Running With Scissors...

Rock-A-Bye Bye Baby

I’ve said this before – I enjoy creating baby cards.  Not only does the look of them appeal to me, but they celebrate such a joyous occasion.  What a wonderful reason to stamp a card!  Seldom have I come across a set of baby stamps which captures my heart quite as thoroughly as this Rock-A-Bye set from Flourishes.  I was a little surprised when I saw it on the retirement list (sob).  It is now on sale for 65% off the original price, as are all of Flourishes’ retiring sets.

Which brings me around to the reason for today’s post – in the coming days the Flourishes Team will be paying our last respects to those sets we have known and loved and will soon no longer be available.  Choosing the set I’d be sharing today was an easy decision for me.

My favorite cards with Rock-A-Bye have been paper pieced.  In the past I’ve done them up for baby girl and baby boy, so today I thought I’d round that out with the card above, which is meant to be gender neutral.  I paper pieced the moon face and the baby blanket with a mix of baby papers from my scrap drawer, but colored the remainder of the image with Copics.  As it happens, my next door neighbors are expecting in September…

The following cards were created when my friend’s two daughters delivered their babies on the same day.  Double delight for a doting grandma!  First, a baby girl:

And this one for a baby boy:

It’s hard to beat a 65% mark down.  All retiring sets and other items can be found on the sale page in the Flourishes store.

I’m sharing this day of fond farewells with a few of the other girls as they, also, pay homage to some of their past favorites:

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

In case you missed it yesterday, Barbara and Danielle shared some very inspiring cards which made me fall in love all over again, and you can check the Newsletter to see what’s coming up next.

How about something new and luscious in the store?  Check out the brand new Copics collections.  With names like Dogwood, Raspberry, Black Cherry, Copper, Lenten Rose, and more, these sets incorporate Copic's newest colors.  Oh, how I love color, and these are simply mouthwatering!

Thank you so much for your time today.  Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

Sweet Violets in Two Colors

Hello, friends, and welcome to Tuesday!  I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend.  I planted flowers Saturday till I ran out of potting soil, and now the rest will have to wait for another day off.  Well. . . if I can’t plant flowers, I can at least color them.

I’ve been meaning to color some yellow violets like those growing in our woods, and for fun I thought I’d do some blue violets at the same time.

The yellows are colored with Copics on Flourishes Classic White cardstock.  The colors, the Copics, and the bright white paper yielded a crisp image.  Loving its cheerful countenance, I decided to turn it into a birthday card.

The blues are watercolored with markers on 90 lb hot press watercolor paper and mounted on a Classic Ivory card base.  Softer in appearance, classic and clean – I thought it would make a nice sympathy card.

Both sentiments are included in the Sweet Violets set. 

For the life of me, I couldn’t get the color of the blue violets to reproduce accurately under my Ott light so I photographed them again under tungsten, and this is the actual color.  Even the green is more true.  It almost looks like I colored three images, rather than two.  I like the photo under tungsten light much better, as they look more like the violets in my garden. 

Yellow, blue, purple -- I hope you enjoy them.  Have a very nice day!

Stamps:  Sweet Violets  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White and Classic Ivory cardstock, 90 lb hot press watercolor  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Wild Wasabi, Copic markers (yellow violets), Palette Noir, Always Artichoke, Tombow markers (blue violets)  Accessories:  Ribbon, Flourishes Stunning Slides

Back to the Orchids

Oh, happy day – Friday has come at last!  It’s a Free For All day at Flourishes, which means the team stamps whatever they choose from last week’s release.  Well, loving flowers as I do, it’s no surprise I’ve come back to the Orchids.

I watercolored the image with markers on 90 lb hot press watercolor paper.  Ordinarily I’ll choose my papers first and match the ink colors accordingly, but this time I simply enjoyed the painting process and figured I’d find something among my vast supply of designer papers to coordinate.  Once I sat back and looked at the finished painting, I realized immediately these colors could be found in the BasicGrey Lemonade collection.  Funny, too, the particular sheet I used was never a favorite, but with just this bit of border showing it’s perfect!  Stitching, pearls, and a tiny silk ribbon bow finished it off and it’s ready to be mailed.

Today is your last chance to take advantage of the New Release Bundle -- all three of the April release sets in a bundle for a 10% savings.  In case you'd like some inspiration, there’s beauty to be seen when you click on the following links.  These girls never seem to run out of fabulous ideas:

Barbara Anders

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

I wish you all a beautiful Spring weekend.  Not so sure about the weather here, but I bought flowers to plant in the pots and plant them I will.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Orchids  Paper:  Pink textured, Flourishes Classic Ivory, 90 lb hot press watercolor, BasicGrey Lemonade designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir, Pink Passion for sentiment, various water-based markers for watercoloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, pearls

Pssssssst...

Michelle is sharing some Stamper's Dream blog candy and a coupon code for discount shopping.  You can check it out HERE.  Just thought you might like to know.  Have a great day!

Wally and the Girl Next Door

Torrie has been Wally’s one true love since the day we brought him home.  A whirling dervish of a dog, rarely sitting still, I sometimes think she’s too much woman for Wally, but Wally is completely under her spell.  He loves her slobbery kisses and sweetly energetic nature.  You can see a string of Torrie slobber across Wally’s muzzle there in the photo.

We took the two of them on an outing recently.  Boy, did they have fun!  See those smiling faces?  You can click on any of the photos for a closer look at the cuteness.

How about the love in Wally’s squinty eyes?

Had to share these last two pictures because I love them and can’t decide which one I like best:

Wally’s a bit scruffy looking from swimming and wallowing with Torrie.

Love my Wally and his little girlfriend, Torrie!  Hope you enjoyed the photos!

To You

I love this big floral bouquet from the Penny Black To You set.  Because of the impressionistic nature of the image no special coloring skills are required.  I used my Tombow Markers for a free and easy watercolor.  It’s pretty much a matter of letting the inks fall where they may – brush on some marker color and spread with a wet brush.  Don’t worry about some white space showing.  It turns out great!

Now, I didn’t photograph the markers I used today.  It was a matter of taking extra photographs or taking Wally for a walk.  No worries, though.  You can paint these flowers any color you choose!  A little banana ink sponged around the edges gives the image an inner glow. 

The sentiment originally read “Celebrate today and every day”, but I didn’t feel I had room for the whole thing without compromising the look of the card, so I shortened it.  To do so, I applied Scotch tape to the lower line of the sentiment, inked it up, removed the tape, and stamped.  Easy to do with this particular sentiment.

I’ve got to run now.  As I write this, Wally is waiting…  Hope you have a beautiful day!

Stamps:  Penny Black To You  Paper:  Pink textured, ivory, 90 lb hot press watercolor, BasicGrey Sugar Rush designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir, banana for sponging, various Tombow Markers for watercoloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, rhinestones, oval punch, Spellbinders Grand Classic and Scalloped Ovals, Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

April Showers

I have one more Flourishes sample for you today.  April Showers is a set with several cute and cheerful images which are a lot of fun to work with.

There’s even a bucketful of beautiful tulips and I’ll be getting around to coloring those soon, but first…

I thought how quick and easy it would be to color up this image, and it really did take just minutes to make a cheerful card for someone who’s ill, feeling down, having a hard time, stressed out – whatever -- and could use some cheering up.

I cut out and popped up an additional cloud and sponged a blue sky onto the panels.  Coloring was done with Copics.  I used the Memory Box Brioche designer paper and turquoise cotton linen ribbon that came in my first 1, 2, 3 Create Kit.  It is sold out now, but Flourishes is creating new kits all the time.  You can see the current kit here.

Visit the team and see all the different looks that can be achieved with this set.  There’s something for everyone:

Barbara Anders

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

• Leave a comment on today’s April Showers post on the Flourishes Newsletter for a chance to win this set.
• Hurry, and you may have time to get in on the Speed Challenge or the Spring Has Sprung Challenge.  Both give you a chance to win the entire April release.
• If you’d like a sweet deal, take advantage of the New Release Bundle and purchase all three sets for a 10% discount.

By the way, did you know the Gambler’s Sale has advanced all the way to 60% off now?  There are some great deals on the sale page!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this busy week.  Now go and have yourself a lovely weekend!  Take care!

Stamps:  April Showers  Paper:  Cool Caribbean, Flourishes Classic White, Memory Box Brioche designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Cool Caribbean  Accessories:  Ribbon, Spellbinders Lacey Squares, Classic Squares, Classic Circles, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

New Flourishes Sets Now Available + Speed Sketch Challenge

Is it just me, or do the weeks fly by faster than ever?  They certainly do when you're having fun, and Flourishes release week is always a good time.   We've wrapped up another great Release Party and now the new sets are ready for you in the store.  Here's a look:

Orchids

  

April Showers

Motherly Love

 

The team will be sharing samples with the April Showers set on Friday.  Cute stuff!

Now for the details on our fun, fast paced, heart racing, get those creative juices pumping challenge -- it's our SPEED CHALLENGE!  If you have some time to play along, you could win our entire April release.  Follow the sketch below and get your card linked on the Flourishes blog here by  12 Noon Central Standard Time on FRIDAY and you could be the lucky winner.  So, let the paper fly and see if you can nab our new release for trying.  Use Flourishes stamps if you have them, but play along anyway if you don’t… the clock is ticking!

 Enjoy, and see you soon!

Flourishes Preview, Day 2: Motherly Love

Moving right along to the next set of samples, today the team is showcasing a sentiment set called Motherly Love.  Timely, with Mother’s Day right around the corner.  However, when looking at these sentiments, I realize there’s one which would be beautiful on a baby card, and others which work perfectly for Mom’s birthday, or anytime you’d like to express your love and your gratitude for her nurturing influence.

I’m especially enjoying the cards for today’s preview as we’re pairing these sentiments with a variety of Flourishes florals.  So many gorgeous images to choose from, and lovely to see each team member’s selection.  I’ve chosen one of the first florals Marcella Hawley illustrated for Flourishes, and it’s still a favorite – Lilacs:

I’ve made a Mother’s Day card, but can you picture this sentiment on a baby card, as well?  I think it would be wonderful.  My lilac is colored with Copics.  I chose a soft pink with peachy undertones to coordinate with the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden designer paper.

Take a trip down the garden path and enjoy more sentimental florals:

Barbara Anders

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Remember:

• Flourishes’ Spring has Sprung Challenge is still going strong.  You could win Flourishes’ entire April release.  Check it out here.
• Join us for chat, fun, games and prizes at our Power Hour Release Party which starts tonight, April 14th at 9 PM Central time.  You’ll find the party at the Flourishes’ Member Company Forum on SCS.  After the party, the new sets will be available in the Flourishes store.
• Save $$ with Flourishes New Release Bundle – a 10% savings when you purchase all three sets in a bundle.
• Would you like to get your hands on our new sets now?  Pre-order them here!

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me today.  Tomorrow brings a sample with the third set of the month.  I hope you can come back and visit me then!

Stamps:  Motherly Love (sentiment), Lilacs  Paper:  Peach, blush, Flourishes Classic Ivory, Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Satin ribbon, BasicGrey Sugared glazed brad, Spellbinders Labels One Nestabilities

Flourishes Preview, Day 1: Orchids

Hello, everyone!  Are you ready to see the first preview of Flourishes’ April release?  Let’s start out with one of Marcella Hawley’s beautiful florals.

Gosh, the above graphic makes it look pretty tempting, doesn’t it?  The girls have colored up some exquisite images and turned them into stunning cards.  Orchids!  I’ve never had an orchid stamp before.  Very exotic flowers, but in such a wide array of colors you simply cannot go wrong with your coloring.  And with all those colors to choose from, what did I do?  White, with just the lightest blush of pink and deep rose throats.

My orchids are watercolored on 90 lb. hot press watercolor paper.  I wanted to display them on a black background and, rather than paint in the black, I chose to cut out the flowers and mount them on black velvet.  It’s actually black sueded paper which I’ve had in my stash for years.  The velveteen effect is lost in the photo, but it’s quite elegant in real life.  A click on the photo will give you a closer look.

Love these new Spellbinders shapes, too, and I used them for the first time on today’s card.  I found this combination interesting:

• Labels Twenty
• Labels Eighteen
• Grand Ovals

And, of course, all cut with my Grand Calibur die cutting machine.

Be sure and visit the team for lots more ideas, and all of them very colorful:

Barbara Anders

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Stacy Morgan

Jan Marie Caruso

• You can preorder the Orchids here if you’d like.
• All sets will be released this Thursday night, the 14th, after the Release Party in the Flourishes Forum on SCS.  The party begins at 9 pm Central and lasts one hour.
• Would you like to win the Orchid’s set?  Just leave a comment on today’s Orchids post on the Flourishes Newsletter.
• How would you like to win the entire April release?  Now, that would be fabulous!  Read up on the Pre-release Challenge and link a card.  This may be your lucky month!

I do hope you’ll come back tomorrow for another preview.  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Orchids  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White, pink textured, black sueded  Ink:  Palette Noir, water-based markers for watercoloring  Accessories:  Silk ribbon, pearls, oval punch, Spellbinder’s Labels Twenty, Labels Eighteen, and Grand Ovals Nestabilities, Scotch brand foam mounting tape