Today’s card shows another one of this week’s new releases at Flourishes called “Thank You”.  It is this month’s Stamp Simply set and is unbelievably FABULOUS!!  I love the tulip images and the graceful elegant sentiments.  AND what about that script background?  Well I can’t put it down!

Using my SU! markers I inked up the tulip with Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant.  I colored in the flower with Lavender Lace.  It was so quick and easy.  (I need easy!)

I stamped a second tulip and cut out a portion of the flower and stem.  It is adhered at the stem and then popped up on the petals.  It adds a fun little bit of dimension to the flower.  The gorgeous ribbon, flat back pearl and Basic Grey designer paper can also be found at Flourishes.  The sentiment is part of the script background stamp.  What a wonderful set this is!!

Oh and don’t forget to visit the other Flourishes Design Team member’s blogs to see more of the new releases:  Sharon Johnson-No Time To Stamp?, Leslie Miller-Running With Scissors, Linda Duke-Works of Heart, Faith Hofrichter-Stampin’ w/Markie’s Mom, Julie Koerber-Out to Impress

Did you know that Julie is a finalist in the Paper Crafts Idol Contest?!?  If you haven’t already cast your vote, it’s not too late to do so.

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Stamps: Flourishes Stamp Simply “Thank You”, IBB

Papers: Whisper White, Lavender Lace, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Basic Grey’s “Euphoria”

Inks: Lavender Lace, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive

Accessories: Satin Ribbon, Pearl

Today is Flourishes Day!  Three new sets are being released, and each one is as wonderful as the next!  The butterfly on today’s card is from the new set called  “Butterfly Moments”.  The background script is from the new Stamp Simply set called “Thank You”.  I just love it!  The sets are so easy to use together even though each is distinctly different and unique.  How cool is that!  The third set is called “Poppy Patch”.  They are all just so beautiful!

For this card I first stamped the script background and the three butterflies that are around the border of the main panel.  They are colored with SU! markers.  I sponged and faux stitched around the panel.  I then put on a couple of beautiful May Art ribbons found here and here and gold cording.  Three more butterflies were stamped, colored, cutout and adhered to the card.  I applied flat back black pearls to them.  Lastly I added a prima, another pearl and a corner accent.

Be sure to visit the other Flourishes Design Team member’s blogs to see more of the new releases.  Then head on over to Flourishes to get these wonderful sets!

Sharon Johnson
No Time To Stamp?

Leslie Miller
Running With Scissors

Linda Duke
Works of Heart

Faith Hofrichter
Stampin’ w/Markie’s Mom

Julie Koerber
Out to Impress

Julie hosted her first Motivate Me Mondays challenge on Monday (of course!) in the FLLC Forum.  You can play along anytime during the whole week.  Did you know that Julie is a finalist in the Paper Crafts Idol Contest?!?  Voting begins today.

Also in the FLLC Forum, Faith hosted a Flourishes Tuesday Challenge.  (I think it was yesterday on Tuesday… okay okay j/k OF COURSE it was yesterday on Tuesday!!  lol)  And again, you have all week to play!  Check out these fun challenges and play along if you can!

***Oh yes and there’s just one more thing.  The winner of my blog candy is Post #20 Diane Lapointe!!  I will email you so that you can send me your address!  Congratulations!!  Hope you have tons of fun with your new set!***

Stamps: Flourishes “Butterfly Moments” and “Thank You”

Papers: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Whisper White

Inks: Versafine “Onyx Black”, More Mustard and Markers: Really Rust, Summer Sun and Yoyo Yellow, Stardust Clear Glitter Pen, Black Gel Pen

Accessories: May Art Ribbon, Pearls, Cording, Prima, Corner Punch

Just a real quick post to give you a little peek at a couple of Flourishes new sets being released tomorrow!  Don’t these look fun!?!

You won’t be disappointed.  They are beautiful!!

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to scroll down to yesterday’s post and sign up for my blog candy.  I will use random. org to pick a winner at midnight tonight.

And don’t forget about Sharon’s Coffee Time Challenge (with PRIZES!!) that she has running over on Splitcoaststampers in the FLLC Forum.  The challenge ends Thursday at 6pm est, so there is still time to play!

Tonight Faith Hofrichter will be hosting a chat and play.  You can join in on the fun at Live in the Forums every Tuesdays from 7 - 9pm est starting tonight.

Julie Koerber hosted her first Motivate Me Mondays challenge yesterday in the FLLC Forum.  You can play along anytime during the whole week.  Did you know that Julie is a finalist in the Paper Crafts Idol Contest?!?  Voting begins today.  Details are on Julie’s blog!

Happy Tuesday!

Oh how I have loved playing with this wonderful set “Coffee With Friends” from Flourishes this past month.  And just like that sweet brad inside the heart on the card, this set will forever hold a sweet and special place in my heart as Flourishes first “Stamp Simply” set by my friend Sharon Johnson (notimetostamp).

And so I want to share with a friend.. with one of you.. a brand spankin’ new “Coffee With Friends” set.

For a chance to win this set, just leave a comment here on this post.  You have until Tuesday, July 8th at midnight pst (tomorrow).   At that time a number will be picked with random.org.  The winner of this blog candy will be announced here in the morning on Wednesday, July 9th.

Here are a few more details about the card.  The glazed brad is from Basic Grey’s “Sultry” collection.  The designer paper is also Basic Grey and from the “Euphoria” collection.  I sponged the dp all over with Memento’s “Rich Cocoa” ink.  That yummy 1″ sheer chocolate ribbon is from May Arts.

Now what is that little flower peeking out from behind the mug?  That’s not part of the Coffee set.  Ah-ha maybe it’s from the new upcoming Stamp Simply set. Did you notice it trying to show it’s sweet little face today?  Well it must wait until Wednesday before it’s full reveal!  Yes!!  This Wednesday is Flourishes release day and have they ever outdone themselves this time.  Three fabulous sets are on their way!!

Oh and just a couple of things of which to take note:

1. For those of you who may already have the “Coffee With Friends” set, over on Splitcoaststampers in the FLLC Forum, Sharon is running a fun challenge with it.  AND there are PRIZES!!  The challenge ends Thursday at 6pm est, so there is still time to play!  Check it out here.
2. Also starting tonight, again over on Splitcoaststampers in the FLLC Forum, Julie Koerber will be hosting a weekly “Motivate Me Mondays” challenge.  It sounds like great fun.  You can find her challenge here and read all about it.

Stamps: FLLC Coffee With Friends and Unknown Flower *chuckle*
Papers: Very Vanilla, Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Euphoria
Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Marker: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Basic Grey Glazed Brad Sultry, May Arts Sheer Ribbon, Corner Punch

THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED TO COMMENTS.

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.  (Picture was taken by my sister, Merle.)

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