ADORNit® Blog Hop - Illuminated Spring Flower Blossoms

I'm excited to be a part of the ADORNit® Blog Hop!  I received an amazing box of product from AdornIt and the hardest part was to first decide WHAT I wanted to work with.  I decided for this first project I would focus on the Blender Basics paper pack.  But, I've also been working on several other projects with some of the fabric and other papers they sent - so stay tuned!

These Illuminated Spring Blossoms are a pretty way to usher in warmer spring days.  Display them near a sunny window for a little springtime cheer, and when the sun goes down and the day starts to darken - turn on the lights in the centers and watch the warm sunny glow illuminated from within the flowers themselves!

Be sure to follow through and see what the other participating designers are sharing.   The next person's blog to visit on your journey is Jennifer Priest.  ADORNit® is also offering a great prize package to a lucky winner who visits all the projects on this hop!  Your Give-Away Clue for this post is: "Y".

Materials:

ADORNit® Blender Basics Paper Pack
FloraCraft® Design It:® SimpleStyle® LED Lighted Branch
Sizzix® Big Shot™, Eileen Hull Bigz™ Flower 3-D Wrapped, Flourish & Leaf
Makin's Clay® - 120g White, Floral Push Mold
DecoArt® Americana® Decor™ Chalky Finish Paint - New Life
Clearsnap® ColorBox® Crafter's Ink Pad - Sweet Pea, Jungle
Earth Safe Finishes™ Ann Butler Designs™ Iridescents - Sunshine
Offray® Ribbon - 7/8" Glitter Pink
Westcott® Titanium-Bonded Non-Stick Scissors
Beacon® Tacky Glue
Vintage Blue Mason Jar
Paintbrush, craft sponge

Instructions:

Paint LED lighted branch with green Chalky Finish paint.  Let dry.

Use Big Shot™ Machine and Flower 3-D Wrapped die to cut multiple From pink patterned papers in ADORNit® Blender Basics pack.  Number of flowers cut will depend on number of finished flowers. For the 7 flowers I made, I cut 10 large size, and 11 small.

Use Big Shot™ Machine and Flourish & Leaf die to cut multiple leaves from assorted green patterned papers in ADORNit® Blender Basics pack.

Sponge edges of pink flowers with Sweet Pea ink, edges of leaves with Jungle ink.

Assemble flowers per instructions on die - for five I used 2 large flowers and one small for the centers; for two of the flowers I layered 3 of the small.

Mount flowers, using Tacky Glue, to the end of each branch with the light in the center of the flower.

Mount leaves randomly to each branch and to the stem.

Open 120g white Makin's Clay® and cut about 1/4" of package.  Place remaining clay in zip lock bag with damp paper towel for later use.  Use floral push mold to create 7 flowers for centers of paper flowers.  Carefully push end of paint brush through the center of each clay flower while wet to create hole for the light.

Paint flowers with Sunshine Iridescents paint.  Let dry.

Carefully insert each clay flower over the light, use Tacky Glue to hold in center of flowers.

Add batteries per instructions and insert floral branch into blue mason jar, add white tissue paper to cover the wire and battery pack.

Tie glitter pink ribbon around rim of jar and tie bow.

Makin's Clay® Groovy Flowers Earrings

Find the how-to instructions to create your own pair of Groovy Flower Earrings on the Makin's Clay® blog - http://makinsclayblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/makins-clay-groovy-flower-earrings.html

Smoothfoam Moss Cube Vase

Make this simple moss covered cube vase with Smoothfoam™ - Find out how on the Smoothfoam blog - http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/moss-cube-vase/

Pin and DO! Garden Projects from Pinterest!

This spring I vowed to actually DO some of the many projects I've been pinning on Pinterest and dreaming about for months.   And I'm happy to say our garden & yard is absolutely beautiful because of it - I challenge everyone to actually put down the computer and DO some of those awesome things you've been pinning!

We built a fence around our air handler unit with reclaimed wood, made an old barbed wire wreath, continue collecting eclectic things for our flea-market garden, aged new galvanized tin buckets to make planters that look like vintage tin, and I love these vintage tin fertilizer hopper and fruit/corn baskets I used as planters.

The whisky barrel side table is another Pinterest idea.

AND, we built a chicken coop and I painted this custom sign for it!

Four chickens so far…… and more coming soon!

Designing with Smoothfoam™

I am excited to be able to continue as part of the Smoothfoam™ Creativity Team for the next term!   This group shares some really fun and crafty ideas on the Smoothfoam™ blog monthly.   In April, I designed two projects which you can find complete instructions for on their blog by following the links.  Experiment with crafting with Smoothfoam™ - it can be found in your local craft & hobby store in a variety of shapes - Cindi







http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/stenciled-birdhouse/

 http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/billy-button-bouquet/

Designer Craft Connection Blog Hop - Flowers

It's April and time for the Designer Craft Blog Connection blog hop.  This month our theme was “flowers” - with the added challenge of creating our flowers from something we had around the house.  There are almost endless options if you really think about it - flowers made with newspaper, coffee filters, cupcake liners, paper towels, napkins, plastic grocery bags, paper bags, gift wrap, window screens, cardboard, chipboard from food boxes, even fabric from old clothes.   Be sure to hop through the links to see what the other participating designers are sharing by clicking on the on the DCC icon in the right column.   

This past week, I had a request to make some of those popular “high heel cupcakes” popping up these days.   Always eager to try something new in creative baking, I was happy to give it a whirl.   I changed my ideas for the decoration in my mind many times, eventually deciding I wanted flowers of some sort.  However, time was limited and I didn’t have enough time to make fondant flowers, and my hand decorating skills are lacking.   I scoured our pantry trying to spark an idea on what I could use to create colorful flowers, quickly, without heading off to the grocery store.  My answer?  Gummy worms.  Yes - gummy worms.   I discovered this little bag of sour worms matched the colors of the heels for the cupcakes (made with Airheads candy).  I cut 5 ends about 1/2” in each color, arranged them in a flower shape, and tinted some white chocolate chips purple to make centers.   Voila - sugary, colorful flowers without having to head to the grocery store or roll fondant.  

Why not look around your house to see what unexpected items you can use to create unique flowers for your creative projects?  - Cindi 

Tropical Topiary made with Smoothfoam!

I've got a new project posted on the Smoothfoam blog - find the instructions to make your own tropical hibiscus topiary at this link -

http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/national-craft-month-tropical-hibiscus-topiary/

Plus - Want a chance to WIN $100 worth of Smoothfoam sheets and shapes? Just leave on comment on the Smoothfoam blog on the linked post (click the “replies” link below) and come back to their blog and leave a comment on every post in March to enter! That’s up to 31 chances to win…good luck!

Bleeding Hearts Mixed-Media Canvas for Jacquard Products

I am excited to share a project I created for Jacquard Products now featured on their website! Lumiere 3D Dimensional Paint & Adhesive, Lumiere paints, Cernit Number One Clay, a photo from my garden and more were combined for this mixed-media canvas.  Find the full tutorial at the Jacquard site.