Flowered topiary with storage plus TUTORIAL!

Hello bloggers!  I've had quite a week and a pulled back muscle with a pinched nerve has kept me floor-bound much of the past few days (doctor says I'll be feeling better by the weekend, God willing!).  BUT before it got really bad, I had time to finish this project I've wanted to do every since I created the Flowers stampset shown here:

Here is the finished project storing my sponge daubers!:

I used the flower stampset with the sunflower looking stamp and colored a bunch of flowers with Copic markers and cut them out.  Then I got some stick pins:

I used a styrofoam ball and cut off the bottom so it would sit flat.  I pinned all of my flowers into it, overlapping just a little so it looks more 'full':

You can put more pins through in the spaces between flowers to help hold the petals down.  Then I set it onto some green cardstock and freehanded some petals:

cut them out:

Then used my Copic marker to 'flick' some marks to make them look more like leaves.  You could choose a darker color and add more depth, if you want to:

Next, I curled the leaves over my fingers to get more of a realistic curve...just keep going until you like the outcome:

I put a pen on this for my stem, but have wrapped all kinds of things in floral tape to make a stem.  I wanted the opportunity to USE this later LOL.

Finally, I put some black beans into a terracotta pot, and put my sponge daubers in on top....now I will know where to find them when I need them, and the storage is cute out in the open :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
I'll be back soon with some more fun for you!
Be the blessing,
~Antoinette
MARCH 1 RELEASES found at the online store :  www.inspiredstamps.com