Tutorial for The Pixie Cottage - Paper Rosette Flowers

Hi Everyone,
Hopefully with today being Saturday you'll get a little time to yourself for crafting.
A couple of weeks ago I did a card for The Pixie Cottage and I used a handmade rosette flower on it. I got some requests for directions and Michelle thought it may be good if I could give a quick tutorial.
I'm no good with editing videos and stuff so You Tube it isn't but I can take photos step by step.
So here it is, paper rosette flowers 101.


First you need to gather together your tools.
You will need:
A scoring mat such as a Scor Pal or the one by Martha Stewart
Bone folder or scoring tool
Cardstock or heavyweight printed paper
Paper cutter
Heavy duty double sided tape like ATG
Strong liquid glue, I use Beacon's 3 in 1 but Fabri-Tac is another great choice
1" circle punch used to punch two circles for each flower out of cardstock
Button



Cut a strip of cardstock/heavy dp into a strip 1" by 12"
Line the strip up into the top corner of your scoring board.



Using your scoring tool score lines at each 1/4" mark on the board.
Continue across the whole length of the strip.
A tip is to hold the cardstock firmly against the top of the board as it will move if you don't and if your score lines aren't level the flower won't work.



When you've scored the whole length take the strip off the board and start to fold along the score lines in an accordian fashion creating "hills and valleys" in the cardstock.



When the whole strip has been folded it should look like this.
I'm showing two sizes but our finished flower is using the strip that is 1" deep.
Larger depths are a little bit more tricky to work with and you have to add additional length to the strip by joining two pieces together or you can't "pinch" the flower into place (as you'll see in the next few steps)



Add a strip of ATG (or other strong tape runner style adhesive) to the first "V" at one end of your strip. Make sure both the "up" and "down" sdes of the V have glue on.



Join both ends of your strip into a circle overlapping one V on each end.
Squeeze the ends tightly to get the glue to adhere well.



Next begin to "pinch" the top edge of the circle together to make the center of the flower.
It sounds tricky but it really isn't. It will make a small cirlce in the middle of the flower and outer edge will fan out to make the flower.



Apply ATG liberally to one of the 1" cardstock circles. I've punched mine in a constrasting color to make it easier for you to see.
Have the circle glue side up on your desk and add the "pinched" flower to the top and press down firmly.
The folds in the cardstock make it very strong so you can press down very firmly without it crushing.



Squeeze some liquid glue in the center and around the inner edges and hold until it starts to set. You can also use a large glue dot pushed into the center to hold it together but I prefer glue.



Add another cardstock circle to the top.



I then inked the edges and and raised tops of the V's with chalk ink for definition.
I added a button to the top.



After completing the decoration of the flower I like to place something heavy on it while the glue completely dries and sets firm. This way I won't risk an unravelled flower.




Here you can see a finished flower on a card I recently made for The Pixie Cottage.

I hope I didn't make it seem complicated with so many steps, it really isn't hard at all, I just wanted to show every little step to make it easier to follow.
I'd love to see if you try one of these, they are so much fun and add something different to your cards.
Katie