Funday Monday - In the Garden

It's time once again for the Funday Monday Challenge at Memories Always - Forever!

This week my challenge for you is to create a layout embellished with some flowers.

Flowers make the perfect accent for most any scrapbook page because they are beautiful - and who doesn't want to have a beautiful scrapbook page? I made this page using a portrait of my pretty daughter-in-law Jenny as I wanted to express how much she means to me. I thought the perfect accent for her photo would be some pretty flowers. Of course, I also used lots of bling, because what girl doesn't love bling?
My challenge to you for Funday Monday is to make a page and use some flower embellies - any flowers you like, but flower-pattern paper does not count. But if you want to know how to make the pretty fan flowers like I added to this page, check my tutorial at the bottom.
Meanwhile, anyone who uploads a flower-embellished page to my challenge at MAF, will be entered to win a package of bling from me, including a pack of beautiful Zva Creative crystals. I've just received a bunch of pretty Zva Creative crystals and they are so stunning!

The challenge runs Aug 31 - Sept 6 at midnight. Good luck and I can't wait to see your creations!

So, let's start making fan flowers! First you will need some strips of paper -this is a great way to use up your leftovers. You can use double-sided paper or one-sided, it is not going to matter which. You will also need a stapler, some Mod Podge and a paint brush. I used Mod Podge because it is a quick-drying glue that gives some shine, but you could use any sort of fast drying glue.

All the strips I used were 12-inches in length. Your paper strips can be any width. A half-inch wide strip will make a one-inch wide flower and a one-inch strip will make a two-inch wide flower, etc.
Once you have your strip, deckle one edge or ink it. Be as creative as you like.

As stated earlier, you can use double-sided paper, but it is not necessary. For this tutorial, I used one-sided paper specifically so that you can see which is the top or bottom of the flower.
Once you have your strip edged to your liking, turn it over so that the back side is up and start pleating the paper towards you.
I folded mine about one-quarter inch wide. You can make yours wider or thinner, but be warned that the thickness of the flower is determined by the size of this pleat. If you are going to put your flower on a scrapbook page, you will want it to be low profile. If it is going on the outside of an album, or on a package, you could of course make it thicker.

Once you have the strip completely pleated, be sure both ends are facing up as pictured here. If you have an end facing the wrong way, trim it off. It won't matter if the paper is a bit shorter at all.

Now, keeping the right side in, bring the two edges together and staple them. I like to put in two staples for stability.

Once the edges are stapled, turn your flower right side out and squish it together so that there is no space showing in the center.

Cut a peice of paper slightly smaller than the flower for the bottom. This will not show, so it will not matter if it is the same paper. I cut a small square and rounded the edges. Cover this bit with Mod Podge and adhere it to the back of your flower.

Now turn your flower over and give it time to dry. I use the Mod Podge bottle to hold my flower in place while it is drying, or else it tends to open up and dry crooked.

Lastly, cover the entire flower with Mod Podge for shine. You can skip this step if you like, it's a personal choice.

Finish your flowers with buttons, brads, punched shapes - whatever you can find! I found that brads were not long enough and had to be glued in place, but no matter - they still made awesome flower centers.

And there you have it - a beautiful accent to your page or packages! Have fun making them and once you are done, I would love to see your work!