Diva Feather Flower Tutorial

I am soooo happy to be a feature artist and contributing artist for Ideas for Scrapbookers this month. I have seen most of my scrappy idols featured on that site and still can't believe Pam Callaghan is featuring ME! To celebrate this event I have a new layout of my daughter at 6 months "beautiful" (using old MME papers from my stash)... and a brand new flower tutorial "Diva Feather Flowers" that I created for her blog post today.

This layout also features embellies from my Etsy shop NOW OPEN! My shop is listed under my full name vickyalberto at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto. What an exciting month!

Here is a close up of the feather flower and the tutorial is described below. Don't you just love these chunky pressed wood flourishes and shabby little blue flowers too?

Design Tip: Simply use chalk ink on wood or plain chipboard to give it a rustic feel.

OK, so I was inspired to make these diva feather flowers when I was thinking back to my aunt Lucy's little feather slippers... you know the kind I mean... the ultra sexy slinky kind.

To get started you'll need 7-8 short craft feathers, one medium and one large punched paper flower (any die cut with separated petals will do), tweezers, water for misting (or color mist instead of inking the edges) and glue. My flowers are 2 and 3 inches for these. You'll also need a brad or decorative center of choice.

Step 1: As with most of my flowers, ink the edges and then slightly water mist. Using your tweezers, twist and push the petals towards the middle then give it a slight pinch into place. Let completely dry.

Step 2: Slightly unravel the petals of your flowers and glue feathers in the petal separations of the larger flower. Let dry.

Step 3: Glue the medium flower onto the large feathered flower and then also glue a few feathers to fill in blank spots. Let dry.

Finally, add your brad or decorative center and you're done!

Hope you enjoy making these fun little embellies and thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to leave me a message... I sure do appreciate it, thanks!

My wedding Night

I've been sitting on this layout idea for a while and finally stuck it down. I used mostly items from the Scrap That! July kit. This is a picture taken on my wedding night at 11 pm. We were sunburnt, tired and windblown - and it's one of my faves, LOL.

I kept it simple in terms of embellies and used traditional and water methods of distressing. I also finally had an excuse to use my new music stamp too!

Design Tip: To achieve rugged distressing, heavily use an edge distressing tool, then wet the edges of the paper with your fingers (the wetter the more distressed it will look)... then start crumpling as you wish. Once dry I add ink for a grunge look.

The Scrap That! “Say See ‘Ya Later” to Summer Sale!

If you love online shopping (and who doesn’t?) you are going to LOVE this! Scrap That! is having a sale! Everything in the store has been generously discounted 40-70%. (Prices are already marked down on the site)

Did you know?

• Shipping rates are the lowest in Canada?

• No Sales Tax?

• *FREE shipping on orders over $100?

• We offer local pick/ up and delivery options in the Calgary area?

A Message Regarding the Scrap That! Kit Club

All subscription renewals, and all new subscribers received between Friday, August 13th (a very auspicious day) and September 3rd, will be entered into a draw to win a Zutter Distrezz-It-All! This handy little gem is something ALL scrappers should have!

Simple mini flower tutorial

Here is a simple flower tutorial for those in a hurry... no punches or ink required.

All you will need is 4 store bought paper flowers - 2 tiny ones and one small one for the flower, then another small green one for the leaves... plus glue, water to mist and a pen or pencil.

Step 1: glue a tiny flower to the small one and let dry.

Step 2: Lightly water mist the single and double layer flowers then cup and roll around the end of your pencil. Let dry.

Step 3: Pinch the single flower to create your center.

Step 4: Glue the center into the double layer cup and then the "leaves" flower to the bottom.
Seriously, you're done! If you like these flowers, please leave a message and let me know you stopped by.

My Etsy shop will open soon!

If all of my items arrive on time, I should be ready to open my Etsy shop in a mere two weeks. I will be featuring reasonable priced embellie kits full of archival safe flowers, crochet lace, acid-free paper doilies, chipboard, pearls, brads, wood swirls, leaves, mulberry paper and so much more. This is just to start... I'll be adding so many more cool items in the coming months. Here is a sneak peek at just a few items because there are way too many to show.

August Scrap That! kit

The August Scrap That! kit is now available for purchase! It features the Girl's Paperie - Paper Girl collection and sooooo many glorious goodies. Check it out before it is sold out!

The embellie add-on kit, love that Prima!

On top of all the great goodies in the August Scrap That! kit and the embellie add-on kit, check out this SECOND fun add-on featuring cool ribbon, flowers and buttons...

August "Buttons Blooms and Bows" Add-On Kit

Sunny, Breezy, Bright and Cheerful describes the Scrap That! August “Paper Girl” Collection featuring gorgeous double sided patterned papers from The Girls Paperie.

We have created a special add-on for this kit that perfectly compliments these exquisite papers. Included are one full pack of Prima Acapulco mix Pinata Petals, a selection of Fancy Pants Roadshow buttons, and six yards of unique high-quality ribbon, priced at $13.99.

You'll need the paper add-on kit for this kit too, trust me! Look at my last post, I might have only used half of the embellies on 5 layouts!

August Scrap That! Reveal

I'm leaving for a mini holiday tomorrow so I'm posting this a little early. The August Scrap That! kit is SOOOO packed that when I received it I didn't know where to start. This will be a long post since I did 5 layouts and STILL have loads of embellies from the add-ons to play with... good thing I have the paper add-on to use all of them up later! This kit featured the Girl's Paperie, Paper Girl collection and a TON of fabulous goodies to play with.

This first layout is me as a wedding flower girl at almost 5 years old but I was the size of a three year old... hence the French "Trois" title. The picture is horribly faded but it is the only one I had and really wanted to do this shabby chic layout for my parents.

The flowers are my handmade ruffled and shabby ones and the tutorials can be found in the right sidebar of my blog.

This kit had amazing Prima butterflies and ribbon. Please note the white square doily was from my stash that I bought at Michael's.

Design Tip: Use ribbon to create a frame around a title plaque (which can be cut from patterned paper).

My second layout "Little Darling" is my daughter last summer. I had bought some Dusty Attic gates (bought from www.staytruetogod.com along with a lot of other goodies) and I had to scrap this perfect picture for the gates with the floral paper in the kit. I used the terrific sketch by LG Belarmino included in the kit as inspiration (just flipped it). I loved the clean lines appeal to it.

I made the large shabby rose and small dark pink buds (tutorials to follow soon). The other light pink flowers were not handmade and will be sold through my soon to open Etsy shop in the Fall.

Design Tip: Cluster blooms on floral paper for a beautiful finish.

My third layout "sweet" is me again. As soon as I saw this paper I ran to my mom's and stole this framed picture in her kitchen (scanned and returned the original). The paper matched my dress too well not to do this layout.

Amazing Jenni Bowlin butterflies and Prima pearls included in this kit.

Here are more of the flowers that will be available through my Etsy shop opening in the Fall.

Design tip: cut florals out of a pattern and place flower embellies for a 3-D effect.

For my fourth layout "Sweetheart", yes me again (working on getting some stuff done for my parents)... I went for a homespun look since again the picture was not a great one (but camera's were horrible in the 70's). Again I used some of my flowers. Included in the kit was this great blue ribbon and stunning pins so I just attached the ribbon with the pins instead of glueing. Please note the pink paper is from my stash.

Design tip: try making origami embellishments to add a fun interest to layouts.

And for my final layout "the Pout", this is my son after getting in trouble while camping last year. I wanted to do a cutesy layout and I modified the blue die cut paper to better suit the layout. Included in the kit were adorable buttons and I had saved a portion of the Prima swirl from my "sweet" layout for the umbrella handle. Please note the orange paper is from my stash.

Design tip: Create your own embellies by cutting shapes out of cardstock.

I used some Martha Stewart daisies from my stash... but I plan on making these easy blooms in the future with a flower punch and craft pom poms from now on.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these layouts and I will be back to check comments at the end of the week when I get into town. Hopefully I will be able to work on some flower tutorials next week too. Thanks for all your support, i really appreciate it!

August SCRAP THAT! sneak peek

Here is a little peek at what will be revealed on Monday from the Scrap That! Design Team:

MME Sketch Challenge

I took a little break from my August Scrap That! DT work to sneak in a layout for the MME "hope" sketch challenge #13.

This is my daughter at 9 months old... the photographer had this huge paper mache easter egg, too cute. I used a few different MME "bella bella" collection papers. A lot were my scraps from a project I am making for the local store I design for. Left over Prima bling from the other project too!

Design tip: Use the Martha Stewart lace punch and cut up the strip and glue sections behind a circle to create a scallop lace border.

OK, so if you're wondering where I got the pink shabby flowers, blue roses and the doily from? Well... they are unique products I will be selling in my very soon to open Etsy shop(at very reasonable prices). These are not your run of the mill dollar store flowers and doilies either... they are archival safe paper-crafting ones. All of my products will be acid free and alterable.

Some of these items will also be featured in an upcoming Scrap That! kit so stay tuned! There is so much more product to be revealed soon.

Shabby Crinkle Flower Tutorial

Here is a smaller, easier flower than my elegant ruffled flowers... for those who like the tattered look (and don't have the patience to do the other ones, LOL). They are more "forgiving" that the ruffled ones, a lot easier to manipulate and so much faster results. My flowers are 2 inches in diameter, using 1 and 2 inch flower punches (but use any die cuts you have). It's a great way to use your scraps since you don't need a lot of paper!

Here is what you need... 3 medium flowers, 3 small flowers and something for leaves (a green pointed petal flower works well), tweezers, water mister and glue. I lightly pre-inked the edges.

Step 1: Lightly mist the 3 medium flowers and crinkle them into a ball.

Step 2: Immediately unravel and use tweezers to gently twist each petal and push towards the center. Before removing tweezers gently pinch in place. Also mist the 3 small flowers and do the same twisting (they are too small to crinkle and there is no need). Let them all dry now.

Step 3: Gently unravel the medium flowers and 2 small ones. For the last small one, squish the petals together and pinch the bottom - this will be your center.

Step 4: Assemble your flower by off setting the petals as you glue. NOTE: you can omit the the pinched center and add a brad or gem instead if desired.

Step 5: Once it is glued, squish the entire flower towards the center to give the crinkle effect and then glue on the "leaves" if you wish.

That's it! Here is a side by side comparison beside my larger layered ruffle flowers.

NOTE: you can also use this type of flower center in my ruffled flowers as pictured below in the larger white one. Experiment and have fun! Add chalk ink, Glimmer mist, Stickles etc. for more sheen and dimension too! All I ask is that you please give credit where due (to ANY artist) because tutorials take a lot of time to produce. Thanks!
NOTE: the smaller white one pictured above is the result if you don't do step 5 and squish the flower towards the center once glued. It looks more like a Prima Camelot flower that way.

Well, although I have a lot more flower tutorials up my sleeve... I need to take a break because my August SCRAP THAT! DT kit just arrived (it's gorgeous!). I have lots of work to do before the project reveals on July 26th.