Spring 2014 Flower Swap

I recently hosted a Spring 2014 Flower Swap on the Cricut Circle message board and wanted to share all the lovely creations made with you.  Each participant was simply given the guidelines to choose any flower she would like using any Cricut cartridge and include an embellishment.  That's it!  Here is what my crafty friends came up with:


RockinRenee (that's me) - AG Soiree Lettering 

Gina Piazza - Mother's Day Bouquet

Caffinee - Flower Shoppe

Jodie R -

TinaW528 - Forever Young

Granny Anne - Mother's Day Bouquet

Eyelet - Flower Shoppe

Pinkbug - A Walk in My Garden

albrennick - Flower Shoppe

RockinRenee -

Sage - CTMH Art Philosophy

Violette - Pagoda

Jodie R -

cricutaddicted -

JoJoy - Rock Princess



misawasan - Flower Shoppe

oswaltb -

LoriSjogen - Flower Shoppe

 

KimberlyMaehrer - Essentials



KauaiMelody -

I also received a number of goodies and handmade treats for hosting the swap:

This beautiful wreath crafted by Eyelet - It's PERFECT Marty!  Thank you!

A sock monkey (she knows I have affinity for these guys) and a hand embellished and colored doll/girl by crafted by none other then Gina Piazza.  Her craftiness never ceases to amaze me!

A crafting bag full of goodies from albrennick.  The "thanks" was  SO cool!  Did you cut out multiple layers and glue to create the thickness?

And even more crafty goodies.  Thank you ladies!  I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

And that's a wrap for this swap.  I hope you enjoyed viewing all of the lovely flowers and are inspired to make some of your own.  Happy Spring!







Pinecone Ornament

I have one last ornament to share with you today.  It's a 3D pinecone:

I started off with a paper mache ornament from the hobby store.  You could also use a styrofoam egg or anything else with a similar oval shape. 

Cut your scale leaves from Cricut cartridge Giant Flowers @ 1.5".  There are other leaf shapes that would work as well from Cricut cartridges Flower Shoppe and Mother's Day Bouquet.  Adhere your first few scale leaves to your shape.  I used hot glue. When adhering these first few leaves, glue the entire back portion of them so they lay flat against your shape.

Using a petal roller or rounded tool and a foam mat or spongy surface, roll the bottom edges of your scale leaf to create texture. 

Using your adhesive (again, I used hot glue) adhere the top portion pieces of your scale leaf layered together to form a curved shape.

Now, push the bottom center of your leaf forward so that it creates a small hump in the middle of your leaf.

Here is another view of what the completed scale leaf looks like.  Repeat these steps for all the remaining scale leaves.  This texturizing step is optional, but it does add more of a realistic look to your pinecone.



Start layering the scale leaves onto your shape in alternating circle layers.  When adhering these leaves, only glue the top edge of the leave pieces so that the bottom portion of the scale leaves are allowed to curl up and out as previously texturized.  Repeat the circle layers  until your shape is covered.  If using a shape that does not already have an ornament hanger, stop half way through the leaf covering process and add a ribbon that reaches from side to side, leaving enough slack at the top to create a hanger upon completion.

When adhering the last few scale leaves, again cover the entire back portion of the leaves before laying flat on to your shape.  If you added your own ribbon, the ribbon should just poke through like the gold cord in the picture.

Cut 3 pinecone leaves from Cricut cartridge Mother's Day Bouquet, 2 @  1.9" and 1 @ 2.25".  Texturize using the same rolling technique used to create the scale leaves. Adhere to one side of the cone starting with the larger leaf.

Add a bow in a coordinating ribbon color to the top of your cone.  Adhere the bow portion down if desired.

Add glitter to the outer edges of your scale leaves.  I used Glossy Accents to adhere the coarse glitter with (optional).

Materials Used:

• Cricut cartridges Giant Flowers and Mother's Day Bouquet
• Paper mache ornament or any 3D oval shape
• Pink Paislee Tickets patterned cardstock
• DCWV green glittered cardstock
• Stampin' Up! Pool Party seam binding ribbon
• Martha Stewart coarse glitter

CCR File:   https://www.box.com/s/al7qrrgwtp3zp1fx5r4i
Gypsy File:  https://www.box.com/s/gccr6a1kr17ckpdeaabv

Pleated Pillow Card

As you may know, I like to complete extra projects from my scraps of my most recent project. I made this card for my mom utilizing the scraps from my Cricut Circle May Monthly Challenge.







The monogram is from the Nursery Rhymes cart and the flower from Mother's Day Bouquet. The paper and ribbon is Anna Griffin.