Clearly Strutting

You know, I had a dream about a peacock last night. Weird hey? I guess subliminally that influenced my stamp choice...or it could be that I was inspired by Laura Fredrickson from last week too.

Laura is hosting our Flourishes Friday Focus this week and she's challenged us to make the most of our clear cardstock. There's really a lot you can do with that transparent cool look, punch shapes from it, stamp on it, use it as accent, use it as a card base....clearly it's all about your creativity!

I chose to use it today as an accent for my sentiment. I cut out the clear shape with my Deckled Rectangles Nestability shape, and then stamped the swirly from my Strut Your Stuff set on there. This mimics the other shapes I have in the card.

I watercolored this beautiful peacock, sponged the background, and then used my Aqua Painter to blend the background to give it a soft effect. I thought this Lime Rickey paper from Basic Grey had the perfect pattern for the peacock feathers.

AND I had to add some pretty jewelry...these are the new Finishing Touches Beautiful Brads in Copper. Today you can see some beautiful Mini Tags at Faith's blog, Pretty Pins with Latisha, and some Architectural Brads at Cindy's! They're also doing some clear cardstock creations too!

Also check out the other clear creations here:

Julie Koerber

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Flourishes Newsletter

Recipe: Stamps: Flourishes - Strut Your Stuff; Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Stazon, Night of Navy & Taken with Teal (for sponging); Paper: Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Flourishes Watercolor Paper, Lime Rickey - DSP, Clear Cardstock ; Accessories: SW Markers, Aqua Painter, Big Shot, Nestabilities (Deckled Rectangle), Sponge, Dimensionals, Flourishes Silk Ribbon, Flourishes - Finishing Touches - Beautiful Brads (Copper), Sharpies.

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Clearly Strutting

Finishing Touches on a Tuscan Villa

Doesn't that sound dreamy???

Today Latisha, Julie and I get to show you some fabulous sneak peaks on the new Finishing Touches at Flourishes - to be available on Friday. We're up to show you Stunning Slides in three beautiful finishes: Copper, Gold and Silver. There are nine styles of these gorgeous slides in the traditional style, contemporary style and elegant style; each style is available in all the finishes.

I've used Copper slides in the elegant style on this card:

I colored these gorgeous sculpted Topiary trees with Copic markers and trimmed them out. I love the play of the Baja Blue against the deep Artichoke Green. Yesterday's sketch challenge was a really complex one, but I thought it might work for this card, so I used papers from Basic Grey (Marrakech), Always Artichoke Prints and Manchester DSP with the sketch. I thought that the coppery paper looked like a window from this Tuscan window to the sunset.

Aren't the ribbon slides gorgeous? I love how they mirror the rounded copper detailing on the planter. Here's a better look:

I've threaded the slides through some gorgeous Silk Ribbon from Flourishes, and did some piercing. You really don't need too many details when your accents are so beautiful! I have not seen anything like these gorgeous pieces in the crafting world yet...I'm so excited to use more!

Stop by and see Latisha and Julie for more!

Recipe: Stamps: Flourishes Topiary; Ink: Palette Noir, Always Artichoke; Paper: Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze, Copic Paper, Basic Grey Marrakech DSP, Always Artichoke DSP, Manchester DSP; Accessories: Copic Markers, Silk Ribbon, Finishing Touches - Stunning Slides (Copper), Dimensionals, Piercer.

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Finishing Touches on a Tuscan Villa

Small Wonder

My mom and my daughter and I are headed to a Baby Shower for my niece with the other side of the family this weekend. We're going together on joint gifts so I get to make the card :)


I've always loved this stamp in the Summer by the Sea set. I think the little girl looks so sweet looking over the bluff. It makes me think of what my niece will look like in a few years, her little tufts of brown hair peeking under her sun hat. My sister in law is funny, before Adi was born, she thought in her head that her daughter wouldn't be one of those little girls to always wear pink....but as soon as she was born she said pink won her over, she can't get enough of it! So I created an all pink, all-girl card.

The girl is colored with copics, I sponged the sky to give it the feeling of a sunset. I loved this Basic Grey Perhaps paper pattern and how it went with the pinks and the sand in the main image. I gave it a little decorative piercing with my Pierceabilities template, and some Kaiser pearl accents.

Don't accents make a card? I mean, they just add that finishing touch of beauty, sort of like Jewelery don't you think? Well....today is the first sneak peek of something beautiful coming to Flourishes this Friday, it's called Finishing Touches.

Today you'll want to visit Leslie, Laura, Stacy and Julie to see the sneak peek of their Finishing Touches for today.

Tomorrow come back and see me! I'll have some beautiful Finishing Touches to show you!



Recipe: Stamps: Summer by the Sea, So Many Sayings; Ink: Palette Noir, Pink Pirouette; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Copic Paper, Basic Grey Perhaps DSP, Bella Birds DSP; Accessories: Big Shot, Labels 3 Nestabilities, Victorian Pierceabilities, Ornare Piercer, Pink Pirouette Striped Ribbon, Kaiser Pearls, Sponge, Copic Markers, Texturz Plate, Dimensionals

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Small Wonder

Spring Beauty

Oh it's been just beautiful here the past couple of days...warm sunshine and warmer temperatures, lots of birds singing and eating at the bird feeder. I finally got some of my bedding plants in the ground, my perennials are coming up...it's so refreshing!

I was running 16 different directions this morning, but I did manage to finally finish this card for the color challenge today, I had a spring theme in mind.

The colors are Bashful Blue, So Saffron, and Pumpkin Pie. I pulled out the Hostess Set God's Beauty again...love it!

The butterfly and flowers are stamped with Brown Stazon on watercolor paper and watercolored with Stampin' Write Markers and popped them up. I heavily sponged the whisper white layer to give it a sky feel and stamped the leaves to anchor the flowers. I added Pumpkin sponging on the Saffron DSP layers to give them warmth and carried through the corner rounded theme. I did have a closer picture that showed the dimension better but blogger is being SO STUBBORN and I can't get the pic to upload, despite trying what feels like a gazillion times!

That's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with something I made for my Sister-in-Law for another baby shower this weekend.

Recipe: Stamps: God's Beauty; Ink: Brown Stazon, Basic Brown, Bashful Blue; Paper: Bashful Blue, So Saffron Prints DSP, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Watercolor Paper, Bashful Blue Prints; Accessories: SW Markers, Aqua Painter, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder, Piercer, Soft Subtles Brads, Sponge, White Taffeta Ribbon

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Spring Beauty

Scarlet Berry Inspiration

The Inspiration Challenge tonight is a site called Little Odd Forest which carries a number of things...including numerous purses.

I was taken by this one (link above) called Scarlet Berries

I was thinking about my new Topiary set from Flourishes and how the colors and pattern inspired me.

The Topiary is colored with copics, and I added copic shadow and then sponged with So Saffron. I've added rhinestone berries (clear rhinestones colored with a sharpie).

I also wanted to mimic the corners of the purse on the design, so I took the Labels Four Nestability and cut it down in sections and used it on the design.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Saturday!

Recipe: Stamps: Flourishes - Topiary; Ink: Palette Noir; Paper: Basic Black, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Copic Paper; Accessories: Big Shot, Spellbinders Labels Four, Texturz Plate; Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Rhinestones, Red Sharpie, Copic Markers, Ornare Piercing mat and piercer, Dimensionals

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Scarlet Berry Inspiration

Friday Focus - Piercabilities

It's another Friday Focus with Flourishes today! I have the privelage of giving a tutorial today on a product I just love, the Spellbinders Pierceability templates! I love piercing, it just adds that perfect finished touch to any card. I have long eyed those gorgeous cards that have the intricate piercing...and now I can do it too! So please stop by the Flourishes Newsletter to see what I've come up with.

I made two cards that I'll show you here too:

On this first card I used the Victorian Pierceability Template to cut and as a guide for piercing. The Lilacs are colored with Copic Markers.

On this second card I used the Pierceability Template to cut, to emboss, to sponge and to pierce. The Tulips are also colored with Copic Markers.

Be sure to stop by these wonderful Design Team Members blogs to see what they've pierced today too :)

Flourishes Newsletter
Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

Recipe:

Lilacs: Stamps: Flourishes - Lilac; Ink: Palette Noir, Green Galore; Paper: Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Gable Green, Jenni Bowlin - Varsity DSP; Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities (Labels Four), Dotted Ribbon, Spellbinders Pierceabilities Victorian Border, Ornare Piercer and Mat, Rhinestones, Copic Markers

Tulips: Stamps: Flourishes - Thank You; Ink: Palette Noir, White Craft; Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black, Copic Paper, Pomegranate DSP (SU); Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities Scalloped Square, Ornare Piercer and Mat, Pierceabilities (Victorian), Flourishes Black and White Checker Ribbon, Copic Markers, Dimensionals, Kaiser Pearls (black).

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Friday Focus - Piercabilities

Swimmin! Invites

Our middle son will celebrate his 10th Birthday next week, so I had to finish the party invites so he can take them to school today. It's going to be a swimming party so I thought Just Beachy would be the perfect set.

These are really simple, but fun cards. I just do card fronts for party invites. These were night photos so they don't show the color as well as I'd like.

I rolled the Lazy Days wheel with VersaMark on the Kraft layer and then stamped off and then stamped the PARTY word (from Calendar Cues) in Ruby Red. The wheel is also rolled on the Ruby Red layer.

I wanted to give the feel of a porthole into the ocean so I cut out the ovals with my Big Shot, then cut a large circle punch hole in the middle. (Then I used that circle for the tucked in sentiment). I popped up one fish, stamped one to look like he's in the distance, and tied it with hemp. Just a couple more circles added as accents. Very mail-able too, which some will have to be.

He thinks they're great - but I know he's just excited about the party!

Recipe: Stamps: Just Beachy, Hugs and Wishes, Calendar Cues, Lazy Days Wheel; Ink: Black Stazon, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, VersaMark; Paper: Kraft, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Soft Sky Prints, Naturals Ivory; Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Bigz Die, Large Circle Punch, 3/4 circle punch, 1/2 circle punch, Sponge, SW Markers, Reinkers, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, Hemp.

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Swimmin! Invites

H2O with the Dirty Dozen Girls

Here is is the 20th of the month again... This is the day when the Dirty Dozen Girls & Alumni from SCS work on a challenge together. This month Jami let me be the hostess....so I picked the theme H2O and here's what I challenged the girls with:

A dip in the Lake....the waves on the Ocean, that little Creek down the ravine, the warm rain gently falling, a cold glass of water on a hot day...nothing says Spring and Summer like water.

Challenge Focus: Create a project that has something to do with water, it can be in your stamps, paper, or embellishments. But lets celebrate the happiness of warm weather and refreshing water. Let us know the story behind it too!

Required Element: Watercoloring! If we're doing a water themed project there needs to be some element of watercoloring on your creation.

Restricted Element: If it's H2O that means the two in the equation restricts you to only two embellishments. For example, ribbon and piercing, primas and brads. Focal image shapes like nesties or sizzix die cuts don't count.

Here's my card:

Now I have to tell you the story...seeing as this was my month to pick the theme, you'd think I would remember the rules wouldn't you? I finished the card on Monday and put it up on my desk to look at a while. I often do this to make sure it's not missing something...everything looks like it belongs etc. And as I'm looking at it - BAM it hits me! I didn't do the challenge right at all! I knew I wanted to use this stamp set, and I thought...hey why not use Copics...give it some fun vivid color. Not till it was completely done did I realize "IT'S H2O!!!" I said there had to be WATERCOLOR! DUH! Sheesh. I was so mad at myself. And I loved how the colors came out with the copics too.

Then I realized I could save it....I'd re-stamp the image, and just watercolor the little boy (who reminds me so much of my little boys when they play at the beach), and then pop him up. In the end it looks better than before because of the dimension. See his suntanned neck...my boys look so much like that when they're out in the sun.

I added some vellum waves lapping at his feet, sponged sky and sentiment, and gave it some weathering. My two types of embellishments are the Corduroy Brads and the Linen Thread, the rest is all paper :)

Here's what it looked like before, just colored with copics:

If you want to see what all the other uberly talented DD/DDA girls made with the theme search this keyword on Splitcoaststampers: DCH2O0509 please note this is H 2 and O as in the capital letter, zero five zero nine.

Recipe: Stamps: Summer by the Sea, Sanded; Ink: Palette Noir, Basic Brown, Baja Breeze; Paper: Kraft, Soft Sky, Baja Breeze Patterns DSP, Kraft Prints DSP, Copic Paper, Watercolor Paper, Cardstock Vellum; Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities (Large Pinking Circles), Copics, Reinkers, SW Markers, Aqua Painter, Corduroy Brads, Linen Thread, Piercer, Sponge, Dimensionals.

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H2O with the Dirty Dozen Girls

Baffling Befuddled Butterflies

Oh this color challenge almost did me in! Emily gave us Only Orange, Purely Pomegranate and Brilliant Blue....now where are you going to go with that? They all have the same deep saturation and the Pomegranate and Orange are complementary...but then you throw in that blue..sheesh!

Here's what I finally came up with after much dis-assembling and rearranging and staring and frustration!

I had no designer paper to throw in here, so I had to create my own using the Whisper White. I used the Rock and Roll technique on the butterflies.

Whew, that's done, I'm not sure how I feel about it! It's definitely vibrant...which is a far cry from the snow we have today, can you believe it? And our daughter has a school track meet today....all day, out in the snow!

Oh my poor flowers!

Recipe: Stamps: Great Friend; Ink: Only Orange, Purely Pomegranate, Brilliant Blue, White Craft; Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Only Orange, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White; Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Texturz Plate, Oval Punch, Large White Brads, White Organza Ribbon

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Baffling Befuddled Butterflies

Beauty and Sparkle

Well, I don't usually stamp on Sundays...but my friend Joan Ervin was chosen as the Featured Stamper! So, I finally had some time late today to CASE her. She's just such a great woman. We served together for several months on the Dirty Dozen team at SCS. She's fun, she's strong, she's dedicated to her family, and she's a wonderfully talented stamper.

Here's the link to the card I cased of hers: God's Beauty, it's wonderfully full of rich color and texture and sparkle, I don't think I did it justice, but here's mine

Changes I made: The color palette, not *shabbying* the edges, not using the flourish stamps and adding a layer that was DP not stamped (plus different ribbon)

The butterflies are inked with Palette ink and colored with copic markers, which is really the only non-SU thing on the card. After the coloring I inked the butterflies and flowers with versamark and heat embossed with Irridescent Ice. They are very shimmery :) Here you can see it on the butterflies, but not so much on the flowers.

So for Joan....a happy day to you my friend! May you see beauty today and God's handwriting in your life!

Recipe: Stamps: God's Beauty; Ink: Palette, Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Coral, Basic Gray, VersaMark; Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP, PTI White; Accessories: Copic Markers, Irridescent Ice EP, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Valet Ribbon Originals, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sponge, Aqua Painter

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Beauty and Sparkle

Happy Day!

The Flourishes Store is open with the New Releases this month!! And the 10% off sale on the whole store is still going on! Just remember the code rsc99.

Here's one last creation for you...and some pictures of the actual new release sets.

I colored these gorgeous Nasturtiums with Copics and used my Nestie Labels Four shape to frame the pretty flowers. I popped two blooms up and the sentiment too (with a few pretty beads).



Alright...want to see these great releases? I really have a hard time picking which one is my favourite!

A Man's View


Nasturtiums


and....DIY Topiaries

Happy Shopping!

Recipe: Stamps: Flourishes - Nasturtiums; Ink: Palette Noir, Gable Green; Paper: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Copic Paper; Accessories: Copic Markers, Big Shot, Texturz Plate, Labels Four, Ribbons (Flourishes), beads, Mono Multi glue, Ticket Corner Punch

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Happy Day!

New Release - Manly View

Have you been looking for the right masculine set? You know one that isn't too cutesy, is masculine but still classy looking?

Well, today we want to show you a great new set from Flourishes illustrated by Lauren Pope. It's called A Man's View. Here are my two for you today.

Persian Rug for Papa

I loved this Marrakech paper the moment I saw it (it should be back in the Flourishes store soon!). Such great rich colors and patterns, I thought they would go perfectly with this gorgeous arm chair, just ready for some relaxing time for Papa on Father's Day (my kids call both their Grandpas - Papa).

I paper pieced the chair, and then added frayed grossgrain ribbon on the edges of certain sections of the card to look a little like a Persian Rug (see the little rug under the chair?). It was actually Pumpkin Pie Ribbon, but I needed it to be a deeper color, so I pulled out my Ruby Red SW marker and colored the ribbon , then trimmed off one of the fused edges and pulled the ribbon to create that frayed look. What I like about it is that some of the color is more orange, some of it more of the red shade.

The Paper

On this card I was inspired by the colors in this cool textured paper from SU. It has a really great Menswear sort of feel to it. I colored the shoes and paper with copic markers, and gave it some sponging to soften and warm it up. LOVE those two-toned shoes! So vintage feeling!

I layered the Octagonal Nestabilities shapes in different directions to give it a cool look. And to repeat the pattern in the paper, I brayered over my twill ribbon with Close to Cocoa ink, so you can see the pattern better. It's a houndstooth sort of weave.

So...you'll want to see more of the Design Teams Creations:

Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

To win this set today see the Flourishes Newsletter

Remember the release party is TONIGHT, and the sets will be available after the party! And also remember that the Flourishes store is having a Spring Sale this week...10% off anything in the store!

Recipes:

Persian Rug for Papa: Stamps: A Man's View; Ink; Black Stazon; Paper: Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango, Basic Grey Marrakesh DSP, Whisper White; Accessories: Copic Markers, Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain Ribbon, Ruby Red Marker, Piercer, Dimensionals.

The Paper: Stamps: A Man's View; Ink: Palette Noir, Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip; Close to Cocoa; Paper: Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Confetti Cream, To the Nines Specialty DSP; Accessories: Big Shot, Octagonal Nestabilties, 1/2 inch circle Punch, Pewter Brads, Sponge, Copic Markers, Twill Ribbon, Brayer.

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New Release - Manly View

New Release - DIY Topiaries

Don't you love Topiary Trees? There's something so sculptural about them. I was in Ikea today (Wednesday) and they had these beautiful little sculpted myrtle plants shaped in a ball. They're SO pretty. I really want two for our Fireplace Mantle...but at $25 a pop...that will have to wait a while.

But now I can create my own Topiaries with this new set by Marcella called DIY Topiaries. It's the coolest idea, different bases and topiary plants that you can put together how you like!

I've designed a couple of cards for you to take a look at today.

Topiary Roses

I love the elegance and whimsy of these topiary roses. I stamped them with Stazon on watercolor paper and colored with my Stampin' Write markers or reinkers. I added my new Stardust pen from Flourishes to the roses to give them a really pretty sparkly look (I so wish you could see it better!). The image is cut out and sponged with my Labels Three Nestability.

I also used my new Piercabilities template and the Ornare Piercer and mat for the beautiful piercing. If you know me you know I love piercing and can't wait to try more with these awesome templates. They do so much more than pierce alone! But I just love the elegance some piercing like this can give.

I actually started this card with the designer paper. This is Memory Box Rhubarb Tart and I love the colors!

Vellum Topiary

I do appreciate the softness that vellum can bring to a project. I watercolored this three tiered Topiary on watercolor paper, and then stamped a second image of the Topiary on Vellum Cardstock in White Embossing Powder. After sponging all the edges on both layers I put them together to really give a soft effect to the topiary. By adding the sentiment on top you can hide the adhesive between the layers and hold the vellum down better. It has a very architectural feel, so I added this Basic Grey Perhaps paper to keep it in that structured feel.

See what the rest of the Design Team has in store here:

Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

To win this set today see the Flourishes Newsletter on how to enter.

And join us for the release party Friday evening in the Splitcoaststampers Forum!

I wanted to mention to you that there is a Virtual Convention going on over at The Rubberstamp Chat forum (http://www.rubberstampchat.net/) and Flourishes is participating in it. What does this mean for you? Well, instead of offering a new release bundle at a discount this month on Friday after the release, we'll offer 10% off the entire store from Thursday May 14, through Thursday May 21. All you have to do is enter the code: rsc99 in the promotion code box to receive the discount! Who doesn't love a sale!

Recipes:

Topiary Roses: Stamps: DIY Topiary, Signs of Spring; Ink: Black Stazon, Ruby Red, Black Stazon; Paper: Riding Hood Red, Watercolor paper, Memory Box - Rhubarb Tart; Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilties, RHR Taffeta Ribbon, Circle Punches, Pewter Kaiser Pearls, Dimensionals, Reinkers, SW Markers, Stardust Pen, Piercabilities template, Ornare Piercer

Vellum Topiary: Stamps: DIY Topiary, Thank You; Ink: White Craft, Always Artichoke; Paper: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Basic Grey Perhaps, Watercolor Paper, Vellum Cardstock, Kiwi Kiss; Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Scalloped Oval Punch, Oval Punch, Pewter Kaiser Pearls, Apple Green Organdy Ribbon (Flourishes), Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Punch, Piercer, Dimensionals.

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New Release - DIY Topiaries

New Release Nasturtiums

Ready for some Sneak Peeks of the new releases at Flourishes?

Today we're going to introduce to you a beautiful set called Nasturtiums drawn by our ever wonderful Marcella Hawley. Nasturtiums are a really lovely and unique flower, did you know they are edible? You can put them in salads and they have a taste like watercress. I love the unique look of their leaves. Like little umbrellas!

I have two creations to show you today... but not in the traditional Nasturtium colors...we're using a bit of our imagination today!


Friends are Flowers Seed Packet


I had my husband and son pick up some Nasturtium seeds at the store because I wanted to create a little seed packet for gifting a few seeds. Wouldn't that be a cute hostess gift at a dinner party? A little Something to grow some pretty blooms, and it's useful too! Next dinner party you can throw it in the salad! I also thought about giving some of these to some of my friends to tell them I love them.

I watercolored the Octogonal shape (nesties) and added a few flowers popped up. I used the nestie shape to sponge color on as well. The actual box measures 4.25 x 5 x just over 1 inch deep. I took a 4.25 x 11 piece of Bravo Burgundy scoring at about 1.5 inches 6.5 inches and 7.5 inches. This forms the front fold and top fold for the packet. Any excess that is too long for the front I cut off, leaving just about an inch and a half fold up border.

Then I took a piece of cardstock vellum (5 x 7.25) stamped it with the leaves in white Stazon, then gently scored at .5 inches, 1.5 inches, 5.75 inches, 6.75 inches and 7 inches. This gives you the front section of the box which you can adhere to the back of the Bravo Burgundy side. Here my top fold tucks under the main image to keep it closed. Because I used vellum for the box front, you can see the color of the seeds when they are inside.


Then I added the extra pieces of cardstock as accent and added some embellishments. It holds two packets of seeds inside.

Next up a very different creation...I saw a beautiful piece of art at this site called Artist Rising, I was inspired to make a very different color palette for this one...


Midnight Nasturtiums


I stamped and embossed the image with white on Black cardstock and used Prismacolor pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits, and a blending stump to create a deep but cool color palette. Then I also added SU's old Metallic pencils to highlight. It's beautifully shimmery in person.

Aren't these beautiful Nestability shapes? This is Labels Four from the Flourishes Store.

I used Prism papers to get the perfect match, as well as the green Glittering Christmas paper from Flourishes.


So now you'll want to head over to the other Design Teams' Blogs to see their creations....but don't forget to stop by the Flourishes Newsletter for your chance to win this very set today! Don't forget about the His and Hers Challenge too... you could win all three sets! See the Flourishes Newsletter for more info!

Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

Recipes:

Seed Packet: Stamps: Nasturtiums, Ink: Black Stazon, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, White Stazon; Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Blush Blossom, Cardstock Vellum, Watercolor Paper (Flourishes); Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities (Octogonal), Kaiser Pearls (Latte), Burgundy Organdy Ribbon, Sponge, Eyelet Border Punch, Sticky Tape, Dimensionals, Scor It.

Midnight Nasturtiums: Stamps: Nasturtiums, Figs and Pomegranates (sentiment); Ink: White Craft, Black Stazon; Paper: Prism Papers, Basic Black, Christmas Glitter Paper (Flourishes); Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities, Rhinestones, Black Organdy Ribbon (Flourishes), Prismacolor Pencils, SU Metallic Pencils, OMS, Blending Stump, Dimensionals

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New Release Nasturtiums

First Mommy's Day

I mentioned last week that I wanted to show you what I made for my sister-in-law's first Mother's Day present. I'll never forget my first Mother's Day as a mom. It was full of special moments. I remember the year before our daughter was born. We were wondering if we'd have a baby, only to get pregnant and then lose our first pregnancy. It was heartbreaking (I'm sure many of you know this first hand). So to finally have our daughter and on that 2nd Sunday in May when all the mothers stand up at church and take home a flower honoring moms, I just felt so grateful and full of joy.

I know for my sister-in-law seeing this day come to reality is special, and I wanted to commemerate that for her. I'm not much of a scrapbooker anymore, but I've been collecting pictures I've taken of my niece over the past 10 weeks to use for this very thing. Wow has she grown!

So I photo-edited all the pictures into black and white, softened all the edges in my editing software, and just made a sweet simple accordian mini album on paper coasters. This way she can put it on her dresser or desk and be reminded of the sweetness of her girl.

Here is the album cover...Bella Toile background and Lots of Tags Sizzlit frame, I just handwrote on the cover. The ribbon looks wonky here, but it really was straight! I think I must have pulled it when I set it down for the photo. This next shot is a bit dark, but you get the feel for the spread of the album...


Here is the inside....simple accents like eyelet borders, felt flowers, a little ribbon and Lovely Letters to spell out Mommy. I hinged each section with a scored section of Basic Gray cardstock and ribbon. I kept it very simple to highlight the pictures not the book.

I loved it and thought it was a sweet gift, but to see my sister in law when she opened it, she burst into tears. I know it meant a lot to her. Sometimes it's just the simple gifts from the heart that mean so much. Isn't this little sweetheart beautiful? Oh we adore her.

This is Adeline yawning :) and their happy little family at Easter (my brother is the happy Daddy).

Come on back tomorrow (Wednesday) ...it begins new release week peeks from Flourishes! I'm so excited!

Recipe: Stamps: Bella Toile, Lovely Letters; Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP; Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink; Accessories: Big Shot, Sizzlits (Lots of Tags), Eyelet Scallop Border, Felt Flowers, Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Striped Pink Pirouette Ribbon, Mono Multi Glue, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Wide Oval Punch.

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First Mommy's Day

Bandanas for Rock and Roll

Betcha I got you with that title! You're wondering where I'm going with this one!

Well, today's Technique Lover's Challenge is one called The Bandana Technique, one where you use a background or other stamp color on color and then adding opaque white pen higlights to create the feel of a bandana. I thought it looked cool, and quite easy!

I was also going to incorporate the Clean and Simple Challenge this week which is to use the Rock and Roll Technique on your card. And I did use the Rock and Roll technique...but it's not really clean and simple with all the cutting....and the color change is really subtle with the colors I used...so I'm not entering it in that challenge :) But it was a good thought, and it jumpstarted my creative process.

This is for a swap due tomorrow so you can see that they're not all put together yet! I'll do that later today. But you can see that I stamped the butterflies on Soft Sky paper with Baja Breeze ink. I added the leaf stems in Soft Sky and then added the white gel pen highlights. Pretty isn't it? The main cut out butterfly is rock and rolled in Soft Sky then Baja, and I added a simple ribbon and brad treatment and some more highlights on the sentiment. A little more close up here...

It's a gorgeous day here, I'm going to take our little guy out bike riding this afternoon! Hope you have a great day today!

Recipe: Stamps: Great Friend; Ink; Baja Breeze, Soft Sky, White Craft, Basic Grey; Paper: Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, Soft Sky, Whisper White; Accessories: Grey Taffeta Ribbon, White signo Gel Pen, Scalloped Oval Punch, Silver Brads, Dimensionals

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Bandanas for Rock and Roll

God's Handwriting

Today's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS is a really cool pillow website called Bonjour Mon Coussin... (Hello my Cushion).

Here is the link to this pillow I chose as inspiration: Guitar I just loved the colors!

I needed one more Mother's Day card for my sister-in-law who will be celebrating her very first Mother's Day this year as a Mommy :)

There is something that happens to you when you become a Mother. I believe you see and experience God's love in a whole new way. As you look at your child you see God's handwriting in their beauty, in their preciousness, in the miracle of their life!

This is such a pretty Hostess set don't you think? I embossed the butterfly on watercolor paper and added reinkers to color. I stamped the pretty flowers on Confetti Cream (a new favourite color of mine) and lightly watercolored them and cut out, then used the same technique on the leaves.
The bottom half of the card is embossed with a Texturz plate and the black of the sentiment is from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits.

I made a special gift for my sister-in-law that I'll be showing you next week too! Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!

Recipe: Stamps: God's Handwriting; Ink: Black Stazon, VersaMark, Baja Breeze, Purely Pomegranate DSP & Cardstock, Confetti Cream; Accessories: Big Shot, Texturz Plate, Lots of Tags Sizzlits, Corduroy Brads, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Reinkers, Aqua Painter, Baja Satin Ribbon & Black Velvet Ribbon (Valet Ribbon Originals).

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God's Handwriting

His and Hers

It's a fun day in the pre-release challenges over at Flourishes Today. We've called it "His and Hers".....this challenge is all about finding the versatility in your card layouts. Creating something masculine and feminine using the same layout.

On the left you'll see my masculine version and then on the right (obviously hey?) is the feminine.

What makes a card masculine or feminine do you think? These cards use the same layout and stamp sets, they are both colored with copics, both use the same Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities...yet they look decidedly different.

For me having it be masculine or feminine is all in the color choices, the treatments used on the papers, and the accents added.

Here on the masculine version I used neutral colors in my Copics, adding neutral sponging in the main image layer. I used Jenni Bowlin papers in the chocolate color (making the dots a caramel color with my Copics). I added texture to the bottom half of the card with my Texturz plate and sponged the edges to give it a deeper warmer feel.

Accents are simple, not frou-frou at all :), simple ribbon with no bows, and hardware. Every man loves hardware right? (lol)

Now for the feminine version...a totally different feel, a little more layering, definite feminine colors, very feminine ribbon, and eyelet border, the addition of swirly piercing and rhinestone accents. Totally gives it a feminine feel don't you think?

So now it's your turn! Make a feminine card and then, using the same layout, give it a masculine spin. Upload this to SCS or your blog (or both) with the keyword fllcmay and then link it at the Flourishes Newsletter. This contest will close at 5 PM Eastern on Friday the 15th. The winner of the drawing will take home all three of the new releases! Fantastic ones I might add.... :) We'll be showing you sneak peeks starting next week! Thanks for dropping by today!

Here's the DT Girls' creative His and Hers Challenge cards to give you a creative jumpstart....

Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

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His and Hers

Bella Friend

Beautiful Friend...

For today's sketch challenge at SCS I wanted to use the very beautiful Bella Bleu papers. You really can't go wrong with these papers, they are my current favourite! They are so beautifully colored and full of pattern, they are very much my style.

On the main panel I stamped the beautiful Damask in VersaMark, then I stamped the pretty flower sprigs on Kraft paper and colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Odorless Mineral Spirits and a blending stump. I added white for highlight and trimmed one sprig out.

After that it's pretty simple. 3/4 inch circle punches for the scallopy edges and a little white prismacolor highlighting on the sentiment.

Pretty elegance for a beautiful friend!

Recipe: Stamps: Friends 24-7, Ink: Palette Noir, VersaMark, Not Quite Navy; Paper: Not Quite Navy, Confetti Cream, Kraft, Bella Bleu DSP; Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note, 3/4 circle punches, Scalloped Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Button Latte, Linen Thread, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Prismacolor Pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits, Blending Stumps

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Bella Friend

Simply Kindness

Whew! I've been a little absent here! I will have more for you later this week and next week, some things I've been working on behind the scenes!

We've had a really busy few days, a wedding, youth stuff, we had a BBQ for our Youth Ministry Team at our home (kabobs and steak - yum!), and a couple of ball hockey games for the boys.

So, I have a more clean and simple card for you today for the Color Challenge, today's colors were: Cameo Coral, Garden Green and Ballet Blue...

I stamped the squares in Stazon and then the Cameo Coral and Ballet Blue, but also popped up some watercolored blue flowers too. The white space on the card is embossed and I overstamped the patterned paper with leaves. The blue border is done with the reverse side of the scalloped square punch, to mimic the blue blossoms. A little piercing, pearls and some satin ribbon.

This morning our youngest son had an assembly at school to which we were invited. Each month the school studies a positive character trait and this months' is Tolerance. One little boy moved to our school recently from Cuba and when he came he spoke no English, I was so touched to see that our teacher had taught them all a Spanish song to sing. Then they sang "What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) illustrated with pictures on the screen that they had drawn...it was so touching...even the teacher was moved to tears describing the song, she had said that our son had described tolerance as "being kind to each other and all getting along". (I was a proud mama to hear that :) ) If we could all see one another with compassion, tolerance, kindness...if we can live that out...it is wonderful.

So, this will be for his teacher!

Recipes: Stamps: Botanical Blooms; Ink: Black Stazon, Garden Green, Cameo Coral, Ballet Blue; Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green Patterns, Ballet Blue Patterns DSP, Ballet Blue, Garden Green; Accessories: Big Shot, Texturz Plate, Scalloped Square Punch, Dimensionals, Satin Ribbon, Half Pearls, Mono Multi Glue, Piercer.

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Simply Kindness