Paper Flower Bluebells

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

Marijke sent me a picture with handmade paper flower bluebells gracing her wonderful layout.

"Bluebell - A plant of the genus Campanula, especially the Campanula rotundifolia, which bears blue bell-shaped flowers; the harebell".
~Brainyquote.com

I love the handmade flowers on Marijke's scrapbook layout. Aren't they wonderful? But how did she make them?

Let's see if I can work it out for you.

How to Make Paper Flower Bluebells

I know Marijke would have studied the actual bluebell blooms, stamens, pistils, leaves and stems in real life before she made her flowers out of paper as she has an artist's eye and skill. That is why she makes them look so lifelike although they are created in paper.

Where to start.

I think Marijke would have drawn some bluebells as whole flowers, then worked out how to make the different parts of them.

I think Marijke would have then made the stems and leaves on her layout first since that is the first layer of the embellishment. All other flower layers would be on top of the stems and leaves.

The leaves and stems have been made with strips of different coloured cardstock and details have been marked in with photosafe markers such as Stampin' Write! markers. These leaves and stems would have been arranged and adhered down on her layout before Marijke positioned the flowers on top, leaving room for the blooms not to be too crowded together.

Then I think Marijke has made the petals with small strips of paper that have been curled. She would have cut cardstock into petals shapes first and then added the details of the blooms with photo safe marking pens before curling the petals with craft scissors or paper snips or rolling each petal around a pencil or marker.

A bone folder may have helped shape the flowers smoothly as well and she would have avoided creasing the parts of her flowers.

Next I think the orange and green stamens and pistils would have been made from smaller strips of paper, again with the details marked in with the pens. They seem to be drawn in a curled matchstick shape. They would also have been physically curled with a bone folder and adhered to one of the petals before the entire bloom was assembled. 

When I make flower parts that I know could be seen from both sides on an element, I usually put details on both sides of the part. That way you do not have blank white paper showing through on your bouquet either.

Finally the finished little paper flower bluebells would have been assembled in a cluster on the page and then adhered down.

See how the petals have not all been glued down to their tips? That way the petals can curl up off the page a little, making them look even more three dimensional.

Thank you again for sharing your lovely page with us, Marijke. I love your hand made paper bluebells,

I do miss scrapping with you and the other scrapping ladies in Atherton. Getting news of you with photos this way is so good. I am glad you took the time to send it to me.

By the way, everyone, Marijke is a very artistic lady who has won prizes with her work. She has made some incredible artwork for her scrapbook pages that she has graciously sent to me to share with you. Look for more of her work on PaperCraftCentral.com

Origami Paper Bluebells

If you would like to try making Origami paper bluebells instead, I saw some good tutorials on Youtube.

Here is the link to one artist's project, of them that allows me to embed their video:

I think the origami bluebells might wind up being a lot bigger than the ones on Marijke's scrapbook layout. Try making one before counting on making a bunch of them.

They would also be a thicker flower so may be too large for your scrapbook.

You  could adjust the paper size down from the square size that is used in the origami video and get smaller flowers though.

How else could I make a paper bluebell?

The beauty of making your bluebells by hand is that you can decide how big they should be. Then you will have exactly what you need to suit your project.

But if you don't want to draw your flower parts, origami is an option, as are bluebell shaped Die Cut and Embossing Machine dies, paper punches for the individual flower parts or builder punches that are made to create bluebell flowers,, stamped images of bluebells that you may cut out, cut outs from Designer Series Paper of bluebells, and even painting your own.

If you would like to try making some different types of paper flowers, you might like these pages:

• Paper Flowers
• Paper Flowers 1

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