Heartedly Handcrafted: Handmade Card - Thank You with Pastel Flowers

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. I spent the majority of the past week working on my new craft room, but I was able to squeeze in a greeting card over the weekend and I hope to accomplish another something crafty in the near future.
My hubby and I have had twenty-two Valentines Days together and now I find out on Facebook that Valentines Day isn't even the REAL holiday anyway, today is.
"February 15th is the REAL holiday, because all the chocolate is 70% off".
The photo the above sentence was written on showed a shopping isle of candy on clearance and I have to say that I had never thought of February 15th in that way, but I will from now on. I found the meme very funny and kind of true. So I want to wish all of you chocolate lovers a wonderful holiday!

Okay, now back to the regularly scheduled program.

In early January I began making my own flowers again and I'm really enjoying seeing what I can come up with. I have collected a few more flower cutting dies and punches over the last couple of years and that steps up the flower design possibilities. What I don't have is a die or punch to make the flower centers so for these particular flowers I just cut long strips of paper and then used scissors to make the fringe. I cut the fringe very tiny so it took me about 10 minutes to complete each one. I think it was worth it because I really like the way they turned out. They're kind of Shabby Chic.

The flowers on my card have a very delicate appearance so I decided to keep my background soft as well. To make the background I used cream colored card-stock that I adhered white die-cut flowers to. I wanted the white flowers to be subtle so I used translucent card-stock over them to fade them out a little.

To give the translucent card-stock a decorative edge I made stitches on all four sides by using a tracing wheel. Then I connected the dots by lightly scratching lines with a metal tool that has a fine tip. To make the sentiment I used the Sizzix Thinlits (660223) and colored the letters with Stampede ink in the color Purple and then went over the purple with Versa Magic Chalk ink in the color Pixie Dust.

How To Make the Flowers

Using a die-cut flower as a flower base to attach large petals to.

I used Fiskars Petal Punches in different sizes to make the petals
Then I used Stampede ink in Purple and Petal Pink and tried to blend them together so there wasn't a harsh line where the colors met.
Once the ink sat for a moment I quickly dipped each petal into a cup of water so I could break down the paper fibers and manipulate it more easily. Using the water also blended and softened the ink more.
When I had the shape that I wanted I used my heat tool to dry them which made them stiff and keep their new shape.
Then I glued each petal to a small, die-cut flower.
Before placing the center of the flower I laid the flower on a thick foam mat and used the end of a Sharpie marker to give the flower more shape, concentrating on the very middle where my flower center would be placed. I basically pushed until I made the center a bowl-shape. Be careful not to rip your flower during this process.
Finally I glued my flower center into place and shaped it by spreading out the fringe.

To Make the Flower Centers

I used an very thin 11 inch strip of white paper of which I colored with yellow Stampede ink and then I cut the fringe with scissors. Once I was done cutting I rolled the strip and glued the end.

What I like most about making my own flowers is that every one is different and just the slightest changes can have a huge impact on their appearance. I hope you'll give making your own flowers a shot if you haven't already.