-- would make gorgeous gratitude notes! Personally, I think the Thank You set is an essential. I would love to see the 'thank yous' you make. Feel free to post them in the comments for us to 'ooo' and 'aaah' over!



Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Blessings!

Hi! It`s me, Yvonne. I hope you`re all having a wonderful Sunday!
Christmas is not here just yet, but I`m already preparing for Easter...

This week I`m sharing a card using the beautiful Easter Blessings set.



I also thought I`d share a little tutorial on how I use the Distress Inks to color my images. I know that most of you use Copics these days, but I still hold on to my Inks:)


These are my supplies. I use an aqua brush to pick up the color from the palette. You can use both reinkers and pads.


Starting to color the cross with Antique Linen.


Using Vintage Photo to color up the darker parts of the cross. These are the two steps I usually do - a lighter color first, and a darker color for the shaded areas.


Shabby Shutters for the leaves. I've used a stamp pad here. Pick up the color from an acrylic block or directly from the pad.


I like my leaves a little more vibrant, so I'm adding color from a marker. Picking up the color just like I did with the stamp pad.


Then I add some Peeled Paint for the shading on the leaves.


For the flowers I`m using Fired Brick. Starting where I want the darkest color...


...pulling the color towards the middle.


Repeat on all the flowers. One of the things I love about watercoloring is that you can add more color at any time - even after drying.


To create a luminous effect, I added some yellow color from a marker around the cross. I also added some yellow to the flowers for a warmer color.


For this card I stamped, colored and cut out two of the flowers a second time, and added them using dimensionals. I also used a white gel pen for highlights and added pearls.

I hope this inspired you to pull out whatever coloring medium you like to use, and have some fun!

See you back here next Sunday!

Our 2010 Calendar Download

Hello fans of Flourishes!

We've had a few emails asking about our 2010 Calendar that you can download and how to get your hands on it! Well, there are two ways:

1. If you order the New Release Bundle, this item is free and you'll just need to put the word DOWNLOAD (all caps) into the promotional code box. You will need to register as a customer in order for the promo box to appear. After you finish your order, you'll get an email with a link to your download. Click on the link and then click on your download and... voila... there you have it!

2. If you'd only like to purchase the calendar, you'll find it under What's New or Cardmaking Essentials on our Flourishes store. Put it in your cart and you'll too go through the download process above. The file is a .pdf and is easily printable for you to enjoy time and time again throughout the year!

We hope this makes a little more sense! And, we hope you enjoy!

p.s. If you have already ordered and didn't recieve your download, please feel free to email us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your invoice number and we can email you a copy!

A shopping we will go!!!! ;-)

We had a blast this week sneak peeking the gorgeous creations by Marcella Hawley! After enticing you all week, we are happy to report that the sets are now in the Flourishes store!

Need a little more eye candy? Check out....

A Year of Flowers, Calendar Set 1 or click HERE to see it in the store!


A Year of Flowers, Calendar Set 2... or click HERE to see it in the store!

A Year of Flowers, Calendar Set 3... click HERE to shop!

Want to know who walked away with the A Year of Flowers, Calendar Set 3 from today's blog candy giveaway? Random.org drew the number 32, which means the winner is Donna, who wrote:

Donna said...
Beautiful! Flowers are my favorite, spring, summer and fall! Wish we had winter flowers outside too. Thanks to the design team for all the lovely eye candy!

Friday, December 11, 2009 7:48:00 AM

Donna, thanks for playing! All you need to do is email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put A Year of Flowers, Calendar Set 3 Winner in the subject line! Don't forget to include your snail mail addy and we'll go ahead and send your stamps right out to you!

Now to the moment some of you have been waiting for!!! THE WINNER OF OUR FLORAL FINESSE CHALLENGE! You know, the challenge that will land one lucky stamper with all three of our new releases?? Random.org drew the number 7, which means the winner is.........

Iwona Palamountain A.K.A "Chupa!"

Iwona, just emial us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your address and we'll get those three stamp sets in your lucky little hands!!

Thanks everyone for joining us this week and thanks too for those that played in our challenge! Our DT was literally drooling at all the challenge cards! We have some serious talent out there!!!

See you back here soon!

A Year of Flowers... the final day!

The rustic and rich colors of fall, that's what this final day of our A Year of Flowers release is all about!

Introducing.....

You can almost smell fall in the air when you look at these beauties! Marcella Hawley has done it again - given us gorgeous botanicals that we can use in all kinds of floral creations! This set features four beautiful flowers and the months they represent!

And, don't forget, Marcella even created a customizable and downloadable calendar that you can use to deck out with these florals! The calendar was created just for these sets so it is a perfect match with fonts and colors! The download will be available tonight -$2 on its own or FREE with the purchase of all three sets!

The anticipation is already building too for tonight's POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! It starts at 9 PM CST with fun, games and giveaways! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE! As soon as the party wraps up, all of our sets for December will be in the Flourishes Store for your shopping pleasure!

Want a closer peek at the flowers of fall? Hop on over and pay a visit to.....

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


Would you like to win this set? Just leave a comment on this post! Random.org will pick a number and we'll announce the winner of the A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 3 in tomorrow's post!

Now to the winner of yesterday's drawing! Random.org drew the number 4, which means the winner of A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 2 is Cathy who wrote:

CrafteeCC (Cathy) said... such beautiful images - I love the irises!
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:42:00 AM

Cathy, to claim your prize, simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 2 Winner in the subject line! Be sure to include your mailing address and we'll get your stamp set sent right to you!

DON'T FORGET....

Time is running out to enter our Floral Finesse Challenge! Click HERE for the details! You could win all three of the sets we'll show this week! You have until this Friday at 5 PM Eastern to enter!

We hope you had as much fun as we did this week! See you tonight at the big party! :-)

A Year of Flowers.... day 2!

A bouquet of summer sweetness.... that's the offering today from day two of our A Year of Flowers sneak peeks!

Introducing.....

This beautiful set drawn by Marcella Hawley offers up the lovely flowers of summer --those perennial beauties that bring nothing but joy! We just know these sets will offer a breath of fresh air in your stamp room... all year long!

You might have noticed that our Design Team is also using a down loadable calendar with these gorgeous sets! When our stamps are unveiled and in the store, this download will also be available for order on Friday. It will be $2 on its own, or FREE if you order all three sets! Can you imagine all the fun you can create with a classy calendar base like this?

Want a closer peek at the flowers of summer? Hop on over and pay a visit to.....

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


Would you like to win this set? Just leave a comment on this post! Random.org will pick a number and we'll announce the winner of the A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 2 in tomorrow's post!

Now to the winner of yesterday's drawing! Random.org drew the number 60, which means the winner of A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 is Tiffany who wrote.....

Tiffany said...I love daffodils!!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009 10:49:00 AM

Tiffany, to claim your prize, simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net and put A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 Winner in the subject line! Be sure to include your mailing address and we'll get your stamp set sent right to you!

DON'T FORGET....

Time is running out to enter our Floral Finesse Challenge! Click HERE for the details! You could win all three of the sets we'll show this week! You have until this Friday at 5 PM Eastern to enter!

And... mark your calendar now! There will be some serious fun brewing for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY this Friday! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time! Get ready for fun, games, giveaways and of course... lots of chatter! ;-) As soon as the party wraps up, all of our sets for December will be in the Flourishes Store for your shopping pleasure!

A Year of Flowers.... Day 1!

The thermometer may be closer to winter right now in many parts of the country, but there are certain timeless images that we just can't seem to get enough of.... all year long! And, that's the mission behind this gorgeous new series of Flourishes florals!

Introducing....

One stamp set we've talked about for a while at Flourishes is a set that really captures the flowers of the year and does so in a way and in a size that can be incorporated into gift sets, calendars, or card sets! Marcella Hawley put her pen to paper and created just the series for us! It is so beautiful, our entire design team was drooling over these images! Today, we "meet" the first set in the series -- the flowers from January through April! If you'd like to see the beautiful creations that our DT has to offer, head on over to these fine ladies and take a peek!

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


Would you like to win this set? Just leave a comment on this post! Random.org will pick a number and we'll announce the winner of the A Year of Flowers Calendar Set 1 in tomorrow's post!

DON'T FORGET....

Time is running out to enter our Floral Finesse Challenge! Click HERE for the details! You could win all three of the sets we'll show this week! You have until this Friday at 5 PM Eastern to enter!

And... mark your calendar now! There will be some serious fun brewing for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY this Friday! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time! Get ready for fun, games, giveaways and of course... lots of chatter! ;-) As soon as the party wraps up, all of our sets for December will be in the Flourishes Store for your shopping pleasure!

Flourishes 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...........

About a month ago, we put out a call to our FLIP members to share their beautiful creations with us in hopes that one would end up here....

This is Jan Marie's Wall of Fame! She literally has this in the halls of Flourishes' work space. She loves to be surrounded by the beautiful art that our customers create and she needs more inspiration! Well after we put out the call - we loved ALL the creations submitted! It was such a hard decision! It was so hard - we have a tie!

We loved the earthy and rustic flair that Gini Cagle used to create this beautiful card using the Strut your Stuff set! We love the color and the one of a kind feel this creation has!

And, we absolutely loved Karen Wallace's style with this classic easel card using the Dove in Holly set. The color, the layout, everything is perfect!

So, ladies, if you wouldn't mind sending your cards off to us at 4140 Lyric Lane, Pensacola Florida, 32514, we'll go ahead and drop a little something in the mail to YOU!

Don't worry! We'll pick another Wall of Fame winner in January. So, get creating FLIP members and share your creations on Mr. Linky below! If you upload to SCS, please use the key word FLLCWOF2. KEEP IN MIND! You must be a FLIP Member to submit. Just another reason to get your 'membership card' today! :-)



Are you reading this and wondering what FLIP is? Well, it's a deal you probably don't want to miss out on! Click HERE to read up on membership benefits!

FYI: Can't wait to see the new offerings from Flourishes for December? The SNEAK PEEKS START TOMORROW RIGHT HERE ON THE FLOURISHES NEWSLETTER! Stay Tuned! ;-)

~Julie

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC45)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC45)! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's CAS 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.

This week Cindy Haffner is our challenge host. Cindy is challenging us to gatefold cards. Here are a couple of links to help you get started from SCS. Gatefold 1 and Gatefold 2. Gatefold cards are great year round, but something about opening a card from two sides this time of year gives a more regal, gift-like presentation. We love to see what you create.

Let's see what Cindy Haffner created for you this week with the gatefold design. Cindy is using the Dove and Holly stamp set. I love how she stamped the smaller image in black onto the deep rich red cardstock and accented with white gel pen. The spellbinder frame is beautiful layered with the circle and scalloped circle nestabilities. Great colors and patterns, too1 Beautiful detailing and design, Cindy! Gorgeous!

To see what the rest of the blog design team created for you this week with the sketch, please click the blog links below to check them out.

Cindy Haffner

Betty Wright

Maki Jones

Silke Ledlow

Dee Jackson

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC44)!!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 26
Timestamp: 2009-12-08 03:32:47 UTC

Glenda Atkins (2nd) (Penguin Money Card Holder) You won!!! Congratulations!
Please 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 FTTC45 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!

Create a little Monday Magic!

Have you ever seen the Magic Snowflake technique? Well if you missed it, Beate Johns recently created a tutorial over on Splitcoast using this technique and our Forest of Trees set! The result is a GORGEOUS and fun creation that really makes great use of a fun background technique! Thanks Beate for sharing!

Framed Nasturtiums

Hi everyone! It's Yvonne. I am absolutely thrilled to be here today as the Limelight Designer for December! I hope you will enjoy this little project of mine.

I guess it`s no secret that I love my Spellbinders dies, and I thought I`d share with you a simple way to take your dies to the "next level". This frame will show off your favorite image in a beautiful and elegant way, I think.


I used the Nasturtiums set for this card, and colored it with Distress Inks. Here is a little step by step on the frame:



I`ve used Spellbinders Classic Frame. I cut out two white frames and two green ones. I also used the Labels One dies to create the "inner" frame.


Cut the frames as shown on the photo.


Glue the white pieces onto the green pieces as shown. Using a darker color at the back creates a shadow-effect and gives depth to the frame.


Glue the four pieces together as shown.


Attach the Labels one- frame as shown. I sponged the frame lightly with brown ink. Decorate with some Pearls, and your frame is ready to go!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you`ve found some inspiration to how you can frame your favorite images. And I sure hope to see you back here next Sunday!