Build A Flower Blog Hop, A Fabulous Prize, Plus Tutorial

Today Joan's Gardens is hosting a blog hop to introduce to you to a  new series of  dies from Cheery Lynn. Joan and I have been working with a lot of different punches to create realistic flowers, and today we are excited to show you the first in a series of new dies from Cheery Lynn called "Build A Flower".   The first set is called "Build A Flower #1" (B181).  

 This is a picture of the three different dies you receive in the Build A Flower #1 set.  One plate has 8 flower petals that can be die cut all at once and are textured and  have a small hole in one end if you like to create your flowers by using a brad.  The second plate has a flower leaf plus two different size "bases" which can be used to build your flower.  The third is a set of 8 "stamens".   I am so excited to be able to die cut so many flower pieces at one time to create a flower.  Below I have a tutorial to show you how to create a clematis using these dies.

Now about our Blog Hop.  We have six very talented ladies who are participating in our blog hop; they have all created beautiful cards using the "Build A Flower #1" dies.    There are eight blogs including Joan's and my blog.   Joan and I are very excited to have Cheery Lynn Designs as our sponsor for this blog hop; they have donated a fantastic prize package with a value of $100.   They also donated a set of the "Build A Flower #1" dies to each of our guest designers  Thank you Cheery Lynn.

Would you like to win that $100 gift package donated by Cheery Lynn?   All you have to do is visit each blog, including Joan's and my blogs, and leave a comment on each one.  The winner will be selected from comments left on one of the blogs - it will be a random selection. The winner of the prize package will be announced next Thursday, May 24.

Designers in this Blog Hop:

Priss

Selma (you are here)

Nancy Hill

Joan Morrison

Diane Hover

Glenda Brooks

Deb Kozak

Joan Fricker

Your next stop from here is to Nancy Hill's Blog.

Here is the information about my card today.  This  card is 5.5" x 6".  I used a piece of very light blue design paper for the background.  The pretty oval was diecut using the Cheery Lynn "Manon's Wedding Garland" (DL218).  The corners are from the "Lace Corner Deco 1" (B174) die set.  The flowers were created with the "Build A Flower #1" (B181) set.  The petals were die cut using blue vellum.  The stamens were die cut using the second and third largest stamens with the straight "legs".  I used three of each one.  The pretty flourish is the new "Mini Fanciful Flourish" (B177S).  The beautiful sentiment is from the new Heartfelt Creations "Heartfelt Expressions PreCut Set" (HCPC3474).  White Opal Liquid Pearls were placed around the edge of the "Wedding Garland".

TUTORIAL ON HOW TO CREATE A CLEMATIS USING "BUILD A FLOWER #1" DIES.  This is the flower used on my blog post yesterday.

I am very excited about the die cut stamens in this series.  When I have been working with punches to create stamens, I always cut down the center of each point with scissors to create a thinner "leg" so the stamen would have a more realistic "frilly" look.  These new dies have very narrow "legs" so cutting is not necessary to achieve that look.  In the picture above you can see the difference between the die cut stamens on the top row and the punched stamens on the bottom row.  You no longer have to individually punch the pieces you need for the petals or stamens.  Leave all the stamens attached on this die so you don't lose the tiny pieces.  If you don't need to use all of them on your flowers, just save them for future use OR you can place a small piece of card stock over just the stamens you want to use.

In this picture I have placed down three different colors of card stock and placed the dies on top and will be able to die cut purple petals, light yellow stamens, green leaves and bases all at one time.  You may need to place shims on top of each die.

This picture shows the dies ready to go through the VegaBond machine; a whole flower die cut at once and ready to assemble!  All machines are different and you may not be able to include all three dies on the cutting plate at one time.

The flower I am creating today is the Clematis; the same techniques work for any style of flower you wish to create.  With this set of Cheery Lynn dies, there are 8 petals on the plate and two different sizes of bases.  There are two types of clematis - an eight petal and a six petal flower.  I will be using all eight petals on this die, and the larger base for my flower today.  Many times a clematis has a dark strip down the center of each petal.  I used a watercolor pencil to lightly add a darker purple to my petals then used a water brush to spread out the color.  You could use chalks, reinkers or even markers if you like.

Next, I use the large white tool from the Flower Tool Kit to soften and shape the petals. I use the techniques learned in Susan Tierney-Cockburn's book "Paper Bouquet". 

To give the petal some dimension, I used the self-closing tweezers from the Flower Tool Kit to pinch the end of the petal for more dimension.  You just pinch in the sides, up next to the tweezers, and the top kind of bends backwards and gives it more dimension.

To assemble the flower, I first use the large white flower tool to "cup" the base.  I am using the larger base from the die cut set because it has 8 points which will hold my 8 petals.  Add glue to every other point and attach four of the petals. Press the end down with a stylus to help it adhere well.

Next add glue to the other four points of the base and attach the remaining four petals.

When you add four petals on every other point of the base, then add the second four, it will look very layered.  This picture really shows how well the center of the petal shapes when using the tweezers.   This will be your finished flower, on the base, for the clematis.  If you want to make additional layers for a fuller type flower, I suggest that you add petals to another base and then glue the two together.  I think it helps separate the layers and gives more fullness.

 I told you that the plate with the leaf also has two different size pieces you could use for the base to build your flower.  These pieces can also be used as a base for your stamen.  Since my flower is purple, I die cut a puple small "base" to be used under my stamen.  You could also use the larger base if you want a darker color coming up from under the stamen.  There is no right or wrong when creating your flowers.  You will have so much fun playing with different pieces to create your own flowers.

When I looked at a picture of a clematis, the stamen had many rows of frilly "legs" that had a dark tip.   I die cut a lot of the stamen pieces and used Distress Ink to color the tips.  Just add a small drop of ink to the Teflon Craft mat to do this.  I love that you can die cut so many stamens with just one run through the die cutting machine, and if you want a lot of them, or more than one color, you can run it through once again for a great variety.  I always die cut all the stamens on the die, even if I just need one or two more, and save the ones I don't use in a box so I can use them on another project later.

I held the stamen with tweezers and dipped each point into the ink.  You could also color the tips with a marker, but be sure and turn them over and do both sides.  When you use the drop of ink, it colors both sides at once.

After you have all your stamens ready, press down in the center with a stylus to cup them then start stacking and be sure to alternate the points.  You can add as many layers as you want, depending on the fullness you are trying to create.  You can use all one size or use layers of different sizes like I did.  There is even a very tiny stamen you can add in the very center.

I used a variety and number of stamens, using each type on the die.  Once they were all glued together, I pressed them down on the black shaping mat to cup them even more.

Here is my completed flower.  With this Build A Flower Collection you have everything you need to complete a variety of flowers.  You can be creative and combine some of these flower pieces with other dies or even your PunchBunch punches.

Don't forget to visit all eight blogs on our blog hop to get a lot of inspiration, and leave a comment on each blog for a chance to win the $100 Prize Package. If you have not signed up as a "Subscriber/Follower" on my blog, you can go to my sidebar to sign up to receive all future posts.

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