Fresh Picks... Day 1!

Mouth watering goodness! That's what you could say to describe the latest batch of stamps ready for the pickin' from Flourishes! These stamps are good enough to eat! :-)

Introducing....

This set drawn by the lovely and talented Marcella Hawley is full of peaches and cherries that look downright delectable! There are also some of those great sentiments perfect for any occasion!

There's a second stamp we're sneak peeking today too! it's one that really compliments all the fruit sets that Marcy has whipped up lately!

Introducing....

Both the Cherries and Peaches set along with the Basketweave background will hit the Flourishes store right after the Power Hour Release Party Friday night! Woo-hoo! So, mark your calendars! The party starts at 9 Central right HERE on the Flourishes forum over on Splitcoast!

Now to my creation....

After a trip recently to a store in town that offers specialty teas, I stumbled upon some delicious smelling cherry and peach teas! That's when the wheels started to spin. Since my mother-in-law loves fruity tea, I decided to create a goody bag just for her! And, here's how it turned out!

To make my super duper easy creation, I simply covered the front and back of a white lunch sack, and then, I added a flap. Add some fun oval tabs with buttons, and a pinked edge and the bag construction is almost done! I have a trick - I used these Basic Grey magnetic disks on the inside of my bag and on my flap to make sure that my bag would stay shut. These little beauties work like a gem!

Since my tea bags didn't come with tabs and strings, I decided to make my own! I have a 1 by 2" piece of Flourishes Classic White card stock that I scored in half to make by 1 by 1" tab. I stamped both the cherries and peaches and colored them up using the Poppy and Fields collections for the cherries and a mix of the Tigerlilly, Hollyhock and Fields collections for the peaches. After I was done, I strung some embroidery thread through a 1/16" punched hole, added my flap and used super tacky glue to hold the tab together around the thread.

Here's a peek at the cherries....

And, here's a peek at the peaches!

Now, for a close up of my 'tea bag'! ;-) I stamped the Basketweave background using Straw Vivid Ink onto Flourishes Classic White card stock. I did sponge on some extra ink for a more rustic look. I stamped the cherries over top, but then stamped them again on a scrap piece of Classic White so that I could color and cut out my cherries and leaves.

After I was done coloring, I cut them out and attached them so that it looked like they were 'floating' on the Basketweave background. See?

Paper pierce the edge and attach this to your bag and... voila! Done!

The Senior Design Team created some gorgeous projects that will make your mouth water! So, be sure to hop on over and see!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

Jan Marie Caruso
Nancy Kirk

Do you want to win this set? All you need to do is leave a comment over on the Flourishes Newsletter for today's post! The winner will be announced Thursday! And, DON'T FORGET, you still have a chance to win all three new releases by entering our Fit For Royalty challenge! You can read all about it HERE!

Tomorrow, we'll continue our sneak peeks and this honors a whole new kind of fresh pick -- one that comes in a bundle and brings lots of joy!

See you tomorrow!

just me and my camera phone....

Hey all! Hope you had a smashing good weekend! I did! In fact, I have nothing new to show you.... only a bit of fun and a celebrity sighting!

I guess my family and I were just itching for fun this weekend because - it started here....
And the Magic City Blues Fest. Hubby and I got to listen to some good music and have some fun together. Everyone who knows me --- KNOWS-- date night, unfortunately, is a rare event. So, this was fun!

Then, we went and watched pigs fly! We went to the Pig Races at the Bearcreek Saloon. It's a small, blink your eye and miss it kind of town where this is really all there is. It's the best kind of fun if you ask me! All the money from the races go toward scholarships, which is so nice.

Here's my DD taking in the fun....her pig came in second unfortunately.... Here's DS and DH literally talking smack about the races. Really? Can you talk smack at a pig race where there is absolutely no way to predict which pig is the most hungry and is running literally for alfalfa? Hhhhhmmmm... that man gene is a powerful thing!
And, now for the celebrity sighting. It was so odd being in the middle of no where to see Laura Innes. Remember her? She was Dr. Kerry Weaver on E.R. It was hysterical, I was walking by her and you know that -- 'I know I know you' kind of feeling? Well, I saw her and then it hit me. An hour passed and before you knew it the bar was in a buzz with folks whispering and saying... hey, is that HER? It's funny how little depth perception folks have when they are yelling at the person across the table! ;-)

So, I pretended to be texting someone and snapped this photo!!! LOL!!
Well my friends, the paper has been flying in my craft room but I can't show you anything new yet! We have Flourishes August release coming up Wednesday, and then I have some other big projects I am trying to juggle too.... so... check back Wednesday! I'll have some fun things to share then!

Take care!

Royal Poppies!

Hi all! Flourishes is celebrating its second birthday and to get ready for the smash release NEXT week... they wanted to set the scene by honoring their customers who we consider - royalty!

That's why the design team is ushering a challenge... to all of YOU!

HOW TO PLAY: Try to create a card fit for a king or queen! Use regal embellishments, a lavish paper, a beautiful image, glitz it up! Link your creation to this post on the Flourishes Newsletter. If you upload to Splitcoast - please use the keyword FLLCAUG. You have until Friday, August 14th at 5 PM Eastern to have your creation uploaded! We can't wait to see what you come up with!

WHAT YOU COULD WIN: All of our new releases that will be revealed starting next Wednesday, August 12th over on the Flourishes Newsletter.

For my createion, I mixed the Spellbinders Classic Frame die with silk ribbon in all it's splendor, and some bling -- and you get these grand poppies that actually do... pop!

I used some Wassail Basic Grey paper for my decorative paper backdrop. My poppies were stamped multiple times and colored up with the Poppies Collection from Flourishes (just click on the link to see the listed colors!) and I used the Evergreen collection for my leaves. Add some of the deeper shades from the Flesh Tones collection to the edges of my ivory cardstock to accent and antique my creation and... voila!

Here's a close up! You can see I did cut out and popped up with the help of glue dots on my main image.

Want to see the other regal creations the DT crafted? Just skip on over to see....

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber - D.T. Coordinator
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan

We hope you make time to play! Afterall, if you win, you will be the first to get your hands on Flourishes' August release - 3 full sets and a beautiful accent stamp created.... just for YOU!

p.s. Scroll down for this week's Stamp Simply challenge!! It's a fun one!

For A Friend.....

Keep smilin', keep shinin', Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure. That's what friends are for...

In fact, that's what today's Stamp Simply challenge is all about... FRIENDS! It's simple, make a card for a friend, for any reason what-so-ever! Just make sure the word friend appears somewhere on the card front. You can check out all the official details over at Sharon's place! Just click HERE!

When some of the Stamp Simply gals got together a few weeks ago, Tammy brought a bunch -- and I mean A BUNCH-- of stamps with her and in the pile was this darling little hopper! It's a Penny Black stamp and I just think he's darling!
This card is pretty plain and simple! I colored him up with watercolor pencils and then blended with a blender pen. Add a little glitz to the flower with some Diamond Stickles, cut him out with a circle Nestabilities die, mat it onto a half of a Labels One Nestabilities die. Add some SU ribbon, some paper piercing and a fun punched border (Fiskars Threading Water), add a button and... done! The sentiment is from Flourishes' Sweet Violet set.

Here's a close up of the little froggie! Isn't he just too cute?

I am sooooo excited to refer you to the list of ladies in the Stamp Simply team. BECAUSE.... my mom was asked to be the guest designer for August! How incredibly fun is that? She's Pat Adam, The Rubber Maid. My mom and I both started stamping around the same time (2000) and ever since, it's been a craft that has brought us even close together - if that is possible!

So, be sure to "hop" on over and say hello... and visit all these other talented ladies while you are at it! :-)

Pat Adam, August Guest Designer --YEAH!
Janine
Jennifer
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

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

The feel of fall!

Hi all! Hope you are all having a good week! It's time for another Impression Obsession challenge and this one is all about fall! The gals thought that it would be great to challenge eachother and YOU to create a card using IO stamps in the beautiful shades of fall!

You can check out all the details on the challenge by clicking on the Impression Obsession blog!

Meantime, for my creation, I wanted to whip up something using some of the new Sarah Phelps Fall images. I love how this artist can do whimsy and artsy all in one fell swoop!

I stamped my image (Leaf Wreath)using Memento Rich Chocolate ink and then colored it up by using a mix of watercolor pencils and markers that I had scribbled onto a palette and then picked up with a blender pen. I used a Nestabilities (Labels Three) die for the shape, kept the die on and then used it as a mask to sponge on some ink. Can you see the paper piercing? I tried a new Ornare template I just got my little hands on. I love the template but realize that dark paper probably isn't the best idea! The paper was also stamped with one of the new Cover A Card background stamps that are hot off the presses at IO! This one is called Petals. From there, add a rich ribbon bow (I made mine using the Bow Easy! I just love that little contraption) and added a rustic pearl. Done!

Here's a close up! I added some Crystal Lacquer to the berries to give them a little more pop!

Hope you don't mind seeing a fall card in August! Sadly, it will be here before we know it and summer will just be a memory! Hope you make time to play this week! Your card could end up being featured on the IO Blog!

Want to see what the rest of the gals cooked up?

Daniela Dobson
Dina Kowal
Jeanne Streiff
Jenny Gropp
Kelli Richardson
Laura Fulcher
Shirley Ross

I should point out... Mitra (the owner of IO) spent hours upon hours this week uploading all the new CHA images to the IO site. You can click and see all the New Fall and Christmas Stamps on that link! There are hundreds of fabulous new stamps plus those great Cover-A-Card backgrounds!

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here tomorrow with not one... but two fun challenges to share!

Vintage Hydrangeas

A few weeks back when some of my stamping buds and I got together, I brought some paper, some Copics, black ink and about 20 stamps. I must have been on the same wavelength as the ladies I was with because -- that's what we all did!

All of us agreed that it would rock if we could just take a few afternoons to do nothing but color! Wouldn't it be great to build up a stash of colored images and then - when the mood hits to make a card - you have images ready to go!

It turns out, I talked more than I colored and so in one weekend - I only colored four - yes four images! And, this card below was crafted thanks to one of them!

I absolutely love this from Hydrangea Ribbon from Impression Obsession. Actually, FYI, if you go to the Impression Obsession site and put hydrangea in the search box, you'll find a ton of images that coordinate with this beautiful stamp! I realized in my own search.... I need to do some shopping... SOON! :-)

Moving on! I stamped the ribbon using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it up using Copic Markers. I used the Hydrangea and Spring Greens collections from Flourishes for the flower and the Flesh Tones collection for the actual ribbon. I wanted it to look like a piece of antique satin.

Here's a close up.... To put the card together, I just used two different types of decorative paper. The top is from SU. I also ran it through my Wizard with a Textile Texture Cuttlebug Embossing folder and then antiqued it with Tea Dye Distress Ink from Ranger. The bottom decorative paper is from a jumbo pad from K & Company. Add some mini champagne pearls to the center of your flowers and do a little paper piercing on the bottom decorative paper and..... done!

Thanks so much for dropping by my place! I have a lot of works in progress so... I'll be back soon with more!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

There's a big announcement......

... over at Flourishes! It's one that will make you want to......

Click HERE to check it out!

It's a Celebration!!!

Hi all! TGIF! Today is a special day over at Flourishes! This week Flourishes turned two years old and because of it, they have set aside the entire month of August to celebrate! There's a BIG announcement set for tomorrow on the Flourishes Newsletter detailing all the fun... so be sure to check it out! Some even say it's an announcement that you'll FLIP over!!

Today, the entire design team along with some of our Friends of Flourishes cooked up creations to honor this special day! Be sure to check out their fabulous and festive handiwork... Christine Okken, Cindy Lawrence, Faith Hofrichter, Latisha Yoast,Laura Fredrickson, Leslie Miller, Stacy Morgan, Jan Marie Caruso, Dee Jackson, and Silke Ledlow. Guess what? You can play along too and there is a free set of your choice on the line! You can check out all the official details - HERE!

So, here's my creation! I just love the new BasicGrey Lemonade paper pack. It's so fun and festive! So, naturally I wanted to reach for that and my Birthday Celebrations set for this creation!


This one is really quite simple! Layer up some paper, use a 1-3/4" circle punch to create your window in your card, add a decorative edge punch, some sewing, some paper peircing and.... the fabu cupcakes! I stamped one cupcake and then made a few masks to add the others. I used Vivid Chocolate and Tea Rose inks and then topped off the cupcake with some Stickles Diamond Glitter Glue and some hot fix crystals. The sentiment was done thanks to the Sweet Violets set! I LOVE those sentiments!

This card also qualifies in a round about way for this week's Stamp Simply challenge courtesy of the fabulous Sharon Johnson! This week's challenge is.... Lace! You might be scratching your head wondering where the lace is on my card! Well, I searched my craft room high and low for something lacy and it hit me -- this edge punch is called.... Apron Lace! So, there you have it my friends - my interpretation! :-) You can click HERE for all the official Stamp Simply details! And, don't forget to hop around and see all my Stamp Simply buds who cooked up something fabulous -- I am sure!

Rose Ann, July Guest Designer
Janine is taking this week off — have fun, Janine!
Jennifer
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

Thank you so much for stopping by and making my place a part of your day! It makes me smile! See you back here soon!

Yes.... I'm alive!

Hi all! Hope all is well in your corner of the world! If you couldn't tell, I have been a bit scarce lately! Work and kids home for the summer are really taking most of my time and rightly so. I just laughed today. You know it's bad when your mom wonders when you are going to post next! She called and said - You haven't posted since last Monday... what's up?? Gotta love moms! :-)

Well, with CHA in full swing, I thought I'd show off some more of the goodies that will soon be available over at Impression Obsession. In fact, this card here is sitting in the IO booth as we speak! Isn't it funny how my cards get to travel the world but... not me! Oh well... maybe someday!

This cutie patootie is part of both a clear set and also available on rubber and is designed by one of IO's newest illustrators - Sarah Phelps. She really pulled out all the stops for the holidays and has created some darling images featuring whimsical witches, ghosts, snowmen, reindeer and this jolly man-- Santa!

The mechanics of my card are rather simple. I stamped my Santa with permanent black ink and colored him up with Copic markers in shades of green and red. Add some fun decorative paper (SU), a little mini sentiment, a decorative punch border and some great ribbon and... almost done! Because I wanted to add a bit of glitz for a true holiday flair, I did go over some of the parts with some Copic Spica glitter pens.

See?Just an FYI... I'm told these stamps will be up in the store August 1st! Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with a double dose of challenges. One that is full of fun - the other has a prize on the line - so you won't want to miss out!

See you then!

A fun and friendly challenge!

Hi all! Happy Monday! I have a fun little bit to show you this morning. Last weekend while I was with some of my stamping buds off for a little R & R, we were purusing some of the local stamping/scrapping offerings. That's when I hatched a plan to do a brown bag challenge. What's that you ask? Well, you take some paper scraps, some ribbon, maybe a few embellishments, rub-ons or stickers. Basically, you stuff some goodies in the bag and the challenge is to make a card with it all!

I have to be honest, I was going to make my challenge a bit of a "white elephant" card challenge just to see how much fun we could have making a card out of less than desirable objects but - when we got to the Scrapyard (that was the store), I fell in love with one of the new Brenda Walton lines from K & Company. I picked up some pearls, some rhinestones, ribbon, rub-ons and paper and then shoved it all in the bag - mixed them up and doled them out! It was a fun one!

Here's what the ladies - Darlene, Tammy, Joan, Sharon, Janine and my mom- came up with!

And here's a peek one of my cards!

I just love these K & Company stickers! They even had some razzle dazzle on them with a bit of glitter!

And, here was a second card...

I loved the fact that these were so quick and easy. It just goes to show that when you need a card in a hurry, it's not a bad idea to have some color coordinated items like this on hand!

Thanks for stopping by! With CHA starting this week, I'll have some more sneaky peeks to share from Impression Obsession... so stay tuned!

Gettin' Fruity!

Hi all! Hope your week is sailing to a nice finish! I have another Stamp Simply challenge for you courtesy of the fabulous Sharon Johnson! This time we look to those lucious fruits that ripen on the vine this time of year!

It's time for ssnotime97! You can get the official details HERE but to break it down for you - all you need to do is whip up some type of fruity creation!

So, here's what I whipped up!

I absolutely love these new Strawberries from Flourishes and I absolutely love this new paper from BasicGrey! It's called June Bug and the patterns inside are just ADORABLE! I got mine as a gift from a very nice lady affectionately called the "Fleckster" :-) but you can find it right HERE if you like!

I stamped my berries in permanent black ink and then used the Poppy Collection and Spring Greens Copic Collections from Flourishes to color up these sweeties! FYI: These collections are sold out but... I'm told.. more are on the way and they will be in the store soon! After coloring, I used a 1-1/4" circle punch to punch out my berries and I matted them up with a scalloped circle punched from a SU punch. I also took the little flower from the set, stamped it, colored it up and cut it out to add a little pizazz to my berries. I love how this turned out! I even added some Stickles to the centers of the flowers for a little razzle dazzle.

You might notice, the card size is a bit smaller. I have some of those "banker envelopes" and wanted to use that style for this card - so my card is only 6 by 3". It's really a fun size! From there, add some fun buttons, a punched border edge, and a sweet sentiment and... done!

Here's a close of of that darling little flower!

Want to see the sweet creations from the Stamp Simpy team? Just hop on over to.....

Rose Ann, July Guest Designer
Janine
Jennifer
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny


Thanks for stopping by! Hope you make time for play time and join us this week! And, if you want some more eye candy, you should hop on over to the Flourishes Newsletter as the team wraps up Shimmerz week! Gotta love that sparkle!


See you back here soon!

Holiday Shimmer!

All this week on the Flourishes Newsletter, the DT is cooking up fun by mixing up some of the company's designs--- with Shimmerz paints! If you missed any of the action, you need to head on over and see some of the beautiful creations that were unveiled Monday and Tuesday! Just click HERE!

Here's a peek at the card I have over on the blog today! Yes... it's Christmas in July!

For the details, all you need to do is head on over to the Flourishes Newsletter! Faith Hofrichter has a gorgeous sample today as well-- you don't want to miss it!

See you back here tomorrow!

I'm back!

I've been MIA for a bit because this past week I got a chance to hop on a big iron bird and head east to visit my mom. Well, we decided a while back that we would pull a Thelma and Louise, get in a car and take a road trip to hook up with some other fine stamping ladies! Boy did we have a blast!!!! We met up with......

From L to R: My mom, Joan Fricker, Sharon Johnson, Darlene Pavlick, Tammy Hershberger and Janine Orchard!

I cannot tell you how fun it was to meet these ladies in real life! Since we've all been chatting it up for well over a year -- it was like a homecoming - even though we had never met in person! We all arrived at the same time to the hotel in Shipshewana Indiana and -- isn't it funny how you can recognize someone -- just after seeing a few pictures on the Internet?

We stamped. We shopped. We ate. We stamped. We ate. We laughed and then laughed some more! It was sad to see these ladies go! Janine even ordered these fun shirts!!! It says... "I got stamped in Shipshewana!" Too fun! You might wonder, where the heck is Shipshewana? Well, it is a little Amish town in Northern Indiana. It is very quaint with a homespun feel. It was beautiful country and very relaxing. The only traffic was at the end of the work day when cars shared the roads with the horse drawn buggies!

Here's another pic of the whole crew (minus Darlene who took the picture!)
We wrapped up the weekend promising to do it all over again and I actually felt sad that it will be a year at least before we can all get together!

Thanks ladies for such a FUN weekend! And.....
Thanks Mom for making the trek with me! I loved our "Thelma and Louise" weekend! :-)

p.s. I'll be back tomorrow with some actual stamping! Stay tuned!

Flourishes Focus --Highlights of White!

Hi all! Time for another Flourishes Focus! I have to tell you, one of the little tools in my arsenal of stamping stuff is a gel pen that is just $3 but honestly, packs a lot of punch. It's one of Faith Hofrichter's favorites and that's why she is the hostess over on the Flourishes Newsletter showing you how she uses the Inkssentials pen!

Here's my card!

I started by stamping my Strawberries with permanent black ink and then coloring them up with these Copic collections:

After coloring and blending, I took out the Inkssentials pen and went to town! I wanted to give my image a bit of whimsy and add some white highlights. Now, if you look closely, you'll see I didn't add any on my large berries, just on the leaves. And, artistically, they aren't really in highlight areas. But, that's ok. I just wanted to add a little pop in places!

Here's a close up so you can see!

I like the whimisical effect it gives! Do you want to see what the other members of the DT created with their Inkssential pens? Just hop on over to see.....

Cindy Lawrence
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Leslie Miller

And, don't forget to visit Faith over on the Flourishes Newsletter for her wonderful tutorial!

I would say I will see you back here soon, but I am headed east to visit my mom and some of my other stampin' buds for a weekend of girl time and fun! I'll be incommunicato for the next few days! So, enjoy and I'll be back next Wednesday for a special *sparkly* project with the other gals of Flourishes!