Taking the Fear Out of 3D Florals

Looking to bring the beauty of real botanicals to your handmade cards? Jean Manis here, sharing my experience working with The Poet’s Garden Collection by Susan Tierney-Cockburn for Spellbinders. Susan’s flowers are known for their lifelike detail, and this collection is no exception. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I approach her dimensional florals with a beginner-friendly process. Let’s step into the garden together!   To start, cut each flower from white cardstock and use Susan’s videos to create the blooms to see their true size and form. Because the flowers are dimensional, making a “draft” version is helpful because you won’t know their scale until you make one. Next, decide how many blooms each card will need and which ones will be used. An option to make the process less intimidating is to sketch circles the size of the blooms on scrap paper and play with the arrangement on a card base. A vase card is often a go-to choice because it is a predictable structure and makes arranging blooms straightforward.

• Dry-emboss a Fairy Tale cardstock panel with the Distress Mix 3D folder and add to an A2-size card base.
• With a plate in The Poet’s Garden Sentiment set, press the “Thank You” sentiment in green ink on Porcelain BetterPress cardstock; cut with the coordinating die.
• Cut the Love-in-a-Mist, Wild Violet, and Clematis Poet pieces from Susan's Garden Specialty cardstock. Color with Distress inks. Assemble and shape the flowers and foliage according to the product videos. Add prills to the Wild Violet

Note: I began by coloring with alcohol ink markers, then switched to Distress inks in the interest of time. Susan often colors her blooms with alcohol ink, which is always an option if you enjoy that approach. Additionally, the flowers were colored as they appear in nature. For Love-in-a-Mist, which has natural color variations, the shades were adjusted from card to card to add interest.

• With a die in the Mirrored Arch Labels set, cut gold cardstock for the vase. Add the vase to the prepared vase with foam adhesive.
• Adhere the blooms and leaves to the prepared base. Add the sentiment over the vase with foam squares.

For the second card, the blooms are arranged within a frame for visual focus.

• Dry-emboss a Lilac cardstock panel with the Distress Mix 3D folder and add to an A2-size card base.
• With a plate in The Poet’s Garden Sentiment set, press the “Thank You” sentiment in green ink on Porcelain BetterPress cardstock; cut with the coordinating die.
• Cut a frame from Classic White cardstock using two dies from the Mirrored Arch Labels Cut a Seaside panel that is sized between the two frame dies and attach it to the back of the frame. Adhere the assembled frame to the prepared card base.
• Cut the Love-in-a-Mist and Wild Violet pieces from Susan's Garden Specialty cardstock. Color with Distress inks. Assemble and shape according to the product videos. Add prills to the Wild Violet
• Adhere the blooms and leaves within the frame and add the sentiment with foam squares.

Similar in design to the previous card, the third card has a horizontal orientation, although it could also be vertical. Here, the frame is cut into cardstock, with a second layer stacked behind to create depth. Note: To keep the outer edge evenly spaced around the cutout shape, the card measures 5 ½ by 4 ½ inches.

• Dry-emboss a Windy cardstock panel with the Distress Mix 3D folder and add to a card base measuring 5 ½ by 4 ½ inches.
• Cut into the center of a Classic White cardstock panel, slightly smaller than 5 ½ by 4 ½ inches, using one of the Mirrored Arch Labels Using a larger Mirrored Arch Labels die, cut into the center of a Tutu cardstock panel measuring 5 ½ by 4 ½ inches. Adhere the cut Classic White panel to the inside of the Tutu panel, then attach the layered piece to the prepared card base.
• With a plate in The Poet’s Garden Sentiment set, press the “Thank You” sentiment in green ink on Porcelain BetterPress cardstock; cut with the coordinating die. Add the sentiment to the card center using foam square adhesive.
• Cut the Love-in-a-Mist and Wild Violet pieces from Susan's Garden Specialty cardstock. Color with Distress inks. Assemble and shape according to the product videos. Add prills to the Wild Violet
• Adhere the blooms and leaves to the card base.

Other supplies

Distress Inks: Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet; Ranger Library Green ink; Flower shaping tools such as Susan's Garden Ultimate Tool Kit (now discontinued) Thank you for visiting and spending time exploring these floral cards created with The Poet’s Garden Collection by Susan Tierney-Cockburn for Spellbinders. Hopefully, you are inspired to create your own paper flower garden!