Paper Rose Tutorial

Just recently I've used alot of these roses in my projects and a number of you have asked how they are made so here is a (very heavy!!) photo tutorial:

Cut three flower shapes which have six petals - I've used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die, but any six sided flower die/punch will do.  

I use Stampin Up Very Vanilla cardstock for most of my flowers as I love the shiny feel of it, but any cardstock or good quality paper stock will do.

Ink the edges with a water based ink.  

My favourite is Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Spray each flower with water and using the end of a thinnish paint brush mould them around the brush getting as many creases as you can.  

Then leave them to dry naturally - if you try to dry them with a heat gun you tend to lose the creases and sometimes the flower falls apart.

When dry ease out the petals with a bone folder.

This is the cutting sequence:

cut a slit in one flower

cut one petal from another flower

cut two petals form the third flower

Then you need to glue the three main flowers together.  Don't worry if the edges don't match - it all adds to the uniqueness and looks like another layer!

This is the fiddly bit!  Take the single petal and roll it around on itself.

Then lay it inside the double petal and roll that up too using a bit of glue as you go.  You will find the outside petals can be moulded to give a bit of shaping.

The finished bud (and I look as though I need a bit of nail/skin care!)

The edges of the petals need to be given some definition, so curl them around the paintbrush or if you want a tighter curl an old knitting needle is quite good too (no fancy tools needed!).

Then it is down to assembly:

Using the blunt end of the paintbrush flatten the middle of the main flower a bit.

Now this is really important - you need to cut quite a bit off the bottom of the next two petals.  

Be brave!

Flatten the second flower onto the first again with the blunt end of the paintbrush.

And the next layer.

Now it is really important to cut quite a chunk of the little bud.  I notice when I do my workshops this is where a lot of roses lose their look as not enough is cut off.  

You need a good pair of scissors and sometimes a bit of fast fielding to catch the bits!  But again be brave - after all it is only a bit of paper!

Then you can glue the bud into the flower.  This I think is the magical bit as it really transforms the flower.

I hope you find this tutorial useful.  There are a lot of tutorials and videos online with instructions on how to make this type of rose initially made famous by Tim Holtz and his Grungepaper Roses, but I think mine look a bit different as I scrunch the paper up first which gives it a lovely shabby look. 

I also find that making them from paper makes it easier to mould the shape and even though they are paper they are quite strong.  Spritzing the cardstock with water makes the paper "pulpy" and they don't feel "paperish" at all. I use them quite regularly on books and scrapbook pages and on this canvas too.

Have fun!