Time to create

I am finally making time to create, on a daily basis. It's always been hard for me to give myself 'permission' to get in my craft room and forget everything else, but I am doing it! I am reading the book 'Creative time and space' and I have found it really helpful. How wonderful it is to get lost in time and the process of creating, and then to have something to show for it. I have been playing with my Big Shot and love the Tim Holtz Bigz dies. I will be making some samples for a demo at the February crop. I have had the most fun with the embossing folders. The metal flower pictured was cut with the Tattered Florals die and then put through the Big Shot in an embossing folder. I then rubbed paint over it with my fingers, highlighting the raised edges. The other flowers are made with the same die, just using different papers/card, some embossed and some collaged. Texture is everything!

Fabric flowers

I've loved making these flowers! My idea was to make paper flowers, and I did some, but moved on to fabric and couldn't stop! I roughly cut out the flowers, stitched 3 or 4 graduating sized flowers together by sewing a button on the top, dipped them in fabric stiffener (you can make your own by mixing pva and water half and half) and then shaped them whilst drying with a heat gun. You need to seperate the layers a bit and scrunch it all up! I held the petals in the shape I wanted by using a pricking tool or scissors and dried it till it kept its shape. If you try it, don't get the heat gun too close- there is a risk it will catch fire:( Add a bit of Ranger Stickles around the edge, and a little ink if you like and it's done. Let me know how it goes.