Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Painted Flowers of Spring

  by Kris Hankins

Spring has finally arrived!

Nature is a huge inspiration for my art. When I look at nature I see a palette full of beautiful color. With the beauty and freshness of the season, I came up with this fun card to share with you.

Painted Flowers of Spring

Materials

Instructions

  • For this card you will need to create a “torn text” background.

    • To do this, you will need to get a few pages from an old novel. I like using pages from an obsolete hardback book because the pages are a little sturdier than those in a paperback.
    • Cut a piece of sturdy cardstock 4” x 5”. This is what you will attach the torn text to.
    • Take the pages from the novel and tear into about a dozen or so pieces, in random sizes and shapes.
    • Using Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters) stipple the edges of the torn text pieces. This will give the pieces a distressed and dimensional look.



    • Next, you will want to run these torn text pieces through your Xyron machine. I find that this is the easiest and quickest way to get complete adhesive coverage on the pieces. You can also use a glue stick to glue each piece.



    • On the 4” x 5” piece of cardstock that you previously cut, start laying out the pieces randomly. Make sure you tilt the text in different directions.
                Tip - I work on a piece of Xyron backing so that the pieces overhanging the edge of the cardstock don’t stick to my work surface.



    • After all of the pieces are adhered to the cardstock, flip the piece over and tightly fold over all of the overhanging edges. They will stick easily to the back. You may want to clip the corners of the text papers so they fold over nice and neatly.



    • Flip back over and lay the Xyron backing piece on top of the torn text piece. Using your bone folder, burnish well. This will secure all of your torn text pieces in place.

  • Next you'll need to make the flowers.

    • I stamped flower images on basic watercolor paper using a permanent black ink. I heat set my ink before painting. Feel free to heat emboss with embossing powder if you wish.
    • Using a waterbrush and ink from my Marvy brush markers, I painted each flower and additional flower centers.
    • Cut out each flower and extra flower centers.

                  Green Tip – Re-use plastic packaging from purchased embellishments for paint palettes. They are easy to clean up over and over. I used this handy piece from Tim Holtz packaging.


  • Before attaching your flowers to the background, you will want to layer your “torn text” background onto a card base..

    • I layered mine onto black and ocean cardstock before attaching to my green card base.

    • Arrange your painted flowers and attach with glue and pop dots. I attached the leaves and the smallest flower directly to the card background. The remaining flowers are all attached with pop dots. All flower centers are also attached with a pop dot. This card has a lot of dimension!



    • I added a pearl to the center of the larger flower, and sparkle ink to the remaining flower centers.

    • Add a butterfly embellishment and your card is complete. I used some simple satiny butterflies. Prima makes some beautiful butterflies that would enhance this card.


Thanks for coming by! Enjoy the Painted Flowers of Spring.

Kris
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