Florence Turnour's Blog

I made this card for the Justrite Stampers Friday Challenge 091 , which is a color challenge. Here is the challenge inspiration photo. The zig-zag on the cat, the doily on the background and the peace sentiment were all made with Justrite stamps. I cut out the cat by hand (and without drawing it first; lucky it came out at all!) from white cardstock, stamped and otherwise inked it, stamped stitched the background and put it all together. It was fun to get back to my more usual non-frilly self. Thanks for looking!

I bought two sets of stamps from Flourishes recently, so I thought I'd participate in their challenge. In this card, I used the From the Garden set, and managed to thoroughly embed the voices from the band Chicago in my head. Can You Dig It? This Timeless Tuesday Challenge was a bingo challenge. Participants choose a row, column or diagonal and include all three elements in a card. I chose the last column: bling, die cut and emboss. I stamped the images on white card stock, and colored them in using my Copics.  I used the Spellbinders' Classic Circle and Parisian Accent dies to cut out and frame the images.  I also paper pieced the gloves, adding a little shading with my Copics.  the bling is from Recollections (Michael's). I stitched around the edge in tight green zig-zags to give my border a finished look. Can You Dig It? Detail Thanks for looking!

Remember when life was simple? I'm not sure I do. When you look at these images, please click on them, to see them without the greenish background on my blog. I made this card for the Crafty Girl's Challenge #2 , use two die cuts. I rarely use fewer than two die cuts, so this restraint was not very challenging! Remember When I used a stamp from Heartfelt Creations Mystic Hideaway for the focal. I colored it with my Copic markers, using light pink and warm grays, and then added some texture with my Prismacolor pencils. I framed the image with two dies from Spellbinders' Fleur de Lis Squares , cutting away the center of the inside square with a die from Classic Squares . I love the way the vines on the trellis around the image peek out around the frame. I stitched a piece of patterned paper, which coordinates amazingly well with this image, from a set I bought years ago called Girls to Women, from Busy Scrapper's Solution to a piece of brown card stock for th...

I made this card for the JustRite Friday Challenge #071 . I was really happy with this one, so I also submitted it to the Crafty Friends Challenge . Welcome Back! This week, Challenge Hostess Sheri Holt , chose a photo to inspire us.  It's funny that she isolated the yellow, pink and peach; when I look at that picture, I am most inspired by the greens. I think what makes this image look so inviting is the back-lighted, blurred background, brighter in parts than the focal elements. I tried to capture that, and the colors Sheri selected (plus the greens) in my card. I only discovered the JustRite Original stamps a couple of months ago. I love the way the borders and centers coordinate, and fit into the circular die cut doilies that so fascinate me. All of the JustRite Original stamps are currently being retired; I would be delighted to know when a new release will come out! In this card, I stamped a flower from the now retiring Plant a Little Love Set in brown Memento ink....

This one is inspired by the Just Us Girls Challenge blog. Here's the how-to sponge video from Gina K. I watched her stitching on cardstock video as well, before having a go. I love to sponge, so when I saw the Just Us Girls sponging challenge, I hauled out the stencils that I made a few years ago (here is my post " Butterfly Dresses " from 2010). I drew the dress image in Adobe Illustrator, and then cut it out of an overhead transparency (acetate) on my Sihlouette cutter . Then I sponged through the stencil, and stamped over it with a butterfly background stamp (it's unlabeled, so I don't know where it came from). I like the idea of stitching on card stock, so I gave that a try here. I now am certain that I need more colors of thread.  Every time I try a new technique, I end up needing more equipment! I have a confession to make: when I uploaded this card to the challenge, it had fewer elements. I had thought I was done, but changed my mind, and add...

This paper crafting frenzy that I'm in was partially inspired by a trip to a rubber stamp show with my friend Georgina a few weekends ago (and it seems to be partially fueled by a desire to avoid doing my taxes). We decided to trade cards, using our new tools and techniques. I was very excited to get my first card from Georgina: Isn't it pretty? I like pink and yellow together, though I've never really selected that combination. I should try that in my beadwork. I also like the popped up look of the central element (adhesive foam squares are now included in my supply box ready to pop). I also hate to admit that that ribbon looks cool. I have zero ribbon, so far, and I'm trying to hold out on that one. I can't tie a decent bow to save my life, despite the many on-line tutorials on the web. Thank you, Georgina! So I went back to my craft table, to make a card for Geogina, using some of my favorite lacy circles. Lacy circles and a charm After I ma...

I like smudging the stamping ink onto the paper, but it takes some practice to get the smudges where you want them. I practiced a little (and made a real mess on my desk and hands). I made a few nice backgrounds. I thought I'd use this one to make an ATC for the hostess of the PAT swap (who does all the mailing hither and thither). Here is the card: It says, "In summer, the song sings itself- William Carlos Williams." I used the Majestic tree stamp from Penny Black, and the Orchard Tree stamp from Memory Box. The beads are stitched on, of course.

I joined an Artist's Trading Card swap on www.splitcoaststampers.com . It is called PAT (Pick-A-Topic) am in a group of 5 people. Each person selects a topic; in my group, they were birds, cardinals, owls, blue footed boobies, and emus (that was mine). The other people will make Emu cards for me. I made one of each of the other four topics for the other participants. Here are my finished cards: The gal who selected the blue footed booby originally selected the topic "parkour," but on realizing that the rest of the group selected birds, she changed it to the blue footed booby. I couldn't resist combining the two, so this booby can really move. I found the many photographs of boobies kicking up their legs to display their beautiful blue feet very convenient. I was also excited to use the flat bed train car from the original set of freight train themed rubber stamps, which I had made some years back. I'm still enjoying those trains, and considering making other desi...

I've decided to add a bunch of my paper work to my blog. I am just catching up, so I wont elaborate on all the things I learned doing these. I've joined an ATC swap at splitcoaststampers , so I've got a project I want to work on, instead of blog. This is an Artist's Trading Card that I entered in a contest at the Original Rubber Stamp Convention. I won an honorable mention and they gave me $10 to spend at the show. :) This is part of a bigger project that I've taken a break from. It is the front of a 5 paneled popup card. The unfolded card will sport the whole alphabet! I enjoyed the architecture in this one very much. I'm thinking about making a hillside full of houses for the next one.

I made a beaded card with the aid of my new paper cutter. I need to figure out a better way to take photographs straight down. This is a 5x5 inch square.