Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the CLASSroom. I love making die cut flowers and die cut scenes. Susan Tierney-Cockburn’s new CountryScapes sets gives me the opportunity to combine the two techniques to create a mini garden scene. My project today was made using the CountryScapes Backyard 1, The Woods 1 and Country Critters 1. The frame was made using the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Card Templates.
I started by cutting out all the pieces for my project using Ellen’s Essential Tan Woodgrain Embossed, Easter Grass, Sour Lemon, Candy Hearts and Neenah Heavyweight White cardstocks.
Apply Vintage Photo ink to the tree using a mini applicator to add more definition.
Attach the two additional branch pieces to the back of the tree with glossy accents.
Use the QuickStik to pick up the tiny leaves and attach them to the tree using glossy accents.
Once the leaves are dry and well attached to the limbs turn the tree face down on the molding pad and form the leaves with the small tipped stylus to add dimension.
Cut several batches of the small flower and form them using the small tipped stylus and molding pad.
Use the tip of the leaf tool to firmly attach the flowers to the tree leaves and stems of the tall grass section with glossy accents.
Color the flower pots by applying Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo ink with a mini applicator.
Color the cats with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo.
Attach the flowers to the stem sections with glossy accents. Apply doubled up glue dots to the pots to allow the foliage sections to be popped up slightly.
Use a craft knife to cut a slit in the pots and tuck one or two inside each other to create a stack of pots. Attach the pots together with glue dots.
This picture shows most of the assembled small pieces. I added a few more pieces at the end of the design process to fill in and complete the scene.
Apply an inky sky on the card base using Tumbled Glass ink and a 1 Inch Ink Blending Tool.
Line up the two frame dies on the magnetic platform, cut, attach thin strips of mounting tape and attach the frame to the card base.
Apply a strip of 1/8” double stick tape to the frame and attach the grass section.
Lay a long strip of 1/2” double stick tape on the work surface and roll with your finger to create a thin strip of adhesive.
Apply the strip of rolled double stick tape to the back of the tree and attach it to the card base.
Add dimension to the tree branches by lightly bending some branches forward and some backward. You can see in the pictures that I use the edge of the leaf tool to brace the branches while bending them. Trees, foliage and flowers do not lay perfectly flat in nature. Just a few small steps like bending the branches and forming the leaves to add dimension will breath life into your project.
Finish the project by attaching and grassy strip to the bottom ground area of the frame with mounting tape. Attach the pots, watering can, flowers and those precious kitty cats with mounting tape and glossy accents. Feel free to tip some of your pots on their sides to create a realistic garden scene.
Most of you know that I have four cats and am an animal lover. Susan shared with me this week that she also has four cats. It looks like we have more in common than just our love of paper crafting. Thanks for coming by today and I hope you have been inspired to try your hand at creating a garden scene of your own.
