Creating... out of the box!

Hi all and TGIF!  Today, I thought I'd take you on a creative tour to have you all 'thinking out of the box' when it comes to creating! You'll see what I mean, right about... now!

So many of us just cling to the standard 4-1/4" by 5-1/2" creations. But, thanks to the folks at Spellbinders, you don't have to get stuck in a rectangle rut! Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Dies and the Grand Calibur machine make it so easy! Want to see?

I started my creation with the Labels One Grand Nestabilities Die...



As you can see, I let my die bleed off the edge of my folded card ever so slightly!



And this, my friends is the finished card!



To create my card, I used the same die and some decorative paper. After embossing, I used the embossed line as my "guide" to cut off the extra 1/8". I used this as my mat to reveal some of the white on my shapely card. And, here's a peek at my finished creation!


You can see, that I did do some paper piercing around the edge of my circle. Here's how I did that....



While my Standard Circle Nestabilities die was still on my paper, I used my paper piercer and mat and just followed the line of the die.



And here's a close up of my colored image! I used Copic markers (of course) and reached for the Crocus and Fields collections grouped by Flourishes. The stamp set is one of Flourishes' newest -- Zinnias. Shhh! The sentiment is actually from a set that hasn't been released yet. I thought, however, that it was perfect for this card and decided to give you a peek! ;-) Some of the paper is from the BasicGrey Sweet Threads collection and the silk ribbon is Christmas Green.

As I was looking for inspiration, I actually didn't have to go far! The Flourishes Gallery is chocked full of fun creations and many of the designers "did" think out of the box. You can head on over to today's post over on the Flourishes Blog for more inspiration! Speaking of inspiration, you can hop on over to the Flourishes gals' blogs to see what they whipped up this Free for All Friday!

• Barbara Anders
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Dawn Burnworth
• Julie Koerber  -- you are here!
• Leslie Miller
• Stacy Morgan

Happy creating and I'll see you back here soon!

A little free for all!

Hi all and TGIF! Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend. I plan to RELAX. :-) Today some of the Flourishes gals whipped up some creations with the June release. I, am however not in that category. Can you believe I woke up to a computer crash? So, no time to create today. So, you could say the creation I'm going to share today is perfect for my attitude!!

Just an easy peasy creation! I stamped the sun and sentiment from Flourishes recent April Showers set. I used some gingham paper I had in my stash, a bit of ribbon, cute button and the rest is just matting it up. I used Spellbinders Eyelet Circles for my main mat (cut thanks to my Grand Callibur machine), cut and embossed and then sanded the embossed edges to reveal the paper's white core. The image was stamped on Flourishes Classic White with Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored up with Copics - I used the Daffodil and Water collections grouped by Flourishes and then added a little more highlighting with B0000. Oh, and you can't forget the Stickles Diamond Glitter glue on the clouds! The edge of my dp was also paper pierced. And that, my friends, is it!

Be sure to check out what the other Flourishes gals cooked up on this free-for-all Friday! Remember, today is the last day to take advantage of Flourishes New Release Bundle for June! The bundle lets you get 10% off, if you purchase the new release in a bundle. You can click HERE to check it out!

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

You should know that Christine is having a huge blog candy fest -- there are THREE huge prizes on the line and you can read all about it HERE! Speaking of blog candy. I am really close to having 1,000 posts AND I just passed my 4 year blogoversary. So, in the coming weeks I'll be having some big blog candy of my own! Stay tuned!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope your weekend is blessed with good times!
~Julie

Cards 4 Kids!

Hello all and Happy Tuesday! Some of you might know that my mom -- a.k.a. the Rubbermaid -- started a little project for the kids in her home town Children's hospital. She started Cards 4 Kids, which delivers hand made cards to those kiddos who need a little cheering up! Well, not too long ago, we got together and made a bunch of cards to send and I wanted to share a few with..... YOU!

I have to say all of the layouts are really simple because, let's face it, kids are more interested in the cute images than they are in the buttons and bling! So, for starters, I picked up one of my favorite Penny Black images from a clear set called Toadily.....don't you just love these froggies?

The inside says.... "UNFROGETTABLE!" Too cute, right? I colored these guys with copic markers and, while you can't tell, I did add some glitz thanks to glitter glue to the spots and to the wings of those little flies.

The second card is actually one I CASED from my Flourishes "sister" Danielle Kennedy. She sent me THIS little creation last fall for my birthday and I have to tell you that it still, to this day sits on my inspiration board and makes me SMILE!

Here's my version... no bling on this one though since I wanted to make sure this little guy could go to either a boy or a girl if needed. I am sorry but that mouse is tooooooo stinkin' cute! The mouse is called Crumbs Away from Eat Cake Graphics and the little flag is a set from Laura Pryor's Little Inker Designs.


Here's a close up....that lil guy's got gusto!
So, my friends, that's it! These creations are two of a few dozen that will soon make their way over to Children's Hospital of Michigan for the kiddos there to hopefully brighten their days!

Hope your Tuesday is looking sunny in your neck of the woods.... see you back here soon!

~Julie

Two kits... one way with some mojo mixed in!

Hi all! Hope you all had a marvelous weekend. Our little family the hills for some camping and I have to say, it felt SO nice to just be unplugged for a while! We sat by the fire, told some stories, listened to some good music and just had good old fashioned family time.

When I got back, I did have some down time to do some coloring. I actually made the trip down five houses to my mom's house and we shared some coffee and coloring time. Nice, right?

Today, I'm showing one card layout, two ways with two different Flourishes kits and a fun Mojo Monday sketch! Here's a peek at the sketch.....

For my first card, I picked up Flourishes 123 Create Kit called Venice. What I really wanted to show is just how easy it is to create when you have 1. a sketch and 2. color coordinated items that you can pick up and use and know... they all match! Honestly, if I was mixing and matching on my own and creating my own layout, these two cards would have taken double the time... easily!

On to card #1.... After cutting my items to make 4 strips of paper and adding the scalloped edge thanks to a circle punch, all of the items were taken straight from the kit -- the paper, the ribbon and the little pearls! Gotta love that! I stamped one of the flowers from Flourishes brand new Zinnias set and colored it up to match my paper. I know these colors don't occur naturally in nature! ;-) I used BG72, BG11 and BG000. The inside was done with the Falling Leaves and Fields Copic collections grouped by Flourishes. My shapes were created by running a Spellbinders Classic Circle, Blossom and one of the small flags from the Nested Lacey Pennants through my Grand Callibur machine. On the Blossom shape, I did emboss and then sanded the edges to reveal the paper's white core.

Here's a closeup...

Now, for a peek at card #2!

This card was created entirely by using Flourishes 123 Create Kit called Yacht Club. Basically all of the same elements were used -- die cut shapes, and layout. The only change is the way I colored up my flowers -- again -- not sure these occur naturally in nature either!. I used a mix of the Fuchsia, Sunflower, Green Grass, and Poppy Copic Collections. The ribbon, paper and little embellie is all a part of the kit!

Here's a close up for you...

And that, my friends, is it! If you want to check out the kits, click HERE. If you want to check out the Mojo Monday sketch, click HERE to check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by! See y'all back here soon! ;-) If you want to check out Sharon Doolittle , Christine Okken and Dawn Burnworth's places on Monday, they will all have creations using one or both of these kits too!

~Julie

The Flourishes Grand Finale!!

Hi all and welcome to the grand finale of Flourishes Sneak Peeks! If you hop on over to the Flourishes Store, you’ll see all of our offerings for June are ready for the taking (or shopping!). Before we put the wraps on this release week, we thought we’d give you one more chance to WIN with one last noon time challenge! If you hop through the link list below), you’ll find....

Each designer has a letter on their noon-time
blog post today!

What's my letter? Check it out!

Take all of the letters from this hop and see if you can unscramble the hidden word! Now be sure to hop on over and grab the rest of the letters at these designers’ blogs!

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller -- her letter is E!
Stacy Morgan


After you’ve unscrambled the word, all you need to do is email us at flourishes@bresnan.net. Your name will go in the hat to win the entire Flourishes' June release! So, put that thinking cap on and let’s test out your word skills! Good luck! You have until tonight at 5PM CST to enter! Don’t forget to find out who won all of Flourishes challenges this week in Flourishes Winner Circle. Flourishes will post all the lucky names over on the Flourishes Blog tomorrow at noon CST.

Garden Fresh Goodness...

Hello all and welcome to the last of the sneak peeks for Flourishes June release! This one just might have your mouth watering thinking about all the fresh produce that is just now starting to hit the stands! Flourishes has gotten a lot of requests for veggies and finally, it's delivering!

Introducing...

You can almost taste the fresh goodness of summer looking at this set called Garden Fresh designed by Marcella Hawley. With a healthy bunch of radishes or beets, deliciously sweet snap peas and fresh-picked carrots, this set is ready to plant itself onto your creations! Three main images plus a series of sentiments that will help you deliver some of summer's best - not just in cards, but in gift tags, recipe cards, canning labels and more!

Speaking of Recipe Cards.... Flourishes has two new digital downloads that are PERFECT for labels and recipes! Be sure to check out their new Fresh Labels and Fresh Recipes downloads! I used both on my creation today.

On to my creation! I wanted to make something that would be good for potlucks or for barbecues that you could make and give to honor the hostess. So, I put my thinking cap on. You might think this is just a regular card, but you'll find out, it's a little more.

For my creation, I used a portion of Flourishes new 123 Create Kit called Yacht Club. The paper and brad are in this fabby kit! I used the new set Garden Fresh for the front and stamped it on Flourishes new Fresh Labels digital download that I had printed on Flourishes Classic White. After stamping once over the entire label, I stamped the sentiment 'What's Cookin'?' from the set on a second label, cut out and popped up the sentiment window. I colored my radish (or beet) with Copic markers and used the Creamy, Spring Greens, and Dahlia Collection and then added some highlighting with the Flesh Tones 1 Collections grouped by Flourishes.

Here's a close up!

And, here's a peek at the inside! I printed off one of the Fresh Recipes cards and stamped Flourishes Strawberries set on the edge coloring with the Poppy, Daffodill and Spring Greens Copic Collections. I thought this was perfect for my Strawberry Salad recipe. I created a pocket from my decorative paper and thought the recipe plus a cook book book mark would be a fun little extra!


For the book mark, I used one of the Fresh Labels digital downloads, stamped some of the veggies from the Garden Fresh set and colored them up with Copics. Add a heavy duty eyelet, a book mark tassel and... good to go! On a portion of the pocket, I stamped one of the sentiments from the set, which says "From Our Kitchen." I thought that'd be a fun little addition.

And that, my friends, is it! A fun little card that acts as a homemade "gift" of sorts! You won't believe the creativity that our design team cooked up using this set. You'll have to hop on over and see what they whipped up!

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber --you are here!
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Sharon Doolittle
Jan Marie Caruso

Would you like to WIN this set? YOU CAN!!!! One of the ladies listed above is the….

What that means is, of all the blogs, one of these ladies (as the Mystery Blogger) will pick a lucky commenter that left some love in the form of a comment on her post today showcasing the Garden Fresh set. The name chosen will WIN this fabulous set! We’ll announce the winner Saturday during our Winner’s Circle post at Noon CST!

Want a chance to win the ENTIRE FLOURISHES RELEASE FOR JUNE?

Check back today right here on the Flourishes Blog at noon for the final noontime daily challenges! This one could bring out the wordsmith in you. So, be sure to click back and see what’s in store! We hope you had fun this week. We sure had fun showing off some of the wonderful new polymer that is on Flourishes shelves. We can't wait to see what YOU create with these fun new sets!

FYI: All of this week’s sets will be live in the Flourishes store today by 9 AM CST! So, if you don’t win and can’t wait, pre-order now by clicking HERE to get to the store!

Think Pink!

Hello all! It's time for another fun-filled Flourishes noon time release week challenge! This one takes me back to my teenage days when Molly Ringwald ruled the silver screen. You'll see why below! ;-) Today's challenge is all about shades of one, ever-so-feminine color. Play along and you could walk away with all three of Flourishes new sets for June!

What’s today’s challenge? Check it out!

HOW TO PLAY: See these colors above? All you need to do is make a card or creation by using this palette as your inspiration and you’ll be in the running! It’s just that easy! With three stamp sets on the line, what are you waiting for? Just click HERE to get in on all the official rules!

On to my creation! I have to say, the set Flourishes is sneaking today is just such a whimsical set. Have you seen it? It's called Make a Wish and it's fit for royalty! It comes complete with tiara, wand and some beautiful and frilly slippers! Because this want is just so different and has a definite Marcella Hawley touch, I just had to use it for my creation!

After picking out some scraps of pink paper from my stash (some My Mind's Eye and some from Basic Grey's Life of the Party), I layered and used Spellbinders Beaded Squares for the shape of my mat. After running it through my Grand Calibur and embossing, I used a sanding block to sand the embossed edges to reveal the paper's white core. My little magic wand was colored up with Copic markers and I used the Spring Greens, Peony, Lenten Rose, and Dogwood collections. I also used C3 and C1 to color the wand's handle. Add some glitter glue and... ta da! The sentiment "dream" is also from the set. The ribbon is a wired crushed silk that was part of one Flourishes 5th Avenue kit. I added a row of pearls around the beaded square and... fini!

Here's a close up.... And here's a peek at a little accent I added. These fun stick pins are a part of Flourishes 123 Create Kit called Yacht Club...

Need a little extra inspiration? Check out these fine ladies creations to get those creative juices flowing!

Stacy Morgan

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Julie Koerber

Dawn Burnworth

The Flourishes gals can't wait to see your creativity, so get inky and then be sure to link up here! ;-) See you back here tomorrow for another exciting reveal!

Flourishes Sneaks... day 2!

Hi all and Happy Thursday! I don't know about you, but I think nearly every little girl - at one point in her life - has dreamt of becoming a princess complete with tiara and some slippers fit for royalty! Well, Flourishes knew that a set fit for a princess would be something that could be used for "princesses" of all ages! And that, my friends, is part of the second day of Flourishes sneak peeks!

Introducing....
Sparkly and sweet, Flourishes' new Make A Wish set is perfect for all of the "princesses" in your life - young and old! What's more fun than a flowery wand, a sparkly tiara or some flouncy and fine slippers fit for royalty? This set offers four main images, two accents plus seven fun-filled sentiments. What fun!

On to my creation! Before this set was even drawn, Marcella emailed me a photo of a pair of slippers that she wanted to use as "inspiration" for her drawing and I just gasped -- how cute are these?
So, when she penned this set and put her own spin on a set of slippers, I just knew I had to pick that image for my first card! And, as you can see, I was inspired by that first photo she showed me!
All of the papers I used for this creation were from BasicGrey's Sweet Threads collection. I just am in love with this bright and perky paper. I wanted the sentiment strip that I created to look a bit like a scroll announcing the "princess" and used some decorative pins to "hang" it. Add some paper piercing and you can see that's pretty much all there is to the basic card front. After stamping those darling slippers on Flourishes Classic White using Memento Tuxedo Black, I did use Spellbinders Classic Circles die and while the die was still on my shape, I used the die as a guide for some paper piercing and then sponged on some Spun Sugar Distress Ink. My mat is the Spellbinders Blossom die that was cut and embossed and then sanded to reveal the paper's white core. Both shapes were cut thanks to my Grand Calibur machine! The slippers got a little more pizazz. I decided to paper piece every portion and actually layered the flowers on the slippers to give it some dimension!

Here's a close up!
You can see that the center of the flowers have a little razzle dazzle. I did that thanks to some Ranger Liquid Pearls. And that, my friends is it!

The Flourishes gals put on their tiaras to create some sparkling sensations with this set, so stop on over and see...

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber -- you are here!
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Sharon Doolittle

Would you like to WIN this set? YOU CAN!!!! One of the ladies listed above is the....

What that means is, of all the blogs, one of these ladies (as the Mystery Blogger) will pick a lucky commenter that left some love in the form of a comment on her post today showcasing the Make a Wish set. The name chosen will WIN this fabulous set! We'll announce the winner Saturday during our Winner's Circle post at Noon CST!

Want a chance to win the ENTIRE FLOURISHES RELEASE FOR JUNE?

Check back today over at the Flourishes Blog at noon for one of the daily challenges. This one is full of color! So, click on over and see what's in store!

FYI: All of this week's sets will be live in the Flourishes store on Friday morning by 9 AM CST! So, if you don't win and can't wait, pre-order now or know, in just a few days Flourishes will pull off the lid and show you all three new sets!

Tomorrow's set is perfect for those that love garden fresh goodness! Yep, that was your hint! So, be sure to stop back tomorrow to see what I have in store!

Get Sketchy!

Hello all and welcome the first of Flourishes' fun-filled noon time challenges during release week!! It's exciting with three new stamp sets on the line! Today, it’s all about a sketch for you to try. Give it a whirl and you could walk away with all three of Flourishes new sets for June!

HOW TO PLAY: See this sketch above? All you need to do is make a card or creation by using this as your inspiration and you’ll be in the running! It’s just that easy! With three stamp sets on the line, what are you waiting for? Just click HERE for the official rules and to link up your creation when you're done.

On to my creation! This sketch above is on the simple side, so I thought -- what better way to just let Flourishes new Zinnia stamp set sing? I love to color and this floral is a dream to color!

All of the elements that I used are a part of the 123 Create Kit called Venice. I just love the rustic shades in this kit. After stamping my image on Flourishes Classic White with Memento Tuxedo Black, I did color my image up with Copic markers and used the Falling Leaves, Sunflower and Spruce Collections grouped by Flourishes. After I was done coloring and blending, I used the shades BG000 and BG0000 to highlight around my image. After matting it up, add some paper piercing, some silver cording and... ta da... done!

Here's a closeup, so you can see the paper piercing and also the small sentiment I added from the set as an accent on the side of my flower bunch....

And that, my friends, is it! Need a little inspiration? Check out these fine ladies creations to get those creative juices flowing!

Christine Okken
Barbara Anders
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Julie Koerber -- you're here!
Leslie Miller

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing in the fun! So, what are you waiting for? Get inky and join us in the fun!

Flourishes Sneaks are HERE!

Hello all! Are you ready to see some of the new stamps in Flourishes line up? It's time to unveil the June release and boy, oh boy, these stamps are some of my all time favorite -- already! Ready for the first sneak peek?

Introducing.....

Grown for its showy blossoms that come in a variety of vibrant colors - now you can bring Zinnias to life in your stamped creations! Penned by Marcella Hawley, this set offers not only a single stem and beautiful single blossom but a bunch set sweetly in an antique sugar bowl. In it, comes 8 words and sentiments perfect for all occassions. Set measures 4 by 6".

On to my creation!

I just picked up some new BasicGrey paper in the Flourishes store called Sweet Threads and I have to say, I'm in LOVE! This paper has all my favorite colors -- pinks, shades of rose, and apple green. The light pink paper I used is actually from another paper pack called Life of the Party.

My card is easy peasy -- easy layout -- one that lets the paper and stamp do the talking! The flower is part of the new Zinnia set. I just love this single flower and thought using it as an accent would be fun. I colored my flower up with Copic markers and just used three - R30, R35 and RV09. I also highlighted with a little white gel pen. Add a photo corner, some paper piercing, a sentiment from the set and a little bling and... voila!

Here's a close up. You can see that I did stamp the flower twice and popped up a second layer to give the zinnia a little more dimension. See?

And that, my friends, is it! I should point out, all the Flourishes gals whipped up some beautiful creations using this new set. In fact, a few of them admitted, they couldn't put this set down! So, stop on over and see....

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Sharon Doolittle

Would you like to WIN this set? YOU CAN!!!! One of the ladies listed above is the....

What that means is, of all the blogs, one of these ladies (as the Mystery Blogger) will pick a lucky commenter that left some love in the form of a comment on her post today showcasing the Zinnias set. The name chosen will WIN this fabulous set! Flourishes will announce the winner Saturday during the Winner's Circle post at Noon CST!

Want a chance to win the ENTIRE FLOURISHES RELEASE FOR JUNE?

Check back today at noon -- right here -- for one of Flourishes' daily challenges. This one is a bit sketchy! ;-) If you don't want to wait, try your hand at the Star Spangled Challenge HERE for another shot at winning our entire June release. What fun! See you back here then!

Beauty in the Spotlight!

Hi all! It's time for another Bring Back Beautiful Challenge courtesy of Flourishes and this one will put a fun technique in the spotlight! When you take a peek at my creation, you should also know that I'm showing off a brand new kit from Flourishes that is soooo fun! This 123 Create Kit is called Yacht Club and it features a mix of patterned paper from Webster's Pages. Some of it is masculine with a seaside feel, other papers have a floral garden feel and the third paper has a farmer's market feel -- I love the fact that there is so much variety in this kit! You also get all these fun embellies and ribbons too!
Before I get to my creation, I probably should tell you a little bit about the BBB Challenge!

HOW TO PLAY: Beauty in the Spotlight! If you haven't tried the Spotlight technique -- the goal is to make just part of your image POP! For this fun-filled challenge, let's use this technique and 'spotlight' only a portion of your image with color! Link up your Bringing Back Beautiful Challenge creation HERE using the inlinkz widget to enter. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword BBB10. You have until June 30th to enter!

On to my creation! I have to say it's been forever since I've used this technique and it was fun to give it a try again after all these years!

I used the A Guiding Light stamp set and stamped using Vivid Taupe ink. I cut out my shape using Spellbinders Labels Eighteen that I embossed and cut out using my Grand Calibur machine. While my die cut shape was still on, I did sponge on some Antique Linen Distress Ink. And, that was my "canvas" for my spotlight technique! I just used an oval punch and took out a piece of my image and colored it up with Copic Markers. I used B000, R35, Y21, C3, C00, and C5. All of hte papers and embellishments are a part of the new Yacht Club Kit. How easy peasy is that?

Here's a close up....

And that, my friends is it! Be sure to check out the other BBB gals below!

Cindy Coutts
Heather Jensen
Kathy Jones
Laura Fredrickson
Julie Koerber <<< You are here!
Yvonne Hagane
Beate Johns

And, if you want to see another beauty of a sample using the new 123 Create Kit, head on over to Sharon Doolittle's place and give her some love! ;-) She's got a darling and patriotic card using this new kit! See you back here soon....Happy Monday!

Thought I'd Share!

A few months ago, I sent in this card to Paper Creations to see if they'd consider putting it on the pages of their magazine. Well, I just saw this was an online bonus project and you can click HERE to see all the details! I love the fact that the magazine puts it in a form that you can just print off and save for your "idea" file!

Hope your Sunday is blessed! It's going to be 83 degrees here! Chances are I'll be outside enjoying it today! ;-)

See you back here soon!