Marigold Tutorial

Hello once again fellow scrappers & happy Hump Day!  Today I'm bringing to you yet another brief flower tutorial.  I guess I've been on a 'handmade flower' spree lately for some reason.  It may be that Autumn is finally just around the corner which is my favorite season!  These flowers do make a nice addition to Autumn themed pages & projects--at least that's how I would use them.

I named these after the marigold flower.  I think that's the flower they most resemble.  From what I saw online, the majority of marigolds are yellow/orange in color.  I made a purple one as you can see here just for kicks!  Hey who is to say we have to be so exact right?

Ok onto the tutorial...

I once again used the Spellbinders Carnation Creations die by Donna Salazar.  I indicated with an arrow the specific die I used for this flower.

Step 1: Cut out 6 flowers.  Take one of these flowers and snip out two of the petals.  Take another one of these flowers & snip out three of the petals as shown here.  Do not throw out the snipped petals--you'll need them later!

Step 2: Ink your petal edges.  I used a chalk ink by SEI for my inking--color is Cherry.  The inking of the petals really works here because most marigolds actually have that two-tone look on their petals.

Step 3:  All my petals have been inked.  Even the petal snippets as you can see here

Step 4: With the handle of a thin brush (which is what I used), a wooden skewer, a stylus, a thin pencil etc...take your bottom three layers and start curling their petals down as shown here

Step 5: Once you curl your petals; cup your layers by taking a stylus or even a pencil or the handle of a thicker paint brush & in a circular motion press down on a soft surface.  I have a foam mat by McGill that I use to shape my flowers.  If you do not have a foam mat I found that turning your mouse pad upside down works just as well.  You just need a soft surface so that your layers cup as you press down in a circular motion

Step 6: Time to adhere your bottom 3 layers.  As you adhere, try to off-set your petals.  Once done, your flower should look close to what is shown here.  By the way, I use a small hot glue gun for all of my flower making. It's fast and makes for a strong bond.

Step 7:  Take the two layers where the petals were snipped.  You are going to overlap the two petals in order to eliminate the gap left by the petals that were removed.  Adhere these petals with your glue

Step 8: This is what your snipped layers should look like once adhered.  They will end up looking like small cones

Step 9: Take your final 3 layers and curl the petals down as shown in step 4.

Time to adhere your last 3 layers.  The top three layers need to be cupped tightly as shown here prior to adhering.  You are building your flower up.  So you want a 'fluffy' look

Step 10:  This is what your flower should look like with all 6 layers adhered.  Notice that you'll end up with a small hole right in the center.  Well this is where your snipped petals come in

Step 11: I usually start with the 3 snipped petals.  Curl them down just like all the other petals and fold the snippet in 1/2 as shown. Then you're going to adhere these 3 little petals right smack in the center of your flower

Step 12: Voila! No more hole in the center!  If by any chance you still have a little hole...then take your remaining 2 snipped petals & do the same procedure.  Curl the petals down, fold them in half and tuck them right in the center.

Once done you can finish shaping your flower.  Usually when I put my flowers together they get lopsided, squished, etc as I adhere one layer on top of the other.  Once done you can re-shape your flower again--fluff the layers, re-curl some of your petals etc.

Hope some of you found this tutorial useful!  Have a great rest of the week.

Carnation Tutorial

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today I'm bringing you another brief tutorial.  This one is very similar to my 'Ruffled Flower' tutorial but with just a couple of changes.  Primary difference is my use of a different die--which gives this flower it's distinctive look.

For these flowers I'm using Spellbinders Carnation Creations die by Donna Salazar.  These dies seem to be made for carnations since they're named after the flower!  So I figured why not make a carnation flower!?  You can use any size die--it depends on what you need for your project.  For this tutorial I used the second to largest sized 6 petal flower.

Step 1:  You'll need 6 layers for this flower.

Step 2:  If you're making a dark colored carnation you may consider inking it's edges with white since this gives the flower a more realistic resemblance to a carnation flower.  Here I've used Jasmine Mix'd Media Inx also by Donna Salazar.  This ink is basically like a white chalky ink and is perfect for darker colored card stock.

Step 3: These next few steps will seem very familiar since they're basically the same steps used for the ruffled flower.  Take your bottom 3 layers & bend them in half.

Step 4: Then with round nosed pinchers, a skewer, a stylus or even the handle of a thin paint brush--curl the corners of each petal downwards as shown.

Step 5:  Your petals should like like a wide curly 'V' when you curl the ends.

Step 6: On a foam pad or even a mouse pad--anything soft--shape your layers by cupping them with a stylus or any object with a rounded tip.  You do this by pressing down in the center & going around the center of the flower in a circular motion.

Step 7:  Adhere your bottom 3 layers with adhesive--I love my glue gun & use it frequently for my flowers.  It dries fast & holds strong.  Don't forget to alternate your petals.

Step 8:  Take your top 3 layers next.  Shape two of the layers the same way you shaped the bottom 3 layers.  Take your top most layer and snip out one petal as shown.

Step 9:  Close the gap left by removing that one petal by overlapping the two side petals and adhering them together as shown.  You'll end up with a layer that looks like a little cone.

Step 10:  Now shape your top layer just like all the other layers and shape them with your stylus on the foam pad/mouse pad.

Step 11: When done shaping--it's time to adhere your top layers to the bottom layers.  Cup your top 3 layers as shown and adhere them to your bottom layers.  Again...alternate those petals!

Step 12: If you cup your top 3 layers tightly you'll end up with hardly any room in the center.  However, if you end up with a small hole as shown here...well that's what your snipped petal comes in.  Shape that one lonely petal the same way you did the others...the fancy 'V'!

Step 13: Then adhere that one petal right smack dab in the center....ta-da...no more hole!

Here's another take...don't want your typical carnation or want to make a fancier flower--add stamens to the center for a different look.

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Have a great week!

Ruffled Flower Tutorial

Hello once again fellow bloggers & scrappers! Today's post is a tutorial on how to make these really cute two-tone ruffled flowers.

First of all I'd like to give a big thank you to Anna Fearer who inspired me to take a new look at the many punches & dies I have collecting dust in my stash. Anna has a gorgeous Etsy shop full of beautiful handmade flowers. She also has a very inspiring blog where she shares all her lovely creations plus a couple of tutorials on how she goes about making a few of her flowers. It was after watching one of these tutorials that I was motivated to try my own little creation & this was the result. Make sure you visit Anna's Etsy shop More Paper Than Shoes & her blog for lots of handmade flower inspiration.

So for these particular flowers I ended up using the Flower Layers Die by Sizzix--a die that I've had in my stash for years and never really used.

So let's get started!

Step 1: I've used a total of 6 layers for my flower.  I used the second from the largest sized flower.  You can make solid colored flowers, two-tone flowers (my fave) or even a cascade colored flower!  This one will be a cascade flower.

 Step 2: Take 3 of the 6 layers that you plan on using for the bottom part of the flower and snip about 1" in between each petal.

Step 3: Take each petal & with your fingers fold them in half.  They don't have to be perfect.

Step 4:  With a pair of round long nose pliars--take the corner of each petal & curl them down.  If you don't have long nose pliars, a thin skewer, a skinny neck stylus or even a thin paint brush handle can be used to curl the petals.

Step 5:  This is what the edges of your petals should look like once you bend them in the middle & curl the edges down.  I like to think that the petals look like an arch or a very wide letter 'V'.

Step 6: On a foam pad or even a mouse pad--anything soft--shape your layers by cupping them with a stylus or any round object.

Step 7: With strong adhesive (I personally use hot glue) adhere your three bottom petals.  Try to alternate your petals.

This is what your three bottom layers should look like when done.

Step 8: Now shape the 3 top layers in the same manner you shaped the bottom 3 layers.  Only difference is to cut into each petal a little bit deeper than you did with the bottom layers without going all the way to the center.

Take the layer that will be your top most layer.  Punch a hole in the center big enough to tuck a few folded stamens.  Then cup the petal around the stamens as shown.  Add a bit of glue around the petals in order to keep the petals 'hugging' the stamens.  This will be the center of your flower.

Step 9:  Here's what your top 3 layers should look like.

Step 10: Start shaping your top layers now in order to adhere them.  Cup them as shown, add glue to their bottoms & adhere them to your bottom layers.  Again try to alternate those petals.  Finish it up by adhering the center layer.

Step 11:  Here's your finished flower!  Once complete, shape your flower a bit more with your round nose shaped pliars.  When adhering the layers, the petals my lose their curl a bit...so at this point you can re-add a bit of curl to each petal.

Here's an example of a solid ruffled flower. You can see a couple of more two-tone flowers in the background.

Take note that these flowers have a lot of volume to them--meaning they stand pretty tall.  So they're not meant for your traditional scrapbook pages that go into albums.

Hope you found this tutorial of some help & that you take a look at your punches & dies in a whole new way. Can't tell you how happy I am that I now found a very good use for that old Sizzix die I had in my stash with literally an inch of dust on it! Have a great rest of the week!

Corner Punch Flowers Tutorial

Good evening fellow scrappers! While going through a couple of scrapbooking sites I stumbled upon this link on the Fiskars site. It shows how one can make decorative flowers with Fiskars corner punches. I unfortunately don't have many Fiskars corner punches--I do however have a good amount of Martha Stewart corner punches (sorry Fiskars). So I tried to see if there was a way I could leverage the Fiskars tutorial & apply it for Martha Stewart corner punches & here's the end result.

All you need is a bit of free-form cutting to get the petals just right. I don't have all the Martha Stewart corner punches--but so far I've tried with four different ones & the flowers have come out fine! So I'll let you, the reader, experiment with other Martha Stewart corner punches & if you can, do let me know if this tutorial works for you as well.

These flowers are also great for using up scraps & since two of the squares required are 2" x 2" inches you can also use the squares found in the Tim Holtz paper stacks for these flowers. I've actually cut out a few of these squares--which all happen to be exactly 2" x 2" inches in size--for these flowers.

So let's get started!

Step 1: Here's your basic list of supplies. You'll need Martha Stewart corner punches, a pencil or thin paint brush, scissors, cardstock/paper & dimensional foam adhesive.

You'll need two 2" x 2" inch squares & 1 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" inch square

Step 2: Fold all your squares in half both ways. This is to identify the center of the squares & the folds will also serve as guides when you need to cut your petals out

Step 3: Take your corner punch & punch all 4 corners for all your squares like you would normally punch the corners. When done your squares should look like the picture

Step 4: Hand draw a circle in the center of each square. This is to give each layer a center & also to prevent you from completely cutting your petals off. Take your scissors & cut along the folds all the way down to your hand drawn circle

Step 5: This is what your square should look like once done cutting all four sides

Step 6: This is where your free form cutting comes in. The best way to describe this is to pretend that you're cutting a heart out. You already have the top of the heart & you're simply rounding out the bottom. Keep in mind while cutting that you're NOT cutting the petal completely off...you're basically shaping each petal. So as you cut...remember to stop at your hand drawn circle & leave your petals attached

Step 7: Here's a photo of what your squares should look like after you've cut around your petals. You'll have snippets of paper leftover & that will still be attached to your square

Step 8: Next step is to simply snip off the excess paper

Step 9: When done snipping the excess paper, you should be left with four petals. The center does not have to be perfect--it's going to be covered anyway. Your petals don't have to be perfect either. Once you layer your flower any imperfections will be covered

Step 10: Repeat steps 6 through 9 for the rest of your squares

Step 11: This step is optional. If you want you can ink the edges of your petals in order to add more dimension to your flowers

Step 12: Now to shape your flower. Bend all the petals upward at the base as shown in the photo

Step 13: Take your pencil or thin paint brush & use the handle to curl your petals downward

Step 14: Once done curling your petals--your flowers should look similar to my screen shot

Step 15: Now to assemble your flower. Adhere each layer with a foam dimensional adhesive. This will give your flower more dimension. If you do not want this additional dimension you can omit the foam adhesive & just use regular glue. Remember to off set each flower layer

Step 16: When done assembling your flower it should look something like this. Now for the center. You can use anything really. Brads, rhinestones, pearls, stamens etc. I ended up using small mulberry paper flowers that I have laying around my stash for the centers. You're done!

This flower was created with the Martha Stewart (MS) Optic Dot corner punch.

This flower was created with the MS Deco Fan corner punch.

This one used the MS Eyelet Lace corner punch.

Finally, this flower used the MS Loop corner punch. You can see this flower in action on my 'Year 4' layout.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by for a visit & please, do experiment with various Martha Stewart corner punches & let me know the results! Get creative & try mixing & matching them...I haven't had the chance to do that yet but am curious as to the results.