April Bloom Box

What is a Bloom Box?

It's a monthly box of gorgeousness that is delivered right to your door!  Each month you receive an exclusive stamp set, pre cut elements, coordinating embellishments and step by step instructions to create four beautiful cards.  Just add your own ink and some basic tools and you are ready to go!  

You have the option of a 6 month subscription or you can order each month a la carte (at a higher price, while stocks last)  

See below to watch Kim Kesti,our Creative Director, work with Aprils beautiful set.  

To subscribe, or for more details on the program, click HERE 

Splish, Splash, Sparkle!

April's promotion features one of my favorite FSJ products - our silks!  It also features the splashes and they are great too, but I LOVE the silks.  It's rare that I make a card that doesn't feature them, because they are the PERFECT finishing touch.  My cards look nekkid without them now.  It started innocently enough ... "what are these silks" I pondered as I looked through my catalog as a brand new coach.  Let's order one and see.  So I did - I picked Dark Roast and it remains one of my favorites.  
They are so cute and so inexpensive, I just added a couple here and there, and FSJ added a few more colors and (be still my sparkle loving heart) then, in last years Holiday catalog, SPARKLE SILK!!  Oh lordy... that escalated fast, and almost immediately sold out.  People hoarded.  Lack of sparkle silk was a real thing, it's that good. 
Black Licorice, Whip Cream and Beach Ball are the latest additions.  I wasn't convinced of the need for a black silk when Dark Roast is such a dark brown but I was WRONG.  You can absolutely tell the difference and there is absolutely a need for both of them.   

 See my pretties?  I love them all but my favorites are front and center and if you need any suggestions where to start your collection, those are the ones I'd suggest.  And here is one of the first cards I ever made using silks.  That's Dark Roast  and Gold Silk - the total of my collection at the time using Hey Honey (SS-0356) which was one of the sets in my Coach starter kit.  

Celebrating Life's Moments

Ironic that the new catalog should be called "Celebrating Life's Moment's" when I missed the excitement of launch day, stuck in bed with a sinus infection.  Not much to celebrate there TBH.

This new catalog is fabulous!  I know everyone always says that about new catalogs but since I saw the preview copy and used some of the sets during FSJ live, I've been excited for everyone else to see it too.  Anyone who ordered over $50 in during the last quarter should have received their copy in the mail and I hope you love it as much as I do.  There is a link to the online copy on the right hand side of the blog, but if you would like a paper copy in your hands, please let me know.

This is the card we made during FSJ live - we used the shaving cream method for the background, which is an old technique which was very new to me.  Messy, but fun.  I loved the way it came out and I love this set.  It's called Small Things (SS-0572) and it's my featured set of the month.  Look out for more examples of how to use this versatile set.  Look closely and you will see it also features our Silver Silk which is part of the Splish, Splash, Sparkle  April promotion.  Look out for a whole separate post on why I love our silks so much :) 

Bloom This Way Retirement Listings

Get 'em before they're gone!

The fabulous Bloom This Way catalog expires at the end of March - make sure you get your favorites before they are gone forever.  

July Bloom Box

Oh my goodness, the cuteness of this set!  

And if that weren't enough, for the first time ever our Bloom Box comes with an "a la carte" option, meaning that you don't have to subscribe and commit to a full 6 months.  Richard listened to the feedback from his coaches and made some changes to the Bloom Box program that allows you to view the stamp set before you decide to buy.  For monthly buyers (as opposed to Bloom Box subscribers) this is a "while supplies last" deal and I KNOW this darling set is going to sell out fast.  She can be yours by going to my website and ordering Item # KO-0003.  
Previous Bloom Box sets have been available for purchase and included in the catalogs but with the introduction of the new versions of the program, this is no longer true.  Mermaid Kisses is only available in July and only while supplies last.  Mine is on order as we speak - see you under the sea!

Make Lemonade

This set (SS-0372) caught my eye the very first time I looked through an FSJ Inspiration Book so imagine my delight when I saw it on the Collection Jubilee Promotion, meaning I could get it for 30% off the original price.  The matching Washi tape can be colored but I really liked it just the way it was.  Harder to see is the beautiful new Sparkle Silk that I used to highlight parts of the strip,  That little bottle of loveliness is going to get it's own post very soon.  The 30% off promo ends on April 30th. 

Inspired by..

I have so many stampers I admire, who inspire me with their creations and their willingness to share. This card was inspired by this post by Jennifer McGuire, a lady I've never met, but one who has "inspired" me to spend lots of crafty dollars over the years.  As soon as I saw it,  I thought of this set - 'To You (SS-0083) by Fun Stampers Journey.  And of course, it needed a few splashes of silk to finish it off.  As I type this, I have several more on order...

Spring Into Summer!

There are so many exciting things happening at Fun Stampers Journey, it's hard to know where to begin with this post! 

Most importantly, today is the day the new Spring Into Summer Inspiration and Trend Mini Catalog goes live.  Check it out online here and let me know what your favorite new set is!

We also have an amazing promotion on selected items in the Be Amazing, Celebrate You, Faith Journey and Slice of Life Collections - 30% off, people!

Click here for the complete list or contact me directly.

Sketch Challenge - SC628

Once I find a layout I like, I do have a tendency to use it over and over and then I feel like all my cards look the same.  Sketch challenges force you out of the comfort zone which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not so much, but when I saw this sketch on Splitcoast Stampers, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.   It uses one of the sets I got in my Fun Stampers Journey starter kit called  "Hey Honey"  
FSJ has made me love stamping all over again and I truly don't understand why more people aren't talking about this company and their products.  Those Color Silks alone...
We have an amazing Journey Bucks promotion going on right now where you can use the promo code JMWJB50 to get $50 off the regular price of the Amaze or Platinum kits.  Join the journey and come bloom with me. 

CAS(E) this Sketch #206

Here's the sketch:




And here's my take - and let there be no mention of the many versions that I went through before settling on this....  

Love You So Much

Friday was happy mail day :)  New stamping supplies and more Color Silks for my collection.  Why are more people not talking about this amazing product?  

I didn't really know what to expect when the first cute little bottle showed up - but that's why I ordered it.  Love at first splash!  Now only a month later the collection has quadrupled in size and I won't be completely happy until I own them all.  No card seems complete to me without those little splashes, but that's not the only way you can use it.  You can add it directly to your stamps, and you can use it with baby wipes to create a watercolor effect.  Looking forward to experimenting more as my collection grows!

CASology Week 231 - Forest

Here's the challenge: 

And here's my card:

This uses the cute little raccoon from the FSJ Creature Comforts set and some cute polka dot card stock from A Muse Studio.   Life IS better with friends, wouldn't you agree?

CAS(E) This sketch #204

Joining Fun Stampers Journey has rebooted my love for stamping and I am so grateful for that.  Part of that love included playing along with challenges and I am delighted to find some of my favorite challenge blogs are still active.  This is my entry for CAS(E) This Sketch # 204 using the cake stamp which is part of the FSJ "To You" stamp set which was part of my starter kit.  Isn't it adorable?

Amazing Memories Amazing 30% off sale!

An interest in preserving memories was sort of a gateway drug into the world of papercrafting for me, but I got sidetracked along the way and never really got in to it as much as I thought I would,  Maybe this promotions  is a sign the time is right?  Check out this video to view some of the available items.  I've also loaded a shopping list. with the SKU #'s included on to the sidebar.  If you don't have a catalog, there is a copy of that on the sidebar also.  All the products can be purchased 24/7 from
my  Fun Stampers Journey website.

Thistle Do It!

This stamp is the reason I am a brand new Journey Coach.
I've been looking for a thistle stamp for the longest time.  Although I live (very happily) in Florida, I'm Scottish and the thistle is our national emblem.  Thistle stamps are surprisingly hard to find so when I saw this in the Fun Stampers Journey catalog, I knew it must be mine.  I was also in the market for a new red stamp pad for my Christmas card making and someone had recommended the FSJ Candy Apple red so I added that to the order too, along with a few other things and before I knew it I was right there at a $50 order.
Did you know that a $50 investment can allow you to join Fun Stampers Journey?  It's perfect for people like me who have been stamping for some time and have already gathered some of the things included in the other kits, plus one of the choices of included stamp sets was already on my wish list.  I didn't have to think about that for too long - it's called Crafters Math and I bet you know exactly what I mean!

And since this is such a VIP stamp, here's another version. That little bottle in front looks like it might be nail polish but it's not, it's FSJ silk.  We'll discuss the lusciousness which is FSJ silks on a different day because today is all about the thistle.