Anything But Cute Feature Artist

Happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! I am so excited and honored to be the Feature Artist at Anything But Cute today!! I'd love for you to stop by and say hi to me there :)

If you haven't visited Anything But Cute, it's a mixed media challenge blog featuring an amazing design team that will blow you away with their creativity!! I am in awe of their talent!! Be sure to check out their projects while you're there!! You will be amazed!!

I love Anne's theme of Ring out the Old, Bring in the New for this challenge!! I used several new products on this card, starting with the base papers from Lemoncraft's House of Roses paper stack. The paper is so beautiful, I hated covering any of it up!! All of the edges were distressed with a Zutter Distress-It-All.

For the next layer, I used Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste with a The Crafter's Workshop 'Art Is' stencil on heavyweight cardstock. Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet was sponged on top and then it was covered with DecoArt Crackle Glaze.

On top of that layer, I used a (new) Prima Flourish with Crackled Texture Paste.  Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet Distress Ink were sponged on as well. The banner is a Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets 1 die. Make a Wish is from Inspired by Stamping. It was heat embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle Snow Embossing Powder.

I used Spellbinders Rose Creations to make the flowers. I had several inquiries as to how I made the poinsettias on my winter sled card (here) so I thought I'd put together a quick tutorial (please ignore the stained craft mat ;)

You will need a pair of flat-edged pliers, a water spritzer several different sizes of paintbrushes (or any round tools) and the Rose Creations dies. I started off cutting two of each of the five sizes of the flowers in heavyweight cardstock.

Spritz the flower with water...you want it to be pliable when you shape the sides. This is different from how I created the poinsettias. The individual petals of the poinsettias are so thin at the base, they tend to tear if the paper is too wet. With those, you want the paper damp but not wet.

Wrap the petal around a paintbrush and grip the top and bottom.

With the flat-edged pliers, start scrunching the sides together.

You will work up and down the petal until you get the texture you desire.

If the paper starts to dry, you may need to give it another spritz of water.

Once you have all of the petals done, use a stylus tool to shape the flowers.

Glue the two flowers of the same size together, offsetting the petals as much as possible. I use Glossy Accents but you could use hot glue or any glue of your choice.

Now it's time to layer your flower. You may not need all of the petals to achieve the look you like. I left off the next to smallest set of flowers.

For an subtle shine, I added Iridescent Red Twinkling H2O's to the petals.

Once that was dry, I brushed DecoArt Glamour Dust (new) over the petals so they really sparkle.

I finished off the flowers by adding pearl stamens from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I tried to capture the sparkle, but it doesn't show up very well.

Memory Box Botanical Stems and (new) Marianne Designs Leaves were tucked among the blooms.

A Tim Holtz Weatherd Clock die was also tucked under the flowers. It was covered with DecoArt Crackle Paste and then inked with Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks.

The beautiful crinkle ribbon is from DL.ART.

The butterfly is a Memory Box Isabella die. It was covered in DecoArt Glamour Dust. The paint splatters were created with my new Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Emerald Creek Dares - New
2. Little Scrap Pieces - Show if Off Saturday
3. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
4. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
5. Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes Using Glitter/Embossing Powder/Flocking
6. Where the HeART is - Anything Goes
7. Live & Love Crafts - Something New
8. Really Reasonable Ribbon - Look What I Got
9. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

I would like to thank Pamellia, Anne and all of the amazing ABC Design Team for having me as a guest today!! If you haven't already, I hope you will join in the Ring out the Old, Bring in the New Challenge!! I can't wait to see what you create!!