Flower Pot Flowers Tutorial

I have had some requests for how to make the flowers on this card. At last, here it is! (The tutorial on how I made the pot is here.)

The flowers are all made in the same way. In this one I have shown the larger flower, which is made from plain card with the edges coloured with an ink pad. The smaller flowers are made from designer paper, with no colouring on the edges of the petals.


For each flower that you want to make, you need to punch out two daisy shapes, and one Christmas Flower shape. I used the Woodware Daisy punches in the Super (blue 2") and big (yellow 1.5") sizes on my card. The Christmas Flower shape is also a Woodware punch, and is a multi - punch which punches out more than one size of the flower.


Use the DEET to score a crease down the centre of each petal. Hold the needle end flat along the length of the petal, and whilst applying pressure, draw the needle down the length of the petal away from the centre of the flower. Do this on both of the daisy flowers.


Hold the flower in one hand as shown, supporting the petal from underneath with your finger.


(My other hand should be holding the ink pad - but I needed it for the camera.) Gently swipe the ink pad along the petal to colour the edges. Turn the flower for each petal in turn.


Once all the edges are coloured, place the flower on the moulding mat, and using the large rounded end of the character shaping tool, apply pressure and 'draw' circles around the base of the petals to make the flower cup upwards.


Place the Christmas Flower shape on the mat and, starting around the outer edges, emboss in a circular motion, gradually moving in to the centre. Start with gentle pressure, and increase it until the flower is a nice deep cup shape.


Side view to show the three pieces after shaping.


Place a pinhead size dot of pva in the centre of one of the daisy shapes (red arrow), and place the other one on top. Alternate the petals of the two shapes.


Sometimes the flowers will spin around when you are trying to stick the two layers together. This is what I do to combat this. With the glued bottom layer on the work surface, and your hand resting on the table to steady it, very lightly hold the petals with your thumb and middle finger as shown - just enough to stop the flower moving. Keep your index finger free for the next step.


Holding the second daisy by a petal with your other hand where indicated by the red dot, place it on top of the first, alternating the petals and making sure that it is central. Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, bring down the index finger of the hand holding the bottom flower (whilst still holding the top flower with the other hand at the red dot) and press in the centre to adhere firmly. It's so much easier to do this than to read the explanation!


Hold the centre by the edge with tweezers as shown, so that the edges cup up towards you. Put very small amounts of pva all around the edges. (Don't worry about the part being held by the tweezers - there will be enough glue to stick it down.)


Still holding the centre with the tweezers, turn it over so that it domes upwards, and gently place in the middle of the flower. Gently adjust it's position by pushing from the side with the tweezers. Once in place, resist the temptation to push it down as this will squash it. Just leave to one side until the glue is completely dry before handling the flower.


If you find that putting the centre in like this is too difficult for you. Then glue it in the other way around as above so that it cups upwards - much easier, and still looks good!

Cards in a Hurry

Card/Paper: Whisper White, Handsome Hunter, Almost Amethyst
Ink: Sage Shadow, Almost Amethyst Marker
Stamps: Hero Arts - Mixed Design Borders from the Glitter Pot
Card Size: 9.5cm x 9.5cm (3.25" x 3.25")

Although my daughter asked me for these cards a whole two days in advance, me being me, I didn't get round to doing them until a few hours before they were needed. I saw this card on Splitcoast Stampers which gave me the idea for the house. I drew the shapes on the computer and cut them out with my Silhouette (Robo). The rest of the card needed to be pretty simple so I could do a dozen of them quickly. So I only added a little computer generated text, a quick bit of stamping and sticking, and finally some hand drawn heart shaped smoke.

Saffron and Blue Butterflies

Card/Paper: Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: So Saffron, Brocade Blue
Stamps: Touch of Nature, Sincere Salutations
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx 4" x 6")

This is the second make and take card we did at last night's stamper's ten meeting.

We used the fern and branch image from the Touch of Nature set to make the saffron background. The butterflies were stamped using the blue, and then very carefully had the saffron added by dabbing with a marker so as not to make the blue run. After cutting them out, they were glued on just by their bodies.

To keep the wings elevated, half a foam pad was stuck behind each wing as shown. The backing paper was left on the pad so that it doesn't stick to the card, but just acts to keep the wings raised.

The little yellow corner decorations on the front of the card were made by punching 1/4" circles and shaping them with an embossing tool.

Little Flower Vine

Card/Paper: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Tea Party DP
Ink: Certainly Celery
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Other: 3mm flat backed pearls, Certainly Celery 1/4" Ribbon
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx 4" x 6")

It's our stamper's ten meeting tonight, and this is one of the make and takes we're doing. I got the idea for the flowers and vine from a card I saw on Splitcoast.

The bottom edge of the white is punched with the Scallop Edge punch, and there is a score line on either side of the ribbon. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to create the vine in Certainly Celery. The flowers were punched using the three flower punch from the Three for You punch box set, and shaped with an embossing tool before attaching to the card and finishing with the pearls. The colour combination looks really fresh and pretty, and this is a very quick card to do.

Ruby and Chocolate Thank You Card

Card/Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures Designer Paper
Ink: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Season of Joy, Thank You Kindly
Other: 5/8" Grosgrain Old Olive, Pearls
Card Size: 10cm x 10cm (just under 4" x 4")

I have been sorting out my boxful of cards ready for a craft fair I'm doing in August, and rediscovered this little card I made a while ago. The circles were cut with Nestabilities, and the corners of the designer paper were shaped using my Stampin' Up! 1/2" circle punch, which is handy for this job as it has markings that make it easy to do it evenly without measuring.

The flowers were made using the two largest sizes from the Woodware Multi Christmas Flower punch - not that I've ever used these flowers on a Christmas card - not yet, anyway! The centres of the flowers are the mini snowflake punch, again from Woodware.

A few people have asked me to show them how I made the flowers on my flowerpot card from a few days ago. I've taken the photos - just need to write the tutorial!

5 Petal Flower Punch Leaf Tutorial

Here's how I made the leaves from this card. Click on any picture for a closer look.



Using the Stampin' Up! 5 Petal Flower Punch, punch out one flower for each leaf spray that you want to make. Also cut out one stem per leaf spray - about 3mm wide is fine. The length of these stems is about 6cm, but it's not critical - any extra length can be trimmed off when the leaf spray is finished.

For the leaves on the card linked above, I first stamped the Old Olive card with the Canvas Background Stamp. The leaves in this tutorial are just using the naked Old Olive.



Cut between each petal to the centre of the flower so that you end up with five separate pieces as shown. The outer tips of the flower petals will become the tips of the leaves, and the point at the centre will be the base that you stick onto the stem.



Using a DEET and moulding mat, make a crease down the centre of the leaf. For the leaves in the picture at the top of this tutorial, I only did this centre crease.



If you wish, make some side veins in the leaf as well.



Place a small blob of glue on a scrap of paper, and touch the tip of the leaf base to the glue.



Stick this first leaf to the top of the stem.



Stick the next leaf to one side, slightly further down the stem.



Then the third one on the other side, slightly further down again. You can either stop here for a small spray . . .




. . . or stick on the other two leaves to make the five leaf spray.

Quick Little Pumpkin Flower Tutorial

Here's the promised flower tutorial for the flower on this card. Click on any of the pictures for a closer look.



Using the Stampin' Up! Scallop Circle Punch, punch out two shapes in white. Using the Boho Blossoms Punch punch out the largest flower shape in green, and the smallest one in white. Using a piece of cut and dry foam pressed onto an ink pad, sponge some colour around the edges of all the pieces.



Mark a dot in the centre of each of the four shapes. Cut each shape between the scallops towards the centre as shown. Don't go all the way to the centre, and make sure you don't make the petals too narrow at the base.



On the two large scallop circle shapes, go around again, this time cutting each petal in half towards the centre. Again, don't cut too far in. The scallop circle on the top left shows how it looks after the first round of cutting, and the one on the right after the second round.



These two pieces show the difference between sponging the shape after cutting the petals (left) or before cutting them (right). On my card in the link above, the pieces were sponged after cutting.



Using a character shaping tool (see tool substitutes tab at the top of my blog), apply pressure in circular movements at the base of the petals to cup the flower up a little. Do this on all of the pieces. You'll need to use a smaller embossing tool for the smaller pieces.



Here is how they look after they've all been shaped.



Using a pinhead spot of pva in the centre of the shapes, glue all of the pieces together as shown. Alternate the two larger pieces so that the scallops of one layer sit between those of the one below.



The centre of the flower can be finished off in whichever way you prefer - a brad, pearl, gem - or a 1/4" circle shaped with an embossing tool to dome it up as here.




Place a small blob of pva in the centre of the flower, and place the shaped circle, dome upwards, on top of the glue. Gently touch it on the top to settle in to place, and leave to dry. You need just enough glue to touch the underside of the domed circle, but not too much or it will squelch out from underneath. Practice will teach you how much is too much - as I can testify!

Once finished, and the glue dry, you will need to fluff up the petals of the flower to separate out the two layers.




Here is the same flower finished with a pearl from the Pretties Kit instead.

Gift Voucher Card

Card/Paper: Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery
Ink: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant
Stamps: Soft Summer, Live Your Dream, Fresh Cuts
Other: 1/4" Certainly Celery Grosgrain ribbon

Just for once, the card I had in my head ended up as I envisaged it. So often I get side tracked along the way, and the card evolves into something completely different to my original idea.

I used the lovely soft flower image from Live Your Dream - it's the outline part from this two step set. It's done with Old Olive ink, but I stamped off once on scrap paper first to lighten it. The strip of Elegant Eggplant at the bottom is simply scored to make a frame for the ribbon. A quick sentiment with the oval punches, and two little butterflies, and it was done.

The inside is stamped to match, with a pocket to hold a Stampin' Up! gift voucher - redeemable only through me. This one shows £25, but I can create them in any amount on request. Use the contact me tab at the top of my blog if you would like to purchase one. (UK only.)