When is a heart not a heart?

When it is a flower!

I wanted to make some of my heart stamps into a 3d flower, so this post is all about  how I  did that.

First I created my background. I took a GREYBOARD TAG... I added spots of GRUNGE PASTE..  through a stencil. While the paste was still wet I spritzed 2 of my stamps and pressed them lightly into the paste. I used the text heart and the hessian fabric heart. this adds even more texture to the paste.

once that was dry I started to add colour, using FRESCO PAINTS

After several layers of blended paints, at least 5 colours... I then sanded the top layer back. 

Leandra shows this technique on her video HERE... go and watch, she gives very clear instructions. 

next I stamped the text and the bubble heart from SET ONE ...

I then coloured the heart with a translucent paint, and added highlights with a posca pen. 

Next I stamped the jigsaw heart from SET TWO and the hessian heart from set one.  These were all stamped using opaque frescos and METAL CARD... 

This is shiny metal on one side and matte black card on the reverse, obviously I stamped onto the black side in this case. once dry I was able to bend and shape the hearts into petals, because of the supple metal, they are easy to shape, but they are also strong enough to hold that shape. 

I then layered them up and glued them together using glossy accents. 

I ran my finger around all the edges using a little Spanish Topaz  and White Fire TREASURE GOLD...

I rummaged in my embellishments, I recently made some silicone molds, and used up some paper clay to make some small pieces. One of these was perfect. I painted it and added treasure gold, then glued it to the centre of the flower. 

I need to support the flower on 'something' so that it could be attached to the tag. This flower is VERY 3d, at least an inch in depth. As you can see the outer edges curl under, this means the centre underneath is quite high. 

I got out this wooden spool, and it was perfect size. But then I thought, what a shame to hide it underneath. I would rather save the spool for another project. So what else could I use that was similar in size. I found a cork. I cut it down by about one third, and it was then the correct size. 

I painted it black, and glued it to the underneath of the flower. I was then able to attach the flower to the tag. 

Now to add some finishing details. I dabbed on a little more White fire to the petals just where they bend. 

Then I doodled around the bubble heart, and around some of the grunge paste spots..

I soaked a piece of seam binding in opaque fresco, scrunched it up and left it to dry. 

Once dry I added holes to the tag and tied the ribbon on. 

one last photo..

This is a very tactile piece, I love how it turned out. 

Leandra at PaperArtsy has also made a tag with my stamps, and it is fabulous. totally full of great techniques. You can see how she made hers in this video.. 

Hope this inspires you to try the stamps. 

Darcy x

P.S.. If you make anything with my stamps let me know, send a photo and a link to your blog and I will add you to my brand new stamp blog.. Click on Miss. Fleur's photo to go to the new blog.