Timeless Tuesday #238: "Let It Shine"

I can feel myself switching into Christmas card mode now that there are only

99 days left until Christmas!

Well, before you panic, just know that 15 of those days are Tuesdays, so if you play along with us in Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge every week between now and Christmas, you could easily have 15 extra Christmas cards finished, and you just might win a Flourishes prize, too!

I'm your hostess for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge, and I'm challenging you to...

"Let It Shine"

Just incorporate a light source in your card: a candle, lamp, lighthouse, fire, the sun---anything, as long as you "Let It Shine!"

I decided to use porch lighting for my light source, which gave me a chance to use the new Home for the Holidays stamp set. I love that you can change up the look of this stamp just by coloring different wall designs. And, since I've been working on my coloring skills, both with Prismacolor pencils and Copic markers, I made two cards, using each of those coloring mediums. Looking at the photo here, I'm thinking I should have made one more card, using pencils for the wall, and Copics for the rest...just to see what it would look like, ya know. ;)

First off, on this card, notice how my bricks slant a little to the left? Well, that's because this house is very old, and the foundation has shifted and settled. ;) That's my story, anyway. (At least I thought to use a ruler in my second card!) This entire image is colored with Prismacolor pencils, and besides having the porch light, I also colored the windows yellow for the ambient light inside the house. :) Everything is matted with Red Devil and Quick Sand cardstock, from the Poppy and Rich Browns Color Made Easy Paper Collections. (If you haven't tried Flourishes Color Made Easy Paper Collections, you really should. They are exceptional, and you'll love the delicious textures on them.) I used a couple of different Christmas papers, a die cut border, gold Stickles, and a bit of sewing for a nice homey feel. I added Glossy Accents to the light and the panels of glass, but it doesn't show up too well here. Also, the lines of the door are thicker than normal because I went over them with a sharp black pencil. Some of the detail had been lost when my pencils strayed over them. :)

I embossed the wreath and door panels with a stylus, then added Stickles to the wreath for some lively sparkle.

Inside, I stamped the sentiment with Memento Bamboo Leaves Ink, sponged Aged Mahogany Distress Ink inside the die, and added a little flourish die cut, all on a Red Devil cardstock background.

I colored this card with Copic markers. While I wanted this to be similar to the Prismacolored image so I could compare them, I did change it up just a little bit, with a different brick design. To make the bricks here, I masked the entire image, except for the wall area, then used my Copic airbrush system to color the brown for the bricks. I first sprayed it using the chisel end, for smooth coverage, then went back with a slightly darker brown and airbrushed using the brush end, which gives a splattered coverage. I used a Colorless Blender, and a ruler!, to draw in the mortar lines. For the gray concrete porch, I colored it first with a marker from the Cool Neutral Copic Collection, then wet a piece of denim with Colorless Blender and laid it on the colored area to get a textured look. If you do that, be sure to do it before coloring anything that is near it so you don't have to worry about texturizing something you want to remain smooth. I tell you this from experience. ;) To give the illusion that the porch light is on, I used my airbrush again. With a marker from the Daffodil Copic Collection, I airbrushed, radiating out from the light fixture, so the top of the door is more yellow than the bottom. Also, I added a bit of a scene inside the sidelight windows, with a Christmas tree and a view of the hardwood floor (I did that on the Prismacolor colored image, too, but it's very faint). The image is matted with a Spellbinders die cut that I colored with a gold Krylon marker. And, of course, I added some sparkle on the gold frame and the wreath with red Stickles.

You can see the Glossy Accents added to the glass and light here, as well as the texturized brick. I didn't do any dry embossing on the door or wreath on this card, but left a highlight on the wreath to give the illusion of dimension. 

Die cuts, dry embossing, Christmas paper, and a Christmas sentiment, stamped with Memento Olive Grove ink, finish the inside of this card.

So, I'm wondering...did you prefer the Prismacolor card or the Copic card? :) 

Well, now it's your turn to "Let It Shine!" And, remember, you don't have to use Flourishes stamps, but if you do, you get two ballots toward the weekly prize! You can find all the details for the challenge here.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the team's blogs and leave them some blog love, too! :)

• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Judy Rozema
• Kathy Roney, September our Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Timeless Tuesday #237: "Make a Good Impression" & A Sneak Peek!

Happy Tuesday! Didn't you just love Flourishes new Home for the Holidays stamp set that was revealed yesterday? Well, just wait until you see today's reveal! Gorgeous! Oh, what am I saying...every day this week there will be a new stamp set revealed, and there is no way I could choose a favorite among them. You'll just have to see them for yourself. ;)

Welcome to Day 2 of our fabulous September release week! Today both our Friends of Flourishes Team and our Design Team will be showcasing a wonderful new stamp set created by our beloved artist Marcella Hawley. Marcella has packed this beautiful 4x6 stamp set called "Holiday Topiaries" with an array of beautiful holiday decorated greenery and 3 seasonal sentiments to match their holiday vibe. This sweet holiday stamp set will surely make an appearance on your homemade cards, handmade gifts, tags and more this season! Don't forget...


Hidden among the Design Team's blogs today is our Mystery Blogger of the day. Comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win today's set! The more you comment, the better your chances, so comment away!

• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Deborah Anton
• Heather Jensen
• Jenny Gropp
• Julie Koerber
• Katie Sims
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker
• Kathy Roney, our September guest designer
• 
  

Now, for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge, my sweet friend, Katie, is our hostess, and she is challenging us to...

"Make a Good Impression"

So, incorporate dry embossing somewhere on your card or project. It could be an embossing folder, stencils, or even a household item for your embossing...just make sure you "Make a Good Impression!" (FTTC237).

I started my card by dry embossing a piece of Flourishes Classic White Cardstock with a brick embossing folder and an embossing diffuser to keep the oval area unembossed for my image. Then, I stamped the conical topiary from the new Holiday Topiaries stamp set inside the oval with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored it with Copic markers and added tiny white hightlights on all the berries with Copic Opaque White and a toothpick. I cut an oval from a piece of copy paper, then used the negative die cut as a mask so I could sponge Antique Linen Distress Ink just inside the edges of it. The sentiment is stamped onto an oval cut with Flourishes Perfectly Pierced Victorian Oval Template Die, and sponged with Antique Linen, also. The holly leaves were cut with a Spellbinders die and the berries were punched with a 1/4" hole punch, then covered in Glossy Accents. After heavily distressing the edges of the white, embossed cs, I matted it with a Christmas dp, added a strip of glitter ribbon, then popped up the sentiment over it. Finally, I glued it to the Capers card base, which is from the Color Made Easy Evergreen Paper Collection.

On the inside, I used the same embossing folder for the background layer and cut the larger Victorian Oval die for the sentiment, which is from the Sentimental Christmas stamp set, and is stamped in Memento Olive Grove ink. I added a fancy rectangle die cut for personalization, and matted it with an oval cut from the same dp I used on the front of the card.

I hope I made a good impression. ;) And, I hope you'll play along and "Make a Good Impression, too! And, remember you don't have to use Flourishes stamps, but if you do, you get two ballots toward the weekly prize! You can find all the details for the challenge here. But, wait...

DO YOU WANT TO WIN OUR ENTIRE RELEASE?

If you would like a chance at winning all five of our soon-to-be released September sets:

• You can play in our Get in Shape Challenge. We will have multiple winners there! Deadline for entries is FRIDAY September 13th at 5 PM EST. Check out the link for the official rules!
• All five of our September sets can be pre-ordered now, even before you see them all! Take advantage our New Release Bundle and get 10% off when you purchase all five sets together in a bundle. This discount will be available for only 1 week following the release.
• All sets will be live first thing Friday morning along with the coordinating cut files for this release.
• Come back to the Flourishes Blog Saturday for the Winner's Circle where we'll announce all of our winners of this weeks' challenges!

Thanks for stopping by, and have an "impressive" week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Embossed

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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