Saturday, August 29, 2009

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!

14 comments:

Pat said...

Thanks for a great tutorial! Can't wait to try this!

Studio Lailani said...

What a great idea!! Can't wait to try this!!

Lailani

Brenda said...

OMGOSH!! Your layout is breataking!! Sooo beautifly done!! Great tutorial!
hus
Brenda

Lucie P said...

What a beautiful LO and thanks for sharing how to make the flowers. Being on a tight budget with not being able to find work, I have to find ways to embelish in a more frugil way - so this will be great!! Thanks

Teresa aka Tess said...

These are awesome. They remind me of my grandma's yo-yo quilt. So pretty. Thanks for the easy tutorial. :)

Summer Rae said...

I happened on your blog via Mod Podge Rocks. Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing. I am def going to use these in my crafts. Thanks again!

Donna VW said...

I love these. I have been seeing them a lot lately and wondering how to do this. Thanks for the tutorial.

Nicole Maki said...

Awesome tutorial. Can't wait to make some of these.

Thank you.

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans said...

SO cool! I absolutely LOVE it! I always keep my 12 inch strips, now I have something cute to make with them!!

Deborah said...

I love this idea! I can think of so many uses for these flowers. I have a book of wallpaper samples with many pages left that I can't wait to try this idea out with. Thanks for sharing.

Sierra said...

that was so much fun and so easy! love it! can't wait to make more! :)
-Sierra
http://creativekdesigns.blogspot.com

li-bee-ti said...

Thank you so much for this fan flower tutorial!
here what I've made, and you can be sure I'll be making lots of them!

Unknown said...

I heard about your great tutorial from ModPodge Amy. This is wonderfully laid out!

Sonia said...

Awesome! I Love LOVE Love it! Wondering how I didn't find your blog earlier..Its so very cool!