A Glimpse of Spring

What better way to spend some time during the Polar Vortex last week than to  put on the fleece, sip some coffee, and think spring while coloring this beautiful tulip stamp from Flourishes' Tulips for Friends.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #253 is to create a shaped card. I used a cut file by Samantha Walker sold in the Silhouette Online store for the card and the cut file sold by Flourishes for the tulips. I used Prismacolor pencils for coloring. Slipping the gingham ribbon through one of the cutouts helps to anchor the ribbon.

Be sure to check out Flourishes wonderful newly released stamps for January and thanks for stopping by,

Hearts and Flowers-FTTC #205

 Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge # 205 is to create a vintage card or project.  Stitching, flowers, lace,  ribbon, distressing,doilies, stick pins, soft colors, layers--- check, check, check. . . .

After stamping and stitching the damask panel, it was time to layer all the pieces including the heart -shaped bouquet of hydrangea blossoms from Flourishes Heart and Flowers which I fussy cut and colored with Copics.
 Happy card--happy me--- I never tire of playing with "pretties".


Supplies:
Stamps: Hearts and Flowers (Flourishes), Carte Postale (Unity), Cover-a-Card Damask (Impression Obsession), Sew Simple Borders (PTI)
Ink:Memento- Angel Pink, London Fog, Gray Flannel (Tsukineko)
Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI),  Blending X Press It
Other: Copics, Heart Punch (Martha Stewart), Parisian Doily die, Sweet Blush Vintage Button (PTI), Cream seam binding, heart trinket pins (Maya Road), flower, lace(stash), Pearl Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)

FTTC #204

Cindy Haffner, hostess of Flourishes TimelessTuesday Challenge  #204, challenges us to use a fishtail, circle, and pearls.  I was longing for some bright colors and summer bouquets after Friday's ice storm, so I picked Flourishes Garden Picks for my floral bouquet. I used the cut file, stamped, colored, and placed the bouquet on the circle of the die cut doily,  A fish tail tag with a sentiment from Botanical Bookplate Vol. 1 and few pearls completed the challenge, and I have a bit of summer on a frigid winter day.

Thanks for stopping by,


Supplies:
Stamps: Garden Picks,Botanical Bookplates Vol. 1
Ink: Memento Expresso Truffle and Black Tuxedo
Paper: Hibiscus Burst, Stamper's Select White (PTI); Pretty Party 6x6 pad (Crate Paper); Blending X-Press It
Other:  Garden Picks cut file (Flourishes); Shapeabilities Lacy Pennants (Spellbinders); Parisian Doily die, Hibiscus Burst twill ribbon(PTI); butterfly punch (Fiskars); pearls; Copics

Poppy-Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #203

It's been some time since I played along with Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge; however, the current  challenge with hostess Broni Holcombe is a great color challenge to get back into the swing of things. Broni's challenge is to use at least one color from each of these Flourishes Color Made Easy paper combos.

I used patterned paper from Lily Bee Design Memorandum 6x6 pad and stamps from Flourishes Poppy Patch set which I stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on  Express it Blending Paper dies, cut with Flourishes cut files and my Cameo.  I love that Flourishes is providing these cut files; I look forward to more files--hint, hint--Sweet Violets, Strawberries, Hearts and Flowers--please. :)

I mounted the colored images on a tag (Memory Box Distressed Tag stamp) and added the sentiment on kraft cs to tie in the card base. I added a little more brown by inking the edge of the sentiment tag, adding Dark Chocolate pinked edging, and twine.
The twine in a pack of several colors by American Crafts was a surprise find at TJ Maxx this week. Hubby and I needed to kill a little time before having lunch on Wednesday.  The silly man asked if there was anywhere near the restaurant I would like to go before lunch. Hello!  TJ Maxx, Joanne's, Michaels.  I visited two of the three but limited myself to only one purchase. That could be because I'd made two on-line stamp purchases this week. :)
Meanwhile, after five days of rain which caused flooding in some nearby areas, the rain turned to snow Thursday afternoon, so these are some of the views we had Friday morning. We don't have much snow anymore here in Knoxville, so it's always a little exciting. And with icy roads, no school so no tutoring Friday morning.  I'm a little ashamed to admit that I was a tad bit happy about this.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pansy Charm--FTTC 188

Pansies and violas are my favorite fall flowers, so when I saw that Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 188 was to make a fall card or project, I just had to ink up the pansy stamp from Flourishes A Year in Flowers 1.  I recently visited one of my favorite nurseries and wanted to bring several flats of the beautiful pastel pansies,  but I resisted and only bought one flat of violas that winter here  much better than pansies. I did however use the pastel colors of some those nursery pansies  for coloring this image with Copics. After coloring, I aged the focal point with a little Antique Linen Distress ink.

I complemented the old fashioned charm of the pansies with subtle patterned paper, lace, and wrinkled ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hydrangeas--FTTC184

A quick post today--a long to-do-list awaits.

Denise Marzec, hostess of Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 184, challenges us to use purple and blue. This challenge was the perfect opportunity to ink up my newly purchased Flourishes Hydrangea stamp.

Off to tackle that list!

Have a wonderful weekend,


Supplies:
Stamps: Hydrangeas (Flourishes), Background Basics: Tin Types(PTI), Text-It (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Expresso Truffle, Versamark (Tsukineko);  Winter Wisteria (PTI),
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Spring Rain, Winter Wisteria (PTI); X-Press It Blending Card
Other: Labels One (Spellbinders); Linen Impression Plate, Half & Half die, Winter Wisteria  satin  ribbon (PTI); Copics

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #175

Good morning from steamy K-town. Like much of the country, we've been experiencing temperatures of 100+ degrees.  With rising humidity at least there is a chance of scattered storms. My flowers and shrubs could use a good drenching.
Silke Ledlow,host of the current FTTC, asks us to use our favorite Flourishes stamp, favorite die, and favorite embellishment.
No surprises here--violets, deckled edge die cut, pearls, and lace.

I stamped the violets from Botanical Bookplates 1, masked the image, stamped the die cut with a script stamp, and inked the edge. I colored the violets with Prismacolor pencils. Then I used another Flourishes favorite, Vintage Wallpaper, for the stamped strip behind the focal point. This is the point where things didn't go as planned--pulled out the sewing machine, changed from white to cream thread, stitched down one side of the strip, and then realized the thread had broken and there was only a line of holes. What to do? Recut, restamp, restitch? I don't think so. Just stitch other side with unthreaded needle and believe it was meant to be this way.
Violets--check, deckled edge die cut--check, lace--check. Must add final favorite--pearls. Large pearls on the right didn't speak to me, but  buttons did.  So I colored three tiny pearls with a Copic marker and added them to the center of violets.
Just looking at these cool-weather flowers makes me feel cooler. :)

Have a good week,


Supplies:
Stamps: Botanical Bookplates 1, Vintage Wallpaper(Flourishes); Gingham (CHF); Kissing Booth Tapestry Script Background(Basic Grey)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink(Ranger); Spring Moss, Winter Wisteria(PTI); Rich Cocoa Memento(Tsukineko)
Paper: Spring Moss, Winter Wisteria, Vintage Cream (PTI)
Dies: Deckled Ovals(Spellbinders), Half and Half(PTI)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #174

"From the Desk" is the theme of Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #174.  My sister and I have have many things in common, one of which is the love of pretty notepads, so I chose to a make a simple set of twenty monogrammed notecards for her. These are perfect for jotting down a small list or idea or for tucking in a gift. 

I used Spellbinders Labels 1 die to cut the notecards. I created the border using a stamp from Flourishes Sweet Violets stamp set. The S is from Pink Persimmon's  Carnival Alpha (Small), and it is flanked with small flourishes from another Flourishes stamp set--Seeds of Friendship. 

   A decorative band keeps the notecards together, yet will allow Suzie to slide out a notecard when she needs one. This is a quick-to-make gift that I'm sure she will use.


Have a wonderful week,
Cammie

Enjoying Autumn's Splendor? FTTC 141

We've been taking advantage of the beautiful mild fall days by hiking in the Smoky Mountains; this past Monday we decided to hike to Charlie's Bunion, a trail that begins at Newfound Gap which is at a higher elevation and at the border between Tennessee and North Carolina . We knew that  this section of the Appalachian Trail would be past prime colors, but we didn't expect to see this

Yes, there were several snowy patches along the trail. We  managed to misjudge the temperatures. Luckily, I had thrown a couple of  hoodies in the car. I usually take off my top layer after about 15 minutes; it doesn't take  much physical activity to turn up my thermostat. So DH knew it was cool  cold when I didn't remove my hoodie which was the top of  three layers. Nor did I remove my adorable hat for a picture at the summit, well ,almost summit.  I chose not to scramble up those rocks to my left.

Here is Ed at the summit;

Here in the valley, the fall colors are at their peak, and our woods are beautiful now while our lawn is quickly being blanketed in fallen leaves.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 141 is timely. The challenge  hosted by Makiko is to use a tree/leaf element.

I used PTIs woodgrain impression plate and Distress Ink in Old Paper for the side panel. The leaf, stamped in  Red Brick Versmagic Chalk Ink, and the acorns, stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa, are from Flourishes Falling Leaves . The sentiment is from Flourishes Sweet Violets.

Have a great weekend .

Timeless Tuesday Challenge 140

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge is to make a Halloween card or project. While it's not a requirement to use Flourishes stamps, I always like to use a company's stamps in its challenges; however, I don't have a Flourishes Halloween stamp, so for me the challenge was to combine Flourishes stamps with  the Halloween stamps I do own.   I used the seed packet from Flourishes Seeds of Friendship and gave it a Halloween twist

I also used Flourishes Fanciful Flourishes and Lace Edges along with Crafty Secrets Costume Cuties and Halloween and PTIs Polka Dots 1.  I colored the image with Copics and added some stars and buttons punched from glittery paper.

Garden Days Ahead, FTTC 105

We've had some mild temperatures, so I started thinking that soon it will be time to begin tidying up the garden. I guess that's why I was drawn to use this image from Flourishes From the Garden for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge which requires that one uses three patterned papers.

The papers are from Basic Gray's Lemonade pad, and the sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics.

Have a great weekend!

Victorian Violets--Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Blog Hop

Congratulations Flourishes on the 100th Timeless Tuesday Challenge!

Welcome to my stop on this celebratory hop; you can read more about this celebration and hop HERE.

The challenge is "All About Favorites! Use your choice  of one or all of your favorite stamps, papers, colors, technique, and embellishments!"

Some of  my favorites that I 've used on this card include
 1. Sweet Violets stamp set by Flourishes---an obvious choice based on my love of violets, the name of my blog, and the many times, including my first FTTC, that I have posted cards using this stamp set.
 2. Deckled Edge Rectangle Nestabilities. I just love the distressed edge.
 3. Antique Linen Distress Ink by Range. More distressing. Are you seeing a theme here?
 4. Patterned paper--I've used 3 patterns from Basic Grey's Curio 6x6 card
 5. Coloring--I loved my coloring books and crayons when I was young; now I love to color stamped images with colored pencisl and or Copics. I used Prismacolor pencils for this card.

 Because I can imagine opening an antique book of botanical prints and seeing these violets,  my inspiration for this  card design was Victorian design--with its incorporation of nature, pattern, and sometimes dark weighty elements.

If this is your first stop by my blog,  thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll return.
Everyone enjoy the hop!

Soft Sympathy --Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 89

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  Since it was sunny and warm here, yesterday afternoon I pulled up the last impatiens and planted some more violas; then I found a sunny spot to soak up a little vitamin D while reading and watching the falling leaves. Today is a rainy day, so I'll be inside, watching "those falling leaves drift by my window"
The latest Flourishes challenge which ends today is to make the sentiment the focus of the card.

I love the elegant font of this sentiment from Thinking of You by Flourishes.  The elegance of the focal point and the papers is contrasted with the simple design of the card. And from a practical side, this is a mail-friendly card.

Thanks for stopping by and have wonderfall day,
 
Supplies:
Stamps: Thinking of You (Flourishes), Very Vintage Labels No. 4 (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Versacraft Cool Grey (Tsukineko)
Paper: Fine Linen(PTI),  Cappella Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Other: Labels 4 (Spellbinders), border punch (Fiskars), Fine Linen satin ribbon (PTI)

Celebrate Fall

I've been doing some fall decorating inside and out even though it has been in the 90s here. The fall wreaths are hung on all the exterior doors. The fall dishes are on the table. The gourds and pumpkins are out and bittersweet vine is draped here and there. Nothing makes me think fall quite like bittersweet, so I decided to celebrate fall by making a card using the twig and berry wreath from Flourishes Wreaths for All Seasons.

 With the rustic twig wreath I used other rustic elements as well--deckled edge Spellbinders die, distressed and ink edged paper, coffee-dyed trim, and twine. I colored with these Copics YR23, YR24,YR18,YR02,E43. While making the tag, I stamped a tiny portion of the wreath while the paper was still in the die to add just a touch of bittersweet to sentiment. The focal point and tag  are inked with Antique Linen. After distressing the edge of the patterned paper the edges were too white, so I darked the white with Antique Linen. After purchasing this trim it was a little too yellow, so a few weeks ago I dyed it with some coffee--the end result-- a much better shade and for few hours a wonderful coffee aroma!

I am linking this card to Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 85--Celebration Cards and Flourishes Bring Back Beauty Challenge--Rustic Beauty.

What are you doing to celebrate the beginning of fall?


Supplies:
Stamps:  Wreaths for All Seasons (Flourishes), Notary (Prima)
Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa,  Memento London Fog (Tsukineko); Antique Linen (Ranger)
Paper: Rustic Cream, Kraft (PTI); patterned paper (K and Company)
Other: Deckled Rectangles (Spellbinders), Rustic twine (PTI), trim (Ellen Hutson),Copics,

Happy Birthday, Flourishes!

Flourishes stamp company turned three years old last month, and this month is hosting a belated birthday celebration. So using two of the fist Flourishes stamp sets I purchased and still two of my favorite and probably most used Flourishes stamps--Sweet Violets and Vintage Wallpaper-- I made a little birthday card to celebrate the Belated Birthday Bash  Look Who's Three Challenge as well as play along with the Timeless Tuesday Challenge.  
Let me quickly list some of the reasons I love Flourishes.
1. The most beautiful stamp images--Hats off to the stamp designers who are such creative geniuses!
2. The design team-- Speaking of creative geniuses--The Flourishes design team and Friends of Flourishes design team are so amazing. Their projects are always stunning! And several have visited here and left such kind words. I am so truly appreciative of their taking the time to visit and comment.
3. Awesome customer service--Orders and prizes are shipped pronto. I am always a little suprised and of course especially pleased to see how quickly my goodies arrive here. And any time I have had a question, I have received a response in a matter of hours!
4. The FLIP program--I mean who doesn't love to get a discount? And it certainly is not difficult to find products in the store in order to qualify.
5. I can pretend I am artistic. I truly don't have a lot of confidence in this area. Now, I am not confessing this to receive complimentary comments, but to explain that with these beautiful images and inspiration, I can pull out my Copics or pencils color create something that is passable.

Now  few deets about the card:

I stamped kraft cs with the Vintage Wallpaper background stamp in Champagne Versarmark and then cut out with a library pocket die. After folding and taping the pocket, I used the large image from Sweet Violets.
I used one of the smaller violet images to stamp the cream cs. After cutting the ticket and stamping the ticket border, I stamped the sentiment and scrollwork from Sweet Violets, using Post-it notes to cover portions of the stamps. I mounted the ticket with dimensional tape. With the name Flourishes, a little bling was necessary so I added a few purple gems (which sadly I did not capture well in the photo)

While the card may be small, my gratitude for the enjoyment I have with Flourishes stamps and my wishes for a happy birthday are HUGE!

PS-If didn't catch any typos, I am blaming it on my new bifocals. AAARRRGH! I am having a time adjusting to them. I prefer my cheepo readers.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Violets, Vintage Wallpaper(Flourishes); Just the Ticket (PTI)
Ink: Champagne Dazzle Versamark, Peony Purple Versacraft (Tsukineko)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI)
Other: Library Pocket DieTicket Border Die (PTI); Corner Chomper(We R Memory Keepers), gems

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 80 and Bring Back Beautiful Challenge

Hi everyone! I hope that you had a great weekend and  that your week is off to a good start. Another quiet weekend here at the little house in the woods. Friday night I went to a party where the hostess's good friend who is from India was there with her beautiful jewelry that she makes; I resisted any purchases since I lost one of the tiny gold hoop earrings that I wear 98% of the time. As I was brushing my teeth the other night, I noticed I was only wearing one earring. I was home all day, so I believe it must be in the house, but careful searching through furniture cushions and dusting of the floors hasn't turned up the missing earring.  Well, I guess hubby has got a great idea for a present for our anniversary in a couple of months (if I go with him and pick them out-hee, hee).
Last week's Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge hosted by Silke Ledlow was a color challenge--kraft, hot pink, soft yellow, and black. This color combination was a toughie for me. I  knew I wanted to use one Flourishes beautiful floral stamps, so I went through my stamps, thinking pink. I chose the stamp set Poppy Patch. While we normally think of poppies as red, there are some beautiful pink poppies.

 I stamped the image and sentiment in Memento Black Tuxedo and colored with these copics:

Now to work in more black, yellow, and kraft. This took a long time. I pulled out patterned papers, cardstock, and background stamps. After many choices and discards, I finally settled on my trusty PTI background stamps.

As always thanks for stopping by and for your comments,

Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Patch(Flourishes); Background Basics: Distressed Stripes,  Background Basics: Tin Types(PTI)
Ink: Memento Black Tuxedo (Tsukineko), Raspberry Fizz(PTI)
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Raspberry Fizz, Kraft, Lemon Tart (PTI)
Other: Copics; Notebook paper die, Raspberry Fizz Grosgrain ribbon (PTI)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge

Hey everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start. I've a quick post this morning. The latest Timeless Tuesday Challenge hosted by Dee Jackson on the Flourishes blog is  a limited supply challenge. " The limit? NO Embellishments. What does this mean? It means that we let the image we use speak for itself. We CAN use ink, stamps, paper, punches, die cuts, and coloring tools. We cannot add rhinestones, prima flowers, buttons, pearls, ribbons, brads, etc."

I stamped the lilac in Rich Cocoa, cut with a Nestabilities die,and colored with Prismacolor pencils. I inked the edges with Versamark ink to bring out the deckled edging. I mounted the image on an embossed panel, again highlighting the embossing with Versamark.
Be sure to check out Flourishes blog later this week for the August release.
Thanks for stopping by,

Supplies:
Stamps: Lilac, Falling Leaves-sentiment (Flourishes)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Paper: Kraft(PTI)

Berry Sweet, Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 77

With this post I met one of my goals for July--to participate the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge each week. The last challenge of July, hosted by Emily Keaton, is to use pins on the card. This gave me chance to pull out my beading supplies and make a couple of pins for my card.
First the card.

After cutting kraft cs with the library pocket die, I stamped the image from Strawberries with Black Tuxedo ink and colored it with Copics. Then I stamped the libary card in London Fog ink on. I rounded the corners with the Corner Chomper. Then I stamped the sentiment and strawberry which I also colored with Copics. I cut a tag from patterned paper and stitched onto more patterned paper from the Fly a Kite line. The green gingham rick rack trim was cut with PTI's die. I added some seam binding ribbon and my pins. As I was going through my beads I found two red ones that were shaped similar to strawberries,  so I topped each off with a green bead cap and I carried the strawberry theme through the pins.

Be sure to check out Flourishes Blog for the details on the new monthly challenge Bringing Back Beautiful
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Supplies:
Stamps: Strawberries(Flourishes), Library Card(PTI)
Ink: Black Tuxedo, London Fog(Memento)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream(PTI);Fly a Kite(October Afternoon)
Other: Rickrack die, Library pocket die(PTI), seam binding ribbon(Simple Treasures)