Succulents in an Ornament

Do you ever have an idea that sits and sits in your mind and you can't get it out?

This is what happened to me.  Ever since I started making Succulents using the So Succulent framelits I have wanted to make some plants and place them in half an ornament.

Today I did just that, and now maybe my mind will have room for other things.

This is a close up of the front view.  It almost looks like there's a light behind the plants.

After putting some moss in the bottom of the ornament, I added two medium succulents and 1 smaller one.  I made a smaller cactus to complete my garden.

Side view

The succulents were die cut using the Succulents Framelits.  Each petal was sponged with Old Olive, Tip Top Taupe and Rich Razzelberry, and then were shaped with shaping tools. Tombo glue was used to adhere the various layers together and then hot glued to the moss inside the ornament.

Close up

Supplies Used:

Stamp: Timeless Texture (for cactus)

Inks:  Succulents (Old Olive, Tip Top Taupe, Rich Razzelberry); Cactus (Always Artichoke)

Papers: Succulents (Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum)  Cactus (Old Olive & Flirty Flamingo for flower on top)

Accessories: So Succulent framelits, Small oval punch, clear plastic ornament

Succulents You Lift Me Up

On Pinterest I have seen many hot air balloons made into 3D objects, so today I decided to make my own- plus more.

I die cut 6 hot air balloons using the following colours:  Delightful Dijon, Calypso Coral and Night of Navy folded them in half, and adhered them together to form this 3D object.

Then I made a little basket using Crumb Cake card stock. It was attached it to the balloon using thick Smoky Slate Baker's twine. The basket was decorated with a 1/4" strip of So Succulent DSP which was adhered around the bottom and a strip of Calypso Coral around the top.

Inside of the basket, I placed some dried moss and hot glued some smaller succulent plants made using Mint Macaron and Sweet Sugar Plum card stock.  I made a few "babies" extending over the side. See the close up below.

Supplies Used:

Papers:

• Hot Air Balloon: Night of Navy, Delightful Dijon, Calypso Coral
• Basket: Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, So Succulent DSP
• Succulents: Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum

Inks: Old Olive, Tip Top Taupe, Rich Razzelberry

Accessories:

• Hot air balloon: Up & Away Thinlet dies, thick Baker's Twine (Smokey Slate)
• Succulents:  Succulent framelits, Linen Thread to hold "baby plants"
• Other:  1/8" hand held punch to punch holes in basket to insert Baker's Twine

Making another Succulent - a Cactus

Inspired by a number of pictures of Cacti on Pinterest, I decided to make my own.
Again, I used my little peat pots which I usually use in the spring to plant small divided perennials prior to my plant sale.
This time I placed a Styrofoam Easter egg which has one rounded end cut off, in it, covered by Spanish Moss
Then I decorated the pot itself with banners of Succulent DSP and a Sweet Sugarplum ribbon wrapped around the top of the pot.

Using the largest of the layering oval framelits, I die cut 5 ovals in Old Olive card stock.
I then stamped each oval twice with the big splatter stamp from "Gorgeous Grunge" stamp set using Old Olive ink. The first image was stamped with full strength ink, and without reinking the stamp, the image was stamped again.

Each oval was folded in half with the stamped side to the inside.  The fold was burnished well.

Because cacti usually have spines, I tried to mimic them by distressing the edges with a pair of scissors and then sponging the edges with Always Artichoke ink.

The ovals were then glued together using Tombo ink.

Isn't the flower on the top cute?

 To make the flower, I die cut three of the smallest flowers of the Succulent framelits using Flirty Flamingo card stock.

The edges of each petal were lightly sponged with Crumb Cake ink, & curled up.  Each petal was then adhered together and added to the top of the cactus.

The cactus was adhered to the prepared peat pot using hot glue.











Supplies Used:
Stamp: Gorgeous Grunge
Inks: Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake
Papers: Old Olive, Flirty Flamingo, So Succulent DSP
Accessories: Layering Oval Framelits, Succulent framelits, peat pot, Styrofoam Easter egg, Spanish moss, 3/8" Sweet Sugarplum ribbon, hot glue gun.

Succulent Slider Pop Up Mother's Day Card

This card was inspired by a slider pop up card made by Dawn as well as several other cards I have seen on Pinterest that featured Succulent die cuts.

I love making flowers and succulents are no different although I must admit I never particularly found them "pretty". There are succulents in my flower bed in the front, but I use them as fillers and because they require little care.

In doing a little bit of research about this plant, I found that they are drought resistant because their  leaves, stem or roots have become more than usually fleshy by the development of water-storing tissue.


This gives them the ability to survive in arid and otherwise unhospitable environments.

The Mint Macaron base was randomly stamped with various stamps from the "Oh So Succulent" stamp set- using Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe and Garden Green inks.

In the above picture, the pop up mechanism is closed.

When it is popped up, the art piece stands up like in an Easel card.

Art Piece:  The background of this Whisper White piece is randomly stamped with some of the smaller flowers and leaves of the stamp set.  Two smaller two layer die cut succulents were adhered on the lower le

ft and on the right side just below the sentiment.

A metal rimmed rhinestone was placed in each of the plants.

Plant 1: This is the larger of the two.  Only 2 petals (the 3rd and 4th largest)were die cut using Mint Macaron card stock.  Each petal was sponged with Old Olive ink, followed by Crumb Cake.  Finally Rich Razzelberry ink was sponged only on the petal edges.  A stylus was used to shape each petal and then the petals were glued together with Tombo glue.

Plant 2: Two of the smaller petals were die cut in Sweet Sugarplum cardstock and sponged in the same manner as the other succulent.

Both plants were kept relatively flat.

The art piece was matted with Sweet Sugarplum card stock and adhered to the pop up portion of the card.

When the card is fully set up, a hidden message is revealed.

The message is from Suite Sentiments.  A stamped sweet succulent with greenery is stamped above it. (Unfortunately the stamp fell off the block right onto my work just as I finished the card - ugh!!)

Two of the smaller Sweet Sugarplum succulent petals grace the lower right corner of the card.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Oh So Succulent, Suite Sentiments

Inks: Black Memento, Tip Top Taupe, Garden Green, Rich Razzelberry, Sweet Sugarplum, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron

Papers: Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Sweet Sugarplum

Accessories: Succulent Framelit dies, Classic Label punch, Metal rimmed rhinestones, rhinestones, dimensionals, 1/8 hand held punch, White tassel from Cupcakes & Carousels embellishment kit, hand held stapler

Reverse Masking using Oh So Succulents

Reverse masking is a very interesting technique - the opposite of traditional masking.
An area of the card is masked with a piece of card stock that has been die cut, and the area within the die cut is coloured and stamped.

A template for this technique was made using the largest of the Labels Framelits to die cut the center. This template was adhered to the craft table with post it notes; the card front adhered underneath it also using post it notes.

Three colours were used:  Sweet Sugarplum, Old Olive and Tip Top Taupe.  With the template in place the colours were sponged starting in the center with the lightest colour and working to the outside edges.

Various images from the stamp set were stamped with Black Memento, with the images being stamped over the edges of the template as well as within.

After the template was removed, a flower embellishment was made using the Succulent Framelits.  The Old Olive center of the flower was punched with the Owl Builder punch.  Some Old Olive succulents were also adhered on either side of the flower.

Liquid pearls (non SU) were applied to the center of each stamped flower and on the edges of both flower embellishments.

Tip Top Taupe ink was used to stamp the sentiment on a strip of Tip Top Taupe cardstock which was notched at one end and adhered to the card front with one end tucked under the flower.

An envelope accompanying the card was also stamped.

Supplies Used:

Stamp: Oh, So Succulent

Inks: Black Memento, Tip Top Taupe, Old Olive, Sweet Sugarplum

Papers: Sweet Sugar plum, Whisper White, Tip Top Taupe

Accessories: Succulent framelits, Labels framelits, Owl builder punch, liquid pearls (non SU)

Star Gift Bag

This week I got playing with the Gift Bag punch board to refresh my memory.  It's amazing how rusty you get when you don't use something for a while.
I had already made some Valentine gift bags but I wanted to see if I could make something else. I saw a gift bag with a star top and was challenged to see if I could make that.

I used the retired Fancy Frost Specialty DSP from the last Occasions catalogue. Because this paper is white on white i.e. white with white embossing in it, I coloured it with Delightful Dijon.  This was done by applying the ink pad directly to the paper, using long strokes in one direction.

Starting with a 7 by 10" piece of this coloured card stock, the gift bag punch board was used to punch and score it.  The basic difference from the punching and scoring for a regular gift bag is that the front and back are not punched.  Only the sides are punched all the way across the paper.  Hope that explanation is as clear as mud.

Lace edge trim was inserted through the punched holes and tied into a bow.

Embellishments were made using the Succulents framelits. The smaller gold glimmer flowers were adhered directly to the end of the ribbon- one on the front, and one on the back with the ribbon in between.

The other Very Vanilla ones were adhered using glue does at various levels on a scored fold.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:

Ink: Delightful Dijon

Papers: Very Vanilla, Frost Specialty DSP, Gold Glimmer

Accessories: Gift bag punch board, 3/8" Very Vanilla scallop edge trim, Succulents framelits, glue dots

It's Your Day - Hand Stamped Sentiments #254

On cold days like today, my thoughts go back to my garden in the summer, and particularly my flowers. Spring is several months away yet, but one can dream. Part of what helps me survive the cold dark gloomy winter days is making paper flowers - a substitute for the real ones I guess. So, I guess its not a far stretch for me to put a paper flower on the card I made for the sketch challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments

The main card is Blushing Bride cardstock.

In the center is "Falling in Love DSP" matted with Very Vanilla Cardstock.  At the lower end is a Very Vanilla banner embossed with the Falling Pedals Embossing Folder.

The sentiment, stamped with Black Memento onto Very Vanilla is punched with the Classic Label punch and adhered to the banner with one end tucked under the flower embellishment.

Flower Embellishment:

Two flowers were die cut using the Succulent framelits - the larger one with Sweet Sugarplum cardstock and the smaller one with Blushing Bride cardstock.  In the middle is a Daffodil Delight center die cut using the Botanical Builder framelits.

All the edges were sponged with Sweet Sugarplum ink then curled up slightly before being adhered together with a hot glue gun. In the center is an Iced Rhinestone (retired), which provides a nice touch of bling.

The Botanical framelits were used again to die cut both leaves using Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  These were sponged with Old Olive ink before attaching them to the flower.

A dimensional was used to adhere the flower to the card.

Supplies Used:

Stamp: Love Sparkles

Inks: Black Memento, Sweet Sugarplum, Old Olive

Papers: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Sweet Sugarplum, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Falling in Love DSP

Accessories: Succulent Framelits, Botanical Builder framelits, Iced Rhinestone, Falling Pedals embossing folder, Classic Label punch. dimensionals

Cost Effective Altered Journal for SUO Challenges

The challenge this week with SUO Challenges is to create something using the "stuff" from the Occasions and/or SAB catalogue. Since I had products from both catalogues I decided to use both to alter a journal. Because I sell the journals, I like to keep the cost down as much as possible by purchasing inexpensive journals (and make them look like a million dollars), and decorate them using retired products purchased from the clearance rack plus scraps from my scrap bin.

I purchased this journal from the Dollar store.  Because I like to braid the spine ribbon, I choose journals that have a wire spine.

The front and back cover of the journal were covered with "Carried Away" SAB designer paper, and I used the colours in that paper to decorate the journal. The insides were covered with coordinating Mint Macaron card stock.

Art Piece:

One wonderful thing about this year's Occasion and SAB catalogues is the cooperative interplay between the two.

The DSP from the SAB catalogue features hot air balloons, so naturally the "Lift Me Up" stamp set from the Occasions catalogue, with its coordinating framelits (Up & Away Thinlet dies), was used to create the scene on the front of the journal.

The edges of the Whisper White piece were first distressed with Basic Gray ink using the Timeless Texture stamp set.  Some large and small clouds were stamped randomly on the art piece as well as on separate scrap pieces of Whisper White card stock. The ones on the scrap piece were die cut and placed aside. Once I knew the placement of the hot air balloons, three birds (from "Wherever You Go) were stamped between the clouds.

Three balloons were die cut - the large one with Night of Navy card stock, backed with die cut pieces of various patterns of the SAB Designer paper.  The medium and smaller ones were die cut with the SAB designer paper. Three balloon baskets were die cut with Night of Navy scraps.  One was adhered to the larger balloon; the other two were cut to fit the other balloons.  The edges of the two smaller balloons were sponged with Calypso Coral ink.

After the balloons were adhered to the art piece with dimensionals (except the smallest) the die cut clouds were also adhered with dimensionals among the stamped clouds.

The art piece was matted with Calypso Coral card stock and adhered to the front of the journal.

Decorating the rest of the Journal:
The Tasteful Trim die (retired) was used to cut the Night of Navy trim which was adhered next to the spine, on both the front, back and inside.

The sentiment was punched with the Classic Label punch and matted with a Night of Navy modern word label punchie.

This was adhered to the top of the art piece.

Spine:
Four rows of retired Calypso Coral seam binding was used to braid the spine.  The ends were left a bit longer because I like to attach beads to them.  But because this is a SU only challenge, I used 2 retired Antique brads hot-glued together and to the ribbon end.

Book Mark
As a bonus, I made a book mark using 1/4" strips of the same DSP and the Calypso coral card stock.  These were braided together.  The top was decorated with  2 Calypso Coral and 1 Mint Macaron flowers die cut using the Succulent framelits. The center of the flower was punched in Night of Navy card stock using a 3/4" circle punch.  Before adhering them together with Tombo glue the edges were curled up with a bone folder.
After attaching the flower to the top of the book mark, dazzling details was applied to the edges and center of the flower

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Lift Me Up (Occasions), Timeless Texture (Annual), Wherever You Go (Annual)
Inks: Basic Gray, Calypso,
Papers: Carried Away DSP, Night of Navy, Mint Macaron, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Accessories: Up & Away thinlets dies, Succulents framelits dies, Classic Label punch, Modern Word Label punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/2" Calypso Coral seam binding (R), Antique brads (R), dimensionals, Tasteful Trim die (R), dazzling details.

Window Boxes

I was preparing for the Valentine's Day class and wanted to have a treat box as a 3D item..  Initially I thought of the Window Box, but after making a sample I realized that this box would take too long to make in class - along with the 3 cards.  However, I did end up making 2 boxes to have on display.
I did make a sample treat container, but it is very simple and should not take too much time to make.

The boxes were surprisingly easy to put together, but I did refer to the video make by Stampin' Up.  See the video below:

The Window box framelit and Real Red cardstock were used to make the box. The side panels were stamped in Real Red ink using  the coordinating stamp set "Window Shopping" on Whisper White.  These panels were trimmed to size, matted with Red glimmer paper and then adhered to each of the 6 sides.  A red glimmer heart was punched with the Sweetheart punch and adhered to the front side panel; a whisper white pop up heart die cut with the "Love Notes" framelits  on the front.  Some rhinestones were placed on the center of this heart.

A doillie was placed on the lid, followed by a 2 1/2" punched red glimmer circle.  The sentiment punched with a 2" circle punch was adhered to the red glimmer circle with dimensionals and then attached to the lid top. Some itty bitty dazzling diamond and red glimmer hearts were placed around the sentiment.

Stamps: So In Love, Window Shopping
Inks: Real Red
Papers: White paper doillie, Red glimmer, Dazzling Diamond glimmer, Whisper White
Accessories: Window Box, Love Notes Framelits, Sweet heart punch, Itty Bitty heart punch, 2 1/2" circle, 2" circle, 3/8" silver metallic ribbon, dimensionals.

After die cutting this box with Sweet Sugarplum card stock, each panel and the lid was die cut with the hearts panel, although two of the panels I cut upside down. On the inside, each panel and the inside of the lid was covered with silver foil paper.  This really popped the patterned image. The box was then put together.

On the lid was placed the new Very Vanilla doillie followed by a flower made using the Succulent framelits.  The edges of each Very Vanilla flower was sponged with Sweet Sugarplum ink before shaping and adhering together.

The center of the flower consists of 5 punched red glimmer hearts folded in half and adhered to form this 3D embellishment.

Two bows adhered together was attached to the lid front.

Stamp: So in Love (tag)

Ink: Sweet Sugar plum, Black Memento, Real Red marker

Paper: Sweet Sugar plum, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Red Glimmer, silver foil

Accessories: Very Vanilla doillie, Love Notes framelits, Window Box Framelits, Succulent Framelits, Sweet Heart punch, 3/8" Very Vanilla ribbon, 3/8" pink glitter ribbon, hot glue gun.