Scallop Punch Flower Tutorial

Well, it's been so long since I promised this tutorial, you've probably given up hope! Sorry to keep you waiting so long. My original post with the cardboard cake is here to remind you.

So without further ado - here is how to make the flowers on the cake:



You will need the Scallop Circle Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, scissors, pva, molding mat, large ball embossing tool, straight tweezers, pencil, double sided designer paper. I have used Stampin' Up! Designer Prints paper in Rose Red. Click on the tab above for tool substitutes for the embossing tool and molding mat.


Punch out three scalloped circles and two half inch circles to make one flower.


Cut each of the three scalloped circles in half, and then into quarters.

Take one of the quarters and place it in the tweezers as shown. Have the side of the paper uppermost that you want to show the most on the flower. Rest the tweezers on your index finger as in the picture, and steady the tweezers between your thumb and other fingers.


Click on this picture to see better. What you need to do is to roll the tweezers to the left so that the right side of the paper folds up and over to the left. Keep up the pressure with the tweezers against your index finger. Not too hard, but firm enough so that the tweezers take the paper with them.


Keep rolling in the same direction with the tweezers so that the paper continues to wrap around them . . . . .


. . . . . . and ends up completely curled around the tweezers like this.


This is how I actually hold the paper and tweezers whilst doing the wrapping in the previous two pictures - but I moved my thumb away for the photo so you could see more clearly what was happening. Don't squeeze too tightly, just enough pressure to smooth the paper closely round the tweezers, but not actually put definite creases in it. And don't try and put your thumb over the top until you have completed the part shown in the triple photo - otherwise it won't wrap properly to begin with. Once you have finished rolling, hold it like this for a few seconds for the warmth from your fingers to help the paper hold its shape.


Slip the finished roll off the end of the tweezers. Do all 12 quarter pieces like this.


Make a dot with your pencil in the middle of the 1/2" circles as a guide.



Take one of the rolled pieces and hold it so that the pointed end is towards the right, and the rounded top to the left.



Grasp the point with your thumb and finger and as you do so it will open itself up a little. At the same time unroll the top of the petal a bit with the other hand.



It should look a little like this. Where I am grasping it with my thumb and finger I have bent the tip so that it is at a 45' - ish angle from the rest of the petal.



Place a little spot of glue on the back of the tip as shown.



Glue the petal onto the circle so that the tip is roughly half way between the dot and the edge of the circle. Glue the second petal opposite.



Stick two more petals on one side evenly spaced between the first two. Then the same on the second side. Six petals make up one layer of the flower.



Make the second layer in the same way as the first. Make sure that the glue is dry before proceeding to the next step. The paper won't shape successfully if it's wet.



Using your large ball embossing tool and molding mat, and a little pressure, emboss in a circle around the base of the petals - move inwards in a spiral to the centre. This will make the petals pop up.



On one of the layers, when you get in to the middle after your spiral, hold the embossing tool vertically and press down fairly firmly to make the petals cup up around the tool.




Here you can see one layer is more cupped than the other. Put a spot of glue in the more open (bottom) layer.



Pick up the top layer and gently squeeze it to close up the petals more. Whilst holding them closed like this, place this top layer inside the bottom layer. Make sure that it is reasonably well centred.

I find that using the embossing tool to apply pressure in the middle to firmly stick the two layers together works better than trying to get my finger in there - less likely to disturb the petals. Remove the tool, and adjust the petals until you are happy with the effect.

On the cake, I then stuck each flower on another scalloped circle punched from green card. In the middle of the cake I stuck three flowers together on a larger green card circle cut using a Nestability scalloped circle.