Remembering 2013 Recipe Swap

Linda has some fun lined up for us for the first Catered Crop Recipe Swap of the year… a chance to review all of our favorites from last year.
Honestly, 2013 wasn’t the greatest year for me.  My stamping suffered greatly from a lot of stress I was dealing with at my former job, and I even took the month of May off from stamping completely.  My Mom was also diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time early in the year (and is thankfully winning the battle!) and then my Dad unexpectedly passed away on December 4th.  Don’t get me wrong…. I have many, many blessings in my life that I’m very grateful for, but all in all I’m glad to see the end of 2013.  It was a difficult one. 
I didn’t really think I’d find a lot of favorites on my blog, but I did end up with a good selection.  Rather than choose one favorite from each month I just decided to pick my faves and leave it at that.  :)  So here ya’ go… my 2013 favorites.
From January, these Valentine tea lights made with stamps and Die-Namics from My Favorite Things…

The newly-learned chalkboard technique was something I loved to do during the past year, and this Sweetness of Friendship card with stamps from Flourishes is also one of my favorites…

In February, I used some newly acquired stamps and dies from My Favorite Things on this card that was for my sweet friend Gretchen.  She was in need of a pick-me-up and this card was just the ticket….

And some more new stamps and dies from MFT were used to create this card…

In April I had the distinction of being the Guest Designer for My Favorite Things’ new release and this Spring-themed banner I made was definitely a favorite…

In June, I was inspired by a card from Lisa Johnson and created my own version here with stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps.  And my BFF Barbara Anders shared a bounty of sequins with me around this time, which turned into another favorite for me in 2013…

In June I rejoined the design team at Kitchen Sink Stamps just in time for a great new release, and this card showing some paradise was a favorite…

The annual Dare to Get Dirty challenges over at Splitcoaststampers are always a bunch of fun, and this card using some new stamps from Wplus9 Designs I created for one of the challenges was pure joy to create…

Any Color Throwdown challenge with shades of blue makes me want to pull my hair out, as I just don’t work well with blue, but I was pleasantly surprised when this card came together using a variety of stamps from MFT, Hero Arts and Impression Obsession.  This card was sent to my Aunt Linda in Ft. Wayne who also unfortunately passed away this past year.  She was my Dad’s youngest sister, and my Dad died four weeks to the day after she did.  :(

Sunflowers have always been a favorite for me, so this card was a shoe-in for a 2013 favorite, using Kitchen Sink Stamps…

This past year was when I discovered A Day for Daisies digital stamps, and got lucky enough to join the design team!  This sweet card for Color Throwdown #264 was definitely a favorite…

In October, there was another great new release from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and this wonderful Multi-Step Bicycle stamp set was an idea that I came up with, so any card made with this fantastic bike image is a favorite of mine…

Every now and then, a card comes together and you just think “oh, YEAH!” because you’re so happy with it, know what I mean?  This card using a digi from A Day for Daisies was one of those happy moments…

And finally, another new company I discovered this past year was Reverse Confetti.  I just fell in love with this coffee stamp set they released, and just loved this card I created with that set…

So, there you have it… my favorites from 2013.  If you’d like to show off your favorites too, stop over at the Catered Crop blog and leave a link so we can see yours, too!
Happy weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #264

Welcome to another Wednesday Color Throwdown challenge, otherwise known as “WHAT am I going to do with these colors?”  LOL  Seriously folks, I just feel like I’m in a color slump lately….for some reason I just can’t put ‘em together to create anything.  But luckily I ran across this little darling image from A Day for Daisies that I printed months ago, and the wheels started turning.



This image is called “Picked Bouquet” from ADFD, and I just adore her with her cute little hair piled up on her head with the flowers.  I colored her with Copics, and then paired her up with this polka dot paper from Papertrey Ink (that I SWEAR looks like Pool Party in real life, but it sure doesn’t in my photo!)  A little sentiment, a silver cardstock scalloped border, a navy button and some silver sequins and I’m done!  What was I so worried about?

Be sure to stop over at the CTD blog for all the challenge details and play along!  And please visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Melody Rupple (off this week)
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Sankari Wegman, October Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Happy stamping!

Color Throwdown #263

Hello my stamping friends, are you ready for another Color Throwdown challenge?  This week, my BFF Barbara Anders is our hostess with the spooky, scary photo for inspiration!  LOL  Some great colors for Halloween, but you can create anything you want with them.  Be sure to stop over at the CTD blog and check out the challenge details!

I had the honor this past Saturday of getting to meet the fabulous Wendy Vecchi from Studio 490, and got to watch her demonstrate her great products!  She was so super nice and is a terrific instructor… I learned so many new ideas in the short time I spent watching her demonstrations.  And she sweetly agreed to a photo with me, so here we are…



So for my CTD card today I just had to pull out some new product she *forced* me into buying, and created this…



This Layered Tree is one of Wendy’s new stencils, and I used her new signature Archival Inks to color it in… Potting Soil for the tree and Orange Blossom for the leaves.  I sponged in the moon with some Archival Pale Ochre, but it was too pale so I added some Ranger Wild Honey distress ink, then added Pumice Stone distress ink all around the background.  The sentiment is from Flourishes “Life Lines” stamp set.  I added some random spots of water to the background, and some distressing on the edges just to *shab* it up a bit, and otherwise kept the design pretty simple but I really love how it turned out.

So, be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog so you can get all the challenge details, and also check out my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Wanda Cullen
Vickie Zimmer
Melody Rupple (taking the week off)
Lori Tecler
Joan Ervin
Broni Holcombe
Barbara Anders
Sankari Wegman, October Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by today… happy stamping!

CrAzY for the Twist - C4C179

We’re going cRaZy on the C4C blog today and doin’ The Twist!  C’mon baby!
OK, maybe not that extreme but Frances is challenging us to get a little twisty with our cards today.  Try making a Twisted Easel card, or maybe a stamping technique that involves a twist like this.  Or… here’s what I did!

I created a Triangle Tri-fold card, because it has a little bit of a twist when you open it up!  Now, don’t even start to think that this card design is hard… it’s not at all!  Try it once, and you’ll be making them all the time.  For my design, I used some new Pebbles paper and this tulip image from Flourishes, and added a few pearls as embellishment.  Now, here’s the twist…

When you open the card, it does do a little bit of a twist as you can see here…

And then here it is fully open.  Can you see how it works?  Check out the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers  HERE, and watch the video, too!  Believe me, these are so easy and fun to make!  Now, in hindsight I wish I had stamped the sentiment so that it was readable in this final, open position shown above.  But, it’s glued down so too late to change it and this is for my Mom anyway, and I know she’ll love it no matter what!  :)
Visit the Crazy 4 Challenges blog for all the details, and to see the other twisted ideas from the team members!
Thanks for stopping by!  Happy stamping!

Poppy Sympathy

I unfortunately had the need for another sympathy card this week, so I decided to play along with the Love Fest challenges that started today at Splitcoaststampers.  Today’s challenge was to incorporate L.O.V.E. in your card, so I did…
L – layers, layout (I used the Retro Sketch #50 for this week.)
O – oval
V – vellum, vanilla cardstock
E – embossing (around the oval edges, and on the sentiment)
The poppy on my card is from the Poppy Patch stamp set from Flourishes, and I also used the Poppy Patch Silhouette cut file so I could mount the flower above the oval.  The papers I used on the card are Crate Paper “Maggie Holmes” collection.
Since the card base is dark gray, I added a small panel inside with a Fishtail Flag die cut for writing…


And while the Retro Sketch was fresh in my mind, I decided to make one more very clean-and-simple card using the sketch, because I needed a quick card to send to my Pastor.  The stamp I used here is supremely old… it maybe very well be one of the first stamps I ever bought, made by Stampourri.  I doubt I’ll ever part with it…. it’s an oldie, but a goodie!

Happy Friday!  Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

Flourishes Finale

Today brings with it a sad ending… my last post as a member of the Flourishes team.  I’ve had the privilege of being a member of the Flourishes family for a number of years now, starting out as the coordinator of the Timeless Tuesday team, and progressing to the Sr. Design Team and it’s been a great and wonderful experience.  But I’m feeling the need to move on in several aspects of life and have some great plans in my future!  One of these days, I’ll share them with you!
I thought I’d share with you today one last card created with the beautiful Apple of my Eye stamp set.  I made this card during my time on the Dirty Dozen at Splitcoaststampers, but never had a chance to share it here with you.  The apples were stamped on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colors with Copics from the Poppy, Beehive, Sweet Pea, Olive Green and Walnut collections.  The papers used are from a variety of companies, and I finished off the design with some gorgeous dark grown gingham ribbon and a sentiment tag.
So, to Mike and Jan Marie Caruso I say thank you so very much!  To Sharon and everyone down at home base in Florida, to Julie Koerber for being the BEST design team coordinator any company could have (as well as a wonderful friend!) and to all the Flourishes designers…. thank you all for being a sweet friend!
Happy stamping!

The Sweetness of Friendship

Did you catch my Create with Me Monday post over on the Flourishes blog yesterday?  I did a whole tutorial on how to do the chalkboard technique!
Here’s one more card I made as part of the tutorial…

This card uses some really pretty new paper I picked up recently from My Mind’s Eye, and the beautiful Sweetness of Friendship single stamp from Flourishes.  For the chalkboard effect, I used some Flourishes Classic Black cardstock,
Versamark ink, Versamagic Cloud White ink, an embossing buddy and white embossing powder.  To finish my card I added some rolled roses, a seam binding bow and some Kaisercraft pearls colored with the W3 Copic marker from the Warm Neutrals collection.
And here is the card that actually appears in the tutorial…

This card uses new Crate Paper and the Just My Type stamp set from Flourishes, which is SO ideal for this technique.  Again, I’ve used the Flourishes Classic Black cardstock,
Versamark ink, Versamagic Cloud White ink, the embossing buddy and white embossing powder.  My design is finished with some machine stitching, a Poppy button and some Ivory Jute.
I really hope you’ll give this technique a try!  If you do, please link up your creation in a comment so I can see your beautiful work!
Happy stamping!

Flourishes Tutorial – Chalkboard Technique

Hello friends!  I’m sharing a Create with Me Monday tutorial over on the Flourishes blog today, demonstrating how to do the wildly popular Chalkboard Technique!

I’d love it if you hop on over to the Flourishes blog today and check it out! 
And to whet your appetite, here’s another card I made using the technique…

This card uses a sentiment from the darling Heartlines mini stamp set.  I liked this sentiment because of the open letters within it that gave me space to add a little color with a Prismacolor pencil.  I was also able to add the little row of hearts at the top, also from the stamp set.  To create this look, you need some Flourishes Classic Black cardstock,
Versamark ink, Versamagic Cloud White ink, an embossing buddy, and white embossing powder.  Items also used on my card today include new Valentine papers I just picked up from Pink Paislee, a red felt heart die-cut with the Classic Heart Nestabilities, some Kaisercraft black rhinestones and a cream leaf stick pin.  The layout for my card comes from an old Mojo Monday sketch.
Want to give this technique a try?  Please stop over at the Flourishes blog today and check out my tutorial!  Then…. get inky!
Happy stamping!

Take Time to Celebrate

It’s time again for Flourishes Free-for-All Friday and today I decided to pull out a favorite set, Moments in Time.  I knew it was the perfect set to use when I saw the Deconstructed Sketch #86 for this week, with all those circles… perfect for a big clock face!  I used some Versafine Onyx Black ink (*new* in the Flourishes online store!) to stamp the clock face, then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The Versafine ink is SO nice for images with fine detail like this clock, and embossed so nicely… if you’ve never tried it, pick it up with your next order.  I promise you’ll love it!  The papers I used on my card are Bo Bunny’s “Serenity” collection, and I embellished my card front with some black Kaisercraft rhinestones, and also embossed the one little black circle with a Houndstooth embossing folder.

On the inside of the card, I stamped the hourglass from the Moments in Time set with Versafine Smoky Gray ink (again, GREAT ink…. I highly recommend!) and then stamped the sentiment with the Onyx Black.
Need some inspiration?  Stop and see what the other Sr. Design Team members have cooked up for you today….

• Christine Okken   —She is taking the week off. Her hubby had surgery and could use some prayers!
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

Also, we have some BIG news for you if you are a bargain hunter! We had put our Gambler’s Sale on hold over the holidays because there were so many different sales. Well, we’ve resumed it to try to further clear the shelves at Flourishes’ home base. So now, many of our items on the Sale Page HERE are….

That’s right — 55% off! You will see some additional items on sale. As a limited time special, all Aquamarkers are 20% off. These water-based markers are fabulous to have on hand for coloring and water coloring – so if you need a water-based marker, now is the time to stock up!
Thanks for stopping by today!

To the Moon & Back

It’s time for Flourishes Friday Free-for-All and this week you’ll find the Sr. Design Team reviewing some of the recent newly released stamp sets for your enjoyment!

For my card this week, I just had to use the new Just My Type stamp set, because I simply adore it!

The “to the moon & back” and “to infinity and beyond” parts of the sentiment were really speaking to me this week, so I decided to make a space-themed card.  I used papers from the Echo Park “For the Record 2” paper pad, and stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  The moon was cut out with a Nestabilities circle die and embossed with an old Cuttlebug embossing folder, then I sponged a little Scattered Straw distress ink on the raised dots.  I colored in the heart with a YR18 Copic marker from the Burnt Orange Copic collection, and the little doo-hickeys at the top and bottom of the sentiment with BG53 from the Emerald Coast collection.  I sponged some Tumbled Glass distress ink on the clouds, and embellished with a few Kaisercraft aqua rhinestones.  The layout for my card is based on the sketch 001 from I {heart} Card Sketches. (I flipped it upside down.)
Take some time to hop over to the other Sr. Design team members today to see what they’ve created with the new release stamps…

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan

Don’t forget, today is your last chance to take advantage of the New Release Bundle and save 10% when you buy all three of the new stamp sets!  Don’t miss out!
Thanks for stopping by today, and happy weekend!