Thursday, July 26, 2012

Christmas in July!


You know, I'd love to be one of those people who has all their Christmas shopping done WAY before Christmas, and cards too, I'd love to have that all done so that December 1st is mailing day.  BUT I'm not one of those people :)  Maybe you are though, and you can take advantage of Flourishes Christmas in July sale!  If anyone does Christmas well, it's definitely Flourishes!

How about a little Christmas inspiration?  I actually have two cards done!  Click on these to see them larger.  I didn't take a second pic this time, oops!


I so love these Christmas sets we released last year, to go with our Flourishes Dies, this set is called Petals and Peace.  And it's wonderful to color.  The die is called our Tailor-Made Classic Keyhole Die. I used some pretty mirrored metallic cardstock from the store as well, and some metallic ribbon.  The sentiment is on vellum which still allows the design to shine through.  Then I accented with some Metallique Candi dots on the sentiments too.  

Check out the Flourishes Blog today to see who else is showing off their Christmas Designs....and for the sale...

Between now and the 31st of July, all of their Christmas sets will be a whopping 25% off! Just click HERE to see all the fun sets that are on sale! They just got a NEW shipment of stamps to stock up so the Flourishes warehouse is stacked to the brim with Christmas goodies! There are no codes -- all stamp sets are automatically marked down for you!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Grab Life By the Handlebars


Welcome to another Friday at Flourishes!  Today we're going to show you another peek at our New Releases, and remind you that the New Release Bundle is still on sale at a 10% discount, today only!  


Today I did another look at the very fun Bike Ride set, giving it a more masculine touch.  Colored up with Copics, and then paired with this great Authentique - Loyal paper.  


As you can see, a fun detail I added was to snip-cut and roll a strip of dp and create my own "grass".  I love how rolling the edge gives you a peek at the other side of this sheet of paper.  

And another wee detail, the beautiful teal braided trim cording I used wasn't quite the right match to the papers.  It had a much more teal look.  So, all I did was touch it up with my copic marker (B95) and then it was a perfect match.  

Join the rest of the DT and see what they have to show off today!



Copics: B93, B95, B97, R14, YG93, YG95, YG99, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9, E84, E87, E89

Monday, July 16, 2012

Clear the Shelves!

How about another peek at this pretty Passion Flower set....and keep reading, there's sale news!


I thought I'd try something a little different using a larger card size (5 X 7).  


The pretty detailing comes from the different Spellbinders dies.  The main image is just stamped in Rich Razzleberry ink and then the smaller images are stamped in Memento Ink and colored with copics.  


And NOW FOR THE SALE NEWS!  This week folks are crowing in as CHA Summer kicks off in the windy city of Chicago!!! To get ready for all the new goodies that are unveiled this time of year - Flourishes needs to.....


So, for this week only ... through SATURDAY.. you can cash up on some serious savings and stock up on some goodies that you might need in your craft room! Here's a peek at the categories that will be on sale for 25% off!

ALTERABLES
EMBELLISHMENTS
FLOWER SOFT
PAPER & CARDSTOCK
PENS
RIBBON
LACE
SPELLBINDERS & EMBOSSING FOLDERS
TOOLS OF THE TRADE

So act now because once some of these items are gone, they will be gone forever! To take advantage simply use the code CHASALE in the coupon code box at the time of checkout. Make sure to hit Apply and Recalculate in order for your discount to take effect. There will be no rain checks! Click HERE to start shopping!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

If Hugs Were Seas...

This week's TCP Challenge was a fun color one that I couldn't miss!



I pulled out my very spiffy sailor from The Cat's Pajamas, Aye Aye Captain and set about for a rowing tour :)

I made some extensive use of the TCP Moustache die throughout the card.   It made for waves, a border, and a template for the clouds in the sky.  I'll show you how it all went...


You can see I "one-layer colored-up" my bunny, knowing that I would pop up another fully colored-layer on top, and then I used the largest moustache die as a template (see left of image), and sponged Pool Party Ink over top of him to create the sky and clouds.  Then I cut several of the smaller moustache dies in half, sponged up some and used them as the waves under his boat. 

Here's a closer picture of the clouds.  Before I sponged the clouds I did some soft swirly sky coloring with BG70.    



And below is a better picture of the popped up dimension and coloring. 


As you can see I have double layers of "moustachioed" waves with the sponged ones in the background (to receed) and the un-sponged lighter ones in the foreground (to advance).  



And finally, I tucked the moustaches behind the horizontal dp layer to create a border too.  Too cute hey?  Makes this die pretty versatile!  DP is from Echo Park - Sweet Day.  A little nautical "flag" with a buoy and button and it's sailing time!  

Copics:  E31, E33, E35, R27, R29, BG11, BG13, BG70

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Project 365 - Week 28


July 8 - My Grandma's Peonies.  I transplanted these peonies from my mom, who had gotten them from her mom long ago.  So, it's always a bit of a treasure for me to have them, and see them bloom each year.  They're white with some deep burgundy buried in the center (you can just see it on some of the center petals.  

July 9 - Heat Wave.  We've had extremely warm temperatures the past weeks, mid 30's Celcius.  And it's been wonderful, but since this generally doesn't last, or doesn't normally get this hot, most of us around here don't have air conditioning.  So, slurpees have been a daily cool-down treat :).  They get so much condensation on them that you end up having a pool of water around your slurpee cup too.  



July 10 - Nasturtium.  I love these little blooms.  They're so unique.  My two baskets of nasturtiums had just started blooming.  



July 11 - Pool Day!  On our day off we went to friends of ours who have a beautiful in-ground pool to cool off, so, here's a bunch of shots...


See his sister photo-bombing him in the background?




I had some fun with my continuous shot getting our son coming down the slide.  


It was even more funny because his feet were starting to slide over instead of stay on the slide...


And the big splash!



July 12 - And that's not snow.  With all the heat comes some fierce storms.  We had a brutal one with monsoon rains, and crazy marble-sized hail that wiped out so much of my flower gardens.  :(  The storm was at 3 am, and this picture was taken at 10 am.  We still had hail that hadn't melted as there was so much of it.  There was a lot of flooding and damage from this storm around us.  Gratefully, outside of our shed looking like someone shot through the roof a couple dozen times, the damage was only to the plants.  Still makes me sad :(


July 13 - My Mom's Garden.  The hail storm only hit half of the city, and not the half my parents live in.  Her garden looks beautiful this year.  She has such great soil.  Mine is so much more clay-like that it needs some real intervention.  See that random poppy growing inbetween the carrots and the beans?  


My cute little niece and nephew enjoying the sunshine in Grandma's backyard.  

And there you have this week in photos :)  Thanks for joining me again!


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Toto's Bike Ride


We have the CUTEST set today for you from Flourishes.  I've been waiting for this set for some time.  It's illustrated by Lauren Pope and I just love what she's done with the set and all the interchangeable pieces you can put in the basket.  It's so perfectly illustrated!

I could not resist this little puppy in the basket, he looks just like Toto to me, from the Wizard of Oz.  And check out the little grin on his face?  Totally precious hey?


Little Toto basket blanket is paper pieced and he's popped up.  The papers are MME Rosy.  I love the stripes and the newsprint.  And isn't that a lovely sentiment?  Are you singing the song now too?    

Here's a closer shot of the coloring and the dimension, I LOVE this basket!  It was fun to color too.  And you just can't go wrong with a red bicycle.  That's the color of my bike and I love it.  


You can also see just a slight bit of the herringbone embossing on the espresso layer behind the main image too.  

New Release Details!
  • Be sure to visit all the Design Team's Blogs and comment because hidden amoung us is....

If you find the Mystery Bloggers Blog, you could be chosen to win today's set!
No go ahead and visit the rest of the Design Team and see what the've put in their bicycle baskets!  :)
Copics:  W1, W3, W5, W7, W9, E31, E33, E43, E53, E47, E44, E74, E79, R35, R37, R39, B0000, YG 25, YG63, YG67

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Flowers and Frames


Today's set is a beautiful one in our new family of sets The Blossom Collection illustrated again by our wonderful Marcella Hawley.  It makes layering a combination of images and sentiments easy and beautiful.  I think you'll love it's versatility.  

I decided to try an oval easel card again, with great thanks to my friend Dawn for the instructions.  It's such an easy design, but gives such wow results.  


I layered up several of the oval frames and layered them (Oval Spellbinders, Lacey Ovals, and Floral Ovals Spellbinders dies).  Coloring the different layers with Prismacolor pencils.   I LOVE this sentiment and it means a lot to me personally, so I had to use it with this set first.  


Coloring details above.  I accented with a little thin 1/8 inch velvet ribbon and used My Mind's Eye Sunshine as the DP.  One of my favourite MME packs from this past year.  The pretty embellishments are Prima Faceted Crystals -  Harvest.  I've re-ordered these many times I like them so much :)  


Above you can see how the thin line of velvet ribbon is the holder for the easel to stand up.  


Inside detailing.  I stamped one of the smaller images from the set in the top of the oval.  Aren't these fancy ovals amazing?  The piercing detailing is so classy!  

I know you'll see some wonderful creations today with this set from the Design Team....

New Release Details!
  • Be sure to visit all the Design Team's Blogs and comment because hidden amoung us is....

If you find the Mystery Bloggers Blog, you could be chosen to win today's set!
  • Come back at Noon Central Time today to the Flourishes Blog see the Flourishes Noon-Time Challenge   Join us in the Challenge and you could win New Release Sets too!
  • And a chance to win the WHOLE July New Release can be had if you participate in our July New Release Challenge - and it's a Sketch.  Deadline for the Challenges is Friday July 13th.  

Bold and Beautiful Challenge


Feel like you're at a Soap Opera?  NOPE it's our Noon-Time Challenge at Flourishes!  Today's theme? It's all about vibrant color - you pick the color just make sure it's bold and beautiful.   Now this is MY kind of challenge!  I love color!


I had SO much fun giving these Passion Flowers some really vibrant blues and greens for this card with my Copics, framing it out in the Lattice Rectangle Spellbinders, tilting it slightly to give it a bit of interest.  It's mounted on some layers of Authentique Loyal DP that's one of my favourites right now.  Tying the corner with a luscious silk bow, and accenting it with a beautiful rhinestone corner detailing Classy Corner Nestabling.   Because I tilted the main image the rhinestones worked perfectly with the design to extend beyond the top corner.  




So come on and join us....make it bold and beautiful with some vibrant color this beautiful summer day! 

For more Bold and Beautiful Inspiration see these DT girls blogs, and then link your creation to this post on the Flourishes Blog.  Thanks for joining me for the Noon Time Challenge! 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Passion Flower


Today's New Release from Flourishes is a WOW one :)  I had never seen these flowers before, being a "northerner" and all, they wouldn't grow here, but in Florida where Jan Marie is you would find these amazing Passion Flowers :)  They are such a detailed, unique and showy flower, and they come in so many colors.  I have a card to show you now, and then if you come back at noon for the challenge I'll show you another one that I love too! 


I found a picture of a unique passion flower variety, it's called an Kerala Albino, and it says on wikipedia (if you can trust it :) )  that it's quite rare.  I colored up and die cut part of the image to show off just some of the blossoms from this stamp.  The layout is the July SFYTT from Jen Del Muro.  I used the Spellbinders Blossoms Die and Standard Circles Dies for the main image, Lattice Spellbinders die on the left, bordered with some satin pleated ribbon, then a gingham checked bow, with our Tailor Made Flourishes Classic Tag, and some MME Blush buttons.  

Below is the inspiration photo, gorgeous isn't it?


And here's a close-up of the coloring:  


If you look closely you'll see that I added some sparkle to the blossoms with my glitter pen.  Here's the Flourishes Copic Collections I used:  

New Release Details!
  • Be sure to visit all the Design Team's Blogs and comment because hidden amoung us is....


If you find the Mystery Bloggers Blog, you could be chosen to win today's set!
  • Come back at Noon Central Time today to see the Flourishes Noon-Time Challenge (I'll have a sample).  Join us in the Challenge and you could win New Release Sets too!
  • And a chance to win the WHOLE July New Release can be had if you participate in our July New Release Challenge - and it's a Sketch.  Deadline for the Challenges is Friday July 13th.  


Thanks for dropping by today....see you at Noon!