New Arrivals in the Store

Hello Friends!

Today in my ” From the desk of”  post I want to focus on some of the goodies that have arrived in the store.  Flourishes, being a boutique,  does not generally carry items that are available in the big box stores. We simply can’t and don’t try to compete. However, we have  added a line of Ranger products to the store at the request of many of our great customers.

Every stamper deserves the very best tools!  The new items that I am sharing today are fundamentals in our creating places.  Flourishes has been carrying the Ranger Distress Inks, but this year we added, as you requested, handles and nibs for the inks.  Of course we all want our craft area to be organized, so with these products I incorporated organization skills that my good friend Becca Feeken had developed and shared with not only me but the rest of her fans on her Amazing Paper Grace blog.

First, here are my handles and you will see that each handle has two separate areas that designates the color.  I stamped a label sheet with each color, then wrote the name of the ink and punched a dot to put on the top of each handle.

For storage,  I used two of the Clear Acrylic Cases in the 4″ x6″ size.  I typed the names of each ink and printed two copies of this document. Then I got out my Scor-Tape and placed a strip on each side of both cases.   The first would be for the foam storage cases.   I placed a sheet of Clear card stock between the two sides to prevent color transfer between foams.  I did this for the nib storage as well.

The second case contains the nibs and  corresponds with the  first case, so that my nibs and foams are in the same area in the storage cases.

We have also added the Ranger Inkssentials Ink Refresher.  Please note that this product is not available in the big box stores.  When sprayed directly onto the Distress Ink pads the ink can easily be picked up with the nibs.  I have a new love going on with these Cut’n'dry nibs.  They are firm, small, and pointed to get into the smallest of spaces, great for shading on the tiny areas of images.  I think you will love these as much as I do.

Now you might ask, what I have I created with these great new tools in my craft area? Last year, the mother of one of my closest friends died and I wanted to give my friend a reminder of her dear Mom.  My friend is an avid reader, so naturally my thoughts were immediately to make a bookmark.  Something my friend would touch each time she reads.

I used the Flourishes Classic Keyhole Die on a sheet of Flourishes Classic White card stock.   The perfect size flowers to fit this die are found in Flourishes newly released Tiny Flowers and Tags and the sentiment is from Flourishes stamp set Hello Hycanith.  The messages says it all..Ms Lottied had true joy and shared it with all.  I stamped them all with Staz-On Timber Brown Ink.  I used Staz-On ink since Distressed Inks are water based and I didn’t want my image to bleed into the background. I stamped each image several times onto Eclipse masking tape.  Now I was ready to place the images!  I simply laid out each directly onto the white die cut.  Using masking tape allowed me to move them around until I was pleased with the placement.  Then I removed each piece of masking tape and stamped the image directly onto the card stock in the open area.  I covered it again with the mask,  each time replacing the stamped images.

Now the fun was removing the mask and beginning to color. I shading the surrounding area and then lightly stamped the bookmark front with the Distress ink.  The coverage is just soft, light and most of all even.  Onto the next layer, I made a “tight cut”   using a light pink cardstock and placed the die on it, taped it down top and bottom with Scotch Magic Tape and using my exacto blade and a self healing pad, I cut on the outside area of the die “another Becca Tip”.  I sandwiched a strip of Scor-Tape down the center and ran a piece of light pink cotten sateen ribbon to the back of the bookmark, then attached the pink layer.

Now it needed finishing touches.  I used the new  Spellbinder Floral Ovals ( due to arrive here soon).    I taped all in place and  trimmed out the ribbon.  I added a piece of Jewlery Findings (Michaels) , to top.

And here is the finished bookmark….

Well, that’s a look from my desk here at Flourishes.  I hope you enjoyed your visit and are inspired to create in your own stamping spaces!  If you woiuld like to see more step to step making my card and resentation envelope visit my personal blog, The Caruso Manner   tomorrow and, I ”ll share them there.

Ciao,

From the Desk of Jan, News |