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Flourishes Release Day!

Woohoo!  Three new sets are in the store!  Seashells, By the Sea and Strawberries have finally made it! They are available as a new release bundle, where you get all three and save 10% or you can purchase them separately.  Here are a couple that I shared at the Release party tonight.

The seashell images are so beautifully drawn they look fabulous just stamped in ink.  I did this one using Jen's Sketch for You to Try in Sahara Sand and Classic white. The charm is by K&Co...just a perfect finish for the card.

This one features Strawberries coloured with Copic Markers.  I used the Dusty Rose and Spring Greens collections.  I have a bit of a heavy hand, but boy I love the way you can blend the colours with the Copics.  I don't think I could have achieved the same look with watercolours.

The DP is Raspberry Tart by SU, and some Kaiser gems finish it off!

Well that's it for me tonight!  Happy Shopping...Flourishes store is now open!

Flourishes Preview Day 3; By the Sea

It's release day, and time to party, and I think a beach party is in order...how 'bout you?  Today we're previewing the title set for this release By the Sea, and it's a fabulous set with a fun side.  I just know you're going to love it!

Now, I'll be honest.  I'm more of a pool person than a beach person.  I like the beach to be there, but I like the clear blue of a pool, and those wonderful young men who bring you umbrella drinks!  And I really think that Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson definitely knew what he was talking about with this quote "Live in the sunshine, swim the sea and drink the wild air".  Well I love wild air, especially the one's with umbrellas! 

I stamped my flip flops and wild air on Flourishes Classic White card stock and coloured them with my Copic markers.  Then I punched them out and popped them up over squares in pink and green.  The sentiment was centred on the focal panel and three gems were added to highlight it.  The designer paper is from Basic Grey's "Lime Rickey" and the ribbon is the fun and flouncy silk ribbon from Flourishes.  I added a couple of gems to the flip flops and used my clear glitter gel pen to add some sparkle to the wild air.  Such a fun card to say go have fun!

OK, I've only shared a snippet from this fabulous new set.  You'll really want to check out the rest of the design team to find out what this set is really about!

Julie Koerber

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast
Stacy Morgan

Tonights the big night!  We are having a beach party...well really it's Flourishes Power Hour release party! There'll be the final reveal of all three sets, games, prizes more samples and lots of chatter.  BYOWA  (Bring your own wild air!!)

This set is up for grabs on the Flourishes Blog.  Just leave a comment on today's post for your chance to win.

And if you haven't got your By the Sea challenge card done, then you better get hoppin!  A random winner will be drawn from all the entries to win the entire July release tonight at the release party! 

Well we're back home and the concert was fabulous!  Taylor Swift puts on a great show, and I think I might have to get the girls her new album "Fearless".  You know, so they can listen to it in my car!!  I have to say, she is the role model for believing you can do anything.  I truly enjoyed watching my girls rock out at the concert.

Happy Friday folks!  See you at the party tonight @ 9:00 Central.  I'll check with Julie later to find out what time it is for me in MST so I get there on time...I am so time zone challenged. 

Laura

Flourishes Preview Day 2; Seashells

She sells sea shells by the sea shore...Ok, I just had to let that out, it's been running around in my head since I started playing with this set....Seashells!  And Flourishes, Marcella Hawley put so many wonderful sea shells in this set...I used nine of them on my card, with no duplication, and there are many more you'll just have to see!

I loved last week's Sketch Challenge #235 on SCS, and it was a perfect way to showcase as many of the sea shells in this set as possible.  I stamped the seashells in Memento Tuxedo Black on Classic Ivory cardstock and coloured them with Copics using the Flesh Tones 1 and the Cool Neutrals collections.  I punched the images out and added some sponging around their edges and finished with dots make with a marker.  The focal shell was cut out and popped up on dimensionals, and the sentiment was pulled from Fantasy Floral Garden.  I finished with a little shell charm tied with some hemp.  Perfect!

The rest of the design team has been up to their usual creativeness, so a quick peek at their blogs will give you the big picture on this set!

Julie Koerber

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast
Stacy Morgan

Don't forget to leave a comment on today's post on Flourishes blog for a chance to win this set!  And pencil in Flourishes Power Hour on your calendar for Friday, at 9:00pm Central!  It's always a lot of fun with the final reveal of all the sets for the By the Sea release, games & prizes along with more samples and lots of chatter!

Oh, and speaking of By the Sea, have you finished your challenge card yet?  It's your chance to win all three sets in this release, and you'll find all the details here!

I am taking my girls to see Taylor Swift in Calgary tonight!  My sister gave us tickets for Christmas, and I can't believe that it's finally time...and neither can my girls.  To be honest, I'm pretty excited about it!  I've really come to enjoy her music, and she has some great songs!  I'll be home tomorrow and I'll have a preview of the title set for this release!  Until then...thanks so much for dropping by!

Laura

Recipe:  Stamps: Seashells (Flourishes)  Paper: Classic Ivory, Creamy Caramel, Outlaw DP (SU)  Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black  Accessories:  Copic markers, square punches, hemp, charm (K&Co), marker, sponges, pop dots

Flourishes Preview Day 1; Strawberries

Summertime, summertime sweet sweet summertime!  We're coming up on Flourishes' latest release and it's so summer!  Today, we are previewing another fabulous set illustrated by Marcella Hawley; "Strawberries".  It's sweet and delicious and oh so summertime!  You're gonna eat this up!

When I saw this basket of strawberries it really made me want a picnic!  Think gingham tablecloths, fried chicken in a basket and fresh strawberries!  Throw in a frisbee and I'm there!  I pulled out my Jenni Bowlen designer papers, aptly named "Spring Picnic Line", and went from there.  I stamped the basket of strawberries in Memento Tuxedo Black on Flourishes Classic White paper and coloured it with my brand new Copic markers!!!  I'm so excited.  I'm quite the novice yet, but with all the tutorials and videos that Flourishes has created since they introduced the Copics, I think I will be just fine.  I used the Poppy Collection for the strawberries, the Evergreen collection for the leaves and the Flesh Tones 1 collection for the basket.  I added some blue May Art's trim from Flourishes and the sentiment dangles from a tag tied with red gingham ribbon from my stash.  Two buttons on the top left and two teeny red rhinestones on the bottom of the tag balance it out!  Yummy!

You really need to see the rest of this set, it is delectable!  So hop around to the rest of the design team's blogs and feast your eyes!

Julie Koerber

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast
Stacy Morgan

As always, your chance to win this set is as easy as leaving a comment on today's post on Flourishes Blog.  Be quick, because the winner will be announced with tomorrow's preview!  See you then!

Laura

Recipe: Stamps:  Strawberries (Flourishes)  Paper:  Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Jenni Bowlen "Spring Picnic"  Classic White  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Accessories:  Blue crochet trim (May Arts), Scallop border punch, paper piercer & template, tag, buttons, adhesive rhinestones, red gingham ribbon, pop dots, Copic markers

Circle Circus Weekend Set

OK...just so you know the title is a Weekend Set...notice the missing word?  I was just playing around with SU!'s new Circle Circus, and I had so many ideas floating around that I wanted to try that I just couldn't wait for the weekend for all the sketches.  I can hardly believe I worked without them, I so love my sketches, but I like the way they turned out so!  Oh, and just so you know, these are all SUO!!

I started with Wednesday's Sketch Challenge #235 on SCS. It was a fun one that screamed Circle Circus!  I particularly love this flower stamp, so I stamped it nine times in Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango.  I punched it out with the 1 3/8" punch and popped them up on dimensionals.  I added two little ribbon tabs in Dusty Durango and Rich Razzleberry and I had to borrow the sentiment from Taylored Expression's Beary Special Accessories because I couldn't find an SU! one that small!  I layered the Whisper White on Crushed Curry and popped that up on dimensionals.  I love it!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Circle Circus (SU!), Beary Special Accessories (Taylored Expressions)  Paper:  Whisper White, Crushed Curry  Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry  Accessories;  1 3/8" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, Rich Razzleberry & Dusty Durango polkadot grosgrain ribbon

This next card was inspired by Michelle Yungbauer's card here.  She has a fabulous blog and is so gifted with design, I encourage you to drop in for a visit...you'll enjoy every minute you're there!

I started with a base of Rich Razzleberry textured cardstock and cut the top note in both Crushed Curry and the Razzleberry designer paper and pieced them together, tying them with Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon.  I stamped the circles in several of the new In Colours (I love them!!), and positioned them on the topnote piece.  I made a brad from the smaller image using the Build a Brad kit. The sentiment is from the "Define your Life" set, and it's stamped in Rich Razzleberry.  The top note is adhered to the card base with dimensionals and that's it!

Recipe:  Stamps: Circle Circus (SU!)  Paper:  Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry DP  Ink:  Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry  Accessories: Rich Razzleberry polkadot grosgrain ribbon, top note die, dimensionals, Build a Brad

I just can't get enough of the top note, and I used it again for my next card!  I "saw" the circle images as being perfect for flower centres, and that's how this card began, although it took the longest for me to finish.  I originally had 3 flowers, but it took me forever to realize there was no way they were all going to fit on one card, so I finally cut it down to two.

I thought the one image seemed a perfect match for the fancy Filigree Brads so I created a Melon Mambo flower using the scallop circle punch, and the smaller flower uses the 5 Petal punch and a Build a Brad flower centre.  The stems were cut freehand from Old Olive cardstock and the leaves are from the Felt Fusion flowers...a little idea I got from Susan Roberts (Rainy on SCS)!  I used the bottom half of the Crushed Curry top note die left over from the card above, and added a scalloped border in Melon Mambo.  The sentiment is from "Kind and Caring Thoughts", and the top not panel is adhered to the DP with dimensionals.

Recipe: Stamps:  Circle Circus, Kind and Caring Thoughts (SU!)  Paper:  Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Razzled berry DP  Ink: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories: Top Note die, Scallop border punch, Build a Brad, circle punches, Felt Fusion flowers, dimensionals

My last card is my personal favorite.  The inspiration for this came from this card by Bethany Paull, and particularly the Text Box stamp by PTI.  I kept to a monochromatic colour scheme and popped a few of the circle images up for interest.  The sentiment is from the retired "Small Sayings" and what can I say...that's all she wrote!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Circle Circus (SU!)  Paper:  Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry textured cardstock, Razzleberry DP  Ink:  Rich Razzleberry Accessories:  dimensionals, Rich Razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon

Oh, I just love this set!  So many possibilities, I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of it!

I hope all my American friends are enjoying a wonderful Fourth of July weekend.  We had our holiday on the first and I worked a full day today; I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow!  That's a treat I haven't experienced since school let out earlier this week.  I hope to be back tomorrow with some pictures from DD's birthday party.  It turned out really fun, and I want to thank everyone who offered up some games to play!  We didn't have time to play them all, but those we did were a blast!

Happy Saturday!  Thanks so much for spending a bit of it with me!  I truly appreciate it when you do!

Laura 

Flourishes Friday; By the Sea

Happy Flourishes Friday!!  There has been so much excitement at Flourishes lately, I get myself in a tizzy just trying to keep up.  We just released the line of Fabulous Finishing Touches, which were followed by the introduction of Copic Markers and the new Classic White and Classic Ivory papers, and we are hot on the trail of another new release!  Flourishes Pre-release challenge alludes to what you can expect to see in this release...By the Sea! 

Summer nights, sunsets, the sound of waves crashing on the shore – what could be more relaxing? Because these are the sights and sounds of life on the beach - what better way to challenge you all to a fun contest than to invite you to bring a taste of of the ocean into your creations!

HOW TO PLAY: Try to incorporate the "feel" of the sea in one of your creations. It could be with a fun embellishment, a photo or even just a color scheme. Link your creation to this post on Flourishes Blog or upload to Splitcoast using the keyword FLLCJULY. You have until Friday, July 10th at 5 PM Eastern to have your creation uploaded! We can't wait to see your creations!

WHAT YOU COULD WIN: All of our new releases that will be revealed starting next Wednesday, July 8th.

OK...so here is my take on the By the Sea challenge.  I combined the koi fish from Waterlillies with the Forget me not's of Spring Ephemerals and this was the result.

I started  by creating a wash of blue and green on Flourishes European Watercolour paper using ink and a wide flat paint brush.  I stamped the forget me nots from Spring Ephemerals in Garden Green Craft ink, and the koi fish from Waterlillies are stamped in Versafine Onyx black.  I coloured the koi with markers and added the sentiment on the upper left.

The card base is Wild Wasabi, and the designer paper is K&Co. "Addison". To embellish, I used some Rain Dots for fish bubbles and added one to each corner of the card.  A spiral clip with a slip of grosgrain ribbon finishes it off.  I kind of like the way this turned out.

To get ready for the big reveal and spark some ideas for our challenge, our Senior Design Team got their creative juices flowing!  Have a peek at their creations!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Faith Hofrichter

Leslie Miller

Latisha Yoast
Stacy Morgan

Ok...that about does it for Flourishes Friday this week!  Now it's your turn to create your By the Sea challenge card.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

 Have a fabulous weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Waterlillies, Spring Ephemerals (Flourishes)  Paper:  Wild Wasabi, European Watercolour paper, K&Co. "Addison" designer paper   Ink:  Garden Green Craft ink, Versafine Onyx Black  Accessories:  re-inkers and paint brush, Rain Dots (Cloud 9 Designs), spiral clip, ticket corner punch, markers & grosgrain ribbon (SU!), foam tape