Red White and Blue… and Pink Green and Purple!  Happy 4th of July Basic Grey Style.  I love this new Euphoria designer paper from BG.

Aren’t these fireworks fun!  I used some Stickles and my Stardust Clear Pen directly on the Euphoria dp.  The “4th” was made using the JustRite Monogram Stamper.  The word “Happy” is from Flourishes “Many Sentiments” set.

This card was made for the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #138.  I LOVE this layout!

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Oh and I just have to share a picture of my son’s LAN (Local Area Networking) party that he had last week.  Here are the guys with their computers all hooked together having fun playing their favorite game World of Warcraft (WOW).  I think this was taken around 3:30 a.m.!!

And speaking of fun and games, hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

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Stamps: Star-Studded Season, FLLC “Many Sentiments”, JustRite Monogram Stamper

Papers: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, DP Basic Grey “Euphoria”

Inks: Purely Pomegranate, Versafine “Onyx Black”, Pre-inked Monogram Stamper

Accessories: GG Ribbon, Stardust Clear Pen, Stickles, 1-1/4″ Circle Punch, Brads

I LOVE this little bee from Flourishes Peony set.  So last Friday when the Limited Supply Challenge (LSC) on Splitcoaststampers was to make a card using brads as the only embellishment and to incorporate those brads into the image(s), I immediately thought of this sweet little guy.

Well someone didn’t read the instructions quite carefully enough.  See those brads in the corners.  Yup the ones that are NOT part of any image.  Not allowed for this LSC.  D’oh.  Oh and I added some sparkle to the bees’ wings with my Stardust Clear Pen.  I love my Stardust pen.  It is so easy to apply and dries so quickly unlike other glitter products I have tried.  But no matter.  Glitter was not allowed for this LSC.   D’oh.  So needless to say I didn’t upload this for the LSC.

And since this card wasn’t going to be for the challenge, I added some ribbon (which had been painful to leave off in the first place.  lol)  I used Flourishes Harlequin and Accessories set for the background and that cute little flower.  The sentiment is from Flourishes Sweet Treats set.

Next time I must learn to read the instructions/restrictions more carefully!

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Card measures 4-1/4″ X 4-1/4″.

Stamps: Flourishes “Peony”, “Harlequin and Accessories”, “Sweet Treats”

Papers: SU! Soft Sky, Only Orange, Basic Black, Whisper White

Inks: Versafine “Onyx Black”; SU! Classic Buckaroo Blue and Markers Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange

Accessories: Brads, Stardust Clear Pen, Ribbon

No kidding. These Twinkling H2O’s really do exactly that.. they twinkle! Look at the sparkle on this wonderful image from the Flourishes “Coffee With Friends” set. I just love how they shimmer and.. well.. twinkle!

Here is the whole card. I think these colors are so lovely.

***EDITED!***

Some have asked about how I did the Cuttlebugged frame around the center stamped section. I should have linked the tutorial on Lynda Benden’s blog and forgot. Thank you Lynda for such a wonderful idea and tutorial.

This next card uses the image of the single small cup in the Flourishes Stamp Simply “Coffee With Friends” set. I stamped it a couple of times on coordinating designer paper from Basic Grey’s “Two Scoops” series, cut them out and stacked them. You know when you stack cups how the handles never allow them to stack straight? Yup it happened here, too. *chuckle* This was fun.

This card was actually one of the cards on the banner over at Splitcoaststampers on the day of this set’s release. I was so excited that they would use my card! How cool is that. Thought I would show it here, too, just in case anyone was curious about all of the supplies used.

Twinkling H2O Card
Stamps: Flourishes “Coffee With Friends”; SU! “So Many Sayings”
Papers: PTI White; SU! “Basic Black
Inks: Jet Black Stazon
Accessories: Twinkling H2O’s, Gingham Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Fiscar’s Scoring Tool, MS Butterfly Punch

Coffee Tastes Better Card
Stamps: Flourishes “Coffee With Friends”
Papers: PTI White; SU! Basic Black; Basic Grey DP “Two Scoops”
Inks: Jet Black Stazon
Accessories: Dotted Ribbon, Rhinestone, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU! Corner Punch

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My 16 year old is having a LAN (Local Area Network) party at our home starting this morning. It will last until tomorrow morning. Yes.. all day long and through the night I will have 12 teenage boys playing the newly released season of World of Warcraft (WOW). He is setting up 4-6 (whatever we can fit) large tables. They all bring their computers and monitors and hook them all together and then play this internet game. It’s great fun.. mostly. The down side is that my computer is in the same room where they set up and play. I’ll try to maneuver my way through the maze here at nerd central to get on my computer, too. I hope I remember to take some pictures. It’s actually pretty amazing!! Have a great Wednesday!

I love cats. My mom loved cats and always had one or two of them around. She never bought a cat.. ever. She always adopted or more accurately they, as in the cats, adopted her… Wilbur, Sam, Cupcake, Gonzo, Boomer… so many cats over the years. But this card isn’t about cats but is instead made by a cat! Yup, a COPY cat!

Sharon Johnson (notimetostamp) came up with this wonderful idea to use the small SU! oval punch as a saucer for the cups. Here is her card that I just love. This card is also for the OCCC (Our Creative Corner Challenge) which is to make a card using at least one brad and one button as embellishments. I used Flourishes new “Coffee With Friends” set for the cups and their “Damask” background stamp. The Damask is stamped on Basic Grey’s “Two Scoops” designer paper. The ribbon is May Arts Scalloped Brown Satin.

Do you think these cups could pass as teacups? I have a whole collection of teacups that used to belong to my mom. She collected them (along with just about anything else you can think of! lol) One of her wishes was to someday take the ferry from Seattle to Victoria and have High Tea at the Empress Hotel. Oh and while on the trip she also wanted to visit the beautiful Butchart Gardens. Well fortunately before she passed away we were able to make that trip!

This is the view of the Empress as the ferry comes in to dock in Victoria, BC. (Photo courtesy of the Stewart Family, 2003)

Here we are at the Butchart Gardens just outside of Victoria. That’s our little group in the lower left hand corner of the photo.

The gardens were incredibly beautiful just like my mom. I’m so glad that she was able to get her wish and we made this trip. I miss her.

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Stamps: Flourishes “Coffee With Friends”, “Damask”; SU! “So Many Sayings”
Papers: SU! Whisper White, Taken With Teal; Basic Grey DP “Two Scoops”
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa; SU! Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal Markers; Copic BG02, BG05, BG10; Sakura White Gel Pen
Accessories: May Arts Scalloped Satin Brown Ribbon, Brads, Button, Hemp, SU! Small Oval Punch, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Whether it’s a birthday card or a graduation card or a card for any occasion at all, I’m finding that my JustRite Monogram Stamper can be customized to fit the bill. So it’s always just right!

Here’s a card I made for my oldest son’s birthday.

And here’s a graduation card for the son of one of our good friends.

Kevin’s graduation announcement was SO cool. I used part of it for the main image here and then just added the monogram. Seriously I LOVE this toy! Both cards use the Do-It-Yourself Kit and the Small Letters which are both available at Flourishes.

Jared’s Card:
Stamps: JustRite Monogram Stamper
Papers: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Basic Black, DP Bo Bunny Press
Inks: Pre-inked JustRite Stamper
Accessories: GG Ribbon, Brads, 2-1/8″ Circle Punch, Corner Punch, Decorative Edged Scissors, Black Gel Pen

Kevin’s Card:
Stamps: JustRite Monogram Stamper
Papers: Night of Navy, PTI White
Inks: Pre-inked JustRite Stamper, Marker in Night of Navy
Accessories: GG Ribbon, Brads, 2-1/8″ Circle Punch, Part of Graduation Announcement

So how could I make a card with just one peony on it. I had to have several all put together in one big bouquet!

And Flourishes newly released “Peony” set worked perfectly for it!

I have always enjoyed the masking technique. I used it here to get only partial images of the Peony and achieve a feeling of depth to the overall image. The first flower was stamped in the lower left hand corner. I then masked that and stamped the Peony directly above and to the right of it. Then I masked all three flowers and finally stamped the flower in the middle. The leaves were added last, again masking the flower that I wanted the leaves to appear to be attached to. I used Craft inks for the Peonies and the leaves.

This Peony is such a beautiful image, and I have seen several cards showcasing it where it has been colored. But I was excited to use the masking technique and try the Peony just inked up and stamped with no coloring. How would it do? Well I think it passed the test with flying colors (no pun intended!) The image does really well standing all on it’s own. This Peony is SO versatile! You can see other cards made with the Peony here on the Flourishes Newsletter Blog. Check them out for some wonderful inspiration.

And now just for fun I thought I would share some of the “practice” bouquets I made.

It may give you a better look into the process. I was experimenting with different colors, images and leaf positions. (Do you see the Flourish from the new Flourishes “Coffee With Friends” set!?) Gosh now that I’m looking at the upper left piece, I’m really liking the fuller more complete leaves that are showing… Hmmm… I feel another card coming on!

Hope you have fun with your new Peony set! Give masking a try. It’s really fun!

Stamps: Flourishes “Peony”
Papers: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Cameo Coral, DP Basic Grey “Two Scoops”
Inks: Craft: Cameo Coral, Rose Red, Old Olive; Classic: Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Barely Banana; Marker: Always Artichoke
Accessories: May Arts Sheer Polka Dot Apple Green Ribbon, Half Round Pearls

I’m so happy that I was able to play along in Beate’s “Be Inspired” Challenge this week! Just look at this gorgeous inspiration piece.

(Click to enlarge.)

Here is the card I made for it.

First I chose a designer paper with a floral pattern and colors similar to the inspiration piece. I think the embossing helps to complete the look of the frosting. I thought this beautiful image from Flourishes “Fantasy Floral Garden” set was a perfect match to the paper, too. I colored it with SU! markers and a blender pen, a white gel pen and Sakura’s Stardust Pen. I love this Stardust pen. It is so much easier to use than other glitters as it is so easy to control where you want the sparkle to go. And it dries really quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve added glitter in the past only to smear it as I’m trying to do something else with the card!

Hope you can all play along today! Check out the other cards made by the Inspiration Challenge Team:

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Dawn McVey

Jennifer Buck

Stamps: Flourishes “Fantasy Floral Garden” and “Flourished Words”
Papers: Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, DCWV Textured Mat Stack, K & Company DP
Inks: Always Artichoke Classic and Markers in Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Bordering Blue, Ruby Red
Accessories: Ric Rak, Brads, White Gel Pen, Stardust Pen, Cuttlebug, Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder

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SEATTLE COPICS CLASS!!

This Thursday there is a Copics class being offered here in Seattle that I am going to. I have wanted to try coloring with Copics for some time but have been too scared to try them on my own. I hope Marianne doesn’t regret her decision of “No Experience Necessary” for participants. I have warned her that she may change that policy after having to deal with a certain “coloring challenged” student in this Thursday’s class! But I’m really excited and really looking forward to it!! And I think there may still be a few spaces available if you live in the Seattle area and you have been wanting to try these markers. Here is Marianne’s blog I Like Markers.

For a couple of months I have wanted to use this scripture for the Bible Verse Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. So I have been looking for a Lily of the Valley floral image. Imagine my delight when I saw Flourishes‘ just released “Peony” set with just that!

I used the sweet little Lily image and stamped it with one of the designs from the “Flourished Elements” set. The Lilies were colored with LuminArte’s Twinkling H2O’s in Siam White. (I wish that I could have gotten the picture to show the shimmer on these delicate little flowers.) The bee and the flower’s name stamps are also from the “Peony” set. The scripture was computer generated.

Recipe is for the card only. A tutorial for the box with the hooks for hanging each month’s card can be found here.

Stamps: Flourishes: “Peony” and “Flourished Elements”
Papers: So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, SU! DP “Le Jardin”
Inks: Always Artichoke and Markers: Always Artichoke, Barely Banana and More Mustard
Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets (Pewter), Sakura Pens: White Gel and Stardust (bee’s wings), Organdy Ribbon, Pearl, Computer/Printer, LuminArte Twinkling H2O’s

Flourishes new “Stamp Simply” line is here! This first set released today is called “Coffee With Friends”. Below are a couple of cards made with it. Both are paper pieced. And let me tell you if you love paper piecing, then this is a MUST HAVE set!! It is perfect for it!

This first card truly lives up to the “Stamp Simply” goal. The stack of cups image was stamped on four different Basic Grey designer papers from their “Two Scoops” 6X6 pad and then pieced. And see that embossing on the back panel? That was achieved by running the card stock through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. To get both a negative and positive embossing I ran the card stock through once, flipped it and ran it through the Cuttlebug a second time. I thought it was kinda fun. I used my scoring tool to score the lines around the main image and along the scalloped edge. I added some ribbon and bling and it was done!

On this second card I pieced again. (Did I mention how perfect this set is for it?) This time I used Basic Grey’s “Scarlet’s Letter” designer paper. With all this scrumptious paper it doesn’t take much more to complete the card. With just a few brads, velvet ribbon and a felt flower, it’s done.

Just Because:
Stamps: Stamp Simply “Coffee With Friends”, Sentiment “Siberian Iris”
Papers: PTI White, Basic Black, DP Basic Grey “Two Scoops”
Inks: Jet Black Stazon
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads, Ribbon, Scalloped Scissors, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Fiskar’s Scoring Tool, Sakura “Stardust” Pen

Time Well Spent:
Stamps: Stamp Simply “Coffee With Friends”
Papers: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, DP Basic Grey “Scarlet’s Letter”
Inks: Jet Black Stazon, Timber Brown Stazon, Chocolate Chip Marker
Accessories: Brads, Velvet Ribbon, Felt Fusion Flower

I couldn’t resist playing along today with Sharon’s (notimetostamp) “Stamp Simply” challenge. This week it is to use silhouette or solid image stamps. You can use them in the traditional silhouettie way or choose another way such as I have done here. I chose to use my markers and color in this beautiful Forget Me Not image from Flourishes new just released set “Spring Ephemerals”.

Gosh this was fun and fast and so relaxing! Hope you can all get a chance to play along, too.

Stamps: FLLC Spring Ephemerals
Papers: PTI White, Basic Black, DP Basic Grey “Two Scoops”
Inks: Jet Black Stazon and Markers Always Artichoke, Ballet Blue
Accessories: May Arts Sheer 1″ Ribbon in White, Eyelet, Corner Punch

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And speaking of Stamping Simply… Flourishes is gearing up to release a whole new line of stamps the “Stamp Simply” line which will debut on June 10. How about a little sneak peak?!?

Doesn’t this look fun!! You’ll be able to see the whole set on this Tuesday, June 10!!