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

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

Today the Flourishes team is coloring up the seasons.  I was feeling sorry for Fall, having been neglecting it, so I colored some Falling Leaves and dressed them up with ribbon and bling and autumn-hued papers.

The center panel is Classic Ivory which I stamped first with a few of the small solid image leaves in regular dye-based vanilla ink.  I stamped the outline leaves right on top of the solid leaves and colored with Prismacolor markers.  The main image panel is lightly edged with saffron ink, then layered onto four more mats.  The chocolate mat is embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.  The leaf bling is something I found last year on the button rack at Wal-Mart.  I adhered them with Crystal Effects and sprinkled rhinestones throughout.

There are more layers here than I usually put on a card, but I was in the mood for sculpting when I made this.  Whenever I thought I was done layering, I told myself, “no, just add one or two more layers”.  It was rather a matter of reverse discipline.  I also have a tendency to want to let more of the designer paper show, but even a little peeking around the edges is better than having it tucked away in the cupboard.  It’s not as though I don’t have designer paper to spare…  And the extra bling — well, gosh, I’ve got drawers full of fancies I could not resist… I’m very good at collecting… well, you see where I’m going with that.  Might as well have some fun with it, even if the darn thing has to be mailed in a box!

Latisha has written an article on the Newsletter with some beautiful Autumn samples and lovely ideas and coloring tips.  Oh, those wonderful colors of Autumn!  Let’s see what the rest of the team has colored today:   Cindy, Julie, Latisha, Laura, and Stacy

Oh, and by the way, TGIF!  I couldn’t be happier!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps:  Falling Leaves  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Classic Ivory, 7 Gypsies Gypsy Market designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, vanilla, saffron, chocolate, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, copper cord, rhinestones & rhinestone leaves, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder

I recently borrowed this Stampin’ Up! Home for Christmas set from a friend, and stamped out two of these images — one on watercolor paper for watercoloring, and one on Whisper White for coloring with my Prismacolor markers.  When I decided this weekend to finally color it, I thought, oh, my goodness, look at the detail.  There’s no reason why it couldn’t be watercolored, but I wanted this time to bring out the detail so I could get a good look at the rustic, homey scene.

On the Creamy Caramel card base I stamped the Linen background in Creamy Caramel, and added some Hero Arts snowflakes in red, hunter, and chocolate.  The Happy Holidays sentiment circle is SU!’s retired Riveting, brown embossed and colored with Prismas.  A little holiday sparkle was brought to the scene with a touch of glitter here and there.

I used something new to me to help maintain some of the detail in the image, and that is Prismacolor Premier Illustration markers.  They’re not something you can use for blending and shading, because they most certainly do not blend.  They’re wonderful, though, for tiny lines and dots, and for restoring some of the detail which can become obscured with coloring.  They may not blend, but they also don’t bleed, so you can work in that detail with confidence, right over top of your other coloring.

I used a spruce green for the door garland, and brown and blue for the twig wreath.  I also used the green for the narrow strap on the sled, and brown for the runners and nail heads.  They worked beautifully for those details.  If only they came in more colors… 

They do come in several different tip sizes and styles, from the tiniest fine point, to a small chisel tip, but my absolute favorite is the small brush tip.  Very pointy and firm, it’s great for brushing on a tiny stroke of color — brush and lift — without getting that little blob at the end of the stroke which tends to show up with ball tips.  I’ve pictured it here next to Prismacolor’s regular tip and Copic’s brush tip just for a frame of reference.

It would make me very happy if Prismacolor would put this small brush tip on one end of their blendable alcohol markers, with a larger brush tip on the other end, but that’s just from my stamper’s coloring point of view.  As for these non-blendable finer tipped illustration markers in their limited color palette, if you’re interested in illustrating, journaling, or doodling, they’re just the ticket.

Well, there’s another Christmas card done, and it’s an easy mailer, too.  I’m making good progress, but I seem to be skipping right over Fall.  This always happens, and it’s my favorite season… sigh…  During my favorite season, I spend more time outside enjoying it than I do stamping cards for it, though, so I guess it’s not all bad.  A whole weekend just went by and I managed to make one card, tsk, tsk.  Back to work, now.  Hopefully, I’ll have more to share later.  Enjoy your Monday!

Stamps:  Home for Christmas, Linen, Riveting (all Stampin’ Up!), Hero Arts snowflakes  Paper:  Creamy Caramel, Handsome Hunter, Real Red, Whisper White  Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Handsome Hunter, Real Red, Versamark, Prismacolor markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, eyelet border punch, double rectangle punch, glitter, embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

What a fun idea Christine had when she suggested the Flourishes team focus on cards with fancy folds this week!  You’ll see two different folds when you visit Christine on the Newsletter where she shares her very pretty cards, with a tutorial for one and a linked tutorial for the other.  Each team member is sharing a different fold idea today:  Christine, Cindy, Julie, Latisha, and Stacy.  Great stuff!

I’ve made a double accordian gatefold card that stays closed without tying.  I found the basic instructions for this fold on my Score-Pal packaging, then modified it a bit and wrote a tutorial a while back, which can be seen –> here.

The card, itself, is made entirely of double-sided designer paper.  With the folds, and with additional paper layered on for decoration, it’s quite sturdy as well as being pretty inside, out, and backwards.  The main image on this card, as you can see, of course, is one of my Seasonal Wreath stamps, colored for Autumn and cut with a Spellbinders Labels One die.  I sponged a little Caramel ink around the edges, then pressed the panel into my Versamark pad and embossed with ultra thick embossing powder.  I repeated the embossing once to create a nice, smooth finish.  The embossing process curled the image panel a bit so, to sturdy it up, I cut another Spellbinders shape from lightweight cardboard and adhered the two panels together.

The photo turn, placed just so, holds the card in the closed position.  All the brad prongs are hidden under paper layers.  The next picture shows how the card opens and gives just a teensy glimpse at the inside.

I made this into a birthday card for my husband, so I used rather masculine colors and papers.  He didn’t mind the bow one bit and was very appreciative of the construction…shhhhhhhh…I didn’t tell him how really easy it was.

Between the tutorial and the recipe, below, I think I’ve got everything covered, so I’ll leave you with that and a wish for a wonderful weekend.  Happy everything to all!

Stamps:  Seasonal Wreaths, Flourished Words (both outside), Flourished Elements, Many Sentiments (inside)  Paper:  Cosmo Cricket Wanted designer paper, Classic Ivory  Ink:  Palette Umber, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Sage Shadow, Pumpkin Pie marker for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, copper cord, brads, photo turn, 1/2″ and 5/8″ circle punches, small oval punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Spellbinders Labels One Nesties, ultra-thick embossing powder