Lilac Tree Shadow Box

Hi and very welcome! I got some of the new Susan's Garden flower dies the other day, designed for Sizzix by Susan Tierney-Cockburn. All the new flowers are gorgeous of course.  

May is just around the corner and I was inspired to do a project with the Lilac set. We had these trees in our garden when I grew up, with flowers in several different colours and I always loved them, both the flowers (especially the bluish ones) and their heart shaped leaves. Years ago, I got a bunch of these small wooden shadow box frames (4.5 x 4.5 in) and one of them was a good home for a flowery branch.

The frame was first coated with gesso and then I adhered Tim Holtz tissue tape to it. I used three different tapes. They were coated with multi-medium matte, to make sure they were safely stuck down. Then I painted the frame with Picket Fence Distress Paint, letting some of the pattern show through. When it was dry, I dry-brush a little bit of Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain here and there.

To make the flowers, I first coloured three pieces of Neenah Smooth Solar White cardstock with Pan Pastels, back and front. They were misted with a matte fixative, which prevents the pastel from colouring your cutting pads. If it does, you can simply wash it off.

The tiny flowers come on one plate, making them fast to die cut. I ran it through my Big Shot three times to get enough flowers. The Magnetic Platform works great together with these dies. Use the Susan's Garden tool kit to shape each flower. Die cut the branch twice, vein and shape it a little and glue the two together. You can find an instruction sheet for this die here.

The flowers were glued to the branch, making sure to glue them all around the branches, so that it looks like the real thing. I added a tiny dot of yellow Paper Pen in the centre of each flower. Some of the branches were bent a bit to add dimension. The leaves were glued to the branch after gluing the branch to the shadow box.

Two Chit Chat stickers gave a sentiment to the frame.

Thank you so much for looking!!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Neenah Smooth Solar White Cardstock
Dies: Sizzix: Lilac Flower
Paint: Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Burlap Panel, Walnut Stain; Viva Paper Pen: Sunny Yellow
Pastels: Pan Pastels: Ultramarine Blue, Bright Yellow Green Shade, Permanent Green Shade, Turquoise, Red Iron Oxide, Raw Umber
Ink: Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs
Medium: Ranger Dina Wakley White Gesso; Ranger Matte Multi-Medium
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Symphony Tissue Tape, Laboratorie Tissue Tape, Elements Tissue Tape, Chit Chat Stickers, Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers
Tools: Sizzix: Big Shot, Susan's Garden Tool Kit