Sunday, September 29, 2013

Celebrate the Wonder

Hello and Happy Monday!


I've really enjoyed playing with this month's set Snow Scenes from Flourishes.  It's unexpected for me, because it's a silhouette set rather than a colourable set, but it really has some fun elements to put together for easy and sharp looking cards.  This time I took the pine trees from the set and created a cozy little winter forest.  

I stamped a few of the trees onto Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock and Classic Kraft cardstock with Memento Olive Grove and Bamboo Leaves as well as Memento Northern Pine.  Some of the trees I stamped off first, and then I trimmed out a few of the trees to pop up on the die cut paper.  


I added some embossing to the Kraft edge, some Evergreen Color Made Easy Cardstock, a nice seam binding bow and a pretty Pave Crystal to bling it up.  Simple but classy.  


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Photography 52 - Weeks 38 & 39


Hopefully this finds all of you well on this Sunday!  Hard to believe another week has come and gone, actually two weeks since I've posted pictures.   Last weekend we took all of our JH & HS Students to our camp for our Kick-Off Retreat.  Such a great time.  It's my favourite way to start a ministry year with the students.  So...I have a few pictures from camp, because its so beautiful.  This is a view of the little chapel from above the camp on the ridge.  I love that they painted the door red this summer!  The camp has a lot of property that's gorgeous.  The main camp is down below in this area just to the right of the picture, then up above on the ridge is where the high ropes course is and the campfire that overlooks the valley.  The little creek runs through camp and I love hearing it trickle from the different lodges where we stay.  We had amazing weather for the retreat once again.  And as you can see by the pictures, the leaves haven't really started changing yet.  We're having a really lovely late summer.  










One of the things that surround the camp are tons of aspen trees, or birch or poplars.  Their silvery  bark is so pretty in a forest setting.  This is the path on the way up to the campfire.  

This was a sunset this week right out our front door.  I wish I would have been on the roof, it would have been a better view :)  


And just a few seconds later....the richness in the colour changes again.  Beautiful end to the day.  


A nest had fallen out of our tree earlier this week, long since abandoned, but it just looked so pretty and yet primitive in it's construction that I had to snap a shot.


Ladybugs!  Today when we were working on our yard we looked at our maple tree to find hundreds of ladybugs, lots of baby ones too.  

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Sweet Seeds of Friendship


Friday has rolled around again and the Flourishes Design Team has a treat for you today!  We're digging into the Flourishes vault to showcase some of our sets that are retiring!  As we make room for new, it means we need to clear out some of these beauties.  So - if you like what you see along the way - be sure to add them to your shopping cart, once they're gone - they're gone for good!  

It always feels a little sad to say goodbye to some beautiful sets we've loved so well - and today I have two of those sets that will be hard for me to see retiring - Sweet Nature and Seeds of Friendship.   Today I put them together to create something special for a friend.  


I began by stamping the seed packet onto Flourishes Classic White cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I coloured up the top part of the label with Copics, and then poked my scissor through the middle of the lower part of the seed packet and trimmed out the inside like a window.  I popped that up onto this pretty paper (MME - Kate & Co - Oxford Lane).  Then I stamped out the pretty ranunculus from Sweet Nature, coloured that with Copics and carefully trimmed it out, tucking it in my seed packet "window".  


Along the bottom I used a gorgeous new Spellbinder's die Scalloped Border Two (LOVE).  I think that scalloped edge just makes the card! 

Other tiny touches - Color Made Easy True Blue Cardstock for framing, pretty white lace and MME - Enamel dots as accents.  It's so cheerful!  I love how it turned out!  




Now for more fun with some other beautiful sets that are retiring - see the rest of the Design Team:

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Special Delivery

Not long ago some friends from Church asked if I would do some design work for them in preparation for the birth of their second baby,  a second boy who was due to arrive in September.  The mom saw an adorable picture on Pinterest of a big brother opening the door to find a basket of baby brother on the steps, with a tag on the basket reading "special delivery" (Can't you just imagine how cute?)  We talked quite a bit about colors and design and then she let me create...here's what I did for them.



I used PTI's set Fly Away.  I think it's so cute!  It's stamped in a rich red and then accented with deep brown letters I had cut with my Silhouette.  The tag is about 4 x 6 inches.  I added lots of fun red and brown ribbon.  She has a big red blanket she wanted to put in the creamy white basket and I think it will look perfect.  


One of my favourite parts?  The sweet puffy-embossed heart "clouds" or exhaust coming from the plane. Total cuteness!  Two hearts for mom and dad, and two for the boys.  

Here's how the basket looked with the tag on it


Precious don't you think?  I can just picture a sweet little boy in there.  He's SO sweet too - I held him just last week and I am amazed once again at how tiny newborns are!  

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Pointillism Tutorial

Want to learn how I do this technique of pointillism?  It's a question I get asked often!  I have a tutorial up on the Flourishes Blog today with the step by step, hope you can join me!


Monday, September 23, 2013

Tender Cards

A few weeks ago a family in our Church lost their husband/dad/grandpa.  We know 3 generations of this family, the wife, children and have the grandkids in our youth ministry.  It's so hard to lose someone who was really influential in a family.  One of the most touching things they said about him at the funeral was that "whatever his grandsons were interested in, he was interested in".  What a beautiful statement of love isn't it?  I made 2 cards for the different parts of the family that I thought I'd show you today.  


I made this card for his wife.  They were such a pair and did everything together.  She told me the story once of how they met.  She was a teller at a bank and he came in as a customer.  He would wait in line to get her as his teller and one day he asked her out.  And that - was that :)  This lady is pretty special too.  She is always willing to work with our girls ministry teaching them how to prepare relief items for some hospitals we have in Africa.  So she helps teach us how to roll bandages, and sew squares to send overseas.  

I stamped the beautiful Anemones onto Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I added colour with Copics (New Violet and Olive Green Collections) and then stamped the sentiment in Memento Elderberry ink.  Then I trimmed the piece slightly so that some of the Anemones were "out of the box" style on the edge.  


When doing cream on cream cards I almost always add texture to give it that bit of extra interest in the layers, so you can see I embossed the background and added some pretty ribbon strips and a little gem.  

Now for the card for the children and grandchildren I used the same stamp set, but coloured it differently.  


Rather than colour the anemone, I coloured the background in deep wavy layers of purples leaving the flower more cream.  I've trimmed it with a Spellbinders Deckled Edge Rectangles and added pointillism in the background similarly to the other card.  This time however, I also used a blender pen to dot the background and "lift" colour dots too.    You can see this card also includes Evergreen Color Made Easy cardstock and seam binding.  


I love the sentiments in this set.  They are so heartfelt and just what I want to say to people!  

Thanks for dropping by today!  

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Parties and Presents

Free for All Friday with Border 

Today we're excited to bring you one more look at this month's New Release Sets at Flourishes!  Its our chance to show off some more from our favorite sets, and with five gorgeous stamps this month, there's so much to choose from! Remember that today is the LAST day you can purchase the New Release Bundle at a discount, so we don't want you to miss out on the deal!


I decided to play with the very fun That's a Wrap set, and to show off that it's not only a Christmas set, but can be used for many other occasions as well!  

I began by inking up the larger bow image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and stamping it on designer paper, Carta Bella Hello Again.  Really pretty shades and prints in this pack!  I loved how the flowery page could pair well with the chevron design so I tried to create a wrapped package on the card.  The bow is stamped on the flowery design, then coloured with Copics to give it definition, but to also still show the design of the patterned paper.  Then I popped it up on this chevron sheet that I had sewn down on some Flourishes Color Made Easy-Tiger Lily Cardstock, and some Flourishes Classic White.  



To make it a Birthday card I used the sentiment from another of our recent sets Pinwheels and Popsicles.  Then to make it look even more like a party card I added some fun sequins from the Memorabilia Collection to finish it all off! 

Here's the Copics I used:


Come and see what other beauties the Design Team has to show off for you today!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Autumn Thanks


I thought something Autumn-themed would be in order today :)  I wanted to pull out this gorgeous set A Season of Thanks from Flourishes because I really wanted to pair it with this beautiful new paper from the store Echo Park - Reflections Fall.  It has such lovely autumny colours and patterns.  I started by stamping the corn husk bundle onto Flourishes Classic White card stock, colouring it up with some wonderful Autumny shades of Copics.  It is so fun to colour that corn!  


I used a brand new Spellbinder's Die - Branching Out Card Creator to frame under the corn.  What a classy die.  I also added some lovely brown lace and some Rich Brown - Color Made Easy Cardstock as well, and finally a few pretty sequins from the Teresa Collins Collection.  




+E74, E77, E79, Y23, Y26, Y28


Happy Wednesday to you everyone!  

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Tealy Topiary

Since it's going to be hot again here at my house today - let's just got the opposite direction and show you something cute and fun for Christmas?

I was playing with my September New Release sets from Flourishes and wanted to do a chic and fun Christmas Topiary tree with some unexpected colours.


I think there are certain colours we all just gravitate towards and for me one of those colours it teal.  It is such a soothing colour and can be paired with so much for the perfect colour punch.  Today, pairing it with hot pink gives it that really chic and snazzy effect.  I began by stamping this pretty berry topiary from our gorgeous set Holiday Topiaries onto Flourishes Classic White Cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Then I carefully trimmed around the design.  I wanted to mat it out to give it some depth so I then cut out the Silhouette shape available for this set onto our Flourishes Color Made Easy - Emerald Coast card stock.  Perfect matting!  Then I coloured it up loosely with Copics giving it an open airy feel.  Then because the pairings were so bold, I added the base of white with our Perfectly Pierced Classic Hourglass Die to place the topiary on.  You'll also find some Color Made Easy Candy Pink cardstock in the design too.  


The papers are MME Cambridge Court and I've added sewing, and a smattering of sequins to accent as well as the pretty seambinding ribbon.  



+ BG93, BG96

So there you have it!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Photography 52 - 37

We have been so blessed to enjoy the most beautiful weather this September.  Beautiful days full of completely warm sunshine, blue blue skies, then cool nights so you can sleep.  It's been just gorgeous.  The kids have worn shorts every day to school and we've lapped up all the loveliness before the cooler fall comes in.  


One night we had a fire in the back yard and roasted some S'Mores with the kids.  A fire is such a nice thing on a summer's evening. 

Finally after a number of years our apple tree produced a lot of fruit for us this year!  We'll have lots to eat and make in pies.  They're just so pretty on the tree in their pretty red state.   



Have a lovely Sunday friends.  

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sneak Peek - That's a Wrap!

    
ThatsAWrapGraphic


We've arrived at the last day and "that's a wrap" on our September New Releases!  We know you've enjoyed this fun and festive week peeking at five fantastic new sets. Our last set is ready for all your pretty packaging.  This 4 x 6 set illustrated by Marcella Hawley is the perfect companion for any gift or Christmas greeting, wrapping it up in style with a fancy bow, jingle bells, elegant flowers, Christmas boughs, a terrific tag, as well as two seasonal sentiments.

Here's my That's a Wrap creation!  


I went a little out of the box for my card and decided to show off another way to use the set with the adorning elements being the focus rather than the bow.  I began by using the Silhouette file for this set cutting out 8 of the berry and ivy elements on Flourishes Classic White card stock.  Then I stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black, and coloured them up with Copics.  


To incorporate the "ribbon" stamps I stamped the longer section (part of the bow stamp) vertically down my paper, then I masked that section and came back with the smaller ribbon stamp and stamped on each side of the vertical piece but horizontally.  Then I placed my holly pieces all around the wreath to get a feel for where I wanted it to go.  That helped me decide how much to color of the ribbon.  After colouring, I placed each wreath piece down, one at a time with adhesive dots.  

I added the tag from the set tucked under the wreath stamped on Flourishes Color Made Easy - Emerald Coast card stock.  


The designer paper is new in the store, Teresa Collins Memorabilia, matched with some enamel dots from the collection and some lovely velvet ribbon.  I think that all Christmas cards should have something lush on them.  :)


The Design Team is showing off their creative Christmas packaging on their blogs.

Don’t forget to look for:

Mystery Blogger Graphic

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our LAST Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

DO YOU WANT TO WIN OUR ENTIRE RELEASE?

All our amazing September sets are now available in the Flourishes Store as well as the companion cut-files.  Take a look at the sets HERE. If you would still like a chance at winning all five of September sets…
  • You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is TODAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
  • Play along in our Timeless Tuesday Challenge Make a Good Impression,  you can win our entire new release in this challenge as well!  See link for rules.
  • You can save on all five of our September sets!  Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for ONE week only!
  • Come back to the Flourishes Blog tomorrow for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

Thanks so much for joining us this week and for your wonderful support of Flourishes!   See you back at the Flourishes Blog tomorrow for the winners!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Sneak Peek - Country Time Christmas


Country Time Christmas

Today we're back with snowy slopes, country crisp temperatures, and a cozy house waiting for Christmas decorating.  This set, illustrated by Lauren Pope will have you heading for the hills in search of the perfect tree. This earthy and scenic image is paired with five different sentiments and a flurry of snowflakes swirling in the winter sky. Set measures 4" by 6". The Design Team created some wonderful country Christmas designs to show off to you with Country Time Christmas in our Blog Hop today.


I wanted to give this design a very warm organic look with the feel of crisp, newly fallen snow.  And since I love the look of Prismacolors on Kraft that's the direction I went!  I stamped the cowboy image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on our Classic Kraft card stock, then went about colouring up the scene with my pencils.  It's wonderful to give it a frosty, snowy feel.  I know the picture is long and narrow, but if you click on it you'll get a better, larger view.  

The papers are Echo Park Reflections from the store and I love the tones of green in the pages and the woodgrain on the brown, it's also paired with Color Made Easy Rich Browns card stock.  


For accents I added some enamel dots that matched, some velvet in teal and some pretty brown lace.  And there is my Cowboy Christmas card!  

You'll see some wonderful designs again from the DT today...

Don’t forget to look for:

Mystery Blogger Graphic

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

DO YOU WANT TO WIN OUR ENTIRE RELEASE?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets…
  • You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
  • Play along in our Timeless Tuesday Challenge Make a Good Impression,  you can win our entire new release in this challenge as well!  See link for rules.
  • All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
  • All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
  • Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!
Our last set tomorrow will wrap you up in celebration!