Friday, March 30, 2018

Heartfelt Creations March Alumni Blog Hop


Welcome to the March Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop! Each month, on the last Friday of the month, the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Team participates in a Blog Hop! The March Hop starts 8am EST on Friday, March 30th and closes Monday,April 2nd at midnight. 

Be sure to visit each blog on the hop, and leave a comment, because one fortunate Blogger will be chosen to receive a $25 gift card to Heartfelt Creations! The winner will be announced on the Heartfelt Creations Blog and Facebook Page on Wednesday, March 4th. The winner should contact Heartfelt Creations at socialmedia@heartfeltcreations.us with "Winner of the March Alumni Hop" in the subject line.

This hop is now closed. The winner is...DENISE BRYANT, chosen from Martine Smith's Blog! Congratulations, Denise!

You should be coming to my blog from Amarilys Doria's Blog. After visiting me, head on over to Sarah Miller's Blog. For a list of the Alumni Blogs, see the end of the post.

My project for this month was one that I wanted to give up on part way through, but I am so happy I kept going! I love the end result!
I decided to give the Heartfelt Creations Art Foam Paper a try. (The paper pack comes with 10 sheets of white art foam.) I am not a big fan of foam, but I had some store credit, so I purchased a pack of this product to try. After a few disasters, I finally was able to create these lovely flowers! Art foam is NOT the same as working with paper, as I found out! I almost gave up, but happy I didn't! 

I added my flowers to this simple, 6" x 6" card. It turned out better than I could have imagined! 
If you have never worked with the foam before, I recommend that you watch THIS video from Heartfelt Creations. If you want to see foam flowers that are so beautiful you will want a whole bouquet of them, watch some of the videos by my lovely teammate Archana (click HERE)!  She is a great teacher and I learned a lot from her! 
To start out, I stamped my flower images onto the foam with Staz-on ink. Unfortunately, the ink I used to stamp images was a pale brown, and it does not show up very well. I then colored the flowers with different pigment and archival inks. I had a lot of trouble with the ink smearing, but after allowing them to dry overnight, they seemed to be fine. You have to add a LOT more ink to get the deeper colors. 

I used the matching dies to cut out all the flower petals.  
The key to shaping the foam, is HEAT. (I tried water with less than stellar results.) For  a heat source, some folks use a low-power heat tool or an iron on a low setting. My heat tool could blow your house down, so it did not work very well. Plus, it gets super hot, and it made the foam have a bad smell as it heated. I did not feel like getting out an iron, so I used this little hair straightener that I use to iron ribbon. Using tweezers to hold the foam flowers against the hot iron worked pretty well. 

Once my flowers were shaped and cooled, I added a bit more ink to some areas. I also wanted to add some stamens. I have loads of them, including THESE from Heartfelt Creations. 
This flower is made from the Classic Rose stamp and die. The stamens are an old product that has been in my stash for ages. It has one large central stamen with a bunch of small ones all around. This stamen is attached to a wire, making it so easy to thread through the petals. Since I added a stamen, this is not really a rose, I guess...it is some hybrid that has no name....it's just pretty! {smile}  
This is a smaller version of the "rose," colored with orange and yellow inks. The stamens are the Heartfelt Creations Bright Pearl Stamens - Small. These stamens are on thread rather than wire. 
I also made a few flowers using the Flowering Dogwood stamp and die set (the largest and smallest flowers shown here). I wish I had used an other color of stamen rather than the pink. (It's not like I don't have every color under the sun!!)
I used a dark gray cardstock to make a 6" x 6" card, then used layers of the Flowering Dogwood Paper Collection to create the card front. The image is one of the pre-printed images from the collection.
The foam is so thin and delicate that the card is far lighter than one made with an equal amount of paper or pre-made flowers. 
I added more stamens to the card just to create some extra texture. I have a huge bin of these things that I will never use them all up in flower-making!  
Thanks for hopping by! Hop on over to  Sarah Miller's Blog next. DON'T FORGET...POST A COMMENT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A $25 GIFT CARD TO HEARTFELT CREATIONS!

March Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop List:

Kathy Clement
Amarilys Doria
Gloria Stengel - YOU ARE HERE!
Sarah Miller
Vicki Dutcher
Alissa Wells
Martine Smith
Archana Joshi
Deneen Treble


Heartfelt Creations Products:

Classic Rose Cling Stamp Set
Classic Rose Die
Flowering Dogwood Paper Collection
Flowering Dogwood Cling Stamp Set
Flowering Dogwood Die
Art Foam Paper
Bright Pearl Stamens - Small
Memento Dye Ink Pad - Rhubarb Stalk
Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit

Other Products:

Cardstock: Hammermill White, CutCardStock Flavours Gourmet Squid Ink
Ink: StazOn Saddle Brown, Colorbox Pigment Orchid, Ruby, Cupid, Turtle, Lettuce, Moss Green, Banana Custard, Sweet Melon
Stamens: Wild Orchid Craft Baby Pink, Large ivory and yellow stamen from my stash 
Adhesive: ATG tape, foam tape, tacky glue, hot glue

32 comments:

  1. This card is such a delicate beauty, Gloria! I've not worked with Foamiron yet, although I have some in my stash (a gift from Vicki Robertson). These gorgeous petals make me want to break it out and give it a try! I've heard that chalk ink works best on foam flowers...did you try that? Anyway, this is one gorgeous spring beauty, and I love your foam flowers! Thanks for hopping! Happy Easter!

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    1. Thanks for the chalk ink tip. I will definitely try that.

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  2. Beautiful! Love the colors. Just got my art foam, haven’t tried it yet!

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  3. I'm glad you didn't give up either! Those flowers are stunningly gorgeous! I've got the foam on my wishlist and am now bookmarking your post so I can refer to it when I finally get to play with the foam and my HC flower. Thanks for the tips and fab eye candy!

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  4. The stamens make all the difference! SO PRETTY. I need some

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  5. Well you did a good job on these foamies. They are pretty. I haven't tried them yet myself. And maybe they look different in person, but in pics, they look all the same to me. Maybe the foam stands up to more wear and tear?

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    1. The foam is pretty delicate, but is just different from working with paper. Paper and cardstock can tear and crumble if it's too wet, which is one thing I don't like about working with it. The foam needs heat rather than water, which can be an issue if you are klutzy like me! Foam is not better than paper, just different.

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  6. This is fabulous. Thanks so much for the tips on using the art foam. I am not a fan either but this is very tempting. I especially like how you incorporated the pre-printed paper.

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  7. I have enjoyed learning to use the foam. It creates a different look and mails well, but paper will always be my favorite.

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  8. Your flowers turned out beautiful! I have not played with the foam yet. Still need to get some of those stamens too. They really add texture and contrast. Gorgeous!!

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  9. I'm definitely going to have to start using more stamens. LOVE this look on your beautiful card!

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  10. Love this card! The Flowering Dogwood collection is one of my many favorites..lol! I love the pink stamens too! Very pretty card, my friend!

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  11. Such a beautiful cards. Thanks so much for sharing..

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  12. I have been disappointed in my foam flowers. Yours are gorgeous! I will be watching the videos you recommended!

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  13. Thank you so much for your links and tutorial on foam flowers. I've just started using the foam and been having trouble using ink on them and stamping on it as it just smeared. I love the effect of them though and do prefer them to paper ones. The heartfelt dies for this are just stunning and your flowers are beautiful and lifelike . Gorgeous card! Fabulous instructions. Thank you!

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  14. So pretty. I like the layers and how you made the flowers with the art foam paper.

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  15. Nicely Done - love how the flowers looked on the card.. Thanks for all your tips about what not to use with foam. It's appreciated.

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  16. The flowers are just beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial, I will have to try to make them. They are just gorgeous!

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  17. Those flowers are gorgeous! You have inspired me to try something like this, which I would never have had the courage to do before seeing what you were able to learn and do!

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  18. Very pretty card. Love the use of the foam

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  19. Beautiful flowers - great tutorial too

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  20. What a beauty! Your flowers are amazing!

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  21. This is gorgeous! The flowers are amazing. You've done a great job with them. I haven't tried them personally yet, but will watch the videos you recommend. I do love Archana's flower making videos.

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  22. Volume and texture, so yummy...

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  23. I too find the foam flowers challenging to make. I think yours are perfectly beautiful. Your color choices are right on & match the patterned paper. You’ve inspired me to try making some foam flowers again. Thanks for Sharing, Cheers!

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  24. Such stunning flowers. This card has so many wonderful details.

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  25. Beautiful layering and gorgeous flowers!

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  26. Happy Easter to you and your family!!!
    I'm a new follower of your nice blog, can you follow mine on my blog? http://amoriemeraviglie.blogspot.it
    thanks <3 TIZIANA

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  27. Very very pretty, I love foam flowers, my latest craze...luv Ursula xx

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  28. The flowers and the soothing colors make this card so classy and beautiful. Thank you so much for the how-to instructions for those of us who yearn to learn.

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  29. I love the flower colors you used with that paper. The addition of the orange shades adds a brightness I really like.

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  30. Just lovely! Beautiful job explaining everything!
    Hugs,

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