Quick and Easy Frosted Flowers Tutorial

I don't know about you but I love frosted roses. This month's LE kit at MSC included a package of beautifully frosted Prima flowers. I wanted to recreate the look to add more sparkle and dimension to the other roses. This is what I did:
Supplies:

-Nonstick mat
-Flowers to be altered
-Smooch Spritz in Vanilla Shimmer
-Diamond Dust (found in the floral section at your local craft store)
-Ink
-Glossy Accents
-Heat gun

1. Ink the edges of the flower very lightly. Leave stems on for easier handling.

2. Spray your flower with Vanilla Shimmer spritz. This will give your flower a wonderful, colorless shimmer and will cause the edges to 'bleed' adding a more natural two-tone effect. Dry your flower with a heat gun.

3. Apply Glossy Accents in random spots.

4. Roll your flower on the Diamond Dust and let air dry. This may take 20 - 40 minutes depending on how much Glossy Accents you applied. Try and be patient here if you use the heat tool, the crystals can burn and become opaque.

5. This is what the finished roses look like. Love it! Hope you guys try it!

Artisan Elements Tutorial

If you have Pink Paislee's Artisan Elements, then you know how gummy and fun they are. The problem is that inking them and misting them only gives you a little bit of color, which is fine, but may not always be the result you're looking for.

Here's a quick tutorial on adding color and distressing the Artisan Elements to suit your projects:

What you'll need:

• Artisan Element of choice
• craft sheet
• paint and small brush
• Distress Ink and applicator
• baby wipe

1. Use a small paint brush to color your element making sure to cover all the grooves.

2. While the paint is still wet, use a baby wipe to remove paint from the raised areas.

3. Let the paint dry (or use a heat tool to speed up the process)

4. This step is totally optional, but to achieve a more tattered effect, ink your element with a coordinating shade of Distress Ink

5. Your Artisan Element is ready to embellish your page!

Here's an example of how I incorporated it into my layout:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and give it a try! These elements are fun and beautiful!

Vintage-Print Flowers Tutorial

Hello everyone! I have been promising this tutorial for the flowers I made for my "3" layout. I'm calling them Vintage-Print flowers. They're a quick and easy addition to any project.

You will need:

• Pages from an old book
• Scalloped circle punches in three different sizes or die cutting machine
• Glimmer Mist in your choice of color
• Distress Ink in your choice of color
• Brads or flower centers
• Liquid adhesive

1. Start by cutting 2 scallop circles in three different sizes in 1/2 inch increments. I cut mine at 2", 11/2", and 1" using my Cricut machine. Because my book is very old, the pages are very delicate so I made sure the pressure was set to low on my machine. Don't worry if they rip; they don't need to be perfect!

 

 

 2. Moisten your circles with Glimmer Mist.

 

 

 3. While the paper is still moist, scrunch them up to make them distressed. Use your heat tool to dry them.

  

 

 4. Carefully unfold the scrunched up balls and stack the circles.

  

 

 

 5. Secure with a brad, or add liquid adhesive and a flower center to adhere the scallop circles together.

 

 

6. To add some dimension, run a Distress Ink pad on the edges.

  

 

 7. Voila! Customized flowers for your project!

 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

A Couple of LOs and a Tutorial

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today I'd like to share a couple of LOs I created this past week. As soon as I saw the new Jack and Jill papers by Prima, I knew I had to scrap a photo of my kids. For the large circle in the background, I distressed a doily and layered it with pattern paper and Prima pearl trim. The little boy and little girl were cut out of the designer paper and mounted on pop dots. I titled it Hermanitos (siblings).

Love these Gallery Roses by Prima with the newspaper print!

The next LO was made using the gorgeous papers from the Road Show collection by Fancy Pants. The big die cut paper was created using the Gypsy Wanderings Cricut cartridge. I played up the beautiful rust and turquoise colors of the floral design to build my page and choose my embellishments. I really wanted to make this page very girly hence the femenine accents such as the dressform, the cameo and the crochet trim. Read on to see how I created the faux lace border. Enjoy!

Don't you just love that cameo? It came from a hair tie I got at the dollar store! To add dimension to the crochet trim, I scrunched it up in random places and adhered it using hot glue.

Paper Lace Border Tutorial

Punch along the edge of your paper using an edge punch. This technique will work with different border punches but I used Marth Stewart Doily Lace border punch (my favorite).

To add texture, ink your punched border with a complementary color.

Use a trimmer to cut out your punched border allowing an inch and a half of space.

 

Cut up your border at every scallop. 

Run your tape runner along the reverse side of the die cut shape you'd like to use, then simply adhere all the scallops upside down.

Hope you give it a try, this technique is fun and gives your die cut papers just enough difinition. Have a great week!

3 Months LO + Jenni Bowlin Doop

I went to AC Moore this past Friday, and was thrilled to find out they now carry Bo Bunny and brand new Prima goodies. I stocked up and went home to play! This is my creation...

I did LOTS of distressing for this LO starting with edging all papers and adding white paint. I also created these flowers using ripped paper from an old recycled book. I've also been adding feathers to everything I make and this was no exception, LOL! I went a little overboard I think but I'm pleased with the outcome. Here are some close ups...

The next thing I wanted to share with you is my Jenni Bowlin vintage trinket pin doop. This is quick and easy! All you have to do is:

1.Get a corsage pin from the wedding section at your craft store.

2.You can either color the head of the pin with alcohol inks, or a brush tip marker, or leave it as is with its pearl head!

3.Slide in a slider bead. This can be a shaped bead such as a butterfly or heart, or a vintage bead like the one I used.

3.Finish off with a small glass bead to hold things together. If necessary, add a drop of Glossy Accents and let dry.

4. That's it! These make darling embellishments and add the finishing touch to your flowers. I hope you give it a try, these are quick and fun to make.
 
This is what mine look like...

Santa Mail Keepsake Box

Before

After

I know what you're thinking, Santa? Aren't we in Spring? Yep, but... I had this project on my desk for awhile and I finally finished it. I wanted to make a keepsake box to keep all those letters Emily's written to Santa Claus before I loose them. I'm hoping to give them to her when she's older and doesn't believe in Santa anymore, say 35 or so! LOL!

K and Company's Evergreen collection had the vintage feel I was looking for, for this particular project but really, the sky is the limit. Using papers in a musical, rock theme can result in a cute keepsake box for concert tickets, you could also make a similar project to store mementos from a special trip, menus of restaurants you went to on romantic dates, and the list really is endless.

1. Begin by removing all of the hardware and painting the inside using acrylic paint. I used a dark shade of red.

2. To cut the paper for the top and bottom of our box, place the paper of your choice over the lid and run your finger on the edge of the lid to create a crease that will act as a cutting guide. For the sides, simply measure the height and cut a strip the same size. I used a 3 1/2" strip for the side of the lid, and a 4 1/2" strip for the side of the base. I did need to cut an additional piece of paper because the 12 inch length was not enough to go around the box. That was no biggie though. To adhere the paper to the wood, just spread a thin layer of Modge Podge over the surface, place the paper over it, and let dry for a couple of minutes.

 3. Once you have cut your paper to shape. Use an emery board to sand all the edges and ink in a coordinating color.

4. Add your choice of embellishments. I used ribbon, stickers, poinsettias, and a couple of jingle bells. I also used Stickles and Glossy Accents to add dimension.

That's all folks! This project was so much fun to make, and easy too!! I hope you like this idea and give it a try. The video below will give you more details. Thanks so much for stopping by!