February Blog Hop

Seriously you have no idea how excited I was to get to be a part of this months ScrapbookSteals.com Blog Hop. So much so I convinced them to let me pick up my item at the boutique rather than wait for it in the mail! I was super lucky too because this months fantastic item was Prima Marketing Flowers, and I love working with flowers.

When I picked up my flowers I couldn't wait to get started making something. I received the Prima Calypso Script Hydrangea Tin with Handmade Paper Flowers in Purple. The color is just amazing and the petals have a very realistic texture and hue.

So I dug through all my scrapbooking supplies to narrow down the possibilities and decided on two projects. A simple pressed flower look card and a grapevine wreath for Valentine's.


First the card. I wanted to do something that showed off the simple beauty of these flower petals. They look so real it reminded of how I used to press flowers in books when I was younger. I grabbed some silk leaves, card and glimmer mist in addition to the flowers and set to work. I went with a water stain background on the card by lightly misting the card base with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Spring Violet.

It has a great shine, don't you think?








Glue down a couple silk leaves and a simple grouping of Prima petals and you have a simple pressed flower card. A hand written note inside and this card made it's way to say thank you for Christmas presents from family.

With my first project in the mail it was time to brave the snow (we have several feet of it piled up in our yard now) and gather some grape vines for my wreath. I started wanting to do a bow shape and then changed my mind in favor of a heart for Valentine's Day.

When working with vines or branches of any kind the key is to work quickly but bend slowly. If you take too long the wood will dry and set its shape and if you bend too fast or take too long . . . SNAP! I use pony tail holders and binder clips to hold the vines in shape while they dry out. I used a 28 gauge wire to secure the top (you don't need to use such a fine wire though, it was just what I had on hand in green.)

I glued down a few Imaginisce Bitty Blossoms first, then added on a layer of the Prima flowers, finished off with some wire rosettes. Use a piece of ribbon or more wire to make a hanger and it's done.












These flowers were so much fun to work with that I could have easily come up with a hundred more projects to make.

Don't forget to visit and leave a comment on ALL the Blog Hop Blogs for your chance to win a $20 gift code to ScrapbookSteals.com (deadline to enter 11:59 PM Sunday Feb 3rd MST):

ScrapbookSteals: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/ 

Akiha's Momma Scraps! - Charissa Miller - www.akihasmommascraps.com

Scrap Happens - Catherine Povec - http://tybearsmom.blogspot.com/ 

Grand Diva's Creative Corner - Brenda Ragsdale - http://granddivasscrappyplace.blogspot.com/ 

Chronicles of my crafty life - Abigail Stoops - http://www.scrapbookista.com 

the "Divine" hand - Candice Elliott - http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com/ 

The Other Sink - Abbey Colbert - YOU ARE HERE

Mama's Sanity - Kristina MacKeen - http://mamasanity.blogspot.com YOUR NEXT STOP!