To Get Joy

Brrrrr! It's cold here...AGAIN! I'm feeling a little like Olaf in the movie, Frozen, "Let's Bring Back Summer!" (Isn't he adorable?) I seriously need some warm weather! :)

For my card today I colored a springtime hyacinth image with Copic markers, then die cut it using the out-of-the-box technique. The centers of the flowers are dotted with white Liquid Pearls. The image is matted with a decorative circle die cut of heavy brown shimmer cardstock and a white doily. For the sentiment, I heat embossed it with a fine detail embossing powder on a circle of vellum. It's always a challenge to attach vellum so that the glue or tape doesn't show, so I just ran the circle through my Xyron so that the entire piece had adhesive on it, then adhered it on top of the image. The pink bg cs was embossed with a Decorative Stripes embossing folder. A few pearls on the die cuts and on the bg, and I was done. 

Thanks for stopping by. Stay warm!!!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Transparent
613 Avenue Create Challenge #64: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

 

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Timeless Tuesday #260: < = >!

Hello, all you Flourishes Fans! Did you hear the news? There is a serious buyer for Flourishes!!! Yay! I SO hope it goes through...don't you? :D Well, while we are waiting to find out, let's play! :)


I'm your hostess for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge, and I wanted to give everyone a super easy challenge to work with.

So, here it is...< = >! Or, in non-math terms, Less = More! What does that mean, you ask? Well, simply create a card with a stamped image, but NO coloring! It doesn't have to be a CAS card, but if you really want to embrace the < = > theory, go for it!

For my project, I decided to make a boxed set of cards using some of my favorite Flourishes floral images. And, nothing shows off an image like white on kraft! 

I used Flourishes Classic Kraft cardstock, stamped the images with white pigment ink, then heat embossed large floral images from the Gerber Daisies, Sweet Peas, and Picking Wildflowers stamp sets. In the lower right corner, I stamped sentiments with Versamark ink, then heat embossed them in blue, pink, and yellow embossing powders. The sentiments came from the Sweet Peas, Picking Wildflowers, and Butterflies & Blossoms stamp sets. After cutting the upper right corner at an angle, I sponged Walnut Stain Distress Ink over the sentiments, up the right side of the card, and in the upper left corner. 

On the inside, I used coordinating, but smaller, floral images, stamped in Versamark ink, but I didn't emboss them. The Picking Wildflowers set doesn't have a smaller image, but the Garden Picks set had a wildflower image that worked great with it.

To finish off my set, I made a box, using my envelope punch board. Jennifer McGuire has a great tutorial on how to do this. Before assembling it, I heat embossed the Sweet Pea image on the flap and on the back side. Then, tied it up with a polka dot ribbon.

Here's a look at the back of the box. Notice the slits that are cut for the ribbon to go through. This is so that when the box is untied, the ribbon won't fall off. 

Now, it's confession time! Remember I said I wanted this to be an easy challenge? HA! It was anything but that for me. Look at all my attempts to heat emboss the images:

Can you see what went wrong??? I had a major embossing powder fail! Before I figured out that it was the embossing powder, and not the cardstock, ink, or even operator error, I tried several brands of kraft cs, and a couple of dark colored cardstocks, too. I also tried stamping with Versamark ink, and with white pigment ink. No matter what I did, THIS is what I got...

Have you ever seen anything like this??? I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think my embossing powder was absorbing dye from the cardstock because there was nothing in the powder before it was heated. I tested it on white cardstock, and it turned out beautifully. So, to make this project, after working on it unsuccessfully for hours, I finally went out and bought more embossing powder. Problem solved! ;~) But my < = > challenge sure was a lot more difficult for me than I had planned. Fortunately, though, I loved the finished set. So, aside from the ep fail, I have to say...Less=More=Easy Peasy! And, I like that equation!

I hope you are inspired, and will play along with us this week! I can't wait to see what you make! 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 visit the rest of the team to see how they've turned "Less" into fabulous "More!"

• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims

Thanks for stopping by, and have a crafty week!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Timeless Tuesday #257: Feel the Love

It's time for another Timeless Tuesday Challenge, but before I get to that, I have a couple other things to mention. First of all, be sure to check out Flourishes' Gamblers Sale. Everything is 30% off! If you love Flourishes stamps, now is the time to buy! Secondly, on a sad note, Jan Marie, the owner of Flourishes, is stepping down from Flourishes. I won't go into details, as you can read her letter here, but this is definitely a sad day for the stamping world. :(




Today's Timeless Tuesday Challenge is hosted by the fabulously talented Deborah, and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, she is challenging us to "Feel the Love," by creating a card that incorporates love and the color red.

I don't think any flower says love better than a red rose, so I used the Roses Are Red stamp set for my card.

I first cut it using the Roses Are Red Silhouette Cut File, then stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it using Copic markers. The "love you!" sentiment, which is part of a stamp from the Wild Roses stamp set, was heat embossed with red glitter embossing powder, and I used several stamps from the So Distressed stamp set to distress the dp. 

The Valentine's Day text is from the Roses Are Red stamp set, the leaves stamped in the corner are from the Wild Roses stamp set, and after coloring the itty bitty heart apostrophe with a red Copic, I used a tan Copic to scribble over the text.

Feeling the love yet? I hope so! Come play along! 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.

Oh, and while you are feeling the love, be sure to leave some blog love for the DT. Their creations are going to leave you speechless! :)

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims

Thanks for stopping by, and have a "Love"-ly week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve January 2014 Week 3 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Love Notes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #57: Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody #38: Anything Goes
The Stamping Chef Challenge #14: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

 

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Timeless Tuesday #243: Fussy Can Be Fun!

Do you have a favorite day of the week? Mine used to be Saturday (never Friday--it was a work day!). Now, however, it's...Tuesday! Well, here we are, and, Sur-prise, Sur-prise, Sur-prise!, it's time for another Timeless Tuesday over at Flourishes!!!








The uber-creative Jenny is our hostess this week, and being that she is always on the "cutting-edge" of papercrafting (sometimes I just crack myself up with my clever puns!), it's seems only fitting that she is challenging us to...







I was excited to see the challenge this week, because it gave me my first chance to use one of Flourishes Silhouette Cut Files on my brand new Silhouette! The main reason I even wanted a Silhouette was to be able to cut out Flourishes stamped images, and I have to say, it is SO worth it! I see many more fussy cut images in my future. ;)

Now, on to my card...

This late in October, it's definitely starting to feel like fall around here, but I had a more summery stamp set that hadn't seen ink yet, so with a friend's upcoming birthday in mind, I used the Picking Wildflowers stamp set for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge. With the Silhouette doing the fussy cutting, I cut my Classic White cs first, then stamped the image in the cut with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. Will you just look at the detail in the fussy cutting around that beautiful image! What I really like is that it can also cut out interior sections of an image, which I would normally either have to just leave in or cut with a craft knife. The little butterfly on the left is a separate stamp in the set, and I used the Silhouette to cut it out, too! The images are colored with Copics, and you can't see it in the photo, but I added some shine to the butterfly wings with a clear Spica pen. The white dots on the flower stamens were made with a white acrylic paint marker. The main image is popped up with crimped cs and Coll-All 3-D glue, and the extra butterfly is adhered just with Coll-All glue. The sentiment die cut was cut with a Spellbinders die, then, while still in the die, I sponged Dried Marigold and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink on it. The sentiment, from the Tulips for Friends stamp set, is stamped with Onyx Black Versafine ink, and the white doodles around it were made with the white paint marker. It is popped up with crimped cs, just slightly higher than the floral image. (I like using crimped cs for lifting layers because it is so easy to control exactly how high I want it to be.)

You may not have noticed the torn dp on the front of the card, as it's mostly covered up, but to coordinate with that, I tore some of the dp on the inside of the card, too. The butterfly, from the Old Tea Rose stamp set, was heat embossed in white, then I used a water brush to loosely paint it with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. The doodles, again, were made with the paint marker. The floral image is another image from the Picking Wildflowers set, and I stamped the birthday sentiment, from the Inside & Out Happy set, onto a Spellbinders die cut, that was sponged with Dried Marigold Distress Ink.

Ready to play along? Grab those scissors, or your Silhouette, and get fussy! 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 check out the rest of our AMAZING team for inspiration, too! 

• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Jenny Gropp
• Judy Rozema
• Katie Sims
• Angel Rivera, our October Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, and get "fussy" this week!

~Hugs,

 

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Timeless Tuesday #241: Lace & Pearls

I hope you had a chance to play along with us in last week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge. It's going to be so much fun to have a different guest designer every week in December! I can hardly wait!

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

Frilly, shabby, grungy, vintage-y (is that even a word?)--whatever suits your mood, just use lace and pearls, and you're good to go!  Here's my card:

I colored this gorgeous dahlia image several weeks ago, but held off using it because I wanted it to take center stage on a card. Finally, its time has come! ;) The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Flourishes Classic White cardstock, then colored with Copics. The white tips were made with Copic Opaque White Pigment and a toothpick. Then, I die cut the image using the out-of-the-box technique and a Spellbinders circle die. The layout is from the October 2013 Week 1 Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge, which has several layers, so I made all my layers white, with lots of embossing and fancy cuts, so that, along with real cotton lace, the entire card appears lacey. And, I love how it makes the image pop! Some pretty white pearls complete the card front.

The die cut on the inside of the card is the same one I used on the front of the card, except on the front, I only embossed the intricate interior of the die cut. Here, I actually cut it out. The sentiment is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

With all the red and white here, I considered making this a Christmas card, but in the end decided against it. I like the idea of sending a card this fancy to someone for no occasion whatsoever--just because I am glad she is in my life.

I hope you'll play along this week, and if you check back here on Thursday, I'll have a second lace & pearl card made with a brand new Flourishes stamp set! You are SO going to love all the new sets this month!

Remember, you don't have to use Flourishes stamps to participate in the Timeless Tuesday Challenge, but if you do, you get two ballots toward the weekly prize! You can find all the details for the challenge here, and some beautiful lace and pearl cards for inspiration on our Friends of Flourishes DT blogs:

• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Angel Rivera, our October guest designer

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenge:
Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge: October 2013 Week 1

~Hugs,

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Wishing You Hope & Comfort

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for a sympathy card I needed to make. The last sketch of the month is always Round or Square, and obviously, I went with square.

Rather than put circle die cuts on the card front, I decided to use negative die cuts and let the image on the inside show through to the front. I heat embossed a sentiment, from the Calla Lilies stamp set, with a lavender embossing powder, then heat embossed it again in black, offsetting the second stamp a little. 

The bee and flower images, which I colored with Copics, are from Flourishes' Chrysanthemums stamp set. The inside sentiment is from the Calla Lilies stamp set, and I highlighted a couple of the words with a Copic marker. I cut a skinny strip with a curved border die, making sure it was positioned so that it didn't show through the little "window" over the bee, and added just a tiny sliver of the yellow embossed cs that I used for the banners on the front of the card. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Mojo Monday #313
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Say It With Stamps
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

 

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