CAS Man Card!

Hello Everyone!  Yes, it's the dreaded Man Card again!  This time it's a quick and easy CAS card that you can make in a hurry inspired by this week's Featured Stamper - stampinandrea, a fellow Aussie!!!  I was inspired by THIS CARD!

I've used a base of blue bazill and layered with white and a piece of Kaisercraft Tropicana DP.  Next is a piece of white stamped with Chevron Stripe Background in Memento Desert Sand and matted with blue bazzill.  I've stamped the sentiment from Buntings and Banners in Tuxedo Black in the corner.  I've stamped the pennants from Buntings and Banners in Rich Cocoa and coloured with B21 Copic and cut it out with JustRite's matching Buntings and Banners Dies and glued to the front of the card.

Stamps - Buntings and Banners
Paper - White, Blue Bazzill, Kaisercraft Tropicana DP
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Desert Sand
Accessories - Buntings and Banners Dies, Copic B21

Thanks for visiting!!

Berry Sweet Birthday Blog Hop

Light the candles, cue the music and get ready for a little bit of birthday fun! It will SOON be a very special lady's birthday and so we rallied the troops to send some birthday wishes her way a little early! On Monday, February 25th, Jan Marie Caruso, the fearless and creative force behind Flourishes will be another year older -- what a wonderful thing to celebrate! So, we've asked Flourishes' designers from all of our teams to join us to help make this day super special with a......

Here's the scoop, there's a way YOU can help Jan celebrate and win some Flourishes stamps as well! HOW? We just love creative challenges here at Flourishes and so, why not usher in another one! All You need to do is create a Birthday Card........how easy is that??!!!  You can enter via the Mr Linky on the Flourishes Blog! One randomly drawn winner will get a $25 gift certificate to the Flourishes store, just for playing along. 

Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet friend, Jan Marie!!!  May you be blessed with a wonderful, fun filled day!!!  {{{BIG HUGS TO YOU!!!!}}}  

When I saw the inspiration picture, I firstly thought to use the Strawberries set but then I decided to step outside my box a little and was drawn to this sweet birdie image from Spring Is Sprung and thought it could be coloured up to match the colours in the inspiration picture.  I've used a pale aqua card cut with Resplendent Rectangles for my card front and topped with some Howdy Doody DP cut with the next die from Resplendent Rectangles.  I've stamped my birdie in Memento Tuxedo Black, coloured with Copics, and cut out with the next die from Resplendent Rectangles.  Around the last two panels I've attached some ribbon and glued it to the card front.  Over the ribbon I've added a pearl flourish and then some flowers and smaller pearl flourishes to the top.  To finish I've stamped the sentiment from Botanical Bookplates Vol 1 - I thought this was a lovely sentiment for a birthday!  :)  I've then cut it out with the window die from Flourishes' Perfectly Pierced Classic Window Die Set and popped it up on foam tape.

One extra note? Jan may be the head of this company but one thing she doesn't get a ton of is happy mail from customers using her stamps? Let's change that for her birthday and flood her with some creative "love" by sending her your Berry Sweet Birthday Blog Hop creations! Here's her address so you can pop them in the mail!

Jan Marie Caruso
4140 Lyric Lane
Pensacola, FL 32514
USA

I know she would love to see "in real life" what beautiful work you all do and I know it would bring a huge smile to her face!  So, join us in singing her a special little birthday song! Be sure to check out all the fun and festive wishes and grab some great ideas for birthday cards along the way!
 
Christine Okken 
Cindy Lawrence 
Danielle Kennedy
Heather Jensen
Julie Koerber
Silke Ledlow
Stacy Morgan
Allison Cope
Broni Holcombe
Cindy Haffner
Maki Jones
Aleksandra  Mihelič
Dina Kowal
Iwona Palamountain
Kathy Jones
Meredith MacRitchie
Sasha-Marie Holmes
Deborah Anton
Amanda Havon

Thanks for stopping by and helping us wish Jan Marie a wonderful and fabulous BIRTHDAY on Monday!

Tae Kwon-do Birthday Boy

Hello Everyone!!  Today's card is going to one of my sons' Tae Kwon-do Instructors who is a black belt!!!  I've often sat on the side of the hall colouring various images as the class trains and the Instructor pops by and has a peek at what I'm doing, so I thought why not make one just for him!  :)

I went with all black and white since that is his belt colour, starting with a base of black.  Next I cut a piece of white using Spellbinders Labels 29 dies.  I used the same die as a template to create a slightly smaller layer using some black dot paper I found in my stash (I've realised I don't have a lot of black paper in my stash!).  This is a Digi image by The Greeting Farm called Karate Ian, I've printed it out onto X-press It Blending Card and coloured it with Copics (E40, E42, E43, E44, E47, E000, E01, E11, E13, E70, N1, N3, N5, N7).  I've popped it up on X-press It High Tack Foam Tape over a layer of white cut with Spellbinders Large Pinking Circles Dies and embossed with M-Bossibilities  Dainty Dots.  To finish I've added a Happy Birthday sentiment from JustRite's Buntings and Banners set across the bottom.

Stamps - Karate Ian (TGF), Buntings and Banners (JustRite)
Paper - X-press It Blending Card, White, Black, Patterned Paper
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - Copics, Labels 29 and Large Pinking Circles Nestabilities, mBossabilities Dainty Dots, X-press It High Tack Foam Tape.

That's all from me today, thanks for visiting and hope you are inspired to stamp!  :)

The Path of Life

Hello Everyone!  Today I've had one of those wonderful days when I actually had time to play in my craft room.....in peace and quiet!!!  Hubby took the kids out and I had a couple of hours of crafty bliss!!!  :)  To celebrate this occasion I got out some JustRite Stampers toys and made a friendship card.

I've used white card and Spellbinders Labels 29 to create the base and then used the same die to cut a piece of Old Olive for the card front.  I've then cut a piece of Prima Sun Kiss paper with the same die and trimmed it to size.  Next I've cut another piece of Sun Kiss with Spellbinders Labels 4 and matted it with Old Olive.  Around these layers I've used a piece of yellow ribbon.  I've stamped the frame and sentiment from JustRite's Special Gifts Labels Twenty-Nine stamp set and coloured with Copics (Y21, Y35, Y38, E53, G40, G43, G46).  I've trimmed this closely and then matted it with Old Olive cut with Labels 29.  To finish I've added a yellow bow and pearls to the corners.

Stamps - Special Gifts Labels Twenty-Nine
Paper - X-press It Blending Card, White, Old Olive, Prima Sun Kiss DP
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - Copics, Spellbinders Labels 29 and Labels 4, Yellow Satin Ribbon, Bow Easy, Kaisercraft Snow Pearls.

That's all from me today, thanks for visiting and hope you are inspired to stamp!!  :)

Textured Bunnies!

Hello Everyone!  It's the second Monday of the month and that means I have another Copic tutorial on the Flourishes Blog!  For all the details about colours used on my card above, please go to the Flourishes Blog!  

The card itself has been made using Romantic Rectangles for the base.  Next I've taken a piece of white and topped it with Old Olive cut with Spellbinders Basic Lattice Shapeabilities.  Around this I've added a piece of white crochet lace and topped with yellow satin ribbon.  The bunny image is from Flourishes' Spring Is Sprung stamp set and has been coloured with Copics (see the Flourishes Blog for details) and cut out with Large Oval Nestabilities.  It's then been framed with yellow cut with Lacey Oval Nestabilities and popped up on foam tape.  To finish I've added a bow to the ribbon and a few clear rhinestones to the corners.

Stamps - Spring Is Sprung (Flourishes)

Paper - White, Old Olive, Yellow, Blending Card

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories - Copics, Large Oval and Lacey Oval Nestabilities, Romantic Rectangles Nestabilities, Basic Lattice Shapeabilities, White Crochet Lace, Yellow Satin Ribbon, Bow Easy, Rhinestones, Foam Tape.

That's all from me today, thanks for visiting and hope you are inspired to stamp!

Happiness is a Butterfly

Hello Everyone!!  Today I've got a tutorial on the Copic Oz Blog showing how to use Copics with the Direct to Rubber technique (and how to make this fun background too)!!

I've created the card using a base of teal and layered with a deep purple (not my normal colours but thought I'd go with 'Jewel' colours for a change).  Next I've taken a piece of blending card and created the background using the butterfly from JustRite's Butterfly Dreams stamp set using embossing powder and a Copic airbrush kit.  I've punched the side with the Woodland Branch border punch and then adhered the panel to the card front.  Next I've stamped the sentiment and cut it out with Labels 4 and popped it up on X-press It High Tack Foam Tape over two pieces of ribbon.  The butterfly has also been stamped using Copics, cut out with scissors and popped up on foam tape.  To finish I've added some bling to the corners.

Stamps - Butterfly Dreams (JustRite)
Paper - X-press It Blending Card, Teal, Purple
Ink - Copics
Accessories - Labels 4 Nestabilities, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, MS Woodland Branch Punch, Ribbons, Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestones, X-press It High Tack Foam Tape, Colourless Blender Refill, Mist It.

That's all from me today, don't forget you can find all the details on the techniques used for my card on the Copic Oz Blog!  Hope you are Inspired to Stamp!!  :)

February Beautiful World Tour!

Hello Beautiful World Tourers and welcome to Australia!!!  I hope you've had a wonderful, creative journey around the Flourishes World and this is your last destination on the tour!  Today we've been thrilled to announce our latest team member Aleksandra who hails from beautiful Slovenia and I'm sure you've loved her project today!!  :)  If you've missed the tour, you can start back at the Flourishes Blog in Florida so you don't miss any of the beautiful inspiration along the way!!  Don't forget that you can WIN a free stamp set simply by commenting on the blogs this month!!

This month our hostess is Iwona and our talented friend has given us a beautiful sketch as our challenge for the month!!

Isn't it gorgeous?!  Such a fun sketch to play with - thanks Iwona!!!  :)

I've used a base of pink bazzill and layered with Very Vanilla.  Next is a layer of MME Lavender DP.  Along the top I've added a panel of more MME Lavender DP and across the middle is a piece of Old Olive that has been cut with Spellbinders Basic Lattice Shapeabilities.  At the bottom of the lattice I've attached a piece of ivory satin ribbon and then stamped the sentiment from Sentimental Favorites in the bottom corner.  The roses are from A Year In Flowers 2 and have been stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black coloured with Copics (Candy Pink Collection, Pistachio Collection, Black Cherry Collection).  I've fussy cut it and popped it up on foam tape over a circle of Lavender DP (Small Circle Nestabilities) and some pink bazzill cut with Spellbinders Splendid Circles.  To finish I've added a bow to the ribbon.  :)

Stamps - A Year in Flowers 2, Sentimental Favorites (Flourishes)
Paper - Pink Bazzill, Very Vanilla, Blending Card, MME Lavender DP
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - Copics, Spellbinders Small Circles Nestabilties, Splendid Circles, Basic Lattic; Ivory Ribbon, Bow Easy, Scissors, Foam Tape.

Thanks for visiting and hope you've enjoyed today's world tour, to complete your journey you can land back at the Flourishes Blog.