Inspiration Nation is Here!

We are already on Day 2 of our week long Inspiration Nation event over at StampNation!  Where has the time gone lately!

Here’s a quick peek at the glorious cards made by the Dream Team and few of our guest designers for the next few months.

 Can you pick which one is mine?  Any clue??!?!

I hope you’ll come and join StampNation if you’re not a member.  Click below to find out how...

See you back on my blog tomorrow when I get to share some fun news!

~ Ally ~

Home Sweet Home

Howdy everyone!  What an exciting week it's been over at CatherinePooler.com.  After months of planning and preparation, Catherine's blog redesign is finally up and running.  If you haven't checked it out, stop by to see all of the new features her site has to offer.  In celebration of the new and improved www.catherinepooler.com, we are throwing a housewarming party beginning at 9am EST!

The housewarming party will run like regular challenges with a link up on Catherine's blog HERE.

To join along, simply make a card based on the theme HOME and link it up.  

You get three entries for each project you link up!  Leave a comment for yet another entry to win on Catherine's blog!!

WIN?  Yes, there are prizes.  You can't have a party without prizes right?! 

How about a chance to win a free ONE-YEAR subscription to StampNation? Plus prizes from...  

Some Odd Girl:  $20 gift card
Ellen Hutson:  $50  gift card
CAS-ual Fridays:  $25 gift card
Winnie & Walter:  home themed stamp set
Penny Black: Shades Creative Die
Pretty Pink Posh:  $50 gift card
Clearly Besotted: £30 gift card    
Hero Arts: $30 gift card

How's that for a party?  Over $300 in prizes!!!  Each Dream Team member along with our company sponsors are also giving away one-month memberships to StampNation on their blogs, so make sure you visit them and leave comments so you are entered to win.  If you don't have a blog you can still link up using the StampNation Gallery.

The challenge will be open through September 17th at 11:55 EST.  Winners will be announced on September 18th.

I hope you all get a chance to play along!

So I thought I'd share with you my HOME themed card creation.  When I think of home, I think warmth and coziness!  (And with our first SN*W fall... yes... SN*W in September!!!... we needed to cozy up this week!)

 And I love the thought of a beautiful holiday wreath hanging on my front door...

Here's a little close up of my wreath!  I used a Copic Spica pen to add some red glitter to my wreath's berries...

Hey and for immediate gratification.... why not check out StampNation for $1.00!!!!!  Click the image below and it will take you to the SN store for purchase...  HOORAY!!!

NOW... I'm giving away a ONE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION to StampNation right here on my blog.  All you have to do to enter is to answer the question below in a comment (please leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win!):

If YOU were having your own personal house 

warming party next week, who would be that one 

special person you would invite (dead or alive) 

to attend and why?

Good luck!!!

COMMENTS NOW CLOSED!

~ Ally ~


Supplies:
stamps:  WPlus9 (Merry & Bright), Flourishes (Christmas Music, Home for the Holidays)
inks:   Memento (Pistachio), Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Always Artichoke, Really Rust)
cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream)
ribbon:  Offray
tools:  Scor-Pal Tool
other:  Copic Spica Pen (Red).

Introducing… Sunny Harvest!

It’s Day Two of the amazing Power Poppy reveal for August.  Today brings you the warm and sunny faces of sweet sunflowers and brilliantly glowing Chinese Lantern flowers.  This stamp set is not only beautiful but you’ll want to create some gorgeous cards and projects using the beautiful sentiments too!  Introducing… “Sunny Harvest”.

I couldn’t resist stamping and colouring the amazing delicate Chinese Lantern and Bittersweet entangled image. I’ve always loved the crepe-y, see-thorough glow of the Chinese Lantern plant.

Here’s a quick close up of my image.  I added some Glossy Accents to my Bittersweet berries to make them shiny…

 

Have a gander at what the rest of the Bloom Brigaders have done with these glowing images…

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by!   Come and join us tomorrow for our third reveal. 


~ Ally ~


Sponsored by:  Power Poppy
 
Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Sunny Harvest)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes
patterned papers:  Webster's Pages (Hello World)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
silver string:  Cosmo Cricket
tools: Copic Air Brush
ink: Memento, Copic Markers, Sakura Gold Pen
other:  thread, Glossy Accents.

A Sweet Treat for You!

It’s Wednesday and time for another challenge day over at StampNation. This week’s challenge is a delicious and delightful one!  This week’s challenge is to incorporate a fruit or vegetable into your card or project. Here’s some little sneak peeks of my fellow StampNation Dream Team members creations for this week’s creations…

My StampNation exclusive card is the one with the yellow striped paper and strawberries on it!  Yum!

With summer in full swing here in Alberta, we’re starting to see some fresh Ontario and British Columbia fruits like cherries and strawberries in the grocery stores.  I love this time of year for all these glorious fresh products.  So today I decided to honour the beautiful, sweet raspberry!

For my card I used a variety of Flourishes products here. I used the adorable “Sweet Berry Frames” stamp set for my fruit, gingham shape and also my sentiment.  For these shapes, I used the Flourishes Spellbinder’s die set, “Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames” which is designed specifically for this stamp set.  It’s got such great shapes!

I also used a fun back ground stamp from Stampin’ Up! to create my wood grain effect.  It’s called “Hardwood”.

Here’s a quick close up of the colouring and focal point of my card front…

So take a moment and check out StampNation!  You’ll love the friendly feel for sure!  If you have not had a chance to check out StampNation yet....

~ Ally ~

Supplies:
stamps: Flourishes (Berry Sweet Frames), Stampin’ Up! (Hardwood)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes, Bazzill
ink: Memento, Stampin’ Up!, Copic Markers
dies:  Spellbinders for Flourishes
pearls:  Doodlebug Designs
other:  thread.

Introducing… Geraniums!

Howdy all!  It’s Day Two of the Power Poppy reveal for July 2014!  We’re so happy you could join us today.

Once again, we’re introducing a new digital stamp for this month.  Check out…. Geraniums…

For today’s reveal, I chose to keep my card design simple.  I took the stunning “Geranium” digi stamp into my photo editing software, shrunk it down a bit, duplicated it a few times and created a wreath of blooms to surround my sentiment.  This is WHY I love digital stamps… so many possibilities!

Once I printed my creation, I coloured it using Copic Markers with two shades of purple and a splash of pink.

Now… come and see what my fellow Bloom Brigaders have created with this fine digital stamp…

Allison Cope -- you are here!
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Leslie Miller
Tosha Leyendekker
Power Poppy Blog

Thanks for stopping by!   

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy

Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Geraniums)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes
wood grain cardstock:  AveryElle
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ribbon:  Stampin’ Up!
ink: Copic  Markers
other: thread.

Power Poppy… POP Goes the World!

Welcome to the first official challenge for Power Poppy!  We’re so glad that you could stop by and have a gander at some new creations by the Bloom Brigade. Come and create along side our wonderful designers.  You can click here for the official challenge rules.

So your challenge is to create with at least THREE of the four colours shown in the photo above: greens, yellows, oranges or purples.  

Isn’t that photo spectacular?! It reminds me of the summer sun setting here on the prairies of the Alberta with the Rocky’s in the distance…. so beautiful!

For my card creation, I chose to actually use all four colours on my card!

For my card I decided to use the glad-orgeous digi stamp, Gladioli.  I first created some cool digital back ground paper using some FREE software called GIMP and then printed out my image and coloured my Gladioli with Copic Markers.  I'll be showing everyone on Monday EXACTLY how I created this on the Power Poppy Blog so stay tuned for that!!!!

Thanks for stopping by! We sure hope you’ll play along with us this week!  Make sure to grab all of our brand new, limited-time-only digital stamps and create along with us for a chance to WIN the entire June release.  Challenge entries will be excepted until May 30th at 3pm EST and a winner will be announced on June 2nd on the Power Poppy Blog.  Trust me… this is worth it just for the chance to win our entire June release stamp sets!

Check out my fellow Bloom Brigade challenge creations:

Allison Cope -- you are here!

Christine Okken

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for stopping by!  Don’t forget to visit the rest of the Bloom Brigade for more colourful challenge inspiration!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Power Poppy
 
Supplies:
stamps: Power Poppy (Gladioli)
cardstock:  Recollections, Flourishes
die cut shapes: Spellbinders 
embossing folder:  Darice
gems:  Doodlebug Designs
ribbon: Offray
ink: Copic Markers, Ranger Distress.

Oops! Almost forgot... a 1400th Post WINNER!

Golly gee... I forgot to post the winner of my 1400th post giveaway!!!  So here it goes...

And the winner is commenter #8...

          lisa808  8:52 AM

          Beautiful card! Congrats on 1,400 posts! I look forward to your news on the 15th.

Congrats Lisa!!!  I'll be contacting you for your mailing information!!!

~ Ally ~

Timeless Tuesday ~ Touch of Gold!

Howdy all!  It's time for another Timeless Tuesday Challenge over at Flourishes!

This week the lovely Katie is our hostess and she is challenging us to use a TOUCH OF GOLD this week!

For my card this week I grabbed some Easter stamps to try and get ahead on making those for my family and friends this year.

I started by using my Silhouette and cutting some Classic White Cardstock using the Easter Wishes Silhouette Cut File.  Then I stamped my egg image from the corresponding stamp set, Easter Wishes, using Memento "Tuxedo Black" ink.

Next I took the beautiful Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames Die and cut a piece using white cardstock again.  Then I using some Versamark ink and stamped the sweet gingham image from the  Berry Sweet Frames stamp set onto my embossed cardstock and added some gold embossing powder.

Too add further gold touches to my card, not only did I emboss with gold powder but I also added some gold pearls, and I added some gold pen detail to edges of all of my patterned papers and also the edges of the bow on the egg too!

Then I coloured in my images using Copic Markers:

B91, BG10, BG53, R11, R12, 

Y000, Y00, Y11, YG17, YG21 and YG23.

Here is a close up my gold embossing and coloured Easter egg image...

I used the sketch from Mojo Monday, #337, for my card design today....

Next week will be my final week with Flourishes so make sure you take a moment and not only take a moment to leave some love on my fellow design team blogs but make sure to play along with us too!  Good luck everyone!

Come and join along with us this week for our "touch of gold" challenge!  Be sure to visit the rest of the DT’s blogs and leave them a little blog love too….

• Allison Cope - you are here!
  
• Deborah Anton
• Katie Sims

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Flourishes LLC

Supplies:
stamps: Flourishes (Easter Wishes, Berry Sweet Frames)
cardstock:  Flourishes Classic White
patterned papers: Carta Bella (Sew Lovely), Bo Bunny (Happy Tails)
die cut shapes: Flourishes Perfectly Pierced Classic Frames
ink:  Memento, Copic Markers, Versamark
ribbon:  American Crafts
gold pen: Sakura
tools:  Silhouette
gold pearls:  Recollections
other: embossing powder.

Timeless Tuesday ~ It's a Wash! & Some News

Howdy fellow stamp lovers!!! It's time for another fun and fabulous challenge for Timeless Tuesday Challenge!


This week our lovely hostess, Deborah, is challenging us to...

Thanks Deb for a fabulous challenge this week.... you see, I am a washi hoarder!  Yup... I admit it! But for some reason I hardly ever use it so this week's challenge was a great push to use all the fun washi tapes I have stashed away.  Okay... so I truthfully only used one but that's a start right?  LOL!

For some reason, I had Christmas on my mind for this week's card... so I went with it!

So I began with a simple die cut circle for my step-card and then I stamped the leaves and berries image from the glorious "Winter Berries" stamp set using "Rich Cocoa" Memento ink on to Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock.

I coloured in my image using Copic Markers:

E30, E31, E33, R43, R46, R56, 

YG21, TG93, YG95, YG97 and YR000.

With my circle still in the die, I added some Ranger Distress Inks, "Antique Linen" and "Tea Dye", to the edges to make the ivory frame stand out a little more.  Then I added some pretty lace to the back and also an inked die cut piece with some pearls.

For my greeting, it also came from the "Winter Berries" stamp set. I used "Rich Cocoa" Memento ink on to Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock and then fussy cut it for my card front.

Now... where is my washi tape you ask?  Actually... it's the red and white stripes on the bottom of the front panel and it's also in my back panel too.  It's a cool thin washi tape made by Tim Holtz!

 
For the finishing touch, I used my Sakura "Glaze" pen and added some shine to my berries and sentiment...

Thanks for stopping by today! 

I do have a bit of sad news though... I have made the decision to step down from Flourishes at the end of the month.  I've had an amazing time creating with some truly out standing ladies at Flourishes over the years.  And Jan Marie and Mike have been so good to me but I know it's time to move on to new things... exciting things!  I'll be sharing my "exciting things" news on the 15th here on my blog.   So stay tuned!

And some happy news.... this is officially my 1400th blog post and I wanna reward one of my readers! I have a variety of brand new Flourishes stamp sets in my possession that you can't buy at the moment and YOU could be the proud new owners of them!!!  HOW you ask?  Just simply leave a comment below... it's as simple as that!  I will randomly choose a winner and post them on next week's Timeless Tuesday post! Good luck!

Come and join along with us this week for our washi tape inspired challenge!  Be sure to visit the rest of the DT’s blogs and leave them a little blog love too….

• Allison Cope - you are here!
  
• Cheryl Lea
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Flourishes LLC

Supplies:
stamps: Flourishes (Winter Berries)
cardstock:  Flourishes Classic Ivory Cardstock, Flourishes "Evergreen" Collection
patterned papers: Fancy Pants Designs (Merry Little Christmas)
die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ink:  Memento, Ranger Distress, Copic Markers
lace, pearls:  unknown
glaze pen:  Sakura 
washi tape:  Tim Holtz
other: thread.

Timeless Tuesday... MASKuerade!

Howdy fellow stamp lovers!!! It's time for another fun and fabulous challenge for Timeless Tuesday Wednesday! LOL!!!

Welcome to another fabulous Timeless Tuesday Challenge here at Flourishes!  I'm Ally and I'm your hostess this week.


This week I am challenging you to...

Now you can take this as a LITERAL "mask" image or you can take it as "masking - a technique where you place something over your image or cardstock so you don't apply ink to it".  You may use a mask in helping you create a fun landscape, a cloudy sky or creating a multiple imaged area where your stamps overlap one another.  It's your choice on how you interpret the word "mask" in this case... just have FUN with it!

So today, I thought I'd keep my card super simple and let the stamps speak for themselves!

For my card example today, I thought I'd stick to the masking technique so I took some Classic Ivory Cardstock and the beautiful tulip image from the "Thank You" stamp set and masked off a line of tulips on my card.  I then coloured my tulips with Copic Markers.

Here's a close of my blooms...

So grab some stamps and let's see you MASKuerade this week!  Can't wait to see what you create using my challenge this week!

For my card this week, I used the newest Card Sketch from Splitcoaststampers, SC478:

 
Come and join along with us this week!
Be sure to visit the rest of the DT’s blogs and leave them a little blog love….

• Allison Cope - you are here!
  
• Cheryl Lea
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Flourishes LLC

Supplies:
stamps: Flourishes (Thank You)
cardstock:  Flourishes Classic Ivory

die cut shapes: Spellbinders
ink: Memento, Copic Markers
metallic string: Flourishes.

Lots of Love to Share!

Hey everyone!  Today, being the last day of February, I thought I'd share some of my favourite Flourishes cards of the past year or so.

I hope you enjoy!

Stamps: Berry Sweet, Inside & Out: Hello, Sentimental Favorites, Old Fashioned Florals

Stamps:  Old Tea Rose

Stamps:  Old Tea Rose, Butterflies & Blooms

Stamps:  Moments in Time, Old Tea Rose

Stamps:  Snow Scenes

Stamps:  Pears

Stamps:  Poinsettia & Pine

Stamps: Moments in Time

Stamps:  Handmade Snowflakes

Stamps:  Antique Map, Sweet Nature, Fanciful Flourishes, 

Botanical Bookplates 1, Thank You, From the Heart

Stamps:  Handmade Snowflakes, Mix n'Mugs, Fresh Baked

Stamps:  Numbers in Blossom, Snow Days

Stamps:  Lots of Thought, Numbers in Blossom, April Showers

Stamps:  Flowers for Jan, Simply Charming

Stamps: Flowers for Jan, Vintage Wallpaper, So Distressed, Tag Lines

Stamps:  On The Porch, So Distressed, S'more Fun!

To give you some more inspiration from our Design team’s imagination and creativity head on over:

• Allison Cope
• Cindy Lawrence
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope enjoyed checking out some of my favourites today!

~ Ally ~

Sponsored by:  Flourishes LLC