Timeless Tuesday #248: Score It, Pierce It, Color It

I can hardly believe it's the last Tuesday in November! Just 29 days until Christmas!!! So the holiday frenzy officially begins this Friday. Just sayin', ya know. ;~)

In the meantime, ready for a little Timeless Tuesday challenge? Connie MacFarlane is our Guest Hostess this week, and you're going to love her challenge. It's one that can be incorporated into just about any card or project you have in mind:

Here's my take:

I used the Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 1 sketch for this card, substituting cute ornament images, from Flourishes' Holiday Sparkle stamp set, for the fishtail banners. After coloring them with Copics, I did some fussy cutting and glued twine to the back so I could "hang" them from the top of the card. For the next layer, I die cut a square from Classic White Cardstock, then sponged Vintage Photo and Scattered Straw Distress Inks over the entire square. Next, I spritzed water onto the pine tree stamp from the Forest of Trees stamp set, and stamped on top of the sponged ink, giving me a light colored silhouette of the image. After drying the water, I stamped the tree in a white pigment ink, then again, offsetting the stamp just a little for a hint of frost, using Memento Bamboo Leaves ink. I gave it some sparkle by stamping the little snowflake images from the Snow Scenes stamp set onto the tree with Versamark Ink and heat embossed with a glitter embossing powder. I then stamped "Believe," from the Handmade Snowflakes stamp set, and heat embossed it with red glitter embossing powder. To finish off the layer, I scored two parallel lines down the left side of the square and across the top and did some paper piercing between the lines. I matted that layer onto a square of white cs, which I edged with a Krylon silver leafing pen. The gold horizontal strip is a piece of textured white cs which I pierced along the top and bottom, then colored with a Krylon gold leafing pen. Finally, for the bg, I dry embossed snowflakes on a piece of shimmer cs and added Diamond Stickles for sparkle. To hang the ornaments, I first attached them to the front of the card, then taped the twine to the back of the bg layer before adhering it to the card base. 

Here's a better look at the sparkle on the tree.

On the inside, I embossed the same snowflake embossing folder on shimmer paper, but left the Stickles off. After die cutting a rectangle of classic white cardstock, I sponged Scattered Straw Distress Ink inside the die, then added two sentiments from the Sentimental Christmas and Star of Bethlehem stamp sets.

Did you happen to notice how many different stamp sets I used on this simple card? I was certainly surprised when I realized how many there were. When I make a card, I often just pile up stamps, dies, and all the other supplies as I use them, so I can remember what I used when it comes time to write up my supply list. So, when I went through the pile for this card, I did a double take when I saw that there were six--yes, that's right, SIX--stamp sets used on this one simple card. But, I shouldn't have been surprised at all. One of the things I've always liked about Flourishes' stamps is that they work so well together. 

And, speaking of working well together, you have got to check out what the rest of the Design Team has for your viewing pleasure! Visit their blogs, leave a little blog love, then put all that juicy inspiration into your own creation and play along with us. 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.

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims
• Connie MacFarlane, our November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week, and for those in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, Gobble! :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 1 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Countdown to the Holidays
Corrosive Challenge #188: Happy Holidays
Paper Issues: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:
PLUS these individual Copics: R21, R22, G17, YG03

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Vintage Santa

 

I'll make this a really quick post. It's time to finish up with the Viva la Verve sketches for November, so I made a Christmas card with the Week 4 sketch.

I used a new-to-me Tim Holtz Christmas stamp for this card, heat embossing it with clear ep, on kraft cs, then sponged red and green Distress Inks over parts of it. The green layer is a paper doily that I misted with Dylusions Ink Sprays. I like the color, but every time I look at this card, I think of lettuce! ;-) For the bg, I die cut a piece of glitter cs and topped it with a text dp die cut. The fishtail banner was hand cut. I layered raffia and twine bows and topped it off with a brad that I made with my I-Top Brad Maker.

Here's the inside. The red and white striped edges were from the same chevron dp that I cut the fishtail banner from. I just cut it right on the points to make it look striped. The sentiment and Christmas bell are from a Recollections stamp set called Vintage Christmas.

And, there you have it. Short and sweet! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 4 Sketch Challenge
The Corrosive Challenge #188: Happy Holidays
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Countdown to the Holidays
Paper Issues: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

~Hugs,

 

Supplies: 

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Peace on Earth

I had a few hours to kill last night while my internet provider got their act together. Since I couldn't get on the internet to work on future blog posts, I used the time to make another Christmas card. I used this week's Simon Says Wednesday Challenge sketch for my design.

This was such an easy card. I layered up a couple of dp's and Washi tapes, double stamped the trees (once in Pear Tart, and once in Toffee Crunch), sponged in a sky with Tumbled Glass and Bundled Sage Distress Inks and an Inky Antics Cloud Stencil, made snow banks with curved border dies and clear rock candy glitter, and added those sweet deer die cuts. For the sentiment, I stamped it in Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and heat embossed with a glitter ep (you can see the sparkle in the banner at the top of the post). And, to finish it off, I used a few iridescent sequins. I've been wanting to try sequins for awhile, but couldn't find any nice ones, then I accidentally stumbled across these and four other colors of sequins at Walmart the other day. I may like these better than rhinestones!

I cut several deer, large and small, when I was trying to decide what I wanted to use, and I had this large one left over, so I added him to the inside. Went a little crazy with the sequins here, but I like the snowfall effect.

Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate your visit and all the sweet comments!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge: It's a Mystery (the mystery of nature)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Use Heather's Sketch
613 Avenue Create Challenge #46: Anything Goes/World Peace Day
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: CAS-ual Christmas

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Flourishes' Princess Birthday Blog Hop

Today is a special day for the Flourishes Family to celebrate our Birthday Girl - Julie Koerber! And Julie is definitely worth celebrating!  She's the right hand on so many levels of what's beautiful about Flourishes, and we're so grateful for her and blessed to also call this lovely lady friend.  

This summer a number of the Flourishes Senior Design Team girls gathered for a weekend in Yellowstone National Park.  It was a fantastic time of fun!  One of the great things some of the girls did was go Whitewater Rafting.  Because there were family members along, Julie graciously said she'd sit in the middle of the raft so the kids could get the most out of the experience.  

The raft guide however thought that would be a fun opportunity to tease Julie about her "Princess" status. She gracefully took it and we love to tease her about it - and so the idea for this Princess Birthday Hop was born!  Julie we love you and your fun, spunky spirit, and also the warmth and grace you live your life with!  Happy Birthday from all of us at Flourishes!

Happy Birthday, Julie!

I hope your Birthday is Spectacular!

Here's a look at my princess card, that's on it's way to Julie...

To go along with the fun princess theme, I used Flourishes' Make a Wish stamp set for Julie's card, and used every image in the set! The card base and bg layer are both Flourishes' Classic Ivory cs. I dry embossed the bg, heat embossed the princess-y images in light pink onto a piece of shimmer cardstock, added Diamond Stickles for jewel-like sparkle, and cut the embossed cs into three rectangles. The glitter border around each panel was scrap cs that I edged with Scor-Tape, then coated with pink glitter. The main image was stamped with Memento Toffee Crunch ink and colored with Copics. For the glittery mat behind the image, I die cut a piece of scrap cs, then ran it through my Xyron upside down to get the adhesive on the front of the die cut, then coated the edges of it with pink glitter. For a little regal touch, I added purple velvet ribbon, a fleur de lis embellie, and a few Swarovski crystals.

On the inside, I used sentiments from both the Make a Wish and the Winter Blossoms stamp sets. They are stamped in Memento Toffee Crunch. The rose scepter was stamped in Spun Sugar Distress Ink, and I sponged Tattered Rose Distress Ink around the edge while the cs was still in the die.

We invite you to hop along today with many of our Flourishes Family to see our pretty Princess and Birthday inspiration, and join in on our wishes for Julie!

Comment along the way and you could be entered to win any Birthday set of your choice from the Flourishes Store!  Winners will be chosen and announced on Saturday November 23rd on the Flourishes Blog.

And don't forgot to drop by Julie's place to send her your Happy Birthday wishes too!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Heather Jensen
Silke Ledlow
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker (Today is Tosha's birthday, too...Happy Birthday, Tosh!)
Cheryl Lea
Deborah Anton
Jenny Gropp
Judy Rozema
Katie Sims
Aleksandra Mihelič
Kathy Jones
Meredith MacRitchie
Naomi Gong

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 3 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: It's a Mystery (I made the glitter paper with Scor-Tape & glitter)
613 Avenue Create Challenge #46: Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:
PLUS: Copic Marker RV63

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Timeless Tuesday #247: Winter Scene

Are you feeling a winter chill where you live yet? Living in Georgia, our winters tend to be fairly mild and short, and I'm very glad of that! I'm cold-natured, so winter is definitely not my favorite season. But, one thing I do enjoy about it is meeting my friends for coffee. Winter is the best time of year for that!

So, when I saw that Deborah's challenge this week was to create a winter scene, I knew it needed a cup of coffee in it somewhere, and Flourishes' new Grab a Cup stamp set arrived just in time! When I made this card, I envisioned sitting with friends, inside a cozy, warm coffee shop, watching kids outside playing in the snow. And, of course, the Snow Scenes stamp set was a given for that. 

 
I cut the coffee cup image, from Flourishes' Classic White Cardstock, on my Silhouette, using Flourishes' Grab a Cup Silhouette cut file, adjusting the size of the cut to get closer to the stamped lines. (I still had to do a little fussy cutting, but not much.) After stamping it with the coffee cup image in Memento Tuxedo Black, I colored it with Copic markers and used a Snow Marker on the swirled cream in the coffee. In real life, it looks a bit frothy. For the winter scene, I heat embossed the snowman scene with a dark brown embossing powder, then stamped several trees from Flourishes' Forest of Trees stamp set (a fantastically versatile stamp set!) in several different colors of Memento Ink (they are in my supply list below). Then, I used Flourishes' Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames die set to cut it out. After adding Snow Marker to various spots on the image for some dimensional snow, I lightly sponged Mustard Seed Distress Ink in one corner for a hint of warm sun, added a little Tumbled Glass Distress Ink for the sky, and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo. The snowy pine needles under the ribbon were punched from some scrap cs, then I pushed them through white acrylic paint to collect "snow" just on the tips of the needles.

To assemble the card, I started with a card base of Calypso, from Flourishes' Emerald Coast Color Made Easy Paper Collection, added a multi-colored die cut that I created with sponges and Distress Ink, then a rectangle die cut that I colored with ink spray a few months ago. In the lower left corner, I put part of a paper doily, that I first distressed with a couple of Flourishes new So Distressed stamps (that's going to be one of my favorite stamp sets, for sure!). The silhouette snow scene is lifted with layers of crimped cs, and the coffee cup is popped up with foam dots. Finally, I tied some May Arts ribbon in the upper left corner and slid those snowy pine needles underneath it.

I used two sentiments on the inside, from both the Grab a Cup and the Snow Scenes stamp sets, and couldn't resist using the coffee stain and drip stamps again, from the So Distressed stamp set.

It's always so much fun to see the different ways everyone interprets our challenge each week. I hope you'll join us in this one, 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.

Be sure to take a moment to check out all our designers' blogs, as well as our November Guest Designer, Connie MacFarlane. We all love to hear from you, and you'll leave with tons of inspiration! :)

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Judy Rozema
• Katie Sims
• Connie MacFarlane, our November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fantastic week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create Challenge #46: Anything Goes/World Peace Day
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: CAS-ual Christmas
Paper Issues: Grateful for You

~Hugs,

 

Supplies: 
PLUS these individual Copics: YG00, YG01, YG03, YG45

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10 Candles: A Pop-Up Card

I was lucky enough to get to spend the weekend with some stamping friends, and during our time together, Lisa, an amazingly talented artist, showed us how to create a super cute pop-up birthday card. Just in time, too, because my DD is going to a birthday party on Saturday. :)

The front of the card is decorated just like any other card would be. I chose to use a cupcake image with a candle to go with the inside of the card. The image is colored with Copics, and I added a little bit of Stickles to the candle flame and some Stickles bling to the corners and sides of the card. The card has a twine tie because the pop-up inside the card keeps it from staying closed.

Here is the card, opened. Isn't it just adorable? Lisa had about 20 candles in her card, but this card is for a 10-year old, so I modified the size of the card and only used 9 candles in the center of the card, and one on the sentiment panel (for it to look right, I think you have to have an odd number of candles in the center accordion part). I added Stickles to the center of the flames. The candle die cuts are cut from a retired Sizzix die that Lisa had, but you could probably make your own candles by simply cutting long rectangles and adding a hand-cut flame, or even using flattened paper straws!

Here is a better look at the left and right sides of the inside of the card.

To accommodate the thickness of the accordion folds, this card has a small spine. It would have worked fine with a 1/4" spine, but I wanted to add a Happy Birthday label, so I made mine 1/2" wide.

I'm still trying to catch up from being away from home for 3 days, so this will be it for me for a day or two. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Got Ink?
613 Avenue Create Challenge #45: Anything Goes w/Optional Twist-Holiday Thanks
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Happy Day!

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Celebrate an Autumn Birthday

I have a good friend whom I only get to see once or twice a year, but we always get together in November for our birthdays, which are just 10 days apart. For her birthday, I made an autumn-inspired card.

I used the Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 2 sketch for the overall design. The sentiment banner is edged with a Krylon Copper Leafing Pen, and I embossed the Verve sentiment with a gold embossing powder, then stamped over it with a white pigment ink. The small pennant trim was cut from kraft cs and sponged with Distress Inks, then I stamped it with a decorative design from Verve's On Occasion stamp set. The leaves were die cut from glossy cs and colored with several colors of alcohol ink. The oak leaves lean toward being purple, and the maple leaf is more orange. I made the spots on the maple leaf by dipping a textured cloth in alcohol and pressing it lightly on the leaf. I curled the edges of the leaves before gluing them to the card.

Here's a peek at the inside. The leaf embellie came from Michael's bargain bin a couple of years ago.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a great day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve November 2013 Week 2 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Got Ink?
613 Avenue Create Challenge #45: Anything Goes w/Optional Twist-Holiday Thanks
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Timeless Tuesday #246: "Pick a Sketch"

Hello, and welcome to this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge! I think you're going to like this one a lot!

I enjoy all kinds of card challenges--color, sketch, photo inspiration, theme, tic tac toe...I haven't found a challenge yet that I didn't want to try. ;-) But, my favorite challenge is a sketch challenge. That gets my mojo going like no other challenge can. I don't always stick to the sketch literally, because changing things up is part of my creative process, but it is always fun to see where I end up. 

Well, Joy!, Joy!, the crazy-talented Allison, has challenged us with a sketch this week! And, not only has she given us a sketch, she designed two different sketches, and you get to choose which one you want to work with! Thank you, Allison! :D I went with the rectangular sketch on the right. 

I not only had the sketch challenge for this week's card, I also had a personal challenge, given to me by a friend. I have been making her wedding anniversary card for the past couple of years, and they are always interesting because she likes to incorporate the traditional and modern wedding anniversary gift ideas into them. (Here are her 9th and 10th anniversary cards.) The gifts for an 11th anniversary are steel and fashion jewelry. Now, actually finding a steel or fashion jewelry gift for a husband doesn't seem too difficult, but I had to really think about how I was going to include both those things on an anniversary card, and keep it masculine.  

My friend's husband is a fisherman, so for my focal point, I used this beautiful image from the In Nature stamp set, stamping it on Flourishes Classic White Cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, and matting it with Flourishes Classic Black Cardstock. And, I've been wanting to try my hand at monochromatic coloring in sepia tones, which seem perfect for a masculine card, so I limited myself to only one of Flourishes' Copic Sketch Collections:

For the steel portion of my card, I covered a piece of scrap cardstock with aluminum HVAC tape, then dry embossed it with a diamond plate embossing folder. I "tarnished" it with Mustard Seed Distress Ink so it would blend better with the sepia image. For the vertical strip in the sketch, I used burlap ribbon, and for the fashion jewelry, I considered using a fancy fishing lure, but kept envisioning a terrible anniversary accident when he opened his card, so instead, I die cut a "leather" belt and buckle from Flourishes Classic Kraft Cardstock, sponged Gathered Twigs Distress Ink over the belt portion, embossed it with a Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, then heat embossed it a couple of times with clear embossing powder. For the buckle, I sponged Mustard Seed Distress Ink over the die cut, then heat embossed it with clear EP several times. The backdrop for all this was a piece of dp, which I dressed up with some zigzag stitching.

On the inside, I die cut a curved border on white cs and stamped the Happy Anniversary sentiment from Floruishes Inside & Out Happy stamp set. On the bottom, I used the same dp as on the front of the card, stitched around the edges, and created the ""steel" the one" sentiment in Word, making a rub on with a transparency. I was pleased with the finished card, and even better, my friend loved it!

So, do you like sketches as much as I do? Which one is your fav? I hope you'll choose one and play along! It's always fun to see all the different takes on a sketch challenge, and you might just win a prize, too! You can find all the details for the challenge here.

You'll definitely want to see how the rest of the DT interpreted this week's challenge! And, be sure to show them a little blog love with a comment, too! :)

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Judy Rozema
• Katie Sims
• Connie MacFarlane, our November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fantastic week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Got Ink?
Challenges 4 Everybody #33: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #45: Anything Goes w/Optional Twist Holiday Thanks
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC119: Embossing

~Hugs,

Supplies:

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It's Okay!

Like most everyone, I like weekends. But, I'm really excited that this coming weekend is almost here because I'm going to visit some stamping friends whom I haven't seen in several months! We always have SO much fun together!

When I go away overnight, I often leave a card for my DD. I'm doing that this time, but this card serves a dual purpose. She has been working on a craft project for about a week, and yesterday, just as she was finishing it up, disaster struck, and now she may have to start all over again. She was heartbroken! So I hope this card helps cheer her up. :-)

I used the Mojo318 sketch for my layout, creating a background using Dylusions Ink Sprays, stencils, and Distress Inks, and machine stitched around the edges. Then, I stamped a Verve sentiment onto a tag cut out of a cork sheet, added some splatters of ink as a "mistake,"cut and embossed a fishtail banner, and added a few cute little die cut hearts, which I covered in Stickles. Finally, I die cut large filigree hearts out of a dark burgundy cs. Then, putting the die cut back in the die, I backed it with a piece of scrap dp and ran it back through my GC with an embossing mat so it would cut the dp, causing the dp to be pressed through the filigree of the cs. 

After die cutting the sentiment layer and sponging Worn Lipstick Distress Ink around the inside of the die, to continue the "mistake" theme, I pressed the sentiment panel into a Toffee Crunch Memento Ink Pad, and stamped another Verve sentiment over it. I had a couple of die cut hearts left, so I added some Stickles dots and glued them in the corner. The two thin strips were an afterthought. They are scraps from trimming the bg that I used on the front of the card. I found them under my paper cutter when I was cleaning up later, and they looked so cool, I just had to find a way to use them. :)

I appreciate you stopping by today, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
MojoMonday 318 Sketch Challenge
Catch the Bug Challenge: November-Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody #32: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #44: Anything Goes/No Optional Twist

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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