Susan's Garden Speckled Poinsettia Tutorial

 It is always exciting when I discover something new and can share it with you.  Today I created a poinsettia with "speckles" -- I believe these poinsettias are called "Candy Candy Poinsettias".  I love how it came out.  This Susan's Garden poinsettia is on a 5.5" square card but I have also used it on a gift bag below.  I have prepared a tutorial below for you, so you can create this beautiful poinsettia.

 This poinsettia was added to a gift bag created with the new "We R Memory Keepers Gift Bag Punch Board".  The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Creations "Yuletide Sentiments PreCut Set". 

 This is a side view of the Gift Bag.  You can use a paper width of 10", 11" or 12" for your bag.  The length can be any where between 4" & 12".  I used a piece of 12" design paper for my bag because I wanted it tall.

 Here is the product I used to create the speckled look on my poinsettia.  It is called "Goose Bumps Texture Spray".  When you use it, you want to hold the bottle about 6" from your project and just lightly mist.  The more spray you get on your project the less color will show through if you are going to sponge ink over it.  I die cut all my poinsettia pieces using white card stock.  Next I added the Goose Bumps Texture Spray, which leaves little "bumps" on the paper.  You can either wait for it to dry or use your heat gun.  Don't over heat because the spray will turn tan if you over heat it.  It doesn't take long for it to dry.  Once it is dry, I sponged on Ranger, Picked Raspberry Distress Ink with a sponge dauber.

 You can see how different each petal looks.  The first petal has a lot more spray on it than the others.  Each one will always be different.

 All the petals were shaped with the tools from Susan's Garden Tool Kit.  I die cut 8 petals of all six sizes to create this poinsettia. 

 This is a picture of the bottom layer of poinsettia petals.  Once they are shaped, add four petals - one on every other point of calyx (base), then go back and add the other 4 petals.  It give the flower more dimension when you assemble it this way (it almost looks like you have added two layers).

I created three separate layers for this poinsettia.  Eight petals were used for each layer.  I only used the three largest petals (all the same size on each layer). The glue I used to assemble my flowers is "Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue".

In a picture above, the leaves are only sponged with "Pine Needles" and "Forest Moss" Distress Ink.  Once I was ready to add the petals to the back of the flower, I decided to sponge on just a little of the "Picked Raspberry" to pick up a little of the flower color.

Once I glued all the layers together, I added glue to the front and back of some of the smaller petals and stuck them in around the stamen.  Also some additional larger petals were added under the flower before the green leaves were glued on to create a larger flower.

 I love using Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies to create my poinsettias because it is so easy to create many different sizes and they always look so realistic. This is the largest poinsettia I have created so far with her dies.

What do you think about this technique.  Do you plan to give it a try?

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I hope you will leave a comment and let me know if you like this technique. Have a great weekend.

Products used from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies 

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

Goose Bumps Texture Spray

We R Memory Keepers Candy Box Punch Board 

Ranger Picked Raspberry Distress Ink 

Ranger Pine Needles Distress Ink

Ranger Forest Moss Distress Ink

Sponge Daubers

Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue

Heartfelt Creations "Yuletide Sentiments"

 

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Fall Wreath

 Do you find it fun to recycle something very plain to create something beautiful you can be proud of.  I recently was shopping in Target and found a very plain wreath, in clearance, covered with dried leaves.  I knew instantly I could dress it up with flowers I could create with Susan's Garden dies.  All of Susan's flowers can be used to create beautiful cards, but think of all the other uses you can use them for too. With these dies, you really can become a "florist".

 This is the wreath I purchased.  I created four different flowers using Susan's Garden dies: two Gazania flowers in Autumn colors, and yellow Yarrow, from the new (second)  flower collection.  From the first collection I created a sunflower and some small mums using the Susan's Garden Mini Lily dies (tutorial here).  In addition I added some other embellishments I had.  If you are interested in making your own pine cones using Susan's Garden "Mini Petal" dies, here is the link to my tutorial.

This wreath will be beautiful hanging on the wall or I can add a candle, inside glass, in the middle of it, for a beautiful centerpiece on the table.

Yesterday I gave you the link to Susan's directions for creating "Yarrow".  Today I am giving you the link to her directions to create Gazania flowers.

 Gazania come in many different colors.  Since I was creating flowers for Autumn, I chose this gazania picture for inspiration for petal color.

 

Well I hope I have given you some inspiration to dress up something you would like to recycle.  When you add flowers you create with Susan's Garden dies, everyone will admire your work. 

Thank you for stopping by today.  Do you have a flower you are waiting for me to post from Susan's new Susan's Garden Collection?  I have created all the flowers, and will be happy to help you with any of them - just leave a comment below.  

Links to products at Ellen Hutson, LLC for creating the above Susan's Garden flowers:

Susan's Garden Gazania Flower Dies
Susan's Garden Yarrow Flower Dies
Susan's Garden  Mini Lily Petals
Susan's Garden Mini Petals
Susan's Garden Sunflower Dies
Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit
Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue

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Susan's Garden Rose and Gift Box Tutorial

 

How I love creating flowers with Susan's Garden dies. Today I created a box with a new tool, We R Memory Keepers Gift Box Punch Board, that is available at Ellen Hutson, LLC and created a gorgeous rose to match flowers in the design paper, plus baby's breath, with Susan's dies. First I will tell you about the flowers.

I used the Susan's Garden Rose dies to create this pretty rose.  I love how they always turn out looking so realistic.  I die cut the petals using 60# ivory card stock.  The base of each petal was colored using Susan's Garden yellow Pan Pastels.  Next the petals were shaped with the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  To match the flowers in the design paper, I sponged on burgundy ink around the edge of each petal, then assembled using Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue. 

 In the Susan's Garden new collection, she has dies for creating "Yarrow".  So far, I have created these flowers in yellow and in white, which were shown in my display board of new flowers in the Susan's Garden Collection.  I love to see Baby's Breath with roses, so decided the white yarrow could be used to go with my roses.  The yarrow is very easy to assemble, and so much fun to see this cluster of flowers come together.  I followed Susan's instructions, which you can see here.

This beautiful rose is displayed on a box created with the new We R Memory Keepers "Gift Box Punch Board".  I know all you are going to want this tool in your crafting supplies. It took just a couple of minutes to create this box.  The Gift Box Punch Board has directions right on the tool for creating 8 different size boxes.  The directions are very easy and I know you will love creating boxes for some of your holiday gifts.  The directions also include metric measurements. 

A picture of the Gift Box Punch Board opened up.

 The box I created is 4 inches square.  This is a picture of the heavy weight, double sided, design paper scored and punched, ready to assemble.  The design paper I used is from K&Company.

Next, to assemble the box, you use the score tool to crease all seams.  The four corners have little notches to hold the box together.  You can best see the notch on the far left side in this picture - all four corners are notched for assembly.  First you attach two opposite sides together with the notches as shown here.

 When you attach the other two sides together you have this box.  The opening is only on one end.  If you want to decorate the box with flowers, or other embellishments, you can decorate the other end of the box so it can be saved, and it will be opened from the bottom, or you can attach embellishments to just one of the top flaps.

 This is what the closure will look like when closed. 

I wrapped around some ribbon and attached my rose and baby's breath on top.

I have received questions about who I now design for.   I am no longer designing for Joan's Gardens.    I design for Susan's Garden, for Susan Tierney-Cockburn, and am a freelance designer affiliated with Ellen Hutson, LLC.  I receive a small commission when customers click from my blog to purchase at Ellen Hutson, LLC. I want to thank you for shopping through my links.   I greatly appreciate your support.

Here is are the links to the products you can purchase from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

We R Memory Keepers, Gift Box Punch Board
Susan's Garden "Rose" dies
Susan's Garden "Yarrow" dies
Susan's Garden "Flower Tool Kit"
Susan's Garden "Pan Pastels"
Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue

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Believe in the Magic of Christmas

The snow has been falling all morning so I decided to create another Christmas card. For the background I used a new background die from Poppy Stamps called "Diamond Background".  I love the diamond shapes on this die cut.  Behind the die cut I attached an embossed background using the Sizzix "Dots" embossing folder.  It looks like falling snow.   The tree is from Memory Box.  When you die cut this tree, and if you run it back through with the embossing pad, it embosses snow on the bottom of each branch.  Since I used green card stock for the tree, before I removed it from the die, I pressed the VersaMark "Dazzle" watermark stamp pad down over the openings so I could add white embossing powder for the snow.  After adding the ink, remove the die and pour on the embossing powder, then heat set.  I love how realistic this tree looks.  

In the upper left corner I added a poinsettia created with the Susan's Garden "Poinsettia" dies.  Under the poinsettia are two Poppy Stamps die cut "Berry Sprigs".  To color the berries on this sprig, I added Seedless Preserves Distress Glitter.    The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Creations "Holly Berry PreCut Set" (HCPC3551). 

 Below is a link to the products I used from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Poppy Stamps "Diamond Background"

Poppy Stamps "Berry Sprig"

Memory Box "Frosted Christmas Tree"

Sizzix, Dots, embossing folder

Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

VersaMark "Dazzle" watermark stamp pad

Distress Glitter, Seedless Preserves

Ranger White embossing Powder

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Susan's Garden Birdhouse with Bougainvillea

 

Today I wanted to display the Bougainvillea on this cute 3-D Rounded Birdhouse by Susan Tierney-Cockburn.  The Bougainvillea were created with the dies in the Susan's Garden "Bougainvillea" die set.  You could create this very thin leaf flowers with either card stock, vellum, or tissue.  When I assembled the birdhouse I held the seams together with Washi Tape.  It doesn't matter what the design is, because it will be inside the birdhouse.  This tape is very flexible and holds well on the seams.

 The petals on the Bougainvillea are very thin, so I decided to see if tissue paper would work.  I liked the outcome.  To shape this thin paper, I used the smallest loop tool from the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  Gently press down around the edges of each petal to make it curl up.  You can view Susan Tierney-Cockburns instructions here for creating her Bougainvillea.

Here are the pieces I have prepared to assemble six Bougainvillea. Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Glue was used to glue the pieces together.

 Here is a closeup of one bougainvillea flower.

Here are links to the products used from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden "Bougainvillea" die set 

Sizzix, Susan Tierney-Cockburn, Big XL Die, Birdhouse, Rounded 3-D

Washi Tape

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

Crafter's Pick, The Ultimate Glue

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Susan's Garden Columbines

Today I have a closeup of the flower I created with Susan's Garden "Columbine" dies. I never would have thought I could create a columbine, but Susan made it so easy with her new flower dies.  Below I have a few tips for how I created my flowers.

There are a lot of different colors of Columbines.  I found this picture to use as a guide.  The Columbine is the State flower for Colorado, where I spent most of my life.  This was my favorite color, so tried to duplicate it.

There are instructions in the package of Susan's flower dies,  plus you can get Susan's online instructions here.

When you look at the picture of the Columbine, you can see the tails under the flower are round.  In order to achieve that look with the die cuts,  be sure to draw a line down the length, all the way down to the very bottom of the tail.  This will cause the tail to become rounded and will look natural.  Shape with the self-closing tweezers, as shown in Susan's directions.  Shaping is very easy when you use the tools and pads in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.

To create a nice full stamen, I used scissors to make two cuts in each "prong" of the die cut stamen -- so instead of 5 stamen's, I ended up with 15.  When you cut 2 slits in each stamen, they will be very thin, so be sure you cut nice straight lines so you don't end up cutting one off.

Roll the stamen up.  Spread each "leg" out so you can add one very small drop of glue on the end of each one. This will keep them from sticking together - then push the stamen down in the Susan's Garden Woodland Scenic Pollen.  Once the glue is dry, you can push them back, closer together.  For the tips of the stamens, I like using Tombow Mono  Liquid Glue.  I use Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Glue to assemble all my flowers.
 

Here are the shaped pieces I used for each flower.  One thing that makes it easier to assemble the Columbine, is to glue the stamen in the center of the 5-petals die cut, and let it dry before gluing the individual petals, with the tails, to the base of the stamen (in between the petals with the stamen.  I colored my petals different than Susan did on her tutorial.  The tails are colored purple on the white petals, and the die cut with 5 attached petals, was colored purple.  I used Susan's Garden Pan Pastels (Purple and White), to color.  To apply the Pan Pastels, I use the Pan Pastels Sofft Tools.

 This is a picture of six Columbines placed on the top of a box.  When I attach my flowers to a card or box, I like to use Pop-up Glue Dots.  This gives them a little more height if you want to add additional leaves under flowers.

Here are links to each of the products I used from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden Columbine Dies

Susan's Garden Woodland Scenic Pollen

Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit

Susan's Garden Pan Pastels

Pan Pastel Sofft Tools

Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Glue

Tombow Liquid Glue

Pop-up Glue Dots

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Susan's Garden Poinsettias

 I am excited to show you my new project created using the new Sizzix, Susan's Garden "Poinsettia" flower dies.  I do own a lot of different poinsettia dies, but this by far is my favorite because you can create very realistic poinsettias in different sizes.  It all depends on which poinsettia petal die cuts you decide to use.  You can make large poinsettias for arrangements like the one on this lantern, beautiful poinsettias for gift packages, any size poinsettias for greeting cards, etc.  You can use different things to create your flowers such as 60# or 80# card stock, watercolor paper, vellum, glitter paper, etc. The ideas are endless.  I'm sure you will love working with Susan's Garden poinsettia dies.

This picture shows seven different sizes.

 This picture shows the six different petals in the Susan's Garden Poinsettia plus the calyx (base).  

 Inside each flower package, Susan has instructions on how to create the flower plus very soon her videos will be online to give you more information.  I wanted to show you how I make the petals realistic.  I am using the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  It has special tools for creating the shapes needed.  The first leaf on the upper left is just die cut; second leaf shows line drawn down the center, on the back, using the leaf tool and leaf pad.  This pad allows you to get a nice drawn line on your petals when using the leaf tool.  Next I fold the leaf in half (bottom sides together) and crease down the scored line with my finger nails.  This gives that center seam extra dimension to define that center vein.  Next open the leaf, and on the front, draw the side veins with the leaf tool.  You can further shape the petals/leaves by using the self-closing tweezers that are included in the tool kit.

For this tutorial, I am creating the small pink poinsettias.  After the petals were shaped, I applied the light pink Susan's Garden Pan Pastels down the center with the pointed tool.

The two small pink poinsettias are different sizes and to accomplished this I used the calyx from the poinsettia die set for one, using the two smallest petals in the "poinsettia" die set, and the calyx from the Susan's Garden "Mini Petals" for the smallest one using the smallest petals. 

 Susan has great instructions in the package for creating the poinsettias, but I changed it a little for these very small flowers.  I started by adding 3 petals.

Then added three more petals in between the first three.  You can then add as many of the smallest petals as you want to make it as full as you like.

Are are the two small poinsettias completed.

 This poinsettia was created with "The Paper Studio" Glitter card stock.

 This poinsettia was die cut using white card stock.  It was sponged with plum ink then mauve glitter added.

This poinsettia was die cut using red card stock, red and orange Pan Pastels added to middle vein of each petal, then black sponged around the edge of each petal to help define each petal once the flower was assembled.

I have created all the flowers in the new Susan's Garden Collection and will be posting each one individually and doing tutorials as needed.   You can see all the new products in the Susan's Garden Collection at this link.

Products used  available from Ellen Hutson, LLC:
Susan's Garden "Poinsettia" dies
Susan's Garden "Flower Tool Kit"
Susan's Garden "Pan Pastels"
Susan's Garden "Mini Petals"
Susan's Garden new flower collection

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