Flourishes Newsletter

Friday, November 13, 2009

Let's unwrap the November Flourishes release!!

A cup of tea to warm your hands and fill your heart with Christmas cheer! That's exactly what our final sneak peek is all about!

Introducing.......

This set drawn by illustrator Lauren Pope has class and style and the thought behind it is just heart warming! If you have friends who love to sip their tea, imagine their surprise when you dole out a gift aimed at sharing that cheer at a time when we really take stock of our gifts in life! There are 11 different stamps in this set that all play off eachother in such a fun way! Wait until you see the fun projects brewed up by our Senior Design Team!

Julie Koerber

Joy simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your snail mail address and we'll get your stamp set sent to you!

DON'T FORGET....

Time is running out to enter our Favorite Things Challenge? Click HERE for the details! You could win all five of the sets we've shown you this week!

Join us for some serious fun tonight for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! 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 November will be in the Flourishes Store for your shopping pleasure!

Thanks for joining us this week! We've had a blast and hope you have too!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sneak Peaks.... Day 4!

When I first laid eyes on the concept for this next set, I actually shook my head and said, now that's creative! I thought of all those main streets in America where the lamp post is the conversation piece. It's the place where cities announce big events, holidays, and celebrations! It's a charming way to connect with the community. So, why not bring that same feel and that same message to a card sized creation? That's exactly what illustrator Lauren Pope did!

Introducing......

This set not only has the lampost that you can deck out, it has a half dozen "flags" that you can perch on your post as a way to say "hi" or celebrate! And, as you're about to see when to take a trip around to the Senior Design team, it can be used for things other than cards or... it can be combined with other Flourishes stamp sets to make an even bigger impact! Want to see what I mean? Just take a trip over to see....

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 Lamp Post Greetings set in tomorrow's post!

Now to the winner of yesterday's set! Random.org drew the number 62, which means the lucky winner of her very own Christmas Borders set is......

Shopping Diva said...
I have never seen any set like this Christmas Borders Set. It's just wonderful and it has my name on it! Wednesday, November 11, 2009 12:25:00 PM

Shopping Diva simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your snail mail address and we'll get your stamp set sent to you!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

Did you see our Favorite Things Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all FIVE of our new releases for November! That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.

Speaking of the release, you'll want to join us this Friday for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! It's a super duper fun time full of games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

Tomorrow's set will have you relaxing and sipping some tea with winter dreams swirling through your head! Stay tuned! We'll see you back here tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

November Sneak Peeks...day 3!

If you love making Christmas cards and tags with visions of sugar plums running through your heads.... then have we got a new and fabulous stamp set for you! On day three of Flourishes' sneak peek week, we showcase a set that will give a dash of Christmas flair to tags, packages, cards, projects or as you'll see, even picture frames!

Introducing...........

This set is just too fun! Drawn by our illustrator extraordinaire Lauren Pope, these borders will offer a punch of color not only at Christmas, but at other times of the year as well! The row of packages could actually be used all year long! Wait till you see the fun cooked up by our Senior Design Team! Stop on over and take a peek.........

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 Christmas Borders set in tomorrow's post!

Now to the winner of yesterday's set! Random.org drew the number 42, which means the lucky winner of her very own Fancy Labels set is......

charmaine stack said...
This is spooky. You were reading my mind. I went looking last night all over the web for stamps that are designed to fit Spellbinders Labels! Thanks for making my day!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:40:00 AM

Charmaine, simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your snail mail address and we'll get your stamp set sent to you!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

Did you see our Favorite Things Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all FIVE of our new releases for November! That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.

Speaking of the release, you'll want to join us this Friday for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! It's a super duper fun time full of games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

Tomorrow's set will have you shining the light on some fun occassions to last throughout the year! Yep, that was your hint.... stay tuned! We'll see you back here tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

November Sneak Peaks... day 2!

How many times have you searched and wanted just the right touch for a package or gift? You knew you wanted a fancy element, but after searching your stamp room, you came up empty handed.

Today's sneak peek has you in mind! This fanciful set from Lauren Pope is sure to give all your gifts and homemade creations a dash of elegance!

Introducing.........

This set full of tag elements, sentiments and frames is perfect for gift giving. Some of them, as you can see in the sneak peek above have been created to fit some of Spellbinders most popular Nestabilities dies like Labels 2, Labels 3, and Labels 4!

The Friends of Flourishes Team created a challenge around this set so, be sure to click HERE to get a glimpse at how they used this set to package up some holiday gifts with style! The Fancy Labels set is at the center of this week's Timeless Tuesday challenge!

The Senior Design Team and some of our Friends of Flourishes have let their creativity flow and has some fun samples! So... stop on over and see what these ladies cooked up!

Christine Okken
Latisha Yoast
Stacy Morgan
Maki Jones
Kimberly Crawford
Betty Wright
Dee Jackson
Silke Ledlow

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 Fancy Labels set in tomorrow's post!

Now to the winner of yesterday's set! Random.org drew the number 11, which means Mary a.k.a. Primitive Season walks away with her very own Christmas Bouquet set!

Primitive Seasons said...
Flourishes has outdone itself this time. This is one of the most elegant and sophisticated images I've seen in a long time. Just beautiful. Monday, November 09, 2009 7:07:00 AM.

Mary, simply email us at flourishesllc@cox.net with your snail mail address and we'll get your stamp set sent to you!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

Did you see our Favorite Things Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all FIVE of our new releases for November! That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.

Speaking of the release, you'll want to join us this Friday for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! It's a super duper fun time full of games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

You'll want to stick with us this week for more sneaky peeks! Tomorrow, we have one Christmas themed set that will allow to add a colorful dash of whimsy to all of your holiday creations!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC41)!

It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC41)! Thanks so much to you all for playing along in last week's limited supplies 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.

The blog design team is celebrating Flourishes release week with you. We are sharing with you today, Fancy Labels, one of five sets to release this Friday! Dee Jackson is our challenge host this week! In keeping with the Fancy Labels set, Dee Jackson is challenging us to Boxes and Bags! You decide if you want to make a stamped box or a stamped bag to house anything from homemade treats to knitted mittens! We cannot wait to see what you create!

Let's see what Dee Jackson created with the boxes and bags challenge! Dee created a beautiful gift-giving treat box using the Fancy Labels and Dove and Holly sets. Dee stamped and colored all of her background papers using different elements from both sets. She used Flourishes Copic Color Collections to color and various inks to sponge and create a vintage feel. Dee layered the doves with different spellbinder shapes. I really love the stamped and colored border around the top of the box. A very detailed finishing touch! Dee added a touch of a silver cording bow.
Gorgeous design and fabulous gift giving idea, Dee!

Here is a picture of the lid off of the treat box and a peek at the fabulous treat inside. Dee not only included wonderful cinnamon toasted pecans but also the recipe, too!!!

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

Kimberly Crawford

Dee Jackson

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Winner(FTTC40)!!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:8
Timestamp: 2009-11-10 03:14:34 UTC

Patti (Stampersize) 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 FTTC41 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!

Let the Sneaks Begin!

This Friday, Flourishes will unveil a bevy of stamps just in time to help you finish up your holiday gifts this year! And, lucky for you, our Senior Design team has been letting those creative juices flow. All this week, they will share not just cards, but projects fit for the season! You will LOVE what you see!

Today's sneak peek involves a gorgeous spray of greenery full of holly sprigs, pepper berry, cedar fir, and who could forget beautiful pomegranate and amaryllis!

Introducing....

This breathtaking bouquet was drawn by the ever so talented Marcella Hawley. It's such a classic image and delivers a dose of sophistication! Our design team picked all kinds of mediums to color this beauty up with and every single project is incredibly unique! So, be sure to give them a visit. Their projects just might spark some creativity in your own craft rooms!

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

Would you like to win this set? Who wouldn't!! Simply leave a comment on this post! Random.org will pick a number and we'll announce the winner of the Christmas Bouquet set in tomorrow's post!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MORE FUN AT FLOURISHES...

Did you see our Favorite Things Challenge? If you play, you will have a chance at winning all FIVE of our new releases for November! That's one valuable prize - you could even call it an early Christmas present! Click HERE for the details.

Speaking of the release, you'll want to join us this Friday for our POWER HOUR RELEASE PARTY! It's a super duper fun time full of games, goodies, and prizes up for grabs! We'll host it in the Flourishes Forum over on Splitcoast HERE from 9 to 10 PM Central Standard Time. As the party wraps, all of our sets that we peek this week will be put in store for your shopping pleasure!

It's going to be a fun week at Flourishes! Tomorrow's release is one that will give all your packages a truly fancy feel! You'll see why when you come back tomorrow!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

I dare you to Doodle!

I have a simple tutorial to share with you today.

Doodles.

I get a lot of questions about doodles, as my cards usually have some kind of extra little pen marks! Doodles are easy - the secret is to not worry about being perfectly straight. Doodles are meant to be loose and fun! You can doodle around images or incorporate your doodles in with your image. It can change the appearance of your stamp image, doodles around layers... it's endless.... as much or as little as you want. So the card I am sharing is very simple in style and uses simple doodles. The pictures below show step by step how I dressed up my image and layers using fine tip pens. You can click on the pictures to enlarge the images. For this card I chose to work with Flourishes set "Chairs for You".

The first image I stamped was the little puppy dog. I used Memento Ink and I stamped on Neenah Peppercorn 80#. I created a mask with Eclipse tape, layering that over my original puppy, I wanted him in the front to appear sitting on the chair.

After covering the puppy with his mask, I then stamped the chair. Since Flourishes stamps are clear, it makes for easy stamping and positioning of images when you are masking since you can see through the stamp.

I removed the mask and used Copics to color in the puppy and the chair arms.

My image is still snug in my Spellbinder's Nestie, I tacked it down with a little piece of tape when I cut it out, to prevent it from shifting. Then I used a fine tip Red Pen to create an inner frame, just by tracing along the Nestie's inner edge.

My image is still snug in my nestie. I used Copic Y17 to airbrush around the edges.

You could also achieve a similar look by sponging some ink, it will clean right off your Nestie when you are done by using a cloth and a tiny bit of your stamp cleaner.

After removing the image from the Nestie, it leaves a nice clean border. Which of course you can choose to leave a nice, clean and crisp edge, or you can fancy it up!

Did you notice I added no color to the chair in the above pictures? I wanted some stripes on my chair, so here's where the doodles start........ I just drew some stripes in! My stripes are not even or straight. They do not need to be. Note - on the arms of the chair, I did curve my stripes to bend with the shape.

I used a Copic to color in every other stripe. Then, I decided I wanted MORE stripes and added some tiny little cross lines in between each yellow stripe. Are you thinking this looks tedious? I promise it is not... just let go of the feeling that it has to be straight and even. Enlarge the pic... you can see my marks are quick and easy! When nothing is straight -- then nothing looks "off"!

Now to the edge of my Nesite.... using the inner frame I drew earlier, I am going to create a polka dot frame to mimic the DP I am going to use on my card. Again.... I am drawing random and loose circles, running off the outer edges and corners, but mainting the clean frame line towards the image.

I want my polka dots yellow and the background red. Since the dots will be a lighter color than the background, why bother coloring in all the little circles... No thanks! I just shortcut and run the chisel tip of the marker down each side, filling in all the dots with one stroke.

You can see the DP (by Graphic 45) here... I am just creating the reverse of that pattern.

Now I used the brush tip of a Copic to fill in the background of my frame.

Some stitch doodles around the outer edge of the card to wrap it up.

I added some layers and a little silk bow to complete the card. You can see each step was easy, no fuss, no straight lines, an no trying to make everything perfect and matching when I doodle. I changed the look of the image, I created a frame and added some stitch doodles on the layers.