Use a frame - CVC April #2

 Apple Blossom Frame

The cherry blossom in my garden, that I can see from my workroom window, is stunning and when I was out last month, in the sun, it was buzzing with bees, in fact I can see a few now flying around the flowers, in and out.               (Time of writing 23/03/25)

I have used the beautiful Apple Blossom edition of stamps by my lovely friend Alison Bomber to meet the challenge theme for Country View Crafts. I stamped all the images and then cut them out and watercoloured the blossoms with distress inks.

I adhered the large blossoms in the background and added some wood offcuts to support the frame.

I extended the layer frame to fit the size of the opening and sewed around it to match the rest of the piece.

The background was created using distress inks and clear embossing.

I added elements I had prepared to fill the bottom inside of the frame ...

.... and the top of the frame. The bottles have real dried seed heads, seeds and moss inside them. Some of the labels were bought from Etsy and others I have made myself. You can of course substitute them with TH snippets.

I also added the bird and 'Springtime'.

xx

Supplies

TH Distress Inks - Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass, Kitsch Flamingo, Evergreen Bough, Picked Raspberry,

Alison Bomber stamps - Apple Blossom Edition (PaperArtsy EAB46)

TH Idea-ology Layer Frames, Snippets,

TH Sizzix dies - Silhouette Birds

Ranger Archival ink - Peat Moss, 

My own bottles but Tim Holtz has great ones to use.

Herbarium Reference Book

 Using dried flowers and sketches to create a reference book of plants.

I've been thinking and playing with the idea in my head to create a sketchbook/scrapbook/reference book of some flowers I collected and dried last year. 

I am using a Seawhite pocket concertina book in a box.

The sketch of the Black Medic plant which has tiny yellow flowers and black seed pods. It is also known as Hop Clover or Yellow Trefoil. It is a wildflower found on dry grassland, road banks and waste places. I found this quite near to home on a path between a school and a field. It is a valuable source for pollinators.

Here the dried flower itself can be see quite clearly, especially the seed pods.

xx

Vintage Butterfly Collage Panel CVC April #1

 Country View Crafts Challenge #1 April 'You've been framed'

Small panel, roughly apply texture paste and leave to dry.

Dip in watery ground espresso spray stain - dry.

Collect ephemera and elements to create project. I used a 

TH Layer Frame

Cover butterfly with distress medium to take off the shine.

Arrange elements to create collage.

Blend edges of paper elements with brown distress ink and add remnant rub.

Adhere.

xx

Supplies

small panel

TH texture paste, distress medium

TH Distress Stain - Ground Espresso

TH - Idea-ology - Transparent Wings, Film Strip Ribbon, Paper Strips, Layer frames, Snippets Curator, Number Strips, Remnant Rubs - Words