Folded Paper Flowers - with Tutorial!

Hi Everyone

I made these flowers this afternoon. It's actually surprising how quick they are to make - to give you an idea - I made these in the time it takes for 2 "Dora the Explorers" to play on DVD..

You can also see these flowers made with maps here

For those with no kids or kids over the age 8 - that's about 50 minutes!

It's also the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month too - so a big HELLO and THANK-YOU to anyone who has donated in any way or helped fundraise for this very worthy cause.

I have also attempted a tutorial for the first time!  I have seen a few on-line for these flowers but I think this summarises the steps pretty easily. Would love some feedback!

I have used the Cosmo Cricket "Jolly by Golly" collection from last year and I am going to put something similar together for the Artfull Crafts Christmas Countdown next month using one of the Kaisercraft collections.

  

I used leftover papers I was not too keen on for these flowers -
I can't wait to make some using papers I really like!



Having experimented with different numbers of petals -
odd numbers seem to look the best!

 Tutorial

I used a hot glue gun to bond these as it dries almost instantly and is very strong. For the stalks I covered some wooden lollipop sticks with paper and glued them between two of the petals. 

I have some florist foam (from the $2 shop) in the bottom of the bucket (from The Warehouse) which makes it really easy to stand and adjust the flowers.

Would love some feedback on the tutorial given it is a first for me.  Give these flowers a try - you do not have to use double sided paper and if you grab a big glass of wine - you could make heaps in front of the TV in an evening!

How about using them for:

A table display for Christmas
A bunch of flowers that never fades
Party favours
Someone who can't have fresh flowers (allergies, people undergoing chemotherapy)

Christmas Tri-Fold Cards

Hi everyone - the Artfull Crafts Christmas Countdown has started with the Design Team posting almost every day with great inspiration and ideas. Each week has a different theme and this week we are kicking off with Cards.

In my box of Christmas Goodies were the latest papers from the Imaginisce “Cottage Christmas” collection.

There are some lovely colours and a real variety of prints suitable for everything from cards for kids, bold brights – some of them even have a retro feel to them.

I created these cards for the Artfull Crafts blog today


Tri-Fold Shutter Card


I had seen a few of these in magazines and on-line and I have been waiting for ages for a suitable time to try one out! It looks complicated but it’s really not. Just follow the diagram carefully and remember to use EITHER the inches or cm measurements. Either set of measurements will result in a card to fit a standard envelope.



Be sure to define your folds very well



When I try something new like this – I always give it a go with scrap card first (even a cereal box for thicker cards) to get a feel for how it works, double check measurements etc. It’s much easier to make adjustments at this stage, where if you make a mistake you haven’t spoiled any of your good quality paper.



This card looks great from any angle

The card folds completely flat for posting


Once you have made your card base following the diagram – then the fun starts and you can get decorating. I used plain cardstock in co-ordinating colours to make a mat for each panel and then cut patterned paper to decorate. I used a 1/8 inch margin (3mm) each time to get a layered effect.

The beauty of this card is the structure, so I wanted to keep the decoration simple. Saying that I have seen some really ornate cards in this style online which work very well too.

Here is the template for this card

Tri-Fold Square Card

Once again I have provided a diagram for the basic card which I made from plain white cardstock. Once you have done this , place the card down in front of you right side down, and glue the top left triangle to the bottom left triangle.

I printed some invitation wording onto acetate for the inside – but of course you can write any note or greeting you like. I have highlighted some of the stars on the patterned paper with rhinestones and used Kindyglitz on a chipboard accent for additional decoration.

The chipboard present on the front of the card was a Cosmo Cricket piece I had from last year, so I covered it with the Imaginisce patterned paper, then a layer of glossy mod-podge and then a little bit of Kindyglitz over the top for extra sparkle. I used Kaisercraft’s tiny red pearls for Holly Berries. The ribbon is glued across the back only, leaving it free to be tied easily at the front.

Here is the template for this card

Hope you enjoyed these cards - I have some more to post later in the week.

Meanwhile - check out the Artfull Crafts Christmas Countdown and my Artfull Crafts Design Team Gallery

Cosmo Cricket featured my work on their blog too!

It must be my lucky week as Cosmo Cricket has featured two of my card sets on their blog too! There is always heaps of great ideas on their blog, as well as tutorials, giveaways etc - it's a great one to follow.
http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/

I am so thrilled! They have a lovely new line coming out called Circa 1934 which looks amazing. Bright, Bold, Retro, Vintage - a bit of everything in there for everybody!


Artfull Crafts Christmas Countdown is about to start! Keep a look out for some great ideas from all the Design Team

Kaisercraft featured a project of mine on their blog!

I am so excited - Kaisercraft featured one of my projects in a feature called "Kaisercraft Loves Your Work" - check it our here at http://www.kaisercraft.net/blog/kaisercraft-loves-your-work/

It makes me realise that I really need to work at keeping my online profile current as I lost an opportunity by not having an accurate personal profile at http://www.twopeasinabucket.com - one of the largest scrapbooking sites there is. Never mind - lesson learned!

This was such a fun project!

Kaisercraft Boyzone Tags and Crate Paper's Brook Collection

Check out my other Kaisercraft projects at http://papervinenz.blogspot.com/search/label/Kaisercraft

I am busy working on some "Christmas Countdown" projects for Artfull Crafts - so stay tuned!

Card Set and Folder for Helen - lucky BLOG Winner

I have just finished making the card set for Helen - my blog giveaway winner! I hope she likes them!







I have used the Earth Love Collection from Cosmo Cricket





This is such a gorgeous soft, multi-purpose collection



Hopefully these represent a good all-purpose set of cards





Front cover mainly uses pieces from the collection (elements, chipboard, ribbon) and a LYB clear cut sticker


 




I have added a little notebook and a chipboard letter H for a personal touch



 

Thanks heaps again everyone for your support

I am working on heaps of stuff for the Artfull Crafts "Countdown to Christmas" - so stay tuned for some seasonal ideas.







WINNER of Blog Giveaway - craftyhelen

WOW - Thank-you SO much to everyone who has looked, commented on and followed by blog since it was launched last week.

I had over 30 comments and 16 followers meaning that 60 names were put into my shuffle for a winner last night!

Here is the video of me picking Helen as the winner! It must have taken a couple of days to upload!

Congratulations Helen - I have e-mailed you through Blogger too, but please contact me at lowri.mcnabb@gmail.com so I can send you your goodies and make you some cards!



I also just received my latest box of goodies from Artfull Crafts. Liz and The Design Team will be running a Countdown to Christmas - so stay tuned to the blog for some great ideas and announcements.