Favorite Flowers

Paper flowers are all the rage in crafting right now.  Though they can be time consuming, flower embellishments can give such dimension and unique appearance to a myriad of projects.  Here are some of my faves that I've come across in blog surfing lately:

My all-time favorite flower right now is one that Lollychops makes.  Here's the link for her flower tutorial, and here are some samples I've made in the past of this type of flower:

Lolly's flowers are fun and fast to make.  I love to fit them into my projects here and there.

Here are some other links for paper tutorials.  I haven't tried them yet, but can't wait to include them in some future projects.

Simi Stamper's Paper Rose

Mel Stamp's Embossed Fresco Flowers

Mel Stamp's Book Page Flowers

Fresh and Fun's Grunge Flower

Jen Jockisch's Patterned Paper flower

Little Birdie Secret's Paper Roses Video Tutorial

Susan Robert's Snowpuff blossoms

Scrapbook Trends Scalloped Circle Flowers

In my last post, I told you that I would share how I made the pinecones on this card,

and since a pinecone is sort of a flower, I thought it would be a nice way to end my flower post. 

To begin with, you need a heart punch.  Any heart punch will do, just keep in mind that the larger the punch, the larger your pinecone will be.  I like small and medium heart punches for this technique.

I decided to use an SU three-heart punch to demonstrate the different sizes of pinecones. 

Start by punching out 16-20 hearts out of brown cardstock.  You can mix the shades of brown to give variation if you'd like.

Next, you will want to use a tool with a rounded end to create the toile technique (see this post for instructions).  Then turn the heart over and score down the center.  After scoring, fold the heart in half.

Next, you'll want to punch out a circle to use as your base.  The size of circle depends on what size pinecone you are creating. 

Fold up the pointy end of each heart to create a "tab".

Add a border of glue to your punched circle. I like Scotch Fast-Drying Adhesive for all my paper projects. 

Start adding your hearts to your punched circle, layering as you go.  Add the glue to the back of the "tab".   As the glue dries, start scrunching your pinecone together, bend edges to your liking, create a cupped shape.  At this point, you could also use this as a flower if you didn't want to make a pinecone, just use brighter colored cardstock and don't scrunch the blossom.

You'll want to glue the last two hearts together at the "tab, and then scrunch to make a flower shape.  Attach this to the center of your pinecone.

You now have your completed pinecones.

Here's a card I created using three medium-size pinecones.

I used Crystal Effects and chunky glitter to give my pinecones an icy/snowy appearance.  I also used some of the extra hearts to embellish my card.

Now, my pinecones created in a minimum of time with very few tools.  To make some very elaborate pinecones, as well as many gorgeous flowers, please check out The Paper Bouquet by Susan Tierney-Cockburn.  There are two different volumes with many different types of blossoms. 

Well, this has been a very long post, so I'll sign off now.  I hope you enjoyed my version of pinecone-making and will try your own soon.

Til Next Time,