Thursday, October 28, 2010

Birthday Mums for Mum

Today I turn another year older!  I'm looking forward to a Birthday lunch with a friend today, and I'm taking my youth girls tonight to Laser Tag as an event, I used to be a really good Laser Tagger, we'll see how I do tonight!  And Saturday is my Mom's Birthday so we'll all celebrate together this weekend as a family.

Today on our Flourishes Friday Stacy is doing a Focus on something she's really great at, creating windows or frames in her design....so I thought I'd give it a try on a card for my Mom's Birthday.  In Canada, probably much like in England we often do say Mum rather than Mom....or at least I do!  wink!


I began by stamping this pretty bouquet of Chrysanthemums from the A Year in Flowers 3 set onto Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock, centering it and leaving enough room around the image so it could be attached to a frame above.  Coloring is done with Copics (Y35, Y38, YR12, YR14, YR24, YR04, YR07, YR09, YG93, YG95, YG99).

Then on another piece of Classic Ivory which was 3.75 inches by 4.75 inches, I took a smaller Beaded Ovals Nestability and centered it in this piece of cardstock,  cutting out the center in a oval shape, discarding the beaded oval.  The reverse of the beaded oval that you're left with just looks like a pretty scalloped oval.   Then I took a larger beaded oval nestie shape and used my embossing mats in my Big Shot and just embossed the larger shape into the cardstock around the cut-out, rather than cutting this larger shape out.  It leaves such a pretty impression.  

Then I popped up my outer window frame overtop of the colored Chrysanthemums, for a pretty window framing the image.    


I've also added some pretty embossing on the Artichoke layer and some gorgeous felt flowers and pretty leaves to accent the design.  I folded the shapes in half, and then ran them through my crimper to create the texture in the leaves.  Neat hey?  With the felt flowers it feels all warm and cozy to me.  

So, check out the Flourishes girls and see what fun things they've created today!


And how about this fun news!  It's also Rubber Stamp Chat Virtual Convention time! Flourishes has one of the"booths" and you are invited! Flourishes is offering 10% off everything in the store. All you need to do is use the special code CHATITUP at the time of checkout in the coupon code box. The sale will run through Monday, November 1st.


Did you check out Flourishes sale page? Select Spellbinders and ribbon is still on sale so take an additional 10% off with your CHATITUP code! Happy  Stamping & Shopping!


Recipe:  Stamps - Flourishes A Year in Flowers 3;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black;  Paper:  SU! Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Beaded Ovals Nestabilities, Ivory Felt, MFT Rolled Flower Die Namics, Large Circle Punch, Crimper, Dimensionals, Copic Markers, Pearls, Modern Label Punch, Scallop Edge Punch.  

Framed

Well, I've been a busy little bee the past few days, with not much time to stamp for you my blogging friends....but today Julia has a challenge on SCS's Ways to Use it -  to use frames in your design and I have a pretty framed design to show you!

I've colored these gorgeous roses in this stained glass feel from Flourishes - Beauty Within set.  Much like our new set A Gift for You, this set is designed to fit with Spellbinders Dies.  I've colored with Copics for the background and leaves, and then just a light shading with Y0000 on the roses and then added shimmer paint on the roses (you'll see in the next few photos), so they look more like white or cream roses.



Above you can see some of the shimmer on the roses...it's so hard to capture in a photo, but it looks so pretty!

I've created the frame around the design by using the Labels Eleven shape on my magnetic spacer in the Big Shot, with two graduated sizes of the die set together and then cut out.  I've wrapped some gorgeous ribbon (Satin Finish Pear) around the frame too.

I've embossed one of the layers with the SU Manhattan Flower embossing folder, which works perfectly with this stained glass design don't you think?

One last detail shot.  I added some gorgeous Zva pearls to the design but because it was so layered with the framing I clipped the pearls to lay in different layers on the top section, it really looks cool on the card.

Thanks for dropping by!

I'll have something for you tomorrow too!

Recipe:  Stamps - Flourishes Beauty Within, Tag Lines;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black;   Paper:  Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock,  Prima - Annalee DSP,  SU! Always Artichoke;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Eleven Nestabilities, Zva Pearls, Satin Finish Ribbon  - Pear, Copic Markers, Scor Tape, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder, Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder, Metallic Acrylic Paint. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Some Winners!

Well hello everyone!    Big thanks to all who entered the Birthday Blog Candy from last week, it was especially great for me to read all the things you're grateful for.  

....I've picked two winners.....


True Random Number Generator  74Powered by RANDOM.ORG




 Tina said...


You make such beautiful cards! Love them!

I am grateful for my family, I truly don't know where I would be without them. I'm grateful for our community, the wonderful schools that we have and we are so blessed in so many ways.

Tina
and .....

True Random Number Generator  12
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


Jane said...

Hi Christine,

Congratulations on two years of blogging and happy birthday to your daughter.
I am really grateful to have a beautiful daughter too and a family that loves me and encourages my card making even though I make a lot of mess while being creative!! I am only new to making cards and I have found your blog very inspiring which I am also grateful for. I hope you will continue blogging for many years to come.

Ladies you have 48 hours to contact me at my email (see the CONTACT ME link on my side bar and my email link is in the next screen), and give me your mailing address.  
First person to contact me can choose which blog candy of the two offered you would like!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Aim for the Clouds

I knew that one of our students who graduated from HS in June was really bright.  She was a part of the IB or International Baccalaureate program in HS (it's crazy hard course work a lot like doing University in High School), and I knew she had really great grades and worked really hard at her schooling.  But we found out on Thursday that she wasn't just good...she was GREAT, in fact brilliant.  She tied with another student for the highest IB grades in all of our school district....like the whole district in our city of about a million people.  Her IB average was 98.8%.  Is that not amazing?   And the even better part, she's a wonderful girl with an amazing giving heart.  You should have seen her in Mexico City loving on those kids.  Now she's in University doing well, and has received some great scholarships.

Well, you just can't let an accomplishment like that go unnoticed.  So, I made this card for her with my new TSG set, Aim for the Clouds.  I'm just tickled by this set...it really appeals to me with it's dreamy hopeful feel.   And I just love those striped rows of fields and hills!


I colored up the hills and mountains with Prismacolors and OMS, and framed the scene with a Beaded Circles Nestie which I sponged.  Then I mimicked the hills in the design with some designer paper sewn on (Prismas Annalee and Fairy Flora).  A little popped up balloon, and some clouds as well as curving the sentiment in the corner gives it a flowy feel.


Thanks for dropping by!  

.....Oh and on a family note....thanks for those of you who have asked about my husband's dad and his recent strokes.  We just talked to him today on the phone.  He's still in the hospital and is doing some good rehab, which is making a difference.  We're hopeful they'll let him stay long enough to really help in his recovery, as they are a hour and 1/2 from this major hospital at home.  


Recipe:  Stamps:  There She Goes - Aim for the Clouds;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black;  Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Flourishes Classic White, Prisma Annalee and Fairy Flora;  Accessories:  Prismacolor Pencils, OMS, Big Shot, Beaded Circles Nestabilities, Sponge, Dimensionals, Basic Grey Buttons, Glue Dots, Cotton Linen Ribbon in Baby Blue, Sewing Machine.  

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Gift of a Tin of Tags

Reminder....Blog Candy HERE  :)

I'm always looking for something thoughtful yet simple for Teacher's Gifts for Christmas, and I what I'm going to show you today on our Flourishes Friday Free-for-All is my plan for Teacher's Gifts, Piano Teacher etc,  this year.   It's a great gift idea and practical because they'll be getting them before Christmas when they can actually use them.

I started by stamping and coloring some pretty Christmas gift tags with our new set A Gift For You, I absolutely LOVE the elegance of this sweet set.  Perfect for cards or tags and so perfect for all kinds of Spellbinders Shapes.


Then I decorated some sweet little altoid style Tins from Flourishes.  They are a steal of a deal at 50 cents a piece and the great size for a special little gift.  I bought a bunch of them on my last order.  I added some new Designer Paper from Memory Box called Mistletoe.  Perfect match for my burgundy and artichoke color scheme.   You know here on the label I tried to warm up the words etc with a W00 and W2 Copic, and it's the one thing I probably wouldn't do next time, it just looks a little off to me.




And here are the tags I put inside.  I chose not to add ribbon or string, because that way more tags would fit into the tin and they can put them on their packages how they would like to.   Or to add to the gift I could get a roll of ribbon and wrapping paper and it really is one stop wrapping!



Now what I really like about this stamp set, is that you can color in the images - or because they are so finely detailed - you can just stamp them for an extra easy but beautiful effect.  On these tags I've just used a Gold Encore ink pad, and then Memento Tuxedo Black.  Isn't that great? 



The other Flourishes DT girls have some great Free For All Friday things to inspire you.....thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget today is the LAST day you can purchase the Flourishes New Release Bundle at a discount!  It's a fantastic addition to your Christmas Stamping!


Danielle Kennedy

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

She's Fourteen


Don't Miss it Blog Candy HERE

As I said yesterday, fourteen years (and 1/2 a day) ago I gave birth to our firstborn....she was this tiny little thing, who's now as tall as I am.   The years have passed so quickly.  She is a delight.  She's already a talented musician, playing the piano and flute, she's got this amazing brain and does incredibly well in school, and she works hard at it, and she's a voracious reader.  But those are just some of the things she does.  I love who she IS.  She's beautifully loyal, tender-hearted, responsive to others, fantastic with little ones, and it's fun to just spend time with her and to talk.  She loves God and lives out her beliefs.  She's such a blessing to us.

So for our vibrant 14 year old, I made a vibrant fun-loving card that reminds me a little of her.  A bit of a dreamer....colorful, artistic, with a book set out in front of her, purple fingernails and toenails, big blue eyes, though probably not wearing pig-tails anymore :)    Happy Birthday Sweetheart!


This is another of Mo Manning's images called Between, and I've colored with Prismacolors in vibrant shades that sort of match a teens' style.  The papers are Prisma - both Annalee and Fairy Flora, and I've used tons of Basic Grey Olivia buttons, some sewing and this fun little doo-dad called the Scor Bug to add the scored dots along the edges.


Seriously I'm having so much fun with my Prismacolors :)

Here's a picture of our trio before school on her b-day....ok our middle son is doing some sort of goofy rabbit tooth smile but hey...this gives you the idea of what our kids are sometimes like!



I'll be back tomorrow with something Christmassy from Flourishes!

Recipe:  Stamps - Mo Mannings - Between Digital;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black;  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White, Bermuda Bay, Prima - Annalee and Fairy Flora;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels  Sixteen Nestabilities, Scor Pal, Scor Bug, Basic Grey Buttons, Cotton Linen Ribbon, Scor Tape, Dimensionals, Sewing Machine, Prismacolor Pencils, Blending Stump, OMS.  

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Some Grateful Blog Candy?

Good day everyone!  Today our eldest, our daughter turns 14 years old.  She's a gem and I'm so glad she's our daughter.

I was looking for a reason to celebrate over here....and I missed my 2 year Blog-A-Versary in June, so how about some Blog Candy for our daughter's birthday?   I wanted a way to give back something to my readers ...I'm so grateful for all of you, your visits, your comments, and your kindness.

I have a few things to give away... sorry for the glare off the plastic etc.  You can click on each picture to see them larger too!

Prize Package One:  

7 Gypsies Victoria 6 x 6 paper pack
Flourishes Apple of My Eye Stamp set
Flourishes Windows to the World Stamp set
Some assorted May Arts Ribbon,  I'll surprise you with some good stuff :)

Prize Package Two:  





Flourishes Apple of My Eye Stamp set
Flourishes Lace Edges Stamp set
Flourishes Swan Lake Stamp set (this pic does not do it justice - it's a gorgeous set if you check the link)
Some Assorted May Arts Ribbon, I'll surprise you with some good stuff :)

Rules:  

 - Two winners will be chosen from the comments
 - Only ONE comment per person please
 - Please put your email address in your comment
 - Tell me about something YOU are grateful for.

Winners will be chosen on MONDAY October 25th at 1 pm MTN time and posted here on the blog.

 - Those names chosen have 48 hours to reply to me in an email with their snail mail address or new winners will be chosen :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Thanksgiving Table

Most of you know that a week ago Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd give you a quick look at what my daughter and I made for place cards :)  I had the idea and showed her how to do it, and then she completed the project.  


We used the Ovals Nestabilities and cut out three shapes in Tangerine Tango, then she sponged each of them heavily (a very patient process :) )  and then put them together with Scor Tape.  At the stem she added a Floral Accent Shape in Kiwi Kiss and then tied on a tag with Kiwi/Ivory Satin Ribbon.  Boy did they turn out cute, she did a great job.


I forgot to get fancy napkins for Thanksgiving, so white ones had to do.  The tablecloth is from Mexico, I love it because it's so cheerful and reminds me so much of the culture there - vibrant!  But the table looked so pretty, simple but totally do-able!
 

And this was our table full of food, and our son READY to eat, can you see the boys' hockey net out on the driveway out the window....guess what they did all afternoon after lunch with their uncle?


And here's my sweet niece and my wonderful pregnant sister in law (Yippee!  We get another baby in the family in February!) playing with an alligator puppet, she was giggling so much it was adorable.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Small Wonder

Good Monday Morning everyone!

I have a first from me today....my first Digital Image!  Like many of you I really love Mo Manning's work and have resisted till a few weeks ago.  I still like the process of stamping.  You could never take that away from me, but images like Mo's to color are just fantastic, and the colorist in me won out :)  Is this not the sweetest image?  I believe it's called John Praying.  It's just like my little blonde boys in their jammies, and that cute little teddy bear!


A goal of mine in the next few months is to practice and perfect my technique a little more with Prismacolor Pencils and OMS for blending.  I use the pencils often but the process of blending with OMS I'm still working on.  So this sweet boy praying was one of my practise sessions.  We have a nice little art supply store near work/church and I went in there to get a few more Prismacolor pencils to fill out my collection (which happened to be on sale, score!) and bought a couple more blending stumps.  A different brand this time.  I wasn't getting the movement I'd like with the other stumps.


But I think I'm catching on to the blending a bit more and how the colors move, because I'm so happy with how this turned out!  It's my favourite coloring I've done so far with these pencils!  I also added some color to the beaded edges and blended it as well to tie it into the main image.  For accent I've added Baker's Twine around the beaded edges and some gold nailhead stickers and sewing.  The sentiment is SU's Whimsical Words, I thought it suited the design perfectly.  The wonder kids have when they come to God in their prayers, and their sweet small innocence, and how He must look on them with such complete adoration, and then to realize that He loves us ALL that way!  Good news :)

Just a last personal note.  My husband's Dad is in the hospital, it's very likely he had another stroke.  He's had several mini ones in the past 18 months, so we're waiting to hear the MRI results today.  It's hard when you're so far away from family, we're about 16 hours away of driving.  Anyway, we'd appreciate your prayers.  Blessings friends.  


Stamps:  Mo Manning's John Praying - Digital;  Ink:  Ranger Tea Dye and Ranger Vintage Photo;  Paper:  Confetti Cream, Flourishes Classic Ivory, 7 Gypsies Gypsy Market DSP;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Beaded Ovals, Ovals Nesties, Oval Punch, Gold Nailhead Stickers (Flourishes), Sewing Machine, Dimensionals, Baker's Twine, Scalloped Eyelet Edge Punch,  Sponge, Prismacolor Pencils, Blending Stump, Odorless Mineral Spirits.   

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Christmas Classics


There's one more day of beautiful Flourishes October Releases to show you!  This is another wonderful set that celebrates some iconic and lovely Christmas images, you'll reach for it again and again!

I remember when we did some renovations on our house, we took off an ugly old rough hewn timber that had basically been nailed to the wall above our fireplace.   That was supposed to be the mantle.  I hated it so much that we tossed it out and we never did replace it....until about 9 years later when my husband finally built a new mantle.  I so love our new mantle for many reasons, but especially at Christmas to hang stockings.


So here is a little Christmas mantle for you!  I love the traditional feel to the colors and card.  Coloring is done with Copic Markers, I've framed it out with Lacey Squares Nesties in Red, and used some old Christmas paper from SU, as well as the snowflake embossing folder.  The ribbon is this fun Candy Cane Ribbon that suits it perfectly.  


Above you can see some nice detail on the Spica pens I added to the presents and the Polar White Flower Soft I added to the stocking tops.  

Now I have a sweet little ornament I made from another part of this pretty set!


I stamped and colored this pretty little cardinal and cut it out with a pinked circles nestie.  Then I cut out three snowflake shapes and glued them together in a 3 D triangle, creating the ornament feel.  


And above you can see the pretty Flower Soft snow I added to the bird and tree.  And below how the ornament looks laying on its side so you can see the 3D feel


Be sure to see what the Design Team has cooked up with these beautiful classics...



And remember you can still enter to win this set today at the Flourishes Blog....all the winners will be announced Saturday on the Blog in our Winner's Circle!

Tasty Shopping Ahead!

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 the ever-so-talented design team whipped up with our new Christmas Classics set! You won't be disappointed! ;-)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Gift for You


We have something beautiful today for you at Flourishes.   This set was designed not only to coordinate with some of Flourishes best-selling Christmas stamp sets but with more than a handful of Spellbinders Template Dies! A Gift For You - drawn by the ever-so-talented Marcella Hawley - offers 8 different tag styles and 8 different mini sentiments to fit inside! To make sure your tags come out with a regal style and design, this set 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! It is a gorgeous Christmas set and I think you will LOVE it. 


My best friend is on the Women's Ministry Committee this year and this weekend is the first Ladies Event.  She asked me if I'd be able to make something to donate for a door prize.  So, I went to work with this new set creating a Christmas box and 4 cards and envelopes.  


Isn't this stamp lovely?  It pairs with the beautiful All That Glitters Set , that I have always absolutely LOVED, as well as Poinsettia and Boxwood.  So it makes it very versatile.  I've used the Labels Fourteen to cut out the shapes.  The A2 Box Tutorial is from SCS HERE.    Coloring is done with Copic Markers Azure and Evergreen Collections, with a little bit of accenting with a glitter pen and then some gorgeous Scalloped Crushed Velvet Ribbon and Zva Pearls.  The Holly stamp is one of our Background stamps.  

Now for the inside.  I created 4 cards and envelopes for this box, combining both the All That Glitters Set and this beautiful A Gift for You set. 



I really wanted to mimic the look of the Label on the box with the style of cards I did, one with the ornaments and swag and another with the boughs and bird ornament.  So above are both varieties.  


Here you can see the shimmer and the ribbon accents I've added to really *spruce :)* up the design.


The design is simple, with a few pretty details, like the embossing and beautiful ribbon and some piercing.   To make the spruce trees more realistic I stamped the boughs in two types of green, Always Artichoke and also Bamboo Leaves from Memento.  Just a small detail like that really adds to the realism.

And just a detail shot of the clear glitter pen that adds to the bird.  The sentiment is from the A Gift for You set as well.

Now...for some important details.  

Want to enter to win this set?  See the Flourishes Blog 

TONIGHT (Thursday) is the fantastic Release Party at our Flourishes SCS Forum.  8 PM Mountain Time, be there for set reveals, great chatter, prizes and fun!

You can Pre-Order these beautiful new release sets already HERE!

And some awesome news...we Flourishes have teamed up with some Spellbinders Designers to showcase this beautiful set today!  I promise, you won't be disappointed!!



·  Christine Okken (me) 
·  AJ Otto


Have fun hopping!