Sunday, February 27, 2011

Paper Flower - Paper Craft Technique

One of my goals this year was to give hand-made cards to my friends & family on their birthday. I didn't want to send everyone the same card so I began looking for new ideas. I was happy to find this paper flower technique in a magazine. 


Paper flowers are a great technique to use when you need to make a card in a pinch. The steps are simple and use a limited amount supplies. Also, they can be sent through the mail with standard postage.  


Tools Needed:
  • 1" circle punch
  • 1-1/2" circle punch
  • double-sided card stock
  • coordinating solid card stock
  • 1 brad
  • 1 small flower embellishment
  • scissors
Punch one 1-1/2" circle and one 1" circle from the solid card stock and set aside. Punch twelve 1" circles from the double-sided card stock.
Fold in the corners of six 1" circles to form the shape of a petal. Fold the other six circles in the opposite direction so an alternating design is showing on half of the petals. 
Using a dry adhesive begin adhering the petals to the 1-1/2" circle. Try to keep the top of the petal's aligned. It's okay if the flower doesn't sit exactly on the center of the circle because when your done the circle isn't visible. 

To finish the flower, lay the 1" circle from the coordinating card stock in the center of the flower. Using scissors pierce a hole through the center of both layers. Lay the flower embellishment on the circle and thread the brad through all the layers opening the prongs of the brad to secure.

To make the card in the example, I matted patterned card stock with solid card stock and adhered to a pre-made card base. I also added a 1-1/2" strip of patterned card stock to the left side of the card. Then, I punched a tag out of cream card stock and applied a "Happy Birthday" rub-on with 3 adhesive rhinestones underneath. 


The options are endless with this technique. You can increase the size of the flowers by using larger punches. You can add stems to your flowers using ribbon or even assemble a entire garden!


Enjoy!!

2 comments:

Allie said...

Wow! I always knew your cards were special, but I never realized quite how much work goes into them. You're awesome! And this card is gorgeous!!!

Unknown said...

So, so pretty! Your cards are always keepsakes.