Enjoy the Ride

I am able to finally show a page layout that I finished two or three months ago, at the time I thought this set would be released much sooner than it was. Oh well, I was still able to count it towards my monthly goal of 10 pages a month for 2010.

When I first saw the proof of this newest stamp set I knew it would be the perfect compliment for any card or scrap book page I would make for my grand daughter. Like many young ladies she has had a love affair with horses her whole short life.



The first project using this stamp, as you can see, is a scrap book page using pictures from the county fair we attened last fall. We spent an early evening at the fair and as it happened, not may kids were there so Mattie was able to stay on the merry-go-round for as long as she wanted.


I have been using many different elements to make my own embellishments on most of my scrap book pages. I don't know about you but I can never find, in my stash, embellishments that will match my layouts either in color or style and heaven knows I do not want to go out and spend a lot of money on embellishments when I am able to make something that will add texture, color and complementary elements to the page. Heavens knows the price is right.

Here I have used the carousel horse as an accent for the county fair layout. I stamped with rich coca and colored with Copic. There is so much fine detail in this image that it does not take an art major to achieve the desired results. That is just one of the reason I enjoy using Flourishes stamps, they are not the line drawing images that require more talent than I have to color and shade to give dimension.

Check out Flourishes new releases...........................

SCS Color and Sketch Challenge

Here is a quick card for two challenges on SCS, their color challenge and sketch challenge. From the looks of this card I went a little over board on the color and layers.
I don't think I found that delicate balance between looking just perfect and yuck. This one is too close to the yuck side for my tastes.

My friend Nancy Kirk was asked by Betty to make a sample card for the color challenge this week. I was inspired by hers to make one of my own and of course I used the sketch from Wednesday's challenge. Why rack my brain to come up with something when I can find plenty of inspiration on SCS.

Stamp: Humming Along
Paper: SU, BG, K&Co
Ink: Memento black, Copic G21, G05, G09, G28, R14, R24, R35, R39, R59, YG00, YG01
Embellishment: pearls

Sweet Berries

I have just spent some time in Michigan again this summer, while I was there I was able to enjoy many of the summer fruits, like raspberries (red), blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. What a treat in my morning cereal, as an afternoon snack, over ice cream and short breads/cake, or just any time of the day. I try to eat as much as I am able knowing that the season is not long for the fresh fruit.

I have not had so much fun coloring as I did these berries, in such a long time, could it be the fact that I love black raspberries in pies in jams or just to eat fresh (also hard to find) I know, these are black berries not black raspberries but that does not keep me from making them into anything I love. I surly enjoyed working with colors that are the deepest blue violets and the darkest greens.

I love the contrast between the white paper, the white ribbon, the deep dark purples of the berries and the shades of green in the designer papers and leaves. I added several layers to a few of berries to make them pop! This is one of those cards that I can't wait to send out but will miss once it is gone!


This divine fruit set from Flourishes is going to be a well used favorite and a "fruitful" go to set for all my summer cards, or anytime I just want to use the deep shaded colors of my Copic markers again. Of course there are many color options that can be used with these berries, red raspberries, black berries as well as maybe a few fanciful colors?!

I stamped on Classic white paper and colored with Copic's. I used the Copic blender pen for high lighting/blending the colors. I liked the control I had for lightening certain spots on the berries, especially as I was too heavy handed with the darker shades.

Stamps: Flourishes
Paper: Flourishes, Basic Gray, Stampin Up
Ink: Memento, Copic
Embellishments: Just Ribbon