Fold your paper in half and make sure the bottom of the die (the thinnest part) is lying a little beyond the fold, so when it’s die cut, it will cut two petals with a connected piece of paper. You’ll need to cut each die four times. The dies we used were a Sizzix Dies, David Tutera Framelits Large Peony. link https://tinyurl.com/y5b7to5o
When you see these dies, there’s one die that looks like five fingers….we did not use that die when making our peony. When I die cut them, I made a mistake when die cutting one of the largest petals, and had two pieces instead of one. I simply glued each half down in the center like the other pieces.
After die cutting four of each die, you’ll want to open them and scrunch them in your hand to make them fuller and have more dimension. If you pinch the middle section between each petal before hot gluing it, you’ll get even more dimension in the center. Sometimes Barb would lay petals upside down to get more dimension, too.

To create the peony, open your first largest petal so you have both petals lying on the table, and put hot glue in the center section…then take the next set of large petals and lay them across the first petals, then your next set, lay diagonally to the second set, and lay your fourth set diagonal from the one before. Then you’ll take the next smaller petals and lay the first set in the center diagonally from the last set and use your stylus to push down the center and hot glue them in place…do this with each of the sets of petals and then you’ll get to the ones that are shaped like an “X” and place the center of the “X” into the middle of the flower and hot glue it in place, and repeat this process, making each layer diagonal from the last until all petals are placed. You can pull the edges toward the center to make the peony more ball shaped.

The additional tools used to make this large peony were:
hot glue gun
ball stylus set: link https://tinyurl.com/yxqdf3ks
die cutting machine…I use a Vagabond II

I enjoyed my time with Barb and learned so much. Here are links to Barb’s social media.
Barb’s blog: Barb’s Cards, My Way
Link: https://barbscardsmyway.blogspot.com

 

I went to a bunch of garage sales today and found some things I’ve been searching for…an iron for foamiran–one that doesn’t have the non-stick face.  I found it and it was really inexpensive.  I don’t think the woman knew what she was selling, as its is a Rowenta iron, and they are high end, and sells for over $60.  I think she sold it to me for $2.00.  I didn’t even look at the name brand, as I was just so happy to find one with a silver face..YAY!!  I also found a storage container for smaller items, and it will be great for beads and sequins.  I might move all of my sequins to this container, but will have to check to see if they will fit.

I think I’m going to do another haul video, as I keep finding great deals on things and want to share them with my viewers.  I’m not sure though, as some things are really hard to find, and I was just lucky (like the iron.)

We have a great nephew who went to school to do music, specifically on video games and background music in movies.  I talked to him about hiring him to make the “theme song” for my YouTube channel..I think it would be great to have my own intro song.  He and I will be talking more about it at the beginning of the week..I am really excited about this, and then I might try to find someone to make into graphics too.  Just because my channel isn’t monetized, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t still try to make it look and sound professional…

I’ve been working on finishing more videos for Rich to upload, but he’s been sidetracked with issues with our sump pump, mowing the grass, and continuous rain.  If you aren’t familiar with a sump pump, it removes excess water from basements..You can only replace a non-working pump when it stops raining, otherwise it’s almost impossible to remove it from it’s attachments as water is pouring in non-stop….And of course, with all of the rain we’ve had, he hasn’t been able to mow the grass, so both projects have not gone well for him.

Today, before fixing the sump pump, we went to the latest X-Men movie.  I have to say, it was weird.  It was supposed to be (historically) before the other X-Men movies, but a major character that appear in the later movies dies in this one.  That lead Rich and the friend we went with to have a big conversation about the movie, along the lines of, which came first, the chicken or the egg.  They were trying to convince me that this movie somehow took place after the other movies, even though the characters were much younger.  I’m just saying, if you have a series of movies, you can’t kill a major character when they are young, after you’ve shown them as older in your previous movies.  Let’s just say it was poorly thought-out.

After the movie, we went to a large craft store that’s going out of business, and I bought a bunch of things that were 90% off.  I had a great time, and may go back again with a friend.  I love going to stores when they are having tremendous sales, and this was a great one.  I might do a small haul to show everyone the bargains I got….

My friend, Barb, came to visit me from Michigan to show me how to make foamiran flowers. Below are all of the directions and tools to replicate our flower.

Barb has her own blog and shares a lot of beautiful flowers there.

Barb’s blog: Barb’s Cards, My Way
Link: https://barbscardsmyway.blogspot.com

In the USA, we’ve only been able to find foamiran at the following store and you can find some beautiful flower dies there as well.

Whimsy Stamps: https://whimsystamps.com/
foamiran from Whimsy Stamps: https://tinyurl.com/y6yvmbcm

I bought my foamiran on Aliexpress and here’s a link to the store that sells it at very reasonable prices.

foamiran from Aliexpress link: https://tinyurl.com/yyhl5opc

The foamiran flower we made used a very similar die to this one. https://tinyurl.com/y2lj855d

We had a set of four dies and we cut two of each die in a lavender foamiran. I colored mine with Gelatos and Barb colored hers with Memento Dew Drop inks. She used a weight that her husband had made her to hold the flower when she was working with it.

You’ll need a large foam sponge that you’d get at a hardware store in the paint department used for grouting. I typed in “large sponge” on any hardware site and you should easily find one. Link: https://tinyurl.com/y8e2ut8c
The black sponge Barb used is for when you are using paper, and you want to shape it. I found only a large size at Joanns and here’s the link: https://tinyurl.com/y3juhmwe
If you are only using foamiran, you would only need the sponge used with grouting that you’d find at a hardware store. (The link is above.)

Small metal stylus set: link: https://tinyurl.com/y4cxj9bz
wood stylus set: link: https://tinyurl.com/y4dauuzx

Prills or Tiny Glass beads link: https://tinyurl.com/y2l2jun8 at Aliexpress or prills from
Joann link: https://www.joann.com/search?q=prills

If you can find a craft iron, or travel iron without the non-stick face that mine has, you’ll have better luck holding the foamiran to it. It should make the foam curl if the iron is working correctly. You’ll need to use wooden skewers that you buy at any grocery store (used for making kabobs). Here’s a link to a brand you can buy at Target for $1.00 (you can find them at the Dollar Tree as well.) https://tinyurl.com/y68qybsp
After you have colored your foamiran, you’ll hold the piece to the iron (put the iron on a non-steam setting). It should be low, like for silk…don’t put it on a hot setting, or you’ll melt your foamiran.
Next fold your petals to create dimension. I folded my set of petals in half, then folded each individual petal and then curled it in my hand to make it seem more natural. If you don’t like how it turned out, put it on the iron again, and it will flatten out and then you can fold it again.
You’ll then put the foam on your sponge and using a stylus, place the stylus at the outer edge of the flower petal and pull the stylus toward you. If you want the petal to stretch so it’s wider, put the stylus in the petal and rub it from side to side. After you’ve gotten the dimension you want, put a dot of hot glue in the center of one set of petals and lay another set on top but offset them, so they are not laying directly on top of each other. Lay it back on your sponge, and push into the center with your finger or with the stylus to make the flower more cup shaped. Then put a dot of hot glue inside and add another layer, again off setting it so the petals are not directly on top of each other. Once all of your petals are glued together, put a bigger dollop of hot glue in the center and cover it with your prills or tiny glass beads. In the end, we didn’t add one of the smallest layers to our flowers, but we could have, to add more dimension. You can add leaves to the bottom, but we chose not to do so….
P.S. I was joking about selling flowers on Etsy, as I would never sell my flowers, but would gladly add them to a card and give them as a gift….

We spent most of the last week visiting our nephews and their families near Washington D.C.  It was a great trip, spending it with family, and we couldn’t have asked for a better trip.  OK, we had a few fights about the GPS, but that’s normal.  I will say this about anyone living near D.C., they are superstars when it comes to handling traffic.  We had issues with the GPS not being quick enough between turns and exits, and ended up going places we had no intention of seeing.  On the way home, somehow we ended up driving along one side of the Pentagon…Holy cow, how did we do that?  It was clearly my fault, but since we never go to D.C. to sightsee, it was great to see something important.  We’ve been there four times, and only drove around the city once…the rest of our visits were all about family…and honestly, that’s more important to me.

We had a small graduation party for our great niece and great nephew, who both go to the same high school, but are cousins.  It was so much fun spending quality time with them and their parents.  I wanted to take some video, but forgot my camera…I guess it was meant to be.  But unfortunately, our great niece sat and painted a pair of tennis shoes for her best friend, and I know our viewers would have enjoyed watching her do that.  I’m bummed it’s not on video…Darn it…these things happen.

But now I’m back and Rich is working on uploading the first of the foamiran flower videos, and one should be live tomorrow…

I’ve been busy making a graduation card for our great niece who graduated this week.  We’re going to visit and have our normal dog sitter coming to stay with our dogs.  I have to say, it’s really hard to go anywhere if you worry about your animals, and it takes the fun away.  It took us a long time to find someone that our dogs are comfortable with and she’s really good with them.

I probably won’t be writing in the blog for a few days, unless I have some extra time and want to catch up…

My friend Barb, makes wonderful flowers from foamiran and paper, and I wanted to show you the flowers she’s made and the book she’s created to help her with ideas…She uses a lot of information and ideas from Liz Marsden.
Liz’s Marsden’s YouTube page : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUMibdhbfMwVT2WuO0eGww
Liz Marsden’s Blog: https://blogging.swedishhousecrafts.co.uk/2019/05/spring-foamiran-flowers-by-liz-marsden.html

Barb has her own blog and shares a lot of beautiful flowers there.

Barb’s blog: Barb’s Cards, My Way
Link: https://barbscardsmyway.blogspot.com

In the USA, we’ve only been able to find foamiran at the following store and you can find some beautiful flower dies there as well.

Whimsy Stamps: https://whimsystamps.com/
foamiran from Whimsy Stamps: https://whimsystamps.com/search?q=foamiran

I bought my foamiran on Aliexpress and here’s a link to the store that sells it at very reasonable prices.

foamiran from Aliexpress link: https://tinyurl.com/yyhl5opc

In our next video, Barb and I will make a foamiran flower and I wanted to share a die I found that’s very similar to ours.  https://tinyurl.com/y2lj855d

Rich and I are going out of town until Sunday the 9th, so the video of Barb and I making flowers won’t be up until after then, sorry.

I’ve been working on the card I’m making my great niece for her high school graduation.  I wanted to make something she would appreciate, and she always liked playing those claw games in the lobby of stores when she was younger.  I found a stamp set with one, and found a small graduation cap in one of my other stamp sets to add to to head of one of the animals inside the game.  I colored everything with my new Arteza markers, and I have to say, I’m kind of disappointed with them.  The blending they do is splotchy, and one of the markers seemed dry to me.  I’m going to keep working with them, but so far, I’m a little bummed using them.  I’ve been so happy with the rest of their products, and these just aren’t (at this point), the quality I’ve seen in the past.

I had an appointment in Pittsburgh today, so didn’t get a chance to finish the card, but will make sure to get it done tonight or tomorrow, as we are leaving for Virginia on Wednesday, and won’t be back until Saturday.  We’re really lucky to have a nice woman who dog sits for us, and both of our dogs really like her, so they won’t be alone, and we won’t have to worry about them.  We’ll be seeing our great niece, so I have to finish her card before we leave.  I’ve got a lot to do before we leave.

It’s been raining all week and I’ve been feeling really badly.  I’m blaming it all on my arthritis…It’s so frustrating…and now Rich hurts when the weather is like this, so I feel bad for him.  He has enough on his hand taking on my issues, without having issues of his own.

On a bright note, our nephew is getting married in September, and he and his fiance need a little help with things, so I’ve been getting some of their questions answered about whether her brother can be ordained online, and if that’s legal in NC, for him to marry them.  They’re also needing help finding a hotel and arranging rooms to be reserved for out of town guests, so I’m helping with that.  To be honest, I’m so happy that they asked me to help.  My sister, the groom’s mother, has type 1 diabetes, and isn’t very healthy, so I’m trying to help with things she isn’t able to do.  It’s going to be a small wedding, in their local aquarium and should be a really nice setting for it.  I’m helping however I can, and really looking forward to it, in late September.

I used Dollar Tree products:
Journal/Note Pad
Sticker Notes
Mini Gel Pens–if you can’t find these at your local Dollar Tree, try stores that sell party supplies, like Party City
Large Paper Clips

The papers I used are from Graphic 45’s Couture Collection that is now discontinued. You can often find individual sheets on ebay or Scrapbook.com. Here’s a link to ones I found available on ebay…make sure you ask for combined shipping if you buy more than one sheet. https://tinyurl.com/y3hl6yts

Before I forget, in the beginning of the video I mentioned making a closure for the journal, but somewhere along the way, I forgot to make one…Sorry.

I started by cutting out one of the smaller images for the front of my journal with a saying by Coco Chanel.  This is later glued to the front cover.

I measured the journal with a T ruler…It was 3 3/4″ across, and the binding is roughly 1/2″ and the back is 3 3/4″….Add all of these measurements and you need to cut your paper to 8″ long…Then scoring is done at 3 3/4 and 4 1/4″ on the 8″ length. The height is 6 3/4″ and in the end, I needed to trim the height a little, as I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too short. Too long is much better than too short…

I wanted my stripes to be vertical, so I cut the height first, so I wouldn’t forget, and end up having my lines going the wrong way.

I used carpet tape that’s 2″ wide and laid it on the edge of the book, then cut it off at the bottom, and laid another length on the spine of the book, and a final strip on the back edge of the journal. I added Tombow Mono Aqua glue for the spaces that were without carpet tape. The wet glue allows you to have some wiggle room so when you lay your designer paper on it, you can hopefully pick the paper back up before it is permanently adhered.

I rounded the corners of the designer paper with my Kadomaru Pro corner rounder from Amazon.

I took a piece of the designer paper that was 3 3/4″ wide and 7 1/4″ tall and put it in the paper trimmer with the top right corner and the bottom left corner in the cut line, then cut it, so it ends up being two triangles for the front and back pockets. I glued one to the inside right side of the journal and the other on the inside left side of the journal.

I took another of the “cards” that comes in the set, and cut it out and glued the left side of it to the inside front cover. I glued two of the small post it note pads under the paper we put on the inside cover. I had to rip the pads in half, as they were too thick to put inside the cover.

I glued a thin ribbon into the back cover to act as a bookmark and then glued another piece of cardstock to the same cover, and glued this piece at the top and bottom so I can slide paper clips under it.

I glued ribbon to the top of larger paper clips and glued a butterfly to the top of another with a hot glue gun.

I bought the pen holder on Aliexpress and here’s the link to it.
https://tinyurl.com/y5sy4qub