It's PageMaps Monday!

Hello all and happy Monday! I thought I would share some fun Mondays and that's why you'll see on Monday mornings a little creativity and an opportunity for YOU to join in some fun! It's a time when I take a PageMaps sketch, share my inspiration and challenge you to use the sketch in one of your own creations. Every now and then, I'll even share some candy if you try the sketch! Of course if you want MORE inspiration than just this sketch, it is just a click away HERE at Pagemaps.com. The site has been redesigned and there are even online classes in the works! You'll have to click on over and see for yourself!

So, on to today's sketch!

And... on to my creation!

I have to say this sketch was a bit of a stretch for me. I looked at the patchwork of design and all of the elements and really saw this as a challenge! If you know me, I am a relatively simple stamper and don't usually have so much going on! ;-) But, after looking at it, I broke the sketch down, picked up some decorative paper that I thought would lend itself to snowflakes. This paper is from the Madison paper pack by Penny Black. I added a little dimension with the help of a Stampin' Up Snowflake Embossing Folder. The large snowflake is a Spellbinders. I don't see this exact die, but there are lots of fun similar shapes HERE! The sparkly paper is Stampin' Up. And, you can't really tell but the main layer is also a fun pearl paper that shimmers nicely in real life! Add some sparkly snowflakes punched from a Martha Stewart Punch and some bling and.... almost done! The flake a punched circle sentiment (from Flourishes Warm Winter Wishes Set) was matted on a shape from the Big Scalloped Circles SM die set. Add some seam binding ribbon in white and... ta da! Done!

Here's a close up of those sparkly flakes--- love how delicate they look! 

And here's the sentiment!

And that, my friends, is it! If you want to play along and use this sketch, I would love to see what you come up with! Just be sure to leave a comment with a link to your creation!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Julie

Giant Stamp Room Sale!

It was time for me to clean my stamp room and with it, comes great savings on useful and fun items! All items are priced to sell to make some room in my small stamping space! Click on the Stamps and Dies 4 Sale Page at the top of my blog to see what's for sale! If you want to take a few things off my hands, just email me at juliekoerber@gmail.com. All items will be shipped with actual shipping costs.

~Julie

Flourishes Release...That's a Wrap!!!

We've arrived at the last day and "that's a wrap" on our September New Releases!  We know you've enjoyed this fun and festive week peeking at five fantastic new sets. Our last set is ready for all your pretty packaging.  This 4 x 6 set illustrated by Marcella Hawley is the perfect companion for any gift or Christmas greeting, wrapping it up in style with a fancy bow, jingle bells, elegant flowers, Christmas boughs, a terrific tag, as well as two seasonal sentiments.

On to my creation!

I just love all of the elements in this set and the fact that you can mix and match to literally dress your cards and creations up.... with a bow! I loved the jingle bells and so, that's where I started! While you can stamp these pieces individually and cut them out, I chose to stamp the jingle bells and then mask them. I then stamped the large bow, masked it, and then stamped the side ribbons. You might ask, "You can't even see the lines left by masking?" Well, when you mask, this guy below is your best friend!

It's the Copic .1 mm pen that Flourishes sells, a super fine nib that you can use to fill in those gaps. It truly is a life saver and so easy to use! Ok, after I stamped my image, I colored it up with Copic Markers (see supply list below for colors used) and then, matted the entire thing up with just three colors of decorative paper -- some of which was edged with a gold leaf pen. Add a little razzle dazzle with some glitter glue and.. ta da! Done!

I should point out, if you don't want to mask, like I said, you can stamp and cut your image out, or... better yet, if you have an electronic cutter, like the Silhouette Cameo, you can cut using the That's a Wrap cut file, stamp, color and... bam... done! Easy peasy!

The Design Team is showing off their creative Christmas packaging on their blogs.   Don’t forget to look for:

   

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our LAST Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

• Allison Cope
• Christine  Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Do you want to win Flourishes' entire release?

All our amazing September sets are now available in the Flourishes Store as well as the companion cut-files for That's a Wrap, Snow Scenes and Holiday Topiaries.  Take a look at all the new sets HERE. If you would still like a chance at winning all five of September sets…

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is TODAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• Play along in our Timeless Tuesday Challenge Make a Good Impression,  you can win our entire new release in this challenge as well!  See link for rules.
• You can save on all five of our September sets!  Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for ONE week only!
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog tomorrow for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

  Thanks so much for joining us this week and for your wonderful support of Flourishes!   See you back here tomorrow for the winners!

~Julie

SUPPLIES:

Flourishes Christmas Sneaks -- Day 4!

Today the Flourishes Design Team is back with  a Christmas set that is a little bit country! This set, illustrated by Lauren Pope, will have you heading for the hills in search of that perfect tree! This 4" by 6" earthy and scenic image is paired with five different sentiments and a flurry of snowflakes swirling in the winter sky. What fun!

On to my creation!

When I first set my sights on this stamp, it reminded me of the good 'ole days growing up, riding horses. We never cut down a tree on horseback mind you, but this feeling of serenity on the back of a horse is something I remember fondly about growing up! We raised horses and so, when I went to color this one, I colored it up after my first horse, Flicka. (Yes, I had a horse named Flicka -- the good news is that I didn't name him!) He was a chestnut with that white blaze on his nose. For the rest of the image, I wanted to give the appearance of a snow covered forest -- so not a ton of coloring other than my cowboy, the evergreens and the bit of snow on the ground! I stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and grabbed my Copic markers (please see my supply list below for the colors that I used). I then grabbed some scraps from my decorative paper bin for my background. Add some twine and a wooden button and almost done! The sentiment from the set was stamped on a piece of Flourishes Classic White that I cut a notch out of. And, here's the best part -- the sparkle! See the glitter I added? This is prisma glitter and not glitter glue - so it REALLY sparkles in real life! 

And that, my friends, is it! A cowboy decked out in his work Levis and Carhartts to keep warm and a Stetson on of the top of his head! Before you go, I have to tell you that the rest of my teammates created some wonderful country Christmas designs to show off to you in our Blog Hop today.   Don’t forget to look for:

    

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

• Allison Cope
• Christine  Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber -- you are here!
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Do you want to win Flourishes' new release?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets…

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• Play along in our Timeless Tuesday Challenge Make a Good Impression,  you can win our entire new release in this challenge as well!  See link for rules.
• All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
• All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

Our last set tomorrow will wrap you up in celebration!

~Julie

SUPPLIES:

Flourishes Christmas Sneaks PLUS a Class in a Box!

Hello all! I'm back today with another gorgeous Christmas and Winter season set that's really versatile.  Set the scene for Christmas and winter with this darling silhouette set illustrated by Lauren Pope. From an elegant deer enjoying the new fallen snow to a pair of children ready to bring their snowman to life, this 4" by 6" set offers many mix-and-match options for you to create different "snow scenes!"

And for more creative fun, we have a brand new Class In A Box for you with this set!

 

CLICK HERE to see what's in this fun and fabulous kit! I will tell you, just to help you get ready for the holiday season, this kit has not 3, not 4, but FIVE card ideas with full color, glossy instructions to mass produce these for all your holiday card giving needs! All the embellishments, ribbon and pre-cut paper is there, just stamp, assemble and send!

On to my card!

I am not going to share the details of this card since that's one of the perks of buying the Class in The Box kit! But just think -- ten pre-cut cards with five different designs? Two stamp sets? All the embellishments included plus instructions to recreate on your own for just $42? Can't beat that!

The Design Team has gorgeous winter silhouette creations to show you in our Blog Hop today.   Don’t forget to look for:

  

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

• Allison Cope
• Christine  Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber -- you are here!
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Do you want to win Flourishes' New Release?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets…

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• Play along in our Timeless Tuesday Challenge Make a Good Impression,  you can win our entire new release in this challenge as well!  See link for rules.
• All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
• All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

And that, my friends is it for today! Be sure to swing back by tomorrow when the Flourishes DT showcases a set that's a little bit "country" just in time for Christmas!

~Julie

Holiday Sneaks Day 2 and a Challenge too!

Welcome to Day 2 of Flourishes' fabulous September release week!  Today both of our Friends of Flourishes Team and our Design Team will be showcasing a wonderful new stamp set created by our beloved artist Marcella Hawley.  Marcella has packed this beautiful 4" x 6" stamp set called "Holiday Topiaries" with an array of beautiful holiday decorated greenery and three seasonal sentiments to match their holiday vibe.  This sweet holiday stamp set will surely make an appearance on your homemade cards, handmade gifts, tags and more this season!

Like I said, today the Timeless Tuesday gals are joining us and to have a little fun, they've ushered in a fun challenge, one that if you play along with could have you walking away with all FIVE of Flourishes new sets for September! So, the challenge was FTTC 237  Make a good impression! All you need to do is use dry embossing somewhere on your card or creation!

On to my card!

You can see, the embossing on my card is somewhat minimal. I wanted the sentiment to have just a splash of embossing with an embossed snowflake at the center. Just that simple!

On to the details of my card! I stamped my topiary using Rich Cocoa Memento ink on Flourishes Classic Ivory card stock and then... I colored it up with Copic Markers! (See my supply list below) I rounded some corners, added some gold cording, a tag, a little bling and.. ta da! The paper is a mix of scraps that I had in my stash. I honestly need to stock up on some Christmas papers instead of digging through my stash! ;-) And that, my friends is it!

 Before I go... don't forget...

 

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! If you want to know more about this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge, just click HERE for all the official rules! And... when it comes to the Mystery Blogger, the more you comment, the better your chances, so comment away! Lots of ways to win!

• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea
• Christine Okken 
• Cindy Lawrence
• Deborah Anton
• Heather Jensen
• Jenny Gropp
• Julie Koerber -- you are here!
• Katie Sims
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker
• Kathy Roney, our September guest designer

Do you want to win Flourishes' entire new release?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets…

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all!  Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
• All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

We'll see you back here tomorrow when Flourishes unveils another fun-filled holiday set PLUS a new Class in a Box that is JAM PACKED with holiday ideas! Fun stuff! See you back here tomorrow

~Julie

SUPPLIES:

Flourishes Christmas Sneaks... Day 1!

Welcome to September's Release Week at Flourishes!  We're so excited to have five gorgeous new sets to show off to you this month-- all with a Christmas and Holiday celebration theme!  Can you believe there are only 106 days until Christmas?  We know it's always great to get a jump start on those projects and cards early, so here we are with wonderful inspiration just for you!  From our home to yours, this beautiful Home for the Holidays set  offers welcoming words to share this Christmas season. Illustrated by Marcella Hawley, this stately door is sure to send heartfelt seasons greetings to homes both near and far. The set also offers an accent swag and three beautifully scripted sentiments as well. The set measures 4" by 6".

On to my creation!

A few weeks ago, I had a coloringfest... literally! I stamped off about 40 images and just colored and colored and colored. I found that if I grab a clipboard, keep my Copics close and color as I watch TV, my blood pressure drops probably 50 points and I take my time coloring. I honestly have no idea how long this one took but I didn't worry about it! I enjoyed every marker stroke!

Because this image is a little more detailed, I wanted to make sure that my card stayed somewhat simple. So, after I colored up my image, I used Spellbinders Labels Twenty Eight to cut my image out. Mat it up on a piece of red decorative paper (this was an old one from Kaiser's Miss Nelly) that was edged thanks to a gold leaf pen. I matted it on some kraft card stock and then again on my green card stock card. Add some fun sheer ribbon and add a little bling and... ta da! Done!

Here's a close up! You can see I did add a wee bit of sparkle thanks to a Sakura glitter pen around my lantern.

Home for the Holidays  is such a beautiful set of images and our Design Team is going to show off how festive it is today!  Don’t forget to look for:

   

Hidden among the Design Team’s blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day.  Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today’s set! The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

• Allison Cope
• Christine  Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber -- you are here!
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Do you want to win Flourishes' entire September Release?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets…

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle.  This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
• All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

Join me back here tomorrow for a set ready to decorate your holidays with elegance.  

~Julie

SUPPLIES:

Sunday Sketchiness!

Hi all! On September 1st the fabulous Becky Fleck unveiled a whole new round of card making sketches over on PageMaps to inspire and.... today I have another one to show you using some of Becky's newest Christmas stamps for Penny Black! (Did you check out the new PageMaps web design -- fun stuff!)

Ok... on to the sketch! Here's a peek....

And... here's my creation!

I used the set Trim-a-Tree for this one. It's a goodie! Why? Because you have your tree and then you have all the things you can use to deck out your tree! So, I stamped my tree in green and then I decked it out with lights, ornaments, a tree topper and some presents. Of course, I had to do some masking a long the way in order to make sure my presents sat in front of my tree. I colored it up with Copic markers and used the collections below. One fun thing was, I decided to add some texture to my tree by stippling on the color. See?

I added a bow, a red pave gem and then a little sentiment that I added to a die cut from Spellbinders that was also designed by Becky!

Add a little razzle dazzle with some extra bling, add a sentiment flag and mat it all up using Penny Black's Madison Paper Pack and.... ta da! Done! And that, my friends is it! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It was crazy here. We had storm after storm and lost power twice. I was actually in the middle of making a card when.. BAM.. lights out! (Insert heavy sigh here!)

I should tell you that I have been super busy in my craft room and will have posts here pretty much every day this week. So... be sure to tune back in! I'll have a lot of fun things to share!

~Julie

supplies:

Time to 'Get in Shape!'

Hello Flourishes Fans! I don't know about you but I love this time of year -- when the leaves start to change colors and there is a brisk feeling in the air! Many of us decide, yours truly included, to get back into "stamping shape" in the fall. That's why this Flourishes challenge is perfect for you -- turning your fingers to some paper crafting fun!

In just a few short days Flourishes will be unveiling its beautiful September Release of  FIVE sets, and playing in this challenge is your chance to win the whole September Release! Want to know how? All you need to do is create a Shaped Card OR a 3D Item. You can either create a card using any non-standard shape (we encourage you to think creatively), or a lovely box, ornament, home decor item, or anything 3D....it's all up to you! 

On to my creation (plus a little fun tip!) I don't know about you, but it frustrates me when I have a die cut shape and don't have a mat for it. I love matting images and having an accent that way. So, I came up with a plan to combat that! And here's how you start. Create two die cuts and cut one in half vertically, one in half horizontally. 

Take your decorative or main mat and attach the top and bottom of one of the half die cuts.....

 Then, add the sides. You can see there are little notch outs on each side, but I thought that was a fun decorative flair and I like the look!

And then, I added a die cut circle with the cute little candy cane from Sweets of the Season! Colored it up with Copic Markers (see list below for colors), added a punched snowflake, a little bling, some paper piercing and some glitter glue!

How did I make my card? Well, I took the Classic Keyhole Die and did this.....

I put the die on the folded card stock so that a portion of the folded edge wouldn't be cut.  On the inside, I added this cute little sentiment using Love Letter Memento Ink.

And, here's my finished project below! Want to know how I created the bag? It was a tutorial that I picked up over on the Scor-Pal blog HERE. I added some decorative paper, a fun little crystal button, some twine and see the top of the bag? That is actually a folded over piece that was created using Flourishes Classic Frames Die!

 You can see when I show you a side shot how the flap just folds over thanks to that die! How did I keep it shut? I just added a strip of repositional tape. I thought about adding a ribbon, and I might before I stuff this with sweet goodies and give it away. I might even add a little more bling to accent the flap! So many options!

And that, my friends, is it! Hope you play along with the Flourishes DT! It will be so much fun seeing YOUR creations! How do you enter? Just click HERE for all the official rules!

And now for some wonderful shaped inspiration, our Design Team has pulled out all the stops to get your creativity jump-started:

• Allison Cope
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber -- you are here!
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by today and we look forward to seeing what you create! We’ll see you here on Monday September 9th when our FIVE wonderful September Sneak Peeks start! Enjoy getting back into stamping SHAPE! ;-)

~Julie

SUPPLIES:

Rock On!

Hi all and happy Wednesday! This week feels like it's FLYING by and in part, it is thanks to the Labor Day weekend. ;-)

I thought today I would share a little craftiness that I whipped up to send to the Cards 4 Kids program! It seems like I am sharing a card weekly now and honestly, it is all from my coloring spree last month. I STILL have colored images from Birdie Brown Digital Stamps to share that have not yet made it into cards! That's the fun part. I will probably be creating... for months!

I used a freebie from the site to whip up this one and you can find it HERE. Isn't this Rockin' Doggie cute? LOVE it!

I had a fun paper pad from Basic Grey called Fact that I used for my card. The smiling stars were from a little gift bag I got and thought it would be fun to throw that in! This card is really super simple in it's design -- some staggered layered rectangles, a die cut circle that was matted, some paper piercing, a sentiment flag and some bling! That's it!

And here's a close up of the doggie that I colored up with Copic Markers. I used R24, R29, W00, W01, W03, BG000, BG0000, BG01, Y35, Y38, YR18, E50, E51, E53, E25, E27, E29. Add a little glitter to the star and head phones and... ta da!!

So, another card goes in the stack for my mom's Card 4 Kids program. If you ever want to read up on it, I always love to share the link. You can email her any time if you would like to help in her mission. I know she always loves cards at the time of Valentine's Day when the hospital does a big drive to get the kiddos healing there some love in the form of a card!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon with a little more creativity to share! 

~Julie

A little sketchiness for you this Monday!

Hey sketch fans, have you been over to PageMaps today? It's the first of the month and we all know what that means—new sketches (and card sketches, too)! But this month there's even more. A fresh, new look and loads of wonderful changes have taken place behind the scenes over the past month, and all of them were revealed today. From "click to enlarge" artwork to the new PageMaps U education program, I invite you to stop by PageMaps and check them out  HERE!

And..... speaking of CardMaps. I had the fun in creating not one, not two, but three cards for this round of new card making sketches! So, I'll share one with you today and you can visit PageMaps to get a peek at the others!

So... here's a peek at the sketch!

And, here's a peek at my card creation! I used Becky's new set for Penny Black called Winter Blossoms! After stamping using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I colored it up with Copic Markers and used YG21, YG23, YG25 and BG0000, BG000, and BG01.

You can see that I did add some stippling with the light blue shades to give my Snow Drops a backdrop of snow! The sentiment is from Flourishes Sentimental Christmas set. Add in some Madison paper from Penny Black, some seam binding ribbon in white and a few die cut shapes, and that's pretty much it! 

Here's a close up....

And, instead of the paper pierced circles in the sketch, I decided to add a flourish of pearls instead! I love the sparkle that this adds!

Before I go.. while you are hopping over to see the new PageMaps website, you should check out the blog as well. Becky is offering a little bit of a giveaway for those who comment on what their favorite part of the new site is. Post a comment by Friday and you might be the lucky winner of SCT's new Scrapbooking and Sketch Calendar! Fun stuff to keep you creative all 2014 long!

Just click HERE for all the details!

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

~Julie