Friendship Brewed to Perfection Plus a New Tool for Creating Rosebuds

Hope you are having a great weekend. Today I have designed a card using the new "Marianne Anja Corner" (LR0 200) and a new All My Favorite Things "Always Time For Tea, Die and Stamp Set" available from Joan's Gardens.  Yesterday I used the Anja Corner die in just one corner of my card, but today I have used it in both upper corners and cut a third one to place in the center.  The Flourish I used is the Die-namics "Fancy Flourish".  The doily used is the Marianne (CR1204) oval. 

Do you love tea pots?  If so, you are going to love this new stamp set from Joan's Gardens.  The "Always Time for Tea" stamp set has so many possibilities for creating a cute tea pot.  I have taken a picture of the set showing all the stamps to create different tea pots, many great sentiments, and also the dies.  Below the dies you can see three different ways I used the stamps to create different designs on the pot. It includes stamps to create different designs on the teapot or you can use the "teapot" stamp to stamp on design paper.  Between the different stamps and the die pieces, the possibilities are endless!  On my card today, I used a small piece of the "High Tea" design paper I used yesterday to stamp the tea pot on, then used the tea pot die to cut it out.  Only the lid, handle, spout, and bottom stamp, so I used VersaMark to stamp on the design paper and  used an old embossing powder I have had for a long time, called burgundy enamelware, to emboss.   The tea cup was die cut using the tea cup die, on a piece of the design paper.  Between the two die cut corners, I added a small, cut out rose, cut from the "High Tea" design paper.   A sentiment from this stamp set was stamped on a narrow strip of card stock and attached above the doily.  A few Kaiser Craft pearls were added to complete the card.

ANOTHER MINI TUTORIAL 

I promised to show you a new tool I discovered.  By accident yesterday, I came across this pair of special pliers in my crafting supplies that makes it easy to create a rosebud, plus helps shape rose petals.     Below is a picture.

These pliers have two totally round points.  This is a great addition to our Flower Tool Kit.   Instead of having to use a bead to shape the rosebud, I found that using this tool shapes the bud very easily.  Here is how I did it.

Start by adding glue to the petal.  Have the pointed end of the petal at the top.  Grip the petal on one side with the pliers and roll it around the closed pliers.

These pliers go down to a point, so when you roll the petal around, it starts shaping just like it did when you use the bead.  Roll another petal around having the point of the second petal on the opposite side, to created a closed pointed "center" of the bud.  You can add three pointed petals, if you want to created a more closed point.

Add glue to another petal, but this time the pointed end should be pointed "down".  I've added glue to the bottom half of this petal, placed the center of the bud in the center of this petal, and rolled the edges around.  If the glue gets on the pliers, it comes off easily when finished.

Continue to add more petals, in the same way alternating them as you go around, until you get the bud just the way (size) you want. Let the glue dry enough to stick together before adding another petal.  To pull the bud off the pliers, place your finger nail at the bottom edge of the bud, slightly open the pliers, and pull the bud off.   You can add the green leaves around the bud while it is still on the pliers, or after you have pulled it off.  

This is a picture of the first layer of the large rose.  The other thing I love about these pliers is that you can use them to roll the edges of the petals, either up or down to give them a realistic look without getting creases, because each side of the pliers is perfectly round.  I have used the self closing pliers to do this in the past, but found using this tool I got a more realistic roll and it is actually easier to get the perfect curl. 

One more thing these pliers are great for is rolling up the "cuties" die cut flowers from Cheery Lynn.  In order to get a "full" looking flower, Cheery Lynn suggests that you glue two strips of the cuties together, alternating the petals.  This makes it very hard too use a quelling tool because the slot in the quelling tool is not very wide.  These pliers work fantastic.  Just add some glue along the lower edge of the strip, pinch one end of it with the pliers and roll it up. These also work great when rolling the Memory Box rolled flowers. So quick and easy - I think you will love them!    You can order these pliers from Joan's Gardens.

As you know all the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.

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