branching out...

Hello all my wonderful friends!  

You know, using flowers on cards and LOs is super popular right now... They add color, style, texture, and dimension. They are awesome embellishments!  Sometime, I want to add some flowers, but don't want the visual weight of a cluster, or need a larger area embellished that would look too crowded with lots of flowers... A fun way to fix this design problem is to use branches. They keep the flowers connected, draw the eye, and visually weigh a lot less than clusters. They are very elegant too!

 Now, I know that some companies make branches, but I like mine to match perfectly. (yes, this is my OCD talking. lol!)  My solution is to make my own. I can match colors, styles, and custom design it to perfectly accent my project. It's not hard either!  

So let's get our pixie dust ready, and make some flowers bloom!

What you need:

Craft wire (gauge is up to you)

Wire cutters

Paper tape*

Creative Inspirations Paint

Flowers/leaves**

Paint brushes

*paper tapes include things like Washi tape, tissue tape, floral tape, even masking tape. I like using tissue tape just because it has a printed pattern, colorizes well, and is super easy to work with.*

**You can use pre-flowers, or make your own. You will want a stem on them, so if they don't come with a stem, you will need to add one.

 Step 1: cut wires of various lengths.

 Step 2: wrap paper tape around your longest wire (this will be your main branch).

 Step 3: wrap a smaller branch with paper tape, leaving a tail of tape at the end.

Step 4: wrap the tape tail of your small branch around your main branch to hold it in the desired place and at desired angle.

 Step 5: repeat steps 3-4 until all your smaller branches are atached

 Step 6: paint your branch with Creative Inspirations paint. This gives it color and shimmer. Also, because CI are translucent, you will see any printed design on the tape through the paint. Awesome!

 Step 6: using more paper tape, attach desired flowers or leaves by wrapping a little bit of tape around the branch and the end of the stem. (to see how I made these particular flowers, click HERE)

 Step 7: go in with a small paint brush and carefully do touch ups where you added the flowers.

Once dry, you are ready to add to any LO, card, home decor, or altered project you want!

Just think how pretty this would look with fall leaves, or snowflakes dangling down... so many possibilities! And because you are making your own, you can design it to fit your project perfectly!

Enjoy!
~Kassi