Corner Punch Flowers Tutorial

Good evening fellow scrappers! While going through a couple of scrapbooking sites I stumbled upon this link on the Fiskars site. It shows how one can make decorative flowers with Fiskars corner punches. I unfortunately don't have many Fiskars corner punches--I do however have a good amount of Martha Stewart corner punches (sorry Fiskars). So I tried to see if there was a way I could leverage the Fiskars tutorial & apply it for Martha Stewart corner punches & here's the end result.

All you need is a bit of free-form cutting to get the petals just right. I don't have all the Martha Stewart corner punches--but so far I've tried with four different ones & the flowers have come out fine! So I'll let you, the reader, experiment with other Martha Stewart corner punches & if you can, do let me know if this tutorial works for you as well.

These flowers are also great for using up scraps & since two of the squares required are 2" x 2" inches you can also use the squares found in the Tim Holtz paper stacks for these flowers. I've actually cut out a few of these squares--which all happen to be exactly 2" x 2" inches in size--for these flowers.

So let's get started!

Step 1: Here's your basic list of supplies. You'll need Martha Stewart corner punches, a pencil or thin paint brush, scissors, cardstock/paper & dimensional foam adhesive.

You'll need two 2" x 2" inch squares & 1 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" inch square

Step 2: Fold all your squares in half both ways. This is to identify the center of the squares & the folds will also serve as guides when you need to cut your petals out

Step 3: Take your corner punch & punch all 4 corners for all your squares like you would normally punch the corners. When done your squares should look like the picture

Step 4: Hand draw a circle in the center of each square. This is to give each layer a center & also to prevent you from completely cutting your petals off. Take your scissors & cut along the folds all the way down to your hand drawn circle

Step 5: This is what your square should look like once done cutting all four sides

Step 6: This is where your free form cutting comes in. The best way to describe this is to pretend that you're cutting a heart out. You already have the top of the heart & you're simply rounding out the bottom. Keep in mind while cutting that you're NOT cutting the petal completely off...you're basically shaping each petal. So as you cut...remember to stop at your hand drawn circle & leave your petals attached

Step 7: Here's a photo of what your squares should look like after you've cut around your petals. You'll have snippets of paper leftover & that will still be attached to your square

Step 8: Next step is to simply snip off the excess paper

Step 9: When done snipping the excess paper, you should be left with four petals. The center does not have to be perfect--it's going to be covered anyway. Your petals don't have to be perfect either. Once you layer your flower any imperfections will be covered

Step 10: Repeat steps 6 through 9 for the rest of your squares

Step 11: This step is optional. If you want you can ink the edges of your petals in order to add more dimension to your flowers

Step 12: Now to shape your flower. Bend all the petals upward at the base as shown in the photo

Step 13: Take your pencil or thin paint brush & use the handle to curl your petals downward

Step 14: Once done curling your petals--your flowers should look similar to my screen shot

Step 15: Now to assemble your flower. Adhere each layer with a foam dimensional adhesive. This will give your flower more dimension. If you do not want this additional dimension you can omit the foam adhesive & just use regular glue. Remember to off set each flower layer

Step 16: When done assembling your flower it should look something like this. Now for the center. You can use anything really. Brads, rhinestones, pearls, stamens etc. I ended up using small mulberry paper flowers that I have laying around my stash for the centers. You're done!

This flower was created with the Martha Stewart (MS) Optic Dot corner punch.

This flower was created with the MS Deco Fan corner punch.

This one used the MS Eyelet Lace corner punch.

Finally, this flower used the MS Loop corner punch. You can see this flower in action on my 'Year 4' layout.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by for a visit & please, do experiment with various Martha Stewart corner punches & let me know the results! Get creative & try mixing & matching them...I haven't had the chance to do that yet but am curious as to the results.

Year 4 Layout

Hello once again fellow bloggers & scrappers! Today's page displays my most recent favorite picture of my hubby & me. This photo was taken on our recent vacation to Puerto Rico & in celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary. Four years. Has it really already been four years!? It honestly feels like just yesterday that I was taking my vows. Where does time go?

I used papers from Bo Bunny's Gabrielle collection. The entire background is stamped & I added additional stamping to my main page. I also went Distress Stickles happy when adding texture to the brick chippies! Distress Stickles really add amazing texture to just about any chippie.

The design of the page is based on Once Upon A Sketch's October 1st challenge sketch. The requirement for this sketch was to have at least one sentence of journaling noting why the event that was being scrapped was noteworthy. My journaling reads: This picture was taken on our very first day out exploring Puerto Rico & on the eve of our 4th wedding anniversary. A memory captured eternally against the walls of a historic fort that is centuries old.

I used white acrylic paint to stamp the brick wall in the background. With a brush apply the paint to your stamp. Apply a thin layer...do not glob your paint on or else you'll have globs on your page as well! TIP: Remember to clean your stamp as soon as you're done stamping. Once the paint dries it'll be much harder to clean. Stamp used is by Layers of Color (Brick Wall).

Even with a thin layer of acrylic white paint, the wall dried with an amazing raised texture. In person, it's almost like an embossed white brick wall in the background.

I cut out two pages in the same bracket shape & off set them slightly. I tried to bring out the subtle orange hues of this paper line. This is why you see the bright orange splashes throughout the page.

I stitched along the bracket border & added dots of Orange Peel stickles along the edge.

The chain bridge is by Dusty Attic. I painted this with a dark brown acrylic paint & then added Cinnamon Stickles.

The journaling was printed on ivory vellum. I then adhered the vellum to cream colored cardstock & inked the edges. I then stamped some splatters on the journaling with Tea Dye distress ink. The journaling is adhered with pop dots for added dimension.

The loop flower is hand made. I used Martha Stewarts corner Loop punch to make it. I've made a tutorial on how to make these corner punch flowers. If interested, you can find the tutorial here.

In the bottom corner you can catch glimpses of the script stamping. This stamp is from Tim Holtz's Mini Ornate collection.

This butterfly can be found in my Etsy shop. It's one of the new 'fall' butterfly additions to my shop. The splash of bright orange against the dark brown was just right for this page. I adhered the butterfly to the daisy with hot glue...it's a quick way to adhere an embellishment in precisely the right spot.

Finally, a close up of the brick wall also by Dusty Attic. I used two shades of orange for the brick walls. The upper bricks were painted in a bright orange acrylic paint. I then applied a thick layer of Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles. The bottom bricks were painted with a darker orange/brown acrylic paint. I used Rusty Hinge Distress Stickles for these bricks.

Thanks for stopping by & for taking the time to visit!

Capture The Present Instance Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Today's page is one I made for Stamp Enjoy. I did some masking, stitching & as usual, a bit of stamping for this one.

The photos are of me & my husband while on a brief weekend getaway to Cape May, NJ. While walking around I found one of those photo booths that take continuous shots--I've always wanted to try these photo booths & make various funny faces as the camera went off--well here's the result of my little adventure! I think I'll be specifically seeking these photo booths out in the future b/c they make for great memories, fabulous candid shots & an excuse to scrap really fun pages.

This is a close up of the Roses stamp by Stamp Enjoy. I added Crystal Stickles to the image to dress it up a bit more.

The title is also a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. As you can see, I have a tendency of dressing up my stamps with either Star Dust or Crystal Stickles. I really like the added dimension the Stickles add to my stamped images.

A close up of the stamped flourish. This stamp is by Prima & is from their Build-A-Swirl stamp line. I used black Staz-On to stamp the image...this gives the image a crisp sharp look. I also further dressed up the swirl with Crystal Stickles.

On this screen shot you can also see the circle stitching & the scalloped circle masking.

A close up of one of the three shimmery flowers. I made these flowers with water color paper. I have a brief tutorial on how I went about making this flower. If interested, please feel free to view the tutorial here.

The bird cage is also a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. For this image I first stamped it onto a transparency with black Staz-On & cut it out. This way I was able to position it exactly where I wanted on my page & the stitching & masking was underneath the stamped image instead of above it.

Finally, a close up of the kissing couple. This is actually not chipboard--these are laser cut wooden images that I ordered from a French company called Scrap Desirs. I did not color in the design at all. I left it it's natural color. To give it that 'epoxy' look. I first inked it with embossing ink & heat embossed it with Kaleidoscope transparent embossing powder by Stampendous. I then embossed it three times more with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). UTEE is what gave the design a thick epoxy look & the Kaleidoscope embossing powder is what gives the image it's bling.

The 'fence' the kissing couple is standing on is a chippie by Dusty Attic. I painted the chippie with a dark turquoise metallic paint.

TIP: To give any chipboard, cardstock or even flowers an 'epoxy' look--try embossing it with UTEE.

Thanks to all of you who drop by for a visit! I hope this inspired some of you to try UTEE in your next project.

Water Color Paper Flowers Take Two

Good evening fellow scrappers! I'm back from a one week vacation to the Caribbean. I'm rested & ready to get my life back on track--but do I really want to do that!? No, actually I do not...but I don't have a choice. Sigh...so it's back to work tomorrow. Cue very long sigh...but, before I go back I figured I'd post this small tutorial on a second set of flowers I made prior to me leaving for vacation. These are also made out of water color paper. You can see my first water color paper flowers here.

For these flowers I used the Spellbinders Donna Salazar dies titled Rose Creations. I used the second to large flower for the bottom layer, a medium flower & small flower for the other two layers. You can make these flowers in any size you desire. Just remember to use a different size rose per layer. So let's get started!

Step 1: As mentioned in my first Water Paper Flower tutorial--water paper is excellent for absorbing pigment powders such as Perfect Pearls. Therefore you can color your flowers in a variety of shimmers & colors. I used Perfect Pearls in my first tutorial. For this tutorial I used Magicals by Lindy's Stamp Gang. They are similar to Perfect Pearls but I found them to be just a bit more vibrant. I used Cattail Copper & Tibetan Poppy Teal Magicals for this flower. These come together as part of thier Autumn Leaves Magicals pack.

You'll also need a watercolor pen for coloring in your flowers. You can find this pen at your local Michaels or any arts & crafts store.

Step 2: Take your water color pen--squeeze a few drops of water & then dip the wet brush into the Magicals. The powder will simply stick to the tip of your brush. Then simply mix the powder with the water. If you like a vibrant color use less water. If you like a softer color use more water to dilute the powder

Step 3: Color in your flowers with the first color you choose. Once done coloring dry them with your heat gun. The water color paper will simply absorb the water & color as you heat set them

Step 4: Once dry, apply your second color. Just rinse your brush to clean it before applying the second coat of color. Randomly color in your flowers with the second color. You don't want to completely cover the first color. Once done applying the second color--heat dry the flowers again. As you can see in my picture, the Cattail Copper still peeks out from underneath the Teal Magicals

Step 5: For these flowers I decided to add even more shimmer to them. I inked the edges of the petals with embossing ink. I then sprinkled Kaleidoscope Transparent embossing powder by Stampendous & heat embossed the petals. TIP: Ensure your flowers are completely dry prior to doing this step or else the embossing powder will stick to your entire flower instead of just the petal edges

Step 6: This picture shows how the embossing powder is 'sticking' to only the edges of my petals

Step 7: Now to shape the flower. First bend all the petals upward as shown in the photo

Step 8: With a pencil or tip of a thin paint brush curl your petals downward as shown here.

Step 9: Once again with a pencil or flower shaping tool push down into the center of each flower in order to bring the petals up & form a 'cup' shaped flower. This step can be optional--it's only to add more dimension to the flowers. If you decide to do this step make sure you cup the flowers on something soft like a mouse pad or foam piercing pad. I used the 'In Stitchz' piercing foam pad by Bazzill

Step 10: Finally, insert stamens or sprays into the center of the top two layers of your flower & put your flower together. Remember to offset each layer of your flower. If you don't have stamens or sprays you can use anything for the center such as brads, rhinestones, crystals etc...I chose to use stamens. For the bottom layer I used a 3-D glue dot by Zots. This is once again, in order to give my flower more dimension--this part is optional. You can adhere each layer with plain glue if you like

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit. Hope you will give water color paper a try for your next flower experiment.