Ok, so you start the vagablooms with punched or die-cut flower shapes. I also use random shapes that, when piled together also look like flowers. I hate to be traditional ;) You want them of varying sizes because when you are done, you will be stacking them on top of each other from biggest on bottom to smallest on top. Some of them I will run thru an embossing folder for extra texture. I like to use cream cardstock or the ugliest patterned paper i can find. This project makes anything look beautiful. The illusion that makes these "pop" is the layering of textures with complimentary ink colors. I start with the basic colors of dye based inks and a patterned stamp-yes, even on patterned paper\, and stamp on a pattern. Then I take pigment based inks and apply them on top of each other with various smearing/smudging methods. I like using burnt orange with indigos, maroons with dark green-complimentary colors. The next layer is adding a few shots of pearlized spray inks-easy to make your own, fyi ;) Or hit them with some pigmented metallic inks. Now, here's the key: spray each flower face with a coat of clear acrylic sealer. Let them dry.
When the sealer is dry to the touch, take a folded up towel-you want it really thickly folded. Set the flower faces on the towel and spray them pretty good with water.
Don't drown the poor things, you just want to saturate the cardstock fibers so you can press into the middle of each flower face so the petals get pushed up.
Set these under a lamp and every so often keep pushing in the centers so once the cardstock dries, the fibers will have re-shaped it into an inverted cone shape. You can also take the flower face, spritz it a little bit, crumple it up into a ball, unroll it and them smoosh it into the towel. Once you get the hang of this procedure you can mass produce these babies for ever. Tomorrow night, the magic happens! Stay tuned....
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