tattered floral challenge

Tim Holtz issued an art challenge to create something using his Tattered Florals Die.  

Flowers AND an art challenge? Bring it on! 

I really enjoyed this project.  Since my blog is so new this is my first blog art challenge.  So excited!  I am very happy with the results of my project.  The flowers are now "blooming" in a glass jar (jar was colored with alcohol inks, of course) on my desk.  I created small butterflies out of one of the flower dies and attached them with wire to hover over the blooms. Also had enough petals to create a flower pin for my jacket.  

Below are photos from my studio on the project.  First let's set the stage with the necessary equipment (photo at left).  It is also important to note that no household budget was harmed in the making of this project. All of the supplies were in my studio.  I can't always say that...so it's worth noting ;-)

I had some mixed media papers that I created and was holding on to for...well, something.  I just couldn't bring myself to use up the papers.  Ever had that problem?  Reluctant to use some supplies?  Decided that this project challenge would be the perfect time for me to go through all of my fav papers and use them! Wow, felt so good to go thru and actually USE these papers.

Also had scraps of muslin and pieces of denim (from old bluejeans) and wondered if they would work in the die? Yes! the tattered flowers die worked beautifully.  Love how the old faded denim flowers look!

 

 

 

I used Distress Reinkers mixed with H2O in Mini Misters to spritz color on the muslin and denim blooms.  Some papers were inked with Distress Inks.  Now I had a garden full of flowers just waiting to be put together. 

 

 

But first, had an idea to create butterflies for the flowers. I used the small flower from the die and cut out one of the petals. I punched a hole and added wire for the antennas and to attach to the flower. Used game spinners for the body of the butterflies. (Game Spinners - Tim Holtz Idea-ology)

 

 

 

Next I punched holes in all of the blooms using a small awl, added wire for the stem plus a round brad for the center of the flower.  The brad had a ring that I used to wire the butterflies. The main wire was wound around a chopstick and covered with tape.  (note to my husband...we need to go out for Chinese food again to get more chopsticks!).  I wanted floral tape but didn't have any.  What I did have was some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape - with a Christmas design.  Hummmm.  I wrapped this around the wire and chopstick then colored the tape with Distress Stain (Peeled Paint).  You couldn't tell it was Christmas images! And now the flowers were sturdy enough to stand up in a jar. Leaves were cut from leftover scrap from the flower die cuts.

 

This challenge really made me think of using the tattered flowers die in new ways.  Especially using denim fabric.  I just love the texture and worn look of the denim petals.

I chose bright colors since I am longing for spring and with the amount of snow outside now it seems like spring is still far away.  These colorful flowers make me smile and I'll enjoy them for a long time.  So I'm going to upload my photos and blog to Tim's site and enter the challenge.  Winner gets a wonderful goodie bag of stuff from Tim Holtz (wow, that would be so cool!!).  Wish me luck!