We are excited to welcome Selma Stevenson to the CLASSroom today. It was several months ago when I had the pleasure of meeting Selma as she came to visit Susan and they stopped by our office. Since that time Selma has been creating beautiful projects using Susan's flowers. You can tell that she has a passion for flowers by the beautiful blooms she shares on her blog. You can find more inspiration on Selma's blog Selma's Stamping Corner.
When I saw the beautiful speckled poinsettia's she had created using Goosebumps I knew this was a technique that would be so fun to share here in the CLASSroom. You could use this technique on many other items, but it is perfectly suited for poinsettias and this time of year. We hope you enjoy this technique and look forwards to seeing the beautiful flowers you create.
We would appreciate if you would help us thank Selma for sharing this creative idea with us here in the CLASSroom by heading over to her blog, Selma's Stamping Corner, and leaving a comment on her post that features the picture showing the products below. As our way of saying thank you for taking the time to do so you will have a chance to win the random drawing for these goodies.
Thank you so much Selma for inspiring us with this fantastic idea here today! -Ellen
There are different ways to color your poinsettias when you use GooseBumps. I used Susan's Garden "Pan Pastels" to create these pretty Red Speckled Poinsettias. The Pan Pastels worked beautifully over the GooseBumps.
I always like to die cut a lot of petals/pieces before I get started coloring and assembling my flowers. I usually can place three pieces of 80# card stock over the dies which helps to die cut a lot of pieces quickly. The majority of my flowers are die cut using white card stock so I can color them to match my project.
Once the pieces are die cut, in order to make them realistic, you need to shape them. The Sizzix, Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit has all the tools you need to create very realistic flowers. In this picture I am using the leaf tool that creates perfect scored lines in each petal and leaf. I like to fold each petal/leaf in half after scoring down the length and give it a good crease; then I draw the veins out from the center. The score lines are drawn with the petal/leaf on the special "leaf" pad that comes in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.
The box I have the petals in is called a "Color Catcher" and is something I always use when I spray a project with any type of product. This "catcher" will keep spray from getting on your work area. It will fold down flat after each use for easy storage.
In this picture I am getting ready to spray GooseBumps on the petals. If you want just a "speckled" look to your project, you want to hold the spray 10 to 12 inches above it. The closer you have the spray, the thicker it will cover. Since I am working with white card stock, it was a little hard to see the spray, so it is good to have good lighting so you can see the "wet" spots. This spray air dries quickly but if you have a lot it will take longer to dry. You can use the heat gun to dry if it isn't drying fast enough.
For those of you who may not have seen my poinsettia tutorials, I create different levels that are glued together, which gives the flower a lot of shape. The poinsettia has 8 points on the calyx (base) piece, so I add four petals - one on every other "leg" to start.
Next I go back and add the other four petals in between the first four. This gives a nice appearance to each level. If you attach all the petals side by side, it doesn't give the flower the same fullness. Create as many layers, of eight petals, as you want using this technique.
For these poinsettias, I created two layers but for larger flowers I have used three. You can create many different sizes of poinsettias with Susan's Garden Poinsettia dies. I have used the two largest petals for this flower.
To create the stamen, you use the base (calyx) that comes in the die set. I colored this one the same as the poinsettia, using the Tea Dye Distress Ink. Next I cut each of the points, down toward the center, three times. You can cut just twice on each one if you want. Press down in the center on the molding mat that comes in the Tool Kit, to give it shape.
Place a dot of "The Ultimate Glue" down in the center of the stamen.
Pinch the bottom and hold a few seconds until the glue dries enough to stick so it holds the stamen closed.
Add the stamen to the center of the poinsettia, then add a few smaller poinsettia petals around it to form the center of the poinsettia. I used the two smallest petals for this.
For this beige poinsettia, I used "Vintage Photo Distress Stickles" on the tips of the stamen. This is a very fun technique and I hope you will give it a try.
This is only one technique for using GooseBumps. You can get additional information about using this fun product at this link.
