Flower Tutorial

PHOTO HEAVY

Glad you stopped by.  I had a lot of folks ask me just how I did the 3-D paper blossom seen here, and here .

As you know, I typically give explanations as to how I do stuff, or at least a sequence of events. But I felt, if I added some photos, the explanation just might be a bit clearer.  (I'm a visual person myself.)  So, here we go.

Supplies:

white shimmer paper

white embossing powder

versa mark ink

heat tool

aqua painter

classic re-inker

white craft re-inker

glue dots

hot glue & gun

foam matt

curling tools (wooden dowl, wooden skewer)

crumb cake classic ink pad

classic ink pad of the same shade as the classic re-inker

I started with Stampin' Up!'s shimmer white cardstock.  (This is a heavy weight cardstock with a water resistant barrier (so to speak) on it.  It's the cardstock that is recommended to use, when doing any type of color wash.  The water stays on top of the card stock, and doesn't soak through.) 

You could use water coloring paper, but your effect will be slightly different, as well as the texture.  So experiment and have fun {smile}.

To begin, I stamped three blossom patterns with Versa Mark, then used white embossing powder, and heat set the images.  (If  you use water color paper, stamp with a Staz-On color.)

heat embossed white blossom images on shimmer paper

To color wash:  I then placed a drop of re-inker (color of your choice) onto a color palate tray.  First, you will need to wet your paper.  Water color the paper with plain water, or spray the paper with water.  With your aqua painter pick up a dab of reinker and 'wash' the heat embossed paper with the color.  (The more reinker you use, the darker the color.)

Once the color washed images are dry, punch out the blossom shapes.

three blossoms stamped, heat embossed, color washed, and punched.

With your paper snips, cut one petal off one blossom, and two petals off another blossom.  (The more blossoms you have the fuller your finished blossom will be.)  {On this blossom, I used with four blossoms.}

petals cut

Now it's time to bend and curl blossom layers and petals.  I use what I have on hand for this part.  You will need 2 different size curves.  I use a wooden dowl for cakes, and a wooden skewer for BBQ.  But, you can use a pencil, and a paint brush handle, as well.  (The idea, is to have a narrow bend, and a medium bend.)

I used my wooden dowl to curl the petal tips out.  I used my wooden skewer to bend the petal piece inwards, to get the cut ends to meet.  I used a glue dot to hold the cut ends of the petals closed.

curled single and double petals

I like to start from the inside of the blossom and work my way to the outside.  This allows me to ensure that each layer fits snugly together, without too much of a gap.  I nestled the single petal into the double petal blossom.  Now adhere the 2 layers together.
I like to use hot glue to hold everything together.  But you can use any liquid-type of adhesive.  (If you use any liquid adhesive except hot glue, you will need the adhesive to dry before you continue.)

single blossom nestled in double blossom

Now, you just keep building your blossom.  Remember, each piece needs to be curled.  Curl the petal tips out, and the blossom piece inwards.  Don't forget to connect the cut ends together.
As I layer, I also off-set each new addition.  This gives the finished blossom a spiral effect.

the single and double petal blossoms are nestled inside the four petal blossom

the five petal blossom with the cut end joined with a glue dot

the single, double, and four petal blossoms are nestled into the 5 petal blossom

the only whole blossom piece

To complete the blossom, stack the layered blossom into the whole blossom piece.

the whole blossom piece with the stacked blossom pieces

completed layered/stacked blossom

Once all your liquid adhesive has dried, it's time to distress your blossom.  (I use a glue gun, because I can't wait for glue to dry.)  

Place a drop or two of white craft re-inker onto your plastic color palette.  With a paint brush, brush the white craft ink onto the petal tips.  You may need to 'lift' a petal or two, to get the white craft ink where you want it.  But don't fret, since your glue is dry, the blossom won't come apart.

white craft ink applied to petal tips

After you have painted all the petal tips with white craft ink, dunk the whole blossom into a tub of dazzling diamond glitter.  (You can also pour the glitter onto the blossom.)  Tap off any extra glitter that has not adhered to the craft ink.  Let the glitter 'set' with the craft ink, aka allow to dry.  This is a good time, to grab another latte, cup of tea, go the bathroom, grab a sandwich, start another load of laundry.  You get the idea.  This takes about 15 minutes.  Give or take.  It really depends on how thick you painted the white craft ink onto the petals.

Now, it's time to distress the petal tips.  I sponged crumb cake classic ink onto the dried petals ends.  (The dried craft ink holds the glitter in place.)  Sponge little,  or a lot.  This part makes some folks a little nervous.  Just remember how pretty our blossom is when we finish.

crumb cake classic ink sponged onto petal tips

Now, we add the 'real' color.  The 'real' color is the color you used to wash the original whole blossoms with.  Using the same color to sponge over the same areas you used crumb cake classic ink.  (Using a sponge places color randomly without saturating the color.) For this blossom, I sponged perfect plum classic ink.  (By using the same color, but in a different strength/medium adds a certain depth to the color.)

perfect plum classic ink sponged onto petal tips

Viola!  Your blossom is complete.  Just adhere the paper flower to any paper craft.  

completed paper blossom

Remember, this blossom is tall.  So it will add bulk to your project.  If this blossom is placed on a card front, the card will not fit inside the coordinating envelope.  You will need a decorative box or an oversized envelope.

side view of paper blossom, to show height

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope this tutorial helps you see how these paper blossoms are created.  They aren't hard.  But they also don't take 5 minutes.  If you have any questions, please drop me a line.