Friday Focus - Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die

Cec here and this week on Friday Focus I am going to show you just a few of the many of materials that you can turn into flowers using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die.  This will be another photo heavy post, a few of which were taken on my craft sheet - wish it wouldn't give a moire effect sometimes.

In the current challenge I have a fun fabric flower on the front of my project and it was made with this die.  To make it I used three fabrics that will melt - polyester shantung, organza and tulle.  I cut 4 of each fabric from the largest flower.  TIP:  The cuts will release more easily from the background if you sandwich the fabric between 2 pieces of copy paper to cut it.

Once they were all cut I melted each petal over a candle to make it curl - yours will have a flame :). This is a bit time-consuming because you need to take care not to burn yourself - or the fabric.  I held the petal (shiny side down if there is one) with the thumb and forefinger of my dominant hand and tucked all the other petals into my palm so they were out of the way.  Then I waved the petal over the candle taking care not let the flame touch the fabric and let it curl as much as I wanted it too.  Don't worry if the fabric looks a bit creased from all the manhandling because it will just give the finished flower some character.

Once all the flowers are curled I stacked them - the more layers you add, the fuller the flower will be.  Then I sewed the centre to hold the layers together, adding a button for a centre.  By the way, cutting the largest flower makes quite a large finished product and the smaller 6-petal flower is too small to hold over the candle without burning yourself so if you need your flower to be a bit smaller, don't be afraid to take your scissors and cut about 1/4 each off each petal before you curl them.

Here is another fun little flower that I made by cutting 4 of the small six-petal flower from a cone shaped coffee filter. For this one, I mixed some paint with water and sprayed each flower, let them dry and then inked the edges with some Fired Brick Distress Ink.  Then I scrunched each flower up and layered them using glue dots.  So far I haven't added a centre - perhaps a brad or pearl.  Next time, I think I will mix some Perfect Pearls, Reinker and water together in my mister to get a flower with a bit of sheen.

For my next flower, I used some inexpensive handmade paper from my stash, cut 4 of the 9-petal flower and then inked each with some Wild Honey Distress Ink. To get a bit of curl on the petals, I rolled them around a wooden skewer.  TIP:  Hold the petal between your thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand right at the base to ensure that you don't tear the petal off as you are curling it.  I stacked the flowers and added a black button for a centre.

This flower is made from pink organza and white corrugated cardboard that has been lightly inked with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink.  I wanted the larger organza layer a bit smaller than the large corrugated layer so I cut it down with my pinking shears.  A lovely floral button made a perfect centre.

Here is the simplest of all flowers but it can be so effective.  I just cut a variety of the flower shapes and sizes in coordinating patterned paper, curled the petals, layered it up and added a black gem for a centre.

This flower was cut from vellum that I embossed and then inked with some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink before I curled the petals a bit, stacked it up and added the big button for a centre.   TIP:  To make the buttons look like you actually sewed them on, take a few strands of embroidery floss and "sew" in the holes, knotting at the back.

For the next flower, I started with some paper-backed metal foil tape that you can buy at the hardware store.  It is used for the heating and air conditioning industry.  I took the paper backing off and folded it over onto itself before I cut it.

Once it was cut, I needed to give it some texture and I happen to have some Walnut Hollow metal working tools but you can use your embossing stylus and the tip of a bone folder.

The next step was to paint it all over with some dark coloured acrylic paint (I used dark brown) and then immediately wiped the paint off with a baby wipe leaving paint in the depressed areas of the flower.  I am sorry there is no photo of this but someone called just as I was ready to do that and then I just plain forgot.

Once the paint was dry, I inked it with a variety of colours of alcohol ink.

I cut between the petals of one of the larger flowers, going part way into the centre.  All three flowers were then given some curl using just my fingers since the metal is so malleable.  Finally I stacked the flowers and added a gem for a centre.

Finally, I created a card for my first challenge as a member of the Frilly and Funkie Design Team that featured flowers cut from crinoline using this die and here is a close-up of one of the flowers.  The crinoline is white but is easily dyed using some Distress Ink and Linda has a wonderful tutorial that you find here so I won't give you all the details here.

I have also used card stock that I have embossed for texture and even a transparency that I coloured with Alcohol ink (sorry no photos).  I hope this has given you some ideas of the versatility of this die and all the different materials you can use with it to make your flowers.  I am sure you have used something different so please share with us.

Linda will be putting the BIG Z dies on the Friday Focus sale this week for 15% off the already discounted price so grab the Tattered Floral die and others while you can.  Don't forget to have a good look around the store because there are lots of other wonderful goodies I am sure you will want to have.

The following items used to create these flowers are available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.