Or is it pressing?  I had to look it up.  Flower Pounding, generally done with a hammer, causes the juice and pigment from flowers to bleed into the paper or fabric.  Flower Pressing is a method of drying and preserving the actual flowers.  I will be showing you basic Flower Pounding using your Wizard.

I started by scavenging my yard for flower blooms.  Then I searched my craft room for watercolor paper, which I cut to 4 x 6″ pieces.  Fabric such as silk or muslin would work well too.

These are some of the blooms that work nicely:

This English Ivy leaf embossed, and left a tiny bit of green.  Other leaves more or less embossed the paper.  Leaves are difficult, they don’t contain pigment.

To “pound” flowers with the Wizard, you need the White Master Mats and Tan Embossing Pad, which came with your Wizard. The sandwich is the same as the embossing sandwich, just add flowers instead of die templates!

This is how I stacked my sandwich:
White Master Mat
Watercolor paper
Flower, pretty side down
Watercolor Paper (or wax paper, or plastic wrap, or paper towel- try each!)
Tan Embossing Mat
White Master Mat

Feed the sandwich into the Wizard once and your flowers are pounded.  Gently take apart your sandwich and peel off the spent flowers.  If the bloom is still intact you can pound it again, but know the result will be lighter.  You will find some blooms are juicier than others and some colors provide more pigment than others.  Allow the paper to dry and pound more flowers to make a larger design.  Flower pounding is a unique and fun way to capture a bit of nature in your artwork.

For my examples I chose the lobelia, creeping phlox and pansy poundings seen above. I cut/embossed them with Spellbinders Die Templates in the Wizard.  I started with My Minds Eye Penny Lane paper (both sides),  Core’dinations Whitewash cardstock, Creative Impressions ribbon and brads, and some lace from my stash. I used S4-174 Scalloped Edge Petite Border, S4-171 Nested Butterflies, S5-016 Polka Dot Frame (middle piece), and the S5-011 Scalloped Edge Frame (middle piece).

I made 2 cuts into the Nested Butterfly and tied the ribbon through the frame and butterfly.

Design Team Member Karen Hunsaker pounded blooms from her yard to make her See the Flowers Smiling card.  Karen embossed I2-1002 Impressabilities Butterfly and cut/embossed S4-138 Petite Ovals Large, included in her supplies are cardstock from The Paper Company, the Thoughtful stamp set from Hero Arts, and 3D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives.

I need to send a special Thank You to Design Team Alumnae Jeannette Stumpfel for her wisdom!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Beth

My inspiration for this Savvy Saturday was two-fold. My friend Kim was blessed with her first grandchild last weekend, a baby boy! I know a thing or two about baby boys, I have two of them myself.  I know how easy it is for grandparents to scoop them up and, well, give them back when it’s time.  My other inspiration is the S4-174 Deckle Scalloped Edge Petite Border. It has that certain “I don’t know who ripped it, Mom!” look to it. Mothers of boys, you know what I’m talking about!

To start, I gathered my supplies.

It’s so easy to use the Petite Borders. Looking at the die template, one side has the raised ridge, which is the cutting edge, and the other does not. That is the embossing edge.

Simply align the cutting edge where you want to cut, with the cut side down, facing the front of the card, and secure in place with some household tape. I touch the tape to my jeans to lessen the tackiness of the tape.

If I don’t want to cut through both layers of the card, I have to invert the fold of the card and insert the Spacer Plate inside of the card. Now the cutting edge of the die is facing up, and only one layer of the card will be cut.

To emboss this card, remove the Spacer Plate and place the Tan Embossing Pad on top of the card, and feed it into your Wizard. To enhance the embossed areas, I used a sanding block on this Core’dinations cardstock.

For the rest of the card I cut/embossed the S4-129 Classic Scalloped Squares Small, S4-197 Small Classic Inverted Scalloped Squares, and the S4-128 Classic Squares Small. The little boy embellishment was made from piecing together different colored die cuts from Cordinations with S3-014 Baby Boy, and a small scrap of Premium Craft Foil.

I placed a square die cut on the inside of the card with a stamped sentiment from Hero Arts, using Clearsnap Colorbox ink.

This is the finished card, ready for the mail!  Now if I could just find those stamps…

Happy Saturday!

Beth

With all this talk of the Borderability Grands, I thought I would give the Borderability Petites some lovin’. You know how pesky those little siblings can get when they are left out of the fun.  And speaking of fun, I’m so happy to be bringing you art from the new 2009 Design Team!

The Borderability Petite die templates are 5.5 inches long and vary in width, depending on the design.  Each border has one cut line along the long edge.  They are the perfect length for cards, but can be beautiful on any type of project.

The S4-163 Daisy Borderability Petite comes with 2 coordinating die templates with the daisy design. This design coordinates with the S7-003 Daisy Borderabilities Grand and the S4-043 Daisy Patch Edgeabilities die templates.

The S4-164 Rose Borderability Petite comes with 2 coordinating die templates that match the rose design of the S7-001 Rose Borderability Grand and the S4-044 Rose Blossom Edgeablities die templates.

The S4-174 Deckle Scalloped Edge Petite Borders come as a set of 2 5.5 inch borders, one with a scalloped edge and dotted embossing detail, and the other with the decked edge for the worn and torn look.

Lets not forget about the Piercabilities!  Those work in exactly the same way!  You can choose to pierce or not pierce.

2009 Design Team Member Heidi Blankenship’s Anniversary card is stunning.  Heidi loves JustRite Stampers, Copic Markers, and Flower Soft products as well as the following Spellbinder’s supplies: S4-164 Rose Borderabilities Petite, S4-044 Rose Blossom Edgeability, S4-194 Large Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles, S4-114 Standard Circles LG, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles Large, and of course, her trusty Wizard!

For her Butterfly Dreams card, Heidi used these Spellbinders’ products: S4-114 Standard Circles Large, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles Large, and S4-173 Piercabilities Fancy Scalloped Butterfly.

Terre Fry, Design Team Member, used the Deckle piece from the S4-174 Deckle Scalloped Edge Petite set on her Christmas card to add the festive detail.  The S4-085 Snowflake Wonder is still one of my personal favorites!

Design Team Member Karen Hunsaker used the S4-163 Daisy Borderability Petite die template set to wrap around the candle as well as to cut and emboss the bottom edge of the card and emboss her envelope flap.  JustRite Stampers made the gift tag look just right!

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Design Team Member Jennifer Davis shows us how a Borderability Petite can accent a layout.  Could Maiah be any cuter?  Jennifer’s layout includes S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles, Large, S4-116 Standard Circles Small, S4-114 Standard Circles Large, and S4-120 Doodles (discontinued).

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Whew, that’s a lot of linky-loo’s!  I hope you have enjoyed your ride across the border, Borderabilities, that is!
Beth