Color Throwdown #219

Hello there!  It’s time for Color Throwdown #219, and this week it’s my turn to host the challenge.  I guess I’m just partial to aqua blue… I seem to pick color combos with it a lot!  I hope you’ll like this challenge, too.  Stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge info and play along with us.

I have no clue where the idea came from, but the notion for this card popped into my head earlier this week so I gave it a try.  I pulled out my fabulous By the Letter Die-Namics die for the letters and ran them through my Xyron for adhesive then dumped on some ultrafine glitter.  The Christmas tree is from the Silhouette online store, and I sponged the edges of it with some Peeled Paint ink and wrapped some silver thread around it for garland.  I also used my Rounded Banner STAX Die-Namics and the Small Scallop Border on my card.  The white snowflake-embossed piece is spritzed with some Perfect Pearls for added sparkle, but darn if I couldn’t get that to show up in the photo!  :)

Check out the creations from my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration with these colors…
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Kerri Michaud
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Lynn Mercurio, November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy stamping!

Flourishes New Release is Here

Hi all! We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed all the sneak peeks this week! Today, we get to take the lid off the entire release AND share some fun things that are also in the Flourishes store as well! Are you ready? We are so excited we can hardly stand it! For starters — all the stamp sets that we have shown off this week are now in the Flourishes store HERE! Remember, you can take advantage too of the New Release Bundle and save 10% when you purchase all four sets in a bundle! And.. if you are looking for some great sale items… HAVE YOU SEEN OUR GAMBLER’S SALE? All items on our sale page dropped another 5% — they are now 25% off! Click HERE to see the savings!
Today, all the designers are showing off a set that was inspired by the Land Down Under! Yes, Flourishes Fans — we are talking about Australia! Our own Kathy Jones, who hails from Australia,  helped develop this set concept, which has two beautiful botanicals as the  centerpiece of the set! We also have heard from many folks (Australians and Canadians alike) that they wish we offered a set that spelled greetings an a way that they were accustomed to – words like “colour,” “favourite,” “neighbour,” and more! So, we put our thinking caps on and today, we introduce you to….

Take a trip to the land “Down Under” to see a pair of beautiful botanicals alive in this island continent. In this set called Bloomin’ Aussie Florals, Artist Marcella Hawley brings the Golden Wattle and Sturt’s Desert Rose to life with these illustrations and pairs them with true Aussie sentiments!
And…. to serve as the perfect partner to this set we offer….

A Silhouette Cameo Cut File to coordinate with this set! You’ll find the new file HERE. And, if you click HERE, you will see the file in an .SVG format, to make it compatible with other digital cutting machines! We also have a cut file for the set we peeked yesterday called Stitched for You. You’ll find the Silhouette file HERE and the SVG file HERE! Fun stuff!
You might think that this is the end of the excitement, but NO! We have more! Fresh off the manufacturing line comes a whole new line of custom dies! These aren’t just any shapes. They are special! Why? Because in addition to being nested template dies custom created by Spellbinders Paper Arts exclusively for Flourishes, these dies all offer pierced accents! Say goodbye to piercing templates – these dies do it for you in one step! They are all a part of the Perfectly Pierced Collection! And, here’s a peek!

Perfectly Pierced Classic Windows

Perfectly Pierced Victorian Ovals

Perfectly Pierced Classic Hourglass

   

Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames

You’ll see our designers using these dies in their posts today – what fun! I know we’ll get asked if stamp sets are on the way to coordinate with these beauties and the answer is undoubtedly – YES! We just knew that you didn’t need a coordinating stamp set to use these dies and so, we wanted YOU to enjoy them NOW!

And now, for my card today I have used the beautiful Sturt’s Desert Rose from the new stamp set, cutting out the image with the Silhouette cut file on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock and stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

My roses are colored with Copics from the Lenten Rose and Pistachio collections.  I matted my image with the new Perfectly Pierced Classic Hourglass die behind it, and used papers on my card from the Echo Park “Graceful” paper pad.  I accented with some seam binding, chocolate Kaisercraft pearls, and a Color Made Easy button on the tag (from the Poppy collection.)
So, do you want to win some goodies or what? We’ll have not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE ways to win today. All you need to do is figure out…

And guess what — today there will be FIVE mystery bloggers! So, the more love you leave in the form of a comment on these blogs below, the better your chances of winning!! We’ll be giving away today’s set – Bloomin’ Aussie Florals plus we’ll be giving away one each of our four new die sets! So get hopping and amp up your chance to WIN!

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Sharon Doolittle
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

We’ll see you back at the Flourishes blog
tomorrow when we announce all the winners! We have the Be Progressive Challenge that closes today at 5PM EST -- still time to enter to win our entire new release! Plus, we have our daily mystery bloggers. Be sure to check back to see if your name lands in the Winner’s Circle! Thanks for stopping by this week and joining us for all the fun!
Happy Stamping!

Flourishes New Release Day Three

Hi all, and welcome to the third day of Flourishes’ fabulous November Release Sneak Peeks! Today, we take you to a far away place with picturesque scenery, a glass of wine and some fresh picked figs for the tasting. Are you ready for a picnic in Florence? Well we are! Take a sneak peek at this lush new set!

From the rich Italian landscape host to Cypress trees and sunflowers to a table set with wine and figs, this set called Dreaming of Florence is sure to add a dreamy feel to your cards or creations. This 4 by 6″ set illustrated by Marcella Hawley even offers a handful of beautiful, all occasion sentiments.
My card today uses this beautiful new set, along with a sneak peek of a new die that you’ll hear more about tomorrow!

I colored this beautiful image with a huge variety of Copics from the Flourishes collections on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock.  I used one of the new dies (that you’ll see in full glory tomorrow!) to cut a piece of eggplant cardstock for a mat.  Then I used the die as a stencil, placed it over my stamped image, traced inside the die and then cut it out to achieve this layering.  My cardstock and paper edges are all distressed and inked with Antique Linen ink, and I used a Labels 8 Nestabilities die to create the bracket at the bottom of my card.  The sentiment is also from the new stamp set, and I have it matted on a piece of eggplant cardstock cut out with the Tailor-Made Classic Tags die.
Would you like to win this set? All  you need to do is leave some love in the form of a comment on the blogs below! Why? You need to try to figure out who is the…

One of the ladies on our link list below will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win! So what are you waiting for? Let’s take a trip to see what these ladies crafted with this serene set — you don’t even need a passport!

• Cindy Lawrence
• Christine Okken
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WIN OUR ENTIRE NOVEMBER RELEASE? Have you checked out our Be Progressive Challenge? Just click HERE to find out how to play– there are four ways to win! Play along in this week’s Timeless Tuesday challenge  and that’s another way to win! Play along in the Be Progressive Challenges before this Friday at 5 PM EST and winners will be announced Saturday in our Winner’s Circle blog post! (You have until Monday at 6PM EST for the Timeless Tuesday challenge!)  So get those fingers inky and good luck!
If you like what you see on our designers’ blogs today, you can pre-order this set (along with the other three sets as well) and if you purchase all four sets, you can take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off all our new sets when you purchase it in the bundle. What fun! All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with another special surprise! So, be sure to stick with us this week as we unveil a whole new host of paper crafting goodies!
We’ll see you back here tomorrow for another new release sneak peek! This one will have you taking yet another trip to a far away place to witness some beautiful botanicals! Come back tomorrow and see what fun we’ve dreamed up! See you then!

Flourishes New Release Day Two

Hi all, and welcome to day 2 of Flourishes’ fabulous November Release Sneak Peeks! Today, we have a cozy offering that is sure to warm the hearts of those who receive creations made from this set!  It’s one full of images to help you tell that special someone that you’ve stitched up something for them with love! Want to take a peek?

Whether you knit, sew or quilt, this set called Stitched For You is perfect for those hand-stitched gifts or home-spun cards and creations! Illustrated by Marcella Hawley, this set features 3 main images plus a handful of mix and match sentiments perfect for all occasion cards and gifts!
For my sneak peeks today, I created a set of tags for a dear friend.  Fran is a lady I work with… I’ve known her since I started my job back in February and have come to absolutely adore her.  About 6-7 months ago, she took up knitting as a hobby and loves it very much… so much so that I’ve even worked some half days for her so she can go to a knitting group meeting at her church!  Fran recently announced her retirement, and I know that means she’s going to be knitting even more in her days of leisure coming up so I made this little set of tags for her to attach to her hand-knitted gifts.

Each tag was made using the Labels 11 Nestabilities die.  I used the new Stitched for You Silhouette cut file with Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock,
and stamped each image to match my cardstock with Ranger Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass and Peeled Paint, plus Memento Rich Cocoa.  And I used the wonderful new Color Made Easy system buttons on the top of each tag for a little embellishment.

On the back of each tag I added some sentiments from the set with room for Fran to write a greeting.
Would you like to win this set? All  you need to do is leave some love in the form of a comment on the blogs below! Why? You need to try to figure out who is the…

One of the ladies on our link list below will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win! So what are you waiting for? Head on over to see all the fun-filled way our designers have stitched up some fun!

• Cindy Lawrence
• Christine Okken
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

As you make the rounds, you’ll also see that some of the gals are using Flourishes’ newest 123 Create Kit called For The Record! It’s a colorful kit with so many creative possibilities!

This kit features a 6x6 Echo Park paper pad called For the Record, 4 quilting, sewing and knitting inspired charms, 2 yards of measuring tape twill ribbon, 3 yards of coordinating green seam binding style ribbon, 2 yards of red looped grosgrain ribbon, and 12 floral and button stick pins. All this for just $18!
DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WIN OUR ENTIRE NOVEMBER RELEASE? Have you checked out our Be Progressive Challenge? Just click HERE to find out how to play– there are four ways to win! Play along in this week’s Timeless Tuesday challenge  and that’s another way to win! Play along in the Be Progressive Challenges before this Friday at 5 PM EST and winners will be announced Saturday in our Winner’s Circle blog post! (You have until Monday at 6PM EST for the Timeless Tuesday challenge!)  So get those fingers inky and good luck!
The good news? If you like what you see on our designers’ blogs today, you can pre-order this set (along with the other three sets as well) and if you purchase all four sets, you can take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off all our new sets when you purchase it in the bundle. What fun! All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with another special surprise! So, be sure to stick with us this week as we unveil a whole new host of paper crafting goodies!
We’ll see you back here tomorrow for another new release sneak peek! This one will have you dreaming of far away places! Yes, that was your hint! See you then!

Color Throwdown #218

Lynn is our hostess for this week’s Color Throwdown and she’s got this cool color combo for you to try!  Isn’t that bird beautiful?  I really loved working with these colors, and hope you will, too!

I went kind of clean and simple with my card for this week, using the Miss You a Latte a’ la modes stamp set from My Favorite Things for my design, and come old Stampin’ Up! designer paper cut out with the Hexagon Die-Namics.  I tied on some old Soft Suede ribbon and called it good!  :)

Visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Denise Marzec
Joan Ervin
Kerri Michaud
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Wanda Cullen
Lynn Mercurio, November Guest Designer
Happy stamping!

Flourishes New Release Day One

It’s that time again… Flourishes New Release Week is here!

Give the inside and outside of your cards a dash of pizazz with this fun new set from Becky Fleck! Inside and Out-Just Because is the perfect little sentiment set for all-occasion creations! There are so many mix and match sentiments packed on this 4″ by 3″ set! If you like what you see, you can pre-order this set today!

The Timeless Tuesday team is helping us with the new release today, and if you play along with the challenge you could win all four stamp sets!  Be sure to stop by the Flourishes blog for all the details!

Here’s my card for today…



I combined this new Inside and Out-Just Because stamp set with the Feminine Charm stamp set and some trendy gray and yellow designer papers.  My shoe was colored with Copics from the Sunflower, Daffodil and Tonal Neutral collections on Flourishes Classic White cardstock, stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The layout for my card comes from the Retro Sketch #36 from last week.  I accented the shoe with some glitter and a little bling from a clear Copic Spica Glitter pen, as shown below…



Would you like to win this set?  All you need to do is guess….



One of the ladies on our link list below will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win! So what are you waiting for? Head on over and see…

• Allison Cope
• Amanda Havon
• Broni Holcombe
• Cindy Haffner
• Denise Marzec
• Maki Jones
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Sharon Doolittle
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger
• Karen Wallace – Timeless Tuesday Guest Designer

Also, don’t forget the Release Week Progressive Challenge still going on that gives you a chance to win all the new stamp sets!  Check it out HERE!

Happy stamping, and thanks for stopping by!

Still Selling...

Don't forget, I still have a good bit of stamps up for sale, along with some great Nestabilities dies!  And stay tuned... I'm going to thin out 6x6 paper pads AGAIN, as I recently discovered some I didn't even remember I had and if all they're going to do is gather dust, then it's time to move 'em out!  I also think I'm going to sell my Bind-It-All machine, and am going to clear out a lot of old punches.  My sale page can be found HERE.

Happy stamping!

Flourishes Progressive Challenge – 4 Ways to Win!

Hi all and welcome to the kick off of our Flourishes November release! Are you ready for a new spin on the release week fun? Well, we are! We’ve gotten some requests and comments lately that more folks wished they could play in our noon time challenges. They were fun-filled ways to win our release, but were too quick for many of you to play. So, we listened to your comments and this release – we’re switching things up a bit!

Today, we’re hosting a 4-step challenge that will give you not one, not two, not three but FOUR ways to win our New Release Bundle! Here’s how it works! Throughout the day, we’ll be revealing elements to our progressive challenge. Want the first portion?


STEP 1: Simply use this sketch! Just that easy!

And now for…



STEP 2: Use a Monochromatic Color Scheme! Need some inspiration? Check out our COLOR MADE EASY System!

Once you are done with Step 1 and Step 2, be sure to link up your creation on the Flourishes blog using the Inklinkz widget. HERE’S THE CATCH!!! If you want to be eligible for ALL FOUR ways to win, you need to be progressive and add  your creation to each step of the challenge. You can make 4 cards or wait until all four steps are revealed and incorporate all four steps into one card. BUT, even if you only make one card using all the steps, you need to link it up on all four posts. Random.org will chose four winners so we want to make sure you are counted for each step you used on your creation! If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCNOV12 as your keyword for all four parts to this challenge.  You have until nextFriday, November 16th at 5PM EST to enter – so get those creative juices flowing! You have a shot at four sets valued at more than $60! Woohoo!

And stay tuned to the Flourishes blog…. more steps are to come throughout the day!

Now, I have a card to share with you using Steps 1 and 2…



I kinda' flipped the sketch upside down, and not only did I use the Poppy Patch stamp set from Flourishes, but I used the Poppy Color Made Easy collection which includes the card stock, seam binding and Copic markers used here (Poppy and Pistachio collections).  I also used the Blush Kaisercraft pearls for embellishment, and a sentiment from the Tag Lines stamp set.  And I fired up my Silhouette and used the Poppy Patch Silhouette cut file to cut out my poppy on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock, and stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

Be sure to stop and see my design team partner Christine Okken who also has a Step 1 & 2 card to share with you for today’s challenge!

Again, be sure to stop at the Flourishes blog for all the details on this new challenge, and check back later for more steps you can take for more chances to WIN!

Happy stamping!

Thank You abc’s

Just have this card to quickly share with you today, which I made for the Guest Designer challenge this month for My Favorite Things.  I was a little stumped by the 4-circle square background piece in the sketch, but the idea of using the By the Letter Die-Namics kept popping into my head for an idea.  I originally just wanted to put the face of the Apple for You Pure Innocence girl in one of the circles, but the circle wasn’t big enough to also show the apple she’s holding, so I layered her on top!  :)  I added the sentiment on an arrow from the Lead the Way Die-Namics, a seam binding bow and some red pearls for embellishment.  The papers I used here are the new Simple Stories “Sn@p!”

Hope you like it!  Happy stamping… happy almost weekend!  :)

Color Throwdown #217

Hi gang!  Today’s Color Throwdown #217 is being brought to you by Denise!  Be sure to head over to the CTD blog, check it out and play along!

 

I’m flaking out this week on the challenge, though… my hubby and I are taking a little overnight trip this week, and with my work schedule and family demands, I never got around to making my card.  But be sure to check out the other girls on the blog for plenty of inspiration!

 

Happy stamping!

More stuff for sale...

My sale page has been updated once again with some Nestabilities and other dies for sale!  Check it out HERE!

Thanks!

I have…

the GREATEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!!

Flourishes Friday

It’s time for another Flourishes Friday, and today I’m sharing a card with you created using the Moments in Time stamp set.  This is such a versatile stamp set, great for masculine or feminine design, and easy to use.  The images work great colored with Copics or just left plain.  For my card, I stamped the clock face with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and embossed with clear embossing powder (as well as the sentiment).  Even though the Memento ink is a dye ink, you can easily emboss by inking your stamp first with Versamark and then with the dye ink… this leaves the ink “wet” enough to apply your embossing powder and get great results.  The papers I used here are Authentique “Gathering” and I embellished with some chocolate Kaisercraft pearls, and a Cream seam binding bow from the Rich Brown Color-Made-Easy collection.

Be sure to visit my Flourishes sisters today and see what they have to share with you…

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy – please keep Danielle in your thoughts. She is in the midst of clean up after Hurricane Sandy.
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Sharon Doolittle
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan

Remember, today the prices will DROP again with our Gambler’s Sale!!!! It is now…..

Oh, and before we go — one more bit of FUN news! You asked for it and now we’ve got it — BUTTONS to match our Color Made Easy System!

So far, we have buttons to match the Rich Browns, Tiger Lily, Sunflower, Emerald Coast, Pistachio and Terra Cotta Collections. Click HERE to see for yourself!

Thanks for stopping by today… happy stamping, and happy weekend!

Bracelet for Kelsey

I was blog browsing back in the summer time, and came across this post on Nichole Heady’s blog during Papertrey Ink’s annual stamp affair, and just LOVED the bracelet!  This is something I’ve always wanted to try, but not knowing what supplies I needed, and how to use some of them (I would NEVER have known the purpose of a crimp bead… you’d have found me trying to tie a knot in the bead wire, I guarantee!) I was always intimidated.  Nichole’s video made it look so easy, and the idea of making the paper beads sounded fun.  So I bought some beads, and they just sat here.  Then a few weeks ago, I was shopping with my daughter and she saw these cool square beads and liked them so well I decided to buy them, and finally got to work making a bracelet.  Can I just say…. easiest thing in the world, but how CUTE is the end result?  I am about to become a bracelet-making fool!

Only thing different… with apologies to PTI, I decided not to shell out $10 for the Beautiful Beads die, but instead spent 99 cents and got mine from the Silhouette Online store.  (But of course, for those of you confident with your cutting skills, you wouldn’t need a cut file or die!)  The papers I used to make my beads are from Stampin’ Up!

Kelsey is asleep right now… I’m going to go loop the bracelet around the cord of her charging iPhone so she finds it in the morning!  :)

Happy stamping!