Running With Scissors…

Hello, and happy Friday!  Flourishes’ focus today is on Christmas tags and packaging, so I made one big tag.  In fact, it’s a card, but it could be used as a tag… just keeping my options open.  Julie puts several tags to work with gift bags on the Newsletter today — > here.  Gift bags are a favorite of mine, too.  They look so festive and, best of all, they’re reusable.

I used the new Christmas Borders, not wanting to let the season go by without making at least one card with each of the three pretty little borders in the set.  There’s something about this candy border that takes me back to Christmases as a child.  Tins full of hard candies were plentiful — all without wrapping, and usually stuck together in a wad.  The fun for my brother and I was to select one piece of candy and see who could extract the biggest stuck-together wad from the tin.  I didn’t really care for hard candy, preferring instead Mom’s fudge and divinity, but the ribbon candy was so pretty!

The card is a standard 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″, completely covered in BasicGrey Eskimo Kiss, and the upper corners cut to resemble a tag.  I used my smallest Spellbinders Labels Four die to cut a hole for the ribbon, and added a sentiment from Christmas Tea.  The image is colored with Copics.

That sums it up in a nutshell.  I know you’ll enjoy visiting the rest of the team to see the tags they’re dressing up their Christmas packages with this year.  I’ve had a little peek already, and I can see they’re going to have some very pretty gifts under the tree:   Christine, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

I hope you all have a very happy weekend!

Stamps:  Christmas Borders, Christmas Tea  Paper:  Classic White, Pink Pirouette, BasicGrey Eskimo Kiss  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bravo Burgundy, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, rhinestones, Spellbinders Labels Four and Scalloped circles, 1″ circle punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Scotch brand foam mounting tape (for sentiment circle)

There’s nothing in my garden that puts on a glorious fall display, nor my neighborhood, for that matter.  We’ve mostly conifers and the sort of deciduous trees that shed their leaves quietly and without fanfare.  Moss, we have, and earth deeply cushioned with decades of mulch.  Ferns grow large, sprouting on fallen wood, and a blustery autumn day has evergreen cones tumbling their music across the rooftop.  It’s a green thing in my neighborhood and so much a part of me I couldn’t imagine being without it.  But every evening when I drive home from work, leaves just like these ride home with me on the hood of my car, fallen there from the landscape plantings which bring a bit of classic autumn color to the area.

I’ve used my Fall Flowers set from FireCracker for this autumn card.  As you can see, it’s not only about the flowers of fall, but the turning leaves and ripening wheat, as well.   My spotty sponging reminds me of the smoke of burning leaves, which doesn’t happen in this area — everything is mulched or hauled off by the city.

The leaves were colored with Prismacolor alcohol markers on watercolor paper.  Watercolor paper is not the usual recommended paper for alcohol markers, but I can highly recommend it.  The ink doesn’t bleed outside the lines, yet it blends beautifully because of the absorbency of the paper.  Prismacolor markers have a very sturdy, firm tip which doesn’t fray or wear from the rough textured paper.  I haven’t tried this with my Copics.  Not sure how well the brush tip would hold up, and I’d sure hate to ruin one experimenting.

I’m off to busy myself with other things, now.  I hope you have a very pleasant week, and I’ll be back to visit more when I get a chance.  Take care!

Stamps:  Fall Flowers (from FireCracker) Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Marigold Morning, Naturals Ivory, watercolor, designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

It’s been quite a week — very busy for the Flourishes gals!  I still have a few projects I’d like to make with the new sets, but I’ll have to save those for later.  The peeks are over and today I’d like to show you the full sets.

Christmas Bouquet:

Fancy Labels:

Christmas Borders:

Lampost Greetings and Christmas Tea:

Love them all!  There’s a New Release Bundle discount offer till November 19th — see details here.  Have a great weekend!

I call this project “Tea and Cookies”.   They’re very simple co-worker gifts — one or two tea bags in a little holder, and a tin of cookies.  I envision carrying a big basket full of various goodies into work and telling everyone “pick one”, but I don’t know if I’ll get that far.  It’s a nice idea, though.

The stamps I used for this project are Flourishes’ soon to be released Christmas Tea.  I love the images in this set and, quite frankly, when I was thinking up projects for this month’s stamps, just about everything I thought of involved this pretty little set. 

The tea bag holders measure 2 3/4″ x 8 3/8″, custom-sized for their Stash tea bags.  Score at 3 3/8″, 3 7/8″, and 7 3/8″.  Decorate and fold.  The top of the holder is a flap folded over and secured with ribbon.  The tea bag is tucked up in the fold and won’t slip out until the holder is opened.  I attached the ribbon in the back with a spot of double stick tape so the ribbon can be slipped off without untying.  By the way, the tea is caffiene-free peppermint to match the mint-colored cup with peppermint stick on the cover.

Aren’t those little cookies just adorable?  They’re actually refrigerator magnets holding firmly to the metal Altoid tins.

The team has some very pretty and giftable projects to share, as well:    Christine, Cindy, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

The Christmas Tea set is being offered as a one day blog candy on the Flourishes Newsletter today.  You’ll find the rest of the details about the release activities there, as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s projects.  I kept to “quick and easy” for the most part due to time constraints, but that’s just what I need for the “little something” gifts if I plan to make several.  Thank you so much for your time, and for your comments and encouragement.  Have a wonderful weekend!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I tend to do mostly cards, which I either use, sell or give away.  As for 3-D items…well…when it comes time to give a gift, I don’t often have time to shop for the gift, make a card to accompany it, and create pretty, custom packaging to boot.  “Little somethings” are a different matter — the gifts you give “just because”.  Those are the times I like to imagine the gift and the packaging as a whole, and have some fun with it.

When it was decided the Flourishes team would be doing all gift items and packaging for the November release, this was one of the first ideas that came to mind, thinking of a friend who will soon deliver her first baby, a girl.  We’ve already done her baby shower and, yes, that gift was presented in a store-bought bag.  This handmade box filled with itty bitty baby socks was a lot more fun, however, and, chances are, will convey a better sense of how truly happy I am for her.

The stamp set we’re previewing today is called Lampost Greetings, which I think is very clever and original.  The set comes with this lampost as well as flags for several occasions, and a few smaller accent stamps.  It’s so cute!  When you visit the team you’ll see not only Christmas gift items, but cards for different occasions, too, as the set is really so versatile.

I’m a little last minute with my post today so I don’t have time to write a complete tutorial with photos for the box, but it’s made on the same premise as all my boxes, such as the handled gift box in my tutorial –> here.  Today’s box is made from Crystal Clear Cardstock and decorated with BasicGrey Eskimo Kiss designer paper.  The image is colored with Copics.  To start out:

• Cut cardstock 8 1/2″ by 10 1/2″.
• Score across at 2 1/2″, 5″ 7 1/2″, and 10″.
• Turn and score lengthwise at 2 1/2″.

Those are just the measurements and score lines for this box.  It ends up being 6″ tall, with 2 1/2″ sides.  In this case, I added the designer paper after the box was folded and adhered closed.  I used strong double-sided tape for adhesive.  The lid, made from regular cardstock, was done in the same manner, but with 1/16″ added to each measurement at which it was scored.  For a looser fit, add 1/8″ — preferrable if you’re decorating the box with paper.  This lid is a pretty snug fit.  Again, I apologize for the skimpy instructions.

The empty box reveals a village in the distance — a designer paper panel adhered to the inside back.  There’s paper on the outside back, also, as well as the inside and outside of the box bottom.

Gosh, I always tell myself I could stamp more if I didn’t write such long posts, but here I go again!  Let’s wrap this up:

Visit the Newsletter for a one-day opportunity to win Lampost Greetings and to find out how you can try your hand at winning all five of this month’s releases by playing our challenge.  Time is running short for that one!   More prizes will be up for grabs at Friday night’s release party, after which the sets will be available in the store.  All details about release activities can be found on the Newsletter.

And last, but never, ever least, treat yourself to some eye candy by visiting the rest of the team.  I promise, you won’t gain an ounce (unless they’re showing goodies and you get a sweet tooth…):  Christine, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

Wishing you a wonderful day!

My project today for Flourishes’ week of gift giving is nothing fancy, but fun.  Just a little something I’ll give to a coworker.  I’ve made a box per my tutorial here, and a 4 x 4 gift card to go along with it.  The box, made from Crystal Clear Cardstock, is sized just right for this purchased tree ornament which appears at first glance to be a decorated sugar cookie, but this cookie contains zero calories.  For the card, I chose this particular stamp from the new Christmas Borders set because of its ornaments hanging on a ribbon I colored to match the bow on the box, adding dots with a white opaque pen.  The coloring was done with Copics in colors chosen to match the cookie ornament.  I traced over the Holiday Greetings sentiment and touched up the ornaments with a Stardust Clear Glitter Pen. 

This close up of the box gives a clearer picture of some of the details.  The front panel was embossed with a snowflake embossing folder, and the back panel is lined inside and out with designer paper.  Border punched cardstock trims the edges, and a magnetic snap holds the flap closed.  The construction of the box is a little different, with the sides being separate pieces.  The idea behind the design is that you can make two boxes from one 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet of cardstock, plus scraps.

You’ll definitely want to visit the Newsletter today for a chance to win the Christmas Borders set and read all about the other ways to win prizes, as well.  The team has more projects to share, too.  You’ll get a better look at the stamp set we’re previewing today and see just how cute it really is.  Its cheeful nature holds great appeal for me, and I’m looking forward to using it for some of my Christmas cards this year.  So… let’s hop around to see a nice variety of Christmas projects:  Christine, Cindy, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

There’s more coming tomorrow…  I hope to see you then!

Stepping back to the fall season for a moment, I have another card with Fall Flowers and Fall Quotes today.  The last time I stamped with these sets I made purple coneflowers, and today I’ve made a single black-eyed Susan.  It’s colored with Prismacolor markers and given a feel of country with the simple lines and gingham ribbon.

The quote evokes a lovely scene, far from the maddening crowds.  I don’t know if you’re experiencing a gentle autumn morn, but there was a brief tornado and thunder showers with half inch hail stones on our Oregon coast over the weekend.  While my husband was away from home in the middle of the storm, my Wally puppy and I were enjoying a perfectly pleasant day, playing in the woods behind our house.  That is, Wally was playing while I was cutting brush to improve a trail.  He thought I was doing it all for his benefit, though, and had a great time running off with sticks and branches.

Here’s the master of his domain:

He’s contemplating the creek down below and, of course, we had to go down there and get good and wet.  What an awesome playground right outside our back door!  I hope you’re having a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Fall Flowers, Fall Quotes (both from FireCracker Designs by Pamela), Paper:  Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana, Very Vanilla  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Offray Ribbon, brads 

Today marks the beginning of Flourishes’ November previews, and this month it’s a week long celebration of Christmas crafting.  You’ll see gift ideas, home decor, packaging, tags, and more.  We’re brimming over with projects with the new releases that have kept the team very busy for quite a while and, at last, it’s time to share.

We’ll begin with Christmas Bouquet, another of Marcella Hawley’s exquisite illustrations.  I’ve made a boxed set of six cards.

The set contains three Christmas cards and three thank you cards, and will be given as an early gift.  Each card is lined on the inside right with another layer of white, which I feel helps balance the weight and feel of the card.  A crimped cardstock sheet will protect the card front durng mailing.  Six envelopes, six crimped sheets, and six cards fit very comfortably in the box.  The coloring was done with Copics, which can be found at Flourishes, along with the satin ribbon, lavender pearls, and Classic White cardstock.  All stamps shown are included in the Christmas Bouquet stamp set.

I wrote a tutorial for the very easy box design last October, and it can be found here.  This year’s box is covered with retired Stampin’ Up! designer paper, and the image on the box and cards is nested with Spellbinders Labels One dies. 

For easy elegance I’ve also made a set of four copper embossed note cards tied with copper cord.  These are Flourishes’ 4×4 ivory notecards and envelopes which are the perfect gift accompaniment.  I dry embossed the envelope flap with my Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.

This gorgeous copper ribbon came to me tied around a gift box, and now it wraps up this little set of notecards.  It took barely an hour to make this entire set and I must say, I love the elegant simplicity and easy see-through packaging.

You’ll see some jaw-dropping creations when you visit the rest of the team:  Christine, Cindy, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

Please visit the Flourishes Newsletter for information on how you can win this set (a one day opportunity), or win all of this month’s releases at once.  You’ll also be able to read up on how to meet us at the release party Friday night and take a chance on winning more prizes.

Tomorrow, the Friends of Flourishes team and of few of the Senior Design Team will be previewing another of the new sets and sharing more ideas.  I’ll be back tomorrow with something other than Christmas, but I’ll leap right back into the Flourishes Christmas action from Wednesday on.  I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy this week with us.  See you tomorrow!

Hello!  Today I’m here to share a card I made for my favorite-to-date Flourishes challenge.  This is what we call the Pre-Release Challenge, which means next week we’ll begin sharing previews of the November releases.  Everyone can participate in the Pre-Release Challenge, whether you have Flourishes stamps or not.  Even if you don’t have a blog or gallery where you can post your card publicly, you may enjoy playing along with the challenge.  Please read the Flourishes Newsletter here for all the details of entering the challenge.  As always, the randomly selected winner will receive every stamp set that’s being released this month.  It’s well worth the effort because you never know when your day to win will arrive.

The gist of the challenge is to be inspired in some way by the words to the song, My Favorite Things, which has become a Christmastime favorite, even though it was not originally written as a Christmas song.  We’d like to know which line of the lyrics you used for inspiration when you share your card or project.  I’ve never looked at these lyrics from this point of view before, and I find there is no single line which doesn’t inspire me.  I must tell you, I’ve been walking around singing this song, hearing Julie Andrews’ beautiful voice, and just generally feeling happy because of it.  We’ve condensed the lyrics to include only the list of favorite things:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

With hardly a second’s thought I was inspired by the line, Silver white winters that melt into springs.  So here’s my silver white winter that looks a long way from melting into spring — a snowy white card base with silver embossed trees, sponged with a winter sky, and speaking of Christmas.

Don’t you love those big close ups when you click on a card, that really let you see all the detail and texture?  WordPress blogs won’t let you do that.  There’s a limit on the file size, so the best we WordPress folk can do is make the original photo as large as possible and perhaps show an isolated area in a larger view.

For those of you who may wonder, here’s a photo of how I cut the card with the curve along the bottom:

The card when folded is 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″.  Place the die over the folded card so the cutting edge rests only along the lower edge of the card.  You can easily cut through two layers of cardstock at once.  It will cut about 1/2″ off the lower edge, but you’ll gain that many times over in aesthetics.

To wrap things up…  I’ve enjoyed seeing the teams’ cards and reading which line in the song inspired them.  Let’s take the tour:  Christine, Cindy, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy    I hope you’ll enjoy this bit of fun and inspiration today.  Product links are in the recipe, below.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps:  Forest of Trees, Holiday Greetings  Paper:  Classic White  Ink:  Versamark, Soft Sky, Bayou Blue  Accessories:  Ribbon, pearls, Spellbinders Curved Rectangles Nestabilities and Flourish Accents Shapeabilities, silver detail embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

I have a another Christmas card made with the Dove and Holly set from Flourishes.  When I was playing with this set earlier, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty the image looked when stamped without any coloring at all.  It’s so sweet and finely illustrated, it stands very nicely on its own, so I thought I might give it a try “as is” on a card.

I did feel like coloring something, though, so I draped a garland of holly along the top and colored with Copics — Evergreen and Hollyhock Collections.  I glittered the holly and cut out an extra sprig to pop up with the silver cord bow.  The wide silk ribbon gathers nicely through the silver slide and makes a good substitution for a bow when you’re wanting a card that’s easy to mail.

As for the doves, they’re stamped in Sahara Sand — close enough to green to coordinate with the holly leaves — and the sentiment is nice and crisp in Purely Pomegranate.  A dainty Swiss Dot background and the embossed edges of the raised sentiment panel  give it a little more dimension and textural interest without adding extra weight and bulk.

Well, there’s another Christmas card done.  My pile is growing!  I’m glad you could stop by today.  Happy stamping!

Stamps:  Dove and Holly  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White  Ink:  Sahara Sand, Purely Pomegranate, Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Silk ribbon, Flourishes Finishing Touches ribbon slide, glitter, Spellbinders Curved Rectangle die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape