Bente's Sunday layout using the Tattered florals die.

Hi, I am happy to be back here on the blog this lovely Sunday to share one of my latest projects. 

I was lucky to get the beautiful Bigz die 'Tattered florals' by Tim Holtz to play with and as you can see I did just that. I could hardly stop making those  shabby looking beauties :-)

 When you start diecutting the different layers there is no rule for how many layers you add. Depending on the size you cut the flower will look different. It is really versatile. These flowers are the very first I made so you see anyone can make them,....

 I found it's a good idea to add pop dots between some of the layers to get the flowers more 'natural' looking. You can of course easily choose to bend and shape the petals with your hands. I, however, discovered an awesome tool for making flowers that now I would not manage to be without.

 It's the 'Susan's Garden Tool Kit' and it is really awesome. There is a link for it below in the list of products used. If you like to make your own flowers you should definitely try these tools.

I found out how to use them from some great movies on YouTube with Susan Tierney Cockburn.

For the diamond shaped bits peeking out here and there I used one of the new framework dies, lattice.

This time I decided to use the patterned side of the paper so the diecut would be a little less conspicious. HERE you can see it used with a solid colour .

Sizzix products used on this page:

658300 Sizzix Big Shot starter kit (Powder blue and teal )

656640 Sizzix Bigz die, Tattered florals

658437 Susan's Garden Tool Kit 

659432 Sizzix frameworks die, lattice 

Other products:

Scraps of Elegance April kit

Papers Glitz 'All Dolled Up', Bo Bunny 'Primrose',

Flowers Prima, Petaloo,Metal frame Maya Road,

leaves and daisies from my stash.

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Hejsan! Vad roligt att vara tillbaka här på bloggen för att visa er min senaste sida!

Jag hade turen att få diesen 'Tattered Florals' skickat till mig och helt ärligt kunde jag knappt lägga den ifrån mig.

Det finns inget bestämt antal av blomlager som du behöver. 

Det är upp till dig och hur du vill ha din blomma. Om du inte vill ha en stor blomma så trycker du bara ut de mindre blomdelarna. Jag gjorde både små och stora blommor till min sida.

Jag tycker att det är en god ide att lägga limkuddar mellan några av lagren så blomman
kommer lite mera 'upp'. Den blir lite bulligare och mera naturlig då.
Det går såklart ganska lätt att böja och forma blommorna med fingrarna. Jag har dock ett hett tips!
Jag upptäckte några fantastiska verktyg för att göra egna blommor som heter 'Susan's garden tool kit'. Jag vill verkligen tipsa er om dessa. Nu när jag har dom hade jag inte klarat mig utan!
Det finns en länk till verktygen i produktlistan och om du gillar handgjorda blommor rekommenderar jag att ni kollar dom :-) Själv lärde jag mig använda verktygen genom att titta på en film på YouTube med damen som kommit på detta; Susan Tierney Cockburn.

För de diamantmönstret som sticker fram här och där i bakgrunden har jag använt en av de nya framework diesen kallat 'Trellies'. Jag använde den mönstrade sidan av pappret nu för att få ett lite mjukare uttryck. HÄR kan du se diesen brukt med ett mörkt papper, något som ger större kontrast.

Sizzix produkter brukt her:

658300 Sizzix Big Shot starter kit (Powder blue and teal )

656640 Sizzix Bigz die, Tattered florals

658437 Susan's Garden Tool Kit 

659432 Sizzix frameworks die, lattice 

Andre produkter:

Scraps of Elegance April kit

Papper Glitz 'All Dolled Up', Bo Bunny 'Primrose',

Blommor Prima, Petaloo,Metal frame Maya Road,

löv and andre blomster fra mina gömmor.

.

In Rememberance

First of all I want to extend my thanks to all the staff and Customers of Rayher in the beautiful city of Ljubljana. I had a great three days and wish I could have spent more time exploring the beautiful countryside. I was lucky enough on my first day to have lunch on the edge of Lake Bled which is absolutely stunning, check out the link! We ran four separate workshops each day and on the first evening we had late night shopping at which I demonstrated all things Sizzix, they even served Sizzix cocktails (non-alcoholic I might add!)

 This Sunday I will take my place at the local cenotaph alongside many friends who have served in the forces down the years. The Poppy is such an evocative symbol and lends itself perfectly to innumerable craft applications, it works as well for appliqué as it does for paper crafting and there are many shades and varieties to choose from too.

I thought I would create a couple of simple cards this week using poppies, one using the fabulous Thinlits Poppy set by Susan Tieney-Cockburn and the other using some imitation silk from an old cushion cover.

As well as the Thinlits set I also used my Trusty Susan's Garden Tool Kit and decorative papers from the My Mind's Eye Collectable Range.

I started By Die cutting two sets of petals from red card, the leaves and central stamen from green card and 3 more stamen and the calyx from black card ( to find out more about the tools and techniques click on the links above to find tool kit tips and die specific instructions as well as some general tips)

Next, I inked the centre of each petal as well as the edges to add a little definition, if you prefer you can use pastels. I shaped each petal with the ball end stylus and 'stirred' the centre of the calyx on which the petals sit before attaching them one at a time with PVA glue.

I coloured all the leaves with a blue ink pad finishing the tips with black. Next, I stirred and shaped the green calyx on the foam mat and snipped down the centre of each spoke of the black stamen with a pair of scissors before cupping and stirring on the foam mat.

After separating the spokes with my finger tips I attached all three black stamen to the flowers centre followed by the green stamen and attached the leaves to the rear of the petals.

I hand cut the black pennant and created the text using my PC before printing onto the face of a standard sized card.

The second card was created using a Bigz Circle die of which there are many. I think it's an essential piece of my die stash, maybe the essential piece.

 I die cut 3 green and 3 red circles from a man made silk/satin fabric, in the end I didn't use the medium sized circles but they will come in handy soon I have no doubt! I folded the smaller red circle in half and grasping it in my tweezers I ran the crease over the flame of a candle to make it permanent.I then repeated the last step working around the flower before sealing the edges of the circle over the candle flame.

I sealed the edge of the larger circle in the same way before placing them together.I placed one of the green circles back against the die, but slightly offset to create a leaf shape. Once I had the four leaves I again folded then up the centre and creased them over the candle flame as before. Finally, I attached the circles together using a jewelled brad and mounted the leaves onto the rear.

This is the finished card, I created the text on my PC and added a length of folded ribbon with the ends trimmed as shown.

In the Frame!

I know that I have been harping on about the Susan's Garden collection of 3D flower dies from Sizzix but I make no apologies whatsoever because they are Amazing to work with and the results are always first class. This week I thought I would post some simple instructions using the dogwood flower set. I have used it in a slightly different way to which it was intended which is fine because if it looks great it is great, end of story!

I wanted to decorate a picture frame for my Mum keeping to a very simple colour palette and here is how I began........

I started by gathering together my Tool Kit and die set next I cut the flowers and stamen from white card and the leaves from green card. I used a Memento dye ink pad to add a little colour to the edges of the petals, chalks also work well for applying colour.

I used my stylus tools and molding mat to soften the card and form into a more naturalistic petal shape (see Instructions by following this link). Next attach both sets of petals using PVA and use a stylus to form the stamen.

Add PVA glue to the tips of the stamen and dip into Lemon Flower Soft (or pale green if preferred) and once dry, mount into the centre of the flower.

Add a little depth to the colour of the leaves using Dark brown and blue Distress inks to give a more naturalistic appearance. Next, use the leaf tool to add a vain down the centre of the leaf and use the stylus tools to form the edges. Pinch each leaf at the end which attaches to the flower and attach to the back of the flower using PVA glue.

Repeat this process a dozen times (actually, you would do them all together in a mini production line!) and attach to your frame.