Paper Rose Creations Tutorial

 I’ve had a few requests for a tutorial on how I make my flowers, so I’m going to give this a try and present a step by step photo lesson on how I make the paper roses using my new Spellbinders Rose Creations die set. From the outset I’ll have to inform the squimish and very easily offended,  that this was a ‘flying by the seat of my pants’ project, therefore I didn’t give my hand model any time to run off and get a manicure before the pics where taken. LOL.

I would ideally have liked to have tools with a large ball stylus for sculpting and molding my paper layers, but since I don’t own these (yet) I needed to improvise with what I had on hand. You may not have exactly the tools and items I used, but I hope you get inspiration to find something suitable in your craftroom that works for you when it comes to shaping your die cuts.

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1. First lets start with the die cuts that I used for the rose I’m doing in this tutorial. In the picture below you can see all of the metal dies in the Spellbinders Rose Creation pack. The three down the left hand side I didn’t use for this rose, and you can see the quanities and sizes of the flower and leaf cuts that I did use.

2. Next I inked the edges of the petals with a sponge to add a bit of visual definition.

3. This is the tool (the long white thingy) I had on hand for shaping my petals. I used the flatish end (left) but I’ve also used a spoon handle which was not too thick  for this next part.

4. Using the thin edge of the tool under the petal and your thumb over the top, pull and curl the paper downwards. You’ll be stretching the paper slightly as you do this and that is what creates a curl in the paper that’ll hold it’s shape. Do this to all petals on all sizes except the smallest .

5. On the smallest, curl the petalsbetween your finger and thumb  around a long narrow tool such as the stylus shown in the picture below. If you don’t have a tool like this than a skewer whould work just as well.

6. Now I have all the petals shaped it’s time to add some shape to the layers. This is where I improvise yet again. Taking one the two largest flowers, I place it upside down on the lid of my Tombow glue bottle, and push down with my fingers and thumbs so it’ll take on the shape of the lid. Repeat with the other flower.

7. For the next sized flower I used the cap of my two-way glue to mold the petals down.

8. For the next two flower shapes I used the ‘butt’ end of my peircer. The end of a pencil or pen would work just as well. Mold the petal well down over the end of the tool so the petals are nearly upright when you take it off the end of the tool. When I do this step one petal usually ends up folded back behind another. That can be a good thing.

9. The tiniest flower gets the same sort of treatment, but over a much smaller ‘mold’. I slipped the end of the ball stylus thru the hole in the die cut and molded it over the end of the tool, as shown in the picture. I’ve also used the pointy end of a pen or pencil to do something similar.

10. Now I’ve created a tiny cup with my smallest flower, I hold it between my thumb and fingers and with my pointy nosed tweezers I curl the sides of the petals in more. I also at this time give the bud a little pinch while it is in this position to stop the petals from unfurling.

11. Now I have all the flower shapes curled and molded it’s time to glue the layers together. I start at the bottom and work my way up to the center. Off set the layers as you go so you end up with petals showing in the between spaces.

12. When I get to the forth layer, I glue the flower down and I find holding the center down with a pencil butt until the glue sets helps at this stage. When the glue has set I then push the petals into a more upright position. I find doing this creates a memory for the paper so it’ll remember to hold it’s new shape better. It’s hard to see in the pictures but as each layer goes on,  the flower will tend to flatten, so I do this to make the flower look fuller.

13. I add in the last three flowers by holding them by the tips as I glue each one down into the centre. For the last I add a generous amount of glue so it sets around the tight bud to keep it in place.

14. Once the glue has set, play around with pushing some of the petals back under to make the bloom look fuller. For the leaves I also curled under the outer edges for more dimension.

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Hopefully you may have found some or most of this tutorial useful. Let me know what you think. Constructive feedback would be useful. I’ve got a lot of enjoyment out of making these flowers as it has got me back into the creative groove again. I’m on the look out for other ways flowers are created using this die and have found some great inspiration already just from doing a google search. Of course the Spellbinders Blog is always a great place to start.  Give it a go yourself!

Thanks for coming on this journey with me.

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Posted by Theresa Miers on April 28, 2011

http://misstreez.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/paper-rose-creations-tutorial/