What a Beautiful World..... Tour!

Last month Flourishes announced that they were looking for international designers to fill some vacancies in their Bring Back Beautiful team. I'm so excited to share with you that I was chosen to fill one of those slots! Instead of monthly challenges, the team will be presenting a monthly themed blog hop, hosted by our group of international designers... we are literally spread out all over the globe! We hope you will enjoy these world tours as we showcase Flourishes images in our monthly Beautiful World Tours!! Still at the heart of our projects is the idea of truly showcasing beauty in card making – whether it just be in a beautifully colored image, a fabulous way to incorporate an embellishment or a new twist on a card layout.

So.....what does this mean for YOU?? Instead of being asked to create and play along, all we ask is you do a little globetrotting!! Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take a little tour with us - see how we've interpreted the month's theme, each of us in our own little corner of the world. If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can start back at the Flourishes Blog - you'll find a full list of participants there, and all the details you need. If you're already hopping and you arrived here from Betty's blog you're doing just fine.

Leave comments for all our designers and you could WIN A FREE FLOURISHES STAMP SET!! Comments will be accepted until August 31st, and a random comment will be chosen by one of our designers - but we're not telling which one! The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning will be.

This month our theme is the Beauty of a Song.  Each member of the team was asked to create a project using inspiration from the lyrics of a favorite song. Here's my card:

I wasn't sure which direction to go with this challenge at first, so I sat down with my Flourishes stash to see if any of the sentiments would trigger an idea. When I got to the Lenten Rose set, a song we heard often when we were in the States started playing in my head - it's a song called "I Lift My Hands" that expresses trust and hope in the faithfulness of God, and the first words of the song are "Be still." We recently returned to our Asian home after 7 transient months in the States, so after that period of upheaval and lack of routine, I've definitely needed some moments of stillness. 

I stamped the vase image using Sahara Sand ink from Memento, then watercolored using dye reinkers. I added shading using watercolor pencils, and painted a sheer coat of pearlescent white Lumiere paint over the vase. I love using a light ink for my outline when I watercolor - the images just have so much more depth. I used my Scor-Buddy to edge the  focal panel. I trimmed around a few petals with a craft knife and embossed those areas from the back of the panel with a large stylus.

From here you'll be traveling on to.........

 Kathy's just a few time zones to my right - she is our team coordinator and this month's challenge hostess. Thanks for hopping with us today! Don't forget to leave a comment!