Herbs & Honey Jar of Flowers Tutorial ~ FotoBella DT

   Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's out there!! I instantly thought of my own Mom when I first saw Basic Grey's Herbs & Honey I want it all bundle from FotoBella, so I made her this card with a jar full of flowers that she can keep forever.

   I started with the back of the radish paper that's full of flowers. 

Fussy cut however many flowers that you want to use. I made a few too many, but saved them for another project.

Quickly dip your flowers in water and curl your petals up. You can wait for them to dry or give them a blast with a heat gun. 

Take the jar that comes in the Diecuts and Transparencies and place it where you want on your project. Don't glue it down yet, but trace around it using a pencil. I used a mixture of Alcohol Inks (Stream and Lettuce) with Alcohol Blending Solution, which lightens the colors, on the back of the jar to create water.

Now add some stems with a pencil inside your drawn jar. I hand-stitched mine with green embroidery thread, but if sewing isn't your thing, you could always use a green marker.

Now attach your flowers to the stems, and glue your jar down over them using Glossy Accents, which will dry clear.

The Seeds of Love packet, which comes in the Printed Kraft Bags, is the perfect size to add some cash or a gift card! Perfect for any Mother! Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!

Pop Quiz Report Card Holder ~ FotoBella DT

   Bo Bunny's Pop Quiz I want it all bundle is so perfect for all of your scrappy academic needs, from kindergarten all the way through college! I made this report card holder to store my son's report cards from this year. I can't believe he'll be graduating from elementary and starting middle school soon!

   I started this page with some misting and a houndstooth stencil. I used the stamp that comes in the ephemera package to stamp the black scroll on the corner of the photo. I cut all of the library card pockets out of paper and added the paper clip and buttons.

1. To make the report card holder cut the Study Hall striped paper at 6 1/2" x 5", and finish the edges with the Tim Holtz paper distresser.

2. Glue Study Hall paper onto the red library paper and cut around the edges with  decorative zigzag  scissors, inking them with Distress Ink (black soot).

3. Now take the black paper that comes in the ephemera package, which is just the right size, and trim about an 1 1/2" off of the ends. Use the paper distresser around the edges. Set aside until the next step.

4. Now take the striped piece and handstitch a line 1/4" away from the top edge, using black embroidery thread, and another line 1" away from the first one. 

5. Before you do anymore stitching, glue just the ends of the bottom and two sides onto the black distressed paper, making sure to leave the top open for the pocket. Now you can stitch a 1/4" from the edges on the sides and bottom.

6. Right under the second stitched line from the top I applied the ruler and pencil that comes in the layered chipboard. Under that I pulled some of the gingham ribbon that also comes in the ephemera package through the A+ button. I used the top progress report, that also comes in the layered chipboard, and backed it with the hall pass paper, using my zigzag scissors around the edges and inking them with black soot Distress Ink. I used a red Sharpie to write my son's name on it, and then finally put the report cards inside. 

You can get this awesome bundle or any of your other scrappy needs at FotoBella! Thanks for your visit!

Woodland Snowflake Tutorial ~ Fotobella DT

I'm so excited to share my first tutorial for Fotobella using Bo bunny's Woodland Winter I want it all bundle! I'm just in LOVE with this collection of GORGEOUS papers and embellies, not to mention the colors!! Perfect with these snow pics of mine.

I started by using some Glimmer Mist (slate) and reninker (antique linen) on the background. Then I used a snowflake stamp. The distressed edges were covered with Gesso. Here's a closer look at the typed journaling, which was one of the ingredients for this month's 5 Ingredients + yours challenge @ Scrapbook.com. The other ingredients were to use the color navy, ribbon, something stamped, and 3 pictures.

To make the snowflakes start by gathering some twigs outside. Using the Woodland Blizzard paper fussy cut out some snowflakes. I decided on this one that I used on the top left of my LO. Then pick another paper and cut out a circle slightly larger than your snowflake. I used Woodland Winter Journal.  Now cover the edges with gesso and glue your snowflake onto it. 

Break your twigs into 6 equal pieces, and cover with Gesso.

Glue the twigs onto your snowflake, using the center design as your guide.

Now find some bling for the center. I used this pearl to mimic a snowball.

Then cut pieces from another snowflake and glue under the circle, in between the twigs. Here's the finished result.

You can get so many different looks just by combining different snowflakes, papers, and gems. Here's the other one that I made.

If you don't have Gesso you could always use white paint. Stickles or Smooch could also work to make your snowflakes sparkle. Just have fun with it!

Fishville Flower Tutorial

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!! Before searching out some sales and spending time with family, I wanted to share my latest work with you, including another flower tutorial.

These gorgeous colors were inspired by the August Design Seeds Challenge at Scrapbook.com.I did the twist with my distressed sharp corners. It's also my entry for the August 5 Ingredients Challenge to use
1.teal
2.patterned paper background
3.buttons
4.2 photos
5.paper strips

I used foam Thicker's for the title and shaded the bottom alphas with Distress Ink (peacock feathers and spiced marmalade).

To make my paper strips I started with a sheet of white cardstock, which I misted with Glimmer Mists (Bahama blue, Valencia, It's black,  and dark purple), and Lindy's Stamp Gang Mist (Tibetan Poppy Teal). After it dried, I tore the strips and used water to curl the edges over. Then I applied Stickles (mermaid) over the strips to make them sparkle. After layering them together I glued down some fibers and yarns to give them even more texture.

While going through my stash of handmade flowers, I found the perfect one with the top smaller one next to the title. There's so many fun color choices you can make with these, that I decided to make some more to share with you!

I started by cutting some flowers out of white cardstock using my Cricut (Storybook cartridge). Make sure to use the shadow feature and the shift button before pressing S, which will say hibiscus. Cut one at 3", 2", 1 1/2", and 2 at 1".

Using some scissors, cut the stems off.

Pick 3 different inks and use your blending tool to apply them to your flowers. I used spiced marmalade, peacock feathers, and evergreen bough).

Then wet your flowers and scrunch them from the centers.

After opening them up I shaped the petals towards the middle. For the bud I scrunched my smallest 1" flower and opened up a petal or 2 to fold over. It's kinda hard to explain so I hope you can tell from the photo.

Starting with the largest flower on the bottom, layer and glue the rest of your flowers. Cut the middle bud a little at the end, before gluing in the center of your flower.

Your flower should now look like this. If you want to give it some shimmer like I did, then just add some Glimmer Mist (dazzling diamond).

The flower on top was made the same way, except I switched the orange marmalade out for dusty concord instead. I'm sure you can come up with a color combo that'll be just right for your page!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Berry Blossom Tutorial

"Grow" is the theme this month at Once Upon A Sketch,  and what better way to show growth than with the beauty of new blossoms on the trees, like the ones I captured here, while on a walk around my neighborhood a few Springs ago.

I was instantly inspired by this sketch and will probably use it again.

This also my entry for the Photo Inspiration Challenge at BOAF. I have so many paint swatches and used strips of them behind the photo. The red rose below the journaling and the circles in the centers of the larger pink flowers are rub-ons that I've had for years, making this my entry for the Four Categories Challenge. I started this page by masking the doily on the upper left, and using the actual mask as a stamp for the doily on the bottom right.

I used a real doily which I inked, cut a circle from the center with scallop scissors, and then cut it in half. The largest flower was stamped, embossed, inked, and fussy cut from white cardstock.

I used a light pink vellum to print my journaling on, and glued it behind this scallop wood veneer, which like the rest, were sprayed with Lindy Stamp Gang mist. The doily behind that was stamped just like the one in the upper right corner, but with different colored inks.

Now to make the Berry Blossoms! I used my Cricut (Serenade cartridge) to cut my flowers from white cardstock. Cut 2 flower 5's at 2" and 2 plant 3's at 1 1/2".

I used Distress Ink (picked raspberry) and my blending tool to color the flowers pink.

Then I dipped my flower into water and starting in the center I folded and crumbled it. I opened it up and while it was still wet I used my Distress Ink (aged mahogany) to go over the edges and the lines that I just made by crumbling it.

Once it's dry, layer your 2 flowers together with some glue. I use Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue.

To make the centers, use Distress Ink (seedless preserves) and your blending tool to color the tips leaving the middle white.

Now curl your tips up and over using the end of a paintbrush or some tool to help curl your petals.I used a rub-on tool.

Then glue your centers together like this.

For the center I used this circle rub-on that I've had forever, but you could use bling, buttons, brads, or whatever you'd like.

For my smaller blossoms I used pink puffy paint for the centers. Here's a close-up of them both finished on my page.

Thanks for looking!