A Fun "Flower Arranging" Adventure...

Hi folks...today I'm sharing a project using Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Flower Jar and the matching Sizzix Framelits. I was shocked when I realised I have had these stamps since January 2017 and got the dies soon after but it seems they were filed away and shame on me, forgotten. The stamps on their own are beautiful but oh boy, now I realise what I have been missing all this time, put the stamps and dies together and magic happens.

I decorated a Mini Etcetera Tag and you may want to make yourself a cuppa and find a comfy sofa ready for the photo fest that follows.

I trimmed white card stock to be slightly larger than the Idea-ology Mini Etcetera Tag, one of  my favourite surfaces to decorate and with 4 in a pack for £5.99  or $5.99 depending on where you live, they are great quality and value for money.

I cut 2/1.2" squares from scraps of Idea-ology Worn Wallpaper and fixed them to the white cardstock with Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I applied a light coat of White Gesso and wiped it back slightly from the flower image areas with a damp baby wipe.

I added strips of the lace section from another sheet of Worn Wallper coloured lightly with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink using a mini round blending tool and gave the panel a coat of Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I created shadows around the paper sections with a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon, smudging it with my finger and I love how it brings out the texture of the Worn Wallpaper.

I machine stitched around the edges and the paper sections and fixed the panel to the Etcetera Tag using Distress Collage Medium Matte.

and I was determined that I was going to use Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Ticket Booth and the matching framelits on this project, no way were they going to be forgotten. So I stamped the images on to scraps of Worn Wallpaper and die cut.

I attached two of the tickets with Distress Collage Medium Matte and applied Ranger Opague Texture Paste through the Bubbles Mini Layering Stencil from Set 5, sprinkled with Ranger Superfine White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set once the Texture Paste had dried. I stamped one of the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Ornate Trims with Ground Espresso Archival ink randomly at the edges of the tag (you will see it in a later photo)

I applied a coat of Clear Gesso to an Idea-ology Found Relative, coloured her dress and hair bow with a Fossilized Amber Distress Marker and fixed behind an Idea-ology Baseboard Frame. I sanded the frame lightly and added an Idea-ology Tiny Text Remnant Rub.

Now it was time to have some flower arranging fun. I stamped the Flower Jar images on to Distress Watercolor Card using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival ink for the jars and Vintage Photo for the string section around the neck of the jars.

I coloured the flower and leaf spray stamps with Distress Markers, spritzed the stamps with water and stamped on to the Distress Watercolor card.

I used the matching Tim Holtz/Sizzix Framelits to die cut all the images using the Sizzix Precision Base plate, in my opinion, an essential for die cutting intricate images and I have to say I was blown away by how gorgeous and detailed this floral bouquet turned out.

I cut thin strips of card coloured with a Peeled Paint Distress Marker to create the stalks in the jar and fixed them in place with Distress Collage Medium Matte. (On reflection, they are a bit thick so in future I will be stamping the flower stalks and die-cutting). I then die cut the jar from acetate and depending on how thick your acetate is, you may have to run it through your die-cutting machine a few times. I fixed the acetate on top of the stamped jar using small dots of Ranger Multi Medium Matte around the edges. I then applied 2 strips of 1/8" Ranger Wonder Tape to the section where the lid of the jar will be and layered up the die-cuts flowers and leaves, making sure the stems were within the jar lid area.

I then added a lid cut down from one of the stamped jar images and the die-cut string.

and then it was time to bring all the elements together. I added thread and an Idea-ology Heart Charm to cover the whole at the top of the tag, a butterfly from Idea-ology Botanical Layers and an Idea-ology Story Stick coloured with a Picket Fence Distress Crayon.

I added Idea-ology Fringe under the Baseboard Frame, lots more thread and extra flower and leaf images, finishing off with a splattering of White Gesso.

and I've come to the conclusion that this flower arranging adventure was far more successful than any of my attempts to create something artistic with real flowers. Have fun whatever you're creating.

Hugs Kath xxx