May Arts/Helmar Blog Hop- Day 1

Welcome to the May Arts/Helmar blog hop! If you came from Carisa's blog today, you're on the right track!  If not, make sure you start at the beginning of the hop with Charlene's blog! You don't want to miss a single stop as we are bringing you tons of inspirational projects today featuring May Arts ribbon and Helmar adhesives! 

For my project today, I was inspired by my lovely friend, Angie Blom. She made a similar project over the summer, I loved them so much that I decided to try my hand at it and put my own twist on it. 

I needed to get a jump start on Christmas Ornaments this year, so this was the perfect excuse! What? These don't look like Christmas Ornaments to you? Well, yes, I am not going traditional... I'm going to do a beach themed tree! I'm so excited about it, but beachy ornaments are almost impossible to find here in Ohio, so I have to make my own this Christmas! 

Of coarse, my all time favorite beachy paper collection is Authentique's "Fresh" collection. I matched up a few ribbons to it to use, one being the large silver leaves (because I knew I was making flowers) from May Arts (XL31) and I also grabbed some twisted burlap (363-09) because it's goes with my coastal theme. I also grabbed some clothes pins. I happened to stumble across a large bag at an estate sale for a couple dollars while I was in Chicago this summer. I knew they would come in handy sometime! Of coarse, I needed glue as well, so I reached for my "hot glue in a bottle" aka Helmar's 450 quick dry adhesive. 

First, start off by finding a nice flower cut file or die. I opted to use my Silhouette Cameo with a 3D flower cut file from the Silhouette store. I lined up 4 different patterned papers on my mat so I would have a variety of flowers. 

One you have your flowers cut, you can ink the edges to give a little shading to your flowers. It just looks pretty to ink/distress them. I always reach for my Memento inks and ink blushers from Imagine Crafts. 

Once the flowers are inked, you will need to fold them so each petal has a crease in the center. 

Next, start gluing and layering your flowers. Make sure you stagger them to give our flower dimension. 

Once you get to the last flower, glue and hold in place for a few minutes so that your glue will start to bond and they don't pop apart. Sit flowers aside and let the glue dry completely. 

Fluff your flowers up a little to make them look full, I sprayed mine with some glitter dust, but this step is optional. If you are clipping them on your Christmas tree, glitter looks really pretty when all of the Christmas lights reflect off of your flower. 

Once glitter is dry, you can add pearls to the centers of your flower to make them look complete. 

Cut strips of coordinating paper, ink and then adhere to the top and bottom of your clothespins. 

Finish by adding leaves, flower, a bow and some pearls. 

There you have it, beautiful flowers that can easily clip onto your Christmas tree this year! You don't have to use them for a tree decoration, these could easily double as a home decor item or clip onto a gift bag to hold the to/from tag on. 

Now hop right along and see what Jen Shears has in store for you today! Don't forget to comment on the stops along the way, we've got lots of yummy May Arts ribbons and some Helmar adhesives to give away! 

Charlene Driggs: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Letitia Grace Lauer : http://www.gracesscrapattic.blogspot.com

Alexcia Patterson-Schroll: http://makeandmingle.wordpress.com/

Kate Vickers: http://www.scrapsation.com

Christina Colón: http://www.thetwistedmuse.com/

Jen Matott: http://arttalk-sigmagirl.blogspot.com/

Gini Williams Cagle: http://www.ginicagle.blogspot.com/

Carisa Zgloblicki: http://ladyguineveresinkyfaeries.blogspot.ca/

Emily Lanham: http://createserendipity.blogspot.com/

Jen Shears: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/

Products Used: 

May Arts- XL31, 363-09

Helmar- 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Authentique- "Fresh" collection 6x6 Bundle

Imagine Crafts- Memento: Gray Flannel, Summer Sky; Ink Blushers

Therm-o-Web- Glitter Dust: Silver

Kaisercraft- Pearls: Bliss

Wood Clothesepins

Silhouette Cameo