Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Creating Paper Flowers

I've seen some video tutorials of how to make these absolutely adorable paper flowers that can be used for anything from home decor to cards to pages and jewellery, so I thought I'd give it a go myself!

Now- mine is a 2 part tutorial. In order to make the flowers, you can use water OR Smooch Spritz. Smooch spritz is amazing and can be used in so many ways, but the colour is limited. Stampin' Up sells everything you need to create your own coloured smooch spritzes. You'll need:
*New! Stampin' Spritzer- 126185
Shimmer Paint (I used Frost White) 116854
Stampin' Re-inkers (Rich Razzleberry shown) 115664
Water (free! lol)

These spritzers are amazing! You can forgo the shimmer paint and just make a coloured spritzer. I added way too much shimmer paint in mine ;) You can add less- just a few drops of re-inker and shimmer paint, (depending on the intensity you want- start small), add water and shake it up! Make sure you leave room at the top to add more if you want, and to close your spritzer. You'll have to shake between uses as well. Being as I added too much shimmer, I was able to add more water after I used some already and make it go longer. Another cool thing about the spritzers, is that you get TWO in a package! You can use it to splatter die whisper white ribbon, mask images and create a background. So I made myself some personalized smooch spritz and used it to create my own flowers.
 Okay- first you're going to need to cut out some flower shapes. You can use your dies with the Big Shot, or some punches. You can use the same flower over and over, or you can use different shapes and types of flowers for a different dynamic.
 I cut 6 flowers out of Whisper White cardstock, and then I inked the edges (this is important if you're using plain water and want some colour on your flowers- I didn't really need to do this step as I used my Rich Razzleberry smooch spritzer I made earlier).
 Next, add liquid. You can do this by spraying your flowers with the Smooch Spritz, personalized spritzer or plain water (as you can see- mine turned out really silvery- too much Glimmer Mist in my mix!)
 After the flowers are wet enough (not TOO wet though! be careful!) pinch/crumple them up. I start at the outter centre and crumpled them inwards.
 Uncrumple them. Make sure you have a protective mat and paper piercer. I used the Paper-Piercing Tool (126189) and the Stampin' Pierce Mat (126199) (note- these are handy to have beyond using them for this project. Check out the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack in the Annual catalogue- great way to accentuate various SU! punches and dies!)
 Layer your crumpled flowers on top of each other. You can have them perfectly layered, or of set them.
 Using your tool, pierce through all the flowers at once.



 Be careful!
 Once you've pierced them, add a brad (I used a Glimmer brad in the 2012 In Colours). I also used some Vanilla Smooch Sprtiz to re-wet my flower so I could squish the flowers inward.
 Squishing the petals inwards create a different shape. Play with it til you get the desired effect. You could make it more 3D, and once the flower dries- it'll be sturdy for whatever project you'd like. You could also sponge some ink on it here if you'd like.
Lay the petals flatter if you're putting your creation on a card or scrapbook page.









use your flower to accent your creations. I made a simple card so the flower could be the focal point. I've made a few other flowers and these are so much fun and so elegant. They look like the expensive pre-made ones, but are quick, easy and can be customized for whatever project you're doing! Try them, they're addictive!


Thanks for stopping by!

~Brandie~

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Pretty Pennants

Hi!
After making so many rosette banners, I got an order for something using "upside down triangles" (non craft speak for pennants). I wasn't too sure how to make a banner out of them, for my beautiful photographer friend who needed them for her studio, and I don't have the die. She also wanted them BIG, so unfortunately the Stampin' Up die wouldn't work. It's gorgeous, I wants it! but it's not as big as she was looking for. I also didn't have much inspiration as I had never made them before (save the mini ones using the Pennant Parade stamp set and XL punch). I really didn't know where to start. As I searched Pinterest and Splitcoaststampers, I found some nice ones- but they weren't what I was looking for. So after a while of thinking, parusing the internet and prayer for inspiration I finally whipped up these:
 
She wanted an "It's a Boy" and "It's a Girl" banner for her studio for the new baby pics :) I really did enjoy making these after I was inspired. I cut basic triangles instead of specific pennant ones, and the using my Scalloped Border punch, created a bunch of scalloped strips and stratigicly placed them behind the triangles. Then I was stuck again :/ I didn't know how to punch up a pennant! After playing around with ink colours and stamps, I used a couple of retired SU! jumbo wheels and created a smaller Whisper White triangle and rolled the stamped image over them. Then I cut large scalloped circles and alternated the colours with the triangles. For the boys banner I used Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Basic Grey. I love that combo (you know, you know) but the font I printed out really made it stand out that much more and works so well. I am in love with the boy's one! Then I got to make some more rosettes (YAY!) and layered them with scallops and a couple of Certainly Celery and Old Olive buttons from my collection. I strung some sheer thick ribbon through the back to connect each triangle and then added some strips of retired Whisper White grossgrain ribbon for a bit of flair. Here's a close- up of the boy's one: 



 The girl's banner I used Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink and Basic Black. The colours went really well together, but the extra patterned paper I had laying around for the rosettes didn't really do it justice. I wasn't as happy with it. But it still had the same idea as the boys, and a more flirty font.
These were actually so much fun to make once I got the inspiration down pat. I definately can't wait to get a hold of the new products from the Stampin' Up! Occasions catalogue to create more of these for the upcoming holidays! So stay tuned and see what else we can do with these fabulous pennants!






~Brandie~

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Occasion Mini and Demonstrator News

Summer is flying by and with it each day is quickly behind me. Not that I mind being busy, but the days are so filled with children and kid-related stuff that crafting and blogging can be non-exsistent at times. Which is sad as I have tons of projects and quite miss blogging. But, for me and my kids anyways, there are 4 and a half short weeks before school starts up again. And with that comes family birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am so glad that Stampin' Up! has started putting their Occasions Catalogue out a full month early. What a great way to pass those rainy summer days by getting a head start on holiday crafting!
To get a peek at the new catalogue, click the link on the side bar. I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on some of the new products and begin showing the amazing things you can create too!

The next bit of August news if for all people signing up to become Demonstrators during this month. It's a great time to sign up anytime, but right before the holidays is perfect as you have a chance to get these amazing products at a discount and can show your friends, co-works, neighbours, kids friend's parents and more different holiday themed projects to get them excited and introduce them to the wonders of Stampin' Up! By signing up in August, you get this FREE Spooktacular Kit. It is super cute and full of possibilities!
As I had mentioned when the Annual Catalogue came out in June, it's was $215 (cnd) to sign up and now it's only $125- for up to $155 worth of products- your choice- plus $70 worth of business materials to get your business started. There is so much much much more to be excited about, about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator- so why not leave a message and I can let you know in person the wonderful opportunity you get just by joining my team.

Now- it's been a while- so I will keep with my Stampin' Up! theme by posting this SU! only project:
I had a lot of fun creating this card. I created my own background by sponging colours on top of each other on bare Whisper White Cardstock. I didn't want to take away from the focal point of the card. So by sponging Calypso Coral and Pretty in Pink with the Stampin' Sponges, I made a marbley type bacground, and just added a strip of Pretty In Pink stamped randomly with the Bordering on Romance Stamp Set. Then I created a layered mat for my stamped image and stamped the main flower from the stamp set 3 times. I coloured each image, and then cut out different pieces. Then using my Stampin' Dimensionals, I created a 3D effect by layering each smaller piece on the previous piece. After I stamped my sentiment with Curly Cute and matted it, I just adhered them opposite each other on this gatefold card and voila! Simple yet effective!

I hope you take the time to look at the new products, and stay tuned as my brain is BRIMMING with possibilities! The holidays are truly my favourite time and I will be a crafting mad-woman. Hopefully the houseful of kiddos can make blogging more of a reality too ;) Take care!

~Brandie~