Budget-Friendly Flowers

July 5, 2014

Judi Kauffman is back as today’s guest designer with some bright and sparkly flowers and a lot of fun ideas for how to use them!

Thanks, Joset. I decided to make something budget-friendly that uses only one set of dies – the brand new 924 Crystal Flower Set 1 (shipping mid-July 2014). There are 2 beautiful and detailed overlay sets to coordinate with the solid shapes and I’ll use those at another time (and the Design Team has already been putting the Crystal Flower Overlays to good use with sneak peek samples). For now, I’m sticking to the two flowers and two centers that are part of the set.

The flowers are die-cut from durable, waterproof, colorfast Shimmer Sheetz so they can be tucked into potted plants or used again and again on a party table. They can also be used on garlands, hatbands, flip flops, and – of course – on cards!

The trick to the cards: Channel your inner “abstract expressionist” and use randomly applied strokes of paint to create the backgrounds. Fast and easy, I promise!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Die-cut Shimmer Sheetz flowers in Orange Iridescent and Imperial Garnet Gemstones as shown, or in colors you prefer. *Reminder: You will need a metal adapter plate for cutting Shimmer Sheetz. View Els van de Burgt’s YouTube video tutorial HERE if you have not previously die-cut Shimmer Sheetz

2. Using an ink applicator and Senorita Magenta alcohol ink, dapple the center and about halfway up the petals of each flower. Option: Change to different inks for steps 2 and 3 if you have selected Shimmer Sheetz in colors other than the ones shown.

3. Using Baja Blue alcohol ink, dapple the center and about a quarter of the way up the petals of each flower.

4. Very lightly sand the flowers, working one petal at a time. Start close to the base of each petal at the center of the flower and sand toward the outer edge to allow lines formed by the sanding block to fan out slightly and follow the direction of the petals. Lift the sanding block and start each new stroke at the base of the petal (*IMPORTANT: don’t sand back and forth or in a circular motion!). Wipe sanded flowers with a damp paper towel or rag to remove the Shimmer Sheetz “dust”.

5. Die-cut Adhesive Velvet Sheets in Blue for flower centers. Place a Velvet center on each flower. Bend petals upward.

6. Optional: Further embellish the flowers with adhesive-backed faceted gems and Glitter Dots Peel-offs in Blue.

7. To complete the cards: Randomly brush acrylic paint onto heavy cardstock. Use 3 or 4 colors that coordinate with the flowers. Let the colors blend and allow the brushstrokes to remain prominent, like an abstract expressionist painting. (Look at the work of Richard Diebenkorn or Helen Frankenthaler for inspiration.)

8. When dry, use double-sided adhesive sheet to adhere the painted rectangle onto a folded card base. Using strong hold adhesive like Tombow Power Tabs, adhere the flowers.

SUPPLIES:

Elizabeth Craft Designs –
NEW 924 Crystal Flower Set 1 (available mid-July)
SS 0223 Imperial Garnet Gemstones Shimmer Sheetz and
SS 0109 Orange Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz (or colors of choice)
7018 Glitter Dots Peel-offs in Blue
407 Adhesive Velvet Sheets in Blue
803 Metal Adapter Plate
501 Double-sided Adhesive Sheets

Jacquard Products – Piñata Color inks in Baja Blue and Senorita Magenta (or colors of choice)

Other – Paintbrush; 3 or 4 Acrylic paints in colors to coordinate with flowers; Ink applicator;
Power Tabs (Tombow); Cardstock in Dark Blue and Dark Green

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  • Mary Prasad July 7, 2014 at 8:48 am

    Gorgeous flowers! Great idea adding the alcohol inks to the Shimmer Sheetz!

  • Bibi Lindahl July 5, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    Good motto, Judi! I’m all for easy, especially when the result is this pretty!!

    • Judi Kauffman July 6, 2014 at 9:36 am

      Thanks, Bibi. I do think that starting with a wonderful die is part of what makes it so easy. Those Crystal Flowers are a wonderful shape.

  • Charline H July 5, 2014 at 11:22 am

    Love them. Simple to make, yet beautiful!

    • Judi Kauffman July 5, 2014 at 2:35 pm

      Thank you, Charline. My motto is Easy Isn’t Cheating!

  • Rita Edwards July 5, 2014 at 11:02 am

    What a great idea to use only one die set in so many different ways, love the garland idea! Xxx

    • Judi Kauffman July 5, 2014 at 2:34 pm

      Rita, I think I’ll keep going with more 1-die projects – it is a lot of fun to set very limited parameters and then see what happens. I was going to use only one die and one ink, but it really needed two inks. If you decide on garlands, they can be 2-sided with flowers back to back if they’ll hang where both sides are visible. If they are against a wall or on a table one layer of flowers is all that’s needed.

  • Kathy Gee July 5, 2014 at 10:49 am

    WOW! So creative and lovely.

    • Judi Kauffman July 5, 2014 at 2:28 pm

      Thank you, Kathy. I hope you’ll give them a try at some point. You could layer the flowers, too, but I just wanted them to be one layer – fast and easy.

  • Raquel Mason July 5, 2014 at 9:47 am

    Great ideas for the Shimmer Sheetz Judy! I love the idea of using them as a table decoration.

    • Judi Kauffman July 5, 2014 at 2:26 pm

      Thanks, Raquel. They’ve already “starred” at a BBQ – I put a magnet on the back of one for each guest so they went home as party favors!

  • Louann July 5, 2014 at 8:27 am

    Beautiful flowers, love that they can be used over again because of the Shimmer Sheets.

    • Judi Kauffman July 5, 2014 at 2:24 pm

      If you omit the Velvet circles in the centers and use only Glitter Dots Peel-offs instead you can even leave them out in the rain or wipe them off it they are on a table and get icing or salsa dropped on them!

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