Saturday, February 18, 2012

Peony Flower Tutorial

Here is a fun and easy flower tutorial to make a peony flower. No difficult techniques or fancy tools/products required!



What you'll need to create this flower is:

-- white cardstock (the cheap stuff from Michael's is just fine!)
-- chalk ink color of choice (I used pink)
-- 6 scallop hearts using a punch or die (your choice of size - depending on the flower size you want to achieve). My punch is 2.5 inches = 3.5 inch flower once done!
-- 2 scallop circles using a punch or die (about half or 2/3 of the size of the heart size you use - mine is 1.5 inches). You could alternatively use a small flower punch.
-- water mister
-- brad (you will not see it so don't use a decorative one)
-- tweezers
-- paper piercer or anything to poke a small hole through 8 paper layers



NOTE: Since you need to crumple up the hearts anyways, you can always fold paper in half and cut some out with deco scissors if you don't have a die or punch. I think this would lend to an even shabbier look since the hearts wouldn't be exactly the same size. OR, this may be pretty using an Oval scallop punch (but you may need 8 to get the same effect as the 6 hearts I used).

STEP 1 - Ink your hearts and circles (or flowers) - you do not need to blend the ink.



STEP 2 - Cut a slit a every second circle scallop "valley". You may end up with odd number as I have so for the last one cut in the middle of one of the "mountains". Skip this step if using a flower punch.



STEP 3 - Water mist all of the hearts and circles and stack 4 hearts like this:



STEP 4 - Add 2 more hearts but place them a little closer to the middle than the first 4.



STEP 5 - Add your 2 circles to the pile and mist a little more



STEP 6 - Poke a hole with your paper piercer, secure the brad in the middle and start scrunching the circles toward the centre in to a tight paper wad - for nice creasing.



STEP 7 - Do the same with one heart at a time and give the entire thing a good tight squeeze. Let it sit like that for a few minutes. If your flower is very wet, you may need to let it sit for a while. You want the petals to be barely damp so that when you open it up, they curl back well instead of flatten out.



STEP 8 - Carefully pull back the hearts tips a bit and shape curved down like this:



STEP 9 - Using your tweezers, twist/shape the centre as desired. Let it dry overnight or speed things up with a heat tool until completely hardened.



DONE! That's it. No complicated tool or techniques!

Here is a variation from a past project, using only the large hearts with patterned paper and a bunch of berries instead of the circles. This worked better for a Fall layout about my boys.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Swirl-A-Palooza!

Say what? Swirlydoos is hosting a fantastic open house event this weekend on their Forum that ANYONE can participate in. What is it? The design team has put together a fantastic line-up of tutorials and challenges for this open crop event. Come join us and find out how to make the large Peony flower on my layout below! Check out the sneaks and events here:
http://www.swirlydoos.com/sd_plugins/forum/forum_viewforum.php?67

This is another project I made with the Swirlydoos February kit. It is me exactly 10 years ago! I added a bit of Dusty Attic chipboard and pink BG lace paper from my stash to create the picture frame and the bit peeking out in the corner of the layout.

Here is a close up of my handmade flower I will be doing a tutorial on. You'll be surprised how fast and easy this flower is to create - and without fancy tools!

See you at the event this weekend, Saturday Feb 18th - starting at 10 am EST. You won't want to miss it!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway while you're here!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A few Pion Design/Green Tara Cards

In the spirit of "love" month I made some cards with the new Pion Design "From my Heart 2" 6x6 collection and so many beautiful Green Tara embellishments - especially roses!


For this first card, I used a scallop heart punch to create the folded heart puffy effect. I wove baker's twine around the heart doily.



This second card is more suited for a baby shower or young girl. I used rosette and twisted organza trim to make the butterfly.



Green Tara Products Used:

9mm Twisted Organza Pearl Antique Pink Ivory 20m Roll
CODE: RB6715API

9mm Twisted Organza Pearl White 20m Roll
CODE: RB6715Wh

38mm Organza Rosette White 10m Roll
CODE: RBD50Wh

2cm Rose Pale Pink
CODE: FDR009PP

3cm White Roses
CODE: FDR024Wh

3 Flower Sprays Cream
CODE: PFSTC

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Spread the love GIVEAWAY!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! On February 25th, I will officially have been blogging for 2 years. So, to celebrate and thank all my wonderful followers (I still can't believe there are 800 of you!)... I am giving away some blog candy. I have put together a blue themed "fight the winter blues" kit.

With Jenny's blessing at Pion Design, I have included some "studio of memories"papers (12x12 and 6x6 sheets) and Pion Design vintage image sheets and coordinated them with some of my favorite MME "bella bella" papers. You'll also find some Dusty Attic chipboard from my Etsy shop, tons of fun flowers, 3 bottles of Stickles, bling, a Prima stamp and some fabric titles. I hope you like it!


TO WIN:
Follow this blog a leave a comment at the bottom of this post in the comments  = ONE entry into the draw.


BONUS "spread the love" ENTRY:
Write a short blog post (or Facebook post if you don't blog) about my giveaway with a LINK back to this giveaway. Then, leave me a second comment with a link to your post here (again in the comments at the bottom of my post) = your SECOND entry for a chance to win the draw.


DRAW DATE:
You have until Feb 29th to enter - lucky leap year day!


Good luck to everyone who enters and most of all thank you for your continued support - I really appreciate it. I'll be back later this week to share some projects and a brand new flower tutorial too!