Bowled Over By Paper

      The Paper Funday's challenge this month is as usual Anything Goes, but the twist is to make something that is neither square nor rectangular. A 3D project seemed the way to go for me, so I broke out the Spellbinder die set Vintage Hexagon Bowl. There is a really good video tutorial on You Tube to walk you through assembly which I found very useful, especially when it came to the stitched edges.

    

      To start with I cut out all the panels using two 12x12 sheets of double sided thick paper. At this point I began to think about durability, after all the work I was going to put into this bowl I wanted it to last.

      To make my bowl stronger I used project acetate on both sides of each panel. As this acetate is thin I was able to cut two sheets at a time but the holes didn't punch out cleanly so I had to use my Crop-A-Dile. A bit tedious but well worth it and it did punch through four layers at a time.

     

     With the paper sandwiched between two sheets of acetate I started to crochet around the edge of each panel, it didn't take as long as I thought it would. I used a #20 crochet cotton on this one as that's what I had to hand, I would say if you are using a larger thread number you may need to make sure you have plenty. 

     Sadly I don't think the tutorial tells you just how much thread you will need as it may vary, just make sure it's a full ball or several matching skeins.

     To make up the bowl I set it out on the worktop and moved the side panels around until I was happy, then took a picture to refer to.

     Sewing up was very quick and easy as I had left long tales as advised in the tutorial

     This bowl came out around 4inches tall, 5inches at the bottom and 8inches at the top, perfect for sweets, pot pourri or as a small hamper.

     The Paper Funday is a papercraft challenge, not just cards, so please pop along and join us with your papercraft projects.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

A Place To Start - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes NO Cards

Crafting Happiness - #143 Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - #256 Anything Goes     (Top 3)

Two Jays Blue Bauble

     This is my second card using a new stamp by Two Jays - Festive Farm. It's very similar to the kraft card I made earlier but I had a few hiccups with this one.

     For this one I used another bauble die to cut my own stencil, this time a different shape.
     I used the duster brush and a sponge to add white ink to the card and as before stamped the image with the stencil still in place, this was because the image is slightly larger than the bauble shape, using a dark blue ink.
     Once the ink was dry I drew around the inside of the bauble shape with a white pen. Then with the same pen I added accent to the image for the snow.
     I used the same die bow as before but this time in silver, a ribbon bow would be better if the card is to be sent through the post.

     Now this is where I had a hiccup, I die cut a greeting and stuck it on the bottom of the card......it did not go well!
     I removed the greeting but damaged the card in the process. I didn't want to waste the card when it was almost complete but how was I going to get out of this mess.
     The usual remedy for a smudge or mark is to 'stick a butterfly on it', but that wouldn't work for this one.
     I die cut a tatty banner in the same dark blue card I had used for layering, it was just the right size to cover the hiccup but I didn't have a stamp small enough to go on it......good thing I've still got a few peel offs in my stash. Mounted on foam pads it goes across the bottom of the card covering the little tear perfectly, the only down side is it does cover the point at the bottom of the bauble......nobody will ever know why!!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas
Winter Wonderland - Christmas Ornaments
Cute N' Crafty Christmas - Anything Christmas
Creative Craft Cottage - Christmas

Baubles....Soon Be Christmas

     This card is made with one of the new stamps by Two Jays- Festive House. I love Kraft card, especially when teamed up with white.

     To begin with I die cut a large bauble in medium weight tracing paper to use as a stencil, I have kept the cut out for another project. One of my crafty friends showed me how to do this technique with slightly smaller stencils but the idea is just the same.
     Using white pigment ink, a duster brush and a make up sponge I added ink to the kraft card through the stencil. I kept the middle a bit darker than the top and bottom. Before removing the stencil I stamped my image in dark brown ink, the image is a little bigger than the bauble so keeping the stencil in place made sure I didn't go over the outside edge.

     The last thing to do before removing the stencil was to go around the inside edge with a white pen to highlight the shape. With the stencil removed I then added white pen to the house, trees and ground to accent the snow.
     Once dry the image panel was matted with white and added to a kraft card blank. With the addition of a white die cut bow at the top and greeting at the bottom it was complete.
     Quite simple and almost totally flat, when posting a ribbon bow may be better, as it will bounce back after opening.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Winter Wonderland - Christmas Ornaments

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas / optional for a female

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Beetle On Over To The Male Room

     Our challenge this fortnight at The Male Room is Many Legs, for me this meant a bug of some sort.

     I have used Spellbinders set Damask Motif to make some Scarab beetles. If you use holographic mirri card for the beetles shell you can get some great effects and black card for the legs.
     The shell of the beetle has been shaped to give it some body and then it's stuck on the legs using double stacked foam pads down the middle, the tip of it's head is also stuck down.
     The box is die cut from hieroglyphic patterned card, before assembly all the edges have been coloured with Distress Ink Old Paper to give it an aged look.
    Once the box was complete one of the beetles has been stuck on the top to finish it off. I chose to make a gift box but these beetles can just as easily be added to cards or tags.
    Pop over to The Male Room for more inspiration, this theme has been interpreted many ways by the DT giving you lots of project choice.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

One Layer Bauble....well almost!

     Welcome to my second project for the Creative Expressions design team, I have had some fun visiting old techniques and trying a new one, I hope you like the outcome.
     I love a large and beautifully decorated Christmas card but when we have so many family and friends living overseas it can be very expensive, so I have chosen to make a 'postage friendly' card. It's almost one layer, I had to add a small bow, it just didn't look right without one. It's only 5 3/4 inches square so it should fit through the little gauge they have at the post office as an ordinary letter.

   As I wanted to use Distress Ink and create a snowflake effect I made my card blank from Coconut white cardstock, this card works beautifully with Distress Inks. I have tried others, some work and sadly some do not. I would suggest that once you find a card that works for you keep a small piece and write what it's called and where you got it from and keep it somewhere safe.
   

    Place your die shape on the inside of the card front and tape it in place. DO NOT CUT the shape, just emboss and you will get three lines on your card like this.
     Remove the die and use it again to cut the same shape from a sheet of copy paper or thin card. Keep BOTH pieces, these will be used as masks.

     Place the paper with the hole in carefully over your embossed shape and tape down with low tack tape.
     To create the snow scene you will need to tear another piece of paper with a sloping edge to act as your mask for the snow drifts. Place this torn strip across the top third of the hole and using Distress Ink Chipped Sapphire colour in the shape.

     Move the torn strip down and change the angle, this time only colour along the edge of the strip to make a shadow effect. Do this one more time further down the shape changing the angle again.
    To get the snowflake effect spritz water on your clean fingers and flick it at the card, leave for a few seconds and watch the ink lift away from your card. Dab the water off with a clean piece of tissue, you will now have snowflakes falling, this is the beauty of working with Distress Ink, they react with water to create great effects as long as it's on the right card.

     Remove your masks carefully and allow to dry. Stamp the tree from the Snowflakes and Sprigs set using Archival Ink Cobalt Blue on your snow scene. Add a tiny shadow under the tree with a little Chipped sapphire on a damp paintbrush.
     To get the silver border around the shape place the die back over the shape and draw around it carefully.

     Now you will need the paper shape you cut earlier when you made your mask, place this over the scene to protect it while you stamp the snowflakes.  Dust  your card with an anti-static bag, this will help reduce any areas that might pick up the mica where you don't want it. Using Perfect Medium Ink and the small snowflake from the same stamp set, stamp at random over your card, leaving the bottom right corner clear. Now stamp your greeting in the bottom right corner with the same ink, I have used a stamp from the Winter Greetings set.
     Once all stamping is done dust the card with Cosmic Shimmer Mica Powder Silver, this will stick to your stamped images, dust off excess powder with a large fluffy brush. If you have some mica where you don't want it this can be removed with a soft rubber. I use a battery powered rubber, it spins which allows you to be very acurate with it. I have also given the card a light dusting of hairspray to fix the mica.

     The bauble needs a bow, I have used a bow that's on the top of a different bauble stamp also by Creative Expressions. Stamp and emboss two bows with Cosmic Shimmer Silver Shine. Cut out the bows, there is no need to leave a border around the embossing because Cosmic Shimmer doesn't crack when you cut close to it. Cut one full bow and one with no tails, turn over the no tail part and gently stretch the card with a large ball tool to give it shape. Paint the bows with Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Ink Blue Midnight and assemble, attach to the top of the bauble.

     To decorate the inside of the card use the small snowflake again with the Archival Ink Cobalt Blue and stamp around the edge of the card.
     Stamp the greeting, which is also from the Winter Greeting set, in the same ink on the centre of the card.
     You could also add a snowflake to the envelope for that little extra decoration.
   
 




Materials Used
Snowflakes and Sprigs stamp set
Winter Greetings stamp set
Spellbinder Heirloom Ornament Die
Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Powder - Silver Shine
Cosmic Shimmer Mica Powder - Silver
Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Ink - Blue Midnight (Garden Set)
Perfect Medium
Archival Ink - Cobalt Blue
Coconut White Cardstock

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Keep It Flat
My Perfect Life - Any Christmas Card
Stamping Sensations - Christmas
Crafty Calendar - Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round - No Patterned Paper
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes

House Of Cards Photo Inspiration......

 .......Dinner Invitation. Well that's what inspired me when I saw this photo.
    I spent some time trying to find the right embossing folder for the background, I knew I had one a bit like the wallpaper somewhere in my box. Then the search began for some CoreDinations card that was almost the right colour, again much rummaging in stash box! I embossed and sanded the card, then cut it to fit a square card blank.
    For the oval I borrowed a Spellbinder set Floral Oval from a friend, thanks Avril, to cut in black.
    The chandelier from Inkadinkado is stamped in black and clear embossed on a slightly shimmery white card and then die cut using a plain oval.

    The cutlery brads are from Woodware, I loved them when I first saw them and have been looking for a reason to use them so this was perfect. The brads have been put on before sticking the background to the card so the backs are hidden.
    I made three small white roses from shimmery white paper and mounted them in the other corner. Finally to finish there are three small clear gems diagonally opposite the cutlery.
   You still have two days left to join us at House Of Cards. We'd love to see your inspired creations.

Hanging Baubles

    Have you ever started something you thought was a good idea and then wondered whether it would actually work? Well this is one of those ideas. I'm pleased to say I finished it, thanks to the encouragement of my crafty friends last night, but it doesn't look as it did in my head.
    52 Christmas Card Throwdown's challenge this week is ornaments and CraftyHazelnut's challenge is frames, windows or apertures so it was then a challenge to put them together.
    I began by die cutting my card front, another piece of white card and both patterned papers all at the same time. This meant that all apertures where in the same place exactly saving me lots of measuring and fiddling about later. I have used Spellbinders Heirloom Ornaments 2011 which matches up perfectly with Just Rite cling stamps Merry and Bright / Deck The Halls.
    I also cut out several bauble shapes to hang and stamped and embossed them in Bright Gold from Cosmic Shimmer.

     Each hanging bauble was cut and stamped twice so that I could put one either side of the gold thread that is stuck from top to bottom of each opening. This way the card looks good inside and out.
    The red baubles are stuck on the inside of the card so that when the card is shut they fill the apertures. This was done by sticking them in place through the apertures with the card shut, just be careful not to use too much glue or you could stick your card shut!
    The largest red bauble has a 'Merry Christmas' peel off on it and each bauble is hanging on a peel off chain.

   
  There are also gold corner peel offs on the front of the card, I have tried stamping before and usually get three good ones and the last one goes wrong!
    The pattern in the papers lines up perfectly despite the colour change because they where cut together. I also chose to use the second card piece on the outside as another layer so that inside stays clean and simple. The threads are sandwiched between the card front and the mat layer so all mechanics are hidden.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Ornaments

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Frames, Windows or Apertures

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Christmas

Green Trees

     This weeks Christmas card was inspired by 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's challenge of using only greens and one neutral colour.
    I began by die cutting a Spellbinder tree from copy paper to use as a mask. The mask ( the bit with the tree shaped hole in it ) was put on gloss card and then I used Distress Inks Bundled Sage, Forest Moss and blending foam to create a vague brayer type effect of graduated greens. Once I was sure this was completely dry I used the tree shape mask to cover the coloured bit and stamped in Archival Ink Olive with a Chocolate Baroque stamp from the Madonna and Trees set. This gives the appearance of the scroll tree being behind the fir tree, I then stamped again without the mask so I now had a scroll tree in front as well.
    The greeting is also on gloss card that has been coloured with Bundled Sage while the die was still on it so I got a small white edge. The greeting was stamped in the same Olive ink as the scroll trees and mounted on foam pads.

    The Archival Ink takes a while to dry so I then set about finding a star to put in the top corner, this also came from a Chocolate Baroque set and was stamped in Olive green. I have stuck a small green gem in the middle of the star to add some 'twinkle'.
    The gloss card was then mounted on a white card that has had its edge coloured with Forest Moss so that it tones with the rest of the card.
    CraftyHazelnut's challenge is to use die cuts, this may only have one stuck on it but they were most definitely used to make the card. Using the dies as masks is another way of getting your full value out of a considered purchase, just what every crafter likes to do!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Shades of green

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Die / Punch cuts

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Christmas

Spellbinding Scarab Beetles

     This started life as a bit of fun playing around with some dies, I like to see what else I can make with my dies so I can get full value for money from them.
    The set I was using is Damask Motif from Spellbinder, it has several different elements to it so there are quite a few die cuts to experiment with.
    I have cut the 'legs' of the beetle in plain black card, his 'body' is cut from blue mirri card. Before cutting the body it has been embossed using a masking stencil rather than a folder. A stencil will give a softer impression as it doesn't make a sandwich of the card like a folder does, but you do need a tan mat to do this (or three sheets of doubled over kitchen towel will do the same job in an emergency).
    The body has been gently curved between my fingers to give it shape and there are two foam pads underneath to make sure it stays domed. There you have it, a scarab beetle, you can adapt the bug to make ladybugs, dung beetles and all sorts of other creepy crawlies that are just great for boys cards.
   

    The tag was a dark buff colour to begin with and I have stamped in Archival Ink Coffee using an All Night Media Egyptian set that I've had for years. The hieroglyph paper is from a book of papers that has also been around for ages so this tag really is verging on the ancient!
    I crumpled up the tag and distressed the edges to add to its tatty appearance. The pharaoh is embossed in gold and his head dress is coloured with a metallic blue pencil. The ribbon is seem binding stamped in Archival Ink Coffee and coloured with Distress Inks to age it.
    I shall continue to play around with the dies to see what else I can come up with, it's experimenting like this that makes getting a new set all the more fun.

    I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Inkspirational - Anything goes

Try It On Tuesday - On The Wild Side

Country View Crafts - Die Cuts

Steampunk Cinderella

     At last here is the steampunk shoe I promised before Easter. It has taken a little longer than anticipated but it's finally finished.
    It began last year as an idea to accompany The Boot but it took ages to find the right shoe. It couldn't be any old shoe, it had to have the right look to begin with and I finally found it a couple of months ago in a charity shop. There was only one shoe so I got it for a small donation rather than throw it in the recycle bin.

     The first thing to do was chop off some of the heel and replace it with a bolt. It already had a strap and buckle which was perfect.  I had a small musical movement in my stash so I punched a hole just below the buckle for the handle to poke through and stuck the movement in the toe  of the shoe. I had to add some packing to stop it from sliding forward and to make sure the handle cleared the buckle when it was turned.
    I covered the heel with aluminium tape to help keep the bolt on and hide the join.

    I have collected all sorts of bits from charity shops and junk shops over the last year just for this project. Not everything was suitable in the end but I have used a wing nut on the back held in place by wire threaded through a button and tied off inside the shoe.  The chain of charms is part of an old necklace secured at the top by a small bull clip and at the bottom by a screw top brad through one of the holes in the strap. Also on this side is a large gem stuck in the middle of a ridged washer.

     The metal toe piece is a decorative corner from Creative Expressions bent to fit. The crochet lace has been added to the back of the strap using double sided tape and the zipper rose was made from a new zip I chopped up. I found a really good tutorial on line showing how to make zip flowers, this one is no where near as good as the tutors!!
    The inside of the shoe had to be hidden after all the things that have been attached to it so I have chopped up some polystyrene and covered it with a dark red fabric that matches the stitching all around the shoe. This is not stuck in so if anything comes undone or the music stops working it can be sorted without destroying the shoe.
    The clock is made from a charm stuck on to card and covered with a Glass Glintz dome, stuck on with Glossy Accents. The wings are from a butterfly stamp cut out and stuck on the back. It is attached to the memo pin with a jump ring.

     The invitation is cut from black card using a Spellbinder die Decorative Labels Eight. I've run around the edge with a gold acrylic paint to jazz it up a little and spelt invitation in peel off letters.
     The light bulb paperclip is from a stationary shop but I can't remember which one ...sorry, that's what happens when you spend the best part of a year collecting bits and pieces, but it is fun.
    The right side of the shoe has been dabbed with silver acrylic paint and then I've stuck on some cogs I die cut out of an old pie dish. If you run the pie dish through the Bigshot without any dies it will squash it down nicely ready for you to select what you want to cut. They have been grunged a little with brown paint.

     The cogs have been stuck on with silicone glue and some have screw top brads through them as well. There is another gem washer on the toe and the fizzy drinks can flower that you saw last month has been attached to the heel.

    I hope Cinderella likes her shoe, the Prince could have The Boot. They would make quite a couple don't you think?

    I didn't have a particular challenge in mind when I started this as I didn't know how long it would take. Imagine my delight this morning when up pops Make My Monday's new challenge of anything but a card!!!  There are also a couple of steampunk challenges on the go at the moment so lucky me.

 

    I would like to enter this shoe in the following challenges:

SanDee & Amelie's Steampunk Challenge - Fairytale

Try It On Tuesday - Inventors, Inventions & Steampunk

Make My Monday - Anything BUT a card

Crafty Emblies - Anything goes

Stamp into spring

  The current challenge at Inkspirational  is a sketch which made me think of postage stamps. There is a reverse scallop edge on the sketch which is very much like a Spellbinder die I have so that's where I began.
    I have stamped my image and embossed in white on black card, the stamp is from Chocolate Baroque - Wild Meadow. I've also added some sparkle to the flowers but it doesn't really show in the photo...sorry.
    I die cut my frame using Spellbinder dies Inverted Scallop Square and Square and placed this over the top of my stamped image.
    In the corners of the black card are small clear gems to compliment the flowers.  The background was made by stamping in black on a white card blank using the smaller matching stamp in the same set.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Inkspirational - Sketch ( scallop edge, flower)

Creative Moments - Spring

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day.  

  The yellow card is for my Mum and the mauve card is for my Mum-in-law.
  I started with a white card and coloured it with the palest Distress Ink in the colour range I was using, then I covered it with a mask from Crafter's Workshop called Mini Flower Frenzy and used two more Distress Ink's in slightly darker shades.
  With the mauve card I also used a silver mica powder over the card while the ink was still damp, this has given it a lovely sheen which you can see in the smaller photo, there is no need to spray fix the mica because the damp ink will have done that.
   The little bears are Penny Black stamps, there are four different poses available. The bears have been stamped in Archival Ink - Coffee and then coloured with watercolour pencils. I chose to use peel off letters as my hand writing is not really neat enough. Each bear is cut out with a Spellbinder die (I think it's called Wonky Squares?) and edged with Distress Ink before removing the die so I could get a perfect white edge.
The squares are mounted on foam pads and little gems of various sizes are added to some of the flowers.
   I don't make many cute cards but these bears are gorgeous so I couldn't resist, plus bears are Mum-in-laws favourite animal so it was meant to be. I haven't sent flowers or chocolate to my Mum, just an ink pad and some embossing powder which I know she will have much more fun with!!!!

Scandinavian Glitz

Somehow it feels right to be making Christmas cards while there's snow outside, even if it is eleven months to go.
This weeks challenge over at 52 CCT is the use of glitter and patterned papers, while Jingle Belles have a red and white Scandinavian feel so after a sift through the Christmas stash this is what I've managed to come up with. I found a lovely red ribbon from a box of chocolates (all eaten in the name of craft) so I can also enter Crafty Hazelnut's challenge to recycle.
I began by covering a square card with patterned paper. Then added a row of 3 mm high tack tape around the edge which I covered with red glitter, I've found this a cheaper way of adding a glitter border than using glitter card to mat with, plus I'm not covering up all that lovely glittery card in the middle.
The bauble is cut from red pearl card using a Spellbinder die and then run through an embossing folder before being sanded back to show the white core, (this is also a good way to hide any cracks that may appear in the red top layer). It is then mounted using foam pads.

The ribbon is stuck on with high tack tape because it has a textured surface, I also added a small length of Scandinavian style ribbon to the straight edge, again stuck on with high tack tape. The greeting is stuck on with thin foam pads across the bauble. The bottom corners looked a little empty so I have put on some red gems to give it a little more sparkle.
As requested in the 52 CCT Challenge I have decorated the inside with a bauble branch stamp in Distress Ink Festive Berries and added a small bauble to the front and back of the envelope in true 'Ruth' style! It really makes the whole card look so classy, thanks Ruth it's a great idea.
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Glitter, patterned paper and inside decoration

Jingle Belles - Scandinavian style

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Recylce something or use something free

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything goes

Christmas Card All Year Round - Anything goes

Damask Snowflakes and Stars

This creation was inspired by a clever lady named Becca Feeken at Amazing Paper Grace and my son.
Becca made a fan shape with one of the Spellbinder Damask Motif set which made me think of snowflakes. When putting it together my son suggested that I should off set the points for a snowflake but not for the star and I think you'll agree he was right.
Both decorations are made fully dimensional so they can hang anywhere giving you something pretty and delicate to look at and as they are paper they're safe for little hands or paws too!

I would like to enter this in Winter Wonderland - Anything Goes  challenge this week.
If you would like to know how I made these then please leave me a comment and I will get around to typing up a tutorial in the next few days.

In The Pink

This cheeky little elf sees the beginning of the Contemporary Christmas challenge over at J and C Creations tomorrow. It is also an entry in a challenge over at Jingle Belles, who are asking for pink Christmas cards to be entered to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. Each pink Christmas card entered in the challenge will result in a donation of $4.00 by the lovely ladies that run the site, so PLEASE make a pink Christmas card and join them to help beat this rotten disease.
The stamp used is called Little Elf Mim from Penny Black, stamped in archival black and clear embossed. Mim is coloured with watercolour pencils. The holly berries are glittered and the fur trim is covered with Flowersoft Polar White. The tree branches are a die from Marianne Creatables coloured with Distress Inks Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss. The stamped card has been edged with Distress Ink Picked Raspberry and then mounted on a cerise pink mirri card. The greeting is a bauble stamped with a JustRite stamp which is a perfect fit for the Spellbinder Heirloom Ornament die set.
Pink is not usually my first choice when colouring but I have enjoyed making this card and to know that it's creation is doing more than just keeping me occupied makes it all the more worth while.

Floral Tribute

 I found this photograph of my Granny and her big sister last week and thought I would like to make something special for them, sadly they are both gone now but I would like to put this photo up anyway.
Sizzix die - Tattered Flower Garland,  Spellbinder die - Foliage,  Distress Inks - Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy, Old Paper and Forest Moss,  Archival Ink - Coffee,Cosmic Shimmer Glue - dries clear,  Foundations Card - coconut white.  Floral stamp - from Chocolate Baroque.

 The frame began life as a plain brown papier mache item crying out to be decorated. I began this process by stamping with Archival Coffee and a floral stamp from my stash. The beauty of this stamp is it's a random pattern making it easy to match up over a large area and it's not mounted onto anything, not even U-Mount, so it flexes to the shape of the item you are stamping, you can quite literally stamp round corners!
I covered the whole frame with this image because I liked it so much.

 Then I die cut four of every flower shape I wanted to use so that I could build my roses, Granny loved roses. The flower tutorial can be found on this link. All four sizes are on the Tattered Flower Garland die from Sizzix, they are smaller versions of the flowers found on the Bigz die Tattered Florals and the leaves on Tattered Leaves. Now you can make lots of different sized flowers that all look like they are from the same plant, it's great.

Colour your flowers before assembly, you could use coloured card to begin with but I chose to play with Distress Inks because I love them so much. Starting on the left hand side the colours are as follows.... Rusty Hinge edged with Aged Mahogany,  Wild Honey edged with Rusty Hinge,  Wild Honey no edging, Old Paper edged with Brushed Corduroy and Scattered Straw no edging.

 Here they are all made up and ready to glue on the frame. I also cut out some leaves from green card with a Spellbinder die - Foliage. While the shape was still in the die I inked the exposed areas with Forest Moss to darken them.

I put the flowers on the frame in several different positions before gluing to see where they looked best. Once happy with the layout I stuck them all on with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue, it's a very strong PVA glue that I have found very useful and it dries quite quickly too.
I made the frame with the flower cluster at the top left so that if I decide to change the picture it will also stand portrait without looking odd as the flowers will then be at the bottom.
I hope you will try using your paper craft skills for projects other than cards, there's so much possibility, start now for Christmas presents!