Flourishes Featured Stamper 16

Well, I am going to turn this contest upside down to make things a bit exciting. I was talking with Sharon Doolittle - one of the Flourishes- and I was lamenting about how hard it was to pick each week! The cards are just so beautiful and -- to think that you take time out of your busy week to create with Flourishes stamps -- that's wonderful! I love slicing some time out of my day to check in and see what everyone submits.


So, I am starting WILD CARD WEEK! You won't have a clue when I might call it a wild card week but when that happens - EVERYONE is a winner and all will have their names thrown into a hat for the monthly drawing! How about that?



I did want to share some of the creations that knocked my socks off before I go!

I love the soft look of Lois' card with the Lilac set...
Latisha makes a coffee cup look romantic by using the Coffee With Friends set and a whole lot of feminine touches!

Lisa blew me away with color and creativity with this creation using the Poppies set....
Christine added some fun coloring to create this high contrast coffee card!

And Laurie broke out a black and white combo for this classy creation using the Stamp Simply Thank You set!


If you browse the forum, you probably got a kick out of THIS creation--- you need to check out this card and read about it in the description. It made me want to cry!!!

Thanks ladies! Keep those creations coming! Lois, Laurie, Liz, Stacy, Michelle, Latisha, Lisa and Christine --- all of your names will be thrown into the hat for a free stamp set of your choice! Good luck!

We'll be back tomorrow with another creation from the fabulous Friends Of Flourishes Blog Team! This one is just too Paperlicious!!

Flourishes Friday!

The Friends of Flourishes are already off and running and they decided, when they can, to honor Flourishes with posts featuring their creations- each Friday! Lucky us! Because my jaw had to be lifted up off the floor as I traveled from blog to blog -- I had to share their creations here!

First up is Becca's wonderful gift set. She even stamped the organza bag! And, this project is "no sew" so it is easy for those who don't want to grab the sewing machine to create a beautiful project! She used the Damask backgrounder and Flourished words sets! To read more about it, click HERE.
Cindy Lawrence used a vibrant blue to add some punch to this card using the Summer Blossoms set. Oh, that flower is so pretty on the neutral background! To read more about her card, click HERE.Cindy Haffner is trying to get us all in the Christmas spirit with this little number using the O Christmas Tree set! Those vibrant reds and greens make me want to grab a cup of hot chocolate and start listening to Bing Crosby! What a striking card! You can visit her blog HERE for more of the details!
And last, but certainly not least is Laura who let a cup of coffee inspire her Friday creation using the Coffee With Friends set. I love the pink and brown combo and that gorgeous Basic Grey paper! She has such a crisp fun design going here! You can check out the details on her blog HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this sampling of the F.O.F. creations! Just one more reason to love Fridays - don't you think?

Blog Candy!

JustRight is getting ready to come out with new releases for their monogram products. What better time to "release" blog candy.

What we have this week is the C-30, a smaller version of the C-45 most of you have seen. This model works the same as the 45, for quick multiple monograms.

Are you doing multiple baby announcement cards, how about wedding announcement or a gift set for a new bride and groom?

It is very easy to enter to win our blog candy, all you have to do is make a card using any Flourish image and link it in our comments. A random drawing will be held next Thursday Sept 11, Patriots Day.

You can enter as many times as you want, just link to us and your name with go in for the drawing each time.


Now is a good time to start a recipe gift set for Christmas, by the time December arrives you can have a whole file for a new bride, children leaving home and wanting all the recipes "that mom use to make".
The word recipe was stamped using the alphabet set included in the kit.

Don't delay enter today, tomorrow, all week long.....

Flourishes First Swap Shared

Latisha Yoast hosted the first Flourishes swap and the cards were all just grand. Today I will feature three cards from that swap.....but all the cards are great and I will feature the rest later.

I am sorry that I do not have all the names, please identify your card and I will give you credit.

Card #1 Creator not known.

This first card is just wonderful. The creator placed a lot of attention to detail into this lovely card. The card is made of a beautiful designer paper. She used the DP to run front to back...very pretty detailing. She used a co-ordinating DP on the front and stamped the sentiment that is a part of Coffee with Friends, the stamp set she focused. The larger layer is white with a sponged edge of turquoise.

The coffee cup was stamped, using paper piecing. She did painstaking detail in cutting the cup and saucer and popped it with dimensional. The cup really stands out as she embossed it with a metallic detail.

The photo detail below shows the very last touch of her detailing. She used the same color ink and added a rhinestone to grab your attention. I must say "Job Well Done" !

The second card highlighted was created by Suzann J. And again a lot of attention to detail. The card is made of moss green card stock and tied together with a small red, moss green, and vanilla designer paper. The second layer is OH SO interesting. She cuttlebug ed the card stock with the diamond pattern, then cut into four strips, spacing them about 1/8" apart. The poppy, stem, and leaves are all paper pieced. Set used is Poppy Patch.



I want to focus on her wonderful attention to detail. The poppy is a real standout. Suzann J popped it up with a dimensional, but a closer look and you notice that she stamped this image on a wonderful piece of dp which gives the illusion that she spent a great deal of time coloring......good use of the AHHH moment. She topped it off with a correctly scaled black and white gingham ribbon. Great card Suzann J.



The third card that I am focusing on today was done by Barb Schram, our current Guest Designer for Flourishes. Let me tell you Barb is one talented lady. She has a fun, fresh and always different approach to stamping. Her card is a simple card but again a lot of attention to detail.
Her card base is Cuttlebugged. She has used this technique to give a large space of the card base a lot of texture and interest. Her very simple layering is very effective. She used two sets, Fantasy Floral, and the bumble bee from Peony. A strip of Olive green paper is punched with a scallop and dot fashion.



Her focus on detail is seen in the bumble bee, which is colored with some yellow and then she used the Glitter pens from Flourishes. The scallop red dot makes a strong focus as she stamped the smallest white dot with a single small flower with red and green posies. The center dot is a nice punch of detail, using just a slightly larger black circle. The sentiment is over stamped on the same type pf stamping as on the center of of the flower. The sentiment is stamped in black and highlighted with a shinny black brad. She used a small long rounded edge punch and then cut it short using an unexpected inverted V. Cool, Very Cool, Barb!

Tomorrow I will focus on more of the cards. Thanks to Latisha for hosting our very first swap!

Friends Of Flourishes Blog Team!!

Yesterday, we alluded to a brand new partnership that was bound to give you more ideas and more inspiration for Flourishes stamps! Well, we are happy to share our fabulous news! We have hand-picked a very talented team of stampers called our Friends of Flourishes Blog team. Each month, they'll create a handful of projects to inspire! You'll find them here on the Flourishes blog and on their own personal blogs. Wait 'til you see who we've got in our corner!

Becca Feeken

The first fresh Flourishes face is Becca Feeken - a talented lady who has been stamping for a decade! You might know her personal blog - Amazing Paper Grace. We saw her beautiful designs and thought she was just a perfect fit for our stamps! She has such an elegant design and style. You can also check out her fabulous designs on Splitcoaststampers under the name Becca Stamps. When she decided to be a part of this one-of-a-kind team, Becca said, "I look forward to working with everyone at Flourishes and appreciate the opportunity to work with some of the finest crafters in the crafting community. I’ve met so many kind, giving, creative and talented people along the way and I’m amazed how the world has opened up to bring my crafting friends into my craft room every day."

If this card is any indication of what Becca has in store, we can't wait to see more! This is what she created with the Damask backgrounder and Flourished Words!

Cindy Haffner

Cindy Haffner is a former SCS "Dirty Girl" who is still stamping up each and every creation to perfection! If you check out her blog, Cindy Haffner's Corner, one thing you'll notice right away is the way she can use embellishments to add pizazz! There's always a lucious ribbon, a cool button or a fun brad -- something that adds a little extra pop to make you say - "WOW!" Cindy is a wife, mom, and grandmother who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada. When she's not stamping the night away, she loves spending time with her hubby and grandchildren.

Take a look at her creation with the Fantasy Floral set!

Cindy Lawrence
Cindy Lawrence has been inking with abandon for nearly 11 years! It wasn't long after she started that she signed up to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator. In her own words, "It's been a great ride! I My love for stamping has grown so much over the years. I honestly cannot imagine my life without it!" She's currently a member of the SCS Dirty Dozen. Visit her blog, The Creative Closet, and you'll probably notice her use of color right away. She has an amazing eye! Her color combos are unpredictable, yet so delicious!When she's not stamping or spending time with her family, she enjoys baking, interior design, reading, and church activities. She calls beautiful NH home with her husband, Jim, three sons, and a daughter.

Cindy designed this delightful creation with the Summer On The Patio set...

Joan Bardee

This next blogger who agreed to creatively "Flourish" is the one and only "Paperlicious" A.K.A. Joan Bardee. If you've blog surfed at all, you probably giggled a time or two at her light-hearted stamping column, "Dear Paperlicious..." It's a place where she talks everything stamping in a way that is hysterical. If you haven't been - you need to read up on the whole political debate over clear vs. wood mount and where the Presidential candidates stand on the issue! Below this humor sits a very talented stamper. She has such a simply elegant style. While she loves "white space" in her card layouts, you'll notice that she really punches up the color with her focal image. The result is a vibrant, well-designed card with a little bit of drama! Joan admits, "Nothing relaxes me more than playing with paper, ink and all the other fun stuff that goes along with stamping."

Take a look at the watercolor magic she created using the Poppies set!
Laura Fredrickson
And last but not least is the uber-talented Laura Fredrickson. Laura's paper craft journey began shortly after the birth of her first daughter, when she saw a scrapbooking segment on the Home and Garden network. What started as a way to document her daughter's first year soon became an all consuming passion that expanded into all paper crafts when she was introduced to stamping 5 years later. Visit her blog, Scrapnextras, and you're sure to be stunned by her vibrant, almost graphic design. She uses bold colors and loves to give her cards pop with embellishments. Her card layouts are all extremely unique! Laura is a member of the SCS "Dirty Dozen" and lives in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada with her husband Al, and daughters Amy and Carly.

Look at this gorgeous card Laura created with the Fantasy Floral set! This is the closed view....

And, this is what the card looks like open....

We hope you "get to know" these bloggers a bit better! We know you'll like what you see and be inspired by what they create! We can't wait to see more of what they have in store for Flourishes!

Just link here....