Rejoice! and Blog Candy!!!!!!

I am so excited!!!!! Here is one of two new sets to be released next Monday by Our Daily Bread Designs. This is one of the new sets called Worship the Lord. I love this peaceful church scene that comes in the set. By leaving a comment here, I will add your name to the drawing to receive this set for FREE!!!! Here is a closer look at the set.

I will collect all comments until Thursday night at 11:59pm. I am including tomorrow since it is a holiday and some people may be traveling today.This card is for SCS Sketch challenge (SC204). This is my interpretation of the sketch. I colored this scene using reinkers and blender pens. I wanted to create an evening sky with the snow glistening off the eaves and the trees. I used my Essentials white gel and my Sakura clear star gel pen to create snow and the shimmer effect. I also dotted on with both to create some falling snow. I used gp white cardstock with Blush red dark and Spring Willow medium Prism by Prismatics cardstock which can be purchased at Our Daily Bread Designs. I added a double sided MS punch border across the center with white grosgrain and wrapped silver cording. I finished off the card with silver domes in varying sizes. What do you think?

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Blessings,

Betty

Flourishes Friday

Good Morning everyone!!!!! It is Flourishes Friday!!!! I told you all I am on a Christmas card making frenzy. I combined two Flourishes, LLC sets for this card. I used Sleigh Ride (sentiment) which is very versatile and Forest of Trees which covers all the trees one will ever need. I kept this card simple just to show that some Christmas cards need to be fairly fast and easy, yet still have a homemade feel for mass production. I love the look of just a simple snow covered tree in the woods. I stamped my tree with staz on olive green, then stamped it again with palette noir. This gives some green depth with the deep shadows of a snow covered tree that I need with the black. I highlighted the branches with my Essentials gel pen for a snowy enhancement. I softened the edges with some soft sky ink to give a snowy cool effect. I used my petite oval nesties for a double layered frame. I added a pop of a red bird punch from MS. I love the Paper Company's textured column cardstock. I added a piece to the back for some soft texture. I used a piece of 1" red organdy ribbon that I tied into a bow. I then stamped my sentiment and punched out with large ovals to make sentiment tags. I tied those on with red cording. I finished my card with three clear dew drops that I colored with a red permanent marker....learned that trick from Carol(Trucarma).

STAMPS

Flourishes Sleigh Ride and Forest of Trees

INK

palette noir, staz on olive, red riding hood, handsome hunter, soft sky

PAPER

real red, handsome hunter, paper company's columns blanc

ACCESSORIES

oval petite nesties, MS punch, cording, organdy ribbon, large oval punch, CAD, sponges, permanent red marker, glue dots

You can visit Julie's Friday Friends of Flourishes Blog Team weekly roundup over at the Flourishes Newsletter, and also visit these Friends of Flourishes blogs to get the complete Flourishes Friday scoop Becca Fekken, Christine Okken, and Cindy Haffner

You are in our PRAYERS

I loved the color combo this week, the sketch, and the ways to it challenge so I combined all three!!!! Thanks, Emily, Roxie, and Julia!!!!

Here is what I did. I wanted to make the basic sketch more monochromatic, yet each section creating texture and depth. I used real red, but sponged the edges with red riding hood to give it some depth. I added layers of black white and kraft along with a white embossed flourished dove from Our Daily Bread Designs. I made my sentiment alittle more of the focal point with its positioning and ribbon/banner look. I finished with touches of pearls at the top and the bottom. I wanted to keep the card bold....yet simplistic!!!!

STAMPS
ODBD Christian Flourish SymbolsPaper bb, gp white, real red, kraft
INK white craft ink, black staz on
ACCESSORIES square nesties, pearls, sponges, white ep

Merry Christmas

This card is for SCS Feature Stamper Challenge (FS93) Congratulations, Kendra!!!!! You have a fabulous gallery with so many wonderful creations to choose from. Here is the card I chose to case
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1128414?cat=500&ppuser=1321
I tried to keep the layout the same…….arched half circle on the left. I did stamp my sentiment going up the side instead of across the bottom.
I focused on dp just like Kendra as well. The focal image is all a section of glittery dp by My Mind’s Eye. I just love this vintage and very sparkly Santa!!! I love that I could make a few fast Christmas cards. I stamped the sentiment from my CHF Christmas Expressions set.
I added cream organdy ribbon, gold cording, and two small gold brads to each card. On one of the cards, I heated up the organdy ribbon to give it a crinkle effect.
That is it....call it done!!! Woo Hoo!!! Sometimes it is all about the sentiment and dp!!!!! What do you think of my FAST Christmas cards!!!!

I just want to add that it is RARE that I find a stack of dp that I really like at Micheal's. I just happened across the My Mind's Eye collection that I thought looked wonderful. I also had a 50% off coupon so I got it. There are pages of wonderful glittery Christmas patterns and styles. I really love using glitter without the mess!!!! Wow!!!!

Stamps CHF Mona Lisa Moments Christmas Expressions
Paper handsome hunter, bravo burgundy, MME Signature Christmas dp
Ink handsome hunter, red riding hood
Accessories mini gold brads, organdy ribbon, gold cording, sponges

Flourishes Friday!!!!

This week I realized that I need to get busy with some Christmas cards. Today I decided to do a Winter Wonderland card using my Flourishes, LLC Sleigh Ride stamp set. I love this very regal and elegant deer. I used some My Mind's Eye dp which is very glittery and sparkly in real life. I combined chocolate chip and Prism papers frosted teal. Love the warm icy effect this combo has. I layered two different papers of the dp. I cut out many oval layers, and I softly sponged the center oval using a reverse mask with some close to cocoa and Adirondack pool inks to give a little depth and warmth along with a wintry effect to the center oval. I stamped the deer in black staz on directly onto the oval, but also stamped him on Strathmore water coloring paper, colored him, cut him out, and adhered it over the initial stamped image for some depth. I stamped the sentiment in red riding hood. I finished it off with some MS layered snowflakes with dew drop centers and some red and silver cording and two little red gems. What do you think?

You can the Friday Friends of Flourishes Blog Team weekly roundup over at the Flourishes Newsletter, and also visit these Friends of Flourishes blogs to get the complete Flourishes Friday scoop Becca Fekken, Christine Okken, and Cindy Haffner

Also, check out all of the Flourishes Designers to see what they have done with this week's new releases. Julie Koerber, Cindy Lawrence, Faith Hofrichter, Latisha Yoast, Laura Fredrickson, Linda Duke, Susan Roberts

Cindy Lawrence is giving away some blog candy for Flourishes, LLC new releases this week. Find out what you need to do to have a chance to win a new stamp set and basic gray paper pack!!!! ;0)

Card Deets STAMPS Flourishes Sleigh Ride
INK black staz on, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, adirondack pool, red riding hood PAPER chocolate chip, Prism frosted teal, My Mind's Eye dp, Strathmore watercolor paper ACCESSORIES Nesties, MS Punch, cording, gems, dew drops

Blessings,

Betty

Just For You

This card is for SCS Color Challenge (CC192) Thanks, Christine for such a cool color combo!!!! I am absolutely ecstatic over my new Cornish Heritage Farms Scrapblock called Fiery Floral!!!! It just came yesterday. I sponged the bottom portion with certainly celery and the top with not quite navy. I love the results so much I decided it looked good enough to stand alone. Another reason I am loving this scrapblock is because I won it!!!

I used my Prism Papers Gray because I did not have any pieces I could find of the Basic gray. I used some versamark around the edges to darken the hue...great tip I learned from Emily. Worked for me since I do not own the Basic Gray ink pad, either. I layered the gray with Pacific Point for the sentiment. I finished my card off with a few pieces of ribbon. I frayed a pieces to put at the top of my stick pin. By the way....those stick pins really do stick....note to self...keep fingers out of the way....lol!!!

Stamps CHF, Scrapblock Fiery Floral, Mona Lisa Script Essential Expressions,
Paper gp white, pacific point, prismatics gray
Ink black staz on, certainly celery, not quite navy
Accessories oval nestabilities, SU pretties kit, sponges, black grosgrain, beads

Believe

Congratulations, Wendy!!!! This is a card for Feature Stamper Challenge at SCS FS92. I love her gallery. Her work is gorgeous. I had a really hard time deciding on a card to case, but finally narrowed it down to this one. I love the overall look and design.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/915872?cat=500&ppuser=79179

I love the overall look and design. I am calling this the inside outside oval frame card. I changed colors and theme, but tried to stay true to the overall look. Of course, instead of stamping on the frame portion, I used swiss dots folders andrubbed it with some stickles waterfall for some glitz. I layered MS snowflake punches. I backed white snowflakes with metallic silver snowflakes which create a shadowy dimensional look and topped those off with clear dew drops. I stamped the little snowman and tree from Flourishes, LLC Sleigh Ride. I thought the size made a perfect little tag to go with my winter theme. I then stamped using my JustRite Oval sentiment stamp.

STAMPS JustRite Oval Ensemble II set, Flourishes Sleigh Ride

CARDSTOCK gp white, night of navy, silver metallic

ACCESSORIES MS snowflake, oval petite nestablilities, circle punch, markers, CAD, silver cording, stickles, clear dew drops

Flourishes Friday!!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!! Well, not yet.....my anniversary is next Friday!!!! Of course, the more I look at this card, the more I think I created it more for me than my DH. I may need to do a more manly looking one for him. Somehow I managed to squeeze in three challenges with this one card...wow!!! First of all, the limited challenge is to use a rectangle and a circle on your card. And, wouldn't you know it....Beate's sketch(WSC65) was perfect for the Limited LSC193 today. In addition, I hopped over to Sharon's(notimetostamp) blog and her challenge ssnotime60 was to add nature elements...real or not...she wants us to create. I went digging in my stuff and found some dried baby's breath. Now, I would love to say that the stuff is REAL, but I am not sure as it did come in one of those plastic things from Michael's....so I seriously doubt it. Next, I used my Flourishes, LLC Siberian Iris. I do not use this stamp nearly enough. Today, I wanted to downsize it a bit and just use a portion of the stamp. I finished with a JustRite oval sentiment....yes, I said OVAL. I wanted to show that just because some of these stamps come in shapes, does not mean we have to keep them in that shape. I stamped just the wording and punched it out in a circle....amazing versatility!!!

Okay....as promised I have a hint about cutting out paper. I am a lefty and many teachers growing up tried to get me to use left-handed scissors. Those things could not cut for anything. A natural tendency for left-handed people is to use the scissors upside down. I am still not sure if I use them correctly, but I do know that practicing does make the process easier over time. When cutting the paper, always move the paper not the scissors. This was the best advice I ever learned. In addition to this, I also use a marker to run around the edges to give the edges a finished look. The less white showing....the more clean the look....especially if we stamped with a dark ink. As for my water coloring experience today, well.....as many of you know coloring is NOT my forte'!!!!! It is a true work in progress. Something I learned today....when the project was completely dried, I took the aqua painter with just water on the tip and ran it over the edges of the flower to dissipate some of the color. It gave me some very subtle edge highlighting....which is what I wanted because I wanted a solid colored flower.

Stamps Flourishes Siberian Iris, Just Rite Harmony Classic Oval I Stamper Ensemble
Paper Red Riding Hood, Mellow Moss, vv, Strathmore watercolor paper, cream(unknown) Anna Griffin, Kraft Level I paper pack
Accessories Scallop punch, oval punch, large circle punch, baby's breath, gold cording, mini gold square brads, blender pens, aqua painter, sponges.

You can visit Julie's Friday Friends of Flourishes Blog Team weekly roundup over at the Flourishes Newsletter, and also visit these Friends of Floruishes blogs to get the complete Flourishes Friday scoop Becca Fekken, Christine Okken, and Cindy Haffner

Grateful Heart

Thanks Emily for another great color combo. And, a big shout out to Becca for being this week's Feature Stamper. What a wonderful gallery! Today's colors are red riding hood, kiwi kiss, and pretty in pink. The card I chose to case of Becca's does not use any of these shades. Here is Becca's card
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1050493?cat=500&ppuser=145503
While I did change the color scheme to comply with today's color challenge, I tried to recreate the look using all Flourishes, LLC stamps. I did not have the metal flowers so I opted for dyed to match store bought ones. Also, I do not have the metal corners so I opted for an additional flower with fronds and branches. It has been rainy here for two days, so this is definitely an indoor photo.

STAMPS: Flourishes- Poppy, Thank You, Spring Ephemerals

PAPER: red riding hood, kiwi kiss, and pretty in pink, cream

ACCESSORIES: Nesties Label Two, misc paper flowers, grosgrain, mm muted gold brads, sponges, CAD, MS branch and frond punches

I am Flourishing with Excitement!!!!

I have some very exciting news to share!!!!! I have been asked to join the Friends of Flourishes Blog Team

I love Flourishes stamps and cannot wait to see what else I can created with these beautifully detailed stamps. Also being introduced today is my friend and Dirty Dozen Alumnus
Christine Okken who I am thrilled to be working along with again!!!! Her amazing talent with watercoloring is just awe-inspiring!!!!

In addition to all of this fabulous news, Cindy Lawrence and Laura Fredrickson have stepped up to be a part of the Flourishes Senior Design Team. Their creations are just absolutely stunning!!!! Congratulations, ladies!!!!

Here is my introduction card.....

For this card I used the Flourishes Thank You set and Coffee with Friends set to get the small friend word for my sentiment. Stamps: Flourishes(FLLC) Thank You and Coffee With FriendsPaper: The Paper Company's Blonde Columns(subtle texture), bb, kk, redRhood, vvInk: Paletter Noir, adirondack lettuce, redrhood, pretty in pink and river rock for distressed edges, and soft sky for flower shadowAccessories: Oval petite Nesties, 1/4" circle punch for faux brads, word window punch, cad, sponges, blender pens, retired(theater) ribbon, red cording, foam tape, scalloped edge punch