Fields Of Heather

Hot Air Balloon Ride T-shirts

For years, my best friend and our husbands have met up at a local balloonfest and watched the hot air balloons take off. And for years we said "For our 50th birthday, we're going up"

Tips, Tricks, Projects & Resources

For Making Cards With Cricut

I am always telling new cricut users to NOT try to learn everything at once. Choose one project you want to make. Learn how to make that. Then move on to the next thing you want to make. What you need to know to make 3d Paper projects is so different than what you need to know for cutting faux leather, and what you need to know for making a t-shirt is different than what you need to know for putting a name on a tumbler...

There are a LOT of great designers with free tutorials and free svgs to get you started, with every type of project, in addition to the projects and resources I have here on this blog. This series of blog posts is my attempt to direct you to the resources for each type of project.

How To Make Stickers

Tips, Tricks, & Tutorials

Strawberry Shortcake Recipes
[printable page from my personal cookbook at the bottom of this post]

Come early June, when the strawberries are in season in Central Pennsylvania, it's not terribly unusual for strawberry shortcake to be served for dinner. Not as a dessert, but as dinner. Here on the farm, it's a traditional biscuit style cake - somewhat dry and crumbly. You break it up into pieces, top it with strawberries that have been sliced or mashed and left to sit in a little extra sugar, so they are good and juicy. Then most add milk, almost as if this were a cereal, and top with whipped cream. I personally skip the milk, just topping my cake with the berries and some whipped cream.

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For All The Recipes

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes for an 8x8 pan, 40 minutes for 9x11[double batch]

Use about 1/3 to half a cup of sugar on 1 Qt of mashed or sliced strawberries, let sit while the cake bakes. Top with whipped cream and or milk.

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From the recipe drawer - but not a recipe I use personally

There's a drawer in my kitchen that has several generations worth of family recipes in it. The recipes came with the house when we moved in. In that drawer is a shortcake recipe, using oil. It's not a recipe I use personally. I also have old recipes that use eggs, and sour cream. To me, that makes no sense - once you add eggs, or sour cream, it is no longer shortcake - just cake. But that's just my opinion. Well, and my husbands - he has very definite preferences when it comes to his shortcake. :-)

Here's a comparison - our favorite on the left, it has more of a scone texture. The one on the right is the recipe I posted above, that uses oil. The oil makes more of a soft, sponge type cake.

My Favorite Shortcake Recipe:

· 2 1/3 Cups Bisquick Mix

· ½ cup milk

· 3 TBS sugar

· 3 TBS butter, melted
This is my go to, favorite, shortcake recipe. It makes one pie pan, or 8x8 pan. Double it for a 9x11 pan.

I make my own “Bisquick” Mix:

· 6c flour

· 1c shortening

· 3Tbs Baking Powder

· 1tsp salt

Mix thoroughly in food processor, store in fridge or freezer. [I keep a tub of this in my freezer]

To make this version without the Bisquick:

· 2 cups flour

· 3 Tbs sugar

· 1/2 cup butter

· [OR 1/3 c shortening + 3Tbs Butter]

· 2 tsp baking powder

· 1 tsp salt

· 3/4 cup milk

Cut flour, sugar and butter together until mixture looks like coarse crumbs, then mix in the rest of the ingredients

This old recipe uses lard - but you could substitute crisco in its place.

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Strawberry Shortcake Recipe, From The Lost Recipes from The Kitchens Of The Williamsport Millionaires by R. Steppe.

https://amzn.to/454j2v8

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PRINTABLE COOKBOOK PAGE

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Tractor Card - Free SVG

Free Tractor Card SVG

Materials & Tools, How to Add Texture, Assorted Tips, & Sites To Follow

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MATERIALS & TOOLS

My favorite cardstock brands & Where to find them

I prefer textured paper for my paper flowers

Free Files for 3d printing tools for rolling paper flowers

Or - trying using a qtip or skewer

How To Use Paint On Paper Flowers

I've also used pastels, inks, and I've heard that eye shadow palettes work great!

Often called fondant, or clay tools, these can be helpful for

adding creases and rounding petals on flowers

https://amzn.to/4baxKmT

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TUTORIALS

ADDING TEXTURE & DIMENSION

Using Needle Nose Pliers

5 Techniques For Curling Petals

Using a Skewer

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ASSORTED TIPS

Use your weeding tool to punch a hole for the floral wire

Use the Guide Option in Design Space to add notes on how to make the flowers, so you remember later.

I use my vinyl weeding tool to gently lift small pieces off the mat.

Basic Tips:

It's often much faster to cut the larger flowers by hand. Cut one set of the larger petals with your machine, then use it as a template, you can cut several pieces of paper, stacked together, all at once.
Remember to stagger your petals. Once you have attached the "base" layer of petals, layer the next layer so that the middle of the next petal overlaps two of the bottom petals - as you'd see in a flower in nature.
When assembling rolled paper flowers, roll from the outside in - ending with the center base.
Glue - I prefer hot glue most of the time, but a quick dry tacky glue works great too.
Paper - I use just regular (preferably textured) cardstock [typically 60-80lb] - same as I use for cards. But crepe paper makes really beautiful flowers! I've used felt too - and lighter papers...

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SITES TO CHECK/ CRAFTERS TO FOLLOW

These are some of my favorite Paper Flower Crafters

Abbi Kirsten

Amy DIY Craft

Analytical Mommy

Celebrating Everyday Life

Deany Weeny Blooms

NO SVGS - BUT INSPIRATION AND VIDEOS

https://www.facebook.com/foreverpetalsbyvee

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Reminder - I'm an affiliate for a number of sites. If you click on a link on this page and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. This in no way effects the price you pay

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The Flower Making Index

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2023/06/making-paper-flowers-with-cricut-index.html

Making Crepe Paper Flowers With Cricut

Tips, Tricks, & Free SVGS

For Making Crepe Paper Flowers

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Affiliate Disclaimer - remember, I'm an affiliate for a number of sites, so if you click on a link in this post and make a purchase, it's possible I may may a small commission. It will in no way effect the price you pay.
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You'll want to use the rotary blade for cutting crepe paper, and that blade can only be used in the Maker series of machines.

Then, you'll want to make sure the grain of the crepe paper is going in the correct direction for the petals. Grain is important when working with crepe paper.

It's often easier to just cut a template with the cricut, then use the template to cut the crepe paper by hand.

Abbi Kirsten recommends setting the pressure to "more" when using the maker

https://www.abbikirstencollections.com/how-to-cut-crepe-paper-with-the-cricut-maker/

Glue cannot be tacky enough nor thin enough. Water will cause the crepe to stretch and will ruin the texture/stretch of the paper - so use sparingly. Consider double sided tape in place of glue. You'll also want a hot glue gun, for some of the assembly.

Fine crepe paper is more realistic, but heavy crepe paper is more forgiving.

TIP - Save your crepe paper scraps and ball them up to form flower centers [in place of Styrofoam balls]

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Choosing A Crepe Paper
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There are 3 main types of Crepe Paper, based on where it is manufactured:

Chinese, Italian, German

For a more in depth explanation [and other tool tips]

10 Things to Know About Crepe Paper by Lia Griffith

You all know how I feel about Youtube Videos [If you are new - I can read SO much faster than you all can speak] but I watched this one. Yes, it's a bit of an informercial for Lia Griffith crepe paper, but.. Lia Griffith really is the best when it comes to crepe paper flowers. She knows her stuff. This video is a great explanation of Chinese, Italian, and German crepe papers. The differences, and why her collaboration with the German company is made specifically for paper flower makers. She still recommends Italian Paper [not hers] if you want to make really large paper flowers. While she obviously promotes her own brand here, she also lists other brands she recommends, and tells you to work with whatever you have.

Note - a possible substitution for her panpastel set [$57] is eye shadow. I know a lot of crafters have been using eye shadow palettes when making paper flowers.

I'm a big fan of Lia Griffith, and someday will likely subscribe for her membership. At this point in my life, I know I simply don't have the time to really use it - but it always tempts me, she has gorgeous projects in her classes.

https://amzn.to/3UExKEF

However, her crepe paper is far and away the most expensive option. According to a guide by Oksana, "For example, a pack of 10 rolls of Lia's “heavy crepe paper” cost $20, that is, 1 roll cost $2. But the size of this roll is 5 times smaller than standard crepe paper roll. So, in terms of the amount of paper - 5 Lia’s rolls are equal to one standard size Italian or Chinese roll.

Thus, not only you have to buy several packs to make a large flower of one color (or if
you need to make a lot of flowers of the same color), but you will pay a higher price (
$10) for the same amount of paper that you have in standard Italian roll ($7).

The Carte Fini brand, Italian, is recommended by several flower makers I follow

https://amzn.to/4dyl1vM

You can download Oksana's Crepe Paper Guide by signing up for her email list here:

https://fancybloom.net/guide/

This video by Oksana is a little long - but if you skip through, you can see how she stretches the petals, with explanations on why it's important not to overstretch.