Create With M.E.

Paper Flower Tutorial~Gingham Garden

 

I often tell you that as a demonstrator I have this HUGE resource available to me called Stampin' Connection.  The ideas are endless.  If you follow my blog or follow me on Facebook you know I just started doing videos a couple of weeks ago. So I have been watching some just to get ideas on how others are doing theirs.  I saw one the other day on Stampin' Connection for this pretty paper flower by Diane Dimich.  I thought ok that's really cute and looks a lot less fussy then some I have seen, but what sold me was when Diane flashed one at the very end of her video using this Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper.  I LOVED it!  So I had to make one to see if it really was as easy as she made it look.  It was and I wanted to share some pictures on how it was done so you could make some too!

So let's get started:

Punch 4 flowers using the Blossom Punch (#125603) out of the Gingham Garden Paper (#129310)

Sponge the edges with ink, in this case the new In Color Strawberry Slush.

Punch as close to the center as you can with the 3/4" circle punch (#119873)

Snip flowers as shown above. You will only need one of the 3 petal pieces, ignore it in the picture below.

Next take your bone folder (#102300) and give each of the petals a curve.  It's easiest to do it at this point and this really does make a difference.

Now it's time to start gluing the petals together.  Apply some Tombo Multi Adhesive (#110755) to the petal next to the cut and secure the petal on the other side of the cut on top of it so they form a little cup as shown below.

Do this to each set of petals but when you get to the piece that is only 2 petals and 1 petal you will roll it around something such as a embosser as shown or the end of a paintbrush and adhere with a little drop of Tombo Multi Adhesive.

You should end up with a pile that looks like the picture above again ignoring one of the 3 petal pieces (throw away that farthest piece on the right) you should end up with 6 pieces not seven.  Now it's time to assemble the layers.  Start with a large blob of Hot Glue placed on your Silicone Craft Sheet (#127853) and start layering biggest to smallest circle of petals.

Now it's time to put a stem on it.  I purchased pre-wrapped floral stems.  Put a little bend in the very end so you have something to adhere to the bottom of your flower.

Attach it to the flower with some hot glue as shown below.

Time to pretty up the backside.  Remember those 3/4" circles you punched?  You should have 4 of them.  Take one and punch a small 1/8th inch circle in it.  I punched mine off center because my stem with the bend was off center.  I put a little more hot glue on my stem and slid the circle over my stem and covered all my works to make it all pretty.

Voila that's one...now go make a few more and you can make a nice bouquet.

I twisted the bottom of my stems into a circle and hot glued them insde one of my empty button containers that I had covered in Gingham Garden Washi Tape (#129314) and covered the works with some of the new In-Color Boutique Details (#130938) just for fun, buttons would work also.  I will keep this on my desk and use the In Color details right out of the base of that pretty bouquet! What a gorgeous gift this would be for a special friend.  Give it a try, leave me a comment.  I would LOVE to know if you enjoyed it as much as I did! 

Need the supplies?  Click on any of the Number links above to order your supplies.  Thank you in advance for shopping with M.E.!  If you would like to have access to Stampin' Connection 24/7 also so you can be inspired by the hundreds of samples and videos posted daily comment below, email me or click here for more information on becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and part of the Create With M.E. team.

The "Perfect Blend"~Coffee and Bacon!

Today was my bimonthly coffee "class".  I say "class" because it's really become a fellowship of friends who get together around my kitchen table.  We laugh, we chat, we eat yummy stuff, drink coffee and we stamp oh and talk about stamping!  It's a lot of my favorite things.  Girlfriends, Coffee, Baking, Eating, and Stamping! 

Today I made another pinterest goodie.  Pancake muffins with maple buttercream frosting and bacon.  Here is how they looked.  DELISH! 

These were the mini muffins and here are the full size muffins covered in yumminess and BACON!

We also like to stamp and drink coffee but today we stamped about coffee! Using the new Perfect Blend stamp set.

We used the new Baked Brown Sugar In-Color (#131296) for the background and embellished with the 3/8" Ruffle Stretched Trim in Coastal Cabana (#130024) which is also a new In-Color.  I love these two colors together.  The Coffee cup from Perfect Blend (#131392) was stamped on watercolor paper and we did a little paper piecing for the cup cozy. So cute finished off with a couple of candy dots (#130934).  I love those delicious dots!  The card was inspired by a box by Michelle Andrews.

Birthday Candles~Un-mount your wheel for versatility

When I saw the Birthday Candles Stampin' Around Wheel (#130111) I fell in love with all the details.  The candles are all different and pretty and I could see coloring in the centers of the flower and making this one blue and this one pink...oh wait...it's a wheel oh boy that would be a little difficult.  Not impossible but not easy by any means.  If only...

If only it was a flat stamp.  So i got busy thinking about how to do that so I could do this....

Watch the video below that I made and you can see how really easy it is.  The value is really great too, because with this one wheel you can get 3 complete stamps from it...only $8.50us!  Share it with a couple friends if you are so inclined!  This just got me looking at every wheel in the new catalog with a different light.  What other wheels do you think would work with this technique?  Post a comment below with the wheel you think would work great! 

Oh by the way this card and it's twin is on their way to two winners in a contest I held last night on my facebook page.  Do you want to have the opportunity to win a card that comes to your mailbox or see great ideas that I only post to Facebook and not my blog?  Like Create With M.E. on Facebook. 

 

Cycle Celebration~It's Wheely Fun!

I know, bad pun, but Cycle Celebration (#130273) was one of my first must have stamp sets on my wishlist so I jumped right in and made an adorable card using it almost as soon as it arrived!  My sister was visiting for a day and suggested I do something vintage with it. She has a great eye for anything creative, she was an Art Major after all.  I am not sure this is too vintage but it has that old fashioned vibe to me.  I sent it home with her and I am sure it will make it to a great home very soon!

 

The front of the card isn't really anything special but you see I have used the fun Pop 'n Cuts die so wait for it....

Voila' the fun Label insert for the Pop 'n Cuts Die  (#130160) Which goes inside the Pop 'n Cuts Card base (#130099)  It also coordinates with the new deco label framelets (#130102)

I hope you enjoy my first attempt at this set and all the fun big shot accessories that I put with it.  Order your own supplies 24/7 at my store but clicking on any of the item numbers.  Thank You!

 

Simply Pressed Clay~Marshmallow in your hands!

When you start working with this delicous feeling clay you are not going to be able to put it down. It's like a creamy marshmallow but without any sticky!  For someone who is so tactile like I am you will go crazy for it! (I touch everything with texture and hand feel so don't go clothes shopping with me it's crazy!)

I'm talking about the new Simply Pressed Clay (#130685) and it's accessory the Buttons and Blossoms clay molds (#131272) today.  Watch the video I made to explain how yummy it is.  Let me know if you have questions. Then visit my store and get ya some!! 

 

Bloomin' Bouquet~Get it before it's gone!

I finally was able to finish putting together my Bloomin' Bouquet today because I replaced my ancient hot glue gun after church.  I have had mine for probably 30+ years but my friend Debbie enabled me...again!  She showed me that they now have cordless ones and I just had to have one of those light weight beauties that can go anywhere with me.

Here is MY beautiful bouquet. It was a lot of fun to just sit and play with these flowers.  So many colors, shapes and sizes.  I picked up the little glass jar a couple weeks ago for less that $2 in town.  It came with the little flower bead hanging from the neck but the rest of this is all from the Bloomin' Bouquet kit from Stampin' Up!

This is a great kit if you want some fun crafts for kids to work on this summer.  They will love helping you put it together and why not use this as a teaching lesson.  When you go to the store, post office, library or park this summer have them take one with them and have fun giving them out to brighten someones day! What a great lesson on sharing something they have helped to create!

See the little message on one of the flowers?  That is a message to all of you.  You do matter to me and that's the first bloom I will be giving away.  Yes, my bouquet might get smaller as I give them away but just think how full it will make someone else's heart.  Well, worth it and if you are worried...buy two!

Here is a close up of the pretty blooms.

Order yours today before they are gone.   Order on my Website here  Bloomin' Bouquet #134542 Bookmark my store while you are there it's like having your own craft store that is available 24/7 at your fingertips. 

Incase you missed this great video on how to put them together I am reposting it today.

 

Just Believe~You can do it too!

And I'm going to show you how! 

We made these small 4 x 4 canvas prints at this months club meeting.  It's a little something you can give as a gift or use as home decor.  We finished it off with a fun little 3D butterfly using our new simply pressed clay.  I know it's  not available for another week but I have had so much fun playing around with it I just had to share it with my ladies.  Start with just a few supplies:

4 x 4 canvases (use a coupon and they are about $2 a piece.  A .99¢ bottle of white acrylic paint (plenty for about 9 canvases.  A foam brush, a favorite sky colored reinker (used marina mist) and a stamp.  Just Believe in this case. 

I mixed a quarter amount size of white acrylic paint with the Marina mist reinker, 2-3 drops.  We painted our canvases with this mixture.  Leaving some nice streaks of white all the way to darker blue.  Lovely! Set this aside to dry.  This only takes about 30 minutes or zap it with your heat tool to speed dry it which is especially easy with the new heat tool that has 2 settings, one for drying one for embossing.  Then mix another quarter amount of white acrylic paint with some basic black ink refil to make a medium gray.  Paint this onto you stamp and stamp on the canvas. 

Two things to note:  You need to fill the canvas cavity (behind the painting) with something firm so you can stamp on it and it stamps clearly.  I found that 2 "C" size clear blocks fit perfectly inside and gives you a firm foundation for stamping. Secondly you might wonder why gray?  This gives you a nice base color to add color to later (I will explain adding color in a minute) and you can see it good when it dries.  I found that stamping just in white was very very difficult to see when it dried.  The gray was great for depth of color also. 

Let this dry again.  While it's drying we sponged on some fun color by adding a beautiful sun to the corner.  I punched a 1 3/8" circle in the center of a scrap of cardstock and sponged on some pumpkin pie and a little daffodil delight with a sponge dauber.  I made a little glow by off-setting the circle and adding a daffodil delight "halo" to the sun. 

Finally it's time to add some color to our stamped image.  We did this several ways but mostly by using the Stampin' Up! Markers.  I varied between the fine line writing edge of the marker and the brush side.  I varied my colors.  I know mine doesn't look like the bleeding heart or iris type of flower but that's what is nice about ART you can make it your own and mine are....um...a nice purply wildflower yet to be named.  Yeah that's it and this is coming from a horticulture major/long time florist!  Shame on M.E.! LOL

Here is one in progress that my friend Debbie created. I love the dark streaks through out it.  So beautiful!  Looks like a hazy summer day to me!

We stamped in our daffodil delight colored simply pressed clay with a small butterfly stamp inked with pumpkin pie.  We let that dry for a little bit, 20-30 minutes maybe.  We cut it out with our paper snips. Yep our paper snips, this clay is AMAZING! we added some nice spots and a body with a basic black marker.  Did a little curving on the wings to make them look more natural and so it would pop out from our canvas.  Attach the butterfly with a couple of mini glue dots or some craft adhesive.

Finish off your piece with some ribbon.  We used the Two-Tone Basic Gray Ribbon. Then make a lovely "fork" bow (look it up on pinterest and while you are at it follow M.E. too!)  Oh maybe most importantly don't forget to sign your ART work!  I am a big proponant of that!  I will not accept art from my kids if it's not signed by them first!  It's important, take pride and make it yours!  I think this is so with your handstamped cards.  It's important to stamp the back with an angel stamp or a personalized stamp.  Find an assortment here if you don't have one.

 

Sketched Birthday~with some Show n Tell!

I'm still playing around with sneaky peeky stamp sets I get to preorder as a demonstrator so I am ready for you when the 2013-2014 catalog goes live on May 31st.  I am in a swap with my big demonstrator group for new catalog sets and I picked the new set called Sketched Birthday.  I couldn't stop with it so I also had to add some of the great new arrows from the latest photopolymer set called Show n Tell and there are two sets in the Show n Tell series the arrows I used on this card are from set #2.  #133481  *click on the stamp images below for more details

Show N Tell Set #1 and #2

Remember these are completely clear stamps so seeing placement is so easy peasy.  These also come with an online class which you can order as a complete bundle.  Both sets and an online class for a 10% discount for $35.95  #134533  or order just the class for $14.95 #134532 Includes written instructions,photos, instructional videos, and supply lists for 15 projects. Covers the following topics: Backgrounds, Building, Layering, Versatility,Gift Giving, Memory Keeping.  Feel free to click on the links above to just see more details in my online store without making a commitment.

I was lucky enough to WIN the Birthday Basics paper shown.  #130145 (this link won't be live since the catalog is not live yet)  Only a few of us in the company won this paper so I was thrilled to be one of them and am more thrilled to show it to you.  I matched my ink to my paper using all the colors.  Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green, Basic Grey, Summer Starfruit and the new In color Crisp Cantalope and Bermuda Bay a returning color from years back.  Having the arrows be the new photopolymer clear stamps it was super easy to place them exactly where I needed them to go because I could see so well....clearly.

Blue Ribbon~Great for the Grad in your life!

It's Graduation time!  My youngest daughter just graduated from 8th grade this week (congrats Abby!) and the highschoolers in our school district will graduate tomorrow afternoon.  Mother's Day weekend the local University kids graduated.  It's happening all around here. 

One of my nephews graduated today (congrats Nick!), one graduates June 1st (congrats Jack!) and I have a niece graduating June 9th (congrats Jaclyn!).  Lots of kids graduating and moving to their next stage in life. 

I wanted make the 8th graders life just a little sweeter so I made them a little treat I could give each one as I congratulated them and welcomed them to their next season of life. 

 

I made them with the 1" x 8" cello bags #124134 filled with colored candies that are close to their school colors of blue, red and silver gray.  I finished them off with coordinating colored cardstock stamped with the set called "Blue Ribbon" #125979 (wood mount) or #125981 (clear mount) I also added some bling with the Silver Glimmer Paper #124005 punched with the scallop circle punch #119854 and added a rhinestone from the Rhinestone basic jewels pack #119246 to just finish it off perfectly.

Here is a picture of me and my silly graduate!  Congratulations Abby!

Wildflower Meadow~Nature at it's Best

I am sitting outside this morning while I post this to my blog.  I just told my eldest daughter that I feel so blessed to live here.  I sometimes need to pinch myself.  It's like living in a little piece of heaven.  I get to hear natures music instead of horns and cars everyday. I live in a rural area of Illinois where yes the ground is flat but the grass is green!  I think that is why I love the nature stamps so well.

Here is a new one featuring a Wildflower Meadow which just happens to be it's name!  I like the silhouetted feel to this card.  It's a tone on tone look but highlights the little hummingbird (which I am waiting to see here anyday now)

This card is going to go to a dear friend who is in the hospital this week. I sure hope it brightens her day and as soon as she gets out I hope she will come for a visit to enjoy the real thing in my backyard.

The Stamps and products featured are from the new catalog which will go live on May 31st.  Remember if you want to get your hands on these new products now there is a way.  Visit my post here for more details.