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.
