Bunch of Flowers

By Judi Kauffman

This project began with a small piece of plastic, a stem filled with tacky velvety glittery leaves that I rescued from a friend’s trash after she’d pulled it off a gift box. “You can’t POSSIBLY need THAT!” she exclaimed when I tucked it into my purse. I thought the shape and muted celadon color were interesting, as was the surface, so I ignored her, took it home, and put the leaves to use for a pair of cards. Needless to say, she was quite surprised to see the results and has promised to keep her eye out for ‘good trash’ from now on…

My instructions are written so you can duplicate the cards precisely as shown (with the exception of the leaves) or head in a different direction and use the design strategies to customize the idea and branch out.

Design Strategies/How-To:

1. Die cut 3 pairs of Shimmer Sheetz flowers for each card using any mix of your favorite Bunch of Flowers dies. Flowers can be all one color, two colors, or more. (I chose Orange Iridescent.) Use as few or as many flowers as you want for YOUR cards! Reminder: You’ll need a Metal Adaptor Plate for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt’s video HERE if you are new to this technique.
2. Emboss a 2.5” x 3.5” piece of Shimmer Sheetz with any all-over pattern embossing folder. (I picked E106 Dancing Leaves.) Use the same color or colors that were used for the flowers. (I stuck with Orange Iridescent.)
3. Alter the Shimmer Sheetz rectangle(s) with alcohol inks. Alternatively, skip the alcohol inks and lightly sand the surface to reveal the core color of the Shimmer Sheetz. (I used Black, Blue, and Gold Metallic Alcohol inks.)

4. For each card, die cut four Black Velvet Adhesive decorative corners from any Tags & More die set. (I chose black, but Velvet Adhesive is available in a wide range of colors.)
5. Cut a pair of plastic leaves from the stem for each flower.
6. Assemble the card as shown in project photos, starting with an A2 size (4.25” x 5.5”) side-fold card base in a color that coordinates with the flowers and embossed rectangle. Use Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape to secure the rectangle to the card front. Use tiny snippets of Tombow Power Tabs to secure the flower layers to each other and the flowers and pairs of leaves to the card front. Corners are already adhesive-backed.
7. For more sparkle, add a Glitter Dot peel-off to the center of each flower. (I used Orange/Silver Glitter Dots.) Alternatively, add an adhesive-backed half-pearl or gem to each flower.
8. Add a greeting, a peel-off or a die cut, to complete the project. (I chose black to match the decorative corners.

More Ideas:

Instead of card fronts, back the 2.5” x 3.5” rectangles with cardstock, position the flowers and corners so they do not extend past the edges and you’ve got some lovely ATCs (Artist Trading Cards).

Enlarge the size of the embossed Shimmer Sheetz rectangle and use larger flower dies for bigger cards, calendars, scrapbook layouts, and more.

Die cut leaves from glittered cardstock instead of using plastic ones!

Turn the project into a holiday card by switching the color palette and substituting a poinsettia for the three small flowers. Stylized poinsettia: Els van de Burgt Studio dies. Realistic poinsettia: Susan Tierney-Cockburn Susan’s Garden Club dies.

Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Designs:

Any Bunch of Flowers die set(s) – (728, 729, 1029, 1030)

Any all-over pattern embossing folder

Any peel-off greeting or small ‘sentiment’ die

Shimmer Sheetz in color of choice

Velvet Adhesive Sheets in color of choice

Metal Adaptor Plate (803)

Glitter Dots peel-offs in color to coordinate with Shimmer Sheetz flowers

Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape

Other:

Tombow Power Adhesive Tabs

Non-stick scissors (to cut Power Tabs)

Solid color cardstock

Alcohol inks and ink applicator tool

Plastic leaves (approximately .75” – 1”)

Die cutting machine (Big Shot, other)