Creating Handmade Flowers - Tim Holtz and Heartfelt Creations

Surround yourself with people who allow you to blossom. 

Hey there,

I have to admit...I'm a little obsessed with YouTube crafting and quilting videos and spend hours exploring the new products and techniques people so generously share there.  Another passionate obsession of mine is creating handmade flowers.  I just love coloring them, arranging their petals, and adding bling accents like gems and glitter.  So when I happened upon THIS Tim Holtz video and realized I already had the inks and Sizzix dies he was demonstrating, I got busy last weekend creating some pretty embellishments to have on hand for my cards.  I'm not much for messy techniques, but I actually took out my Distress Oxides and water color paper, and created the background paper I used with Tim's dies to make these layered blooms.

I have several Tim Holtz wildflower die sets and I don't use them enough because I can never decide how to color them.  I usually cut them out of white card stock and color them with  Copics.  This time I used water colors and I really like how easy it was to get this pretty painterly look.  I plan to add details with colored pencils when I attach them to my cards.

My favorite Heartfelt Creations flowers are shown in THIS video from my tutorial menu.  They are a delight to create and they turn out beautifully.  So much fabulous texture for so little effort. They are created by sponging ink on the stamped images, die cutting them, adding them to a mold and running them through a high profile die cutting machine like the Big Shot.

I added micro beads and glitter to the centers of these flowers and stickles to the edges of the petals. So subtle and elegant. 

These flowers were created using vellum instead of card stock for a more delicate look.  I used white holographic embossing powder to stamp and emboss the flowers and then colored them with Copics on the back.  I die cut them and molded them the same as the regular flowers, but they need to be handled with a little more care because they are easier to tear when they're wet.  They add a frilly,  classy elegance to my cards.. 

These are a little too large for most of my cards, but I know I'll find a use for them on other projects. I played with adding complimentary colored gems to their centers so they really are quite eye-catching in person.  

I also enjoy creating textured leaves with Heartfelt Creations "Leafy Accents".  They add beautiful texture to all my flowers and can be torn apart to fit my arrangements. 

I die cut tiny flowers, leaves and insect accents to add personality to my flower creations.  Small gems and Nuvo drops give them a little interest and dimension.   I keep them in bead trays I find at Walmart so I always have them close at hand.

I don't have any affiliation with Tim Holtz or Heartfelt Creations...I just really love the layered flowers I can create with their products.  There are a million ways to make lovely flowers just waiting for me to discover out there on the www.  So many blossoms...so little time.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and produce a patch of  pulchritudinous paper posies. 

Nancy