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!

More Shimmery Goodness

Hey everyone~

Welcome to another day of shimmery goodness! Have you been enjoying the samples this week? I sure have!

Today, Laura & I (Cindy) are sharing a couple of samples using Shimmerz fabulous paints.

First up is Laura's gorgeous sample:

When Julie suggested we do a Shimmerz week, I was thrilled, 'cus you know I love all things that sparkle and shine, and Shimmerz is just that! When I opened the package with my glorious colours, I knew I had to paint my Sweet Peas..it was just too perfect. I kept the card really simple, adding a gold ribbon slide and a gold embossed sentiment from Sweet Violets. The Martha Stewart lace doily punch and some gold half back pearls finish it perfectly. Here's a close up of the Shimmerz!

Stamps: Sweet Peas, Sweet Violets (Flourishes), Paper: Classic White, Rich Razzleberry Ink: Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Gold Ribbon Slide, Rich Razzleberry ribbon, gold half back pearls, Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch, Magenta, Sugarplum, Pink and Green Olive Shimmerz paints


For my sample, I chose the I Love Roses stamp set. I love the vintage appeal of the roses in this set, and I thought it would work perfectly with the Shimmerz paints.

I combined the Orange Sherbet & Burgundy Shimmerz on my rose, a combo I would not normally put together. I was oh-so-pleasantly surprised at how pretty they look together. For the leaves, I used the Green Olive and accented with Burgundy.

Here's a close up view, so you can better see the shimmer & sparkle...so pretty in person! :)


Stamps: I Love Roses Paper: Classic White, Chocolate Chip, Fernbrae Designer Papers from Memory Box Ink: VersaMark, Palette Burnt Umber, Linen Distress Ink Accessories: Copper Ribbon Slide & Brads, Reversable Satin Ribbon, Circle Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, Gold Embossing Powder, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals, Burgundy, Orange Sherbet, and Green Olive Shimmerz Paints

That's the end of Shimmerz week here at Flourishes; but I know that I will be using lots more of that yummalicious paint on my projects!

Have a sparklin' day!

~Cindy