Quince and Cherry Blossom Tutorial

Aren't the Quince flowers beautiful!   Below I have a tutorial on how to create both the Quince and Cherry Blossoms using Susan's Garden Flowering Quince dies. Susan Tierney-Cockburn not only designed beautiful flower dies which have instructions in each package, she also has step by step videos to help us create very realistic flowers.  Here is the link for the Quince video.

 I am always happy if I can create many different flowers with one set of dies.  With the Susan's Garden  Flowering Quince dies, we can also create pretty Cherry Blossoms.

Before I begin, I want to talk a little about the tools in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit. Every thing you need is in this kit.  It contains the shaping mat, leaf shaping pad, non-stick sheet, scissors, self-closing tweezers, and three shaping tools - everything you need to shape and create your beautiful flowers.    The tool on top, in the above picture, is used for creating realistic lines in your  leaves.  I have put a piece of card stock under the tip so you can see the special design. You use this tool on the light green shaping mat that is in the kit. This pad has just the right cushion to create realistic veins on your leaves.   On the other end of this tool is a small stylus. 

The middle tool is one I almost always use to shape petals and leaves.  There is a small loop tool on one end and a larger loop tool on the other end.  The tool on the bottom has a medium and a large stylus end.  These can also be used for shaping or just conditioning the card stock. 

 To create the Quince, I shaded the base of the petals then shaped each one with the small loop tool.  I like to start from the very edge of the petal and pull toward the base, with the petal on the brown shaping mat. If you start just above the petal edge and draw it down, it will kind of curl the edge for a ruffle effect. 

 Here are the shaped pieces for the Quince.  Notice I cut down each leg of the stamen piece to give it a more frilly look.  I used a Copic marker to color the tips.

 The Quince has five petals.  This is a picture of the petals glued to the calyx (base).  Once they are assembled and dried, I like to go back with the small stylus and press down in the center, on the shaping mat,  to help cup (shape) them more. The two flowers on the right side have not been re-shaped.

In this picture I am gluing the stamens in the center of the flowers.  You can also see the nice shape of each flower.

 In the Quince die set,  you will find one petal shaped like this - it looks like two connected petals.  I used this piece to create buds and also used it to add additional petals in the center of the Cherry Blossoms.

 To create the bud, I used three of the "double" petals.  When you use the loop tool, it curls the petal more than if you are using just the stylus.  Draw the loop tool down from the top of each petal a couple of times and it will curl and cup the piece as you can see in the above picture.

 I use The Ultimate Glue to assemble the flowers.  I am working on the non-stick pad that comes in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  To create the bud, you will need a piece of wire.  I am using a cloth covered wire you can get at the craft store.  It comes on a spool.

 After the petals were colored, shaped and the stamen is colored and each leg cut, I added glue to the base of each petal and along the bottom of the stamen.  You will need to work quickly, but I found it easier to add the glue to all pieces before I started putting the bud together.  Add a little glue to the tip of the wire and roll the stamen base around it. 

Next start adding the three petals, one at a time around the stamen, alternating the petals. You can form them in closely next to the stamen for a tight bud or more loosely for a slightly open bud.

 Every bud will probably turn out different, but it will look something like this.

Here is a picture of the finished Quince, buds, and leaves that were attached to a  wired sisal rope.  The Wired Sisal Rope was purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The leaves are from the Susan's Garden, Garden Leaves Dies.

 To create a Cherry Blossom, I created the flower just like the Quince using five petals. To shade the base of each petal, I used Susan's Garden Bright Pink Pan Pastel.   It is a more frilly flower than the Quince.   To create this fullness,  I shaped two of the "double leaf" die cut petals and added them to the center of the flower.

 I alternated the petals that were added in the center.

 For the stamen, I cut down each leg of the die cut rolled it and added Susan's Garden Pollen to the tips. 

I hope this information will help you create your Quince, Cherry Blossoms, and buds for both the Quince and Cherry Blossom.  Be sure to watch Susan's video for more information on how to create the Quince.

All these products can be purchased from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden, Flowering Quince Dies

Susan's Garden, Flower Tool Kit

Susan's Garden, Pan Pastels

Susan's Garden, Pink Pollen

Susan's Garden, 13 piece Garden Leaves

Ultimate Glue

Memory Box, Dainty Corner Die

 

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Susan's Garden Quince and Grid Works

 Today I have a project I loved working on and I hope you like it as much as I do.  This is a 6" square black box I decorated using Susan's Garden Flowering Quince dies, Susan's Grid Works (1 3/8in Squares), and Graphic 45 "Secret Garden" design paper.   The Grid Works were very easy to create and so much fun to work with.

 I LOVE the design paper in the Graphic 45 Secret Garden 8x8 Paper Pad.  One of the sheets had a variety of images I thought would look great die cut with Susan's Grid Works die.   You know how I like to duplicate flowers in design paper!   Well I die cut a lot of the Quince petals, using a very light peach card stock the same color as the flowers in the design paper.  At the base of each flower petal, I sponged on Fired Brick Distress Ink.  The flowers turned out exactly like the ones in the design paper.  Tomorrow I will post a tutorial on how to create the Quince Buds with these dies. 

This is a picture of the Susan's Garden Flowering Quince dies, the Susan's Grid Works squares die, and the Art Squares "Inchies" (Black 1-1/2" squares) I used.  Susan as designed Grid Works dies to fit a variety of Inchie Squares which are available from Ellen Hutson, LLC.  These are the same squares you see Susan use in her instructions when creating flowers.

 To decorate this box, I added a Tim Holtz, Locket to the front of the box, and Tim Holtz Box Feet to raise the box.  Adding these embellishments really created a very elegant box.

I added a few embellishments (bird cage, bird, and "Harmony" die cut) to the top of the box from my stash.   I'm sorry but I don't know for sure where they are from.

 On the inside of the box I added another piece of the Graphic 45, Secret Garden design paper, and another stem of Susan's Garden Flowering Quince.   

As I said above, tomorrow I will post a tutorial on creating the Flowering Quince.  I hope you will be back.

You can purchase all these products from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Graphic 45, Secret Garden 8x8 Paper Pad

Susan's Garden, Flowering Quince dies

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

Susan Tierney-Cockburn, Grid Works (1 3/8in Squares)

Inchies Squares, Black (32 1-1/2" squares)

Tim Holtz, Locket Keys embellishments

Tim Holtz, Foundations, 4 Box Feet

Fired Brick, Distress Ink

Ultimate Glue

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Dogwoods

Good Morning.  It is so nice to be back to creating every day.  It is very cold here but think we are lucky because other parts of the country are much colder.  I always look forward to Spring to see all the beautiful flowers and flowering bushes and trees come to life after a cold Winter.  I planted a pink dogwood tree six years ago, because I love dogwoods, but so far it has never bloomed.  I'm not sure why, but if it doesn't bloom this year I guess I will buy another one and see if I have any luck in getting one to bloom.  At least I can create very realistic dogwoods using dies for my cards and projects!

The most realistic flowers can be created with the Susan's Garden Dogwood dies. If you are not familiar with Susan's dies, every flower packet contains all the dies needed to complete the flower and the leaves.  There are picture instructions in the package to show you how to create the flower, plus Susan has a video for each one.   Here is a link to Susan Tiernery-Cockburn's Dogwood video showing you how to assemble these Dogwoods. I followed Susan's instructions and also placed the flowers on some wired sisal rope that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. This gives the appearance of the dogwoods on a branch.  I have created white Dogwoods, but my favorite are the pink ones.   Both the flower petals and leaves were die cut using white card stock and colored with Susan's Garden Pan Pastels. The pink highlights were colored using the Copic RV34 Dark Pink marker.   In order to show off these beautiful Dogwoods, I decided to place them on a simple black and white card.  The pretty stamped image I chose is the  Impression Obsession "Nest Collage" .  It was embossed using VersaMark Ink and Ranger Distress Black Soot Embossing Powder.   I plan to attach this piece to the top of a box which will include a birthday gift.

Below is a list of the products used from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden, Dogwood dies

Susan's Garden, Flower Tool Kit

Susan's Garden, Viva Paper Pen

Susan's Garden Pan Pastels

PanPastel Sofft Knives and Covers

Ultimate Glue

Copic Marker RV34

Ranger Distress Black Soot Embossing Powder

VersaMark Ink Pad

Impression Obsession, Nest Collage, stamp

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Plumeria

 If you go to Hawaii, you will notice that these sweet smelling Plumerias are everywhere.  These flowers are used to create beautiful leis.  The variety of colors are  a beauty to behold... red, pink, white, yellow, and yes, even a variety known as rainbow.  I have used Susan's Garden Plumeria dies to create rainbow plumeria.  You can watch a step by step video by Susan Tierney-Cockburn on how to create the Plumeria at this link.

The rainbow plumeria are a blend of yellow and pink.  This color combination is really easy to duplicate on each petal by using the Susan's Garden Pan Pastels.  I used the PanPastelSofft Knife with a point to first apply the bright pink then went over it with with yellow.  I love how the Pan Pastels blend together so well.  In the pictures I saw of the rainbow plumeria, it had a little black at the base of the petals, so I used a Copic fine black marker to add a few thin black lines, then went back over it with the yellow Pan Pastel.  One of the things I want to point out is that when you add the petals to the calyx (base), be sure to add them next to each other.  If you have read my tutorials on how to assemble a rose, I tell you to first add petals to every other point on the base, going back and adding the other petals over the first ones.  With the Plumeria, they are to overlap the petal next to them as you glue them around the calyx. 

Here is a close up picture of a Rainbow Plumeria.  You can see how the petals are layered from the base.  Also notice how one side of each petal is curved up.

Along with Susan's Video and this close up picture, I'm sure you will be able to create beautiful Plumeria in a variety of colors.

You can purchase the products used by clicking on the link below at Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden, Plumeria dies
Susan's Garden, Pan Pastels
PanPastel Sofft Knives and Covers
Copic Multi Multiliner Set Fine, Black 4pc
Susan's Garden, Flower Tool Kit
Ultimate Glue
Susan's Garden, Yarrow flower dies (used for small white flowers)
Memory Box, Kaleidoscope Butterfly
Memory Box, Moonlight Butterfly
Hero Arts Accent Pearls

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Beautiful Columbines

We are back home from our family reunion.  Seems like the house is kind of empty now that the tree is down and all the decorations packed away.   December was a very busy month for us,  but now I am looking forward to spending a lot more time designing.  I am looking forward to creating lots of beautiful Spring cards.   One of my favorite new Susan's Garden dies is the Columbine.   Susan's dies are very easy to use to create this beautiful flower.  I have a tutorial on my blog, at this link, for creating these Columbines.

Columbines comes in many colors but my favorite color is this purple and white flower.  I was able to easily duplicate it with the Susan's Garden Columbine dies.

To create this card, I used an older Webster's Pages "Secret Garden" design paper.  The pretty frame for the sentiment is the Memory Box "Tiffany Frame".  I die cut several ovals to place under the frame.  The larger butterfly is the Memory Box "Pippi Butterfly".  I also added some of the butterflies that are from the Memory Box "Butterfly Vine Border".  I liked the size of the butterflies on this border die cut, so just snipped them off the vine and placed them around the frame.

If you are ready to start working on Spring flowers, I know you will have fun creating these beautiful Susan's Garden Columbines. 

You can purchase all the products I use from Ellen Hutson, LLC by clicking on the link below:

Susan's Garden Columbine Dies

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit 

Susan's Garden Pan Pastels

Susan's Garden Pollen

Ultimate Glue

Memory Box, Tiffany Frame

Memory Box, Pippi Butterfly

Memory Box, Butterfly Vine Border

1084284 

Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop

Today is our last Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop for 2013.  There are 14 designers participating this month to give you a lot of inspiration using your Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies and design paper.

Would you like to win a $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations?  If you leave a comment on each designers blog hop post, before Friday, January 3 at midnight, you have a chance to win. A random drawing will be held from one of the blogs to determine a winner, which will be announced January 4th. Here are the links to the 14 blogs:

Glenda Brooks
Alissa Wells
Candy Slabaugh 
Vicki Dutcher 
Cibele Glazer 
Selma Stevenson (You are here)
Giovana Smith
Deneen Treble 
Caroline Duncan 
Lee Ann Barrett
Emilia van den Heuvel 
Linda Loew 
Mary Faus
Lisa Allen 

This has been a great year for so many beautiful Heartfelt Creations Collections.  The last release this year was the "Floral Key Collection".  This is a perfect set for lovely vintage cards/projects.   

I love how we can design so many beautiful cards by using a combination of stamps and design papers from different collections. Your design possibilities are endless!   I have used a variety of collections to design the above card. This is a 6x6" card. It was created layering two of the card panels from the "Floral Key" paper collection, for the background.  I used one of the stamps from the "Journey of Love Keys PreCut Set", colored it with Copic markers, and mounted it in the die cut heart from the  "Timeless Amour Die" set.  The sentiment and small key are part of  the "Burnished Key PreCut Set"  which were die cut with the "Burnished Key" die.  The flower was created using stamps from the "Sun Kissed Fleur" and "Open Vintage" PreCut sets.  They were die cut using the matching flower dies.  The leaves are from the "Delicate Asters PreCut Set".   The Butterfly is from the "Delicate Asters and Butterflies PreCut Set".  A piece of lace and some rhinestones were added to complete the card.

The next stop in the blog hop is to Giovana's blog.  Be sure to leave a comment  below and all the blogs for a chance to win the $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations.

Below are direct links to the Heartfelt Creations products used:

Floral Key Paper Collection, HCDP1 238
Burnished Key PreCut Set, HCPC3569 
Burnished Key Dies, HCD741
Sun Kissed Fleur PreCut Set, HCPC3533
Sun Kissed Fleur die, HCD734
Open Vintage Floret PreCut Set, HCPC 3500
Vintage Floret Die, HCD727
Journey of Love Keys PreCut Set, HCPC3574
Delicate Asters PreCut Set, HCPC3494
Delicate Asters and Butterflies PreCut Set, HCPC3499
Timeless Amour Die, HCD728

Heartfelt Creations Floral Key Collection

 Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.   This year we are excited to spend  a week with all our kids and grandkids.  This hasn't happened for a long time.  Our oldest son had a three day delay in getting in because of bad weather but did arrive safely.  We are all going to be in ski country, in Canada, to celebrate my birthday in a few days.  I'm really looking forward to that.  I am also looking forward to the new year and hoping it will be a very healthy year for my family.  I have spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms this year; first with my husband, then my daughter had surgery three times with a very long recovery time for each one, my friend Pat had foot surgery last month, then Christmas Eve my granddaughter had to have her appendix out.  What a bad time to be in the hospital! I have tried to keep up with all my design work but it has been a very busy year.  I am looking forward to spending a lot more time being in my craft studio this next year.

I love working with the Heartfelt Creations Floral Key Collection stamps and dies. I thought I would show you one of the stamps that has a matching die that you can do so many things with.   The Burnished Key PreCut Set" can be used as a background stamp, as I used on the above card, but you can also stamp it and use the "Burnished Key Die" to cut out all the keys and locks.  How fun is that!  I used gold embossing powder on the above card for the background.  It was layered on a shiny gold card stock and placed on a red card.  The key with the flowers is one of the stamps in the "Journey of Love Keys PreCut Set".  It was colored with Copic Markers and attached with dimensional tape.

 This is a picture of the Burnished Key stamp set and the matching die.

Look at all these keys and locks you get with this stamp and die. To die cut the individual keys and locks, you stamp the  background stamp first.  Then use the die to create a template so you can place it over the stamped images in order to die cut all the pieces.  Emma Lou has videos on the Heartfelt Creations Blog showing how to do this if you are not familiar with this technique.   All these pieces coordinate with the stamps and images in the design paper collection.

Be sure to go over to the Heartfelt Creations Blog to see many beautiful cards created with the Floral Key Collection.

You can see the entire Floral Key Collection at this link.

Blog Candy Winner

I  want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and thank all of you who have followed my work and left so many wonderful comments.  I love hearing from you.  I appreciate all the comments you left regarding the Speckled Poinsettia Tutorial I did for Ellen Hutson's "the CLASSroom".  You are all so kind.  We have a winner for the Blog Candy.

Congratulations to JAN CASTLE.  Jan, Ellen will contact you for your address so she can send you the blog candy.

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:20Powered by RANDOM.ORG

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 Jan Castle said...

Perfect Selma....your poinsettias are sooooo real! But then, all the flowers you create are life like -every detail! Thanks for sharing!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Guest Designer for the CLASSroom plus Blog Candy

Ellen Hutson asked if I would like to be a guest designer for the CLASSroom posting a tutorial on how to use the product "GooseBumps" to create beautiful "speckled" poinsettias.  I am thrilled to do this.  Above is a picture of three different colors of  "speckled" poinsettias I created using the Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies and GooseBumps Clear Texture Spray.   

You will find a detailed tutorial on how I created these poinsettias, in Ellen Hutson's  the CLASSroom.  Please go over to see detailed instructions on how I used the GooseBumps and how I assemble the poinsettias.  I know you will have fun creating these beautiful poinsettias.

 Would you like to win the blog candy pictured below?  Be sure to leave a comment here on my blog for a chance to win the Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies, a bottle of GooseBumps, and the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit. Please be sure your comment has a way to contact you (email address) so we can contact you if you are the winner. Comments for this blog candy will be available for the drawing through Thursday, December 19th.  The winner will be announced on Friday, December 20th.   Ellen Hutson will mail these products out to the winner.

 

All the products I used to create these beautiful poinsettias can be purchased from Ellen Hutson, LLC.  Just click on the links below:

GooseBumps Texture Spray
 Color Catcher 
Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies
Susan's Garden Pan Pastels
PanPastel Sofft Tools
Sizzix, Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit
The Ultimate Glue
Vintage Photo, Distress Stickles
Tea Dye, Distress Ink
Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool 

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Red Poinsettia

I have been so busy getting ready for Christmas. The tree and all the decorations are up, but I still have lots of baking I want to get done.   My whole family will be coming for a family reunion this year and I am trying to get lots of things ready before they start arriving next week.  I have also been working on other projects that will be posted later.  I will have a special post next Sunday I don't think you will want to miss. 

This card was inspired by a "leftover" from another project I am working on.  The colored frame behind the poinsettia is the die cut left after die cutting the Susan's Garden 1 7/8" Grid Works squares that will be used on another project.  I think the frame left from around the squares makes a perfect window that I could not waste.  Behind the Grid Works Frame, I added the Poppy Stamps, "Diamond Background" die cut.

The beautiful poinsettia was die cut using the Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies.  The flower was die cut using red card stock.  The petals were shaped using the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  On the tips of the stamens, I used both the green and yellow, Susan's Garden Viva Decor Paper Pens.    Behind the poinsettia I placed some Poppy Stamps Delicate Fern, Poppy Stamps Meadow Leaf, and Impression Obsession Pine Branches, for filler.  I love to add birds to my creations. Isn't that fat little bird, behind the poinsettia, cute!  It is an Impression Obsession Bird.  It was stamped on white card stock and colored with Distress Ink. It is an easy stamped image to cut out and mount with a Pop Up Glue Dot.  The poinsettia was also attached with a Pop Up Glue Dot.

You can purchase all the products I used from Ellen Hutson, LLC, by clicking on the links below:

Sizzix, Susan Tierney Cockburn, Grid Works, 1 7/8 inch squares, die

Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

Susan's Garden, Viva Decor Paper Pens

Memory Box, Delicate Fern

Poppy Stamps, Meadow Leaf

Poppy Stamps, Diamond Background

Impression Obsession, Bird stamp

Impression Obsession, Pine Branch die

Pop Up Glue Dots

More White Poinsettias

When I use my Susan's Garden flower dies, I always die cut a lot at one time.  I use a 80# card stock and usually can layer three pieces of card stock on top of the dies so it doesn't take long to die cut a lot of pieces.  Another thing I like to do is use white card stock then color the flowers with Susan's Garden Pan Pastels.  When I have already die cut a lot of flower pieces in white, it makes it easy to color them any color I want.   I like to use the Pan Pastel Sofft Tools for a nice even Pan Pastel color coverage.   

I had a couple more white flowers, left from yesterdays post, that I created with the Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies, so I decided to design a card with them today.  I added a lot of Distress glitter to the flowers, leaves and stamen, to give them a Christmas sparkle.  The added glitter really dresses up the poinsettias.  When you create poinsettias with the Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies, they are always the  focal point and you don't really need to add much more to create a gorgeous card.  This is a 6x6" inch card and was very quick and easy to assemble. 

I posted this card November 22 using the Memory Box "Grand Merry Christmas" die.  I love this die for a Christmas card sentiment.  When you use this die, you don't use the die cut letters that spell "Christmas" . I didn't want the letters go to waste, so I used them on the card I designed today.  I laid the letters out on the top of the card for spacing, then added a little glue to the back of each one.   I really like the unused letters added as a sentiment on my new card.

The products I used can be purchased from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies

Sizzix, Flower Tool Kit for Susan's Garden

Susan's Garden Pan Pastels 

Pan Pastel Sofft Tools

The Ultimate Glue

Memory Box "Grand Merry Christmas" die

Distress Glitter, Clear Rock Candy

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Christmas Window

 Today I have a Christmas card designed with another new die from the Susan's Garden Collection called "Conservatory Window".  It is a perfect background for the beautiful poinsettias you can create with the Susan's Garden "Poinsettia" dies.

The Window was die cut and backed with a piece of glittery pale yellow card stock.  In front of the window I added the pretty Memory Box "Glowing Candles" die.  The poinsettia was created using the three smallest petals in the Susan's Garden "Poinsettia" die set.  I love that you can create a variety of sizes of poinsettias with this set.   Behind the flower I placed four of the Poppy Stamps "Berry Sprig" die cuts.  This is a die cut that looks great on your Christmas cards but will also be used a lot with your spring and summer flower die cuts.  On the berries I added "Chipped Sapphire" Distress Stickles, to match the design in the paper.  Also behind the poinsettia are a few Impression Obsession "Pine Branches".   "Clear Rock Candy" Distress Stickles was added to the candles, poinsettia and greenery.  

 

Here is a closeup so you can see the glitter.

You can purchase the products I used below from Ellen Hutson, LLC.

Susan's Garden Conservatory Window

Susan's Garden, Poinsettia dies

Sizzix, Susan's Garden Tool Kit

Memory Box, Glowing Candle die

Poppy Stamps, Berry Sprig

Impression Obsession, Pine Branch

Distress Stickles Dry Glitter, Clear Rock Candy

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