A Different Sunflower

 

Today I want to show you that you can create a completely different look with your flower dies.  I used the Susan's Garden Sunflower dies to create this flower. Joan's Gardens now has some new Bazzill card stock we are using to create the flowers.   I used off white card stock to die cut the flower petals and brushed gold card stock for the leaves.  The base of each of the petals was sponged with  the Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber then I used the Adirondack Pearl Acrylic Paint Dabber over the rest of each petal to give it an antique look.  The little pieces for the center of the flower were die cut using brushed gold card stock then the gold acrylic paint dabbed on each one.  Tiny bronze beds were glued in the center of each little center piece. Gold Acrylic paint was sponged on each of the leaves after shaping. The flowers were shaped with the Susan's Gardens Flower Tool Kit.  

The background for this card was created using all the dies from the Spellbinders  "Marvelous Squares" die set.  The corners are from Joy! Crafts.  A few Kaiser Craft pearls were added to complete the card.

I hope you will try different things with your flower dies.  It is amazing the different varieties of flowers you can come up with.

You can purchase all these products at Joan's Gardens:

Sizzix, Susan's Garden "Sunflower" dies   (658417)

Susan's Gardens "Flower Tool Kit" (658437)

Bazzil Card Stock

Joy! Crafts Corner (6002/0135)

Spellbinders "Marvelous Squares" (S4-383)

Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber

Adirondack Pearl Acrylic Paint Dabber

Kaiser Craft Pearls

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New Marianne Dies

 

I always look forward to seeing the new Marianne Design dies. They always add a lot of "elegance" to a card!   I just received these beautiful dies and was anxious to show them to you. My background is a piece of design paper from the new Jessica Swift "Blomma" paper pad.  The design paper was embossed with the Crafters Companion "Regency Swirls 8x8 embossing folder.   I die cut the Marianne LR0272 and LR0273 dies and layered them.  I only used one of the three dies in the LR0273 set, right in the center of the layered LR0272 die cuts.  They were all attached with dimensional tape.    On the bottom of the card I added one of the dies from the Marianne Design LR0270 set.  The pretty dogwoods were created with the Susan's Gardens Dogwood dies.  A few Kaiser Craft pearls were added to complete the card. 

Have a great weekend.

 

 You can purchase these products from Joan's Gardens:

Jessica Swift "Blooma" Paper Pad

Crafters Companion "Regency Swirls 8x8 Embossing Folder (EF8-RG Swirl)

Marianne Design LR0272 dies

Marianne Design LR0273 dies

Marianne Design LR0270 dies

Sizzix, Susan's Garden "Dogwood" dies 658405"

Kaiser Craft Pink Pearls 

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Heartfelt Creations June Release

Today Heartfelt Creations has released their new June Collection called "Gateway to the Seasons".  This is a beautiful collection of stamps for cards/projects for every season.  This collection includes: lace, gazebos, birdhouses, gardens, backyards, a fall scene, a winter home and sentiment stamps.    I used the beautiful  Gazebo stamp to create this window card.  The scene was stamped on a piece of card stock slightly smaller than my card front which is 5.5" x 6".  The scene was colored using Copic Markers. 

On the front I used a piece of design paper from the "Gateway to the Seasons" Daphne  paper pack.  A Spellbinders Square Nestability was used to cut an opening in the center of the front of the card plus in the design paper.   In between the design paper and card front, I added a piece of clear card stock so there would not be an "open" area, but you could see the stamped design on the inside of the card.
The beautiful ornate gate die cuts are also available in the "Gateway to the Seasons" collection.  I used double sided tape to attach the gate pieces over the clear card stock.  To add additional dimension, I used the stamps and matching dies from the Heartfelt Creations "Delicate Asters PreCut Set" to add a cluster of flowers.

 

In this picture I think you can see the clear card stock under the open gate.

 This picture gives you a better view of the stamped image on the inside of the card.

You can order the individual stamp sets, design paper, and/or dies in this new Heartfelt Creations "Gateway to the Seasons" collection from Joan's Gardens.  Joan also has a great discount if you order the entire collection.

Products used are:
Heartfelt Creations "All Seasons Gazebo PreCut Set" (HCPC 3539)
Heartfelt Creations "Gateway to the Seasons"  Daphne Paper Pack
Heartfelt Creations "Gateway to the Seasons" dies
Heartfelt Creations "Delicate Asters PreCut Set" (HCPC 3494)
Heartfelt Creations "Delicate Asters" die (HCD 726)

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Susan's Garden 3-D Wheelbarrow

 

I have another very fun and easy die from Susan's Garden to show you.  This is the  3-D Wheelbarrow.  I don't know how Susan does it, but her dies are always so easy to work with (assemble) and are very, very realistic.  The length from end of wheel to end of handle is about 7".  The easy instructions for assemble are in the die package.  You can use your imagination and come up with many great ways to color your wheelbarrow.  I used heavy brown card stock and because I liked the look, I added three brads to the sides.  You glue or tape these pieces together, but I went the extra step by adding the brads.  You could use many different fun things to "paint" it such as Distress Stains or Distress Crackle Paint. 

I created a bunch of the Susan's Garden "Mini Dasies" to fill my wheelbarrow.  I put a piece of Styrofoam in it and glue a piece of natural moss on top.  I made 12 mini daisies and some sprigs of "Ivy" created with the Susan's Garden "Fern & Ivy" leaves dies.  The ivy sprigs were very easy to create; I cut about a two inch piece of Panacea "Cloth Wire" (which is green) and after shaping and coloring the leaves, glued them to the wire. 

I know you will have fun creating this cute wheelbarrow and filling it with your favorite flowers from the Susan's Garden flower dies.   Yesterday someone asked me how large the birdhouse is.  The base is about 3" and it is about 6" tall.  

You can purchase all these products from Joan's Gardens:

Sizzix Susan's Garden "3-D Wheelbarrow" (658427)

Susan's Garden "Mini Daisy" (658407)

Susan's Garden "Fern & Ivy Leaves" (658412)

Panacea Green Cloth Wire (10 yds)

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Susan's Garden Rounded Birdhouse

I can't believe it was so easy to create this darling little birdhouse.  Before I tell you about it I want to thank all of you who sent me get well wishes.  I didn't expect to hear from so many of you and  all your get well wishes have me feeling better today.  I still don't feel like doing much, but I had this cute little bird house about 95% completed when I got too sick to complete it.  Today I put the finishing touches on it and thought I would get it posted. 

I used the Susan's Garden Rounded 3-D Birdhouse die by Sizzix shown above.  I decided to create a birdhouse that had stucco on it.  I used Liquitex Modeling Paste on the outside after I had the body of the house put together.  Once the  Modeling Paste was dry, I sponged on a variety of Distress Inks until I achieved the color I wanted, then sprayed it with "Cappuccino" Perfect Pearls to blend all the colors together.  I was very pleased with the outcome.  I used a toothpick, that I colored black, to press in the small hole in the front for the perch.  

For the roof, I attached the three pieces together  leaving flat, then used Black Distress Crackle Paint to coat the top side.  I put it on pretty thick because I did want a lot of "crackle" in the paint.  Once it was completely dry, I attached the two sides to form the roof.  There ended up being lots of crack lines where the paint cracked all the way through to the base, but I loved the look because it gave it a more weathered look than just the "Crackle" from the paint.

I created a lot of different flowers using the Susan's Garden flower dies and attached dogwoods to the roof along with some packaged moss.  Along the bottom I have a sprig of "Forsythia", "Mini Lily",  a few "Violets" and "Quince".  My friend Pat gave me the tiny little birds and they are just perfect on this cute little birdhouse.

Here are a couple of other pictures I took.  The first has no flowers around the base and the next one has a few less than the picture on top,

I loved working on this birdhouse.  There are so many different ways you could decorate it.  

You can purchase all these products at Joan's Gardens:

Sizzix, Susan's Gardens Rounded 3-D Birdhouse (658424)

Susan's Gardens "Dogwood" (658405)

Susan's Gardens "Forsythia" (658406)

Susan's Gardens "Mini Lily" (658408)

Susan's Gardens "Pansy/Violet" (658419)

Susan's Gardens "Quince" (658410)

Susan's Gardens Flower Tool Kit by Sizzix (658437)

Crafter's Pick (Ultimate Glue)

Liquitex Modeling Paste

Distress Inks

"Cappuccino" Perfect Pearls 

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No Posts

Many of you are asking why you aren't getting new posts from me.  I have been very sick for the past five days  and it will probably be at least a few more days before I  feel like working on cards.  I'll be back as soon as I can.  

A Visit With Susan

As I'm sure you all know, I learned all my flower creating techniques from Susan Tierney-Cockburn.  I loved using her Punch Bunch punches and learning flower shaping techniques from her "Paper Bouquet" book,  and now love using her new Susan's Garden flower dies, which are much easier to use than the punches.  Susan and I live across the mountains from each other, in the same state.   My friend Pat and I had the priviledge of going over to see Susan.

Susan took some time out of her very busy schedule to show us some of her flower creating techniques. It was so fun to sit with her to learn new techniques. Among other things, she taught me a lot about coloring and shaping leaves, which I will show you in future blog posts.  All of Susan's "Susan's Garden flower dies have all the pieces to create each flower, which helps you create beautiful flowers without trying to figure out what dies are needed for a certain type of flower. In addition to the directions that come in each flower packet, she has developed videos to help you visually see how to create them.  You can see these videos on Joan's Gardens blog.  Susan wants to make it very easy for you to create these flowers and has other products to help you achieve great shaping, coloring and texture.  At the moment, the Sizzix Flower Tool kit, inspired by Susan,  is available, and very soon the Pan Pastels and the product for creating realistic pollen for your flowers will be available.  I had a chance to try the new Pan Pastels and see the pollen powders and I know you will want these products.  The Pan Pastels are very different from other chalks we have used.  They are kind of creamy and Susan told me they will last for a very, very long time.  I was very impressed with them.  The powders for the pollen are so realistic and work much better than the Flower Soft I used in my Lily Tutorial.   

 Susan is a very multi-talented lady.  She baked some very incredible snack cakes for us called "Cliffords!  (Red-Velvet Snack Cakes).  In addition to all the other crafty things Susan does, she is a master baker.  If you would like to check out the recipe for these delicious snack cakes and all her other recipes, you can check out this link.  Thank you Susan for taking time out of your busy schedule for us.

Well I couldn't do this post without showing you another gorgeous flower  I made with the Susan's Garden dies.  Don't these dies create the most realistic rose you have ever seen!  I can almost smell this rose!   I started out by die cutting the rose with vanilla card stock.  The center of each petal was sponged with Spun Sugar Distress Ink then the edges of the petals sponged with Tea Dye Distress Ink.  I love the color it turned out.  The rose was assembled the same as the one I created in my Rose Tutorial at this link.
The other products used to create this card include the Marianne Design (DS0907) embossing folder; Impression Obsession Leaves; Memory Box "Fresh Foliage",  Memory Box "Chloe Stem". Along the bottom of the card I used the Memory Box "Tessatina Border".   All the dies needed to complete the rose and the rose leaves are in the Sizzix, Susan's Garden Rose" die set.  I used the Sizzix Flower Tool Kit to shape the petals and leaves. 

Here is a list of all the products you can purchase from Joan's Gardens:
Sizzix, Susan's Garden Rose die set, (658411)
Sizzix,  Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit (568437)
Marianne Design embossing folder (DS0907)
Impression Obsession "leavy Branch" (DIE055-N)
Memory Box "Fresh Foliage" (98502)
Memory Box "Chloe Stem" (98321)
Memory Box "Tessatina Border" (98302)

Distress Inks, Spun Sugar and Tea Dye

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Joan's Weekly Challenge

It is time for a new challenge at Joan's Gardens. This week we want you to create a card 

• Use a leafy design for the background (die cut, stamped or embossed)
• Add purple flowers
• Use green, purple and white for colors
• Use a sentiment

Please go over to Joan's Gardens for all the challenge rules, to see this weeks prize,  and to post your card.

For my card I use the Spellbinders  "5x7 Matting Basics A" dies to create my card.  If you are not familiar with these dies, you get 7 dies in this set, plus 7 dies in the Matting Basics B" set to help you create perfectly cut cards or perfect matting pieces for your cards.  I used the third largest die from the Matting Basics A set for this card.

To cut a perfect card, fold your card stock in half and place the folded edge just inside the cutting line of the die.  Tape it down so it doesn't slip when going through the machine.  When cutting your card with these dies, you get a pretty embossed line around the edge, which makes your card look very professional.

Here you can see the card once it is die cut.

For the delicate "cover" over my card, I used the Heartfelt Creations "Vintage Floret Frame PreCut Set" to stamp the design on a piece of green card stock.  I die cut it with the matching  "Decorative Leafy Frame Die".  In order to get the stamped design folded just perfect to place in the die so I could have the lacy design on the front and back of the card, I used a ruler and the ScorPal to make a score line down the side.  With the ruler lined up on the ScorPal I could wiggle the card just right so my score line would go right next to the stamped edge.     

In case you are not familiar with how to use this Heartfelt Creations stamp and die, here is a picture of how you do it.  First you tape the die to a piece of card stock and cut out the design.  With this one you end up with a frame to place over the stamped frame; it also cuts out around the leafy design.  With the die still attached, you place that frame over the stamped image, lining up the stamped edge with the die cut frame.  I have a piece of wax paper in my die that stayed there from the last die cut.  If you use wax paper between the die and card stock, it comes right out.  Tape the die cut frame down with removable tape so it doesn't move.

Place the die down over the stamped image.  You can feel it when you have it down in the die cut; tape so it doesn't move.

Here are the two pieces I created for my card - the lacy frame (cover) to go over the Spellbinders cut card.  I placed a 1/8" strip of ScorTape down the fold of the green frame and attached the white card inside.   

The sentiment from the Heartfelt Creations "Classic Message PreCut Set" stamp set was stamped in the center of the circle.   The leafy frame has three die cut flowers so I used the Heartfelt Creations "Open Vintage Floret" and "Mini Vintage Floret" stamp sets to stamp the three sizes of flowers, then colored them with markers.  There are three layers to each flower.  They were shaped with the Sizzix Flower Tool Kit.  In the center of each flower I added some Viva Black Paper Pen.

I hope you will join us in our challenge this week at Joan's Gardens.

Here is a list of all the products I used from Joan's Gardens:

Spellbinders "5x7 Matting Basics A (S6-001)

Heartfelt Creations "Vintage Floret Frame PreCut Set" (HCPC 3522)

Heartfelt Creations "Decorative Leafy Frame Die" (HCD 731)

Heartfelt Creations "Open Vintage Floret PreCut Set" (HCPC 3500)

Heartfelt Creations "Mini Vintage Floret PreCut Set" (HCPC 3502)

Heartfelt Creations "Vintage Floret Die" (HCD 727)

Heartfelt Creations "Classic Message PreCut Set" (HCPC 3354)

Sizzix "Flower Tool Kit"  (658437)

Versafine "Onyx Black" Archival Instant Dry Pigment Ink pad

Ranger "Super Fine Detail Clear" embossing powder

ScorPal

Susan's Garden Peony - My Tutorial

I have had a lot of requests to do a tutorial on how to create a peony with the new dies from the Sizzix "Susan's Gardens" set.  Susan does have instructions in each package plus you can see her video over at Joan's Gardens, but below is my version of how to create this beautiful flower.  First I will tell you about the card before going into the tutorial.

I used the eBosser "Delicate Dots" embossing folder for the background. The corners are the Joy! Crafts 6002/0135 Noor! Design corners.  I die cut the Marianne Design Anja doily out of white card stock and die cut the "angle wing" in pink.  The center was also die cut out of white card stock.  The little butterfly is from the Cheery Lynn Mini Butterflies die set.

Tutorial for creating the Peony with the Sizzix Susan's Garden Peony dies.

I started out by die cutting 8 each of all the flower petals.  I would rather have too many petals prepared for a flower than to have to go back and die cut and condition more when I am working on a flower.  This particular die is larger than most of the flower dies and you can cut several layers at one time.

This picture shows the process in creating each layer.  This is the largest petal being glued to a "green" base.  Alternate the petals as you glue them in.  The base is green on this layer because it is the bottom of the flower.

This is how your flower will look when you have all six petals of the bottom layer of the peony.

On the layers that I create for the middle of the flower, I like to use the same color "base" as the petals so that it doesn't show.  This will be the second row from the bottom.

Here are the bottom layer on the left, and the next layer up on the right.  You can see that I glued the petals in closer to the center of the base to create a slightly smaller layer, on the layer on the right.

Here are the bottom three layers completed. 

Next you will glue the three  layers together, adding glue just in the very center on the bottom of each.  Press them down in the shaping mat with the stylus to get them to cup and to help them stick together.  The loose petals are the next size up (or smaller) petals.  These will be individually glued into the center of the "so far" assembled flower.  You don't need to add them all at this point.

To create the very center of the peony, I glued three of these petals together in a fan shape. You can see that in the top of this picture.   I created two  sets like this.  I then added glue to the base of each, and put them in the center of the flower.  You want to slightly overlap the ends (side) so you have a bud type center.  Now you can go back and start gluing in any of the loose petals where you feel you need a little more fullness.  

To complete the flower, you need to shape all the petals once it is dry.   This is additional shaping from what you did in the beginning.   I shaped my petals to bend down (you can see that in the first pictures, but decided I wanted them all to bend up.  Because they were kind of "cupped", when I put my fingers on them, they would bend the other direction and I ended up with the all the petals bending up.  They are easier to manipulate when they have been conditioned in the beginning.  I used the round nose pliers to shape and bend the petals to look realistic.  

The leaves were shaped with the leaf tool and pad in the Flower Tool Kit.  I added some shading with a slightly darker green Distress Ink.  At the very end, I decided I wanted a variegated peony so I brushed on some White Distress Paint. 

This is a very easy flower to create.  Once you get all the petals attached, let it thoroughly dry, then be sure to shape the petals to your satisfaction for the realistic look.  I know you will have fun with this.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope this information is helpful.  I am leaving this morning on a trip, which I will tell you about later, so I will be not able to answer any questions for a few days.

You can purchase all the products I use from Joan's Gardens.

Sizzix, Susan's Gardens, Peony (658423)

Sizzix Susan's Gardens, Flower Tool Kit

eBosser "Delicate Dots" embossing folder

Marianne Design "Anja Doily" die set (LR)236)

Joy Crafts "Noor Design Corners" (6002/0135)

Round Nose Pliers

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Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop

It is time for the May Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop. We have 11 designers participating this month and I hope we give you a lot of inspiration for working with your Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies, and design paper.  Be sure to visit each of the blogs, and leave a comment on each, so you will have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations.  Here are the 11 designers participating:

• Dina Kowal
• Selma Stevenson-(You are here)
• Nataliya Simpson 
• Candy Slabaugh 
• Emilia van den Heuvel 
• Vicki Dutcher 
• Sarah Miller 
• Caroline Duncan 
• Mary Faus 
• Cibele Glazer  
• Lisa Allen

Again this month I wanted to come up with a different type of project.  I decided to use the design paper from the Heartfelt Creations "Countryside Evening Collection" and create a paper sculpture.  I love how it turned out.  I started out by cutting the design paper in fourths and using the corner with the floral design.  There are two sheets of each design in this pad, so I cut this design from both sheets.  From one of the sheets, I cut out all the little leaves and flowers, and shaped each one, then glued them over the design in the other piece to give the design dimension.  Yes, it was a little time consuming, but I think well worth it.  Next, I used the bird stamp from the "Melodious Songbird PreCut Set" to add to this sculpted design.  I cut away part of the stamped design so it would look good added to the design in the paper.  The bird was colored with chalk pencils and the leaves with a Copic marker.  I forgot to mention that I stamped the bird on the part of the design paper where I was cutting off the leaves and flowers.  It gave the bird great shading; it was attached with dimensional tape.

Here is a closeup so I hope you can see the dimension on the design.  In the center of each of the flowers I added a tiny dot of Viva "Sunny Yellow" Paper Pen.  For the sentiment I used one of the designs from another page in the "Countryside Evening Collection" pad, and backed it with a piece of black card stock.

I hope you enjoy our blog hop and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations.  The winner will be announced at noon, Saturday, June 1.

Your next stop will be to Nataliya's beautiful project.

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens:

Heartfelt Creations "Countryside Evening Collection" paper pad

Heartfelt Creations "Melodious Songbird PreCut Set" (HCPC 3511)

Viva "Sunny Yellow 201" Paper Pen

Dimensional Tape

Crafter's Choice white glue

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