Flower Tutorial

I am sure most of us surf the net looking for inspiration and sometimes we come across a little gem that is just too good not to share! Nat found this great idea on How About Orange blog for creating recycled gift bows and has adapted the idea to create some stunning embellishments.

"Whilst on my daily internet browse I came across this little tutorial on the How About Orange blog on making parcel bows, and naturally my mind started thinking about how this idea could be adapted to create embellishments for scrapbooking and cardmaking. Rather than continuing the layers to build the bow as in the tutorial, I began to think about how these could be replaced with punched shapes and embellishments."

"I started by cutting some double sided papers into strips, I went with 6"x1" strips making this project perfect for using up those endless scraps that we gather! Although I cut a few strips I only actually used four to make this particular flower."

"Using some double sided tape to secure them the tutorial advises you to fold the ends into the centre forming a double loop like a number 8."

"Layer the strips on top of each other and staple them together (or if your not as pushed for time as I always am you could opt for double sided tape or herma etc)"

"Finally embellish the centre of your flower  as you see fit, I started here using a spiral rose and then added a punched flower, button and pearl."

"The finished flower was the perfect topper for a simple card."

"I had a go at another two changing them slightly for different effects.
For the red flower I used narrower 1/2" strips and created a second layer of shorter strips to make the flower more full bodied. I then added a punched heart, rosebud and pins to complete it.
For the green one I stuck to the 1" strips but sniped triangle shapes out of the ends of the loops after I had assembled the flower and added a lace rosette and hand cut butterfly to the centre."

As some of you will know (and are probably coming!) the Sarah's Cards retreat is taking place this weekend at the Daresbury Park Hotel in Warrington, hopefully later on next week we will be able to let you know what we got up to and share some photos of the weekend.
While we are away don't forget our blog give away and sketch challenge, both of which close on Monday 7th March.