Thursday, May 26, 2011

Flower Soft: What I Have Learned So Far

Well, I spent yesterday playing with my new flower soft. I just received my flower pot kit and decided to "practice". I learned a few things I want to share with you in case you are wondering whether to purchase some or not.
  • When fluffing, do it very gently. If you press to hard, it will not fluff and will ball up.
  • The kits come with a white sponge to hold the wire flowers while they dry. It really doesn't work well. Green floral foam works much better.
  • Their glue gave me hand cramps trying to squeeze out. I switched to Clear Gel Tacky Glue by Aleene's and it worked fine. It did take longer to dry, but my hand was happy.
  • To add glue to card toppers, use a VERY small paint brush with a pointed tip. The smallest one I had was still a bit to big and it is really small!
  • Squeeze glue directly to wire when making flowers. I wish the wire came in green instead of white.
  • The FINE flower soft is perfect for the card toppers. The REGULAR is perfect for making flowers on the flower soft wire.
  • REALLY let it dry well, lol
  • You can burnish the flower soft on the cardtoppers gently, but not on the flowers made on wire
  • To make a bouquet, make the flower wrap first. Then measure the wire a bit longer than the wrap before making the flowers. It is easier to fit them in that way.
  • For card toppers, it is better to put the greenery on first, then the flowers. It is much messier and less pretty the other way around.
  • Don't rub the glue on with the brush, dab, even for the greenery. It gives a more realistic look.
  • White does not work well as a flower color for a card topper. I am not sure why their toppers have daisys on them but the white seems to get lost with the white paper. Even with the greenery. Maybe if there is some "fine" white it would work better but the regular white does not.
  • You don't have to use the same color flower soft as the flowers on the printed topper. The flower soft covers the print anyway.
  • It requires more practice than I thought. It is not as easy as the directions make it sound, lol. The flowers on the wire are easy to make though.
  • It gets everywhere! Kind of like glitter. At least it did for me.
  • I would never make my own with the styrofoam balls like some people do. To messy and would take up to much room to store. I also think it would be to chunky if I made it.


First toppers I made with white flowers. Here I made flowers first and then added greenery.
White flowers don't show up well.
Here is the one I added greenery first, then different colored flowers.
The next time I will make bigger spaces to make the flowers, I think the bigger flowers look prettier.
Flower bouquets. The one on the left is the first one I made. I had the darndest time making the paper tube thing. Certainly need more practice. I really think green wire would look much better. I did not make paper leaves yet which may cover up the wire, hopefully. They add some really thin ribbon in the kit which will be perfect for making a bow to add. I am not sure how I am going to use these since they are really small. Maybe make a tag with them and then add the tag to a card.
I hope this helps someone who may have the same questions I had about flower soft. It is definately addictive and I will definately be practicing using it.

Hugs,

8 comments:

Misty Olsen said...

This is really neat!!!I have never heard of this before...I agree about the white...TFS!!!

Judy said...

Very cool, I love all your tips too.
Have a great day
Judy

Besthobbyeva said...

Wow these are awesome. I have never heard about these. Great another thing I MUST have, lol!!

Hope the sun is shining!

Laurie

Lisa said...

Wow - you did an awesome job with the flower soft! I really have got to find this stuff! Stop by my blog when you get a chance...I have an award for you :)

http://indymermaid.blogspot.com

Lisa said...
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Lisa said...
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Lisa said...

Sorry about the deleted posts...they were duplicates - blogger is acting up again :(

coldwaters2 said...

Hi Sandy glad that you are loving the Flower Soft it really adds texture and depth to a card or project, I have been using it, or should I say I have had some in my craft drawer for a few years now, lol, I keep forgetting to use it, lol, but when I have it is lovely.
Hugs
Lorraine x