Sunday 31 March 2013

Flower tutorial



    Hello everyone! Hope you are all having an amazing Easter - The Easter Bunny visited our garden this year and left some eggs in the snow....the kids were thrilled that the Easter Bunny still came along despite the weather being bitterly cold....




      I am still recovering from a nasty flu bug - so haven't done any craft projects. Today however I did need to tidy up the craft cupboard and while I was sat there sorting stuff out (and the kids were occupied with chocolate) I decided to see if I could do the flower tutorial that I got a lot of requests for....I did manage to do it but I really apologise for the quality of the photos...my camera isn't wonderful at the best of times and trying to take pictures and make flowers at the same time was a bit too much for my poor fuddled head at the moment....some of the photos are too blurry and of course the lighting in my art cupboard isn't great......

    Anyway, enough of my poor excuses....lets see if this is helpful at all.......


Here are the items I used -

Peeled Paint DI
Forest Moss DI
Antique Linen DI & DS
Scattered Straw DI
Wild Honey DI
Tattered Rose DI
Shaded Lilac DI

Scissors
Glossy Accents Glue
Flower Punch
Brads
Flower and Leaf Diecuts


  

       Most people know the Tim Holtz Rose technique and I doubt mine differs in any way - but here is how I made them anyway...


Three flowers edged in Antique Linen


Cut one segment from one, two segments from the second and three from the third

 Glue the flower together in a cone shape

   I hold them together with pegs while they dry. I use the extra segment of three petals rolled up to make the centre of the rose



Then glue them all together, roll the edges of the petals back - and you have a rose.



Select two flower shapes, one larger than the other, and shade the edges with a pastel colour - Here I have used Tattered Rose.


 Make sure you cover both sides


Place a pencil point inside the flower and squash the petals against the pencil. Do this several times, you should be able to break down the structure of the card so that it becomes soft and flexible. Keep rotating the flower and squashing the petals.


You can see here I have gone a bit to far and torn the card slightly, but that won't matter when it is all glued together. So don't be afraid to really squash the card. Although it doesn't look it, the card flower here is very soft and flexible and easier to mould to shape.



  When both flower shapes are done, glue the smaller inside the larger and bend the petals backwards slightly and arrange how you want them.



 Very simple flower here...cut a length of card - about 4-5 inches depending on how large you want the flower to be. Shade it both sides with any colour you want - Here I have used Shaded Lilac.


 Cut into the paper in strips of about 1cm deep...cut as close as you can to each strand. It doesn't have to be very exact as the flower will fan out and you won't notice the different width strands....However, it is worth just taking your time to cut as narrow strands as you can as this gives a much better effect.


      Stick a strip of double sided sticky tape along the fringe

 ......and roll it up as tightly as you can...It is fiddly but an easy way to start the rolling is to use a thin pin or needle and roll that up and the remove the pin and keep rolling. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the finished flower by itself - but there is a photo of it in the group of flowers at the end of the tutorial and you can also see it on my Any Eggscuse for Chocolate post


Select three sizes of flowers and squiggle some stains on the mat. I used Milled Lavender here. You want to really drench the flowers so give them a good bath here!


  Keep swishing them in the stain



I keep drying them with the heat dryer and then dabbing up any excess


Cover some card with a contrasting colour - Here I have chosen Scattered Straw. Cover both sides of the card. You don't have to be too neat here, just smoosh some ink over it...



Using a small flower punch, cut out several small flowers. I use normally about 7-8


Poke a small hole in the flowers


Push a brad into the centre - Mini brads are best but I didn't have any this time so had to use a normal sized one. Keep adding the flowers but overlap them so they form a multi-layered effect





When you have enough, secure the brad


Add a drop of glue onto the brad


And fold over 3 - 4 petals so that the brad can't be seen


Then push up all the petals so that they no longer lie flat.


     Place the end of a pencil in the centre of the flower and squash the petals against the pencil.



Glue the three flowers together


 Glue the yellow flower centre into the centre of the flower shapes......

Now how about some leaves?


   Give the leaves a really good DS bath in Antique Linen


Allow them to dry (or heat gun them) but when they are still very slightly damp apply some Forest Moss and Peeled Paint DI's to the mat and spritz with water...


Cover the leaves with a light coating of Peeled Paint....you don't have to be too neat with this. Ivy leaves rarely have neat markings in real life and all are different. Just follow the leaf shape and leave a small edging of the Antique Linen.

Apply for a second time working your way inwards...so leave a wider edge this time, focusing on the center of the leaf


Now dab the Forest Moss over the stems and just at the top of the leaf




Take two flowers shapes and cover with Wild Honey DI


Cut a small strip of card and cover both sides with Wild Honey DI. Cut very fine strands about 0.5 -1 cm deep. 

Use the pencil as described before and push the petals into a cup shape against the end of the pencil.


Roll up the fringed card


Cover the two flower shapes with glossy accents glue and leave to dry


Glue the fringed petals into the center of the flower




And here is the finished arrangement. I dabbed the flowers with a bit of Walnut Stain as I wanted them to look a bit more shabby and grungy (I have plans for them that involve a tag with some grungy paper and rusty wire!)



     I hope that this inspires you to make your own flowers....If you do follow the tutorial I would love to know so please leave a comment!

         Thanks so much for being here and reading this tutorial!

           

19 comments:

  1. There are some really great tips in this tutorial Laura. Thankyou.
    I hope you have had a wonderful Easter, even though you aren't 100% well yet.
    Dot x

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  2. Fabulous tutorial, Thank you for taking the time to share... Gorgeous flowers...I hope you & yours are have a wonderful Easter! Hugs May x x x

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  3. Thank you for the tutorial! I love the flowers. I will have to try it.

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  4. A great tutorial on your wonderful flowers Laura. Hope you feel better soon. Hugs, Anne x

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  5. Fabulous tutorial Laura ! Great step by steps and your instructions are really clear. I'm definitely going to dig out my dies and punches and have a go ! Hope you feel better soon. Sue C x

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  6. I think they look gorgeous but if you think my ten thumbs can follow suit - you're wrong lol!
    xx

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  7. You are amazing!! I figured that not feeling well, we'd see a tutorial on one flower, but WOW...was I impressed to see all the variations you posted. The photos were great and very informative. LOOOVE all your work and the ensemble together is just gorgeous. Thank you SO much. :)

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  8. Fabulous, thank you for the tutorial. Get well soon, we believe eating Easter chocolate helps!!!

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  9. Great tutorials - really clear steps and pics!
    Alison x

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  10. Great tutorial Laura - will have to give these a go. They look amazing all together in the final picture. Hope you feel better soon. Love Margie x

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  11. Laura these are fabulous!!! Thank you so much for the inspiration, I love each and everyone of them and the leaves are totally gorgeous too! The instructions are so clear and don't beat yourself up about the photos, - they are just fine!!

    Hope you feel better soon and thanks so much for taking the time to do this when you are not feeling well. It's very much appreciated!

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  12. Awesome step out...wow!!! These flowers are wonderful and your completed little arrangement is gorgeous! I love the white rose! Hope you feel better as well...no fun!

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  13. Oh, Laura, thank you sooo much for this! I can't wait until I have time (probably not until this weekend) to try some of your techniques! I'm so impressed that you did all of this while you aren't feeling well. I do hope you feel lots better soon!!

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  14. Laura your the BOMB, this is a fabulous tutorial, My friend was visiting yesterday I showed her your post and we both are going to try to make some. Thanks a bunch for sharing big hugs to ya.....

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  15. Hi Laura, Fabulous tutorial, thank you so much, I will be having a go at a few of these. Hugs Mo x

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  16. WOW, this is impressive, I like making my own flowers but yours look really really professional, I'll def will give a go. I just popped over from TioT challenge blog to comment on your entry but stuck here and I'm in treat here, thank you for this fab tut, have to bookmark it and print it too lol
    big hugs
    Ildiko

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  17. Thank you for the tutorial ! Your flowers are fabulous!!!
    Hugs
    Giusi

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  18. Beautiful flowers. You have doen a great job. Thanks for
    Explaning us how to make them. I wil give it a try Anneke.
    www.annekescardart.blogspot.com

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