Beautiful Flowers with Simon Says Stamp

 

I’m delighted to share some new colouring with you!  This week’s Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is to use something new.  These gorgeous roses called Beautiful Flowers are new to me, and aren’t they a knock-your-socks-off stamp?  This is my favourite type of image to colour, with tons of petal power potential!  I started my colouring with Copics and finished with colored pencils.  I wanted it all to have a soft vintage/shabby chic effect, so I’ve added deep greens and gold for the greenery.  

This card size is a bit bigger at 4 4/8 x 6 1/4.  

Aren’t the petals and leaves pretty?  I also vintaged it up by stencilling on the card base with gothic stencil, and added ink blending, gold Lunar Paste and little dew drops.  

The sentiments in the set are amazing!  I stamped Happy in Grapefruit Ink from Concord & 9th, embossed the smaller white parts of the sentiment and then added a little white gel pen to the Happy.  

Appreciate your visit and comments!   

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Beautiful Flowers with Simon Says Stamp

Happiest Holidays: Berry Sweet Holiday

We’ve got a whole new round of happy for today’s Happiest Holiday Collection from Power Poppy.  Introducing, Berry Sweet Holiday!  

Here’s Marcy’s description:  

All things sweet for holiday cards that can't be beat! Originally designed for the maven of the 30-Day Coloring Challenge, Merriest Berries is now available in a streamlined clear stamp. The stitched-ribbon centerpiece is anchored by a giant candy cane, and bubbles over with holly berries and mistletoe. This image supplies a sweet and snappy punch that instantly says HAPPY! Another favorite digi, the Felt Leaves and Fruits Wreath, is now immortalized in clear polymer, with its easy-to-color design and   comfy-cozy-crafty vibe. Lots of accents and sentiments round out this sweet set. 

Sometimes when I’m colouring I have no particular direction in mind.  I just go with whatever strikes my fancy.  I thought a pretty green candy cane would be fun, blue-green juniper berries would look nice, that rich, green holly...and then, hmmm what to do about that ribbon?  For some reason a bluey-purple came to mind to contrast.   Turns out it made a fun combination.  Then I decided to go shabby-chic with the overall design with some metallics mixed in.  I’m thinking I might have gone a little overboard on that part :)  

I used some embossing paste and glitter for the background and then swiped some metallic paint over the backgound in spots to give it an aged, almost patinaed look.  

A few iridescent gems, some sparkly ribbon and twine finish it off.  

Here’s my fabulous fellow Bloomies showcasing this set today:

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Stacy Morgan
and Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog

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Happiest Holidays: Berry Sweet Holiday

Generously Shabby

Ready for some shabby romance?  I’ve designed another card for this month’s Shabby Chic Challenge at Power Poppy.  I decided to go with another no-line style colouring just because I think the softness of the technique really lends itself to this shabby style.  I used the gorgeous new polymer set So Grateful.  The dahlia arrangement here is just so pretty!  I stamped the image in Memento Desert Sand onto XPress It Blending Cardstock and then gave it some soft copic colouring.  Then I trimmed it out with a little border, spritzed it with some Mr. Huey’s Shine, and got ready to work on my background. 

I just LOVE the Tim Holtz Gothic stencil.  It’s my go to stencil for elegant looks.  I used embossing paste on the purple cardstock and then let it dry completely.  After it was dry I sponged some SU Almost Amethyst ink in different spots around the embossing paste to give it a aged look and curled up the edges.  

I placed a Spellbinders die cut in white underneath the the window I had cut out and then stamped the sentiment and sponged over some more of the stencil in ink softly over the sentiment.  

In this shot you can see the shine of the Spritz on the flowers.   Then, something I rarely do, I added some rolled paper roses to the design.  I think these are Verve dies.  Then I finished off with some pearls and lace and it has that vintage shabby appeal.  

Here’s a look at the challenge graphic again.  We sure hope you can join us in creating some thing Shabby & Chic and have your chance to win some Power Poppy goodies!  Here’s the girls playing along today...

Christine Okken
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Now here’s some FUN NEWS!  Tomorrow we’ll be showing off another NEW Digi image at Power Poppy.  It’s a beaut!


AND....as well on Saturday, we’ll also be playing along over on Passionate Paper Creations and ushering in a coloring contest. As a part of this promotion, the brand new Sunflower Power will be on sale for 24 hours only for $3!! You can use this image to enter the contest and two lucky winners will get a $25 gift certificate to the Power Poppy store! 

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Generously Shabby

Shabby Sunflowers

We’re delighted to bring you another month long challenge at Power Poppy!  This month Cindy is our hostess and she’s challenging us to go Shabby & Chic!  

I was so excited to play with the new digital image from Power Poppy - Sunflower Power.  Oh my, I just love it so much!  I love sunflowers and their beautiful tilted faces and that gorgeous pop of yellow and brown.  They sing of summer!  I printed the image in a more sepia type tone to give the image a no-line colouring look.  It sure looks great on this type of image.  I used a stitched die to cut it out, allowing the smaller sunflower bloom to be “out of the box”, and then I coloured it all up with copies with a really loose style of colouring.  

Then to make it shabby, I distressed all my edges, including this great warm paper (it’s an old pack that I had in my stash).  Then I took a leaf die and some artichoke cardstock, cut and curled the edges to give them realism and tucked them behind the layers.  

I sponged up the sentiment in some sunny yellows, added some vintage style brads and a little butterfly and voila!  Shabby and chic :)  

Here’s the Copics I used. 

Here’s the Bloom Brigade in action with Shabby Chic, we hope you’ll join us in the challenge this month for your chance to win a Power Poppy set!  

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Stacy Morgan

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Shabby Sunflowers

Vintage Geraniums

If there’s one annual flower I plant every year it’s geraniums.  They’re perfect for pots, they add rich pops of colour and are pretty easy to care for, they keep blooming and blooming if you remember to dead-head them.  I love the variety of colours they come in, their beautiful deep green ruffled leaves, and I’m delighted to see these Geraniums I can enjoy all year long illustrated by Marcy!  They’re SO gorgeous!  

I decided I wanted to go a little vintage with these geraniums and shabby them up a little.  I began by softening the digi, printing it in a bit of a grey rather than in deep black.   Then, I began colouring the blooms with both Copics and finishing up with Prismacolor Pencils.  That combination of colouring mediums gives some really great depth that I enjoy.  After colouring,  I weathered up the edges of the paper with my fingernail and then sponged a lot of Ranger Distress inks into the cardstock.  

On the background layers of Kraft Cardstock I embossed and did some rich sponging too.  

For accents I added a string of various colours of sequins inspired by Nancy Thomas.  I coloured up the seambinding with Copic Reinkers in a plastic bag to match the colour of the geraniums, then finished with some linen thread.  

Here’s the Copics and Prismacolors I used.

  

And here’s the beautiful Bloom Brigade playing with today’s amazing set!  

Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker

And be sure to see what Marcy has to say about these beauties!

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Vintage Geraniums

Your Number is Up!

We’re back with more fun from The Cat’s Pajamas!  

Today’s set, Your Number is Up,  is so fun because it can count anything!  Anniversaries, Birthdays, years, any special event in numbers!  And, it also has a die set created just for it so it has extra creative possibilites.  

First off I created an Anniversary card for my parents using some fun floral papers from Crate Paper (14) as my inspiration.  I stamped all the numbers,  then also added some of the die cut numbers from  dp over top to give it a really boho feel.  I also took the “porthole” frame from the Framed Up 2 Dies and added some partial framed circles,  and the inside of the porthole to the page in random ways to give it that ecclectic feel.  I also cut out some banners from the dp to add on.  Some cute sequins and enamel dots, twine and lace finish off the outside.  

And inside I stamped the Anniversary banner, added some paper and washi tape to accent.  

Then, my son had a BD party for his best buddy from school this past weekend.  He loves red, and the party was a swimming party, so I thought it would be fun to create a nautical design.  This time I took the whole number plate die and cut out a panel for the front of my card popping it up onto designer paper that has this sea-side feel (Fancy Pants Down by the Shore). 

Then I added the port hole/buoy from the Framed Up 2 dies, with some twine around it.  

And below is the inside.  

Aren’t the dies great?  

Check out the rest of the Cat Pack who are playing along with this set at The Cat’s Pajamas Blog today.  

Be sure to join us...

See ya tommorrow!  

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Your Number is Up!

Be Strong

It’s another Friday and we're bringing you another round of inspiration created with our brand new December Release Stamp sets by the Senior Design Team.   It’s always fun for us to show off the versatility of these beautiful sets one more time while you can still purchase the December New Release Bundle at a discount!  Today is the last day this discount is available and we don’t want you to miss out!

I had a very fun time creating this card!

I began with our beautiful new set, Always Blooming and stamped it in VersaMark ink, embossing it on our Flourishes Classic White cardstock.  From there I just played!  I wanted it to have a beautiful distressed feel so I pulled out my Flourishes set So Distressed and began to stamp and to water-colour.     

The inks I used are all Memento - Summer Sky, Nautical Blue, Paris Dusk, and Olive Grove and also a water brush.  I’d either moisten the cardstock before I stamped or take the waterbrush to the cardstock quickly after I stamped to get this impressionistic look to the paper.  I love how it blends the colours!  I used the swish horizontal stripe image from the set and the larger pixelated puddled stamp (like my detailed descriptions? :).  They look fabulous for this kind of technique.  I added some green ink to the center of the leaves and stems to give it some definition and paired it all with  Color Made Easy - True Blue cardstock.  

Then to finish it off after everything was dry I embossed this gorgeous sentiment from the set in black and wove some deep blue Seambinding and Iridescent Twine and a button together to accent.  

It’s so different from my normal work, but I really enjoyed doing it and love how it turned out.  

So now hop on over to see what our very talented Design Team has in store for you today with these sets:

• Allison Cope
• Christine Okken (you are here)
• Cindy Lawrence
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

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Be Strong

CardMaker and Crate Paper Hop!

If you're looking for my Flourishes New Release Post with Pinwheels and Popsicles...please scroll down!

Today the CardMaker Blog Team gets to pair up with Crate Paper and play!  I had so much fun with the Maggie Holmes Collection creating this vibrant and shabby Birthday Card.  

Can you believe all these fun elements?  There's only one tiny bit of stamping on this card!  The rest is fun parts from the collection, sweet little ephemera elements that I coloured up with Copics, fun sparkly Thicker Alpha stickers for the happy words (and the larger part of an apostrophe for the butterfly body), and then a sweet little bow to match the gorgeous paper.  I think it's so pretty and full of celebration.  I stamped wishes to you from Flourishes Inside and Out Happy set, and swiped my copic marker over top and that was all the stamping I needed!  

Now you're going to want to head on over to Annabelle O'Malley's blog to see what fun she has in store with this collection.  

And don't forget....Crate Paper will be hosting a giveaway on their blog of a $40 prize pack of Maggie Holmes items!  

If you get lost along the way head back to the CardMaker Blog and start on over you don't want to miss any of the fun :)  

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CardMaker and Crate Paper Hop!

Basic Grey Blog Hop

How about some fun today with Basic Grey?!

(if you're looking for my Flourishes Pre-Release Challenge Card - please scroll down or CLICK HERE)

The CardMaker Blog Team was able to play with some fabulous goodies from Basic Grey's True Love Collection this month, and boy was it fun!  I love Basic Grey papers, but this is the first time I've played with the extra goodies from the whole collection.  There was so much to choose from, and I went out of my typical style and comfort zone which was really fun! I have a couple of creations to show you...

How about some clear cardstock Valentine fun?  I paired some clear cardstock with some of the papers from the 6 x 6 True Love pack and some of the goodies from the stickers, buttons and chipboard to create this very fun collage style Valentine.  

I cut out a scalloped heart and banner from the dp layering it under the clear cardstock, and the did different layers of chipboard and stickers.  It's busy - but it's fun too.  I love the stickers put together for the sentiment "With You my heart skips a beat, my sweet".  

Now I went a little more vintage with this next card.  I was so taken by the epoxy filled mini bottle caps that I knew I had to do something with them, so I created a little bottle cap square.  I love the more blue tones of these papers in the collection.  I used another chipboard arrow from the collection, and then added some pretty taupe lace, velvet and another little chipboard heart, and it has a little more of that shabby-chic feel.  

Here you can see the details, the photo corners and the lace more closely.  

There is so much too this great collection that I know I'll be having lots more fun with it!  I hope you enjoyed this peek at it today.  

Now you can head on over to Joy Taylor's little creative spot for more Basic Grey Inspiration!  

And when you're all done you'll want to be sure to stop by the Basic Grey Blog....there's goodies to be won!

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Basic Grey Blog Hop

Christmas Western Style

Such a fun set today that celebrates a Christmas that's a little bit country.  Both my parents grew up on farms, and though I've always been a city girl, I've always had many relatives with farms.  So, I was always quite comfortable with that more rural lifestyle.  Today's set celebrates a Cowboy Christmas, and it's so fun!  Illustrated by Lauren Pope, I think you'll love it's down home style.  

I pulled out my Prismacolors and went to town on this image.  I stamped it on Kraft cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black.  Something I've been doing more often with Prismas (especially on Kraft) is coloring the whole image in white first.  It gives it a nice base for the next layer of color and it leaves you built-in highlight to work around.  

I have some fun detailing going on here, I've added some Ivory Jute rope along the top of the card, looping it like the lights in the boot, accenting it with red rhinestones.  Then a Silhouette cut file sherrif's star for the sentiment, stamping with Memento Rich Cocoa.  A Classic Edges One Edgeabilties Border is a good touch and the papers are MME and Glitz French Kiss, because I thought the peeled paint, denim and burlap was a great pairing for this cowboy.  And it's all put together with some crazy sewing.  This set would be fantastic for masculine designs.  

We have another round today of the Mystery Blogger!  Your comment today if chosen will earn you this great set!  The more DT blogs you comment on, the better your chances!

Today will bring another Noon-Time Challenge at the Flourishes Blog....Noon Central Time.  

Join in on our other Challenges this week for more chances to win too, the Any Which Way Sketch Challenge  and the Timeless Tuesday Pinterest Inspiration Challenge are both fun ways to create something and have a chance to win! 

Cindy Lawrence

Christine Okken (you are here)

Danielle Kennedy

Heather Jensen

Silke Ledlow

Sharon Doolittle

Stacy Morgan

Tammy Hershberger

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Christmas Western Style

Trimmed with Love

Oh so excited to be welcoming you to our first day of FIVE days of New Release Peeks for Flourishes.  One wonderful surprise for you is that we're releaseing our Christmas sets earlier than we usually do!  You're going to see some spectacular sets in the next months to get you ready for all your Christmas cards, packages, and gift giving.  And...even better news with all these new sets coming out we'll have cut files available for the Silhouette, and .svg files available Friday as well.  

Do you love to decorate your tree each Christmas?  Our kids love when the decorations come out and then stories are told about the ornaments.  Each of  the little picture ornaments are pondered over from when they were adorably little, and all of it lovingly goes up on the tree.  Today's set Trimmed With Love celebrates the beauty of a Christmas tree decorated with love. 

How about some Vintage/Victorian style with this pretty set?  I stamped the tree with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock, and then coloured with Copic Markers.  I distressed the card (dp and main image) with some Ranger Distress in Spun Sugar, blending it with the Ink Blending Tool.   I've accented the design with some pretty Color Made Easy seam binding in a bow as well as adding some cream string loop trim.  Then of course, you can't go for a Vintage design without some gorgeous pink Scalloped Lace too.  

Do you see how I added a few ornaments to the tree?   I placed some pretty Kaiser pearls on the tree to tie it all together.  Here are the Copic Collections I used...

+ BG93, BG96, BG99

Now please join the rest of the Senior Design team to see their trees Trimmed with Love!

• Cindy Lawrence
• Christine Okken
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

Details to Remember This week...

Amoung the Senior DT's Blogs you'll find one Talented Lady who's today's Mystery Blogger.  We don't know who it is!  But if you comment on her blog, you could be chosen to win today's set.  The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances!

You can be eligble to win the entire September Release of FIVE Christmas sets by participating in the Any Which Way Sketch Challenge.  Deadline is this Friday September 14th.  

Later this week on Wednesday and Thursday you also have a chance to win with the Noon-Time Challenges - check out the Flourishes Blog at Noon Central Time for an opportunity to win the sets of the day as well!

The good news? If you like what you see on our designers' blogs today, you can pre-order our Trimmed with Love set (along with the other four sets as well) and if you purchase all five sets, you can take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off all our new sets when you purchase it in the bundle.

Keep tuning in - we have a wonderful week in store for you! 

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Trimmed with Love

Love and Lace

 

Welcome to the New Release Sneak Peeks at Flourishes!  We have a pair of stunning sets to show you today that are made for each other, and carry with them the tenderness of a mother and child relationship with the elegance of intricate lace.

I decided to go vintage-shabby chic with this card using both of these new sets, some embossing, ink and some new tools from the Flourishes Store.  I embossed the beautiful lace background onto some Glitz Happy Travels paper with white embossing powder.  Then I took some Ranger Tea Dye Ink and the new Ink Blending Tool from the store and inked and distressed the papers to add depth to the contrast between the paper and embossing.  It's such a fun tool to use too, and it adds the ink so evenly.  The beautiful mother and child image is also embossed, framing it with the elegant circle frame, and then I've added shabby-chic details.  

Prima Fall Crystals, Velvet Ribbon, Lace, uneven stitching, a resin rose and the sentiment on our new Tailor Made Classic Die, as well as some Spellbinders accents and heart Edgeabilities finishing.  

You will see some fantastic creations with these lovely sets today at the rest of the Senior Design Team....

And come back at Noon Central for the Noon-Time Challenge and another peek at these sets!

• Barbara Anders
• Christine Okken (you are here)
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Dawn Burnworth
• Jan Marie Caruso
• Julie Koerber 
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

and joining us today from the FRIENDS OF FLOURISHES TEAM

Beate Johns

Heather Jensen

Amanda Havon

• 
  
• Important Details this Week:
• 
  

• Everyday this Release Week a Mystery Blogger is hidden amoung the Design Team.  Comment on that blog and you could be chosen to win the set of the day.  Comment on all the DT blogs to increase your chances!
• At Noon (Central Time) today and tomorrow a Challenge will be issued at the Flourishes Blog, play for another chance to win these beautiful sets this month. 
• Play along in our Motherly Love Challenge for a chance to win the entire New Release!  
• If you already know you'll love this Release the sets are available for Pre-Order HERE, the New Release Bundle will be 10% off for one week only.    

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Love and Lace