Must haves!

When does want become need? when does 'I would like' become 'I must have.....NOW!' and no, I'm not talking about wine, chocolate or shoes but a couple of new Sizzix Bigz dies which cut the most divine 3D flowers ever.

I've used card for this piece but they are Bigz dies so they would be just as effective in textiles and a host of other other materials too.

The dies concerned are Bigz Flowers 3-D #3 and flowers 3-D #4. click on the links for a closer look.

I started with a blank wooden frame which was just crying out to be altered in some way, shape or form. I applied a little gesso (white acrylic paint will work too) to a craft sheet and rolled it out into a thin layer with a brayer before applying it to the frame.

I chose a text stamp from Tim Holtz' Stampers Anonymous range and used a mid brown Distress Ink to add the text in a random pattern onto the frame.

I used both dies to die-cut white paper to give you a better indication of what they are all about. Next, I went through my paper stash and pulled out some My Minds Eye papers from the fabulous Lost & Found ranges and die-cut the three different flowers.

I used Old Paper and Vintage Photo Distress Ink pads to add a little contrast to the edges of the petals and then I applied a little glue to the tab to create the 3-D effect, I also curled the petals back to create a more naturalistic effect.

I die-cut the long centre strip and used a pair of scissors to snip down the centre of the sticky-outy bits (technical jargon alert!!!). I inked the tips and rolled the strip using a pair of tweezers before bending the individual bits back to create the flowers centre. I repeated with the other two flowers and attached the centres accordingly.

I die-cut a selection of 3-D spiral flowers and inked the edges of the lighter ones before gently sanding the tips of the darker ones.

There are various theories as how best to create the 3-D flowers but I like to use a pair of tweezers and roll the shape keeping the tweezers facing the centre. Once the petals are rolled all the way simply add a blob of hot glue and allow the flower to slightly unravel as much or as little as required before the glue sets.

Use the tweezers to bend the tips of the petals over to create a natural looking bloom.

I added some natural twine to the top of the frame before arranging the flowers as shown. 

I'm sure that I will be returning to these dies again and again in the future.