How I make my flower embellishments

I try and try to aim for CAS cards and fail every time, so I thought this time I’ll talk about the opposite, the times I make pretty, fussy cards with flower embellishments.

Occasionally I buy floral embellishments, especially teeny silk ones and I’ve got a have of resin roses at the minute for a project which then fell through, but they’re so expensive. Instead, I try to make my own, and these are my methods:

1. Cut a circle, cut a spiral into it and use tweezers or a quilling tool to roll it up

Cut circles. The larger the circle, the bigger your flower

Cut spirals into your shape. The narrower these are, the shallower the flower

Twist your spiral into a flower shape, using tweezers or a quilling tool to help. You can start from the inside or outside, but glue at the very end or it’ll be a very tight, false looking shape

Individually these look a bit odd, but in a group they do work well

2. Use dies to create spirals to then roll into a flower shape

Again, these look best in a group

3. Stamp and fussy cut. Leave them flat, layer them up, use a ball tool on a foam mat or your fingers to shape the petals

4. Use a simple flower die, ink the edges and shape with your fingers, cut petal shapes into the flower, layer up and secure with a brad

I’m sorry, I can’t remember for definite which company this is, or the name of the die, although the wonderful Craftyrat thinks it may be Sizzix, free with the Big Sot starter kit

Die cut as many layers as you want for your flower

Ink the edges and daub over the top of one layer – optional, but I much prefer the look like this

Cut petals. Be careful to leave an uncut area in the middle.

Layer your die cuts together, secure with a brad (i prefer this to glue as it leaves movement)

Scrumple up your petals to give depth and dimension

Finished flowers with different numbers of layers. L-r back row first 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 layers

5. (Timely arrival of my latest issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft) use Sheena’s balloon petal dies to create small flowers, or layer into large ones

6. Use a stamp and die set

7. Use my Scan’N’Cut. I have the Decorative Dimensions USB and I use the rose cutting file, but there is a buttercup, daisy, forget me not, giant dahlia, giant Gerbera, giant peony, giant rose and giant sunflower as well (I’d not looked at the list in a while, I really need to branch out!)

Two different size roses, but the cutting file can made huge or teeny, hundreds of sizes possible