Easy Foamiran Flower Tutorial

Easel Drawer Box with Foamiran Flowers

Hi friends sharing a project combining my love for handmade flowers, diecutting and 3 D projects- and Easel Card with Drawer Box.

Easel Drawer Box

I have used gorgeous Lemoncraft papers[from dear friend Lisa ]and dozens of dies ;the exact names of which I have listed at the end of the post.

Foamiran Flowers

The butterfly in the photo above and the tiny bow in the photo below are clay embellishments made with air drying clay and  molds and jazzed up with microfine glitter[ from brand dress my craft, crafters corner]

DIY Clay Embellishments

Since the theme at Cuttlebug mania includes bows I incorporated a variety of bows in this project. The top 2 corners of the easel card have paper bows from a Cottage Cutz die set, then there is a clay bow [ in photo above] and in the picture below is a dainty delicate bow die cut from foamiran.

Foamiran Bow

The shiny butterfly badge from Lemoncraft and is again a gift from dear Lisa! I used white crackle paste and Scrapberry petal  stencil to add texturing on parts of the card[ you can see it peeking behind the bottle!]

Stencilling

The little bottle  hanging from a handmade foamiran rose is filled with little hearts and micro mini pearls[ from dress my craft]

Bottle Charm 

Foamiran Flower Tutorial 

Foamiran Flower Tutorial 

I have already introduced you to foamiran in an earlier post [ Foamiran Rose Tutorial ]..sharing an easy Tutorial to make simple foamiran flowers

More Tips while working with Foamiran

• Foamiran sheets can differ in thickness : Foamiran sheets do differ in thickness even when you buy from genuine distributors so don't be dismayed if you find some sheets thicker than others. In this project the white foamiran sheets were slightly thicker than the pink ones and if you look closely you can see a very subtle difference in the flowers.
• If you are diecutting foamiran sheets die cut 3- 5 flowers in one go depending on the thickness of your sheets. This helps to flatten your foamiran sheets even more!
• Heating your flowers is completely optional but fun and can give a different look- In this project the buds were created using  same Cheery Lynn  sunflower die but after heating with the iron-box to curl the petals.
• Jazz up the flowers using glitters. Here I used sparkling dust by dress my craft.
• Adhesive- the easiest is hot glue and you can get a nice permanent bond but do remember to tackle those pesky glue strings while you make the flower and as soon as you glue otherwise your project will look like a nest with all those strings!!!

Foamiran Flowers

I made the drawer box using chipboard and recycling a desktop calendar!! It was a bit time consuming but very gratifying to make something from scratch!
I dont have a full Tutorial but here are some pictures with tips.

Drawer Box

I first decided the dimensions of my drawer box and then cut out an arc using a steel plate as a guide. 

Tip : Use sandpaper to smoothen the edges of cut chipboard and rectify any ragged edges.

Drawer Box Construction

Use carpenter's adhesive tape to help hold the pieces of your 3 D project in place while the wet glue dries!

Line the inside of the drawer box with pattern paper before you stick the top!

Foamiran Flowers

I first thought I would keep the drawer box flat and so I added a thin layer of foam as the base but added crystal feet [like in this Easel Card Drawer Box ]

Easel Card with Drawer Box

The metal handle was toned down with gesso to match the rest of the project and has a tiny fabric ribbon bow!
And here is the Easel Card Drawer Box in my garden!

Easel Card with Drawer Box

I hope you liked the simple Tutorial and the overall project.

Supplies :To make the flowers:  Foamiran Sheets, Oil Pastels, Pollen, 
Clay Molds- Plaid Trinkets
Dies :  Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Filigree 3 D ittybitty Bow,Spellbinders Labels 47 Decorative Elements,Spellbinders Curved Borders 2,Tonic Studios Birthday Swirl,Heartfelt creations Delightful Daisy Die,Heartfelt creations Classic Leaf Die, Cheery Lynn  Sunflower, Cottage Cutz Spring Basket with Ducks,Dee's Distinctively Berry Sprigs
Papers : Lemoncraft Fresh Summer; Stamps : Heartfelt Creations Open Leaf Stamp
Dress My Craft Little Hearts, Sparkling Dust
Craft Supplies from : Crafters Corner
Edited : This project was featured as a winner at 613 Avenue Creates 206

Interactive Pop Up Book School Project

Pop Up Book School Project

          Hi friends, my daughter came home last week and said she had to make a "chart" for an English poem! I was quite perplexed  I must admit!

          Education is rather progressive nowadays...her English teacher had assigned different poems to groups of children and each group had to creatively present the poem in class using  power point presentations,vocabulary quizzes  and pictorial charts. What a fun way to learn wont you agree...!!!

My daughter's group was assigned the poem " The Old Wife and the Ghost" by James Reeves.

Pop Up Book School Project

           The theme was just perfect to make an Interactive book and so I encouraged my daughter to make a  pop up book. Our plans were rather grand to start with but oooh it was pretty time consuming  involving brainstorming what elements to make , what scenes to draw, working out the paper engineering aspects, making rough templates etc etc..hehe I think you get the picture ! And at one point I nearly abandoned the idea!

             Well finally we decided that a few well made pages were better than a dozen sloppily made pages and we settled on  a cover page and 3 interactive pop up pages .

I  hope you get time to watch the video we put together and give my kiddo a thumbs up! Also  please  do forgive the barking dog in the background ...our neighbor  has just got a new dog and poor thing has not quite settled in!
 
All graphics and illustrations are by my 11 yr old. She used stamps and distress inks plus some freehand paper cutting to create the cover page

 Pop Up Book School Project

The first page has a  pop up house in the center with blades of grass  and shrubs popped up behind it.  The book is rather huge ..measuring 12 x 9 inches and I had to do quite a bit of maths to work out the dimensions of the pop up house....will not bore you with all the details but will share a few steps on how it came about.

Pop Up House

My daughter used the TCW Mini Bricks Stencil and Distress Inks  on Cream colored card stock to create the brick walls.

Pop Up House

We die cut windows and added glitter strips for window bars and pattern paper for the curtains.

Pop Up House

Fabric curtains were not a good idea as it could get entangled and affect the pop up mechanism on opening and closing.

Pop Up House

Pop Up House

The house has gluing tabs on 2 walls and is technically called a box type of pop up. Here is the link to a simpler Pop Up House Card Tutorial I have shared earlier.

Pop Up House

The roof is not glued on but rests snugly on a supporting piece which also acts as the chimney. I got this design idea from Robert Sabuda, the master of all great pop ups

Pop Up House roof

Though I had to help quite a bit in the paper engineering aspect of the book my daughter was the real artist, creating the sky and grass using distress inks  and drawing the ghost freehand . 

Pop Up Book School Project

I experimented with 2 hidden pop up slider mechanism  in this project and they helped to create a bit of drama by making the moon rise and ghost pop up on saying the right lines from the poem!

Pop Up Book School Project

 The Old wife had a very neat kitchen so this pop up scene inside the cottage was in contrast to the darkness of the first outdoor pop up . My daughter helped design the oven  and the kitchen cupboards which were easy pop up mechanism.

Pop Up Book -Kitchen

 Decorating the kitchen was real fun. My mom had come to spend Sunday with us and we even took her input on design of the wall paper and the flooring!

DIY Pop Up Book

Adorable Cottage Cutz dies were used to create the basket of fruits and the Creative Expressions kitchen utensils were painstakingly die cut by my daughter. Hehe I must say it was a Sunday spent very creatively!

Pop Up Kitchen Scene

We used silver and black card-stock to make the oven.

Pop Up Kitchen

And lo... above the window is the ghost peeping in!

Pop Up Book

The last scene depicts the ghost banging the pots and pans and being a naughty ghost!!! This pop up mechanism was the most challenging ...requiring several rough drafts and experimenting with different weights of paper before I got it perfect. But once I got the paper engineering part of it right my daughter had a gala time adding cups and saucers! She even thought of  the little details like adding broken cutlery on the floor!

Handmade Pop Up Book

And here is the proud little girl...[not so little any more] with her pop up book.

Pop Up Book School Project

 She took the Pop Up Book to school today and everyone including her English teacher were super impressed with it. Sigh...well worth all the effort I guess!!
And please do give a thumbs up on her video if you can spare a moment. It will mean so much to her!

Supplies : Dies : Grass : Dienamics [MFT ]Grassy Edges, Shrub : Spellbinders Ferns, Kitchen Utensils : Creative Expressions Necessities Apron Die. Fruits and Vegetables : Cottage Cutz Cornucopia, Basket : Cottage Cutz Spring Basket with Ducks, Flower Vase : Cottage Cutz Birdbath. Window : Sizzix Tim Holtz Window and Window Box,Cupboard : Couture Creations Victorian Square,Oven Burners : Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Circles,Cup : Elizabeth Craft Designs Teacup. Cup , Mugs , Kettle: Paper Smooches Coffee and Tea.

Pop Up Box Card

Pop Up Box Card

          Hi friends,I am sure you will agree that Pop Up Cards are very special cards not only because of the fun element but because they are flat folding and easy to mail. One problem with pop up card designing is to add that extra bit of oomph without adding bulky embellishments and dimensional flowers!
          In this project I have used a variety of glitters and micro pearls to  jazz up my card without adding a lot of bulk to it.

Micro Mini Pearls

I used glossy accents and tacky glue to  add these teeny weeny micro pearls. They were  the perfect light weight embellishments to add that extra element of pizzaz to my Pop Up Card !

Pop Up Box Card

I love to use glitter and I have used  rainbow glitter chunks to add  a shimmery sparkling dazzle !!

Rainbow Glitter Chunks

I used the dazzling rainbow glitter chunks on the cattail reeds, tiny flowers and around  the birthday sentiment.

Pop Up Card

In the photo above you can see a part of the card before jazzing it up---so dull and insipid!A little bit of glitter can truly transform a project isnt it!!! Some projects do look good with a muted look but this was after all supposed to be a cheerful birthday card so I loved how the glitters transformed the whole card!

Pop Up Box Card

For a muted subtle shimmer, I  used micro fine glitter and micro sparkling dust  on the tiny mushrooms and the little hedgehog and cute mice [ Penny black stamps colored with Zig Watercolor Brush Pens ]

Pop Up Box Card

This card was indeed a labor of love...I took nearly a week to finish it [hehe as I could only squeeze in bits of crafty time here and there during the week] .I have used dozens of dies[ see list below] and the card has 4 layers with grass , tiny flowers and cattail reeds in front of the adorable mushroom house.

Pop Up Box Card

The beautiful butterflies[ a winnings from Mrs A's butterfly Challenge  many moons ago] on acetate strips flutter magically above the flowers and swing prettily on moving the card.Added the mice couple behind the blades of grass and a splattering of tiny hearts for a romantic touch!!

Pop Up Box Card

I hope you liked my whimsical pop up box card!

Supplies : From Crafters Corner.Glitters all DMC brand : Rainbow Glitter Chunks,Rainbow Glitter,Microfine Glitter,Micro Sparkling Dust,Sparkling Dust

Pearls : Micro Mini Pearls

Die cutting Machine : Sizzix Big Shot 

Dies : Winnie and Walter  Essentials Audrey Cutaways [ butterflies and hearts, Winnie and Walter Wishes Cutaway, Cheery Lynn   Mini butterflies , Cheery Lynn tiny things with wings,

Magnolia Doohickeys Vintage Box Lacing Coffee,Marianne Designs Tiny's Cattails LR0409 ,Marianne Designs  Mushroom House COL1412,Marianne Craftables CR1307 Tiny's  Forget me not,Dienamics [MFT ]Grassy Edges

Spellbinders Sentiments, Winnie and Walter  Essentials Audrey Cutaways [ butterflies and hearts, Winnie and Walter Wishes Cutaway
Adhesives :  Glossy Accents, AleenesTacky Glue, Red Tacky Tape
Stamps : Penny Black Critters in Love
Stamping Accessory : MISTI
Coloring Media for Stamps : Zig Watercolor Brush Pens ,Inks : Distress Inks 
Edited : This card was featured as the Top Pick at Papercrafters Linky Party 2 . Thank you so much !!

Handmade Kitchen Note Holder

Handmade Note Holder

Hi friends... in this era of high tech gadgets, I wonder how many of you are old school  like me and still use a pen and paper to make shopping lists and to do lists!
I was heavily inspired by some of my favorite Challenges to make all the elements in this project.

I altered the backside of a desktop calendar into a pretty note-holder for my kitchen!

Altered Desktop Calendar

A crafter recently asked [on facebook] about what can be done with paper scraps. I used to hoard scraps earlier but over time it grew ,took too much space and became rather overwhelming. 

So now I dont let it grow too much. I keep a tray with scraps right on my craft table near my die cutting machine and whenever I am in the mood, I  die cut  favorite shapes from the scraps of leftover paper.

Tackling Paper Scraps

 I try to arrange my most used tiny die cuts in clear storage boxes or transparent plastic covers so that I can save time in a future project.

Die-cut storage

I die cut or punch borders from the longer scraps and store them in plastic covers [bought from a local stationary shop]

Die cut Storage

I carefully store even tiny scraps of specialty card stocks like silver card stock as not only are they expensive but are not easily available in my area. Tiny bits of silver and kraft card came in so handy to make my kitchen utensils!

Note Holder

Not only does my kitchen actually have a red color scheme but I think I am being influenced by cupid and the valentine month  to use a red color theme with roses and hearts galore!

Handmade Rose

 The red rose is handmade using Heartfelt creations  stamps and dies. The white flowers and buds you can see peeking from behind the rose were made with air drying "Thai clay"

Handmade Clay Flowers

The lovely shimmer you see on the thai clay plumeria and the paper flowers was achieved using "sparkling dust" glitter. In the closeup below you can see the super cute kitchen glove made with the fine stitch lines and check pattern!

Kitchen Note Holder

 This corner has a handmade angel [made using air-drying clay and a silicon mold]on a butterfly [ an X cut die I had won at the Double D Challenge !]

Handmade Clay Embellishments

 Also couldnt resist adding a wooden cup with an engraved heart! And can you spot the cute shiny red hearts scattered all over my project....! The cute heart buttons are from my friend Mia!

Handmade Kitchen Note Holder

 This corner has handmade paper roses , Thai clay flower buds and lots of cute berries and a cherry!

Handmade Flowers

 The note holder has a "Happy" with a beautiful shiny surface made by heat embossing  Winnie and Walter Happy die cut with clear UTEE. The little angel is again a handmade embellishment.

Handmade Note Holder

 And here is the notebook with matching papers and a cute heart!

Handmade Notebook

I even found a matching pencil with " Happy Day" printed on it and dressed it up with red lace and a shiny red heart!

Kitchen Note Holder

Handmade Kitchen Note Holder

 Hope you liked my kitchen note holder!

Supplies : Dies :  Winnie and Walter Happy Cutaway , Winnie and Walter  Essentials Audrey Cutaways ,Creative Expressions Necessities Apron Die ,Joy Crafts 6002-0251[Butterfly Border],Cheery Lynn  Flourish 13,Heartfelt Creations Botanical Wings Die,Spellbinders Delicate Doilies,X cut 3 D Butterfly,Magnolia Doohickeys Vintage Box Lacing Coffee
Edited : This project was featured in the Top honors at Double D Kitchen is the Heart of the Home Challenge
and also chosen as Top 3 at Scrappyland Challenge 
It was also given the Gold Star at Di's Pixie's Snippets Playground