Christmas on the Coast....

Hi all and happy Sunday! I hope life in your corner of the world is treating you well! We've had a fun-filled weekend so far and the weather has been just gorgeous.

I didn't get a chance to stamp, but I do have a O2M, N2U (old to me, new to you!) card. I created this for Impression Obsession's booth for CHA....

While I live near the mountains, I thought it was fun to play with this image above, to just "pretend!" It's from the set Beachy Christmas. The sentiment is called Season's Greetings and was just stamped on a punched oval and attached to a bow made from linen ribbon. I stamped it up on white card stock, cut it out with the help of a Labels 8 Spellbinders die and... I also colored it up with Copic Markers (YG63, Y21, Y23, R29, Y15, BG11, BG0000, W1, W3, W5, E31, E33) When I was done, I added some Liquid Applique to the areas where the "waves" would be. I also added some sparkle with the help of a clear Copic Spica Atyou pen and some glitter glue. For the mat, I took the Labels 8 Spellbinders die and ran it through twice with two different decorative papers - cut them in half and stitch them together for a different look - mat on some gingham green decorative paper and... voila... done!

Take care everyone... now that soccer, football, bowling, birthday parties and more are underway at my house, I hope you all have some fun and get crafty for me! ;-)

See you back here soon!

p.s. Thanks everyone for all your well wishes when I was down for the count with a cold. I am happy to report that thanks to some rest and lots of vitamin C, I sent the cold packing! ;-)

Free for all Friday!

When the Flourishes gals get a wild hair and want to just be "free" we call it Free for All Friday and each do our own spin on a creation and share with the help of a little blog hop. So... here goes!

For my creation, I actually picked up a french fry container that I had kept in my stamp room for literally... years! See???
I know. I am a pack rat. My husband thinks it is nuts some of the things I keep "just in case" I might want to alter it or use it as a template. For this creation, I decided to use my fry box as a guide and I traced it right on to the back of my decorative paper.

I cut off the top part of the fry container because I knew I wanted to be able to emboss the curve along the bottom front....

Use a foam mat, a stylus and... voila!
And, here's what my covered container looks like...

I realized that I probably should have used a double sided paper so that I didn't have to cover the other side. I guess... that's a tip for you! :-)

And, once I got done assembling, this is what I came up with... a quick and relatively easy treat box... perfect for those little sweeties in your life! I used the new Witching you a Happy Halloween set from Flourishes. (Today is the last day to order this set as a part of the New Release Bundle-- all four sets for 10% off) Moving on! I stamped the pumpkin, masked it, and then stamped the cute cat in the background. Color it up with Copics (from the Tigerlily, Cool Neutrals and Fields Collections grouped by Flourishes) and then... add some razzle dazzle with glitter glue. I also added a black and white gingham ribbon for a handle and punched a couple circles for the message tag. I attached the tag with the help of some black burlap string. See?

And that, my friends, is it! I have to admit, while the Reese's cups are alive and well in this pic -- they are flat out gone at my house. It took 3.2 seconds for the kiddos to smell chocolate and attack! :-)

Hope you make time to hop on over and see what the rest of the Flourishes gals whipped up this fun-filled Friday!

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

See you back here soon!

old to me... new to you!

Hi all... I've been M.I.A. so far this week. Not to completely bore you... ;-) but I've been down for the count with a head cold. UGH! Hopefully one more day of rest and vitamins and I can beat this. Wish me luck!

Moving on... I have an Old 2 Me -- New 2 You card to show y'all! I made this one for Impression Obsession's booth at CHA and... just never showed it here!

I just love when you can pick up a few stamps, some fun paper and bam... you can have a fun and easy card in a jiffy! This card is super duper quick. I stamped this fun background -- Cover a Card Notebook in Summer Sky Memento ink, and then, I stamped the dandelion silhouette (Silhouette 11) over top in black and light blue ink. After that... add a sentiment - Just a Note, some decorative paper, some stitching, some gingham ribbon and.. bling! Done!

Hope you are having a good week. I am looking forward to some down time from work and hopefully, no more sniffles and sneezes!

See you back here soon!

And... the winner is....

Thanks all for leaving some fun comments for my blog candy! They always make me smile! After running the number through random.org... here's a peek at the winner!


DENISE G. come on down! You are the lucky winner of your very own Apple of My Eye set!!!! Shoot me your snail mail addy to: juliekoerber@bresnan.net and I'll get your winnings sent right out to you! :-)

A Grand Finale!

Hi all! Today is what you'd call the Grand Finale for Flourishes September Release! And, today, Flourishes showcases not one, but two fabulous sets drawn by the talented Lauren Pope. One has you daydreaming of places far and wide, the other brings the sweet smell of timeless flowers perfect for any time of the year!

Introducing....

And.....

Both are sets you can turn to for all occassion cards! One set - Windows to the World - might have you saying "Caio" or "Aloha!" The other - Fuchsias in Bloom - is a beautiful and classic set that comes with some beautifully scripted and meaningful sentiments. Would you like to win these sets? Simply leave us a comment over on the Flourishes Blog today HERE!

On to my creations! I just love this new set from Lauren Pope. There's a kind of serenity in each image. For my card, I picked up the Tuscan Villa. I imagine looking at the beautiful hillside with a glass of vino in my hand! ;-) My card is pretty sweet and simple! I stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento onto Flourishes Classic Ivory, colored with Copics (Sunflower, Fields, Falling Leaves, Cool Neutrals, and Poppy Collections grouped by Flourishes). I also used the Y21 from the Sunflower set to accent the oval by just leaving the Spellbinders die on my shape and then highlight the edge with my marker and blending with a Copic Blender Pen. Add some ribbon, a sentiment on a punched oval, some stitching, a punched border and.... voila!

Here's a close up......

On to my second card with the new Fuchsias in Bloom set!

After stamping my image on Flourishes Classic White Card Stock, I used the Petite Ovals Spellbinder die to cut my Fuchsia shape and then colored with Copics, using the Dahlia and Spring Green Collections and then I highlighted with B0000 around the edge of my Fuchsia. The rest is just matting it up! I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder (Victoria)and "debossed" sanding the wrong side of the paper to highlight the indents. Add some stitching, some pink cotton linen ribbon, a Cuttlbug corner die and then... some pearls and.. done!

The rest of the gals on the Design Team has created some breathtaking cards with both of these sets, so you get double the fun when you stop by and say hi to them over at their places on the web! Some of them even have BLOG CANDY to dole out! So, what are you waiting for?

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

And.... one last reminder! Did you see all the ways you can help Flourishes celebrate their 3rd birthday? You could end up winning one of three... yes three prize packages valued at more than $150!!! Here are the 3 ways for you to win! "Like" us on Facebook.. just click HERE.. and you will have a chance at winning 10 Flourishes sets (including this release), click on "Join this Site" here on our blog for another chance! Or, get in on our Look Who's 3 Challenge! You can read up on it HERE. You have until TODAY at 5 PM Central!!

Thanks so much for joining us this week! Hope you had as much fun as I did! :-)

Did you see????

After being tempted and teased all week with the Design Team's delish samples, we are happy to report that the sets are now live and ready for the picking in the Flourishes Store! Here's a peek at....

Apple of my Eye

Witching you a Happy Halloween

Fuchsias in Bloom

Windows to the World

Keep in mind, if you buy all three in the New Release Bundle HERE, you get all three sets for 10% off! This offer is only good through September 25th!

We hope you had fun this week! Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see what our ever-so-talented design team whipped up with our new Windows to the World set! The samples are so beautiful, you just may start to have an itch to travel! ;-)

Take a Peek at these Sweet Treats

Welcome to day 2 of Flourishes Sneak Peeks!!! This cute and sassy set drawn by Marcella Hawley is sure to give you a warm glow! Jack O'Lanterns, bats, witches' brooms and hats -- these are just some of the spunky and spooky offerings! On top of it all, this set features 8 different sentiments perfect for your tricks and treats! Would you like to win this set? Simply leave us a comment over on the Flourishes Blog HERE. The winner will be picked and announced Saturday in Flourishes' Winner's Circle!

On to my creation! I absolutely LOVE the images in this set. And when I saw the witches boot and hat, I knew I wanted to mask it up to make my own little witches scene!

I stamped the boot, masked, stamped it again, to look as if the witch was just standing there showing off her designer heels and matching hat! :-) I then stamped the hat on a separate piecce of Flourishes Classic White card stock, colored it up with Copics (Cool Neutrals, Spring Green, Tiger Lily -- all grouped by Flourishes) From there, mat it up with some designer paper, stitching, a sentiment "flag"(also from the set!), and then... add some glitz with the help of some glitter glue!

Here's a close up to show the shimmer!

I can honestly say, I had a ton of fun with this set and know that I will pick it up to make the kiddos Halloween treats for school!

Be sure to skip on over to see the DT and their sweet offerings! Some of them even have some treats in the form of some BLOG CANDY too! So, be sure to stop by and say "HI" to them all!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

And, don't forget your invitation!

We would love it if you joined us tonight as we gear up for FUN, GAMES & GIVEAWAYS for our POWER HOUR Release Party! We'll show off all the latest releases and chat it up with some of your favorite Flourishes designers! The party kicks off over at the Flourishes Member Company Forum over on Splitcoast Stampers!

Be sure to check back - our final peek tomorrow is actually TWO new sets both with their own unique flair! One is full of elegant beauty, the other will take you on a journey worldwide! See you tonight at the party!

The Flourishes Sneak Peeks are HERE!

Are you ready for a whole new batch of Flourishes stamps, just in time for the fall stamping season? Today kicks off the three days of sneak peeks and this stamp set today, is going to be one of my all time faves... I just know it!

I don't know about you but when I think of Autumn, I cherish the changing of leaves and the spiced smells of hot cider cooking on the stove. Add Marcella Hawley into that equation and you "meet" Flourishes' first lovely set that is ripe for fall!

Introducing...



This set not only features a gorgeous cluster of apple blossoms but there are lots of additional images that are perfect for fall creations... a hot mug of cider, a carmeled apple, and... more! Of course, a set wouldn't be complete without a beautiful array of sentiments to mix and match! Would you like to win this set? Simply leave a comment HERE sharing with us your favorite thing about fall! Winners will be picked this coming Saturday!

On to my creation! There are times when I look at an image and it just begs to be colored with colored pencils. When I first set my sights on this set, I just knew, I had to pull out the colored pencils for this one!

When I color with colored pencils, I love to layer the color -- I start with the darkest shades and then draw the color in and blend as I go. For the apple, I used Prismacolor Pencils in Indigo Blue (for only the darkest shading), Tuscan Red, Raspberry, Scarlet Lake, Poppy Red, Crimson Red, and Carmine Red. I also used a colorless blender in the areas I wanted to leave white. For the leaves I used: Dark Green, True Green, Apple Green, and then blended with cream. For the flower petals, I used Deco Pink and then blended with White for a softer look.

Here's a close up! For my card-- I kept it simple with some Basic Grey decorative paper (Basic Kraft and Jovial paper lines), add some twine, stitching and a button and call it good! I also scored around the edges of my image with the Scor-Buddy. LOVE that tool!

DO YOU WANT AN EXTRA CHANCE TO WIN THIS SET??? Just leave me a comment here on this pot for a chance at winning your own Apple of my Eye set! I'll draw and announce one lucky winner this coming Saturday!

FYI: I'm not the only one giving away some extra goodies! When you visit some of the other DT member's blogs, you will not only get some eye candy, but some have BLOG CANDY too! So, be sure to stop by and say "hi" to....

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence... has blog candy!

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Laura Fredrickson

Leslie Miller....has blog candy!

Stacy Morgan

There are lots of fun things going on over at Flourishes this week! If you haven't stopped by the blog to check it out -- you need to! There are three grand prize giveaways each with TEN free sets being given away to help Flourishes celebrate turning THREE! So click HERE to check out all the ways you can win! You'll also find out about the POWER HOUR Release Party, which is coming up Thursday night! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check back - our sneak tomorrow is sure to scare up some fun! I've been told by some of my fellow DT members that this set is one of the best they've seen when it comes to the Night of Fright! :-) oooooOOOOoooo!!! Betcha can't wait! See you then!

Where Oh Where are the Sneak Peeks???

So...where are the Flourishes sneak peeks? If you stop by my place regularly, you are probably expecting some Sneak Peeks from Flourishes about this time, and gosh, I have to admit, this release rocks and I can't wait to take the lid off and show you! But, we've run into a little glitch in production ...so we're delaying the Release one week. :-( (see the link for more info). The good news is you have an extra week to get in on the Release Week Birthday Challenge and enter to win the crazy awesome $150 prize in Flourishes Stamps!

Before I go... do you want a little sneak peek of one project I've got wrapped up for next week???
See you back here soon! :-)

Beautifully Rustic!

Hi all... it's time for Flourishes' Bring Back Beautiful Challenge for September! Mark your calendars because we'll be ushering in a new challenge... every first Monday of the month! This challenge that kicks off today asks YOU to try to capture the feel of fall! As the leaves start to change colors to usher in fall, Flourishes wants to see your rustic beauty! Want to use a little distressing? How about just shades of rust on your creation? It's up to YOU! You can click HERE for all the official BBB02 details! You'll also see some fabulous eye candy from what Flourishes calls.... their first ever "True Beauties!"

On to my creation! I am not great at distressing on cards -- I dabble in it a little here and there but nothing major! ;-) I decided to take this challenge and turn instead to rustic colors!

I used a mix of the new Basic Grey Curio paper (on it's way soon to the Flourishes Store!!) and the Victorian pack from 7 Gypsies. From there, I picked up the Gerber Daisies set -- this is one of my go-to stamp sets. I just love coloring up these flowers -- in all shades! I wanted this version to look almost washed out when it ended up on my card. I used the Falling Leaves and Evergreen Copic Collections grouped by Flourishes and blended the flowers with YR000. Score the edges (with my favorite new Score Buddy!), add the sentiment thanks to a few oval punches, add a few brads, some fun ribbon, an understated border punch and... voila... all ready to go!!

Want to catch a glimpse of the rustic beauty delivered by the rest of the "Beauty Girls?" Be sure to click on over and see.....

Beate Johns
Becca Feeken
Cindy Coutts
Kathy Jones
Michelle Woerner
Yvonne Hagane

So get rustic and get creative! We'd love to see how you Bring Back Beautiful in your own creations! See you back here soon!

The Look Who's 3 Challenge!

Did you know we all blinked, and Flourishes turned 3 years old? Even though August was the company's birthday month, we felt better late than never! Flourishes is throwing itself a belated party and you can get in on the action! Can you say THREE chances at a birthday present for YOU? Each valued at more than $150?

The first way to win????? Play along in......

HOW TO PLAY! Enter Flourishes Release Week Challenge by making a birthday card honoring Flourishes big day and you and you’ll be in the running to win all FOUR of our releases for September PLUS 6 extra stamp sets! You have until Friday, September 10th at 5 PM EST to enter 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 FLLCSEPT10. Keep in mind, in order to be eligible, you need to link your creation HERE in this post using the inlinkz linky. We can’t wait for you to join the birthday bash!

OTHER WAYS TO WIN:
You can “LIKE” Flourishes on Facebook! The fabulous Dawn Burnworth is now the hostess with the mostess over on our new Flourishes Facebook page ! Join us for almost daily inspiration, news about new product in the store, sales, challenges… you name it!If your name is drawn here out of the list of those that “like” Flourishes, you’ll win 10—yes 10 new sets courtesy of Flourishes.

Or, you could “Follow” our Flourishes blog! If you are a follower now, you’ll automatically be entered into the grand prize drawing. If you don’t follow us yet, you don’t want to miss out. If you win, you get 10 new sets from the Flourishes Warehouse with your name on it! FUN!

Moving on to my understated birthday card.... I wanted to create a "sweet" birthday card and so I picked up Flourishes Cherries and Peaches set, colored it up with Copics in the Poppy and Fields Collections grouped by Flourishes. Add a little pink chalk around the edges, cut it out with a Spellbinders Circle Die, mat it on a Blossoms die cut shape (also from Spellbinders) and the rest is just adding a dash of ribbon, a whimsical button, a fun sentiment and a little bit of stitched dp (both from BasicGrey)and.... Ta-Dah! :-)

Want to see how the other gals helped light the candles on Flourishes' birthday cake????

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

Thanks so much for stopping by! TGIF!!!

Hey all! Ready for fall y'all? Well, the IO gals are... Halloween to be specific and that's at the heart of one of this month's Impression Obsession challenges! You can click HERE for all the details. It's a fun challenge because you can win a mini-shopping spree in the IO store!

Ok, the challenge is called... the Shake It challenge. Well apparently I shook too hard because all I could remember was Halloween not the Halloween Shaker Challenge. So... OOPS! I'd say I had a blonde moment, but... well... I'm not blonde! :-)

Moving on! This card couldn't be any easier! I used one of the new Cover a Card backgrounds called Cover-a-Card Halloween. That's the whole top of my card on some distressed orange decorative paper (BasicGrey). Add some distressed edges and random stitching and you are almost done! Seriously! Add some more decorative paper on the bottom, some crochet lace and fun gingham and the next is just stamping and punching the sentiment called Hallow's Eve. You can see I did add a little white dot to one of the pumpkin's eyes just to ramp up the freaky factor.

Want to see some of my other IO gals shake it?? :-)

Dina
Kathy
Daniela
Jenny
Jeanne

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here soon!

A Pair of EXCITING Challenges!

Every quarter, Becky Fleck of PageMaps dishes out 10 fabulous sketches to get those creative juices flowing with her CardMaps. Well, this month, some of the lovely ladies from Flourishes did the honors and took her sketches to bring CardMaps to life with beautiful and creative samples for each and every sketch. To check out CardMaps for September, click HERE. And, don't forget to hop on over to each of the ladies' sites to see their creative work and leave them some love!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Maki Jones
Barbara Anders
Betty Wright

Now to my creation! Here's a peek at Becky's fabby sketch...

And, here's my card!Pretty easy peasy... I used some decorative paper adorned with a flourish (this is from my scrap!), add a scalloped border, a ruffled ribbon, a button and... you're almost there! The flower is from the recently released Sunflowers set and was colored with the Flesh Tones 2, Sunflower and Poppy Copic Collections grouped by Flourishes. Meantime, cut out a circle accented with Y21 and Y23 from the Sunflower Copic Collection, Add a distressesd mat from the Blossoms 1 Spellbinders Die. Cut the flower out with detail scissors and pop it up with the help of some foam tape. Since I wanted a big scallop and didn't have a tool to create this kind of border, I actually took a 3/4" circle punch, punched a bunch of them and overlapped the circles to create my scalloped edge. And that, my friends, is it!

Now, if that wasn't enough -- 10 beautiful and fun-filled sketches -- then hold onto your hats because we have another challenge that could have you turning BLUE! That' right, it's the 1st of September, which means it's time for another Christmas Spirit Challenge!

HERE'S HOW TO PLAY: Be inspired by that famous Elvis tune, 'I'm dreaming of a blue Christmas' and use blue to create this month's card. When you wrap it up with a bow, just link up to the SCS challenge thread here and you'll be in the running to win a Flourishes Christmas stamp set of your choice!! Fun stuff! If you've played in the past, you can check out the SCS thread to see who August's lucky winner was! ;-)

I've gotten a few emails from you gals asking how my dear mom is settling in. Well, she's good! This was a huge move to make -- from Michigan to here in Montana. If you have a second and want a giggle, you'll have to read up on one of her first experiences here in town.... HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!