A dose of inspiration!

Hi all and happy Friday! I have no idea where this week went! I seem to say that quite a bit lately. I think it's because we had kids in two camps on different ends of town at different times and then....swim lessons! :-) Ahhhhh, it's summer!

Today, Cindy Lawrence is the fine hostess over on the Flourishes blog for our Flourishes Focus and she ushered a challenge to the DT to find a spark for creativity in unexpected places. She emailed the DT this photo and said.. have fun!

Looking at the photo, I saw the damask print, elegant touches, silk, muted neutrals with a hint of pink. And, that's what I went for!

I know the color scheme isn't exact but after trying a bunch of different inks, I settled with this look -- it was still a muted neutral, but not with the taupe tone. I used the Fanciful Flourishes set with some Antique Linen Distress ink for my background on some ivory decorative paper. Pair that with the Spring Bouquet Set colored up with Copics - I used the Dahlia, Fields and Sweet Pea Copic Collections grouped by Flourishes. Add some pearls, some silk ribbon and voila! The sentiment is also from the Fanciful Flourishes set and was stamped, punched with an SU oval and popped up with foam tape. C'est fini!

You'll have to stop on over to say hi to the other Flourishes gals and see their take on this beautiful inspiration piece! Be sure to stop by the Flourishes Blog to see what Cindy cooked up!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here soon!

Hug those Fathers in your life!

Hi all! Just wanted to remind you to tell all those men in your life that are great dads....

Happy Father's Day!!!

Today in our house, this man is king!
If hubby read my blog I'd say something cute here but... well... I love him anyway! :-) And thus, my Father's Day card to share!

What you've got here is the Guiding Light set from Flourishes, a mix of Webster's Pages Paper, a Curved Rectangle Spellbinder's Die, some Antique Linen Distress Ink (for the sentiment) Memento Tuxedo Black for the main image, some twine, a gromet, a little bit of stitching and a handful of Copic Markers (Flesh Tones 2, Water, Y21, and R27)! And that my friends, is all it takes!

My kids are so funny -- when I asked them what we should get their dad for dad's day -- they had a million ideas - "Let's get him a book", "Let's get him a ticket to opening day at the baseball field", "Let's get him beer - he likes beer!" So, we got him all those things and called it Dad's little relaxation basket. :-) It's so fun to watch the kiddos get excited about making someone elses day -- especially when it's their dad.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and a great end to your weekend! See you back here soon!

Inspired....

Have you ever seen something so beautiful in nature and have known that no picture or image could even do it justice? Well, I thought that, until I saw Marcella Hawley's art. I just love her take on flowers and can almost smell their sweet scent each time I stamp with them! Sounds corny, I know. But it's TRUE!

So, when Marcella sent me some photos of trumpetvine recently from her neighbor's garden, I knew what inspired her to draw the Humming Along set and... well.. I just had to grab that stamp set and a bunch of my Copics!

I have to admit that I made a mistake in some of the coloring -- those buds I colored green instead of the color of the flower.. OOPS! Darn, I guess I'll just have to color it a few dozen more times just so I can get it "right!" ;-)

I have to admit, for my creation below, I tried a new technique that I saw when I stumbled upon one card maker's website. I'd never heard of the drop shadow technique -- but boy did I want to try it after seeing Mary Giemza's work! She does stunning things. Check out the card she made HERE with Flourishes' Poppy Patch -- wow!

I knew when I tried this technique I would need to practice. And, honestly, this was my first and only attempt. I need to work on my background color a bit. I originally wanted it to be more subtle, but I know now that I could have beefed up the background a tad. After coloring up the image, I stamped the flower a second time and then using foam tape, popped up a few of the flowers, outlining the outside for the drop shadow effect with the grey tone Copic markers.

Heres a close up... (don't look too close!)

So, I guess you could say today's post was all about being inspired... by beautiful flowers found in nature's living color and by the talent of a fellow stamper who really has perfected a vibrant and intriguing technique! Sigh. That's what it's all about! ;-)

REMEMBER: if you like what you see in Flourishes' June release and are thinking about the new release bundle, it expires at the end of today! Meaning, the clock is ticking for you to get all four new stamp sets at 10% off! Just click HERE to check it out!

Now, hop on over and see what the DT cooked up on this Flourishes Friday Free-for-all. I know you won't be disappointed!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

See you back here soon!

Stamp Set: Humming Along
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics: Sweet Pea, Poppy, Green Grass, Cool Neutrals, Sky and Evergreen Collections
Paper: Flourishes Classic White, Green at Heart Basic Grey and 7 Gypsies Victorian
Extras: Spellbinders Nestabilities dies in Oval and Scalloped Oval, White Inkssentials gel pen

IO Challenge... Seeing RED!

Hi all and Happy Thursday! I have another IO Challenge to share and this one could have you seeing red!! This time, it's a color challenge and all you need to do is #1 use at least one Impression Obsession stamp and #2 showcase the color red! You can read up on the challenge HERE. We hope you play -- you could have your card featured on the IO Blog AND you just might win a $25 gift certificate to the IO store!

So... here goes! I wanted to make a birthday card to have in my stash and I used one of the brand new stamps just released by IO for its summer release! You can check it out all the new stamps HERE. Lots of fun stuff!


I used the new Everything's Rose Cupcake from Alesa Baker and colored it up with Copics I used E25,E27, E37, B00, R24, R27, R27, and then G40, G82 and G85 for the greens. From there, I stamped the sentiment - A Bit Sweeter - on a notched out strip of white card stock. The rest is really simple -- add some dp, a scalloped square (Nestabilities die), some stitching and a little bling and... done!

Here's a close up. You can see I had to add a little bit of pizazz with glitter! ;-)

So, if you are a fan of the color red, hope you make time to play! If you need a little extra inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the IO DT and see what they cooked up!

Deb
Jeanne
Jenny
Daniela
Laura
Dina
Kathy
Rosemary

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here soon! :-)

Nature is the Art of God....

Hi all and happy Wednesday! Hope your week has been beautiful. We've had some ups and downs in our family so, not a ton of time to stamp. So... the card I am going to show is really a super duper quick and easy card!

When I first set eyes on this new set from Marcella Hawley -- Ferns and Fiddles -- I just knew that it would be a great set for simply elegant creations. I love when you can just stamp in one color and it looks fantastic.

So... here goes!

Ok, pay attention -- this will be quick! :-) I stamped one of the ferns on a piece of Flourishes Classic Ivory card stock, cut it out with my labels 8 die from Spellbinders, sponged around the edges with Antique Linen and Brushed Cordoroy Distress Inks. Mat it onto a piece of Websters Pages decorative paper, sponge ink on the dp pieces, stamp a sentiment using Pesto Adirondack ink and one of the fern names along the other side of the paper using Bamboo Memento ink, add some twine and a button and a fun punched border (SU) and... da da da da! DONE!

Are ya still with me? :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with an IO challenge that is really easy and really fun! So... stay tuned!

Enjoy your day!

going, going... GONE!

Sale is closed...

Timeless Tuesday... on Sunday!

You could say I am REALLY late to the FTTC70 party. But, after making this creation and knowing that it qualified for Dee's White and Black plus one color challenge, I thought I'd go for it! If you want to see more about the challenge, you have one more day to try and play. Just click HERE!


I have to say, I also used one of the Page Maps sketches that was just released on the first of June. You can click here, and then click on Card Maps if you want to see!

This card is kind of a clean and simple design. My card was made using the Fanciful Flourishes set from Flourishes. After stamping my butterfly in Violet Mist Vivid ink and then the flourish butterfly over top in black -- I cut it out, popped it up and then matted it on a blossom die cut from Spellbinders. Add the Damask to the top of your piece of purple paper, add some trim and fabulous rhinestones and... you're almost done! I did stamp the smaller damask from the set and then put my sentiment over top front and center. Like I said, clean and simple!

Just a quick card and a quick post. I hope you are enjoying your weekend! We have had kind of a wet and chilly weekend (perfect stamping weather!). I actually made three cards yesterday -- which is really rare for one sitting. I like to spend hours coloring and I think these three cards took most of the day! Stay tuned, I'll be sharing those sometime this week!

Have a fabulous start to your week and I'll see you back here soon!

The Flourishes Grand Finale!

Hope you've enjoyed hanging out with me this week to see the new offerings from Flourishes. If you didn't see my post last night -- the sets are all live in the store as we speak - HERE! Today's set has a bit of sentimental value to it, and that's why I am so excited to share.....

This gorgeous set drawn by Marcella Hawley actually had my mom in tears. Why, you ask? Well, I'll try to make this story brief. When my dad passed away six years ago, my mom (as any widow would) had a really difficult time. Even though he had lung cancer and we knew his time on this beautiful earth was limited, nothing can really prepare you for the loss of the love of your life. She would pray and ask for a sign that my dad was OK. Nearly every time she prayed for that sign, she would be visited by this beautiful little hummingbird. The little guy would flutter in front of her window, almost as if he were on display! There's no question, the visits warmed her heart and brought a smile to her face.

Over the years, I've searched for just the perfect hummingbird stamp set to send to my mom since we both share a love of stamping and... well.... I never really found it - until now. Thanks to Marcella's talented hand, my mom, and crafty stampers worldwide can have this beautiful hummingbird and trumpetvine set.

Want to see what I crafted?

This card.really explains itself. I stamped the trumpet vine on Flourishes Classic White card stock and colored it up with the Dahlia, and Spring Greens Copic Collections grouped by Flourishes and then highlighted it with the marker, B000. I colored the hummingbird with the same collections and then added some YG63 to deepen portions of his wings. I had stamped him on some scrap, cut him out and popped him up as if he were just passing through! ;-) Add a fun sentiment (also from the set), a scalloped edge and... voila!

Here's a close up!

I am completely in love with this little bird! Now, don't forget to flutter on over to see what the rest of the design team crafted with this sweet set. Hop a few blogs, and you could be Humming Along too! :-)

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for joining me this week! I had a blast showcasing these fun new sets and hope you enjoyed stopping by! See you back here soon!

The suspense is over!

Thanks so much for joining me this week as I shared some of the Flourishes sneak peeks! Well, I am happy to report that the suspense is over and the sets are now live in the Flourishes store! So without further ado.... say hello to....

Swan Lake


Ferns & Fiddles



Life Lines



Humming Along


All four sets are a part of a special New Release Bundle! If you order the bundle, you save 10%! Click HERE to check it out! You can see all of the sets HERE on our home page. And, also some of the cards from this week will be in the Flourishes Gallery too! Don't forget, while the sets are live now, the DT will have plenty of eye candy tomorrow featuring our new Humming Along set-- so be sure to hop back and see!

Sneak Peeks.... day 2 & Release Party News!

We hope you are enjoying the sneak peeks that the design team is helping to usher in! Before I get too far ahead of myself and show you the next sneak, the DT has an invitation for you!

Be sure to join the DT tonight on Splitcoast as we chat, reveal all four new sets, share samples along with some fun and games! You can join us just by clicking HERE.

Now to the next set in our sneak peek line up! This set is an earthy, breath of fresh air that's perfect for note cards, guy cards or those creations when you just want a more organic look!

This set, Ferns & Fiddles, was hand drawn with pen and ink by Marcella Hawley and then set into polymer. It features a handful of different ferns and a fiddle. While getting ready for this set, I wasn't aware that a fiddle (a.k.a. fiddlehead) is the unfurled fronds of a young fern that's edible. You learn something new everyday! I do know, this set has it all -- beautiful fronds and fiddles that are sure to give your card a real natural and earthy feel!

Want to win this set? Simply leave a comment on this post. You also still have a chance to win all four of the new releases with the Sunshine and Blue Skies Challenge! Just click HERE, if you want to get in on the fun!

Moving on to my creation!

I just love the earthy feel of this set, so when I picked up these decorative papers from Webster's Pages, I knew that I wanted to create a rustic and aged look with my stamped image.

I used the Decked Edge Rectangle (did you see this die is on sale -- big time?) to create my shape, and while the die was still on my cut paper, I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and sponged on my background color. I then used the same ink with the background strip from the Thank You set to create my collage style background. After that, I stamped a few of the leaves from the set and colored them up with the Evergreen Copic Collection. I then used some Pesto Adirondack ink to stamp the sentiment in the corner and... voila!

Here's a close up....
To create my card, I matted it all up, added some stitching and THIS lovely cotton linen ivory ribbon. Pretty easy peasy.

I'm sure you won't want to miss what the design team created with this beautiful set! So, hop on over and see....

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

You'll have to swing back tomorrow for our final sneak peek day. Not only will all the sets be live in the Flourishes store, but we'll share a sweet set that could just take your breath away! Until then, Happy Stamping and we hope to see you tonight at Flourishes' Release Party!

Let Flourishes June Sneak Peeks Begin!

Hi all! Flourishes is jump starting their sneak peeks for their June release with a peaceful, easy feeling!

Introducing...

What I love about these sets is the fact that they go so well together. First, Swan Lake features a series of nature stamps that you can use to create your own Swan Lake scene! There's water hydrangea, cygnets, natural grasses, cattails and a hanging willow branch. This set is a perfect match for one of the new sentiment sets that Flourishes is releasing called Life Lines. All are beautiful nature inspired sentiments for those all occassion cards and creations!

Ok... moving on to my card!

When I looked at the new Swan Lake set, I saw an oval shape with bits and pieces of this set peaking through -- and so that is what I aimed to do! I stamped the swan, the grasses and the willow branch, colored it up with Copic Markers (Water, Violet, Fields, Cool Neutrals and the medium orange in the Tiger Lily collection -- all grouped by Flourishes) After I was done, I matted it up using some Webster's Pages decorative paper. For my shapes I used an oval Nestability die and a Big Scalloped Oval Nestie die. Add some sewing, paper piercing and a "delightful" sentiment with the new Life Lines set and... voila! You can't see it in my photo, but I did add some Crystal Glitter Glue to the flowers and foliage to give it a kind of fairy tale feel.

This Week at Flourishes

Don't want to wait until Flourishes' Official Release to order our new sets? Check out the web store's home page to see how you can preorder all four fabulous sets! Click HERE to check it out!

Want to win all four new sets? You still have a chance if you enter our Sunshine and Blue Skies Challenge! Click HERE to check it out! The challenge ends Friday, June 11th at 5 PM Eastern!

Join the DT for the POWER HOUR Release Party at the NEW TIME! Join us Thursday, June 10th at 9PM CST. We'll not only unveil all of the new sets, but showcase inspiring cards and projects! We'll have fun, games, giveaways, and of course, lots of chatter with our design team! You can join the party HERE on the Flourishes Forum over on SCS!

Now, feel free to hop on over and see the rest of the DT's sneaks!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

See you back here tomorrow for day two of the sneaks! Tomorrow's set features an earthy and warm set of designs that are rich in elegance. Interested? Be sure to check back!

Celebrate the Day!

Hi all and happy Monday! It's the second official day of summer vacation and I've made it this far! :-) I haven't even had one "I'm BORED!" yet. Maybe this is a sign of something good.

If any of you have read my blog for any time, you know that the only flowers I can truly grow are on my cards. I have a bit of a brown thumb! My potted plants make it -- usually a month -- and then they start to wither in the crispy summer sun. I am hoping this summer is different! :-)
In the meantime, I got inky last weekend with the SCS VSN and haven't showed this card that I made yet for a floral challenge.

I recently picked up THIS stamp set from Impression Obsession-- I just love Alesa Baker's stamps. There is something sweet and charming about her designs. I colored it up with Copics and used some of the Collections that Flourishes grouped. I used Spring Greens, Cool Neutrals, Sunflower, and Dahlia. The gloves and little spade were actually stamped on scrap, cut out and then arranged on my die cut circle. Frame it on a piece of decorative paper that was cut from Labels 4 Spellbinders Nestie shape and then the rest is matting it up! Add a punched border, some K & Company dp and then add some black satin ribbon, gold pearls and a button.. and done!

Here's a close up....

Before I bid you adieu, I wanted to share a bit of the family's Sunday. It's hysterical -- I tell the family that I want to go for a hike. The kids groan. We pack up the car and once we get there, everyone has fun. Go figure! Thought I would share a few of the pics! We went to the Beartooth Mountains to a place called the Lower Lake Fork Trail for a five mile hike. Oh... the fresh mountain air!

Here's the kiddos trying to skip rocks...
Here's a pic of the Rock Creek. The trail we took kind of winded around this little creek....

This was a shot from over one of the wooden bridges...

And last, but not least the finale of our walk -- seeing some of the waterfalls cascade from the mountain tops... This was really, really pretty in real life!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a nice and relaxing weekend too! See you back here soon......

Sunshine & Blue Skies....

Hey all! Yep, another challenge for you this week! This one is to get ready for Flourishes June Release! So, here are the deets on the challenge! As Flourishes gets ready to unveil a whole new crop of stamps, the DT is challenging you to share a bit of what we love about summer ---those bright blue skies and sunny days! It's a Release Week Color Challenge that could have you walking away with our entire June release! To be in the running, all you need to do is use some combination of blue and yellow. It can be any shade!

I chose more of a turquoise and yellow for my creation!

This card is really pretty simple. I picked some polka dotted decorative paper, cut it into a rectangle and then stamped my image onto the decorative paper. I had been wanting to try this ever since Maki did a tutorial over on the Flourishes Blog about really making the most of your decorative paper. You can check out her post HERE. After I stamped the Gerbera Daisies onto my background paper, I stamped it a second time so that I could pop up part of the daisy over my sentiment strip. I used the Water, Spring Greens and Daffodil Copic Collections grouped by Flourishes to color. Then, add a butterfly on some punched circles... and you're almost done! I accented the dot on the butterfly's wings with an Inkssentials pen. Add a scalloped border and some paper piercing and.. done!

Here's a close up of my little butterfly. I just love this lil guy! As you can see, I stamped and colored the front wing twice so that I could pop up one of his lil wings.

Ok, wanna make time to play? To enter, you have until Friday, June 11th at 5 PM EST for your chance to win! Use Flourishes stamps if you have them, but if you don’t, please play along anyway. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCJUN10. Keep in mind, in order to be eligible, you need to link your creation here on today's post using the Inlinkz linky. Good luck! We can’t wait to see those sunny and blue skies!

Want to see what our ever-so-talented design team whipped up in these warm and bright shades of yellow and blue? Skip on over to see....

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! See ya back here soon!

IO Challenge... Let's go to the Beach!

Hi all! It's time for another Impression Obsession challenge! And, this one could put a bit of sand in your shoes! The theme is... let's go to the beach! You can find out more about the challenge here on the IO blog. If you play, you could win a $25 gift certificate to the IO store...so grab those IO stamps and get inky! :-)

For my creation, I knew I wanted to use these fun floral flip flops! And, I also knew I wanted to use some bright colored paper to do a bit of paper piecing...

So, I stamped the flip flops a couple times on turquoise, lime green and pink decorative paper. Cut it out, and piece it together. The rest is just matting it up on some textured paper that I had run through my die cut machine with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. I added a scallped edge and... then, the only thing that ws left was to add a fun little sentiment. I stamped Sending happy thoughts onto a punched circle, added a little bow and button and... voila! After I was done, I did add some glittle glue to my flower and also the little flowers on the insole of the flip flop.

And that, my friends, is it! You'll have to make time to give this challenge a try and be sure to stop by the other very talented IO Designers' Blogs and join them on their little stretch of the beach!

Daniela
Dina
Jenny
Jeanne
Laura
Kathy

Thanks for stopping by!! See you back here soon! :-)

I'm going Challenge CRAZY!!

Ok, someone might need to call the authorities because I am going challenge crazy lately. Someone might need to tell me -- 'Stop, put your hands up and step away from the challenge blogs!' I know I am preaching to the choir with some of you... so.. how about a little enabling instead? ;-)

I only had a short time Tuesday to create, so I wanted to make it count! So, this little card below is actually for two challenges -- Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge,which was to create a one layer card. And, second, for Flourishes Christmas Spirit Challenge! For the Christmas Spirit challenge, you were supposed to use this photo as your inspiration....

And so... off I went. I really loved the bits of silver and pop of red. And, so.... here goes!
I really loved the bits of silver and pops of red in the photo and so.. that's what I picked up on! Marry that with the one layer challenge and that's what you get! I have to say, this is one of -- if not the only -- one layer card I've created in my 10-plus years of stamping. I've always been afraid! :-)

The details are rather simple. I stamped the word Rejoice, it's from a discontinued Flourishes set in Versamark ink, embossed with silver detail embossing powder and then colored my image with Copic Markers -- R29, R59, YG99 and G85. I did outline my image with B0000 to give it a softer look. Add a bit of bling and some great two tone May Arts ribbon and... voila! A ten minute creation to add to my Christmas Card stash!!

Be sure to check out both challenges because there are some prizes on the line! Just click the links above.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with -- YES-- another challenge! :-) Tomorrow, the gals from IO are ushering in a fun one, so stay tuned!