New Design Team Announced!

What an exciting time this is – the announcement of our newest Design Team!!! And WHAT a team we have!!! We just couldn’t be more thrilled!!! Each of these designers has a unique style all her own, and we are so happy to have them working with us at Flourishes. We are so pleased to introduce them to you.

LESLIE MILLER

Returning as our Senior Design Team Member is Leslie Miller. Leslie has been with Flourishes since the beginning, being a member of the Charter Design Team. You all know and love Leslie’s work. Her ability to color floral images and bring them to life before your eyes is exceeded by none. You can see Leslie’s gorgeous work at her Blog, Running with Scissors. We are just thrilled to pieces that Leslie is returning as our Senior Design Team Member!!! Welcome back, Leslie!!!

“Hello! I'm very happy to have been with Flourishes' Design Team since its beginning and I'm excited about the new stamps, products and the new design team gals I'll be working with in the months to come.

I've got about ten years' stamping behind me and many more wonderful years with this craft ahead of me. I'm an alumni of the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Design Team with a gallery at Splitcoaststampers under the username, leslierich. In February 2007 I started my blog, Running With Scissors... which is where I love to share bits and pieces of my stamping passion and possibly offer ideas and encouragement to anyone who stops by. My work has been published in Stamper's Sampler Magazine and as a Stampin' Up! hobby demonstrator I've had the opportunity to introduce several of my friends to stamping, as well.

When I'm not stamping, I spend most of my time at work in a medical laboratory or tending my large ornamental garden -- my other true passion. Family, friends and quiet pursuits bring me the most joy. Just give me a good book, a movie or a walk in the woods and I'm happy. Life has been good to me, I think. Thank you!”

FAITH HOFRICHTER

We are so pleased to welcome Faith Hofrichter to our Design Team. Many of you are very familiar with Faith and her work from her involvement in the daily challenges at Splitcoaststampers, under the username of Markie’s Mom. Faith’s work is synonymous with excitement, life, vibrancy, a little bit of funk and a whole lot of dimension and dots!!! Welcome, Faith!!! You are such a lively addition to our team and we are so pleased to count you among us!!!

“I'm so excited and humbled to have been asked to serve on Flourishes' Design Team. The talent and dedication to the art of stamping here is overwhelming!

I've been stamping for over 20 years. I started as a stamper, graduated into scrapbooking/book making, and then took a turn to quilting/designing. I was wheelchair bound after an accident that kept me from quilting. While watching cable one afternoon, I saw a show called Scrapbooking. I decided that scrapbooking was a "doable" craft for me and ended up purchasing a BUNCH of supplies on the Home Shopping Network! Finally, I found something I could do, that didn't have me standing up to use an iron or crawling around on the floor to layout patterns! I was hooked! Six months later I was published, teaching classes and was a "Scrapbooking Star” for Creating Keepsakes' Scrapbook Conventions. I am no longer in a wheelchair, thanks to many $$$$ in debt, major surgeries, and a FANTASTIC family. Three years later, I became a SU! demo and joined Splitcoaststampers in 2006. I was the Featured Stamper in July 2007 on SCS, and on several different blogs over the past few years. I have a blog, Stampin’ with Markie’s Mom, and update every day.

I am married to my best friend. Mark and I have a his, mine and ours family. Our boys are 22, 22, and 8! Markie is the light of our lives! (Hence my moniker on Splitcoaststampers: Markie's Mom)”

JULIE KOERBER

Stumbling upon Julie Koerber’s Blog, Out to Impress, was a very impressive trip, indeed!!! Julie’s work can be described as clean and crisp, but yet with great attention to detail and a fabulous use of color and composition!!! Julie also throws in a whole lot of *pretty* and her meticulous creations evoke smiles of delight by all who view them. We are so very, very pleased to have you working with us, Julie – Welcome!!!

“Wow! What an honor to be able to design for the four fab Flourishes with all their fantastic stamps and products! It’s going to be a great ride!

You could say I started stamping 8-1/2 years ago by accident when my sister-in-law ended up dragging me to a stamping party. Let’s just say she left me there and I’ve had inky fingers ever since! By day I work from home as the editor of a regional women’s magazine. By night, you’ll find me stamping into the wee hours in my “mom cave!” I feel lucky to have found this awesome hobby and truly cherish all the fun and friendships I have made along the way. Design work has been truly a dream come true for me. I’ve been lucky to get to know a couple of the “Flourishes” a little bit better during this past year! I am on Sharon’s Stamp Simply Team and help design samples for her weekly Friday challenges. Now that Flourishes has the Stamp Simply line coming out – who knows what fun we will cook up together each week! I’ve also gotten to know Nancy a bit because we are both members of the Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers! When I’m not busy sketching out cards and coming up with new creations, you can find me teaching classes at my local stamp store or posting on Splitcoaststampers (I’m outtoimpress). Of course, you can always look for me at my home in blog land at Out to Impress. I honestly can’t wait to see what Flourishes has in store in the months to come! Thanks ladies!”

SUSAN ROBERTS

Susan’s work is well-known at Splitcoaststampers, having been a recent member of their Dirty Dozen Design Team. Although Susan’s work can often be crisp and clean, she also has a distinct vintage flair with a bent towards stately, rich, elegant creations. We are so anxious to see Susan’s creations with the Flourishes images and we welcome her warmly to our Design Team – Welcome, Susan!!!

“A few weeks ago I received a wonderful surprise email from Sharon Johnson, the newest Flourish, asking me to be on the Flourishes' Design Team! I couldn't type my "Yes!" fast enough! (Sorry if I scared you with my quick and enthusiastic response, Sharon!) I am so excited and looking so forward to the next six months!

I began my addiction to stamping about three years ago when a friend invited me to a card making workshop at someone's home. I soon decided that it should have been called a "playshop" since I haven't stopped playing or shopping since! This same friend introduced me to Splitcoaststampers (SCS) where I began to participate in the daily challenges under the username of rainy. Oh how I love a challenge.

Then last year I was asked to be a part of the Dirty Dozen Design Team on SCS for the six months of July-December. Let's talk about a challenge! Soon after completing this adventure, I decided to join the blogging world, where I Blog under the name of Rainy Day Creations. Beate Johns, blogger extraordinaire, was starting a Tuesday "Be Inspired" challenge on her blog. She asked me to be on her team of weekly sample makers. She also asked me to become a Product Reviewer for a new feature in the Weekly Inkling on SCS. How fun is that!

I feel so honored to have been asked to design for Flourishes. Thank you, Flourishes! Let the playshops continue!”

LINDA DUKE

Pretty!!! That pretty well sums it up! Everything Linda does ends up being so, so pretty!!! With just a simple stamp, paper and scissors, Linda turns out THE most fabulous creations. Whether they be cards or some of her highly detailed 3-D creations, Linda has the ability to turn the plain and ordinary into extraordinary objects of art!!! We are so pleased to call Linda one of our newest Design Team Members!!! Welcome, Linda!!!

“As a child, I always had a pencil and paper in my hands and doodled whenever I could. My father was a very talented artist and was my first teacher. I would sit and watch him make beautiful creations of landscapes, objects around the house, or anything that caught his eye. I would then try to duplicate what he had done. In school, art was always my favorite subject and I decided at a young age I wanted to study the art of animation. While in college, I majored in art and was well on my way when my life took a different turn.

Because my husband was in the military, we transferred to Europe and stayed there for three years. While there, I was fortunate enough to find a local artist that saw I enjoyed art, and she taught me how to cast and paint ceramics. I learned a great deal about texture, color and how to appreciate and accept different types of art. When I returned to the United States, I then became a Certified Instructor for Duncan Enterprises and taught ceramic art for many years. I then branched out and joined the National Society of Decorative Painters and took Tole Painting from many top instructors around the country and enjoyed this area of art as well.

Fourteen years ago, a good friend of mine asked me to attend a Stampin’ Up Party with her. I laughed at how excited she was about this new “art” form, because at the time I was thinking this wasn’t art. It was just stamping ink on paper and coloring it in. It didn’t sound creative at all! Well, needless to say I was wrong and have been stamping ever since. In fact, it is the only art I am interested in doing and I have put all my other mediums aside.

I discovered Splitcoaststampers.com in 2004 and have never left. My work there is under the name of Linda D, and I also showcase my work on my Blog, Linda’s Works of Heart. I have loved being involved in such a great stamping community and my ability has improved tremendously through the talented artists that share their work so willingly. In April 2007, I was invited to become part of the Splitcoaststampers Design team, a.k.a the Dirty Dozen, for six months and truly loved being a part of this elite team and sharing the experience with a wonderful group of ladies.”

Shipping policy

With the recent changes in US Postal rates, and increasing costs in shipping and handling materials, we reviewed our free shipping policy and have made the following changes:

For USA orders, free shipping is offered for orders over $50.
For International orders, free shipping is offered for orders over $100

We thank you for understanding

Monogrammed Wedding Ensemble

Our friend, Kellie, over at Polished to Perfection, has created the absolutely most gorgeous complete wedding ensemble using Flourishes Lace Heart, Damask and Damask Reverse, along with the JustRite Monogram Stamper. And as a little tease, here's just a portion of her project:

Gorgeous bouquet, or what? You can see the complete wedding ensemble at Polished to Perfection. Whether you are planning a wedding, or just want to make a pretty card, treat bag or decorate your table, you'll see some wonderful projects that will be sure to inspire you!!!

Thank you so much, Kellie, for choosing to use our beautiful Flourishes images on this wonderful project!!!

Sharon Johnson

May I Suggest ...

Today I started a new weekly feature called May I Suggest...

It was supposed to run on this Newsletter as well as on my personal Blog; however, due to many technical difficulties last night (LOL!!!), the post isn't making this Newsletter, but I would like to give you a little peek at what I am suggesting:

And I would like to invite you to my personal Blog, No Time To Stamp?, to read the entire article.

Hope to see you over there -- thank you so much!!!

Sharon Johnson

Flourishes First Featured Stamper!

Oh, WOW!!! I had no idea how hard it was going to be to select only one person as Flourishes first Featured Stamper -- there were so many fabulous entries!!! Thank you one and all for playing along this week!!! We at Flourishes have thoroughly enjoyed viewing all of your wonderful creations and look forward to many more as the weeks continue!!!

And now I am pleased to announce --

Flourishes 1st Featured Stamper

Lois, a/k/a Clownmom

Congratulations, Lois!!!

And Flutter by Butterfly Iris is the card that was selected, made using Siberian Iris and Two Scoops Designer Paper by Basic Grey.

There are many things that I really love about this card. First and foremost is the beautiful way in which Lois colored the Iris, using her Prismacolor markers. Her shading is lovely, the Iris looks very realistic, and I love the fact that Lois has taken the time to research a variety of Irises on the internet, find out their proper names, and then color them as they would be in real life. Lois has a variety of Irises in her gallery that bear the names of and mimic their real life counterparts!!! Way to go, Lois!!! What a wonderful way to come up with such realistic and wonderful looking Irises!!!

I also really enjoy the square format that Lois used, the way she made use of the Two Scoops Designer Paper as an interesting background, and her use of Nestability dies by Spellbinders to showcase and frame her Iris!!! And the accents added by the brads and butterfly just finish it all off so nicely!!! A wonderful creation, Lois – thank you so much!!!

And once we are talking about the Siberian Iris stamp set, I’d like to show you another card that Lois made from the same set, featuring the small topiary stamp. I just love this topiary stamp and consider it a total bonus in the Siberian Iris set as it can stand on its own as a main image stamp every bit as well as the Iris can!!! Here is Triple Topiary Thank You.

Again, Lois colored her images with markers, lightly sponging the edges which really softens things up, and used her Nestability dies by Spellbinders to cut and frame the topiary images. The sentiment is done with Flourished Words, a set of small and elegantly scripted sentiments that can be combined in a variety of ways to form unlimited sentiments. This card is an excellent example of how great that little topiary stamp is!!! Thank you so much, Lois, for all your gorgeous creations this week with Flourishes images. You may view Lois’ entire SCS gallery here.

We encourage you all to play along this coming week for our Flourishes Featured Stamper #2. All you need to do is create any project at all using Flourishes images, upload to SCS, and link to the Flourishes forum on SCS. You can read the complete details here.

As winner of this week's Flourishes Featured Stamper, Lois' name will be put in the drawing for a prize to be drawn on July 1. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us Lois, and good luck in the drawing!!! We look forward to many more of your wonderful creations!!!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA and all who so graciously serve and give of themselves to protect our freedoms!!! Hope you are all off to a wonderful week!!!

Sharon Johnson

Four Frazzled Flourishes!

Yes, all of the Flourishes are frazzled – frightfully frazzled!!!! What started out with all good intentions to offer our registered customers and Newsletter subscribers with a 10% off coupon code, has turned into the most frustrating experience the Flourishes have faced. Although many, many, many FLLC customers have taken advantage of their coupon code this week, it seems an equal number have not, and we have heard from countless dozens upon dozens of customers feeling frustrated because they were not provided with the coupon code. Jan Marie has talked with customers on the phone until she can talk no more, and letters of explanation have been sent, until fingers can no longer type; hence, this Blog post to explain to all what has occurred. And we’ll be very honest with you and tell you the whole story – LOL!!! Are you ready to read this novel????

The purpose of this email campaign was to see how effective our emails are. Do people really open and read the emails sent? Well, we found our answer – and that is exactly what backfired in our faces, resulting in four frightfully frazzled Flourishes!!! LOL!!! The emails with the coupon codes were sent ONLY to customers who were BOTH 1) registered as customers (you do this at checkout by agreeing to set up an account; essentially this gives us permission by Federal law to contact you via email with promotions); and 2) subscribers to the Flourishes Newsletter. If you have completed only one of these steps, you did not get an email. If you completed both of these steps you did get the email.

OK, so that determined who did and did not get the emails for this campaign. The emails were sent out early on the morning of May 14. The title of the email was Flourishes Announces and it announced the addition of Sharon Johnson as a partner, it then linked her No Time To Stamp? Blog, announced the 10% off, and THEN below that, it gave the coupon code and advised that there is free shipping on purchases over $45.00. OK, simple enough – well – one would think – LOL!!! Or so we did –

As stated above, after Jan Marie’s dozens of phone conversations with customers, it became VERY clear where the problem was. She waited on the phone as customers searched their emails for the May 14 notice – oh yes, here it is!!!! Some had opened the emails previously, some had not. OK, for those who had opened their emails, what had they remembered reading from it? Well, that Sharon was a new partner – well, what then – well, “then I clicked onto her Blog”. End of story. And therein lies the problem. Customers were NOT reading to the end of the email to find that they were provided with a coupon code. Then upon hearing a code had been issued and they “weren’t given one” the phones started ringing and the emails started flying in – and here we are, 3 days later, Four Frazzled Flourishes!!!

What can we say???? We’re so terribly, terribly sorry – because we are.

And what can we do differently next time??? Well, not much – other than try to impress upon everyone that if you want to take advantage of special offers, you MUST read your emails.

And what did we learn??? We learned that a good portion of people truly do not read their emails, and I guess in that sense you could consider this email campaign successful as we DID learn that, and that was, after all, one of the original intents.

Did we expect this reaction from customers??? No, absolutely not – it was the farthest thing from our minds – we thought we were doing a good thing (and it WAS good for all those who actually read the email – LOL!!!)

So, another day in the life of a Flourish – or Four Flourishes. Our sincerest apologies to all who felt slighted. No ill-will was ever intended towards anyone, and we are hoping all will read this Blog Post and come to a better realization of what happened. We look forward to continued relationships with all of you, trying our best to provide you with quality products, superior service and unparalleled customer support.

Photopolymer hugs to all –

Jan Marie, Nancy, Sharon D and Sharon J

Are You a Subscriber?

Are you a subscriber to Flourishes Newsletter? I sincerely hope you are because a little surprise came in your e-mail bright and early this morning.

Your discount code can be used on any product Flourishes carries and boy.....have we expanded our inventory. It is time to expand our warehouse!

We are carrying D. I. Y. Monogram Stamper with accessories and LuminArte Twinkling H2Os, Polished Pigments, and Pure Mica. AND lets not forget two new stamp releases, the adorable Rock A Bye Baby and Lilac.

Shop to your hearts content without leaving the comfort of your home!

If you are not a subscriber, sign up now, don't miss out on any future specials.

What about the great news of Sharon Johnson becoming into business with Jan, Nancy and SharonD? Watch for more about the partnership!

Twinkling H2Os and Much More

Shine, Glitz, glamor, and sparkle that seems to drive our world. Not usually my style but I do like a little shimmer and sparkle in my life. Now I am carrying it over into my card creations.

Did you know you could turn any paper into a "metallic"? With twinkling H2O's and a little water I put a little color wash around the edge of my green and lilac paper. The shade of H2O should be close to the paper color but does not have to match.

Now that Flourishesllc started carrying 12 pack mini pots a wide range of shimmering color is available.

All you do is take an aqua brush, (the water is right in the handle, no mess) pick up a little color directly from the pot and paint the area you want to add twinkle to any image.

The Twinkling H2O's come in 5 gram mini pots, twelve to a package with a variety of colors.

The Primary Elements Polished Pigments are brilliant ground pigments mixed with Micas. They are created with pure color no fillers, and added mica for sparkle.

PEPP's are mixed 1 scoop of powder to 2 drops of #2 Simple Solutions. Mix to the consistency you like (adding a drop or two more of solution will make the color more sheer. Purchase in 4pks.

Polished pigment gives you a coloring range from semi-translucent to translucent depending on how much color and solution you use.

You can mix PEPP with @pearl Ex or powdered pearls to add even more shimmer. Mix colors to your hearts content it is limited only by your imagination. You are able to mix PP's with Gum Arabic, and Not simple solution, for a different look. Use 1 part gum Arabic to 3 parts color mix in a little water.

The concentrated color will stain you hands and carpet. Ivory soap will work on your hands.

Pure Mica metallic have more sparkle and are avalible in 21 gram jars.

All Luminarte is made in the USA.

Introducing JustRite Monogram Stamp Kits

Alphabets, letters, monograms. You see them everywhere – on cards, scrapbook pages, custom stationary, invitations, book plates and recipe cards. Flourishes now has the perfect tools for making custom monograms quick and easy. The folks at JustRite have developed a unique mounting and stamping system that will have you creating your own monogrammed stamped images in minutes! Sharon Johnson created this beautiful set with the Monogramer along with Flourishes background stamps.

First, check out these DIY Monogram Stamper Kits. Each kit includes at least one interlocking/interchangeable alphabet stamp set (and two of the kits have more than one alphabet set), three border stamps and a uniquely designed wooden mount. All this packaged in a nice storage box!

Take a look at how this combines the best of unmounted rubber and a wood mount. The border stamps and alphas are unmounted rubber, but take a look at the back of the stamps and the back of the wood mount!! The backs of both the stamps and mounts have grooves that allow them to snap into place!! No double stick tape or cling foam to use!! Just snap the borders and letters in place and you are ready to ink and stamp!

The Damask Border kit (shown above) comes with the following: One large (7/8”) alphabet set – Times New Roman font, three different Damask border stamps and a wooden mount.

The Special Occasions kit comes with the following: One large (7/8”) alphabet set – Special Occasions font, two medium (7/16”) alphabet sets – Special Occasions font, three different elegant border stamps and a wooden mount.

The Curlz kit comes with the following: One large (7/8”) alphabet set – Curlz font, two medium (7/16”) alphabet sets – Curlz font, three different fun border stamps and a wooden mount.

Want more??? What if you are doing a BIG monogram project, such as wedding invitations or custom stationary and you need a tool to do this quickly?

The Monogram Stamper is for you. This set comes with the Monogram Stamper tool, one reversible ink pad (one side is inked in black, the other side is dry and ready to be inked using any color of your own water based dye ink, 4 different border stamps, one large alphabet stamp, two medium alphabet stamps – all in an attractive storage box.

The stamper tool has the same “groove” system as the wooden mounts so all the alpha and border stamps work with both. Just press the borders and letters in the groove, then use the tool in a manner similar to those self stamping devices you see in office supply stores. Only this one is much better – you can change out the letters and borders, and change ink pads. AND, if you want your border to be one color and your letters to be a different color – no problem!! We sell dry ink pads that are “two color pads”!! The pad is designed to hold one color ink around the perimeter and another color ink in the middle – how cool is that!! But even better…all the dry pads, both the one color and two color are double sided. This means you can have one pad with different colors on each side.

So, in addition to the Kits and the Monogram Stamper, Flourishes also carries additional accessories: dry ink pads , a Numbers stamp set, and another set of borders that contain 3 stamps: “From the Desk of”, “From the Library of”, and “From the Kitchen of”.

Check out all these items at the Flourishes store HERE.