How do I...

...answer your questions?

It would seem that my last post has sparked a few enquiries about my flowers so I thought I'd try and cover them all here.

1. How do I store my flowers?
These little snap-top boxes are ideal for the smaller blooms - they can be boxed by colour and it is easy to see what I have. These were a super bargain at 10 boxes for 99p in the '99p Store'.
Glass coffee jars are also a great way of storing stuff, especially larger quantities of flowers and of course they have an even better advantage - they are free.
Another storage solution for larger blooms & larger quantities are more storage containers - this was one of a set of 3 from 'Poundland'.

2. How do I decide what flowers I'm going to use?
Once I have decided upon my colour scheme I will collect together all the blooms that I have in suitable colours and sizes (these were the items I used for the card in the previous post). I might not end up using them all but they are there and to hand so that I can have a play around, I will normally pull out a few flowers and just lay them on the card to get an idea of placement. Once I know where I will be putting them I have a 'dry-run' of putting the blooms together to get an arrangement that I'm happy with...then I stick them down. Quite often as I'm doing this I will change my mind and take away or add blooms.

3. What do I use to stick them down?
This can depend on the surface I am sticking the blooms to - glitter card can be a bit of a trial at times so the Pinflair glue will come out for that. Sometimes I use Glossy Accents but I would say that most of the time I use Glue Dots and mainly the 3D ones (a bit like a circular blob of sticky clear jelly). They are about a 1/4 inch across so great for the larger blooms but they can also be pulled into smaller pieces for the smaller flowers.

4. Where do I get my flowers from?
For some reason, whilst I'm happy to 'make' flowers for my scrapbooking and altered art, I tend to use bought blooms on my cards...I think it is probably a time thing. When I'm making cards I don't want to be spending loads of time on the flowers (unless that is the feature) and I want the card to come together as quickly as possible...yep, I know; LAZINESS! but that's me I'm affraid and it's what works for me. I know flowers can be quite expensive (I can drool over some of those Prima blooms and sprays along with the rest of you LOL) but I try to keep a stock of assorted blooms that aren't too costly and that way I don't I have to scrimp on what I use. DoCraft promotions can be a great source of Anita's & Papermania and they are often on BOGOF or 3for2. The 99pStore, Poundland and The Works are also great places to pick up bargains but you have to grab them when you see them as you can't be sure they will have them next time you visit. Another great source of flowers that I discovered when I was really into my larger blooms on my scrap pages (remember those large Junkitz blooms that were all the rage...) is bunches of silk flowers. There are lots of varieties of flowers that can be pulled to pieces and you then have a selection of sizes that you can layer or use for different projects. Sprays of cherry blossom & daisies provide a surprising number of blooms. The 99pStore & Poundland is a fabulous source for these.

I also have lots of odds & ends - I was lucky enough to be given a bag full of Wild Orchid Crafts blooms & gems by a friend who no longer crafts and I am merrily working my way through them. Packs of kiddies felt flowers from the Early Learning Centre were a surprising find a couple of years ago (in their sale).

If you are willing to have a look around you will be surprised just what can be found and they don't have to cost the earth....................