Creating…. out of the box!

Hi all and TGIF! Being that it is Friday, it’s time for another ‘episode’ of Flourishes Focus! Today, I thought I’d take you on a creative tour to have you all ‘thinking out of the box’ when it comes to creating! You’ll see what I mean, right about… now!

So many of us just cling to the standard 4-1/4″ by 5-1/2″ creations. But, thanks to the folks at Spellbinders, you don’t have to get stuck in a rectangle rut! Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Dies and the Grand Calibur machine make it so easy! Want to see?

I started my creation with the Labels One Grand Nestabilities Die… 

As you can see, I let my die bleed off the edge of my folded card ever so slightly!

And this, my friends is the finished card!

To create my card, I used the same die and some decorative paper. After embossing, I used the embossed line as my “guide” to cut off the extra 1/8″.  I used this as my mat to reveal some of the white on my shapely card. And, here’s a peek at my finished creation!

You can see, that I did do some paper piercing around the edge of my circle. Here’s how I did that….

While my Standard Circle Nestabilities die was still on my paper, I used my paper piercer and mat and just followed the line of the die.

And here’s a close up of my colored image! I used Copic markers (of course) and reached for the Crocus and Fields collections grouped by Flourishes. The stamp set is one of Flourishes’ newest – Zinnias.  Shhh! The sentiment is actually from a set that hasn’t been released yet. I thought, however, that it was perfect for this card and decided to give you a peek!  Some of the paper is from the BasicGrey Sweet Threads collection and the silk ribbon is Christmas Green. 

As I was looking for inspiration, I actually didn’t have to go far! The Flourishes Gallery is chocked full of fun creations and many of the designers “did” think out of the box. I thought I’d share a few of my faves!

This one from Cindy Haffner uses Spellbinders Grand Labels Four. I think this is about as feminine and pretty as it gets!

Christine Okken  made her fabulous and floral creation in the round with Grand Circles and Grand Scalloped Circles Nestabilities.

Stacy Morgan let the festive feeling fly with this darling party hat styled creation! All it took was Spellbinders Pennants and Lacey Pennants dies.

And last but certainly not least, Leslie Miller knocked it out of the park with this darling “t-shirt” inspired creation that is perfect for words of encouragement. After drawing the shirt on her decorative paper, she used Spellbinders Labels Eight to create the shape in her shirt’s neckline. So creative! Don’t you think?

Well, I hope this look at creating cards that are “out of the box” has been helpful! With the weekend here, why not create a few “out of the box” creations in your own stamping space? If you need some extra inspiration, you can hop on over to the Flourishes gals’ blogs to see what they whipped up this Friday!

• Barbara Anders
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Dawn Burnworth
• Julie Koerber
• Leslie Miller
• Stacy Morgan

Happy creating and we’ll see you back here soon!

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