Move' em on out...

That is my catchy little way of saying.... Flourishes is retiring some beautiful sets so we can make room for more beautiful sets. Once these are gone they are gone so don't miss your last chance at some of these wonderful sets. You can find a list of all the retired sets HERE.
This set is called Allelulia Angel and I am very sad to see it go. This is a beautiful angel and I have several creations from the past with it that were hard to part with. Today my creation was stamped out on classic white cardstock using memento tuxedo black ink. My angel was colored using Copic Collections

The frame is using Spellbinders Romantic rectangles with a white panel embossed with snowflakes that I then sponged with some blue ink. Wrapped some of the awesome Ruban Fantaisie Lurex silver ribbon around the edge then tied off the sentiment with some Metallic silver string. The wings have a bit of sparkle using Fairy dust to them and voila, another easy peasy Christmas card.
Be sure to check out the retiring creations from the Design Team today:
Christine

Cindy

Danielle

Tammy

Beate

Silke

Sharon

Have a grape day

Do you ever have a card that goes wrong on you? Well today it was my day. My friend Susan aka Rainy has a sketch on her blog. I thought I would play along since I missed last month. Well.... this sketch went wrong from the start. ha! You can find her Sketch HERE. Here is what it looks like if you want a quick glance. It started out with promise and then I forgot a panel, then I didn't have my panel go all the way to the top. eek.... So this is just a fun card for the day.

Since I got my new Fall secret kit from Whiff of Joy recently that was the set I wanted to use. Infact I have been using it a lot the last few evenings, so be on the look out for more. This kit is super FUN! This adorable guy was calling to me so he was stamped out on classic white cardstock in memento tuxedo black ink. Colored with various copic markers. Been playing around with different shades of brown for the mice lately, seeing which I like better. This seems a bit dark for my taste. Anyways, the border has some faux stitching and half way through my ink ran out of the pen. Yep... so I thought I would finish it off with pencil, you can't even tell the difference. lol The sketch was already messed up at that point so I just added the two tabs at the bottom and called it good. Susan I tried and I guess it wasn't meant to be this round. ;0) I hope you all have a great day!

Mousie Smiles

Squeel! You know what came in the mail recently? The new Fall Secret Whiff of Joy kit I ordered. Oh my goodness! These are so stinkin adorable, the whole set is awesome. I really enjoyed the summer kit so when I saw the fall I knew it was going to be a winner too. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the kits as they are limited.
Now for my darling card today I happened across the Color Challenge for CR84FN blog. The colors were screaming to me so I went with them. ha!
This is one of the images in the kit that just made me smile. I stamped her out on classic white cardstock with memento tuxedo black ink. I colored with copic markers and then layered the panels up on dimensionals. I wanted some flourishes to the corners and the Cheery Lynn Flourishes die was perfect. Ribbon never hurts for a feminine feel so I used some white pleated that I had in the bin and layered it above with some sheer that I finished off with a beautiful pearl pin. I really like the feel of this and the colors were perfect for her. Voila and sweet card for any occasion.
Now for yesterday.... All my tomatoes are sealed and looking beautiful sitting on the shelf. YEA! Thankful to have them done and now for my pears. Ai yi yi... does it ever end. LOL Thanks for stopping in today. Have a wonderful day!

Just a note and box

Happy Monday! Today I have a little gift and note card that is for the boys teacher. School starts tomorrow, so what better way to show the teacher we appreciate her than with a first day of school treat! Before I go into the details on this darling little box, check out Flourishes Blog today, our talented Designer Cindy has a tutorial on how to create this darling box using our Silhouette cameo.
We have a Silhouette file for the beautiful Autumn Blossoms stamp set and this was perfect for the design on the outside of my box. I let the machine cut out my shapes onto Classic White Cardstock, then I stamped the single blossom using Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto the matching shape. I also stamped another of the same blossom for my card. For the box I choose the Color Made Easy Pistachio Collection for my cardstock. This green is just yummy! While the Silhouette machine is cutting out the box I finish coloring the blossoms that are stamped out using Copic Collections

My card has some of the fabulous matching Color Made Easy Pistachio ribbon in Iced Lime with an added finishing touches silver ribbon slider. So card is now finished, head on over to the box as it is done. I fold up the box close the top up with some more of the Iced Lime ribbon with a bow. Then added my blossom that was already cut out and colored to the front panel with a few pearls and voila. Added a few of the treats I bought and a sweet little treat for the first day of school.
Tomorrow will be exciting as the kids are ready to go back to school. I however will be over at my parents helping them with what they need for the day and canning my stewed tomatoes. So a messy and hardworking day for me. ha! Hope you have a wonderful day!

FS290 Renew their strength

This week's Featured Stamper 290 is Mary. A very beautiful gallery with some awesome creations. I choose this DewDrops card to case. I kept the layers, layout and single colors. Changed the stamp and color. My stamp is using Scriptures of Hope from Clear Dollar Stamps. My flowers are from Pat and a little bit of ribbon to finish them off. Hope you get a chance to play along with us this week. Going to be a busy week as the kids start school on Tuesday. Getting into the swing of a set schedule again and hopefully a wonderful year ahead of us. Thanks for stopping in with me today. Have a great day!

Poppy Thank you

It's Friday, YEA!!! Over on the Flourishes Blog today we are focusing on the beautiful Poppy Patch stamp set today. For some reason I have a habit of coloring this flower in orange a lot and I don't do orange very well. ha! I stamped out my poppy flower on classic white cardstock in memento tuxedo black ink. Then I die cut a Spellbinders Classic oval large layered with a Floral oval over the top on dimensionals.

I colored my poppy using Copic Collections

My oval frame has a few kaiser rhinestones around border. Some beautiful cotton white lace trim and a Basic Grey Jovial button to finish it off. Very cleana nd crisp feeling and I do like how this turned out for a simple Thank you card. Great news for those that own or will be getting their very own Silhoutte machine. We have the Poppy Patch Silhouette file found HERE.

Check out the beautiful creations from the design team today:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Danielle
Tammy
Beate
Silke
Sharon
Jan Marie

Lunch Box Notes

Good Morning. Most kids have headed back to school or do shortly. The boys head back to school next week and I wanted to make sure they had a card in their lunch box the first day. I always make a few through the year and day 1 is always important as the other kids seem to enjoy them as well. Finally inked up my new Whiff of Joy Racer Henry ! Since I was inking up a WOF, I checked out the challenge on the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog this week. The challenge is to use eyelets or brads.
I stamped the car first for the panel I wanted. Then on a seperate paper I stamped out Henry and masked him with his race car so that when I cut out the circles the car would be behind him. Now don't look too closely at the one, I didnt match up my masking where I wanted it. Sssshh... The kids will never know the difference. :0) The windows have liquid glass added to them and his helmet shield for a nice shine. The flag is from At the Races from Clear Dollar Stamps. The boys are going to love these. Each has their favorite colors for their racer. Popped them up on dimensionals and voila! Thanks for stopping in with me today!

Hip Hip Hooray

Today on the Totally Stampalicious Blog our challenge for the week is CAS. Clean and Simple creations. Hope you find time to play along with us this week. CAS are pretty much up my alley of cards. I pulled out one of the sets we released last week called Cheerleader Brat. Isn't she just so fun? Just a little bit of ribbon and lace and voila an easy peasy card.

On a personal note this last few weeks have been busy. With that being said I stepped down from the TS design team. Life is just busy and crazy right now. I had my schedule pretty cleared up and then my parents go and schedule some much needed surgeries and threw that schedule out the window. ha! Kidding ofcourse. My mom had arm surgery and is in a sling for 8 weeks, I will finish canning her pears for her when I do mine. That isn't as bad as the green beans thankfully. Did I tell you I had to toss 43 pints of green beans as my dad and I processed them wrong. EEK! Glad we caught it but such a waste and so sad as all that work pretty much nothing to show for it. I have some green beans and it will have to do for the year. Anyways, my dad is having his 3rd knee replacement and we are prayng this is the final one and he will just heal properly this time. My mom will head back to work and he will need some help while she is not there. If anything check on him and make sure he has lunch and is walking when he is suppose to. They got a new puppy so I am sure she will keep him up and running if anything. Kids start school next week. ACK! I can't believe summer is already over and they are in school. Happy and sad feelings as I know they are excited and seeing all their friends, the break will be good for me. Yet somehow they are growing up and I feel like its going by in a blur. Needless to say maybe letting my schedule be more free will help me use all these beautiful stamps I have and never seem to get to as all the new ones come out and I create with those. LOL I would say that is called addicted and I need HELP! LOL Seriously... I have a little pile of them sitting here from the last few months that have not been inked up. Gasp... what kind of person doesn't ink up new goodies right away? A busy one that is making a change. I am sure you are tired of hearing me babble about my woe's and such. I will leave you with this.... hoping your day is fabulous and ink filled! ;0)

You are the Best

I made this for a DTGD challenge this year. The challenge was fun and I got to pull out a stamp that I haven't used in awhile. This is Good News Puppy, isn't he just so stinkin CUTE! He wanted to be put on a round card I tell you. The fun fence and grass is from Sweet N Sassy Stamps, and I have only gotten to use it a hand full of times. Easy peasy fun I tell ya. Added my sentiment and voila! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Fall tissue holder and card

Happy Friday! Over on the Flourishes Blog we are showing off a few more goodies with the new release from last week. If you missed it check it out HERE and remember our New Release Bundle is ending very soon!!! Did you get a chance to play in our 2-4-6-8 Flourishes Celebration challenge? We have challenges and prizes you won't want to miss. Check it out HERE!!!!

A friend needed a little gift for her grandma later this fall. She wanted me to create the tissue holder for her that I had actually made her last year. She gave me the colors and said have at it. This tutorial is found on Splitcoaststampers HERE. I just love this as it make fun little gifts and they think you spent hours on it. ha! I used the new beautiful Autumn Blossoms.

The larger flower in the bunch was stamped out for two sides of the tissue holder and one for the card. I used Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares and Labels One for the shapes.

My flowers are colored using Copic Collections:

Added a doily to the top and a few pearls around the tissue holder and voila a sweet little gift. Be sure to check out the creations from the design team:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Danielle
Tammy
Beate
Silke
Sharon
Jan Marie

TS August New Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the Totally Stampalicious Blog Hop and August New Release! If you are just joining us head back over to the Totally Stampalicious Blog to start hopping. If you just came from Joanne's Fabulous Blog you are in the right spot!
We have FOUR BRAND NEW STAMP SETS from our fabulous Bugaboo line by artist Jodie Mackrell!! AVAILABLE NOW at Totally Stampalicious!
As always we'll be giving away PRIZES as well to THREE lucky Hoppers!!!
1st Prize - All 4 New Sets
2nd Prize - $15 Gift Certficate
3rd Prize - $5 Gift Certificate
All you have to do is Hop along with us and leave your comments along the way and maybe you will WIN!

This fun NFL schedule is for my sweet friend Angel. Sadly Angel is a Saints fan.... ;0) I made a fun schedule for her last season. No doubt she will need a new one made with the new Football Brat that we are releasing today. This guy moves up and down with the games just as the other one did. His helmet has liquid glass all over it so its shiney like a helmet, yet hard to see in the photo. Guess we will see how the Saints play this season without the lead coach and a few others. hee hee Good luck Angel!

Haven't gotten my NFL schedule all finished yet however I did get this fun card done using Football Brat. He is just so darn cute don't you think? Some fun dp from the local craft store was perfect for this card. I threaded some twine through the ball to look like the threads. Very simple!

Now hop on over to the Fabulous Angel's Blog for your next hop. While you are there tell her GO COLTS!!!! hee hee Love ya girlie! Have a great day everyone!

Flourishes 2-4-6-8 Birthday Bash!

Is everyone ready for Flourishes party today? Before we get to the fun and festivities I need to announce my winner for my Blog Candy. That winner is....
Becky who said "wow, those cupcakes look delicious and so pretty with the butterflies.Thanks for a chance to win these gorgeous goodies. :)"
Congrats Becky! I have already contacted Becky and hopefully mailing her goodies out today. Thank you for all who left me sweet comments.
Flourishes is lighting the candles on its fifth birthday cake, and we decided to throw a little party to celebrate and the party is TODAY! We are having a day that we are calling.....
2-4-6-8....Help Flourishes Celebrate!

At 2PM, 4PM, 6PM and 8PM (Central Standard Time), Flourishes is going to be ushering in some fun-filled challenges and YOU could win some fun prizes! Are you ready for the 2PM Challenge?

HOW TO PLAY: This challenge is sweet as can be -- just use a focal image or sentiment that is SWEET! Just that simple! Use Flourishes stamps if you have them -- your entries will count twice. If you don't have Flourishes stamps, play along anyway, you could win some! If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCIS5A. You have until August 31st to enter and can enter as many times as you like!
My sweet creation is a twin of another card I made 2 weeks ago. I had all the scraps available to I made a twin of that one with a few changes. These eyelets were dusted off and finally put to use once again. I really do love this Berry Sweet set. I stamped the sentiment on our Tailor Made classic tag and added some kraft jute to the top.

Some of our designers have helped us celebrate with a little sweetness! If you need some inspiration, be sure to hop on over and see...

Julie Koerber
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Denise Marzec

For the official rules and linking your creations please check out Flourishes Blog HERE! Hope you play along with us! Have a great day!

HMF #126 Double Trouble

This weeks House Mouse and Friends Blog Challenge #126 is all about Double Trouble. Having twins I can attest to that title. ha! Lori is our host this week and our prizes are from Simon Says Stamp with a $25 gift card to SSS. As well Di's Digi Download A $10 voucher to DDD shop.
For my creation I pulled out the juicy Mellow Melon to ink up. They look so full and happy don't they! I added liquid glass to the seeds for a bit of a shine, hard to see in the photo. A little gingham paper with a scallop edge and some twine to tie it all off. Voila! Hope you get a chance to play along with us this week in our Double Trouble challenge! Have a great day!

Introducing Autumn Blossoms

Today is release day over at Flourishes. All the stamps we have been showing you this week are now available! Our final peek for you is the beautiful Autumn Blossoms set. We also have some exciting news to share as well -- for three out of the four sets, there is a Silhouette Cut File available as well! These files made exclusively for the Silhouette Cameo offer the ability to custom cut images from the Garden Picks, Autumn Blossoms and With Gratitude stamp sets. Keep reading to learn more! Or, click HERE to visit these files in the Flourishes store! On to today's last stamp set to be unveiled! It's one that pays hommage to the beautiful blossoms of fall! Part of The Blossoms Collection, this beautiful array of autumn blossoms illustrated by Marcella Hawley features a bouquet, corner stamps, and pieces to create your own borders or frames. Add in a trio of all occasion sentiments and you have the perfect set to create cards for every day correspondence. The perfect companion to sister sets Happily Ever After, and Letters in Blossom. If you like this set, you might also like our Summer Blossoms set as well featuring summer florals! The Flourishes design team has really gone all out showing off this beautiful set!

As we mentioned, this set does have a companion cut file that you can use with your Silhouette Electronic Cutter. This digital download is purchased from the store and upon completion of your order, you'll recieve a link to download your Silhouette Cameo file. This file will only work using the Silhouette Cameo and the Silhouette Studio Software. This file offers cut file for all stamp images excluding sentiments. We think these will add so much fun when creating. While we plan to release cut files with our new stamp set releases, we also plan in the coming months to add files for some of our tried and true favorite Flourishes stamp sets!
My fall colors are yellows and oranges today. I like how simple this turned out with just a little bit of the ivory lace trim and ribbon. My frame was created using Spellbinders Floral Ovals and Classic Ovals Large to cut out the center. A few pearls to the frame and under the sentiment to finish it off. I really like how this turned out.
Be sure to check out the beautiful creations from the Senior Design Team:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Danielle
Tammy
Beate
Silke
Jan Marie
August Release Reminders:
**Don't miss your chance to win the entire release by playing in our Birthday Celebration Challenge found HERE!
**You have a chance at winning the set of the day by commenting on all the designers blogs and you might just be our Mystery Blogger.
**The New Release Bundle is available for a limited time for the extra 10% discount.
**Check out the new 1,2,3 Create Kit called Delightful, while supplies last.

Country Road Noon Challenge

Welcome to the Noon Challenge from Flourishes. This challenge is all about - Country Road - use your favorite country road as inspiration for your card or creation! Pick three colors in the photo and use those three in your creation. FLLCAUGRW2.

Now some of you are going to be surprised and some of you not so much with this creation. ha! Yes I am totally addicted to the Letters in Blossom set. I can't help it, the set is AWESOME! I choose to use the red from the leaves in the tree for the blooms on the letters and went with the creams and dark browns of the tree trunks and base line from the photo. This is another framed gift. They live out of the city on a farm ranch style house with land so this is perfect. I added some of the beautiful Laural Venise chocolate lace the inside of the window frame I created with Spellbinders Grand Ovals. I added the Country Road image with the horse and some designed die around the edge. Some sparkle was added to the letters that were colord with copic collections Flesh Tones. Finished it off with some of my beautiful blooms from Pat and Finesse Swirls pearls and voila.

Check out who played along today in our noon challenge:
Cindy
Julie
Amanda
Cindy H
August Release Reminders:
**Don't miss your chance to win the entire release by playing in our Birthday Celebration Challenge found HERE!
**You have a chance at winning the set of the day by commenting on all the designers blogs and you might just be our Mystery Blogger.
**The New Release Bundle is available for a limited time for the extra 10% discount.
**Check out the new 1,2,3 Create Kit called Delightful, while supplies last.

Introducing Country road

Welcome to day 3 of Flourishes August release. We are showing you the beautiful Country Road set today. I have to say this set has a very calming nature to the images. I felt in a blue and white mood again when stamping so I went with it. :0) The sentiment I tagged with some twine to the edge and created the frame using Spellbinders Classic Ovals Large. Some blue checkered ribbon and button combo to finish it off!Be sure to check out the beautiful creations from the Senior Design Team today:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Danielle
Tammy
Beate
Silke
Jan Marie
August Release Reminders:
**Don't miss your chance to win the entire release by playing in our Birthday Celebration Challenge found HERE!
**You have a chance at winning the set of the day by commenting on all the designers blogs and you might just be our Mystery Blogger.
**The New Release Bundle is available for a limited time for the extra 10% discount.
**Check out the new 1,2,3 Create Kit called Delightful, while supplies last.
**Be sure to join us at back at noon for the Noon Time Challenge.

***Update on my cousin Cyrus Hostetler and his Olympic Javelin semi Finals. Cyrus placed 17th, he needed to place in the top 12. :0( Sad, however what an honor to be able to even compete at the Olympics. We are so proud of him! See him in another 4 years even better and stronger***

My Cousin's Olympic Trials are today

********Flourishes Sneak Peek Post Below this post**********

I interupt the schedule today to show you a moment in time for my family! Please cheer for my cousin Cyrus! Cyrus Hostetler is a second cousin on my dad's side of the family. He is in London at the Olympics competing today in the Javelin Qualifing trials. The Finals for Javelin is on Sunday 8/11! Hoping he qualifies and wins gold, but who isn't hoping for gold. ha! Thanks for letting me intrupt this weeks posts for my cousin. Go CYRUS!!!!!

Vibrant Garden Picks

Welcome to day two of Flourishes August release. This release came around super fast. Lucky for all of you. ha! Today we are showing you the beautiful Garden Picks. This is such a sweet set of flowers and variety of designs you can create. I kept mine fairly simple with summer yellow's for my color choice. The flowers were colored using the Copic Collection Sunflower. I have some white crochet ribbon down the side along with some yellow solid ribbon. Added a little texture to the back and popped up my panel. Easy Peasy.
Don't forget to check out the creations from the Senior Design Team:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Danielle
Tammy
Beate
Silke
Jan Marie

August Release Reminders:
**Don't miss your chance to win the entire release by playing in our Birthday Celebration Challenge found HERE!
**You have a chance at winning the set of the day by commenting on all the designers blogs and you might just be our Mystery Blogger.
**The New Release Bundle is available for a limited time for the extra 10% discount.
**Check out the new 1,2,3 Create Kit called Delightful, while supplies last.
**Be sure to join us at back at noon for the Noon Time Challenge.