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

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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

Another card for a kiddo!

Hi all and happy Tuesday! I have been on a kick lately to create some kid cards for my mom's Card 4 Kids ministry and today... I have a lemon that I tried to mix into lemonade! ;-)

On to my card!

I'll start by saying that this little robot is one of Birdie Browns and you can find him HERE! Now, you might look at my image and say... "What's up with that? It started like this....

So, you can imagine my distress when I went to die cut this little guy and my die moved, causing him to accidentally lose his little robot legs! EEK! That's where the making lemonade out of lemons comes into play! I decided to make it appear as if my little guy was peeking out of a tunnel. I used my Copic markers and picked up C00, C01, C03, C05 and C07 and just progressively got lighter as I moved toward the center.  After I was done coloring, I matted onto a larger circle cut from decorative red paper and then, added my sentiment with some fun screw style brads.I did add some paper piercing and a little silver leaf around one of the decorative paper edges. And that, my friends, is it! 

Here's a close up!

So this little guy will go in the Cards 4 Kids stack and hopefully make a little guy smile as he is recovering in the hospital. If you want to read up about my mom's mission to send smiles to the children at Children's Hospital of Michigan, just click HERE! 

Hope you are having a fabulous Tuesday! I have some more creative things up my sleeve and will be back to share.... SOON! Happy stamping!

~Julie

Another Christmas Creation!

Hi all! I don't know about you but I think it is a wee bit funny to show snowmen when the thermometer outside is reading in the 90s! But, with the new Penny Black Christmas stamps illustrated by Becky Fleck that are now available, I thought it would be fun to share one of the  new images... and get a head start on my Christmas creation! 

On to my card! This card was created using Penny Black's Build a Snowman set. What I love about this set is the fact that it contains all the pieces and parts to create all kinds of snow people! See?

So, after I started stamping the first snow guy, I masked him and added all the other pieces and parts as I went. 

I used my Copic markers to color them up and used R20, R24, R27, R29, YG61, YG63, YG20, BG0000, BG000, BG01, C01, C03, C05, C07 and RV00 for those fun rosy cheeks. I matted it all up using the Madison paper pack from Penny Black. Add some paper piercing, some red and white twine, a bit button and some punched corners and... almost done! One thing I love to do with snowmen is add, of course, a little sparkle! See?

In real life these snow guys really sparkle, which is super fun. And, like I said, I have another fun creation to send off this Christmas! It's a win-win! Hope your Monday is off to a fabulous start! I will be back tomorrow to show off a fun-filled creation that will benefit my mom's Card 4 Kids program. Can't wait to show you -- so you'll have to stop by and see what I whipped up!

See you then!

~Julie

A Splash of Watercolor!

Hello all and happy Friday! Today the Flourishes Senior Team is taking this Friday to share a bit of a technique focus that we think you'll love! It's one that's very "hot" in the card making industry right now, watercolor! And... here's the fun part! Not only will we share some great card ideas, the product that many of us used today is actually on sale through Sunday with Flourishes' OVERSTOCK SALE! It's the Letraset Aqua Markers, which are perfect for water coloring!

Ok, on to my creation!

I have to say when I started and stamped with the Chrysanthemum set on my watercolor paper, I had no idea what I was going to do. I literally started coloring with the Letreset markers and.... kept going! Instead of picking up the color from a palette with a water brush, I used the colors below (listed in my supplies section) and just colored. I started with the lightest shades first, added darker colors as I went and then, when I was done, I took my water brush and blended the colors with a lightly damp brush. After I was done, I scribbled my marker onto an acrylic block like this....

I then took my waterbrush, and wet down a really loose area around my image. This would prevent my wash from bleeding into my flower. You can see the voids/white areas around the outside of my image. I like that look, so that's what I was aiming for! I started by picking up just a wee bit of the yellow color with my brush and kept adding until I was happy. Then, when I was done with the yellow, I picked up a bit of the Scarlet with a really wet brush and flicked on some reddish splotches by literally flicking close to the nib of my brush. You can see here what happened! I love the look.

After I was done, I matted it up on some orange card stock, added some decorative paper, rhinestones, paper piercing and my sentiment on a shape cut from the Flourishes Classic Keyhole Die. You can see above that I took the yellow marker and did outline just the "sunshine" part of the sentiment. And that, my friends is it!

Before you hop on over and see all the loveliness that the design team whipped up -- you should know that these markers aren't the only items on sale! You can click HERE, to take a trip to Flourishes' SALE page. You'll find hundreds of items with prices that will be slashed at the time of check out! Just add the coupon code OVERSTOCK25 and 25% will be deducted from your total. This coupon code will ONLY work on SALE PAGE items. There are inks, paper, embellishments, ribbons and even overstocked stamp sets. THAT SALE ENDS SUNDAY! And... while you're shopping, you should know that today is the last day to get your hands on the August New Release Bundle at a discount.

So hop on over and see the beautiful creations from these ever so talented ladies!

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

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you  back here soon I'm sure!

~Julie

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Another one for Cards 4 Kids!

Not too long ago, I shared a new find that one of my friends, Christine Okken shared with me -- Birdie Brown Digital Stamps.  Just like most things, when I see something I like -- I have to dive in. That day I think I downloaded a dozen images and spent the last weeks just coloring them up! So, I'll share a card here and a card there and ALL will go to my mom's Cards 4 Kids program, which donates cards to kids recovering and being treated at Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Ok.. ready to see the latest creation?

I have to admit, this is a CASE of one of Torico's own cards! My style is a wee bit different. You'll have to click HERE and see! That link is also where you can download this free image! I printed the image out, colored it up with the Cool Neutrals Copic Collection (Flourishes) and then accented my little dolphin guy with a white gel pen. The "waves" were created just cutting decorative paper into those free-form shapes. Punch the sentiment with a 1-1/4" circle punch. Mat it up on a punched decorative orange scallop, add some paper piercing and... almost done! I did cut out my dolphin and pop him up using foam tape. If you look at Torico's card -- she had some fun rhinestones added on the waves. I thought I would keep those off since these cards were for little kids. I just had a nightmare about maybe a little one picking them off and trying to eat them! ;-) 

Here's a close up of the 'fin-tastic' dolphin!

And that, my friends, is it! Super fun, super easy, super cute for kids! Hope your week is off to a great start! I'll see you all back here soon!

~Julie

Winter Blossoms

Hello folks and happy Monday! Not too long ago at Summer CHA, Penny Black unveiled a whole new round of stamps just in time to get those Christmas creations started early! Well, Becky Fleck designed a handful of new stamps for this collection and yours truly got a chance to play and have some fun with these new images! Today, I'm going to be sharing one of the creations I made with the Winter Blossoms set! First, here's a peek at the set and all it has to offer!

And now... on to my creation!

I stamped that pretty poinsettia using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it up with Copics (see below for the colors I used!) I added some glitter glue to the center of my flower for a little extra razzle dazzle! The rest is simple -- cut out the flower, mat it on a Spellbinders Classic Circle Die cut from decorative paper, add a fun doily, some Christmas themed decorative paper, a crystal button and a wee bit of gold cording and... done!

Here's a close up of the flower....

 And here, you can see I popped up my layers with foam tape!

And that, my friends, is it! Before I go, you should know last week Penny Black kicked off a Colorful Christmas preview last week! For all the details and see some more sneak peeks, just click HERE and head on over to the Penny Black blog! AND, Becky is also giving away all of the sets she's released! Just click HERE to get in on this fun blog candy! See you back here soon!

~Julie

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It's the final day of Flourishes' Release!

 

Welcome to our last day of August New Releases at Flourishes!  We're thrilled with your response to these beautiful fall-themed sets, and to finish our week out we know you'll love today's little treasure too!  You can celebrate all that Autumn has to offer with a spirit of thanksgiving. This beautiful and earthy set penned by Marcella Hawley features three main images, two accent images and six mix and match sentiments. Set measures 4 by 6".

On to my creation! This card below is actually one of the creations in this month's Class in a Box kit! Have you ever tried this system? Flourishes cuts the card stock, decorative paper and even includes die cut shapes, ribbon and embellishments. You simply stamp, color and assemble!

I kept it simple this this design and let the beautiful image take center stage! After stamping in Tuxedo Black Memento ink, I colored it up with Copic markers.

Here's a close up!

And with the Class in a Box comes two other card designs using this set -- here's a peek!

If you like what you see with the cards above, you should click HERE and pick up our August Class in a Box Kit. The last one sold out in a matter of hours! Each kit comes with detailed instructions to make the three cards and 2 of each design for a total of six cards. When you’re done, save the full-color, glossy instructions to make all of these cards on your own in the future. It's inspiration delivered right to your door! The kit comes with the Autumn Blessings stamp set (SS256) embellishments, twine, buttons, trims and pre-cut decorative paper, the remaining Autumn Harvest 6 by 6″ paper pack plus card stock for card bases.You can check it out HERE!

Want to see what the design team created with this set that has such a warm and wonderful homespun feel? Hop on over and see these fine ladies and remember, one of them is the mystery blogger, meaning comment on that designer's blog and you could win today's set!

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

Before I go....  have you heard about our Overstock Sale? All sale items are an additional 25% off when you use the code OVERSTOCK25 in the coupon code box at the time of checkout. Keep in mind, this discount only applies to Sale Page Items. We have paper, ink, ribbon and even overstocked stamp sets! Click HERE to see for yourself and pick up some goodies before they are gone!  

Do you want to win Flourishes' August Release?

If you would like a chance at winning all three of our now released August sets…

• You can play in our Colorful Creations Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is TODAY FRIDAY August 16th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All three of our August sets are NOW AVAILABLE and you can check them out HERE.  Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all three together in a bundle. And, for even more creative options, there are Silhouette Cut Files for some of the stamp sets in this release -- Chrysanthemum Silhouette Cut File and Autumn Blessings Silhouette Cut File!
• Join us back here on the Flourishes Blog tomorrow for the Winner’s Circle where we’ll announce all of our winners of this weeks’ challenges!

Thanks for your great support, and encouraging words again this month and we look forward to what you create with our August Releases!

~Julie

Flourishes Sneaks Day 2: Mountain View

  

There is something so majestic about seeing mountain wildlife in their element, and today we have an amazing scenic set to show off to you.  It's an elk standing ready with a beautiful mountainside in the background - that's the centerpiece of this 4" by 3" set penned by Lauren Pope. Perfect for the guys in your life, this set features one main image as well as three sentiments.

It's funny because not too long ago, some of the Flourishes gals got together and went to Yellowstone and this picture was one Cindy snapped! We all laughed saying how much seeing this big guy would inspire our creations!

On to my creation! I have to admit, when I first saw this image, I was a bit overwhelmed. I thought -- there is no way I could color that elk and have it look realistic! After staring at the image, I thought -- why try? So instead of adding a full dose of color, I picked up some of the lightest shades of my Copic Markers and used them to add shadows instead! I figured Lauren's image was so pretty all on its own -- no need for "heavy lifting" in the coloring department! 

After stamping the image using Rich Cocoa onto Flourishes Classic Ivory paper, I used BG90, W00, W02, G20, YG61 and YG63. Just that simple! The decorative papers were in my scraps bin, so I am not sure where they came from but I have a feeling the wood grain was from the My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection. I added some twine, a wood button and then cut my image using the Spellbinders Curved Rectangles Die. Mat it all up on some of Flourishes Classic Kraft and... done!

Here's a close up! 

And that, my friends, is it! We think it's an impressive and stately image and our Design Team is ready to show it off to you bringing it to life!  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.

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

Do you want to win Flourishes' August Release?

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

• You can play in our Colorful Creations Challenge – we will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY August 16th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All three of our August 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 three 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... as you are hopping and making your wish lists -- don't forget about Flourishes....

 

 .....Overstock Sale! If you click HERE, you can take a trip to our SALE page you'll find hundreds of items with prices that will be slashed at the time of check out! Just add the coupon code OVERSTOCK25 and 25% will be deducted from your total. This coupon code will ONLY work on SALE  PAGE items.

You'll have to join me back here tomorrow for a thankful Autumn set that will bless you!

~Julie

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