Friends Warm the World with Happiness

Hello all! This is an exciting day for Flourishes -- it's the first day folks can shop and qualify for the next fun-filled, money saving club we call FLIP.

 

Otherwise known as the Flourishes Loyalty Incentive Program! How do you become a member? Starting TODAY, the next time you go shopping in the Flourishes online boutique and spend $100 on a single purchase (not including taxes or shipping), you will receive this beautiful stamp set called Happy Thoughts! It was penned by artist Sam Pickard and the fabulous sentiments were the creative genius of Dina Kowal! Keep in mind, you can't purchase this set -- the only way you can get your hands on this lovely floral spray of Hydrangeas and these beautifully scripted sentiments is to become a FLIP member!

   

   AND.... that beautiful stamp set is only just the beginning! When you become a FLIP member, it's your pass to BIG SAVINGS!

MEMBER BENEFITS

On the first of every month, for one day only, we’ll have a sale you will FLIP over! ONLY members are able to cash in on this sale: 15% off nearly everything in the store! (Sale does not apply to gift certificates, Silhouette Cameo Machines or Copic Markers). A day or two before the sale, you’ll receive an email with a special “members only” coupon code to use on the first of the month. Just insert this code in the coupon code box at the time of check out, hit “apply” and 15% will automatically be taken off your entire order! This promotion expires July 31st, 2014. Customers receive benefits only from the time they qualify. So, unfortunately, you can’t make up for lost time. One more reason why you should become a FLIP member soon! Now it wouldn't be fair if we showed you this gorgeous set and didn't show you amazing samples thanks to our team of fabulous designers! Hop on over and see what these ever-so-talented ladies created using this exclusive set!

• Dina Kowal
• Christine Okken -- check out her gorgeous tutorial on how to color these flowers!
• Cindy Lawrence
• Julie Koerber
• Heather Jensen
• Makiko Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker
• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cheryl Lea
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp

  Remember, the only way to get your hands on this beautiful new set called Happy Thoughts is to become a FLIP member. When you qualify, this stamp set is our gift to you! Coming soon, we'll be adding a Silhouette Cut File to the store, just for this set! Fun stuff! Before we go, be sure to tune back in tomorrow! The Senior Design Team will be focusing on one set that's been a Flourishes Favorite for quite some time. You won't want to miss all the creativity coming your way .... just in time for some weekend creativity. See you back here then!

Thanks so much for Stopping by,
Heather

Make it Monday 127

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you all have had a great start to your week.  The weather is unseasonably cool here in Iowa, I have been enjoying having the windows open the last several days.  Today is a little overcast so I decided to head to my craft room and participate in the Make it Monday challenge at PTI to stamp a double background.

As you see, especially if you click on the close up photo. I stamped Background Basics Text Style backgrounds and Polka Dot basics II.  The pretty flower blossoms come from Daydreamer, a set that now has coordinating dies, I got mine when they didn't have the dies. The seed pack stamp and die are from Garden Variety and the paper die cut leaves are the Turning a New Leaf dies.  The cardstock colors used are Orange Zest and Melon Berry.

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Heather

6th Birthday Celebration

Hi all and welcome to the 5th Challenge in Flourishes 6th birthday celebration.  Today the entire Flourishes Design Team is jumping on the birthday band wagon and helping Flourishes light the candles and roll the music to celebrate SIX fun-filled, creative years! Today's challenge is all about the right recipe for your cards. So, all you need to do is check out our recipe card below and make sure you use all six items. We're calling this challenge -- The SIX for SIX -- six items for six years!

Can you believe I used this green cardstock?  I am still in shock myself!  I have been trying to step outside my normal comfort zone and use things that I wouldn't normally use.  That, and I was all out of that pretty peachy colored cardstock.  Ha!  As you see below, I decorated the inside.  For years, every time I would make a card and show it to my husband, he would open it up and look inside.  He finally said one day that he didn't know why he did that because I never decorated the inside.  WELL....to his surprise one day, he opened one up and it was all purdy on the inside as too!  ;)

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

    

 So, without further ado -- the recipe!

 

HOW TO PLAY: Like we said, simply use the six items as your recipe for your card or creation. Make sure to use the sketch and be inspired by the colors in the inspiration photo and then, use the other four items as well when you create. This Birthday Celebration Challenge is just that simple! When you are done with your card, don't forget to link up your creation HERE using the Inlinkz widget! For Birthday Celebration Challenge #5, enter as many times as you like. If you upload to Splitcoaststampers, use the keyword FLLCBC5. You have until 11:59 PM CST on July 31st to enter! Winners will be announced Saturday, August 3rd and winners will receive a goody bag from Flourishes valued at $30! There’s a whole bunch of fun scheduled for Flourishes 6th Birthday — if you want a peek at all the challenges, just click HERE to see! Now just as I said, all of our fine and fabulous Flourishes designers are playing along in this one, so be sure to hop on over and see what these ladies have in store!

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Maki Jones
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker

  Thanks for stopping by! We can't wait to see what fun you whip up for this challenge! Remember, you only have until July 31st to play in any and all of our birthday challenges! Be sure to stop by tomorrow. To win tomorrow's goody bag, all you need to do is stop by and leave a comment sending Flourishes some birthday wishes! One lucky person will walk away with a goody bag valued at $30! See you back here then!

Heather

PTI June Blog Hop

Well, hello again!  I am back with a couple cards I made for the June Blog Hop over at PTI.  It has been way too long since I pulled out my PTI stamps and had some fun creating.  This was the perfect opportunity for me to do so.

I absolutely LOVE butterflies and remember how excited I was when this Beautiful Butterflies stamp set came out and I combined it with Mat Stack 4.   It has so many pretty butterflies and sentiments to boot!  These colors together look amazing, but I would have never done so without this push for the color challenge.

I HAD to make another card using one of my original favorite PTI sets called Friendship Jar and I combined it with Daydreamer.

I used the sketch at Sweet Sunday for my first card above.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I will be back tonight with my regular Flourishes post.
Heather

Happy Birthday

Hello my dear blog friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful week so far.  I celebrated my 38th birthday today, man time sure does go by too fast.  I vividly remember 28 years ago, I was standing in the street with my friend and declared that in 6  more years I will be able to drive!  When I turned 16, I thought about that day standing in the street and how fast those 6 years had gone by.  I try to live each day to the fullest, enjoying the friends and family that I am blessed to have.  I honestly feel blessed to have all the amazing blog friends that I have made over the last several years.  Thanks for being such amazing friends!

No, I didn't make myself a birthday card!  Ha!  I wanted to make a card for the MFTWSC sketch this week and one can never have too many birthday cards around.  Plus, I was feeling guilty that I had ordered this beautiful Sunflower die from MFT last year and NEVER used it!

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

Here is the sketch for MFTWSC134.

I also entered this into the Seize The Birthday challenge where anything goes.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Heather

Live in the sunshine (Tutorial)

Hello!  Today I am doing the Create With Me Monday at Flourishes.  A few weeks ago when I made THIS card, I kept playing around with my distress inks and various stamp sets.  I fell in love with the way this one turned out so I decided to share with you how I went about creating this scene.

I took all my supplies downstairs into my living room so I would have more natural light for taking the step by step photos.  As you can see in the last photo, having a light tent to take your pictures in is worth every penny!  Look at how much brighter the colors look!  That is what it actually looks like in real life.

WARNING:  Photo Heavy!

Here are all the supplies I used to create my card.  You may substitute colors to your liking.  Memento Dye Ink and Tim Holtz Distress Inks work very well.  The pale yellow I used is a chalk ink and it has a tendency to soften the ink on the stamped image.  That is all I have and could find in such a pale yellow color.  I realized after doing the links at the bottom, that the top 2 left distress inks were not used for this project.  Also, I couldn't find Wild Honey in the Flourishes store, you can substitute it for the Momento ink in  Cantalope, I have that ink as well and they are almost exactly alike.

Step 1 : Stamp images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock.  The piece I used is 3 3/4 x 3 7/8.

Step 2: I took a piece of acetate and placed a strip of removable adhesive from my tape runner on the back side to hold it still.  I had a scrap of cardstock laying around so I used that as well and placed them to block off the area I wanted to shade in Lulu Lavender.

This is what it looks like after I sponged the pale lavender color on.

Step 3: I placed the acetate just below the lavender and sponged on the lightest yellow color in the center and most of the bottom sides.  I then went in with Wild Honey and darkened up the edges a little to make it look like the sun setting over the water.

Here you can see how it is coming along compared to the finished sample.

Step 4: I placed the acetate just over the lavender, careful not to cover that up and went in with the lightest yellow again above the lavender and then again with the Wild Honey just barely above the lavender.

Step 5:  I took the Spun Sugar and Lulu lavender and finished sponging the sky.  You can go over it as many times as you like to get the desired brightness.

Step 6:  I took Paris Dusk and darkened the top corners for a little added drama.

Step 7:  I added the sentiment to the top left corner and sponged Pumice Stone on the bottom corners where land would be.

Here is a photo of that acetate after it has some ink on it, you are able to see how it works so well.  It makes for a very clean crisp edge.

The final image before I add it to my card.  This is taken in my light tent...what a difference that makes!

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

HOW TO PLAY: Color your world by trying this fun and inky background technique! Play along and when you are done with your creation, don’t forget to link up your creation below using the Inlinkz widget! For Birthday Celebration Challenge #4, enter as many times as you like. If you upload to Splitcoaststampers, use the keyword FLLCBC4. You have until 11:59 PM CST on July 31st to enter! Winners will be announced Saturday, August 3rd and winners will receive a goody bag from Flourishes valued at $30!

There’s a whole bunch of fun scheduled for Flourishes 6th Birthday — if you want a peek at all the challenges, just click HERE to see!

Thanks so much for stopping by,
Heather