Ornate Flower and Fancy Flower Punch

The flower on this card was made using the new Fancy Flower punch from Stampin' Up! It was made using the same method as the one in the video in this post, except I only did three layers, and the flower has been left open in the centre. Before spraying the punched shape with water, I inked the edges with Melon Mambo. The pink centre is a shape from the Boho Blossoms punch. The leaves were made from the Fancy Flower punch. I cut each petal apart like pie wedges, then used my paper piercer and mat to score veins, before adding around the flower. The outer points of the leaves are the inner points of the pie wedges.

The flowers stamped at the bottom of the image panel have Dazzling Diamonds around the centres for a little added interest - doesn't show very well, but you can just about see it if you enlarge the image. I used the 2-way glue pen to apply the glitter.

Card/Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Greenhouse Gala

Ink: Old Olive, Melon Mambo

Stamps: Ornate Flower, Sincere Salutations

Other: Filigree Flower Brad, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

Card Size: 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Buttercups and Daisies

We have plenty of these in our lawn - especially the buttercups. Not much in the way of dandelions though - the rabbits see to that!

This is one of the cards from my most recent class at my local craft shop. One of the ladies was a little worried when she saw all the flowers, but they are really simple to make - the trickiest part is getting them all to stay in place whilst you stick them to the card!

The daisies are just two layers of a Woodware 1" daisy punch stuck together, with a 1/4" circle of yellow crushed velvet card for the centre. After assembling the flower, we sponged a little hint of pink onto the tips of the petals with a sponge dauber.

The buttercups are an EK Success medium Retro Flower punch, with a very finely fringed and rolled strip of card for the centre. The leaves are a Woodware 1" Oak Leaf punch.

The background is stamped in Versamark with a flourish stamp.

I made a little matching tag as well.

Sunflower Pompom Flowers

This card is just a little one - 10.5cm/4" square to showcase the flowers that was demonstrating at my local craft shop today. Made with an X-cut punch called Sun Flower, and a rolled fringed strip of paper for a centre, they are very easy to make. The leaves are actually a snowflake punch - Martha Stewart Glacial Snowflake. I just punched them from green card, folded them in half and tucked them in behind the flowers. Makes a nice little bit of greenery without being too heavy. The embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one called Textile.

I also demonstrated a couple of other flowers made from the same punch, along with a few from different punches, but they haven't made it on to cards yet. Too many flowers - not enough hours lol!

Peach Carnation

The other card from my April class at my local craft shop. This was the afternoon class - it was supposed to be a respite from the concentration of constructing the lily bouquet from the morning class, but the large carnation type flower proved to be more tricky for some of the ladies than I thought! Once the petals have been curled - the easy part - they take on a springy life of their own, and it needs a little taming to get them to behave when constructing the flower! But everyone got there in the end, and all had beautiful carnations on their finished cards.

The carnation is made from die cut scalloped circles, and is a variation of the flower I made for my cardboard cake using my trusty Stampin' Up scalloped circle. This flower has more layers, and I cut between the scallops so that I didn't cut any scallops in half - so two of the quarters had three scallops on them, and two of them had four scallops. In constructing the flower I used the three and four scalloped pieces randomly. The paper is peachy coloured printer weight.

The fern leaf is a Leone Em Rock Fern punch, and the other leaves are from a Sizzlit Flowers, Branches & Leaves set. The smaller flowers use an EK Success Medium Daisy and a Woodware Mini Daisy punch. And the same Martha Stewart border punch set that we used in the morning class - Double Loops.

Lily Bouquet

Some more flowers from a Leone Em punch - this time the Lilium Feather punch (large). They are very simple to make. Punched from plain white printer paper (90gsm), and then watercoloured using markers scribbled onto a piece of acetate and picking up the colour with a water brush. Other punches used are the Leone Em New Ash Family and a Woodware Mini Daisy. The edging on the background piece is a Martha Stewart Double Loop punch.

All the card used is Bazzill. The little flowers are made from pale yellow paper. Here's a closer look. I think the card is 5 1/2" square, but can't remember exactly - it's at the shop where I gave the class in April so I can't measure it!

People have been asking me about tutorials for some of the things I have posted recently - and not so recently! I do intend to get back to doing tutorials, but at the moment fitting it in is a bit of a problem. I'll do my best to work my way through the requests, but have a lot on over the next few days. Hopefully I can begin to get to it next week.

75th Birthday Flowers

Card/Paper: Apricot Appeal, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Scraps of plain yellow and plain burgundy paper from stash

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Versamark, Apricot Appeal
Stamps: Bella Toile, Sanded
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Pearls from Pretties Kit, 5/8 " Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon
Card Size: 15cm x 21cm (approx 6" x 8.25")

Click on the image for a closer look.

I thought perhaps I would be forgiven for the long absence in posting, if I showed you a card with lots of flowers on! It was my mum's 75th Birthday last weekend, and this is the card I made for her. So behind that I was sticking in the insert five minutes before she walked in the front door . .. and it only had half a box to go home in because I messed up the measurements and didn't allow for the extra height of the main flower!

The paper I used for the main flower was some peachy/yellow scraps which I sponged with Pretty in Pink ink. Having done that, the colour almost exactly matches the Apricot Appeal card, which was a happy accident! I used the SU Scalloped Circle punch, and punched out a few circles which I then cut into 3 and 4 scallop segments. These were shaped and stuck onto an EK success six petal flower to make a few layers. I can't remember exactly now, but I think there were about five, plus three extra petals in the centre to finish. I used the same six petal flower punch to make the burgundy flowers, with little Woodware snowflakes for the centres. The tiny flowers are from a Woodware multi flower punch, punched from Very Vanilla and shaped and stuck to narrow strips of Old Olive in groups of three. The centres were simply coloured in with an Apricot Appeal marker. The leaves are a fern punch from Leone Em, and a leaf die from Sissix. Cut from Certainly Celery, and Old Olive and then shaped and sponged to give some character. Couple of little Woodware butterflies in the burgundy paper to finish off.

The Very Vanilla background has been stamped with the Bella Toile background stamp, and heat embossed with clear powder. The Old Olive layer has been stamped with Versamark and the Sanded background. No heat embossing though - I just wanted something subtle to take the plainness off the card.

Here's a close-up (click to enlarge) where you can see more detail of the Bella Toile and Sanded stamping.

Last Stop on our New Catalogue Safari

Welcome to the last day of the safari - and we're flower spotting again. But then what else would you expect from me?!

This card is for my daughter Nicola who was 21 yesterday.

Card/Paper: Barely Banana, Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, Whisper White plain & textured
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery
Stamps: None - computer generated wording
Other: Pretties Kit pearls, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds
Card Size: 21cm x 15cm (approx 6" x 8.25")

Keen eyed safari goers will also spot the new border punch that I've used on this card. It's so nice to have a pretty border punch that will work happily on card as well as paper! I punched the edge of a piece of card, and then trimmed off the punched edge to make it into a narrow strip which I snipped and curved along the edge of the white.

The top corners and the line of holes for the faux stitching were done using more new items - the mat pack and paper piercer. Even though the template has holes in straight lines, you can use it to prick along a curve as I have done here.

I used my drawing program and a font called Harrington to generate the 21 and the greeting. The mat layer on the 21 has been cut from Whisper White then glittered using Heat & Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I embossed the yellow numbers using a Cuttlebug folder, and sponged the edges with the matching ink. The background was quilted using my Fiskars paper trimmer and bone folder.

I've discovered that the paper piercer makes an excellent tool for scoring the line down the middle of my leaves and petals, so I've used that for these ones, along with an embossing stylus. I used three punches for the flowers - the Scalloped Circle, Five Petal Flower, and Boho Blossoms Punches.

White and Yellow Birthday Bouquet

I'm very pleased with the punched border design on this card, even if I do say so myself! I was just playing around with my new Martha Stewart punch and came up with this. The brocade background design in the centre is stamped using Versamark ink onto Bazzill card which gives a nice texture to the design (you can see it on the enlarged image).

I used my Woodware punches to create the flower bouquet - Christmas Flower multi punch with snowflake centres, and three different sizes of Birch Leaf punch for the leaves. The stalks are narrow strips of green card. The tag is just cut with scissors after stamping the greeting on a scrap of card. All finished off with a sheer white ribbon - never sure what it's called - organza? - and flat backed pearls on the corners. Oh, and liquid pearl centres for the flowers.

Golden Anniversary Card

I started with a clip art line drawing of a bell, which I cut apart into the back, clapper and front for the 3d effect. I cut the two bells out of a pale gold card with a slight pearly sheen, then used SU Creamy Caramel ink to add some shading. The upper portion has been embossed using a Cuttlebug Divine Swirls folder. I curved the top layer of the bells slightly, and raised the middle up with foam pads.

The flowers are made using a creamy pearl paper. The larger ones have been sponged with Creamy Caramel around the edges of the petals. I used the same bronzy gold card for the centres of the flowers, the leaves and the matting. The centres of the smaller flowers are Liquid Pearls Gold, and the flat backed pearls in the middle of the larger ones were white, and then I coloured them with a brown permanent marker.

The greeting is computer generated, and the corners of the background were punched using an x-cut punch - don't think that one is still available to buy.

Flower Pot Flowers Tutorial

I have had some requests for how to make the flowers on this card. At last, here it is! (The tutorial on how I made the pot is here.)

The flowers are all made in the same way. In this one I have shown the larger flower, which is made from plain card with the edges coloured with an ink pad. The smaller flowers are made from designer paper, with no colouring on the edges of the petals.


For each flower that you want to make, you need to punch out two daisy shapes, and one Christmas Flower shape. I used the Woodware Daisy punches in the Super (blue 2") and big (yellow 1.5") sizes on my card. The Christmas Flower shape is also a Woodware punch, and is a multi - punch which punches out more than one size of the flower.


Use the DEET to score a crease down the centre of each petal. Hold the needle end flat along the length of the petal, and whilst applying pressure, draw the needle down the length of the petal away from the centre of the flower. Do this on both of the daisy flowers.


Hold the flower in one hand as shown, supporting the petal from underneath with your finger.


(My other hand should be holding the ink pad - but I needed it for the camera.) Gently swipe the ink pad along the petal to colour the edges. Turn the flower for each petal in turn.


Once all the edges are coloured, place the flower on the moulding mat, and using the large rounded end of the character shaping tool, apply pressure and 'draw' circles around the base of the petals to make the flower cup upwards.


Place the Christmas Flower shape on the mat and, starting around the outer edges, emboss in a circular motion, gradually moving in to the centre. Start with gentle pressure, and increase it until the flower is a nice deep cup shape.


Side view to show the three pieces after shaping.


Place a pinhead size dot of pva in the centre of one of the daisy shapes (red arrow), and place the other one on top. Alternate the petals of the two shapes.


Sometimes the flowers will spin around when you are trying to stick the two layers together. This is what I do to combat this. With the glued bottom layer on the work surface, and your hand resting on the table to steady it, very lightly hold the petals with your thumb and middle finger as shown - just enough to stop the flower moving. Keep your index finger free for the next step.


Holding the second daisy by a petal with your other hand where indicated by the red dot, place it on top of the first, alternating the petals and making sure that it is central. Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, bring down the index finger of the hand holding the bottom flower (whilst still holding the top flower with the other hand at the red dot) and press in the centre to adhere firmly. It's so much easier to do this than to read the explanation!


Hold the centre by the edge with tweezers as shown, so that the edges cup up towards you. Put very small amounts of pva all around the edges. (Don't worry about the part being held by the tweezers - there will be enough glue to stick it down.)


Still holding the centre with the tweezers, turn it over so that it domes upwards, and gently place in the middle of the flower. Gently adjust it's position by pushing from the side with the tweezers. Once in place, resist the temptation to push it down as this will squash it. Just leave to one side until the glue is completely dry before handling the flower.


If you find that putting the centre in like this is too difficult for you. Then glue it in the other way around as above so that it cups upwards - much easier, and still looks good!

Little Flower Vine

Card/Paper: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Tea Party DP
Ink: Certainly Celery
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Other: 3mm flat backed pearls, Certainly Celery 1/4" Ribbon
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx 4" x 6")

It's our stamper's ten meeting tonight, and this is one of the make and takes we're doing. I got the idea for the flowers and vine from a card I saw on Splitcoast.

The bottom edge of the white is punched with the Scallop Edge punch, and there is a score line on either side of the ribbon. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to create the vine in Certainly Celery. The flowers were punched using the three flower punch from the Three for You punch box set, and shaped with an embossing tool before attaching to the card and finishing with the pearls. The colour combination looks really fresh and pretty, and this is a very quick card to do.

Ruby and Chocolate Thank You Card

Card/Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures Designer Paper
Ink: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Season of Joy, Thank You Kindly
Other: 5/8" Grosgrain Old Olive, Pearls
Card Size: 10cm x 10cm (just under 4" x 4")

I have been sorting out my boxful of cards ready for a craft fair I'm doing in August, and rediscovered this little card I made a while ago. The circles were cut with Nestabilities, and the corners of the designer paper were shaped using my Stampin' Up! 1/2" circle punch, which is handy for this job as it has markings that make it easy to do it evenly without measuring.

The flowers were made using the two largest sizes from the Woodware Multi Christmas Flower punch - not that I've ever used these flowers on a Christmas card - not yet, anyway! The centres of the flowers are the mini snowflake punch, again from Woodware.

A few people have asked me to show them how I made the flowers on my flowerpot card from a few days ago. I've taken the photos - just need to write the tutorial!

5 Petal Flower Punch Leaf Tutorial

Here's how I made the leaves from this card. Click on any picture for a closer look.



Using the Stampin' Up! 5 Petal Flower Punch, punch out one flower for each leaf spray that you want to make. Also cut out one stem per leaf spray - about 3mm wide is fine. The length of these stems is about 6cm, but it's not critical - any extra length can be trimmed off when the leaf spray is finished.

For the leaves on the card linked above, I first stamped the Old Olive card with the Canvas Background Stamp. The leaves in this tutorial are just using the naked Old Olive.



Cut between each petal to the centre of the flower so that you end up with five separate pieces as shown. The outer tips of the flower petals will become the tips of the leaves, and the point at the centre will be the base that you stick onto the stem.



Using a DEET and moulding mat, make a crease down the centre of the leaf. For the leaves in the picture at the top of this tutorial, I only did this centre crease.



If you wish, make some side veins in the leaf as well.



Place a small blob of glue on a scrap of paper, and touch the tip of the leaf base to the glue.



Stick this first leaf to the top of the stem.



Stick the next leaf to one side, slightly further down the stem.



Then the third one on the other side, slightly further down again. You can either stop here for a small spray . . .




. . . or stick on the other two leaves to make the five leaf spray.