Flower Tutorial... my take on the monthly challenge.

I had a great time doing Teresa's challenge for Everything Scrapp'n.  She really inspired me and I started playing around with products to make some interesting flowers that had that high end look for just pennies.  So in addition to sharing my layout I am sharing a tutorial how I made the flowers today.

Ok so the challenge was to:
use 3 flowers on a layout (either homemade or altered to make them your own)
use some blue - that will remind us of Spring rains that nourishes the soil
include some yellow or gold - to represent the warm Spring sunshine

This challenge really brought out the best in me so I hope you will enter a project for your chance to win a tin of some of my favorite Prima flowers (love the newsprint).

First I'll share my finished project....  "Love at First Sight" is a layout about our new home

The journaling reads "From the moment I saw the listing on FMLS I knew this was the house for us.  After a long search that started at Thanksgiving I could see God's plan and all the stress and lost houses was worth it.  We have lots of different living spaces & bedrooms to spread out in the 3300 sq ft.  Even a sunroom with built in storage perfect for scrapbooking made my heart flutter.  Andrew has a separate suite & is closer to work.  We love it!"

Titlework - I like to mix up fonts when creating my titles.  It adds interest and no one notices when I don't have a certain letter in the main font. (Yep it happened no "s" in the chipboard so I used the fabric Thicker to spell out "first")

A cluster of embellishments at the bottom weights the page & draws the eye around the layout.  All the details on the page reinforce the themes of home & love.  The calendar was perfect to circle the date of the closing when the dream became a reality.

Close-up of the flowers I made.  Dont' you love all the details in Webster's Pages papers?  Even the backs are gorgeous.

Supplies:  Paper (Webster's Pages - Grow Dreams, Webster's Pages - Plant & Nurture, Webster's Pages - Violette Wings, & Webster's Pages - Wishes Come True; Spray Paint (Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist Olive Vine & Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist Raven); Chipboard Buttons (Jenni Bowlin - Photographer's Mark); Journaling Spot (Jenni Bowlin - Memo Book Black);  Letters (American Crafts - Thickers Black & Jenni Bowlin - Tiny Alpha Black); Cardstock Embellishments (Jenni Bowlin - Die Cut 3x3 Calendar Cards &  Jenni Bowlin - Bingo Card Home); Metal Embellishments (Tim Holtz - Mini Paperclips, Tim Holtz - Trinket Pin, Making Memories - "Love", Doodlebug - Brad Black, Queen & Co - Mini Brad Purple, Adorn - "Think Big" Charm, Key - Misc Stash & Adorn - "Dream" charm); Thread (Coats & Clarks & Martha Stewart - Twine); Ink (Colorbox - Chestnut Roan Chalk); Tracing Paper (Canson - Tracing Paper) & Punch (McGill - Heart)

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Now for the Vellum Flower Tutorial. 

I was going to do a video but since I don't have a tripod I rely on one of my sons to hold the camera & none were around so still photos will have to do.

I love the Webster's Pages vellum but the pink wasn't the color I needed for these flowers so I started brainstorming how to get a similar look with other supplies. 

I have this tracing paper in my stash.  It was a $ dollar spot $ item at Michael's.  It works perfect for this technique

Many of the magazines have been showing flowers using heart punches so that inspired me in this tutorial.

I folded the tracing paper to keep it from jamming the large McGill heart punch (my clearance treasure which was only $2.22 at Hobby Lobby).   It also made quick work of punching the "petals" for the flowers.  (sorry for the sunshine shadow... lol)

I scattered the hearts in a shallow box to contain the overspray from Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.  This box is what the upper tier of my Clip It Up Upper Tier came in - it's a keeper.

I used Olive Vine green for the base petals. 

After swirling your bottle to stir up the glimmer (don't shake or it will clog your sprayer).  I always do a test spray away from the items to see how much ink comes out of that particular bottle.  Spray lightly. 

Notice how the tracing paper curls as I sprayed them.  This is fine and they straighten out when dry & it will aid in getting color variations from the spray. 

Then I placed the hearts to be used for the top of the flower that I sprayed Raven purple.  Leaving the green hearts in the box allowed some of the overspray to add interest & depth to the colors.

Taking a paper towel to blot the excess ink.  Don't rub as this will muddy the color & you will lose the spray droplets that add texture & depth.

I then used the heat gun to finish drying the hearts.  They will scatter around slightly as the moisture evaporates and no longer adheres them to the box - but the box was high enough to keep them from flying around the room lol.  If this is a problem use a stylis or skewer to hold them in place while still keeping your hands away from the heat.

Crumble each heart up lightly.  Inking the edges & the creases with a bit of Chestnut Roan Colorbox chalk ink gives subtle definition.

un-crumble as you ink

Use a liquid adhesive like Beacon 3 in 1 to adhere the hearts to form your flower.  I just put a small amount of glue in the center and along the narrow edge of the heart leaving the upper part free to move & mold to add dimension.

Start arranging the hearts in s circle by slightly overlapping them. 

I used 5 as my base (odd number groupings look best).

and 3 hearts for the top layer.

Adding something to the center covers the overlaps and finishes the flower off.   Your imagination is the limit... Here simple large cream color buttons look great.

Adding purchased Prima flowers (these are the ones that are in the tin Heather is giving away for the prize) with a gemstone brad in the hole.

Finally I settled on the Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons with a bit of twine knoted.

Thanks for visiting I'm the last stop on the blog hop.  I'm sure you want to start from the beginning.  Head over to the ES blog for all the details to enter the challenge and have a chance to win the Prima flowers and to see what the rest of the design team has been creating... 

Getting Creative....

The camera cord is still missing & so to get these projects posted I had to get creative.... I took the photo card to Walmart & used the instant machine then requested that everything be saved to a cd.  It's not my usual photoshopped layouts since the desktop computer isn't hooked up but at least I got it done! lol

I love to mix and match patterned paper & embellishments from different lines.  Since I don't belong to any kit clubs anymore I have to pull things together myself to get that look.

My first layout was using super cute photos of my grown son when he was so young & sweet (not that he isn't still sweet).  Revisiting these old memories sure brings a smile to my face.

I love the whimsy of the Prima paper.  The clouds were perfect for telling this story.  For the center part of the page I used some of the Pink Paislee Cupid line.  The  blue & white hearts were a great match.  The green bottom third of the page kind of made me think of grass.  My Mind's Eye lime green dots anchor the page.

To make the sun I used a My Mind's Eye scallop circle die cut then for the center & then took my small scallop scissors to make the rays.  I used a small zig zag stitch to attach them.  Basic Grey flower bling added interest & kept with the theme.  The little bird was also a part of the die cut sheet.  To define the edges I doodled around with a fine black pen.  Adding one of the black Prima pearls from a flurish gave him and eye & it will not be missed when I use the rest of it on a page.  I'm all about stretching my supplies.  Sure when you use an entire flurish on on page $2.99 is a lot but when you break it up & use parts on multi pages it adds style on a budget.

The tag is from Pink Paislee Cupid.  I layered other tags/envelopes on top of it.  Rub ons are a great way to add depth, interest & say something at the same time.  To further add details to the ready made tag - I attached an eyelet then pulled a bit of stretchy cord to finish it off.

The rest of the package of  Basic Grey bling carried the floral theme from the tag to the page with loads of interest & dimension. 

Stitching in a similar color adds texture with a tone on tone look.  I love the decorative stitches that my machine can do with a press of the button.  A row of flowers in the titlework & basket weave at the bottom sure adds a lot of texture with little effort.  A favorite technique is to add a stitched line to my journaling strips adds interest & keeps me straight.

I love Nikki Sivils bread tags.  This time I painted it with a bit of acrylic paint then added a rub on.  I always take a fine emory board & rough it up a bit before painting to be sure the paint doesn't scratch off easily.  The package of 10 for less than $2.50 lasts a long time.

Supplies:  Paper (Prima - Animal Bash Paper Eager, My Mind's Eye - Blue Sky Forget Me Not, Pink Paislee - Cupid,Bow & Arrow & Prima - Tropics); Ribbon (American Crafts - Backyard Leaf 1 - Backyard Ribbon by the yard);   Journaling Spot: Pink Paislee Cupid & My Mind's Eye - Penny Lane Tiny Dancer ); Tag (Nikki Sivils - Bread(less) Tags & K&Co - Elegant Envelopes, &  Pink Paislee - Cupid); Rub Ons (Pink Paislee -Cupid Press Ons, My Mind's Eye, The Paper Studio & Creating Keepsakes Freebie);  Diecuts (My Mind's Eye - Penny Lane Free Bird Love); Thread (Coats & Clarks); Cord (Wrights); Letters (American Crafts - Thickers) & Bling (Basic Grey Opaline - Pearls Tres Fleur Pastel & Prima - Pearl Swirl Black); Paint (Golden Acrylic Paint); Pen (American Crafts); Adhesive (Kokuyo

Dot n Roller)

My second project is about my Dad.  He's such a thoughtful & generous man.  I wanted to capture the memory of his gift giving....

My Mind's Eye Bella is a very elegant line.  I love the soft colors & the background paper made quick work of design without sacrificing the details.

 

Stitching around the layout with the soft blue color and on the different layers anchored them & subtly draws the eye around. 

Adding stitched lines, ink & some ribbon makes an inexpensive office supply tag super special.

I like to use buttons in place of letters in my titles.  This big brown one is a perfect substitute for the letter "O".

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella The Rouge Bird Paper, My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella Sweetness To Me ,  My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella Floraleque Paper, & My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella Bellezo Grace); Tag (My Mind's Eye - Bella Bella Bellezo Accessory Sheet & Staples Office Supply); Buttons (misc stash); Letters (Doodlebug - Chocolate); Ribbon (Offray); Staples (Tim Holtz); Ink (Colorbox); Thread (Coats & Clarks); Pen (American Crafts); Adhesive (Kokuyo)

Well hope you have a fantastic Tuesday.  I'll be emptying more boxes looking for my camera cord while the roofers work on the skylights and roof over the scrap room....lol....  If I get the big computer set up I'll be watching Paperclipping Live with Noell Hyman at 9:30 pm eastern time - seems like months since I've been able to enjoy the inspiration & chatting.

Blog Hop

Wow it seems strange to be on the internet.   I've been cut off from the world in every way since the move... no car (tag experied since Lexus didn't pass emmissions), no web, & no home phone (learning to talk quick so not to use a lot of cel minutes.   The house is getting organized since I have NO distractions lol.  The scrap room was almost finished & then the unthinkable... the new roof sprung a leak around the skylights during the 4 days of rain.  It's always something.  Well it's taken almost 2 weeks since the move to get the cable company to come out & put a booster on the house due to low signal and deliver a modem to us.  I know I have a loads of emails to read but I'm going to try to keep from falling back into my trap of hours spent on the web each day - try being the word lol.

Today is the Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop.  My projects will be posted on Tuesday due to the roof leaking on my layout & card (in addition to the Cricut Expression... gasp yes it seems to be ok thankfully) and the fact that I haven't found the cords to link the camera and computer yet.  You all know me by now... it's always something lol.  But I hope you will hop along with the rest of the design team.  They have some pretty projects to inspire you. 

Make sure you leave comments on each of the blogs for your chance to win 3 bottles of Stickles (love those little bottles of goodness) and make our guest designer Ileen feel welcome.

Ileen

Teresa
Jana
Michelle

 Have a fantastic Sunday!