Fuchsia Flowers

 I made a couple of watercolor Postcards just for fun, a while back and decided I should post them.

One of the Postcards I watercolored was of a Fuchsia vine. I decided I was going to use some pretty strong colors on the flowers instead of using some softer colors I would normally like to use for this image, for no reason other than to do something different.

I believe this is a stamp set from Stampendous or Heartfelt Creations I stamped and colored in using Distress Inks and my Aqua watercolor markers. After coloring the image, I sponged a background and border in with more Distress Inks.

This isn't the most prominent image I've ever made or anything, but there's beauty in the simplicity of all art and I love that. I love the shadows and colors I chose for the flowers. They're so unique and different, I love how it turned out, and if I tried to create those flowers again I'd never be able to duplicate them, and I love that.

Flourishes Release Week: Clover

Did you enjoyed yesterday's DAD You Rock! stamps set? Have you gotten any new creative ideas or just salivating over new stamps? You know I have!

Today's newest Flourishes stamp set is called Clover. Simple and beautiful! Isn't that how crafting and stamps should be? Even if that's not your style or thing, I think you'll love this set.

I chose to make a postcard with my Clover set. I stamped Clover on watercolor paper and colored it in, then matted it in with Color Made Easy: Taupe cardstock then stitched around the image.

Don't forget as you follow the Flourishes stamp release blog hop, to leave comments on each of our blogs and then the Flourishes blog, last! When you do that, you will be entered into our random Grand Opening drawing. One lucky winner will win a $25 gift certificate! But you must comment on all DT blogs and the Flourishes blog, on all 3 of our release days. You will have until Friday, June 3rd to comment!

All of our new stamps are available for purchase each day of their release, and if you buy ALL the new release sets, Flourishes will give a 10% discount!

Time to head on over to the other DT's blogs and don't forget to leave them some blog love!

Amanda Havon - Me

Nancy Nickel

Naomi Gong

Vicki Dutcher

 Flourishes Blog

 Don't forget, I am also giving a prize away on my blog for following the Release Week hops, each day! Remember to leave a comment below ALL THREE blog hop days and I will announce the winner on my blog, June 3rd!!

 

Flourishes Release Week Challenge: Summer Lovin'!

Ahhhh..... summer will be here before we know it and... that means longer days, hotter nights, sitting under the stars and soaking up the nice weather. We know the grass is just starting to green up and spring flowers haven't even really begun to see their full glory -- but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate those warmer days ahead! We're getting in the spirit of outdoor fun now and if you play along with us, you could win Flourishes' entire April release! All you need to do is play in the...

Summer Lovin Challenge

HOW TO PLAY: To join us in this challenge, all you need to do is be inspired by this beautiful color palette above OR create with summer in mind! This one can be loosely interpreted -- bottom line, we just want to see the fun things you create! If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCAPR13.  Enter as many times as you like, but know that if you use Flourishes stamps, your entry counts twice! You have until April 12, at 5PM EST to enter. Just make sure you link your creation up below using our Inlinkz widget. As we said, winner gets our full April Release. So get those fingers inky!

I love so many things about summer, but I've always loved to travel, so I pulled out my Dreaming of Florence set.

I stamped Dreaming of Florence out on watercolor paper and colored it in with Letraset Aqua Markers, then matted it with Color Made Easy Rich Brown cardstock, then tucked some Chocolate Laurel Venise Lace underneath. I wrapped some Ivory Jute Twine around the matted image, then added Ivory, Emerald Coast, and True Blue buttons from the Color Made Easy line.

The OFFICIAL Rules…..
    

 Simply create a card and be inspired by the photo above or by... SUMMER!

 Entries need to be in by Friday, April 12th at 5 PM EST.

 Those that use Flourishes stamps will be counted twice for their entry.
 You must link your creation on this post using our inlinkz widget in order to qualify.
 You must have a link to our challenge in your blog or gallery post.
 Please DO NOT combine challenges. Only those that don’t combine will be in the running.
 If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCAPR13
 We’ll announce the winners Saturday in our Winner’s Circle Post  on Saturday, April 13th, so check back then to see if you’re one of the lucky winners!

If you need a little inspiration, it’s never far away with our design team’s creations! Hop on over and see…


Amanda Havon
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Heather Jensen
Maki Jones
Silke Ledlow
Stacy Morgan

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

Timeless Tuesday : Old and New!

Good morning Flourishes Friends! Are you ready to create? This week our hostess is Denise, and she is challenging us to make something: New!! You can use some new stamps, make a card with a happy new year sentiment, or take a card you've made in the past and make it new by recreating it with some changes/improvements. You can interpret the "new" theme however you wish! What a great challenge, I love it!

I decided to remake an old card for the "New" challenge, so I chose a card I made early last year. I had a computer virus last fall that deleted all of my pictures I've had for the last 10 years, so I apologize but all I have is a link to the card I chose. You can find it HERE.

I generally kept it the same, but used one of Flourishes new  December stamp releases and added a punched edge to freshen it all up, keeping with the new theme.

I used Flourishes "Winter Blossoms" that I stamped in Black Tuxedo Memento ink and colored in with Letraset Aqua Markers, fussy cut out with a craft knife and popped up on 3D popdots. I used Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock for my card base, then added some Laural Venise lace and May Arts Champagne ribbon to finish my card.

Please visit the rest of the Timeless Tuesday Team to gather more inspiration for this challenge!

Ally

Broni
Cindy

Denise

Maki

Lea Lawson - January's Guest Designer

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

Timeless Tuesday: Altered Christmas

Good morning Flourishes Friends! It's inching closer and closer to Christmas, are you ready? This week we are challenging you to : An Altered Christmas!  Create Anything That Isn't a Card for Christmas (Decoration, A Treat Item, A Banner, A Gift, ect.)!

In my family we are either coffee or tea drinkers and I wanted to create a simple gift for everyone with a little variety. I made two kinds of cups, and in each of them there are two different kinds of teas, a hot cocoa packet, a Starbucks Via, a Nonni's Chocolate Turtle Biscotti and 2 or 3 Ferrero Rocher Chocolates.

For my first cup I used Flourishes "Apple of My Eye" for the cider cup image, and a sentiment from Flourishes "Vintage Postcard" set onto Classic White cardstock. I colored my image in with Copic markers, then I created a small tag and tied that on to my cup.

I used the following Copic Collections:

For my second cup, I used Flourishes "Peace and Joy" image that I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo using the Peace and Joy cut file. Then I colored it in with Letraset's "Raspberry" and "Sangria" watercolor markers. I created a tag with some dies and tied it on with some ribbon.

I really had fun creating these cups for my friends and family and I hope they like their Christmas gifts :)

Here is the rest of the Timeless Tuesday team with their best "Altered Christmas" projects and ideas!

Allison Cope

Amanda Havon

Broni Holcombe

Cindy Haffner

Denise Marzec

Katie Sims – December’s Guest Designer

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

Timeless Tuesday : Happy Challenge

Good morning fellow Flourishes friends!! Are you ready for another fun challenge? This week our hostess is Broni and she is challenging us to create a: Happy Card! 

I really love this challenge, because there are so many ways to interpret it! So I decided to create a card that shows what I love and what makes me happy. Our family loves to travel and I have been to much of Italy, also visiting Florence where the colors of the landscape are absolutely stunning and fabulous! I hope my card reflects the feel of the culture and my love of all things Italian. 

I used Flourishes new "Dreaming of Florence" stamp that I stamped onto watercolor paper, then colored in with Letraset Aqua Markers.

Grazie per la visita e buona giornata! 
(Thank you for visiting and have a nice day!)

Cindy

Heather
Broni 
Denise
Ally 

Karen Wallace - November's Guest Designer

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday: It's Sketchy

Good morning Flourishes Friends! It's another beautiful Tuesday morning and that means it's time for another Timeless Tuesday Challenge! This week, Allison is our hostess and she is challenging us to a : Sketch Challenge! Ally has kindly provided a beautiful sketch for us to follow and here it is.

I really, really, love this sketch and I had so much fun creating with it; that I keep it in my sketch files for inspiration. 

I chose Flourishes new "Poinsettia and Pine" release that I watercolored in with Letraset Aqua Markers and completely fussy cut it out then popped it up on popdots. I used papers and ribbon from the Flourishes Rejoice 123 Kit, that I layered over Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock. I added my sentiment I stamped onto a Spellbinders Nested Pennants diecut, then I added rhinestone bling from Flourishes Rejoice 123 Kit.

Please visit the rest of the team to gather more Flourishes Timeless Tuesday inspirations!

Cindy

Heather
Broni 
Denise
Ally 

Maki

Linda Lucas - Septembers's Guest Designer

Thank you for visiting and please have a great day!

Timeless Tuesday: Purple and Blue!

Good morning and welcome back to another Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge! This week our hostess is Denise , and she is challenging us to: Use Purple and Blue!! Ok, I don't use much purple and blue, so using both together in a card was a welcomed new challenge for me :)

I used Flourishes "Garden Picks" from this month's release, stamped on the "Garden Picks" cut file for my Silhouette Cameo from Flourishes. I seriously LOVE my Cameo! I colored my bouquet in with Letraset Aqua Markers that are both light fast and give a true depth of color. I popped my image up on popdots before attaching it to my paper doily. To give my card some interest I used a few punches, some pearls and kept it all simple.

Please visit the rest of the team to gather more Flourishes Timeless Tuesday inspirations!

Cindy

Broni 
Denise
Ally 

Maki

Sasha Homes - August's Guest Designer

Thank you for visiting and please have a great day!

Flourishes Birthday Bash Banner

It's Flourishes 5th Birthday and we think that's a reason to celebrate! So... we are ushering in a 2-4-6-8, Help Flourishes Celebrate Day! We think that's a banner of a day and that's why banners are the focus of this final challenge for today! If you missed our 2PM Challenge, just click HERE.  Our 4PM challenge is HERE and our 6PM challenge can be found HERE if you need to catch up! If you play, we have some FUN goodie bags for our winners! Are you ready for the grand finale... the 8PM Challenge?

 

HOW TO PLAY: We're celebrating a Banner Day!  So, use a banner or pennant style embellishment on your card or creation! Use Flourishes stamps if you have them -- your entries will count twice. If you don't have Flourishes stamps, play along anyway, you could win some! If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCIS5D. You have until August 31st to enter and can enter as many times as you like!

Some of our designers hung banners to help Flourishes celebrate!  If you need some inspiration, be sure to hop on over and see... 

The OFFICIAL Rules…..

             

Simply create a banner inspired card or creation! Create a banner shaped card or add a little banner embellishment or tag!

Entries need to be in by Friday, August 31 by 5 PM EST.

Those that use Flourishes stamps will be counted twice for their entry.

You must link your creation on this post using our inlinkz widget in order to qualify.

You must have a link to our challenge in your blog or gallery post.

Please DO NOT combine challenges.

If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCIS5D.

We’ll announce the winners Tuesday, September 4th at noon CST!

HOW CAN YOU WIN?  Play in this challenge and that counts as one entry for a stamping prize pack (including stamps and other goodies!) Play in all five and you will be entered toward our grand prize! Winners will be drawn randomly but if your card is one of our designers' faves, your work will be added to our Customer Cards Gallery on Pinterest for all to see! So get those fingers inky and join us for our birthday bash!

I created a banner for the party that says "Happy"!

A close up of one of the "Y".

The side profile of the "P" on the banner pennant.

I chose to hang it in my youngest daughter's room, because she's not a morning person, like her mommy; so it can remind us to enjoy the mornings together ;)

For the banner, I used Flourishes Letters In Blossom set that I watercolored in with the following Letraset Aqua Markers: Bamboo, Spring Green, Eggshell, Straw Yellow, Raspberry, Sangria and Twilight Blue. I sponged around each letter with Scattered Straw and Antique Linen Distress Ink to pop them off the background of Flourishes Classic White and Kraft paper. The letters are cut out with Spellbinder Parisian Accents, I popped up on popdots and placed them over an open cutwork design cut from my Silhouette Cameo. They were then layered over the Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants and under the pennants, I adhered a paper lace doily. The pennants are hung on Flourishes Kraft Jute Twine, with tiny clothes pins and as an added finishing touch, I added some gold pearls here and there.

Have a peak at the other Flourishes Banner inspirations we have for you!

Broni Holcombe

Silke Ledlow

Allison Cope 

Amanda Havon

  

Thank you for visiting and have fun with your challenges! 

Flourishes Noontime Challenge: A Bit Of Texture!

Good afternoon, it's time for my favorite part of Release Week, Noontime Challenges! Today Flourishes Noontime Challenge is: 

 A Tad Bit Of Texture! This challenge is all about giving your card or creation a little texture! Add an embossed design? Share a little glitter? How about Crystal Effects or a few sanded edges? This challenge is all about those little extras that give a card POP! When uploading to SCS, please use keyword: FLLCAUGRW1.

Here is my card for today's challenge.

I used Flourishes new stamp set "Garden Picks" that I watercolored in with Flourishes Letraset Aqua Markers, cut it out and popped it up on popdots. For my texture I added a fabric embellishment strip on top of a paper lace doily, and pearls to dress it up. I framed it all up with a card base made of some Spellbinder diecuts, cut from Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock.

For more Flourishes Noontime Inspirations please visit the rest of the design teams blogs!

Tammy Hershberger
Cindy Haffner

Silke Ledlow

Danielle Kennedy

Heather Jensen

Makiko Jones