With a new batch of Flourishes stamps just about to be released, the Flourishes D.T. loves helping to give you a chance to win all of the new stamps with a fun and simple challenge! Are you ready? Why not give this a try…..

HOW TO PLAY: As the weather outside starts to turn to winter, let’s turn to the beautiful shades of cool blue – from deep and vibrant to soft and serene. We want to see these shades on your cards to enter our Warm Winter Wishes Challenge! Do it, and you’ll be in the running to win all three of our new releases for November. You have until Friday, November 12th 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 FLLCNOV10. Keep in mind, in order to be eligible, you need to link your creation HERE. We can’t wait to see your cool shades of blue to send out some Warm Winter Wishes!

Ok... moving on to my card! You can see I took some creative liberties. I didn't have the same shades of blue -- but I made sure to have a light medium and dark in my creation!

I used the Dove and Holly stamp and stamped it on Flourishes Classic Ivory using Adirondack Aqua. I used a Tombow Blender Pen and then, picking up some color, I shaded areas of my stamped image. Add some glitter glue and... then the fun begins! I cut out my image using the Spellbinders Labels 17 die. Whie the die was still on, I did sponge some extra ink around the edges to create my sponged border. Mat it up onto some decorative paper (I did add some paper piercing and stitching) , add a silver embossed sentiment (from the Christmas Classics set) on a punched circle and a ribbon treatment with a decorative brad and... voila! Done!

Need a little inspiration? Be sure to pay all the fine ladies in the Flourishes DT a visit as they show off their hues of blues!

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

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you make some time to join in on all the fun! TGIF and... I'll see you back here soon!

Holiday Traditions-- an IO challenge!

Hi all and Happy Thursday! It's time for another Impression Obsession Challenge and this one is all about family traditions during the holidays. If you have some IO stamps and want to play, all you need to do is create a card inspired by one of your holiday traditions! Fun stuff, right? You can read all about the challenge HERE! You could win a $25 gift certificate to the IO store!


Living in Montana, when the weather outside gets frightful, you just have to bundle up! Well, one of our family traditions is to literally bundle up, and burn off some holiday cookie calories outside building Christmas snowmen or even a few angels...

Excuse me while I show a few pics of my peanut in action.... ;-)

And... there she goes... cranking out the angels!
So, with winter fun my inspiration, I used one of Alesa Baker's stamps called Mittens!

I don't know about you but there are times when I just love to paper piece and this mitten seemed like the perfect fit! I wish I knew the paper I used, I literally started grabbing scraps from my decorative paper bin until I got what I thought was a good mix! Then, I stamped multiple times to make sure I had a color for my mitten, the cuff and the string. After I matted, layered and added some stitching, I added a button and punched snowflake. And... voila! Winter fun captured on paper! :-)

You'll have to hop around and see what the other IO gals do for their holiday family traditions!

Daniela Dobson
Deborah March
Dina Kowal
Jeanne Streiff
Jenny Gropp
Kathy Menzies
Laura Fulcher

Thanks for stopping by & I'll see you back here soon!

Tie this challenge up with a bow!!

Hi all... it's the first Monday of the month, which means that we get to usher in another Bring Back Beautiful challenge!


HERE'S HOW TO PLAY! As we enter the busiest time of the cardmaking season, we want to see how you wrap up beauty and artisty with a bow.. with ribbon! You don't have to create a bobw, just show us your favorite way to add elegance to your cards or creations with ribbon. Link up your card for the Bring Back Beautiful 4 Challenge HERE. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword BBB04. You have until November 29th to enter! As we unveil our challenge for next month, The BBB team will share our True Beauties - those card makers who wowed us with this challenge! Winners will be featured on the Flourishes Blog and will receive a True Beauties Blog Button to display proudly on their blog! Be sure to click on over to the Flourishes Blog to see who this month's True Beauties are!


Moving on to my creation!


My stamping time this week was really limited, so I knew whatever I stamped up had to be easy peasy!

I had found these little tags at Jo-Anns for $1 - they had at least 20 to a pack. One was kind of neutral and so I was able to stamp my Santa from the Santa, I Believe set on it using Taupe Vivid ink. After that I added some pink to Santa's cheek thanks to some chalk and then accented his beard with an Inkssentials pen. I did color the holly and ivy on Santa's hat using some plain ole markers... nothing fancy schmancy and also accented with the white gel pen. Stamp on the sentiment Believe and that's all there is to that! The bow was just done by wrapping/looping some cotton linen ribbon and then tieing with the bakers twine and adorning with a button. No really bow skills necessary for htis one! Add some stitching, a pinked edge and some fun decorative paper (from the new Tinsel Memory Box and Webster's Pages Waiting for Santa Collections). And... that's pretty much it!

You'll have to see what the rest of the beauty girls did for their ribbon challenge!

Beate Johns
Cindy Coutts
Kathy Jones
Michelle Woerner
Yvonne Hagane

I should point out that this card also qualifies for Flourishes new Christmas Spirit Challenge - which was to use a tag on your holiday card! You can read up on that challenge HERE!

Thanks all for stopping by! Happy Monday and I'll see you back here soon! :-)

Something Kinda Spooky!!!!

Ok.. a friend of mine emailed me a link to this a few days ago from when I was the weekend anchor at the CBS affiliate here in Billings. GOSH, were we silly. I thought just for a laugh I'd share! I should mention.... this was 12 years ago! :-)





Hope you and all the little ghosts and goblins in your life have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Trick or Treat???

Hi all! Happy Friday! This day is MUCH anticipated in my house because this week has been a heck-of-a work week! So... cheers to the end of the week! :-)

I wanted to show you a fun project that my DD and I did Thursday afternoon to get ready for her BIG Halloween Party at school. This is a fun one!!

What do you get when you mix some Candy Corn, Black M&Ms and.....

Some oh-so-delicious Chocolate eyeballs????
Well, you get Eye of Newt, Witches Teeth & Black Cat Toes!!! See? Don't laugh at my Halloween inspired nails... that was my nail lady's idea! ;-) They are kinda fun though!!!
We decided to stamp and color one of the little pumpkins from the Witching You A Happy Halloween set from Flourishes to deck out the front of our little tag... see? We colored with Copic Markers (YR04, YR09, YG00, YG03) and then added a little glitter!
I should REALLY say my daughter did the coloring.. she had her first Copic experience! ;-) I think she did a FABULOUS job!!!
I colored a few, but believe it or not, most of this was her handiwork!
And this.... is where the fun begins! When we stack our black cat toes, eye of newt and witches teeth!!! I actually bought these tubes from a friend who bought extras. So, I am not sure where she picked these little numbers up! I will say, if you google plastic test tubes, you'll find a BUNCH of options!


From here, add the little pumpkin tag with some halloween inspired ribbon and... voila!!

I thought these turned out really, really cute and I know that her classmates will love them! I can just hear some of her little girl friends say... "EWWWwwwww!" and then giggling! Fun stuff!

There are more "treats" for you today over at the Flourishes Blog! Stacy Morgan is doing a fabulous tutorial on how to make windows in your cards and creations. So, hop on over HERE to take a peek! Also, Flourishes is a part of Rubber Stamp Chat's "Virtual" Convention. What does that mean to you? 10% off anything in the store, even sale items if you use the code CHATITUP in the coupon code box!

Being that it is Flourishes Friday, you'll have to stop by and give some of the other Flourishes gals some love too! ;-)

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

Thanks for making my day and stopping by! I'll see you back here soon!

Another witchy one for you!

Gosh, time is running out to show some of my Halloween creations! it's T-minus 3 days! So... I best get to sharing some of what's gone on in my craft room! I have to say, this is a new to you, old to me card. I actually made it last summer to kick off Impression Obsession's fall release.

Isn't this little image too cute? Love those little birdies! It's called Birds on Brooms.

This card couldn't be easier. All I did was color with Copics (YR04, YR07, C03, C07, Y17, V06 and V09) and shaded with a B000 marker, cut using a circle die, matted on a black sanded piece of paper that had been cut and embossed with the Blossom die from Spellbinders. Deck out with some decorative Halloween paper, a button, some fun ribbon, some stitching and... almost done! I did add a scalloped border. Voila!

So, are you all ready for those little ghosts and goblins to arrive on your doorstep??? I am! We are in a new subdivision and with more houses sprouting each year, we get more kiddos -- which is so much fun! My mom already raided the candy aisle at the store and claims to have enough candy for 150 kids. I don't know if she realizes she doesn't live in a major metro area any more! We just might be eating lots of candy when Halloween comes and goes!!! :-)

Hope you have a fabulous rest of the week! I have one more Halloween treat to show you and I'll pop back in tomorrow to give you a peek! Until then!

The night of fright is almost here.....

Hey all and happy Tuesday! I have a quick show and tell for you from a recent class I took with my LSUP (Local Stampin' Up Pusher! HA). All of these projects are so fun and festive. I'm going to stuff some candy in the bag and give this little goody bag to by kiddos come Halloween!

Here's a list of some of the main things we used: The Wicked Cool Stamp set, the Spider Web embossing folder, some, and this beautiful black lace!


Isn't this bag above darling? So quick and easy!!! It would also be fun to sponge on some ink to make the web stand out even more.

We used the Itty Bitty box template (Big Shot) to made this adorable little box above and... look what's inside... how fun!
This card below was super fun! We used the spider web folder and sponged on some black ink then.. the rest is just stamping using the Wicked Cool set. The sentiment was added thanks to a oval and scalloped oval punch. Add some ribbon and bling and ... voila!

And... ths is the inside!!! HOW FUN! We just punched out those bats and made them "fly" with the help of some acetate strips!
And that, my friends, was a really fun Sunday afternoon! :-) Hope your week is off to a great start and I'll see you back here soon!

Flourishes Friday!

Hi all and TGIF!!! It's Free for All Friday for the gals at Flourishes, so you'll have to hop, skip and jump over to the rest of the teams blogs to see what fun things they whipped up this week!

After last week's release, I had a itch to make a little gift box that I could set aside for the holidays. I made this one the right size for smaller gifts or even a gift card!

I started with a piece of Flourishes Classic White card stock that was 5 by 6" and then scored 1" around each edge. I took a second piece, cut it to measure 5-1/4 by 6-1/4" and also scored it 1" around each edge. And then... let the stamping begin!
Because the new A Gift for You set was meant to coordinate with the All that Glitters set Flourishes released 2 years ago, I wanted to deck out my box with all the different ornaments and color using Copic markers. I used the Holly, Spring Greens, Poppy and Delphinium (mixed with Cool Neutrals) collections grouped by Flourishes.

And then, came the fun part... the tag! I love how this stamp was meant to coordinate perfectly with the Spellbinders Labels 14 die.

I colored the tag up using the same markers, added a sentiment from the set, punched a hole for a ribbon to slide through and then, slid it through a tied a bow! After I taped up the sides of my box,the 5 by 6 one became the box bottom and the 5-1/4 by 6-1/4" became the top.

And this is what my box looks like all assembled!



The ribbon wraps around the box like a cumberbund - so that it can slide on and off for easy opening. I thought this one was a fun one and I know I'll have fun filling it with goodies for a special someone -- whoever that might be! ;-)

FYI: if you like any of the new Flourishes releases, today is the last day to take advantage of the New Release Bundle-- it's a bundle where you get all three new stamp sets for 10% off! You can click HERE to check out the details.

Be sure to stop by and see the other Flourishes gals!

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


Happy Friday! Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you back here soon!

Focus on a Phrase....

Hi all! It's time for another Impression Obsession challenge and this one -- is all about quotes and phrases. Kelli challenged us to make your favorite quote a focal point on your card. So... here goes!
I wanted my card to be clean and simple. I did, however, use a handful of stamps! I used the Cover a Card Distressed Courdoroy on the Background and stamped it vertically and then horizontally using Versamark watermark ink. I love the cross hatch look it created! After that, I decided to accent a corner using some of IO's silhouette stamps. I love these for the graphic impact that they have. I used Silhouette 7 and Silhouette 12 and stamped it in a medium brown (Vivid Taupe) and black (Vivid Black). Next came the sentiment! It's called Love Life and I just stamped it using black ink. Add a punched border, a button and string and... just that simple!

Want to see what the other IO gals did to put a sentiment center stage? Just click on over and see....

Daniela Dobson
Deborah March
Dina Kowal
Jenny Gropp
Laura Fulcher
Shirley Ross

Remember, if you want to play in the challenge, you have until Saturday and there's a $25 gift certificate on the line! You can read all about it here! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you back here soon! :-)

The Witching Hour is Near!!

With Halloween approaching, this week was the week we drug out the Halloween decorations and literally waited til dark to get outside. My husband thinks I am nuts that I don't decorate when it's broad daylight, but I (and the kids) think its fun!

I tried to get a shot of my full decorated house but ... well.. it was dark! So, here's a peek at some of what is on the front lawn! The headstone reads.. Here lies Frankenstein. I think it's hysterical but my 7 year old daughter doesn't call them head stones, she thinks (honestly) that they are called dead stones. HA. I should correct her, but I haven't yet. ;-)

Here's another little scene we have....

Because I was feeling in a spooky mood, I decided to carry that over to my craft room and make something a witchy woman would love! I used the Witching you a Happy Halloween set from Flourishes and went to town....

After stamping my hat and masking it, I stamped the broom behind it and then, I picked up my Copic markers. I used the Cool Neutrals, Spring Greens and Tiger Lily collections grouped by Flourishes. Then, I used the Labels 16 from Spellbinders, cut out my shape and using a sponge, I sponged Vivid Lavendar and Violet Mist all over the background. You can see, I left the die on to keep that little white edge while I sponged. Add some purple decorative paper, two orange blocks for color, some black twine, glitter glue and a fun halloween inspired gingham and... ta da!! Oh yeah, I also added some decorative stitching too and a pinked edge border on my center purple strip. Easy peasy!

Here's a close up!

And that, my friends, is it! I just love this time of year. The kids are all excited about trick or treating. Cal is going to hang out with friends (he thinks he's too cool to trick or treat in 8th grade) and Ellie is going to be a hippie. Fun stuff! Now, if only I can stop eating the Halloween candy before the big day! ;-)

Happy Wednesday everyone. See you back here soon!

The Sneaks are OVER!

Hi all and welcome to the final day of the Flourishes peeks for October! Actually, all of the new sets made it into the Flourishes store last night after the fun-filled and fast-paced release party! So, you can check it all out HERE!

Now, a question for you! Do you ever buy a stamp set and realize (disappointedly) that you only have one solid image in the set? Well, Flourishes thought about that long and hard when it came out with one of its newest Christmas releases!

Introducing....
This set -- Christmas Classics -- is PERFECT for those stampers that want it all in a Christmas stamp set! Drawn by Marcella Hawley, this set has three solid images and three perfect coordinating sentiments so that, with just one stamp set, you get three very pretty and very different Christmas cards! Who doesn't love that??

On to my creation!

When I saw these darling stockings, I knew right away that I wanted to reach for my new BasicGrey Jovial paper pack and paper piece these fun little socks! After that, I took my Copic markers to color the packages and gifts inside! (Holly, Spring Greens, Flesh Tones 2, Poppy and B0000 - collections grouped by Flourishes HERE). After that, I added some beautiful crushed velvet ribbon, a fun silver ribbon slide and my sentiment on a small punched oval. The bottom is a Bazzil punched edge that I accented with tons of BLING!

And, here's a close up! I did add some white gel pen (Inkssentials) to the tassels on the far right stocking since paper piecing those dots would be impossible! ;-)

And, there you have it! A fun card that is pretty easy peasy to create! You'll have to stop by and see what the rest of the DT whipped up with this versatile set!!

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

Jan Marie Caruso

Thanks so much for hanging out with me this week for some sneaks and surprises! If you liked the sets you saw, remember you have until tonight at 5 PM Eastern to enter the "Details are Sketchy" challenge. Winner gets all three of the new stamp sets! You can read up on the challenge HERE! And, just like in past months, if you want to purchase all three sets, you can buy it in a bundle for 10% off the entire release!

TGIF my friends! Have a fabulous weekend!

The Peeks are Over!!

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....

Sweets of the Season

A Gift For You
Like we said before, this set is meant to coordinate with a handful of Spellbinders Nestabilities. See below? This shows just a few of the ways you can mix and match these stamps with Labels 14, Labels 15, Labels 16 as well as some of the square and circle compatible dies!




Christmas Classics



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 October 22th!

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 Christmas Classics set! You won't be disappointed! ;-)

Let the Christmas Fun Continue!

If you’ve been searching for just the perfect stamp set that could give class and elegance to your Christmas gift packaging, search no more! Today Flourishes is sneak peeking one that has high class style!

Introducing...

Today's set is called, A Gift for You, and some of the Spellbinders’ team is joining us in the fun! This set was designed not only to coordinate with some of Flourishes best-selling Christmas stamp sets (Poinsettia & Boxwood, All that Glitters and Dove and Holly), it coordinates with Spellbinders Labels 14, Labels 15, Labels 16, as well as some of the new circular and square shaped designs like Lacey, Eyelet and Beaded Circles and Lacey or Eyelet Squares! The customizable options are endless! Would you like to win this set? Simply leave us a comment on today's post over on the Flourishes Blog! The winner will be announced Saturday!

On to my creation!! Because this set is designed around gift giving, I wanted to make a easy peasy gift bag.....

I started with a simple lunch bag, and two pieces of decorative cardstock that fit the front and back panel of my bag....

Using Olive Distress ink, I stamped the small poinsettia from the Poinsettia and Boxwood set and then added some gold dots thanks to a fine tip goldleaf pen. See?

After I placed my green panels on the front and back of my bag, I added some pizazz with a strip of red decorative paper (BasicGrey Jovial) and a punched border...

Now... to the tag. On this set, there is a small berry ring on this set that fits perfectly inside a circle die or punch. The fun thing about this set is, it comes with a few small elements that you can stamp and mask to create your own custom frames... just like I did!

After I was done, I colored it up (YG63, R27, R14, B000) and then mounted it on a Beaded Circle Die that I cut, embossed and then sanded!

Punch some holes at the top of the bag and add the tag thanks to some gold cording and... voila! Fini!

I thought this was a cost effective, yet personal way to package up some goodies for the holidays! It was honestly a 15 minute creation! If this peek didn't whet your appetite enough, head on over to see what some of the Spellbinders and Flourishes designers whipped up today. I promise, you won't be disappointed!!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Ashley Cannon Newell
AJ Otto
Beth Pingry
Deborah Young
Gina Hanson
Holly Simoni
Margie Higuchi
Judy Hayes
Julie Overby
Kazan Clark
Latisha Yoast
Mona Pendleton

Before we go, we have to give you your invitation!!!



Join us for FUN, GAMES & GIVEAWAYS TONIGHT starting at 9 PM Central Standard Time! 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 . Did I mention all of this weeks releases will go live in the Flourishes store right after the party?? Now that's fun stuff! We'll see you TONIGHT!

Tomorrow brings the end of our Christmas Week and tomorrow's stamp set is one designed to make sure you never get bored in your Christmas card making! You'll have to stop back to see what we mean! ;-)