Flower Tutorial

UPDATE:  IF YOU PREFER TO PURCHASE RATHER THAN CREATE .... COMPLETED FLOWERS ARE AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY STORE! THE LINK IS ON THE LEFT SIDEBAR!  ALTHOUGH SHOWN IN VANILLA WITH PEARL OR RHINESTONE CENTERS, OTHER COLORS ARE AVAILABLE IN ANY SU COLOR OF CARDSTOCK!  JUST CONVO ME!

Hello everyone!  I have had a number of requests for a tutorial showing how to make one of my flowers.  You can see this flower on a number of my older posts.  Here, and here, and another one here, in black on this banner, and in color on this card.  There are more examples but as you can see from these, this pattern looks great in any color - even black!  So, let's get started ...

You should use a good quality cardstock.  One that can stand up to water without falling apart.  For my tutorial I used a soft romantic shade called Pink Pirouette.  It's a beautiful color!  You will need three flower punches of different sizes.  I used a Fancy Flower Extra Large, the 5 Petal Punch, and an older small flower punch.  Three flowers of each shape will be required.

Stack your flower shapes from large to small.  Stagger the petals as you go.  Make a hole in the center (I use an upholstery needle) and secure the stack with a brad.

Spritz with water.  This is done at the beginning and during the process of folding the petals.  As you lift each petal you will see that the cardstock beneath is dry.  When that occurs, spritz a little more water on the dry spots.  You don't want your flower drenched but you want the cardstock "pliable".

Onto the petal folding ... lift each petal individually toward the brad.  See how tight I am to the center?  These small petals should be standing nearly straight up.

Spritz again to wet the dry cardstock you just exposed.  Then proceed to fold up each petal of the next three layers.  I turn the flower as I go - only doing one layer at a time and possibly spritzing in between if needed.  Pinch these petals so they are standing straight up .. or close to it.  Making them wrinkled and scrunched is ok - that's what you want!

Finally, the last three layers.  Same as before ... spritz, lift up to a "standing" position, and spritz more as you go.  See how wrinkled this has become?  Perfect!

I thought it best to show you the bottom.  You can see how small it is in relation to the wings on the brad.  That gives you an idea on how wrinkled and scrunched the petals are!

Now, it's simply the whole process in reverse.  Begin to peel back the petals from the wrinkled bundle.  Do one petal at a time and work your way around the flower until you have an entire layer complete before you start the next layer.  Carefully curl the petals tips down (I use my upholstery needle).  Remember, your flower will be damp so be a little gentle.

Now the next layers.  Same process here.  One petal at a time and complete an entire flower before starting on the next layer.  Wrinkled, crinkled, shabby goodness ...

The last three flowers all scrunched up in the center are so sweet.  This is my favorite part.  Just take the tip of your needle (or whatever tool you happen to be using) and push them back to expose the brad inside.  You can leave them tightly closed or open them up fully.  Whatever your heart desires ....

The flower was then spritzed with a glitter spray and allowed to dry.  As a final touch to this lovely pink, I added an elegant center embellishment from Basic Pearl Jewels. 

Whew - my first tutorial ... I hope it was easy to understand.  Thanks for stopping by - I'll be back later with more to share!  (Perhaps I'll find a home for my pretty little pink flower.)

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