Monday is CAS Day!

  I try to get a chance to play along with SCS challenges I love it when I can find the time to get something done and posted early in the day. If I don't get it done early I usually don't bother after all there is going to be one or two more challenges tomorrow not to mention all the challenges that can be found on www.

This morning I whipped this one up in a matter of a couple of minutes (If you don't count the time finding the paper and deciding which stamp to use) then another few minutes to photograph it and up load.  

For today's challenge to use tag I immediately  thought of all those premade tags that have been in the drawers for three years.  I layered the three tags in a row, I placed the antique map stamp on the Fiskers stamp press, then stamped all three at the same time.

I distressed them with antique linen and brushed corduroy Ranger ink and added just the barest touch of color in the compass looking thing using a couple of Copic markers.

The sentiment and rope knot are from the A Guiding Light stamp set. Another of those ivory tags was used and distressed, after adding burgundy jute I was done with my card. How much easier can you get??

It was fun getting my finger inky again after CHA where I spend all of my time looking at new product for Flourishes store and meeting some of our designers. What a blast!!

Hope you like what I have done at can take a few minutes to play along on SCS at some point. Thank you for stopping by today.

Time in the Sun...Flower

We have spent the week at CHA and are just arriving home with lots of goodies on order for Flourishes store. We are making up more 1 2 3 Create Kits for the up coming months. Here is another card using July's kit, I hope you did not miss out on snagging one of these! 

There are jewels and trinkets and dimensional stickers that can be purchased separately as well as some of the paper pads and coordinating dot card stock.  I used some of the "kit add on" jewels for this card, the twill and burgundy cord come with the kit.

I used two of the designer papers from Time Piece as well at one of the double dot (meaning double sided, dots on one side solid color on the other) card stock that has a white core. I sanded the edges lightly so some of the white would show through.

The sunflower is stamped on Flourishes classic white paper and colored with...............my old stand by...Copic markers.  LOVE those things!!  Then three panels are wrapped with jute string  The bee and sentiment are from Flourishes newest set...Honey Bee.

You can't tell from the picture but the bee and flower center is highlighted with atyouspica pens. I keep forgetting that I have all those pens in a variety of colors. 

This is a free for all Friday so visit Christine, Julie, Barbara, Stacy, Leslie, Dawn, Danielle, Cindy, and Jan Marie for more creations in a vast variety of styles.

Did you know that the price of Copic markers is going up the 1st of August?? Not by our choice but by mandate from Imagination International which markets Copic. This is your last week to purchase Copic markers at the low price of  approx. $5.20 per marker. The markers come in collection of three to five markers in one color family.

Take Time!

DAY THREE OF FLOURISHES RELEASE

Not only is it the third day of release, this is the day that the new kit of the month is being revealed called Time Piece.

Time Piece create kit has some wonderful embellishments in it!! I just love the gears and sprockets. I loved them so much I used them way before the kit was released on scrap book pages and on my Fathers Day altered frame in memory of my father.

There is still enough paper and embellishments to use for numerous cards, two which I have shown already and the third one using today's highlighted stamp. The last of the four stamps shown this week is the Moment in Time collection of time pieces. This set was created by Loren Pope

You could not ask for a better masculine stamp set. Not only can it be use on masculine cards and creative projects but it makes wonderful collage and ephemera cards and scrapbook embellishments. Don't forget to look for the other Bo Bunny "add ons" that correspond with time piece.

My card today turned out to be so easy peasy I wondered what took me so long to finish it.  Too much contemplating how I wanted it to look, not one has ever said I make hasty decisions. I cut out the circle and stamped the clock in black Memento ink. The sentiment is stamped right on the designer paper in burgundy ink. I tied a bow with the double dot ribbon then tied it onto the cover.  The cover on the card, which is impossible to see, is clear card stock. I punched a hole in the clear card stock and threaded the brown twill through the holes tied a knot on the back side and adhered to the dp panel with Score Tape. The hands on the clock are Timepiece dimensional stickers.

Have you be one of the lucky ones yet this week?? There is still time to win the whole release as well as today's set. Leave a comment on each blog and if she is the mystery blogger, you will be in the running to receive the stamp of the day!! For the chance to win the whole release bundle check here for all the details.

Christine, Dawn, Barbara, Cindy, Leslie, Danielle, Stacy, Julie, Sharon (me), and Jan

Thank you for all of the kind comments, come back and visit soon. Next month during release I am going to put together some blog candy.  See you then.

Sweet Natures Song

Here we are on the second day of Flourishes release week. I hope you are playing the challenges as well as entering to win the whole new release bundle!! Just to to http://www.flourishes.org/ for all of the details for the challenge of the day.  Starting at 12 noon.

The second floral of this release it another set by Marcella Hawley. Don't you just love the scrip background?? And this one has some great sentiments, at least I think so and I know that I will be using them for so many occasions.  I did not use any today but you can be sure that I will the next time.

I stamped the floral image first then stamped and cut out a mask to place over the flower before I stamped the background.  I did a little something different when I colored the floral with Copic markers. I used BG72 as the base color then added R24, R37, R59 over it.  I love the "new" color that blending the makers allowed. I think it goes a little better with the papers that I used.

When I took the Copic certification classes we were told how you could make other colors using Copic markers from another color family. I believed what they told us but I had never tired it before.

After coloring I cut out the panel with Spellbinders labels 5 and before I removed the die I used a dry brush to burnish in distress ink around the edges with tea dye and wild honey.

Stamp used: Sweet Nature

Paper and embellishment: Kit Of the Month (to be released on Friday)

Be sure to check out Flourishes blog for the challenge! There is so much going on this week and you don't want to miss anything.  There is a mystery blogger amoung us!! Leave a comment on her blog and you have a change to win todays stamp set.

In the mean time, has you finished looking at all of the other sneaks??

Dawn, Danielle, Sharon (you are here), Cindy, Christine, Stacy, Leslie, Julie, Barbara, and Jan

Whats Buzzing?

About the only things buzzing around here are the bees!! Along with the excitement of attending CHA next week! In the mean time the excitement over clover, daisies, and honey is buzzing.

We’re all a buzzzzz here at Flourishes! Today marks a brand new release for us and boy, are you going to love what we’ve got in store! Today all the Flourishes designers have peeks of two new sets — one to make sweet creations and a beautiful background that is a perfect companion! Want a peek?

 Flourishes has come out with another background stamp, and this one is a beauty.  I have to say it stamps like a dream even with the detail in the combs.  Don't take my word for it, take a look below and see.....

 I started with the honeycomb background, stamped on SU card stock using Memento rich coca ink. I placed my stamp on a Fiskers stamp press, a huge but thin acrylic/plastic rectangle with foam feet. I use the stamp press with all of my larger stamps that are detailed images because I can move my hands all around the rectangle without releasing the pressure. It is thin enough than I feel it allows me to apply more pressure in the center of whatever image I am using.  The honeycomb background came out perfect the first time!!

I stamped my main image on Classic white card stock, colored with my trusty Copic makers. Some day I may go back to another coloring technique but not today. The brown panels as well as the twill came from the newest card kit that will be featured on Friday of this week along with the stamp released that day!! 

My card was easy to make, a few cuts with the rotery cutter and ruler, adhesive to keep it all together, then a couple of circles cut with Spellbinder dies (I did not have a punch small enough) I am almost done. As the final embellishments I used atyou Spica pens to add sparkle to the bees and some flowers.

Julie, Stacy, Danielle, Barbara, Leslie, Christine, Cindy, Dawn, and Jan have more delights in store for you.

Want a chance to win the ENTIRE FLOURISHES RELEASE FOR JULY? Check back today right here on the Flourishes Blogat Noon CST for one of the daily challenges. This one is a little sketchy! ;-) So, click on over and see what’s in store!

Summer Invasion

What could be more relaxing than a day in the Gulf with the wind and waves around you, the sight of beautiful homes along the shore line, white clouds, blue green water, then dolphins coming to play in the wake or just swimming by. I have had the pleasure on several occasions to sail in the Bays along the Gulf of Mexico and I can't think of a more pleasant and calming day than one spent on the water.

Of course it has to be within sight of land, not too strong winds, the sun shinning........OK! I am very much a fair weather sailor. Then the after sailing trip to the marina bar & grill isn't bad either.

My bunko group met on Thursday night, our hostess had set the table in a Summer coastal theme.  As soon as I saw the napkins I snatched one up to make a card, in fact I told everyone that I was going to make a card with it and they all looked at me kind of funny!!  "You make this into a card"?  was the reaction. You are right, none of these ladies are in any of my paper crafting groups.

The faux silk technique used to make the card is one of the easiest techniques to create with.  I had used this technique earlier in the week (a reminder at SCS got me pulling out my designer paper napkins) for one of their daily challenges. 

I just cut out the portion of the napkin I wanted to use, separated the layers of the napkin, placed the design on nutural card stock and painted over it with Mod Podge then set it out on the porch to dry. With the addition of Art Glitter brown glitz along the shoreline, a panel of red cs, a ribbon ties at the side, and a pearl headed pin with a pennant flying my card was done and ready to enter into three challenges on Split Coast.

More Pages for my Scrap Books

After a busy week with stamps and cards I am ready to get back at some scrapping. Here is a page that I had done a short time ago.

I let the designer paper do most of the work, all I did was add a few pictures, cut a strip of paper and used a Martha Stewart border punch to add texture. adhered a flourish chip board sticker at the top and a bow.

The title was done useing three different font stickers and if I did not have the letters in black I colored them black.
The second page I just added a couple of floral petals with a botton center, ribbon to tie to two together, not that it needed much help as the papers are the same color already.

I use regular note book paper to print my journaling on and used a SU punch to make it look like I have ripped it out of a note book.

Done, easy peasy!!

Now I need to work on getting all of those pages I have been working on for the last two years into scrapbooks! Not so easy peasy, I NEED Big scrapbooks.

A Farm Fresh Challenge!

There is a challenge on Flourishes blog today!! You can win stamps by capturing some farm freshness on your card or creation by using fruits or vegetables as your focal point. The deadline is July 15th at 5 PM.

The card I made will be sent to the veterinary clinic close to our house for the kindness and caring they showed during a difficult time.

 Lightly has been staying with my daughter in law and youngest son for almost a year.  My older son was transferred and his job took him out of town for days at a time and he had no one to watch her while he was gone. When she became ill a few month ago and Lightly could no longer be left alone during the day while everyone was at work and school my dh and I brought her to our house.

Lightly became violently ill during the night while my oldest son was visiting, when we could see how much she was suffering this time the decision was made to have to put to sleep as we knew there was no cure. Her vet was on the other side of town (45 minute drive) but the clinic close to our house said we could bring her right in. They went out of their way to take care of her and family members on short notice. They were so very kind and gracious to a family that did not use them as their pets Dr., even going so far to send a card of condolence to the family.

Lightly was a rescued greyhound from the racing track in Alabama, she had been in the family for almost 10 years.

I love all of the images that Flourishes has of fruits and find I don't use them as much as I would like to. For my card today I used the cherries from the cherries and peach set. Since we have been eating a lot of black cherries recently I colored them as such.

Am I the only one that has mixed up their white papers?? So much so that I thought I was using Flourishes classic white paper to stamp my image. Once I started to color with Copic markers I found that it was not classic white.  My colors were bleeding pretty bad and I had to be VERY careful to not get close to the edge of the inked line or it would bleed out. I should have just chucked the panel and started over again but I refuse to throw something away just because it was not working out as planned!!! Besides I had already embossed the panel and colored the embossing which for me is hard!!  I must be the only one that can not do a perfect job of inking just the raised part of the embossed design... anyway, I did not want to redo that portion of the panel.

I used some chunky glitter on the tops of my Bing cherries for added glitz.

By following the links to Stacy, Dawn, Barbara, Leslie, Cindy, Christine, Danielle and Julie to see many more stunning creations.

Stamps; Peaches and Cherries, sentiment from Humming along
Ink; Always Memento stamped image with Copics to color, in this case it was the black cherry collection and YG91 YG93 YG99, distress ink shabby shutters and victorian velvet
Paper; white, SU burgundy
Misc; Grommet tags, crystal glitter chucks, wrinkled ribbon, pearl, small green brads, Sizzix embossing folder dots and flourishes

This is just the beginning of a fun filled week to come.  Join us at Flourishes!!

Faux Finishes With Napkins

I find Split Coast Stampers (SCS) to be a wonderful resource for just about any technique that has been thought up. I had done the faux silk technique before using paper napkins, that is why I have a file boxes full of napkins that I pick up just about everywhere I find unusual ones.  Gift shops, boutiques, and florists are wonderful place to start your napkin collection but be warned, they are not cheap but they do have many uses! If you get tired of having them in your studio, use the napkins at your next party!!

The technique used for this project is called Faux Silk. It can be done stamping on tissue paper, coloring and using an adhesive medium like Mod Podge to "stick it" to a layer of card stock.  I cut one portion of a  napkin apart, separated the layers so you use just one thin layer. I layered it over a heavy card stock and brushed the thin layer of water based sealer glue (mod podge) over the whole surface. I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist (Frost) while it was still wet then set is on the porch to dry.

I was making this card following the guide lines for SCS  clean and simple holiday challenge which was to  make your card sparkle!  After the panel dried I added glue to the shell on the right side and sprinkled with glitter.  When the glue and glitter dried I added glue (best glue ever) to the shell on the left and sprinkled Gala Glitz Brown - art glitter into the glue. I had picked up a couple of Art Glitter products while on vacation last year, it is made up of micro beads and glitzy flakes.

The only stamp I used was a small shell on the tag. Tag was cut with Spellbinders pennant die, although it is  easy enough to do by hand if you do not have the pennant dies.  

The whole card looks much harder to do than it is. Love the results you get too!! It turns a napkin in to a work of art.

A Red White and Blue Christmas

Did you see the challenge going on at Flourishes this week?? 

Well there is a challenge most weeks. Some can be found at SCS and others on Flourishes blog.   Challenge #15 is to make a Christmas card using red, white, and blue and I had the time to play!! As I was coloring my image for the red white and blue challenge, SCS started their CASholiday challenge starting off with a sketch. I combined the two challenges and came up with this card.

I had started developing a new panel for a card using the tea pot with cup and saucer from the Christmas Tea stamp set. As soon as I stamped the tea pot I knew I had placed it too high on my white panel.  I was using the same embossing folder I just finished using on another card. When I realized it was not going to work as I had envisioned I changed my vision. I cut the embossed panel, ran it through my Big Kick using one edge of the folder to emboss just along the bottom so it would look like an embossed rectangle. The cup I stamped on a separate piece of white card stock then cut it out and adhered it on top rather than having all three images inside the Ornate Frame as pictured below.

I think I like the way it turned out better than my original plan.  All I am going to do now is punch a small hole in the cup panel and add a small ribbon or twine to make it look more like a tag than a funky shaped layer that looks like it is missing something.

This next one is really the first card I made just for the Christmas Spirit Challenge. 

I used a new embossing folder called Ornate Frames by Sizzix. The stamp is from Flourishes colored with Copic markers. I stamped the sentiment in the frame opening at the top and added a few pearls.  After using a bit of blue distress ink along the edges I was finished other than ahering all of the layers together.  

You have the rest of the month to make a Christmas card using red white and blue, link it to the SCS thread for a change to win a Christmas stamp from Flourishes.

Virtual Stamping Holiday!!

How many of you went to see the fireworks display in your town?  Did you have a parade during the day too and a picnic, how about the carnival coming to town? Those are the things I remember doing in my home town each 4th of July.  I lived in a town of 6,000 people with one of the few vacation lakes in the state.  Now come summer time the population went to 10,000 people give or take. 

I remember with fondness those summers and the carefree endless days. This year we stayed home for most of the week end which gave me time to do a few of the virtual stamping holiday cards on SCS. It seems like there is always something going on there no matter the day or time. 

All of the challenges had something to do with the Fourth Of July theme, for this card it was a Faux Wood treatment for an Americana theme.  The rose is one that I received in a image swap a number of years ago.  I don't know what paper was used for the rose but the rest of the papers are Bo Bunny Timepiece papers with the coordinating dot card stock for the base panel.

I cut the faux wood looking paper 1/2 inch wide then cut at a 45 degree angle. I cut only one of the strips

that meet at the 45 degree angle then overlapped it onto a straight edge cut.  For the life of me I can not get 2, 45 degree angles to met up right so this way I figured I would not have that slight gap at the corners I always get doing so many corners.

I added the sentiment, CTMH white ink, and twine (becasue it was laying on the table).  All dp is from Bo Bunny, ink; Copic

It has been hard for me to get back in the swing of things after the 4th, I have kind of enjoyed staying home. Thanks for stopping.