Thursday 22 January 2015

'Flower Power'

It's time for our next challenge over at ATP Exchange and our host this time is the talented Julia whose chosen a wonderful theme close to my heart, in her words......January is often a very grey and dark month. With this in mind, I'd like to brighten things up a little and bring some summer fun into the winter. Using a Mixed Media style, I'd like you to make some handmade flowers and use them on a project of your choice. Remember we are a Mixed Media challenge and and stamping must be included, but no digi images please.



I have to be honest and say I'm not a crafter who can make Christmas cards in the summer so I can't get away from the fact it's frosty and cold outside.....My hands strayed to cool blues.....but I think a sunny winters day can be just wonderful, so that's where my inspiration came from.




I had some beautiful Prima scrapbooking paper from the Artist Trading Post which I cut some 1.5 and 2 inch circles out of. I added some stamping with a flourish in blue Brilliance pigment ink and 'splats' in black archival (Stampers anonymous and PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamps).


The garden greens diecuts are painted with fresco then text stamped with ESN11 in Brilliance again. 



I then painted a coaster with space cadet fresco paint, applied PaperArtsy crackle glaze, the top layer is antarctic fresco.  


To make the flowers, I cut a spiral out of the circles and then you roll the spiral up from the outside in. The 'squashed' flatter flowers are the ones I usually make and involve you creasing or curling the edge of the spiral before rolling and securing with glue. 
I decided I wanted to try the rolled rose version by Jenny Atkinson of Live The Dream  ....a non squashed version.....Jenny makes the most fabulous flowers!


Having followed her tutorial and distressed the edges, I added glamour dust to the edge of the coaster and the card as well as frosting the roses.



I used clear rock candy distress paint on the leaves to continue the frosty effect. 


I then started to assemble the elements on the coaster. Finnabair mechanicals were layered up with the roses. The loops were made from 2 loops of wire wound around a handle then twisted and brushed with Treasure Gold in Sapphire


The card base has been splattered with the two colours of fresco paint I used and some further stamping with the text stamp. The shape of the flowers reminded me of spring bulbs bursting forth out of snow, so the arrangement is a cross between that and a posy..... not sure how I'll get it in the envelope though!



I hope you'll hop over and see the wonderful creations from the rest of the DT...we're really looking forward to seeing your creations incorporating handmade flowers for the challenge. Don't forget there's a £10 gift voucher for the chosen winner. Thanks so much for stopping by and happy crafting. Ruth x

24 comments:

  1. I was looking forward to seeing more of this beauty Ruth,love your frosty palette, and those gorgeous frost kissed flowers x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a beautiful card Ruth and I love sunny winter days too. Love the wonderful details you have incorporated in every aspect of this project. The colours, crackles and textures are perfect and your flowers are stunning too

    TFS and crafty hugs
    Annie x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stunning Ruth! Love how you have combined the flower theme with those gorgeous wintry colours! Your flowers look wonderful with their hinds of glitter and I of course love the crackle on the circle! Beautifully put together, a really gorgeous card!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks so wonderful Ruth and love the January icy feel to it
    x catherine

    ReplyDelete
  5. Blimey Ruth,this is a bit special! The colours are beautifully wintery and the overall look and feel of it is stunning!
    Big hugs
    Donna xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. STUNNING Ruth, love the wintry feel of the colours and the crackle behind them looks amazing. Love your card very much, thanks for the step by step and the wonderful pictures :-) xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMGOSH!!!! This is absolutely beautiful Ruth! The colours, texture, layout are working in harmony, I'll say it again... beautiful xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a gorgeous mixed media project Ruth!
    greetings, Alie :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jennie does make gorgeous flowers, but so do you - the rolled roses on your project are stunning, I love the crackling and the cool blues and the wonderful splatting in the background. I think you might need a lovely box to put this in, it would be such a shame to squish those lovely flowers! Hugs, Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stunning piece, love the winter colours and those gorgeous flowers.
    Yvonne x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous card Ruth, love it. Angela x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your flowers are stunning Ruth and I agree with Anne, Jennie makes beautiful flowers and so do you. I love the wintery beauty of this piece with it's gorgeous texture and crackle. Thank you so much for making such a special piece for my challenge.
    Juliaxx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful project which reminds me of a Brides winter bouquet, so elegant and pretty.
    Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Holy cow Ruth, I am blown away by the beauty of this one! Those soft dreamy blues and metallics with all that glitter...all I can do is ooooh and aaaah!! Your rolled roses are incredible and the textures of all your elements are so amazing! What a stunning project!! big hugs until next time :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Such a delicate card, Ruth! Love the crackle and all the lovely texture! And the colours are stunning!
    Your fragile papers project is fab too!

    Hugs,
    Claudia x

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is gorgeous - I love those wintery colours with the frosty sparkles. I'm off to investigate Jenny Atkinson and her flowers - thanks for the info!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Simply stunning - looks gorgeous xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, Ruth, that's so beautiful. I love the crackled circular panel, and the shimmer on those glorious flowers - an absolute triumph in response to the wintry flower theme. Gorgeous!
    Alison xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. What else to say...stunning, again!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Absolutely awesome card! Who wouldn't be over the moon to have that on display!

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a gorgeous wintery card this is! Love your flowers and that fabulous crackle! Chrisx

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a fabolous art piece Ruth, oh just beautiful, I love your flowers, ( yes she makes fantastic flowers- and you too!!) in their glitter and stamped leaves , such a winter fairy tale it is, and I am in love !!
    Dorthe, xo

    ReplyDelete
  23. Absolutely stunning Ruth! Jenny x

    ReplyDelete

It would be lovely to read any comments left, I really appreciate them all. Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by.