Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Debbi's Paper Flower Tutorial!

I held a Cherry-O recipe/card box workshop on Saturday, June 12th, and since then I've had a lot of people who couldn't attend asking me how I made the paper flower that decorates the front of the box (Thanks for attending Debbie, Donna, and Karyn - we had so much fun - and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to show you how to make these already)!!
So I finally got around to taking some photos to post a flower tutorial for everyone - yaay! Let me first say, that all credit for these flowers should go to my very talented 5th upline and Executive Director with CTMH, Debbi Fournier of LaVerne, California. She is the one who shared and taught us how to create these awesome flowers at a consultant team meeting I attended recently in May. First, you will need to punch out some B&T paper with a punch (or use a die-cut or your cricut) to make FOUR 2-inch scalloped circles (my photo above shows you a few of these punched out, so I could show you the step-by-step progression of how to fold each of these pieces, all in one photo). You will fold your punched circle in half, and then in half again so it looks like the one labeled step #3 above. Then you will fold it in half one more time (because it will be so thick by now, it is easiest to just fold one flap forward and one flap the other way). Use your bone folder to crease your folds well, then open it up all the way and cut it in half on the first folded crease-line you made (as shown in step #5).
Next you will re-fold each half of the punched and creased circle pieces accordian-style (some may call it a fan fold; one piece forward, one back, one forward, and so on). Because you have made 4 scalloped circles cut in half, you should end up with 8 fan-folded pieces. You will also want to punch a cardstock circle using our 1.25" circle punch to use as the base to add your flower petals to. Fold the circle in half twice to create creases and help you find the exact center of the flower (I have marked my center with an x to help you see it more easily).
Next, cover your base cardstock circle with Tombow (or any permanent tape-runner adhesive) and begin adding the folded flower petals. Make sure that the top flap of the fan-folded part opens up facing the same direction as you are adding them all the way around.
Then insert a brad or button in the center of your flower
(I used a colonial white designer brad on mine Z1274).
Finally, I sponged the petals with a sponge dauber and chocolate ink and added a self-adhesive red Sparkle to the center of the brad. You can crinkle and wrinkle up your petals if you want to or just fluff them up with your fingers if you want them to stand up a little more. I adhered the flower to my box with glue dots on top of some crimped hand-cut paper leaves that I sponge-distressed with chocolate ink also. Here is the final view of the recipe/photo/greeting card box I decorated with Debbi's beautiful flower (below):
I hope you will enjoy making some of these simple but "wowie" flowers as much as I do. Have fun getting creative with them!
Special THANKS goes out to Debbi Fournier for sharing her lovely flower with us!

1 comment:

Lizzie said...

TFS! Now I need a scallop circle punch... :D