2015 #7 Niches Fantasy Flowers {by Liz Borer PA Signature Designer}

2015 Theme 7: Niches

Hi there everyone, Liz here again with a project based on the topic of Niches. To me a niche is a small space to put treasures into and I love creating this sort of project. However this time I decided to do something slightly different and use the project to show off some of the faces from my stamps and create some ‘fantasy ‘ flowers. I was inspired by the fact that the magnolias are blooming at the present and I love these flowers because of their amazing sculptural shapes.

I started with a deep frame (from Ikea). I could have used a Tim Holtz configurations box but I wanted larger spaces, so I made my own frame with Niches. I cut a piece of Grey Board to fit the frame and then cut the apertures in the board as I wanted them.

                                                          

                                                        

I then cut strips of board the correct width to sit behind the aperture frame so that the back of the main frame would form the back of the niches when it was reinserted into the frame. Using a strong glue I stuck the strips onto the back of the apertures to create the sides and support the whole structure.     

                                                  

The back of the main frame can then be put in place with plenty of strong glue to hold it in place.   
                                                                                                  

I then lined all the niches with various papers (these are from Graphic 45) which had co-ordinating colours to fit my colour scheme. I find that if I sand the edges of the paper once the glue is dry I can get a neat finish around the top of the niches.

I wanted to add some Grunge Paste texture to the frame, but because the areas were quite small I decided to stencil various designs onto tissue paper first because it would be easier to get the designs onto the frame. Apply Grunge Paste through a stencil as normal but onto tissue paper and then dry it. 

Now it is possible to cut the paper up into pieces that fit wherever they are needed and adhere them to the frame. To adhere the Tissue/ Grunge Paste stencils in place paint a layer of Matte Medium onto the frame and the put the tissue over it. Carefully paint another coat of matte medium over the tissue and ensure the it is stuck down .                                                                                                     

I then painted the whole frame; The inner area was a mix of Buff and Pumpkin Soup and the outer frame was a mix of French Roast and a small amount of Little Back Dress to make the paint more opaque. I rubbed Treasure Gold over the raised areas when the paint was dry. Classic Gold over the dark paint and a mix of Classic Gold and Onyxite over the pale areas.                                                                                  

Now I started making the flowers. Firstly I wanted to make Magnolia shaped flowers, so I stamped several of the two larger baubles from EEB01 onto Smoothy White Stamping Card. I cut out the shapes and painted over the design – one side with Honeydew and the other with Nougat. I then washed Pumpkin Soup over the nougat and Autumn Fire towards the base of the baubles. Looking back I think it might have been more interesting to stamp onto card  already painted with honeydew so that the design could have remained and been seen on the inside of the flowers. Too late now! I used a large ball tool to shape the petals and then adhered them to a small wooden bead (also painted with Honeydew). The smaller baubles formed the inner petals and the longer ones formed the outer petals. I stamped some leaves from Squiggly InkFlora and Fauna 5 and painted them to create the base of the flowers. When everything was dry I made the stalks from dried poppy seed stalks but twigs would have done as well.

Flora And Fauna 5

          EEB01  

                           

The blue flowers were made using ELB15. I stamped them onto card painted with a pale shade of BlueOyster made by mixing it with some Nougat. I washed areas of the flowers withBlue Grass and / or Blueberry and then washed small areas with Autumn Fire.The centers of the flowers were stamped onto the same card using Egg and Nog 4. I washed Autumn Fire in the center and Hey Pesto around the edges before cutting them out. I then cut down the side of on petal and cut out the center of the flowers so that I could curl it up to form a cone shape with the coloured side on the outside (put glue around the center of the flower before curling to stick it together). The flowers put together with two layers of petals with the curled bit in the center.    

                ELB15            

             

Now for the little spikey flowers which were made in much the same way as the centers of the blue flowers. I stamped the design onto card painted with Nougat and then washesBlue Grass and/or Blueberry around the flower before cutting it out. This time I curled a second layer over the first to get more petals. When the glue was dry I stuck a headpin with a bead on it through the center of the flower and then stuck a pearl onto the pin at the base of the flower. With a little pinflair glue put around the top of the headpin I added some seed beads inside the flower.  

                                            

For the orange flowers I used the single bloom from JOFY 26 stamped onto card painted with Nougat. Again I washed Pumpkin Soup around the centers of the flowers and dotted Chalk around the centers for the stamens. I cut out and curled the flowers and made each one using two layers. I added a large blob of pinflair glue in the center of each flower and stuck seed beads onto it. 

                                                                 JOFY26

I then stamped the faces from EEB03/04 and 05 onto card painted with Nougat and coloured them with colours from the palette that I had been using. You can see that the design with the lady who is dreaming doesn’t have the background design showing. Because I had stamped onto a painted background it was easy to paint over  the part I didn’t want to see. I stuck the painted faces into some shaped card and added a frame around one. I raised the pictures inside the niches  by sticking several layers of foam board behind them and then sticking it into the niche.

EEB03

EEB04

        EEB05        

                                            

This final photo shows the little extras that I added. I stamped the bee from EEB04 and cut out two layers to give it some dimension. The fan was from my stash and coloured with treasure gold. The central niche holds a dried poppy seed head painted with treasure gold . I added more seeds beads around the base of the seed head. There are several buttons also painted with Treasure Gold.                                                   

Here are two close ups of the finished project after everything was stuck in place.

                                                                          

                                        

I hope that you have enjoyed my little adventure into fantasy flowers and I will be back soon with more ideas. 

Liz 

 Liz you have created a beautiful niche using the different collection of stamped images. The attention to detail is wonderful. The application of Grunge Paste and Treasure Gold add beautiful orante texture to this project. We love the 3d dimension the flowers have added. Exquisite! Thank you for sharing your creativity.

We would love you to join in with challenge #7: Niches If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Niches link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 26th, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.