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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Build A Flower Clematis

The new Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" dies have been a big hit.  Today I want to show you a card I designed, creating a "Clematis", using these dies.  Tomorrow we will have a lot more ideas for you as Joan's Garden will be hosting a "Build A Flower" blog hop, and on my post I will have a tutorial on how I used these dies to "build" this clematis.

I used the Cheery Lynn "Arabian Night Rectangle Frame"  over a piece of green gingham design paper for my background.  The stamped image is from the  Heartfelt Creations "Clematis/Cottage PreCut Set"  stamp set.  It was stamped with black VersaFine Ink and Clear Embossed, then colored with the Tim Holtz Distress Markers. I used the Spellbinders Labels 25 to die cut the image and used yellow chalk on the background before removing it from the die.  The flower was created with the Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" dies and attached over the Cheery Lynn "Fanciful Flourish".  The butterfly is one of the Cheery Lynn "Mini Butterflies". The large leaves under the flower are also from the Build A Flower die set.

Be sure to join us tomorrow, for our blog hop,  and find out how you can have a chance to win a fabulous prize donated by Cheery Lynn.

Cheery Lynn "Arabian Night Rectangle Frame" (FRM125)

Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" (B181)

Cheery Lynn "Mini Butterflies" (DL112)

Heartfelt Creations "Clematis/Cottage PreCut Set" (HCPC 572)

Spellbinders "Labels 25"

Tim Holtz Distress Markers

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Build A Flower Mini Tutorial

Yesterday Joan's Gardens introduced the new Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" dies along with the other dies in the May Release.  Today I want to give you a few ideas on ways to help create very realistic flowers. Thursday Joan's Gardens is hosting a Blog Hop featuring the Build A Flower dies.  Be sure to join us for a lot of inspiration from our Guest Designers.  I will be posting a complete tutorial on how to create an entire flower.

I have included a picture of these dies again today so you can see the pieces I used for this tutorial.  First I would like to tell you how I created the stamen.  On the right side is a set of  stamens used for most flowers, but to show you the versatility in these dies, I wanted to show you a stamen that I created by die cutting 8 of the smaller "base", which is under the leaf in the center die. I used dark brown and black cardstock.  Push each "base" down in the black shaping mat to "cup" them.  The colors were alternated for assembly.  Three of them were tightly shaped by adding glue over the entire topside of each, stacked, and pressed in until they stuck together in a cone shape.  The other pieces were just glued in the center and stacked, alternating the points, then the "cone" was glued in the center.   Because this "base" has little ridges along the sides of each point, it resembles the center of a sunflower.

 Next I would like to show you how I gave the die cut "leaf" some character.  First you should use the large white tool from the Flower Tool Kit to condition and shape each leaf. Then  I used the self-closing tweezers, also from the Flower Tool Kit, and created creases along each side.  You just place the tip of the tweezers up to the center line of the leaf and fold the leaf around the tweezers. 

Place the tweezers at an angle rather than straight across so it resembles the veins in a real leaf.  Put our fingers under the leaf and fold up around the tweezers.  Do this on both sides of the leaf.

In this picture you can see the big difference between the leaf on the left side and the leaves that I conditioned and creased with the tweezers. You can learn more about shaping flowers and leaves in Susan Tierney-Cockburn's book called Paper Bouquet available from Joan's Gardens.

I hope this tutorial helps gives you some new ideas and is helpful when you create your flowers.  I love to read your comments to hear your feedback.

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New Cheery Lynn Dies Available at Joan's Gardens

Today Joan's Gardens has posted all the new dies from Cheery Lynn.  This card was designed using a few of these dies.  I want to let you know that we will be hosting a blog hop on Thursday using  the new Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" dies and hope you will be back to see all the beautiful cards our guest designers will be positing. Also there is a FABULOUS prize to be given away and the details will be announced at the Blog Hop on Thursday. 

I have always wanted a pond with Koi Fish so was excited to see what I could do with this die.  This is the Cheery Lynn "Koi Fish" (DL219).  It was die cut using white card stock.  I glued it to a piece of orange design paper and cut it out around the edges.  The frame is the "Fiona's Magic Window" (FRM140).   Don't you love all the piercing in this frame.  I think it is so pretty. The leaves are the new "Iris Leaves" (B179).  They were die cut using aqua card stock and sponged with brown Distress Ink to match the design paper.

The flower was created with the Cheery Lynn "Stacker Flower #3" (SF-3).  Three flowers were shaped and stacked, alternating the petals.  The stamen was created with the new stamens from the Cheery Lynn "Build A Flower #1" set (B181); four light yellow and four darker yellow stamens were used.  The leaves under the flower are the Cheery Lynn "Tropical Leaves" (B119). I was trying to create a waterlily.  The beautiful sentiment is from the new Heartfelt Creations "Heartfelt Expressions PreCut Set" (HCPC 3475).  Don't you love the beautiful font used on these new sentiments.

Be sure to go over to Joan's Gardens to see all the beautiful new Cheery Lynn dies.  There are some new window dies that I absolutely love.  Joan has a card I designed with one of these window dies, plus a few other cards designed with the "Build A Flower #1" set on her blog.  

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Pretty Pink Rose

I want to wish all you mothers a very Happy Mother's Day.  Hope you are having fun this weekend.

Today I had fun working with a large variety of dies.  One of the things I love about creating a card with dies is that you can layer lots of different ones and come up with some of the prettiest backgrounds.  

This is a 5.5" x 6" card. 

I used the Marianne Design "Anji Corner" (LR0200) in both top corners and layered pink card stock on the backside.  I have two Anji Corners and taped one on each side.  If you only have one corner and try to do one at a time, the machine will flatten out the embossed design on the first one.  I have layered many different dies to achieve the lacy look behind the rose.  At the top is one of the Cheery Lynn "Two of Hearts" (DL128) dies and layered on top is the Memory Box "Kaleidoscope Butterfly" (98261).  

Under the rose is the Memory Box "Valerian Flourish" (98196) and "Quinn Flourish" (98267).  I used the Valerian Flourish on the bottom because I wanted something with more width across the center of the card.  The rose was created using the Spellbinders "Spiral Blossom One" die.  Twinklets "Diamond Dust" was added to the petals.  Under the rose, two Memory Box "Chloe Stems" were added along with a few Marianne Design Leaves (LR0156).  Along the very bottom of the card I added the Memory Box "Pepita Border" (98256).  Diamond Stickles was added to the butterfly, Chloe Stems, and Marianne Leaves.  

Enjoy your weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. 

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Thinking of You

I love the new Heartfelt Creations "Tattered Blossoms" flowers.  I white embossed three flowers and sponged on the new "Shaded Lilac" Distress Ink. They were die cut using the matching dies.  I love the Heartfelt Creations flowers because you get the stamped details in the flowers then they are so quick and easy to cut out with the matching dies. Punched stamens were added to the center with a yellow Kaiser Kraft Pearl added right in the middle.  The stems and leaves are from the Heartfelt Creations "Simple Filler Stems" stamp set.  They were stamped with green Distress Ink and clear embossed, then cut out.  I love to use this stamp set because it is perfect for adding leaves/stems to your flowers.  

The pretty white doily was created with the new Cheery Lynn "Fleur De Lis Lace Mega Doily".  These dies are part of the new Reflections collection.  This is a 5.5" x6" card.  A slightly smaller piece of lavender card stock was embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  The black fence was die cut using the Memory Box "Estate Fence".  I only wanted a short border fence so cut it in half.  The grass behind the fence was die cut using the Poppy Stamps "Grassland Border".  The sentiment is from the JustRite "Fancy Tags" stamp set.  Additional Kaiser Craft pearls were added under the sentiment and on each corner. 

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.  Here are the list with product numbers:  

Heartfelt Creations Tattered Blossoms PreCut Set (HCPC3468)

Heartfelt Creations Tattered Blossoms Dies

Heartfelt Creations Simple Filler Stems PreCut Set (HCPC3319)

Cheery Lynn Fleur De Lis Lace Mega Doily (DL186)

Memory Box Estate Fence (98285)

PoppyStamps Grassland Border (825)

JustRite Fancy Tags

Distress Ink "Shaded Lilac" 

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Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge

This week the challenge at Joan's Gardens is a "Flower Garden Theme".  Please go over to Joan's Gardens to get all the challenge rules and see what the prize is for this week.  For my card I have used some of the new stamps from the  Heartfelt Creations "Old English Garden" Collection.  The stamped image is from the "Broken Cinder Blocks PreCut Set" (HCPC 3470).  It was stamped on watercolor paper with Ranger's Archival Ink, then watercolored with Distress Inks.  The second to largest Spellbinders "Labels 25" die was used to die cut the frame.  The sentiment is from the new Heartfelt Creations "Heartfelt Expressions PreCut Set" (HCPC 3474).  Don't you love that font!   It was cut out with a smaller "Labels 25" die and lightly sponged before taking it out of the die.  

The flower was created by using one of the flowers from the Heartfelt Creations "Tattered Blossoms PreCut Set" (HCPC 3468).  It was stamped using black ink then die cut using the matching Heartfelt Creations "Tattered Blossoms Die".  Flower Soft was added to the center.  The leafy flourish behind the flower was die cut using the Heartfelt Creations Leaves from the  "Western Bronco's Dies (HCD 720).  It was shaped using the self-closing tweezers. The background was embossed using the Spellbinders "M-Bossabilities" embossing folder.  

I hope you will join us this week in our challenge at Joan's Gardens. We love to see all your creative cards.   Don't forget that each weekly winner will be eligible for the drawing at the end of the year for the $100 Gift Certificate to Joan's Gardens. 

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Tea Cup Card

As promised I have a card designed with another one of the new Heartfelt Creations "Old English Garden" collection stamp sets.  The design paper in the background is a very light green with a lacy design; I know that doesn't show up well in the photo.  I used the largest of the three tea cups in the "China Fragments PreCut Set" (HCPC 3472).  I love the delicate design on these cups.  Below is a close up.

The cup was white embossed on a piece of yellow design paper then cut out using the Spellbinders "Nested Tea Cups" dies.  I used my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers to color the design.  I like the way it looks kind of watercolored.   The doily behind the cup is the Cheery Lynn "Nautical Wheeler Doily" (DL180).  I used the Spellbinders "Persian Accents" border to "ground" the cup.  

The smallest flowers from the Heartfelt Creations "Tattered Blossoms PreCut Set"  (HCPC 3468) were white embossed and also colored with the Distress Markers.  They were cut out with the matching Heartfelt Creations "Tattered Blossoms Dies".  The color seems to be darker on these flowers and I think I must have used a lighter weight card stock.  Two flowers were shaped and layered together.  I used "Toffee" fine Flower Soft for the center of the flowers.  The ivy was die cut using the Marianne Design "Ivy" (LR0206) die. A few Martha Stewart punched branches were tucked in around the flowers.  The corners are from the Cheery Lynn "Lace Corner Deco C" (B163) die set.  A few Kaiser Craft self-adhesive pearls were added to complete the card.  

As I said yesterday, I love all the new Heartfelt Creations stamp sets from this "Old English Garden" collection.   You can see all these new sets over at Joan's Gardens. Be sure to check out the great savings with the "I want It All" Collection.  

All the products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens. 

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Fabulous New Heartfelt Creations Stamps

Today I am very excited to have a card designed with the new Heartfelt Creations release called "Old English Garden".  There are 7 new PreCut Stamps Sets and a Heartfelt Creations exclusive  die set.  All these stamp sets are gorgeous and I know you will want them in your collection of Heartfelt Creations Stamps.  You will get a great savings at Joan's Gardens by purchasing the "I Want It All" package.    I love every stamp set in this collection.  One of the sets in this collection is a "Sentiment" set that is done in a beautiful font and is large enough to work well on the inside of your cards.  You must go over to Joan's Garden's to see all these new stamps.

For my first card I used the gorgeous background "Tattered Collage PreCut Set" (HCPC3471).  I wanted to create a very "soft" background and unfortunately I could not get a very good picture.  I used VersaMark Ink and White embossed this background on white card stock.  All the images and the background were sponged with Distress Inks.  I wish you could see the real card because the background does not look "splotchy" like it does in this photo.  To make the flowers dimensional, I stamped the matching size flowers, from the "Tattered Blossoms PreCut Set" (HCPC 3468), with VersaMark and white embossed them. They were sponged with "Spun Sugar" Distress Ink. They were cut out with the matching "Tattered  Blossoms" dies.  There are two layers to make them dimensional. The Distress Ink Markers were used to give highlights to the stamped images. The sentiment was white embossed on a frame that was die cut using the MFT "Oval Decorative Doily" die.  I sponged "Weathered Wood" Distress Ink over the white embossing.   Self Adhevise Rhinestones from "Want 2 Scrap" were added to the flower centers and on the corners.  The background on the bottom layer was embossed with the new Spellbinders "M-Bossabilities" (Elite) embossing folder.  I want to tell you that if you are using these folders in a Vegabond machine, you need to only use the "C" plate when you run it through - place the folder on the base plate and cover with only the "C" plate.  Normally you emboss using two "B" plates but these folders are thicker because they are double sided.  In the Grand Calibur you need to use the base plate and the "Raspberry" embossing plate.  

Tomorrow I will post a card from this Heartfelt Creations Collection called "China Fragments".  This set has three different size tea cups with a beautiful design. I will be posting other cards with these stamps later next week.  Be sure to go over to Joan's Gardens to see all the beautiful stamp sets and matching dies in this Heartfelt Creations "Old English Garden Collection". 

Dancing Tulips

We have had a very cold Spring and the flowers are just starting to bloom.  There are lots of tulips now, in many colors, blooming everywhere.  I have some more new dies  that I have not worked with yet.  These are the Memory Box "Dancing Tulips" (98295) and "Tulip Petals" (98317). Don't these dies make the cutest little tulips! I love that you can easily shape them to resemble a real tulip - looks so much better than just a "flat" tulip!   

Here is a picture of the dies I used to create this card.  I first die cut the tulips with stems/leaf using green card stock, then cut the "tulip petals" using pink card stock.  To shape the petals, I used the tools from the Flower Tool Kit to "cup" each layer of the petals then glued them together, layering starting with the petal in the top of the picture, then working with each petal down until I had a shaped tulip.  I added glue just to the bottom portion of each one and shaped them around my finger so they would hold their shape.  They were then glued onto the "green" tulip from the  "Dancing Tulip" die cut.  I used the new Tim Holtz Distress Markers to give some shading to the flowers.

The leaf die cut separately on this die, which made it easy to condition and shape.  I used the large white tool in the Tool Kit on the backside of the leaf, then turned it over and used the largest stylus up on the top third of the leaf so it would bend out.  There is a small green piece between the stems that I also used for a leaf, shaping it the same way.  

This is a 5.5" x 6" card.  For the background I embossed a piece of white card stock with the Dotted  Swiss embossing folder.  On top, I layered a piece of white card stock that was embossed with the Marianne Design (DS0908) "Cut and Emboss" folder.  It was backed with a piece of pink card stock so show through the die cut areas of the embossed piece.  

The tulips were attached, then the leaves and finally a small piece of grass die cut using the MFT "Fresh Cut Grass" was placed along the bottom of the tulips.  A pink silk bow was added to complete the card.

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Good Friends

Today I have a card designed using three different JustRite stamp sets.  The background was stamped with the "Lattice Background Stamp" (CL-03690); the border along the top is from the "Classic Lace Edges Two" (CR-03675) set; and the beautiful medallion is from the "Spring Rose Medallions" (CL-03685) set. It was die cut with the matching JustRite Medallions (Spellbinders) die (JB-10025) .   All three pieces were stamped with VersaFine Black Ink and clear embossed, then colored with my new Tim Holtz "Distress Markers".  The leafy Flourish is from Cheery Lynn, "Fanciful Flourish" (B117), and the little roses were die cut using one of the Spellbinders "Bitty Blossoms" (S5-086).  The medallion was attached with dimensional dots then the leafy flourish and roses were attached with glue.  Three black Dew Drops were added in the lower corner.

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Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge

It is time for a new challenge at Joan's Gardens.  This week we want you to create a "Vintage" card, PLUS: 

• Use a stamped background
• Use Olive and Tan for your main colors
• Use Feathers - either real or stamped

Please go over to Joan's Gardens for all the Challenge Information and to see what this week's prize will be.

Today I have some more new things to show you.  I had so much fun designing this card.   I used the JustRite "Fleuriste Newsprint Background Stamp and added the vintage lady from Inkadinkado Stamps. 

I stamped the JustRite background using VersaFine Black Ink, clear embossed it, then used my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers to color the image.  I love how these markers blend together.  If you are interested in these markers, Joan does have them in stock now.    I used a green and blue marker to blend the design around the "title" and orange and yellow to blend the butterfly colors.  To color the background I used the Tim Holtz Blending tool and sponged on "Scattered Straw" Distress Ink then went around the edges with "Tea Dye" Distress Ink.  

The lady was stamped using "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink. I cut the image out with scissors, sponged it with "Antique Linen" Distress Ink,  then sponged on "Tea Dye" avoiding her face.  I attached it to a piece of black card stock and cut a black border around  to help outline it.  I used the Cheery Lynn "Cuties 3" (B151) die to create the little roses for her hat.  I die cut two strips on tan card stock and sponged the edges of only one of them with "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink the glued the two strips together alternating the petals.  Each strip was then cut in thirds so I could create small flowers.  I created two strips this way because I wanted to have five flowers. Joan sent me some feathers and I added one of them to this hat then glued down the flowers in the same spots they were on the stamped image.  There is also a stamped feather on this image.  I had so much fun bringing this stamp to "life" by making the hat dimensional.   

    

JustRite stamps now has so many great stamp sets.  In case you are not aware of it, they no longer have the grooved sets, they are all "Cling" or "Clear" stamps and all the sets include so many beautiful stamps and sentiments.  

We hope you will join us in this challenge.  We love to see your cards.   

Happy Mother's Day Wreath

Today I have designed a card around a new Marianne Design wreath I just received from Joan's Gardens.  It is the "Ivy Circle" (CR1213) die.   The frame I used behind the wreath is the Marianne Design (CR1203) square.  This die also comes with a set of flower dies.  The birdhouse is from the Marianne (LR0206) set.  I created some different daisies today and I'll show you below how I did it.  

You can use any daisy die or punch.  Above you can see the punched daisy then on the bottom I just folded them in half, kind of off-setting the petals.  I used a brown "Dew Drop" for the center of each flower to represent the "cone".  Some of the flowers I added a small drop of glue between the folded layers, and other I didn't so they appeared to have a little more dimension.  It is always fun to try and create different types of flowers with your dies and punches.

I love the new Cheery Lynn "Reflections Boutique Mega Dies".  The one I used for this card is the "Lace Square Heart Mega Doily" (DL189).  There are a lot of different Mega Doily sets you can choose from.

These dies are so much fun because you can create so many different size doilies or cards.  There are six dies in this package. Each die is "half" of a square, rectangle or whatever shape you purchase so you can create many different sized doilies.  

This is a photo of the instruction sheet that comes with these dies to explain how to use them.  It is really easy to follow.  I was creating a square "doily" to place behind my card so I used the instruction along the top.  You tape the die down on one end and run it through the machine, then you pull the die off and line it up to cut the other half.  The pictures are very clear on the instruction sheet.   You don't need to punch around the page like you do with border punches.  You can also fold your card stock in half and create a card with a die cut border around three sides - this is pictured on the lower right side of the instructions.  Yes, they do cut through a folded piece of card stock.  I did have to use the "CuttleHug" and a small shim across the top edge to get it cut all the way through the first time I ran it through the machine. So quick and easy! The sentiment I used is from the new JustRite "Vintage Rose Medallions" stamp set.  

All these products can be purchased from Joan's Gardens.  Joan just posted four different packages of new leaves by Marianne Design that I am sure we are all going to love.  Be sure to check them out.