Dress My Craft Papers and Tools Rock!!

Hi friends, Thank you so much for all the love showered on my Altered KeyHolder posted earlier showcasing handmade flowers and Tutorials. Here is another altered project..this time a Tea-light holder dressed up in a fairy house style using lots of  handmade flowers , vines and crystals!

I am so in love with the new Dress my Craft Papers...they are superb for die cutting as due to the thickness of the papers, the shapes hold so well.

The roses were made using Dress my Craft Floral Oriental paper and Spellbinders Rose Creations  dies.

The tear drop crystals are gorgeous fillers I picked up from Crafters Corner. Love how they lend a magical touch to a project.

Propped up the dragon fly charm on floral wire to fly  above the flowers!

The yellow and pink blooms were also made using the same Spellbinders Rose Creations  die and Dress my Craft papers! Dont you just love it when you can stretch your supplies and make so many different flowers using a single die / punch.
        I had never been able to quite enjoy making the crushed flowers which are so popular...I think the problem was the paper I had been using. This time I used the Dress my Craft papers and tools.I loved how easy it was to crunch up the papers without tearing them and the best thing was the shape held wonderfully!

Here are some of the flowers I made using Dress my Craft papers and tools.

The rose is one of my favorite flowers to make and yes I agree its the toughest one to get right too!! 

I love to find  easier ways to do something and in the last Tutorial I showed you how to use an earbud to help shape the central bud of the rose...in this post I will show you how to use Dress my Craft tools to make your flower making quicker and  easier.

Materials

• Dress my Craft Oriental Paper
• Groove Golf Tool Set: used the 2 large ones here
• Any 5 petal Flower die: Here I used the Spellbinders Rose Creations  die and used the 2nd largest die 
• Distress Inks /other inks
• Mister
• Towel
• Embossing Pad
• Adhesive of choice : I prefer the hot glue gun for its fast results.
• Dress my Craft Sparkling dust

Use any 5 petal flower shape and color whichever way you want.Use one color, ink only the edges or use 2 different shades. Just remember to color both surfaces of your flower as the rose is a 3 dimensional flower and you will see both sides on your final flower.

Mist lightly with water and blot gently with a towel.

To quickly and easily form the central bud , use the largest of the golf tools and roll your flower petal around it

This is so much quicker than embossing with  tools and much easier than simply trying to roll the petal into a cone using your fingers alone!

Do the same with all the petals of your flower.

To form a nice pointed cone, now take the 2nd largest golf tool and wrap one petal around it...sliding it up to the tapering end and rolling into a tight cone.

What I loved about the Dress my Craft paper is that not only is it super easy to shape by this method but also the shape stays nicely...see how the petal doesn't uncoil immediately but gives time to glue!

You need to do this with only one petal which will form the innermost core of your bud. Glue the other petals around this .

You can use hot glue if you are adept with it [meaning not prone to burning yourself and not using too much] or use a clear drying adhesive of your choice.

You can either glue the adjacent petals overlapping the edges or glue petals from opposite sides...it just slightly changes the look of your bud and gives a bit of variety!

Your bud is now ready ! Add a calyx and its ready to go on a project as it is!

For the layer immediately around the bud, again use the large golf tool and rather than emboss, simply wrap the petals around it like you did before.

Optionally,  use the pointed tapered end of your 2nd largest or smaller golf tools and gently curve the edges of the petal outwards.

 Glue around your bud

You can achieve a tight or loose look for your rose by choosing where you apply the glue:

apply glue only on the  base of the bud and you will have a looser rose

apply glue on the base and on the lower half of the sides of the bud...you will get a tighter rose!

For the outer layers [you can add 2-3 depending on how full a flower you want] use the large golf tool to nicely cup and add subtle texture to the petals.

If any area looks stiff ,switch to a smaller golf tool and go over that area. Keep in mind that if you want more embossing anytime switch to the smaller size of the golf tool.

Invert the cup shaped flower and press the center with the round end of the largest golf tool.

Glue this under your rosebud

And so with just 3  die cuts  you have made a cute little rose!

Add more layers if you want a fuller rose .

To jazz up your rose...apply adhesive medium [use spray adhesive, crackle paint, multi-medium matte, glossy accents etc] and sprinkle Dress my Craft sparkling dust or frosted sugar.

Doesn't the rose look beautiful !!!

And the best thing is it was not too hard to make too isnt it!!

The pink one below is the one I used in the tea light holder

And here is the tea light holder hanging from our miniature Orange tree!

I hope you found some of the tricks I have shared useful.Do tell me how it is.

Supplies : all from Crafters Corner

Dies : Spellbinders  :Spellbinders Rose Creations,Heartfelt Creations :Heartfelt creations Classic Leaf, Heartfelt creations Delightful Daisy Die, Cheery Lynn  Dragon fly
Stamps : Heartfelt Creations Open Leaf Stamp,Heartfelt creations Delightful Daisies Stamp
Inks : Ranger Archival Inks , Distress Inks  Embellishments & CharmsHeat Embossing Supplies

Flower making : Pollen, Crystal Fillers
Dress my Craft products: Flower Making Paper : Dress my craft collection exotica and Floral Oriental collection paper

Golf Tools : LARGE, MEDIUM,  SMALL, MINI and NEW : Golf tool set
Misc Tools:Funnel tray

Sparkling Dust from Dress my Craft

Flowers with DMC groove tools.

Good morning!
Rupa here with my first post for February. It's the month of LOVE and there is nothing like giving handmade gifts to your loved ones. How about making some flowers too to decorate your gifts...won't it make it even more colorful???
DRESS MY CRAFT has all the essential stuff required to make beautiful flowers...the papers as well as the tools! I have used the Oriental collection papers and the groove tools which were recently launched.

 The tools come in 4 sizes, Large, Medium, Small and Mini.. perfect for any size flowers or leaves.

Our DT's have made some amazing flowers with these tools and Heartfelt Creations dies.
I am here to show you my kind of flowers made with all time favorite Tim Holtz tattered florals die and I have used Distress Inks for a change this time.

I love the natural patterns that the ink creates on the petals when water is spritzed! Have a look....
Let's move on to the process ...

 I die cut the flower using Oriental collection paer and have used distress inks to color them. The lighter shade in the center and the darker tone around the edges.

 
I then spritz the petal with water and love to see the reaction! The natural blending and reaction gives a lovely pattern.
 

Now come the tools in action! Depending on the size of the petal, choose which tool fits. I am first using the large one to start with. I start from the outer edge to the center. You can see how it creases the edges of the petals. A very natural look indeed.

 Here I press the center on the flower with the large tool on the correct side. This helps to cup the center and gives dimension to the flower.

 Here you can see the how any ordinary die cut can be transformed into a natural looking 3D flower!

 For the tiny petal in the set, I have used the small and mini tool.

Here you see the layering of the petals . I have made 2 different sizes of flowers.

 Here is my attempt to make another flower with 2 different tones of DI. Once inked, I have spritzed with water and after that have used the groove tools to work on the petals.

 Next, I have stamped some leaves using Archival black and have colored the leaves with Archival inks too. I have used different shades here too.

T then drop the leaf in a cup of water and leave it for a few seconds. Then I place it between a towl to remove the escess water.

 I have shaped the leaves with the small and used the mini tool to draw out the veins too. I love how the leaves curl up and look so natural.

  My flowers have dried too and I fixed the pollens in the center and they look a lovely family with the leaves!

 This is my favorite of the whole lot and I am not sure I will use this on any project!

 Ok, so flowers and leaves done, what else do you think I can do with these awesome papers and groove tools???
How about some BUTTERFLIES...don't we all love them? So here again I stamped and fuzzy cut them...
Next I used the small groove tool and shaped the wings from the outside. It automatically curled up and my butterflies were ready to fly!

Here they are...

I had a great time making these flowers and also had a lovely project in mind to give them their credit. Ofcouse I had to recycle something and so I had this packaging box ready waiting for its turn!

 
I then took out a book page and stamped this Prima Bloom girl with Archival ink and have used Inktense blocks to color her. The flowers were intentionally left uncolored because the rel blooms were going to adorn her! I did a bit of mixed media on the box and some water color effects to alter it.

 Here is the final look of the box!

 I knew this BLOOM GIRL was the perfect choice to show off these hand made beauties. I had no regrets adorning her with these flowers. What do you say????

I have added a mixed media twist to the flowers with some black color splashes. Don't they look beautiful?

That brings us to the end of the post and I would like to take leave with this inspirational quote and the butterfly somehow brings life to it!

So, what are you waiting for! The papers are awesome for stamping and flower making and the groove tools are more than you can imagine! Flowers, leaves, butterflies and you think anything more??? Sure why not...just use your creativity and I am sure you will come up with more uses to these tools. 

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers, 

Rupa