Live in the Moment

This is my final card for Flourishes Birthday Challenges.  The very clever Heather Jensen provided a tutorial on inked backgrounds - see it HERE - and the challenge is to create something similar. HUH!  This is way, WAY outside my comfort zone!  I don't own any distress inks or the tools required and I nearly gave this one a miss.  But I really wanted to complete all the Birthday challenges.  So, just for a laugh, I decided to make my "inked background" with copic refill inks, blender solution and a paintbrush!!
Anyhow, the image and sentiment are from Flourishes Country Road set, stamped with Memento ink onto blending card and die cut with a Spellbinders Romantic Rectangle die.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Pink Gelato paper pad and I used a Martha Stewart border punch to pretty things up a bit.  In my scrapbox I found a strip of blue cardstock which had been cut with fancy edged scissors - I cut it to size, wrapped it with white satin ribbon and added a bow.  Done!
I know, I know!  My so-called "inked background" looks like something a pre-schooler would do and has none of the subtle elegance of Heather's gorgeous creation, but, what can I say??  I gave it a go (and it was kind of fun!)

Copic Inks used were:  B00, RV10, G21, O.

Thanks for visiting!

Six for Six

The final challenge for Flourishes 6th Birthday celebrations is Six for Six - that is, a six part recipe.......1. A Sketch, 2. An Inspiration picture, 3. Bling, 4. Ribbon or twine, 5. Embossing, 6. Favourite Flourishes Stamp.  Well, that last one was the most difficult!  I ask you, how do you choose a Flourishes favourite???  I eventually decided on the Magnolias for two reasons.  Firstly, because they are a dream to colour, and secondly, because my very first magazine publication featured this gorgeous stamp set AND one of my cards was on the magazine cover!  No wonder this set has a special place in my heart.
So....on with the card!  I chose paper which matched the inspiration picture (2) from Nana's Nursery Baby Girl (DCWV) and layered it on to green cardstock.  Firstly, I turned the sketch on its side (1).  Then I die cut green check paper (from the same paper pad) with a Spellbinders Labels 8, embossed it (5) with a Sizzix embossing folder and layered it on to pale peach cardstock.  I chose two other papers from the same paper pad and created two tags and then made the third tag from green check ribbon.  The ribbon (4) along the top is white seam binding coloured with copic R01.  I added a large faceted gem (3) to the bow and three small ones to the bottom left corner - these were from a Vintage Finds pack (Teresa Collins).  Finally, I stamped the large magnolia image (6) from Flourishes Magnolias stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with copics, cut it out, and attached it to the die cut and embossed piece with foam tape.  And that's my version of the six part recipe!

Copic Colours used were:  R000, R01, R20, YG13, YG17, YG67, E25, E29.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!

CASEing Heather

The Designer in the focus at Flourishes this week is the very talented Heather Jensen.  You can read her story and see some of her beautiful creations HERE.  After enjoying the selection of Heather's work, I decided to CASE this card.  I kept the same layout and a similar colour scheme, but changed the image and omitted the stitching.  I chose the image from Flourishes Garden Picks, coloured it with copics, die cut it with Spellbinders Classic Oval and sponged on some beige ink around the edges.  Instead of the stitching element, I chose to add some sparkle - with the paper strip and the lace.  This was also the first time I had used seam binding and I just loved the way it softens a bow - I can see I'll be using more of it in the future!  Thanks for the lovely design, Heather, and I hope you enjoy your week in the spotlight!

Copic Colours used were:  BV00, BV02, BV04, YG11, YG13, YG17, YG67.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Christmas in July

 

Part of Flourishes Birthday celebrations is a Christmas card challenge. I started this card with red cardstock and layered on this gorgeous paper from Rejoice paper pad by Creative Imaginations (picked this one up at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo and am so glad I did!).  I punched a piece of white cardstock with this Martha Stewart picket fence border punch, added it to the background, and wrapped it with red satin ribbon and added a bow.  Then I stamped the bow image from Flourishes Christmas Classics stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card.  I added the sentiment (from the same stamp set) with Real Red ink (Stampin' Up!) and die cut it with a Spellbinders Opulent Ovals die, then coloured it with copics.  I die cut the red cardstock with the next size Opulent Oval die and then die cut white cardstock with the largest Spellbinders Scallop Oval and added these two to the background.  Finally, I added the image piece with foam tape, and three little red pearls to each top corner.

Copic Colours used were: R22, R24, R27, Y21, Y35, Y38, G21, G24, G28, YG13, YG17.

Thanks so much for coming to visit!

Christmas Wish

This weeks challenge at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday is for a Christmas Card that is fairly flat for mailing.  I started this card with Real Red cardstock (Stampin' Up!) and layered on the star paper from Christmas Basics (Crafters Choice).  Another paper from the same collection was layered on more red cardstock which had been punched with Martha Stewart's Modern Garland border punch.  This was wrapped with red satin ribbon, a bow added and attached to the centre of the background.  I stamped the sentiment from Flourishes Christmas Classics set with Real Red ink (SU) onto white cardstock, die cut it with Spellbinders Decorative Labels One and added it to the card front.  Finally, I stamped the santa hat from Flourishes Dear Santa set with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with copics, cut it out and attached it with foam tape.  Result = a card with a little dimension but still reasonably flat.

Copic Colours used were:  R22, R24, R27, YG63, YG67, Y21, Y35, Y38, C1.

Thanks for coming to visit!

6th Birthday

It's Flourishes 6th Birthday, and as part of the celebrations, there's this challenge for  a 10 Minute Birthday Card!  Well, that's a hard one for me - I usually take an hour or more!!  So, I got everything ready, looked at the clock, and really hit the accelerator.  I stamped the bike with a present in the basket from Flourishes Bike Ride stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card, die cut it with a Spellbinders Classic Oval and coloured it with copics.  Then I cut red cardstock with the next largest oval and blue cardstock with the largest scallop oval.  I punched red cardstock with a Martha Stewart border punch and added white cardstock stamped with the birthday sentiment from Flourishes Sweet Violets set and attached that to a background of blue cardstock.  The paper  from Playdate DSP (My Mind's Eye) was added next, and finally the scallop oval and the stamped piece with foam tape.  Whew!  Okay, it took just a little more than 10 minutes but that was the best I could do!

Copic Colours used were:  B21, B24, Y21, Y26, R22, R24, R27, C1, C3, C5, C7, G40, E50.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!

Cherry Blossom

The challenge over at A.R.T. - a random Thursday card challenge, this week is a CAS Sketch.  Well, I struggle with CAS designs - I always want to add more layers, papers, embellishments etc. etc. - but I finally decided to go with a pink and white theme and Flourishes Cherry Blossom stamp set.  I stamped the large image with Memento Rose Bud ink onto blending card, cut it to make my background and layered it onto pink cardstock.  I coloured just three of the flowers to make that element of the sketch.  The patterned paper is from Henbury Lane DSP (Papermania), layered onto white then pink cardstock.  Then I stamped the small image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto blending card, die cut it with a Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles die, coloured it with copics, layered it onto pink cardstock and added it to the card front with foam tape.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment - from Flourishes Sweet Violets set directly onto the background.

Copic Colours used were:  RV00, RV02, RV21, YG11, YG13.

Thanks so much for coming to visit!

3 Mini Cards

The challenge at Timeless Tuesday this week is for a set of 3 mini cards.  I created the card bases by die cutting white cardstock with the largest of the Spellbinders Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles die - three times, of course!  The background papers are from Kaisercraft's Botanical Odyssey paper pad and were layered onto yellow cardstock.  Then I die cut some brown cardstock with three different dies from Spellbinders Floral Flourishes, cut them to fit and added them to the backgrounds.  Next, I die cut blue, yellow and pink cardstock with a Spellbinders Scallop Oval die and added them to the backgrounds.  Finally, I stamped the images from Flourishes From the Garden stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured them with copics, cut them out and attached them to the ovals with foam tape.

Copic Colours used were:  Y21, Y23, Y26, YG11, YG13, YG17, RV00, RV02, BG11, BG13, BG15.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!

Black & White

This month, Flourishes (my favourite stamp company, in case you didn't know - he he!) is celebrating their 6th Birthday.  Part of the celebrations include some special challenges and this one, a Black and White Challenge, is the first one.  I started this one with black cardstock, layered on two strips of plain white cardstock and embossed a rectangle of white with Cuttlebug Textile EF and added that.  I added faux black stitching along the edges of the plain pieces and covered the joins with black stitched ribbon.  I die cut some black cardstock with a Spellbinders Timeless Rectangle die and added that to the background.  I chose the image from Flourishes Bloomin' Aussie Florals stamp set, stamped it with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with only grey copics, cut it out and added it to the black rectangle with foam tape.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment, from Teeny Tiny Sentiments (Stampin' Up!) in the bottom right corner.

Happy Birthday to Flourishes and a special hello and thank you to Jan Marie Caruso - the creator of  this fabulous stamp company! 

Copic Colours used were:  C1, C3, C5, C7.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Joy

The challenge this month at Scrapbook Boutique is for a Winter Theme using the colours brown, turquoise and white.  I decided to use this image from Flourishes Joy is in the Air stamp set.  I stamped the snow globe image with Memento ink onto blending card, then added the snowman image, coloured it with copics and cut it out.  I started the background with brown cardstock and layered on a strip of paper from 12 days of Christmas paper pad from My Mind's Eye.  Then I embossed white cardstock with a Cuttlebug "snow" embossing folder and added it to the brown cardstock and wrapped a turquoise and white spot ribbon over the join.  I created a frame by cutting turquoise cardstock with a Spellbinders Standard Circle die within a Lacey Circle die and added that to the background.  I attached the stamped piece with foam tape then die cut white cardstock twice with a Stampin' Up! Sizzlits Merry Details die and covered them with a thin layer of kindy glitz.  After they dried I attached them over one side of the ribbon and finally stamped the sentiment which is also from the same stamp set directly onto the patterned paper.

Copic Colours used were:  B0000, B00, BG11, BG13, BG15, BG45, BG49, E11, E25, E27, YR04, C3, C5, C7.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Flight

The challenge this week over at A.R.T. - a random Thursday card challenge, is for a Masculine Birthday.  I started this card with red cardstock and layered on paper from Kaisercraft's Fine & Sunny paper pad.  The centre panel was made with more paper from the same pad layered onto red cardstock which had been punched with a Martha Stewart border punch and wrapped with red grosgrain ribbon with a knot of the same ribbon added in the centre.  The corner pieces were made by die-cutting red cardstock with two Spellbinders Classic Squares and then cutting the frame diagonally.  Then I stamped the airplane image from JustRite Papercraft's Going Places Vintage Labels set and added the sentiment from the same set.  This was then coloured with copics and the sky sponged with blue ink, then cut out with scissors (I don't own the matching die) and added to the card front with foam tape.

Copic Colours used were:  R22, R24, R27, E33, G82, Y21.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Clearly Embossed

The challenge this week at Timeless Tuesday is to use Acetate.  Well, I had to think about that one for a while!  I took a piece of acetate and embossed it with Exotic EF (Couture Creations) and cut it to fit a Spellbinders Labels 13.  Then I backed it with white cardstock that I had die cut with the same size die, and topped it with a frame cut from dusty pink cardstock with two dies from the same set.  I stamped the roses from Flourishes Calendar Set 2 with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured them with copics, cut them out with scissors and attached them with foam tape to the centre of the frame piece.  I chose the background papers from Kaisercraft's True Romance paper pad, layering the roses paper onto dusty pink cardstock and the other piece onto white cardstock which had been punched down one side with a Martha Stewart border punch.  I stamped the sentiment which is from Flourishes Orchids set directly onto the patterned paper.  White pearls in both right hand side corners were the final touch.

Copic Colours used were:  RV91, RV93, RV95, G82, G85.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!

Bee is for Birthday

The Release week Challenge at Flourishes this month is a Sketch Challenge with a "window" element.  Well, I decided to be a smarty-pants and use an actual window!  I die cut some yellow cardstock with Spellbinders Die D-lites Window One, cut away the cross bars to make one large opening and added some red cardstock under the arch at the top..  I thought that if you were looking out of a window, that you should be seeing a scene, so I chose this image from Flourishes Dreaming of Florence stamp set.  I stamped it with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with copics and cut it to fit in the window.  I started the background with red cardstock and layered on paper from Playdate paper pad from My Mind's Eye - I chose the woodgrain paper so it would look like a wall with the window in it. I chose another paper from the same pad and punched one side with a Martha Stewart border punch and added the sentiment which is from Flourishes Sweet Violets set.  Then I stamped some bees (from Flourishes Bees and Blossom set) onto the background and added a yellow grosgrain ribbon and bow.  Finally, I die cut a bee from Tiny Things With Wings die set by Cheery Lynn Designs, added it with foam tape and then attached the window piece with foam tape.  This one is a bit different from my normal style but it was fun to make!

Copic Colours used were:  B21, C1, R24, R27, Y21, Y26, G40, G43, G46, YG61, YG63, YG67.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Elegance

 

Over at A.R.T. - a random Thursday card challenge, this week the Challenge is a "Color Combo" of dusty colours which I thought called for a vintage-y type card.  I'm not sure that I captured the exact colours, but this is as close as I could get!  So, I started with papers from Kaisercraft's Sweet Nothings paper pad, and layered them onto brown cardstock and backed that with a peachy dusty pink cardstock.  I wrapped  the right hand side with a wide dusty pink lace, then with cream cotton lace which I threaded with dusty pink ribbon.  I stamped the elegant lady (from Stamp In Style) with Memento ink onto blending card, die cut it with Spellbinders Labels 4 and coloured with copics.  I layered this onto brown cardstock die cut with Spellbinders Gold Labels 4 and added it to the card front with foam tape.  Then I stamped the sentiment (from Stampin" Up! Vintage Labels) with brown ink, coloured the background with copic E40, and die cut it with a Spellbinders Classic Oval die and layered it onto brown cardstock cut with the next size oval die and added it with foam tape.

Copic Colours used were:  E40, E000, E01, E50, Y21, Y26, R000, R01, R20, R32, C5, C7.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!

Around in Circles

This weeks Timeless Tuesday challenge is to make a Circle Card.  Well, this is a new one for me, but it IS a challenge, right?  So, out came my Spellbinders and I cut white cardstock with my largest Scallop Circle.  Then, using papers from Kaisercraft's Needle and Thread paper pad, I cut a circle to layer onto the white background, and then a small oval and a little flourish with a Couture Creations die.  Next, I die cut some pink cardstock with Flourishes Perfectly Pierced Victorian Oval Template Die and added that to the background.  I stamped the petunias and pot from Flourishes From the Garden stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with copics and die cut it with a Spellbinders Classic Oval Die.  Finally, I made a little notched tag and stamped the sentiment (from Flourishes With Gratitude set), put the whole lot together on a larger pink circle and it was done!

Copic Colours used were:  RV10, RV21, YG63, YG67, BG10, BG11, BG13.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Stitcher's Birthday

I made this card for Mojo Monday's epic 300th Challenge.  Congratulations to the ladies there - this is certainly a stellar performance!  The Challenge is a Sketch with lots of elements.  I started with Stampin' Up!'s Pacific Point cardstock and layered on some white cardstock to which I added faux stitching around the edges.  Both background papers come from Family Ties paper pad by Pebbles (found this at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo and just love it!)  For the round element, I used a Spellbinders Floral Doily Motifs  die to cut and emboss some white cardstock and then I stamped the sentiment (from Stampin' Up!'s Vintage Labels set) with Versacolor Indigo ink onto the doily.  Then I stamped the image from Flourishes Stitched for You stamp set with Memento ink onto blending card, coloured it with copics, cut it into a square, added some faux stitching with a multiliner and layered it onto some So Saffron cardstock and some Pacific Point cardstock (both Stampin' Up!).  I attached the image piece with foam tape and then added a piece of check blue ribbon with a notched end and three little buttons in coordinating colours.

Copic Colours used were:  Y21, Y35, Y38. B000, B00, B02, B24, B26, YG61, YG63, YG67, Y00, Y11.

Thanks so much for coming to visit my blog!

CASEing Silke

This week, the Designer in the Focus at Flourishes is none other than the amazing Silke Ledlow.  I have been a fan of Silke's work for a long time, so being asked to CASE one of her cards was just a little bit daunting, but eventually, I chose this one.  You can read about Silke and see some of her wonderful creations HERE.
I chose to use the same layout, but changed the colours, the stamped image, the sentiment, and I omitted the pins (because I don't own any!)  So, I started with aqua cardstock and layered on paper from Kaisercraft's Secret Admirer DSP.  Then I added a paper doily and organza ribbon and bow that I coloured with copic RV55 to match the pearls and the colours in the stamped image.  Then I stamped this lovely image from Flourishes From the Desk Of stamp set, coloured it with copics, added the sentiment from Flourishes Tag Lines and drew on the faux stitching.  This piece was then cut into a rectangle, layered onto aqua cardstock and adhered to the card front with foam tape.  Thanks for a lovely design, Silke - and enjoy your week in the spotlight!

Copic Colours used were:  RV52, RV55, Y11, Y17, G43, G46, BG11, BG13, BG15, E50, E51, C3, C5, C7.

Thanks so much for coming to visit!