Faux Flower Soft Tutorial

 I love the look of Flower Soft, but I do not always have the right color(s) on hand. Here is how you can make your custom colors of "Faux" Flower Soft with Supplies you have on hand.

Take a piece of styrofoam and break it in half  (if you have a circle or an egg shaped piece of styrofoam, cut it in half with a knife).

  All you have to do is rub the pieces together and it will break off in little pieces.  You can see I do this right into a gallon sized baggie and then I do not have a mess.......
  This is a good sized baggie of styrofoam that has been "broken up":

  Now, get out anything liquid that you can mix with the flower soft to add color.  Here are some ideas:
Reinker
Copic Reinker
Distress ink applied on a craft sheet or your baggie then spritzed with water
Glimmer Mist
Creative Inspirations Paint

  Mix the styrofoam and the color of your choice- you can add color right into the baggie OR you can mix the two on a Craft Mat or on a baggie.  I use ~ 6- 8 drops of reinker to start off with-start conservatively and add more ink if needed especially if you want  to make a lighter color- it is easier to add more reinker to darken it than to add more styrofoam to lighten it up..

  Close the top of the baggie (this is a jewelry sized bag from a crafting store like Hobby Lobby). Rub the baggie together to mix in the color.  I used about 2 tbsp of styrofoam ( I did not measure it- just giving an approximate to give you an idea of how much to use).  Keep rubbing the bag- moving the styrofoam around- get it out of the corners and keep mixing until you can no longer see the white. Mixing in the bag avoids ink on your fingers......    I wanted some variety in my colors, so made darker and lighter shades.... You will find a few flecks of larger pieces-just toss them out....or keep them for character on your project.

 Top Row Lt to Rt samples:
-Frayed Burlap Distress Ink- swiped on the top of a baggie and misted with water- I used the end of a paintbrush to mix in the styrofoam.
- Rose Red SU reinker
- G24 Copic reinker
-Sky Blue Glimmer Mist sprayed directly into the baggie with the styrofoam
-Creative Inspirations paint (Antique Silver)- I used the end of the paintbrush and applied the CI paint to the side of the baggie- mix with the styrofoam- add more paint if necessary.
 The sample on the far left below was made with Brilliance Galaxy Gold reinker.
***Allow the media to dry completely prior to adding to your project, so it does not stain your work.
 

  I now have a rainbow of Faux Flower Soft colors to use on my projects. How fun to have 'Custom' colors to match your cardstock or Designer Patterned Paper.
  Adding your Faux Flower Soft to your project is as easy as adding a dab of glue where you want the Faux Flower Soft to be, pour some of the (dry) product right on the area- tap lightly with your fingers and then tap off the excess.  if you have an area of poor coverage, apply a second time to fill in the desired area.
  Here is my card using the Faux Flower Soft with the close-up first:

and the card:

The image shown is Wheelbarrow Blossoms (McMahon Five Vintage Digital Image)
Other product shown available at McMahon Five: Copics, Prima Madeline paper pad, Spellbinders Parisian Mofits and Accents, Prima Madeline Roses, Prima Pink Mini Roses, Prima Warm Beige Lace, Kaisercraft Self Adhesive Pearls

Here is a link to 'Inspire Me Fridays" with Maria Matter

                                                      This is Fun- Inspirational Blog

Shelly Schmidt