Touchable Sunflower

Sunday, June 9, 2013

 
Flourishes is having a Textures of Nature challenge this week, and to play along you need to create something with an outdoorsy texture in mind--or use an element from nature as part of your design. I used the 3-D Paper Piecing tutorial on SplitcoastStampers, to learn a new technique, and to give a bit of texture to a stamp from the Flourishes Sunflowers stamp set.

For some "nature texture," I embossed a woodgrain design on cs that had an image of wooden planks on it, then sanded the embossed areas (although I ended up covering most of it up!). Then, I stamped the largest Sunflower image 3 times, coloring the sections I needed for each layer, and cut all the petals apart. I don't have the glue that is recommended in the tutorial, but I substituted a transparent Pearl Pen since they don't flatten out like other adhesives, and it seemed to work pretty good. I also cut out the tiny part of the leaf that is curled up, as well as the ladybug, to make them 3-D, too.

I wanted to use that pretty patterned grosgrain ribbon, so it became my color palette. I layered a couple of patterned papers, distressing and sewing the teal one, and punching the edges of the yellow one. The sentiment, from the Inside & Out You stamp set, is heat embossed.

You can see the cute little ladybug, as well as the layers, better here. For the center of the sunflower, I used Sparkly Fluff, with a little bit of Distress Stickles in the center-most point. The sparkle doesn't show up well in the pic, but those little light colored specks in the dark brown Sparkly Fluff are actually pieces of fine glitter. They are so pretty IRL. And, I can't pick this card up without touching all those different textures on the flower! Very cool! 
Try as I might, I just couldn't get a good picture of the leaf, but I promise, it looks 3-D. When my daughter first saw this card, she thought the leaf was the "coolest" part because she thought I had found a way to get the leaf curled over on the paper. :) It took her a sec to see that it was paper pieced. 

I stamped another sunflower image from the same stamp set in a yellow pigment ink and added a bit of ribbon to the top of the panel on the inside.

If you haven't seen the Textures of Nature Challenge at Flourishes yet, you should head over there right now and check it out! The entire June stamp release is up for grabs, and the challenge is open until June 14, so there's still time to participate. Go. Now! :)

And, Have a Spectacular Day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenge:
Flourishes Textures of Nature Challenge (FLLCJUN13)

~Hugs,
 
Stamps: Sunflowers, Inside & Out You (Flourishes)
Paper: Reflections (Prima); Miss Caroline (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Copics; Memento; Distress; Versamark; Stampabilities
Dies: Exquisite Circles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Diamond Edge Punch (EK Success); Woodgrain embossing folder (Sizzix); black embossing powder (Ranger); ribbon; lace; faceted pearls; Glossy Accents; Distress Stickles; Pearl Pen; Sparkly Fluff; Foam Dots; Sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25: x 5.5")
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11 comments :

Bernardine Cuttino said...

OMG, just loving the coloring on this sunflower. Gives a ray of sunshine. Beautiful design and eye catching coloring. Lovely card! Thanks for visiting and leaving the sweet luv.
Hugs
Berni
berni46blogspot.

ChristineCreations said...

This is awesome Cheryl! I love the dimension to the sunflower (I love giving this flower dimension) and the flower center is SO great! Thanks so much for playing along with us in our texture challenge!

Katie Sims said...

Cheryl! This is gorgeous!! Your sunflower pops off the page. Your coloring and paper piecing are over the top...love the flower center! You are gonna have to show me how you did that! :)

KimCreate said...

Gorgeous! so full of texture, from the flower to the lace and stitching. Just lovely!

Ryoma Sakamoto.Japan said...

Sunflower is one of the very favorite flower.
I love the combination of sunflower and ladybird.
XO
From Japan.
Ryoma.

Connie MacFarlane said...

Fabulous card Cheryl! and great take on the texture challenge. I love all of the dimension and texture that you added to the flower!

Tosha Leyendekker said...

WOW!! I adore your textured sunflower!! Like you, I'd be touching it whenever I picked the card up. Gorgeous!!

Alica said...

oh wow! This is stunning! Love all the texture on the sunflower, the shiny ladybug and the background panel too!

Conniecrafter said...

I just love every part of this card, great background, Beautiful creation on the flower and just lovee the design!

Cheryl said...

I absolutely LOVE sunflowers, you did an amazing job Cheryl! This qualifies for our first Summertime challenge over at my A.R.T. Challenge blog, hope to seeya there! http://arandomthursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2013/06/welcome-first-challenge.html

Silke Ledlow said...

Cheryl, this is so beautiful! I love how you created the center of the sunflower...so neat! The 3D lady bug is soooo cute too!!!