12 Tags of 2012 ~ May

I've been trying out a technique from each of the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012. This month, I actually created a tag!! 

I have done most of the techniques on this tag before, but it was the first time I dipped flowers into UTEE. Didn't they turn out cute!! Instead of a dress image in the upper right side, I selected a portion of the pattern with printing to use instead and attached a needle and thread trinket to the hanger. 

Thanks for stopping by. I treasure you comments!

~ Blessings ~

Celebrate Friends ~ DT reveal for The Stamping Scrapper

It's time for another of Shannon's wonderful sketches. I decided to go outside my current shabby mixed media style to a more funky feel in this layout to go with the fun photo of our girls getting together with friends and having a great time.

Here is The Stamping Scrapper May Sketch: 

I had fun with Bo Bunny Ad Lib using paper, brads, rub-ons, and stickers from the collection along with some Bazzill card stock. 

The chevron design was stamped using black Archival ink and a stamp from the Basic Grey Plumera collection then fussy cut. The orange cardstock strip was stamped with the Glitz Clear Stamps Distressing collection. I stamped the grid pattern from the Glitz collection randomly over the photo mat. The green patterned paper circle was stamped lightly with Peeled Paint Distress ink using another stamp from the Glitz collection. 

I fussy cut the funky flower design and centered the flowers with rhinestones of different colors and sizes. The circle border strip is from Bazzill. I cut it apart, used a portion on each side, and hand stitched down the centers. I also included my journaling along the border of the stamped strip and circle along with some doodling. 

I have entered this at 

Bird is the Word ~ Look/see, my journaling says Such fun to SEE friends.

Creations by Gill M ~ Stripes and Spots **

The Happy Scrappers ~ Anything Goes **

Thanks for dropping by! I treasure your comments. 

~ Blessings ~ 

Mom ~ DT Reveal ScrapFIT Workout #68 Misty's Mist Mania

The new Challenge posted today at ScrapFIT is to use Mist. I was so excited to see this fun challenge. I added to the fun by personally challenging myself to use mist in three ways on this page. First, I misted over my modeling paste mask using a homemade color mist topped with some glimmer mist and metallic paint. Second, I misted the chipboard pieces under my butterfly. I have posted a tutorial for this technique. Just scroll down this post to find it. And finally, the fussy cut title, Mom, was rubbed with several colors of Distress Ink and then lightly misted with water to give the distressed, mottled look.

In 2000 we moved back to Ohio to be closer to our families. This photo was taken on the spot where our home was to be built. Motherhood is a precious privilege and responsibility. I was inspired by the challenge over at Once Upon A Sketch to scrap and journal about being a mom. 

Workout #68 - Missy's Mist Mania

If you are regular here at ScrapFIT you must have noticed our wonderful Weekend Warm Up Coach, Missy's, love of MISTING! Missy does amazing things with mist including making it herself! So this Workout is a tribute to Missy! We want to see a layout or project with a good amount of misting! Be creative, make your own misting mask, mix your mist colors - think outside the box!

We are so fortunate to have Vicky Alberto sponsoring both of our workouts this month!! 

Vicky's Etsy Shop has an amazing selection of gorgeous Dusty Attic Chipboard. She is also a very talented scrap artist and you can see her gorgeous work at her personal blog, Simply Paper and Creativity. 

I hope you have been inspired to pull out those mists or make some of your own. Head on over to ScrapFIT to see the innovative misting layouts by our talented design team and to link up your project. I can't wait to see what you create with your mist!!

This Prima paper with the quotation in the top corner was so perfect to convey how I feel about mothering our precious children. I also used the Prima butterfly, hanging trinkets, resin piece and brick stamp. 

I bought the Donna Salazar Sprocket die set last week and couldn't wait to use it. I found this great earring finding that looked like gears and it fit perfectly into the center of the die cut. I placed the rhinestones around the sprocket for some added bling. 





I wrote out Isaiah 41:43 along the bottom of my page. As a mom, it has always been important to convey this message to our children. 

The mask for my modeling paste was cut from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Washer Border die from heavy cardstock.

Misted Puffy Paint Chipboard Tutorial

Supply List:

Chipboard (Want2Scrap Chipboard corner flourish)

White Puffy Paint

White Acrylic Paint

Assorted Mists

Heat Tool

Not Pictured ~ 

Heat Resistant Craft Mat

Sand Paper and/or Precision Files

Large Butterfly (Prima ~ Butterfly Kiss, Moulin Rouge)

Step One: Sand any rough edges on chipboard. Trim if necessary. (I trimmed off the long spikes leaving the butterfly wing shapes.)

Step Two: Squeeze out a THICK layer of puffy paint onto the entire chipboard piece. Be sure to completely cover from edge to edge. 

Step Three: Once the puffy paint has been applied, let this set for about an hour. 

Step Four: Use your heat tool to puff up the paint. Be sure to aim the heat tool on the top and sides of the puffy paint to get as much bubbled texture as possible. I hold the heat tool pretty close to the puffy paint and the edges turn a delightful toasted marshmallow color. 

Step Five: I didn't want my brown chipboard edges showing, so I went back and painted them with white acrylic paint. If you are not going for the toasted marshmallow look you can paint the entire piece. If you want textured chipboard without the mist, paint the entire piece with the color(s) of your choice. 

Step Six: Mist your puffy painted chipboard piece(s). I used a combination of homemade color mist (water and distress re-inkers), Perfect Pearl Mist, Smooch Spritz, Art Co. Metallic Mist, and Glimmer Mist. Depending on the look you are going for, you could use fewer (even one) mists or more. 

Acrylic paint tends to act as a resist to water based color products so your mist will bead up and look mottled, which is the distressed look I was going for. While the mist is wet, you don't want to blot or touch it, or the mist will wipe off. Of course, if you end up with too much of a certain color in the wrong spot, you can dab it with a paper towel to remove the excess, so have fun playing with your mists. When I got the look I wanted, I used my heat tool to dry the mist. Once dry, it is set and does not rub off. 

Now you can arrange your chipboard on your page or card. I spread mine like butterfly wings and centered a gorgeous Prima butterfly on top.

Please let me know if you give this a try!!

I have entered this at 

Once Upon A . . . Sketch with the theme "Mum" mother, mom and a sketch. (May 31)

Word Art Wednesday - I used the verse of the week by hand writing it across the bottom of my layout. **

Scrapbook Sisters: Stamped Background Challenge ~ The brick background on the top half is stamped. **

Simon Says Stamp: Anything goes **

Smudgy Antics: Masquerade and stamped image. My butterfly/chipboard could be used on a masquerade mask. The brick image on the top half of the background is stamped. **

Creative Craft Challenges 2: Distressing **

Use it Tuesday: All about mom. The corner crystal flourish has been in my stash for over 2 years. The black brads, modeling paste, rhinestones, and punches have been in my stash for over a year. **

Creative Inspiration Paint: Mother's Day. I used paint over top of my glimmer misted modeling paste. **

Creations by Gill M ~ Stripes and Spots - my stripes are the paper strips and spots - all over - in my masking, bling, pearls . . . **

The Happy Scrappers Challenge ~ Anything goes **

Thanks for stopping by. I treasure your comments!

~ Blessings ~ 

Our Future Forever Linked ~ DT Reveal for ScrapFIT Workout #67 - Doilies

Our son was married to his beautiful bride, Rachel, in December. One of my favorite photos was this wonderful shot of their wedding rings placed on the open pages of Scripture. 

The gorgeous Prima paper and embellishments were a perfect backdrop for my photos.

ScrapFIT Workout #67 - Decorate with a Doily!

My mother used to have a doily under every plant, picture frame and nicknack in our house! Doilies are back and being put to good use on our scrapbook layouts and paper crafts! Show us fun and unique ways to use a doily! It can be a pre-made or home made doily. 

Our Sponsor this Month is:

Vicky's Etsy shop has an amazing selection of gorgeous Dusty Attic Chipboard. She is also a very talented scrap artist and you can see her gorgeous work at her personal blog, Simply Paper and Creativity.

I hope you have been inspired to create a layout using those doilies you've had stashed away for that special project. So head on over to ScrapFIT to see the doily inspired layouts by our talented design team and to link up your project. 

Techniques:

Doily Flower ~ I created this flower using vintage dictionary pages, a vintage map page, kraft tissue paper, a doily and layers of tulle. Because these materials would not cut well on my Cricut, I cut a 6 inch scalloped circle from my Art Philosophy cartridge to use as a template to hand cut each layer. I misted the papers with water and scrunched them, then dried them with my heat tool to give the lovely distressed wrinkled look. I then misted all of the layers except the white tulle with brown and green Tattered Angels glimmer mists. I used a small brad to hold the layers together so that I could scrunch and arrange my layers and then added the gorgeous Prima pebble to the center. I surrounded my flower with a Prima Say it with Pearls flourish that I cut into two pieces to use on either side of the flower. I also fussy cut some white lace pieces for the corner. 

I used a tutorial by our oh so talented sponsor, Vicki Alberto, along with a video tutorial at this link from the Donna Salazar blog by Leah's Scrapbook Room as my inspiration for this flower. If you have access to a 6 inch scalloped circle die for the Accucut machine, like in the video, that would make these flowers a breeze to put together. 

Masking with Flexible Modeling Paste ~ I was so excited to find the Crafter's Workshop chicken wire mask on a recent trip to Archivers that I had to use it on my next layout. I sprayed the back of the mask with Krylon Easy-Tack and let it dry, then placed it on my paper where I wanted the mask. I spread a thin layer of flexible modeling paste over a portion of the mask where the design fit nicely with my patterned paper. My paper looked kind of warped, but as it dried, it flattened back out again. It did take a long time to dry - over night. Once dry, I rubbed some coordinating Distress Ink over top and used the Prima Screen stamp behind where I planned to place my larger flower. Oh, and I also used the Prima  Moulin Rouge stamp behind the locket. 

Photo Mat ~ I found a box that had this tiny corrugation and quickly nabbed it for my scrapbook stash. I peeled the top layer off to expose the corrugation - leaving some bits and pieces behind for texture. I used a foam brush to paint the edges with antique white (I wanted the natural color to show in the grooves and a regular paint brush got paint down in those grooves while the foam brush did a nice job of applying paint just to the top edges.), then highlighted with some pink and brown distress ink. The lovely Prima Resin corners were painted and then I rubbed off some of the paint for a distressed look. The locket and gorgeous gems on my banner flowers are also by Prima. I had a tiny ball chain in my stash that I rubbed some black paint into, ran through the locket and wound across the flower banner.

Flower Banner ~ this was so easy peasy. I simply took Prima flowers, folded them in half and ran a Martha Stewart satin cord across the page along the branch in the paper and used jump rings to hang the gems in the center of each flower. 

Butterflies ~ I cut these butterflies with the Alterations Butterflies Movers die, then used the same techniques described for my photo mat. I fashioned the antennae using wrapped wire from the floral department and added adhesive pearls for the body. 

Title ~ I painted and inked a Want2Scrap Nestaboard Fancy Tag, cut letters from grungepaper and painted them with metallic paint before adhering to the tag. 

I have entered this at:
Bird is the Word ~ Future Challenge
City Crafter Challenge Blog ~ Week 107 Text and Tulle: Text - dictionary page in flower, text on focal paper, and in the photo itself; Tulle - in large layered flower. **
Timeless Tuesday ~ #167 Use Butterflies **
Use it Tuesday ~ Challenge #30 April Showers: I used spring flowers, The pink flowers and adhesive pearls are at least 2 years in my stash, the dictionary pages come from a dictionary I've had for 18 years and the map pages 10 years, the cardboard isn't new, but rescued from the recycling bin. **
Scrapbook Sisters ~ Stamped Background: I stamped the backgrounds behind the flower with a screen mesh stamp, and behind the locket with a lace stamp. **
Scrap It Girl ~ April Showers Bring the "May Flowers" Challenge: I created the layered flower using a template from my Art Philosophy cartridge, and Prima flowers for my banner/trinket flowers. **

Thanks for dropping by. I treasure your comments!

~ Blessings ~

Kennedy House ~ ScrapFIT Reveal Workout #66

What a gorgeous color combination for our Workout challenge at ScrapFIT!! I had so much fun working with these luscious colors ~ sand, mint, and cherry. 

When all the children were still at home we made an annual trip to Salt Fort State Park. While Gary and Joseph would go out fishing, the girls and I would take to the trails. One of the trails leads to the beautiful old stone Kennedy House. There is no road to the house, so the only way to get there was by the trails.

Here is my inspiration layout for you:

Workout #66 ~ Color/Photo Inspiration

Diana, our Creative Trainer, has put together this rigorous workout just for you! Let this color inspiration direct your Layout/Card/Paper Craft project! These colors are a beautiful combo of soft and subtle with a pop! Be sure to join us and stay on your FIT track with our Creative Trainer!

Our Sponsor for this Workout is My Divine Inspiration Etsy Shop

The prize is this wonderful embellishment package:

Be sure to drop by her Etsy shop to see all the wonderful goodies she sells. 

Techniques:

Layered Flower ~ I've enjoyed making these layered flowers lately. The bottom layer is a woven fabric cut on the Tattered Floral Die and inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. The next layer ~ the daisy-like green leaves were cut from a kraft color coffee filter. I love the texture in this paper with the miniature dots. They were inked with Iced Spruce Distress Ink. Next comes one of my hand crafted twine flowers created with a thinner hemp cord using my Twine Flower Tutorial. I topped that with two layers of red pearlized paper cut from the Donna Salazar Carnation Creations Spellbinder die set.  I wet the paper and pleated the petals. Then finally the center is a Petaloo flower center.  I cut this gorgeous mint Prima Pearl and Crystal flourish to use part of it here.

Carnation Flower ~ Again I used Red Pearl paper to cut a single flower with the Donna Salazar Carnation Creations die, wet the paper and pleated the petals. Once dry, I inked the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. then folded it in half and in half again to form this carnation shape and layered the piece of Prima mint  pearl/crystal flourish over the folded edge. 

Sign ~ I cut the sign post from a very heavy cardstock using the Spellbinder Elegant Posts die. I painted it with a heavy coat of Gesso, then while wet applied the heat tool until it bubbled up. If the gesso doesn't bubble as much as you want, add more gesso and continue to heat. I tinted the gesso with some brown paint and also applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. A photo tutorial for this technique in a darker color can be found here.  I use mini 1/16 inch eyelets in the sign to hang it with chain from my stash. 

Doily ~ My doily was cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. Thanks for loaning me your cart, Mandy!! I then cut a circle of paper for the inside of the doily and distressed, inked and hand stitched the edges. Finally, I applied a couple layers of ATG adhesive on the back edge of the circle and then carefully applied the lace to the edge. 

Tag ~ I used the Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2012 April technique to create my tag using the reflections stamps and an embossing folder.  I created the stick pin with beads from my stash, and the crinkle ribbon was dyed with Distress Stain. I painted the word trinket with red paint and wiped it off leaving the word "Wander" much more visible. 

I hope you have been inspired to join us at ScrapFIT for this fabulous color challenge. Be sure to head over and check out the DT examples and link up your paper crafted project. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments

~ Blessing ~

Easter Card - Bo Bunny Card Challenge Tuesday

Wishing each of you a blessed and joy-filled Easter. 

I have an Easter Card for you that I designed to enter the Bo Bunny Card Challenge Tuesday contest. The challenge is to use a shaped card and a handmade flower. Here is my card:

I posted an earlier version of this card last week, to show the butterfly made with the Tim Holtz March tag technique. I changed out the kraft layer in my flower to yellow and added the stick pin and some more inking. 

Here is a close-up of the flower. 

I have posted a tutorial for the twine flower portion of this layered flower. The other layers were cut with the Tattered Floral die. 

The shaped card was cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge by Close to My Heart. Thanks Mandy for letting me use it!! I cut the base card with white card stock and then cut the scalloped circle from Bo Bunny Barefoot and Bliss Word. The yellow layer in my flower and scalloped mat for my sentiment inside the card were also cut from this paper. I used snippets of Bo Bunny scraps I had in my stash for the butterfly and leaves. 

This was my first time at color work. I used the Berol Prismacolor Pencils and blending pencil. 

I went to my bead stash to create the stick pin. My former craft hobbies come in handy for scrapbooking! 

The leaves were cut with the Spellbinder Foliage dies, then crinkled and inked for dimension. 

If you're interested in participating in an online crop, head over to Scrap-Friendzy to see the great challenges that are being posted. The crop starts today with three challenges, and there will be 2 more challenges posted each day through Thursday. You'll have until April 15 to complete your paper craft projects to have your name in the hat for the Hippity Hop Crop grand prize and til the end of the month to be entered for the Girlfriend of the month prize and honors. I'll be posting this card as the inspiration for my challenge today. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed Easter. 

~ Blessings ~

ScrapFIT Reveal ~ Priceless Memories

When I saw this oh so fun challenge in ScrapFIT Workout #65, I knew I my inspiration would be the rich masculine colors. This fabulous Weekend Market paper by Bo Bunny worked so wonderfully as a backdrop for these early fishing photos of our son, Joseph. The vintage scale and rulers are so perfect since he weighed and measured all of his big catches.

ScrapFIT Workout #65 ~ Good Ole Boys

For this Workout use the photo below for inspiration. You can gather inspiration from the colors, the time period, the style, you can use anything about this photo that inspires you!

This Workout is being sponsored by Diana at My Divine Inspiration Etsy Shop. 

The winner of this Workout will receive this wonderful set of embellishments from My Divine Inspiration.

Be sure to hop on over to ScrapFIT to see what our fabulous DT did with this challenge. 

Here are some close-ups and details for my layout. 

I used another of my twine flowers. Did I say in a previous post that these are addicting?? This time I used a fine hemp cord to create my flower for a more wispy effect. Because the dark twine faded into the rich dark background, I created a back drop by cutting layers of Kraft Glassine paper with my Tattered Floral die. I then stamped a script image onto the flowers using StazOn Ink and heat embossed to set the ink into the glassine paper. I finished up by inking up the edges. I used open layering in this section with the fish net and crystal flourish. My tutorial for the twine flowers can be found here.

I went to a scrapbook expo last weekend and picked up some wonderful chipboard pieces by Creek Bank Creations. I painted the raw chipboard, stamped with a script image, and then inked the edges. You can't really see it in the photo, but I mixed some metalic paint into the brown to give just a little shimmer. 

I learned this fabulous polymer clay tile technique from a tutorial over at Gabrielle Pollacco's blog.  Polymer clay is an inexpensive way to create wonderful stamped, paper covered, or in this case sticker topped tiles. The unused clay stores well without drying out until your ready to use it for your next project. Notice that I used old rusty screen pieces for my photo mats. 

I hope you've been inspired to Workout with us at ScrapFIT. I can't wait to see what you create!!

Thanks for dropping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Easter Card

I've been wanting to try out the butterfly that Tim Holtz demonstrated on his March tag and was finally able to locate some Antiquities Cement Embossing Powder last weekend and created one for this Easter card. This is also my first attempt at color work. This photo was taken tonight to post on Tim's blog, so sorry about the photo quality. I will take and post another photo when I can get a good day shot. 

The butterfly is such an amazing technique. I really enjoyed doing it (once I was finally able to locate the embossing powder.) I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at this technique. I'll be making more of these! 

The shaped card was cut on the Close to My Heart, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. My friend, Mandy let me use hers this afternoon. This cart has some amazing cut images on it. 

For my color work I used Berol Prismacolor Pencils and a blending pencil. The fussy cutting around this image was a bit of work with my scissors and the inner parts with a craft knife. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments. 

~ Blessings ~

You'll Be My Friend Forever ~ Reveal for The Stamping Scrapper

It's reveal day for the Shannon's gorgeous sketch at the Scrapping Stamper.

This photo of Elizabeth and Maria hugging is so precious on a beautiful spring day back when we lived in North Carolina. The Bo Bunny Country Garden collection was perfect to scrap this photo. 

 Here is Shannon's fabulous sketch:

Be sure to head on over to The Scrapping Stamper to see what her design team did with this fab sketch. 

Here are some technique details:

Layered Twine Flower ~ You can find the tutorial for my twine flower here. Underneath the twine flower, I used the tattered floral die to cut fabric and netting. I also used a daisy die to cut a paper flower from blue paper which I inked the edges. The fabric was cut from a white shear fabric which I dabbed with blue distress ink to color. I topped it off with an adhesive flower center by Petaloo. 

Crocheted Flowers - I crocheted the little white flowers, inked the edges and added a rhinestone to the center of each. 

Leaves ~ I used the Spellbinder Foliage Shapeablilities Die to cut the leaves, then folded and crimped the leaves and inked for added dimension. 

Prima Build-a-Frame Stamps ~ My friend, Mandy, helped me locate these fabulous stamps that I used to frame the corners of this layout. The image in the bottom corner includes the words that I used for my journaling. "I love you and I like you and you'll be my friend forever."

Banners ~ I was thinking about buying the Tim Holtz Banner strip, but when I looked at it, I realized it was just paper strips with cut ends and I figured it wouldn't take any longer to fussy cut them with my Honey Bee Scissors (the best scissors I've found for fussy cutting) than running the die through my Bigshot. So, cut I did. I then folded and inked to get the shabby banner effect. 

Bead Dangles ~ I found this fabulous earring finding on clearance at my favorite craft store, Pat Catan's, and added the yellow shaped beads to the ends of the chain and if you look closely - very closely indeed, you'll see a tiny yellow bead in the bottom loop of each as well. 

Stick Pin ~ I created this stick pin from a pearl topped floral pin and some beads left over from my jewelry making days. I simply placed the beads on the pin and glued the bottom bead to hold it in place. 

If you keep looking, you'll see other techniques I've done before like the dictionary page ~ of course with the word sister, painted metal, stitched and distressed photo edges, real chicken wire, fussy cut and stickled butterflies, lace, painted resin, inked paper edges . . .

I'm entering this layout in:

City Crafter Challenge Blog CCCB#102 ~ use the spring color pallet Pinks, Yellow, Blue, Green (April 2)

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Love Letter and Twine Flower Tutorial

Update March 2016: I now have a video tutorial for Girlie Grunge Twine Flowers showing how to create the loom and twine flower using Donna Salazar's new bakers twine for Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L. The process is exactly the same for jute twine or hemp cording. Only the size of the loom you use would change. A chart for suggested loom sizes and twine lengths can be found HERE. (scroll to the bottom of that post for the chart) My VIDEO TUTORIAL can be viewed HERE.

Our son, Joseph, wrote a love letter to his bride, Rachel, and sent it to her with a rose while she was waiting for the wedding ceremony to start. This photo is of her reading his letter. The list are some of her responses to his love letter.

I have seen some fabulous twine flowers on Pinterest, but have not been able to locate a detailed tutorial to create them. After some experimenting, I've come up with these lovely gems and have written a step by step tutorial for you to recreate them as well. 

Twine Flower Tutorial

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

***An updated version of my tutorial can be found HERE.***

Now I'd like to share a tutorial on how to make these beautiful twine flowers. I got the idea from a tutorial at The Bug Bytes. I made several changes to her flowers, so I'm posting a tutorial here for my version of her twine flowers. 

Please don't be intimidated by the number of steps. I wanted to make sure the directions are clear, so I would rather err on the side of giving you more information than you might need. The tutorial I learned from had fewer steps, and I found myself doing some trial and error, that hopefully will be avoided for you. 

Once you have made your loom and have a couple flowers under your belt, these little beauties only take about 10 to 15 minutes each to create.

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

SUPPLIES:

a) Twine - any kind of thin hemp, jute, or baker's twine will work nicely ~ about 7 feet of twine for a 2 inch loom.

b) Two same size chipboard circles ~ I used 2 inch circles. 

c) Glue ~ any kind of glue that will hold the two chipboard circles together will work. I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. 

d) 12 Straight pins ~ Mine have plastic balls on the ends, but any pins you have will work or even small finishing nails if you don't have straight pins. 

e) Large eye tapestry or yarn needle The needle doesn't have to be flat on the end with a curve like mine, as long as the eye is large enough to thread the twine and a rounded rather than sharp pointed end, it will work. 

f) A pencil or pen and ruler (not pictured) are needed to draw lines on the top circle. 

MAKING THE LOOM:

Step 1. Cut two identical chipboard circles ~ I used 2 inch circles cut on the AccuCut machine at my LSS. They could also be traced and cut with scissors. Don't worry if your circles aren't exactly perfect. The petals aren't going to be exactly the same even with perfect circles. St

Step 2. Draw 6 lines evenly spaced on the front of one circle ~ This will give spacing like the numbers on a clock. 

Step 3. Spread glue on the back of the circle you drew lines on and adhere to the other chipboard circle. 

Step 4. Once the glue is dry, push your pins between the cardboard pieces in line with your pencil lines. If you don't let your glue dry first, a pair of pliers will be needed to pull your pins out the first time. (Go ahead, ask me how I know!!)

If you turn the chipboard on its side, it will look like this:

***Note*** My loom has held up well. I've made over 20 flowers, and the pins are still nice and tight. 

MAKING THE TWINE FLOWERS:

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

Step 1. At first you will be working from your spool of twine. Don't cut anything yet. Think of your loom like a clock. Leaving about a 4 inch tail, hold the twine at 7:00. Wrap the twine up to the left side of the pin at 12:00 and wrap over and behind the 12:00 pin, moving from left to right, then wrap straight down to the right side of the pin at 6:00. Wrap the twine behind the 6:00 pin from right to left. 

Step 2. Now wrap your twine back up to the left side of the 11:00 pin, wrapping over/behind the pin from left to right and straight down to the right side of the 5:00 pin, wrapping behind the 5:00 pin from right to left.

Step 3. Continue this pattern until you have one loop around each pin. 

Step 4. Continue wrapping around the pins in the same pattern until you have two loops around each pin. 

Step 5. This was the confusing part for me, so I changed out the twine to a contrasting color to help illustrate the remaining steps. Your final wrap will be back around the 7:00 pin where you started. My loom is rotated in the photo, so it is no longer in the 7:00 position, but this last wrap goes around the pin that was in the 7:00 position when you started wrapping.

You will leave the starting tail at the 7:00 pin. On the working end of your twine, cut about a 20 inch length of twine. That's 20 inches from the last wrap on the loom. The amount of twine needed will depend on the thickness of the twine you are using. A thicker twine will require more and a thinner twine would require less. The twine I used is about the thickness of bakers twine. I also made a flower with a thicker jute which you can see in the photo at the end of this tutorial. That twine required about 24 inches to do the center weaving in the flower. When it doubt, cut a longer piece that you think you might need and then you will know how much to cut for your next flower. 

Thread the twine onto your large needle. 

Step 6. Now you are going to start weaving around the center of the flower. This will secure the flower petals in place and give the decorative stitching around the flower center. You are working from the back of the flower, so you won't see the pretty decorative stitching until the end when you remove your flower from the loom and turn it over. 

Move your 7:00 pin so it is now at 12:00. You will start weaving behing the "petal" to the right of your final wrap. So, take your needle and go underneath the 4 strands of twine wrapped around the 1:00 pin and push the needle all the way behind the 5 strands at the 12:00 pin, (the 4 petal strands and your starting strand of twine - this is the only place there will be 5 strands of twine.)  As you can see on the photo, your needle will be under a total of 9 strands of twine. 

Step 7. Pull your needle through. For this weaving stitch only leave a little slack in the end of your twine. Notice what the yellow twine is doing. 

The last wrap around the pin is now at the 12:00 position only goes to the center of the flower, so when you take your next weaving stitch with your needle you will secure that half thread in place. Moving to your left, push the needle under all 4 strands of the 12:00 petal plus starting tail and keep pushing it under the 4 strands of the 11:00 petal.

Step 8. Pull your woven stitches tight, pushing them towards the center of the flower with the tip of your needle. This is the only place where you may need to work with your stitches a little bit to get them nice and tight. Sometimes after I pull the stitches tight, the first stitch is too loose, if that is the case, I use my fingers to pull on the second stitch to take the slack out of the first stitch. Your stitching  should look like the stitches in the photo below. 

Step 9. Continue weaving by stitching under the petals, moving to the left in a counter clockwise direction. Please note, now that you are past the starting tail at the 12:00 petal, you will continue going behind two petals each time, but now for a total of 8 strands of twine. 

Step 10. Continue this pattern until you have 2 stitches around each petal, coming back around to where you started. Your last weaving stitch will still go behind 2 petals ~ 8 strands of twine. Pull the working twine on your needle down between the petals and between the stitches to the center of the flower. 

Notice how the yellow twine in the photo is pulled to the center of the flower between the 12:00 and

1:00 pins.

Step 11. Use your needle to weave the end of the thread under the top layer on the center stitches until it seems secure. I take two to three stitches to secure, usually going under about 10 or so threads all together. I start the needle under a thread that is right where I am pulling the thread between the petals and stitching so I don't distort the woven design on the back side of the stitching, which will actually be the front of the flower. After weaving the end of the twine to secure, cut it close to where it is exiting the flower center. 

Step 12. Pull the starting twine to the center and secure it in the same way.

Step 13. To release the flower from the loom, pull the pins out one at a time to release each petal, then put the pin back in place to be ready to create your next flower.

Turn your flower over to admire the beautifully stitched border around your center. 

I created a 2-inch loom. You can change the size of your flowers by using different size circles, but keep in mind that the center of your flower will be determined by the thickness of your twine, and will stay the same regardless of what size circle you use. You can see that my jute flower has a much larger center than the twine flowers. If I make another jute flower, I will probably use a larger loom so it will look more daisy-like. Because this jute was thicker than the twine, the center turned out larger, giving more of a sunflower appearance. 

You can also dress your flowers up with a button or other bling like I did for my layout or even layer them with other flowers. 

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

I hope you give these flowers a try.

Here are a few more examples of how I've used these flowers in my projects: 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments. 

~ Blessings ~