Monday 13 March 2017

A Mother's Love...

Hello friends and welcome to a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week, the theme is all about HANDMADE FLOWERS and we challenge you to make some of your own! You can of course do this anyway you choose, maybe you will use die cut flowers, or stamp some of your own, or maybe you have your own ideas! Whatever you make we will be looking forward to seeing your beautiful blooms!

For my project, this challenge couldn't have come at a better time as here in the UK, we will be celebrating Mother's Day on the 26th March. So, with this in mind, I decided to create a special card for my Mum ~ she's highly sensitive to all fresh flowers, so what better than to create some handmade flowers that I know she will love!


 
...it's time for a new challenge!

To begin with I started by making my flowers and for these I used the Jumbo Tattered Florals Die to die cut some lightweight cotton calico fabric. For each flower I cut two of the medium sized six petal flower on the die and three of the smallest flower with five petals. I chose to use my two favourite colours ~ blue and orange and started by spritzing the fabric with a light mist of water. Then for the blue flowers, I used Broken China Distress Spray Stain and spritzed enough die cut petals to create two dimensional flowers. Using a piece of kitchen paper towel, squeeze out any excess colour or water from the fabric and then heat dry the colour stained die cut petals. You will find that you have some stain remaining on your sheet ~ don't waste this, I just spritz it with water and then mop it all up with a piece of card which I will use later on as a matting layer for my finished project. Create the orange flower in exactly the same way, using Spiced Marmalade Distress Spray Stain.

I then laid out all my petals onto a non stick craft sheet and using a paintbrush, I applied a coat of Clear Sculpture Medium over the top of each die cut. Don't oversaturate the material but apply a good even coverage onto the back and the front of the petals. This medium allows me to create dimension to the flower by giving a rigidity to the fabric so that I can sculpt the petals and the flower to create a wonderful 3D bloom ~ it's fabulous!
I then semi dried my coated petals before starting to shape each flower by taking the two large petals and three of the small petals, layering each section over the top of one another and slightly offsetting each of the die cuts. Pinching the middle of the flowers together, scrunch and shape the petals whilst the medium is drying and then set aside to dry completely. I left them overnight.

Once my flowers were holding the shape, I poked a small hole though the centre of all the layers and then added some beautiful pearl stamens. After fixing the stamens into place with some florist wire, my flowers were complete.

The leaves are created in exactly the same way as the flowers, die cut using the Jumbo Tattered Florals die and colouring them with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain before adding a coat of the Sculpture Medium, shaping them and allowing them to dry until the material has stiffened and will hold it's shape.

Now that I have my flowers, I moved onto the background and for this I cut a piece of watercolour card, 14cm square and misted the card with water and then, swished it through Antique Linen and Spun Sugar Distress Stain applied to a craft sheet. If you need more colour, just pick up any of the remaining stain on your sheet before heat drying the card.

Once the card was dry, I placed the central section of the card into the Lace Texture Fade, this will emboss the central section but leave a plain edged border top and bottom. Emboss the card through your machine and then using a blending tool, apply some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink over the top of the raised areas and around the edge. Mist the inked card with some more water and allow the ink to do what it does best. Heat dry the card thoroughly before machine stitching around the outside.
Matt the embossed card onto a piece of gold metallic card, followed by the stained card from earlier. Mount these layers onto corrugated card, distressed with a little gesso and then matt onto orange card from the Classic Kraft Paper Stash, as the final layer. Mount all your layers onto a black card blank.
Attach your flowers to the bottom left hand corner and I added some real twigs from my garden ~ it was a lucky find to get that twirly one!
To add the "LOVE" message, I used the Alpha Deco Die (love this die so much) to die cut gold metallic card and also Black Soot Kraft Core cardstock. I then layered each of the gold pieces over the top of the black to create a drop shadow before attaching them to my card.
As a finishing touch I added a metal heart and some gold sequins.
...and that completes this card which I hope has given you some ideas for your Mother's Day cards. Or if you don't want to create cards, then these flowers can also be used on home decor pieces, even hair decorations ~ the choices are endless!

As always, if you do need any further inspiration, then you need look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says StampYou have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....



Thank you so much for stopping by today and see you again very soon!
Love Emma xxx


Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies/Texture Fades: Jumbo Tattered Florals, Deco AlphaLace Texture Fade
Heat Gun
Twigs, stamens, corrugated card and calico fabric from my own stash

17 comments:

  1. beautiful shabby chic fabric flowers! Your mum is going to LOVE this card.

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  2. Absolutely Gorgeous Emma. So beautifully and thoughtfully crafted for your lovely Mum who I'm sure will adore and love it!
    Those twirly twigs (even your garden is arty :)) look wonderful with your super sculpted blooms.
    Thankyou for brightening my day with a fabulous burst of colour.
    Hope your Mum has a lovely day
    big big hugs x

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  3. I love the subtle effect of the embossing folder here, letting the flowers shine as the focal, but adding so much interest. Beautiful! Hugs, Autumn

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  4. Closer look at the flowers (maybe not so real... okay I know how to fix this) ... they are REAL PRETTY LOL Amazing technique for those flowers a must try ! Your mom will love this card !

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  5. Lovely fabric flowers! Their colors are so sweet and vibrant. I love the dimension a lot. Hugs, Marzena

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  6. Simply beautiful Emma. I also love blue and orange together and your fabric flowers are gorgeous - must look out for some of that sculpture medium! xx

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  7. There's so much to love about your card, Emma. The flowers are gorgeous, the background simple, elegant and perfect and the colors beautiful! It's such a treat every week to see what your amazing talent creates.

    Cathie ♥

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  8. What a gorgeous card for your Mum, Emma! Love the fabric flowers and I can tell this is made with love!! hugs, Maura

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  9. Gorgeous card Emma :-) I am sure your Mum will love this! the whole design is absolutely stunning!!

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  10. This is so absolutely pretty and I love how you made it for your mom! She'll love it and I like how she won't have to worry about any fresh flower allergies kicking up! Your card is both thoughtful and beautiful!

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  11. Truly amazing flowers! I love the fabric look you managed!

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  12. Beautiful card!!! I didn't know that you can use the dies to cut shapes out of fabric! So TFS- I learnt something very cool today:)
    Lemon Creation

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  13. Love this colorful work Emma! your fabric flowers are amazing as always! Tim's alphabet is on my wish list! Wonderful project my dear friend! barbara!

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  14. Emma, your fabric flowers are so pretty! Love the colours too. The gold letters are perfect.

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  15. another show stopp[er Emma...the fabric flowers are gorgeous and I'm sure your Mum is going to treasure this card...hugs kath xxx

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  16. Your creation is gorgeous, Emma. Love the beautiful fabric flower embellishments. Th background you created on this piece is awesome! :)

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  17. Stunning card, Emma! Love the big deco letters and the fabric flowers are gorgeous! Hugs, Sandra

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Thank you for all your comments and messages, they are all appreciated and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon...
Emma ~xx

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