Saturday, November 30, 2013

Photography 52 - 48

How about a little look into what it’s like at my house when I try to take family pictures of my clan.  It was my husband’s birthday and this is how it went...


Kids settle down, let’s take a nice picture…my husband reaches over to touch our older son on the shoulder to get him to sit back.  He takes it as someone attacking him :)  Plus the little one is just a goof ball.  


Next middle son trys to hug his sister.  She obviously doesn’t want to be hugged by him.  


Next, of course they can’t all work together and have nice smiles, someone in there (who loves drama, can you tell who?) has to make some goofy face.  There is never a dull moment with him around.  


And this was as close to a nice shot as we could get.  Sigh.  I love my family.  They make me laugh.  



Concert season is starting!  This is our daughter’s fingers in action playing flute in her Symphonic Concert.  What a beautiful night of music it was.


And the last game of the playoffs for the VB team.  Our son was #8 the setter.  He played every single game except one I think.  Really proud of him.  



A little tip over the net...


And the team picture, some nice kids on the team.  I enjoyed watching them play this season.  

Thanks for dropping by today!  Only 4 more weeks of this photography project!  

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Sparkling Amaryllis



Hello all! We hope you had a wonderful American Thanksgiving with family or friends if you’re in the US! At Flourishes, we feel stuffed — not only our bellies but our warehouse as well! We are ready for the Christmas season and to get YOU ready, we have one heck of a Black Friday Sale that kicks off NOW!



BlackFridaySale13


What's on sale? EVERYTHING that is on our SALE PAGE-- you can take an ADDITIONAL 30% OFF!  We need to move some inventory and our loss is YOUR gain! We should point out there are TONS of items on our sale page -- more than 300 items to be exact!!! All you have to do is put in the coupon code: BF30SALE in the coupon code box at the time of check out. If you have your eye on something that isn't on the sale page -- stay tuned! We'll have a second CYBER MONDAY SALE kicking off Monday and in that sale -- all items store wide will be 15% off. Shop now for big savings or wait and shave some savings off your total!   Happy Shopping!

Now to inspire you with some fantastic creations with our retiring sets and some fun Christmas items…cue the Design Team!


I wanted to pull out the very beautiful Petals and Peace set from the retiring list because I couldn’t bear to see it go without more cards from me.  I just love the elegance of this set and how it is custom made for our Tailor Made Classic Keyhole Die.  I stamped the image onto Flourishes Classic White cardstock and trimmed it out with my scissors, so that the die could cut out a Color Made Easy Poppy Cardstock border.  I coloured up the design with Copics to match the pretty Santa’s List Designer paper.  


Now for that gorgeous sparkle I spritzed some Mr. Huey’s Color Mist in Shine over the image and it sparkled everything except just some of the darkest of the red colouring….don’t ask me why it did that, but it looks really cool!  It adds drama and softness at the same time.  

Other accents include some pretty sequins that match the dp, red cording and red lace.  






Here’s the rest of the team playing along today:  


Monday, November 25, 2013

My Honey’s Birthday

Monday was my beloved’s Birthday!  We had a nice supper with our family of 5, cake and presents at home together.  Lots of laughter and fun.  

We’ve been married or dating for 21 + years now.  Almost half of my life has been with him and they’ve been the best years of my life.  


I made this card for him with Flourishes set Naturally Merry because I love how the pinecones in the set can have that earthy masculine feel, it’s perfect for this time of year too.  The pinecones were first cut out with the Silhouette cut file for Naturally Merry on Flourishes Classic Ivory card stock and then stamped with Espresso Truffle Ink.  I wanted it to have some definition but not as black as Tuxedo Black ink.  Colouring is with Copics.  I’ve added some lovely ivory jute twine  and a button to accent the pinecones but still keep it quite masculine.  The sentiment is from Flourishes Inside and Out Just Because set.  


The designer paper is Carta Bella So this is Christmas, and I’ve framed the pinecones with Spellbinders Branching Out die, and the edging is Scalloped Borders Two.  

Happy Birthday again my love!  



Sunday, November 24, 2013

Snow Buddies


The other day when I pulled out a stamp set to play in TSG’s challenge, I saw this stamp set again from TSG called - Season’s Greetings.  The whimsical drawings on this set are really sweet and I knew I wanted to do something with it again.  In the past I’ve always just played with the Santa or trees, but this time I pulled out the pair of snowmen.  (Aren’t they adorable?)  I thought about how I could also use the trees in the set and create a snow scene, almost like in a snow globe.  So, each part of this little diorama is popped up on a different layer, giving it lots of dimension.  Coloring is with Copics, and the papers are Echo Park - Reflections Christmas.  


Enjoy your Monday everyone!  I’ll be back tomorrow with a design I created for my husband’s birthday (that’s today!).  

(Copics:  BG10, BG11, BG34, G21, YG61, YG64, YG67, Y21, Y23, Y26, YR14, YR27, E23, E25, E27, R24, R27, R29, C2)

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Photography 52 - 47


Our own personal Narnia lampost :)

The snow was flying this week.  On the day I took the photo here it was like cotton candy all day.  I wish I could capture just how beautiful the big flakes and stillness was.

As much as it means it’s colder, and it means shovelling and driving in snow…there is a beauty to it that is wonderful.  And when the Bible talks about Jesus making us whiter than snow, I know exactly what tham means in real life.



And because of all that snow, I took inside pictures the rest of the week!  This week it was of our hosueplants.  Our new little Christmas Cactus is beginning to bloom and is it ever pretty!


That single blossom is the first one to open fully - isn’t it gorgeous?  


This one captures the delicate sparkly-silvery veins on the petals.  Lots more about to bloom soon!  


And here is the lovely lipstick plant blossom too.  

I’m not terribly great with indoor plants, but these two seem to be surviving me :)  It’s nice to have some touches of green and colour blossoming during the winter!  



Thursday, November 21, 2013

A Friend Is...


Welcome to another Flourishes Friday!  Today we’re focussing on our November Releases once again to show off all they have to offer!  This release was one of my FAVs we’ve had recently.  I love each and every set greatly!  Today I brought out another pretty one with this month’s set Friendship & Flowers.  I especially love the meaningful sentiments in this set and these pincushion flowers are a dream to colour!  They’re so showy looking too, really unique blooms.


This is a 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 sized card.  I began by stamping the pincushion flower onto Flourishes Classic Ivory card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then die cutting that with this gorgeous Spellbinder’s Die, Decorative Labels 22.  I stamped and cut out a second flower that I added by popping up on the design.  Colouring is with Copics.  


I stamped the sentiment in Memento Pistachio ink, added some brown lace, gold cording and some pretty sequins that match the Echo Park Reflections Fall designer paper.  


Inside the card I stamped the flowers in Memento Cantaloupe Ink (see they’re equally beautiful even if you don’t colour them!)





Join the rest of the girls as they show off some more from our November Release and remember TODAY is the last day you can purchase the sets as a discount!  We don’t want you to miss out!  



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Dashing Through the Snow

We are definitely dashing through the snow here!  Woweee did we get a lot of snow the other day!   Cotton candy snow fell all day and night on Monday adding to the snow we already had giving us a good foot of new snow.  Our older son has started his first job this year, shovelling snow for our neighbour.  I think he’s going to get his money’s worth of work this winter.

There She Goes has a Winter Fun Challenge this week…and since it’s been eons since I’ve played in a TSG Challenge, and there’s always room for more Christmas designs….here’s my creation:


Here’s the little pup from TSG’s adorable Snowy Days set.  Torico’s little pups always make me smile. This little guy is ready for gift giving fun.  I coloured him up with Copics to match the Carta Bella - So this is Christmas DP.  I used this week’s Mojo Sketch, so I have actually done two challenges!  Amazing!  


You know, as I’m looking at this photo the sentiment looks crooked, on the card it actually isn’t, I think it’s just the angles of the shots, or maybe I have to take a second look and re-adjust it!  Some snowflake embossing, a tucked snowflake under the ribbon and viola!  

Enjoy dashing through whatever the weather is in your corner of the world!  

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Julie’s Princess Party Hop!


Today is a special day for the Flourishes Family to celebrate our Birthday Girl - Julie Koerber!  And Julie is definitely worth celebrating!  She’s the right hand on so many levels of what’s beautiful about Flourishes, and we’re so grateful for her and blessed to also call this lovely lady friend.  

This summer a number of the Flourishes Senior Design Team girls gathered for a weekend in Yellowstone National Park.  It was a fantastic time of fun!  One of the great things some of the girls did was go Whitewater Rafting.  Because there were family members along, Julie graciously said she’d sit in the middle of the raft so the kids could get the most out of the experience.  The raft guide however thought that would be a fun opportunity to tease Julie about her “Princess" status.  She gracefully took it and we love to tease her about it - and so the idea for this Princess Birthday Hop was born!  Julie we love you and your fun, spunky spirit, and also the warmth and grace you live your life with!  Happy Birthday from all of us at Flourishes!  



These pictures just make me smile at the memories of the weekend!  


And here’s my Birthday card fit for a Julie Princess :)  I used Flourishes Make A Wish set because of course it’s got that perfect princess theme.  


I stamped the pillowed tiara onto Flourishes Classic Kraft with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it up with one of Julie’s favourite tools - Prismacolor Pencils.   This fun colour palette sings Julie to me :)  It’s the very lovely MME  - Up and Away designer paper.  I even sanded the edges of the sentiment oval (cut with Flourishes Perfectly Pierced Victorian Ovals die) just like Julie often does so expertly, and then laid it all on Flourishes Classic White cardstock.  It’s such a lovely heavy cardstock that it makes a great card base.  


Some matching seam binding, feminine lace and enamel dots to finish the design.  

Happy Birthday Julie - you are such a special friend to me.  You are a talented, resiliant, and faith-filled woman!  We have laughed and cried together, created and planned, prayed and dreamed, encouraged and organized.  I never expected stamps, paper and ink to bring me such a great friend.  Bless you sweet lady!  


We invite you to hop along today with many of our Flourishes Family to see our pretty Princess and Birthday inspiration, and join in on our wishes for Julie!

Comment along the way and you could be entered to win any Birthday set of your choice from the Flourishes Store!  Winners will be chosen and announced on Saturday November 23rd on the Flourishes Blog.

And don’t forgot to drop by Julie’s place to send her your Happy Birthday wishes too!….and can you believe it….it’s not only Julie’s BD it’s also Tosha’s today too…so as you’re hopping you can say HB to that wonderful lady too!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Heather Jensen
Silke Ledlow
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Cheryl Lea
Deborah Anton
Jenny Gropp
Judy Rozema
Katie Sims
Aleksandra Mihelič
Kathy Jones
Meredith MacRitchie
Naomi Gong

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Coffee Time

Hello and Happy Monday friends!  Want to share some coffee with me?

I had so much fun with this month’s stamp releases at Flourishes that I made a number of cards that I still want to show you.  Today’s card is with the set  Grab a Cup.  Since I’m cozy in my warm house after a big snowstorm and I just finished a lovely cup of hot chocolate I had to use this one today.


Doesn’t this cup of latte look yummy?  I really wanted to give this design a cozy feel so I stamped the cup onto Flourishes Classic Kraft cardstock, cut it out with our Flourishes Perfectly Pierced Classic Window Die and then coloured it up with my prismacolor pencils.  I wanted it to have a dreamy feel with lots of steamy white rising from the cup too.  I paper pieced the napkin in the design with this great Echo Park Reflections Fall designer paper that I also used on the rest of the card too.  


The coffee beans are stamped in Memento Morocco and Espresso Truffle ink.   I think the coffee beans are some of my favourite parts of the set :)  Then I added a little Rich Chocolate Brown Seambinding ruffled along the edge and enamel dots as simple accents.  In case you were wondering the card is 5 x 5 in size.  


And lastly the inside of the card….a good card to share with a friend on any occasion!  

I truly love this set :)  

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Photography 52 - 46

It’s the theme of NEW this week.  


We were finally able to see our friends’ sweet new son and snuggle him.  He is absolutely beautiful.  I would likely think most babies are beautiful - but there are some that just seem so perfect and he’s one of them.  Tiny perfect little head, velvety blonde hair…sigh.  Babies are so special, and especially when they belong to someone you love so much.  I was overcome with joy and emotion to meet him and to see his mom and dad as parents for the first time.  


Awake!  

And asleep again.  I love their sweet expressions in sleep where you get an early glimpse of what it will look like when they smile.    He did that quite a bit as we were holding him.  So delightful!

Beautiful blessings.

It has been quite a crazy weather week, we’ve had it warm, then rain and yesterday and today….lots of new snow.  It was really coming down when I took this picture of our backyard.    It won’t be long and I’ll have to get the kids out there to shovel off the trampoline!  Crazy to drive in and shovel, but it’s fun to be honest, and very peaceful looking.

Happy Sunday to all of you!