Paper Rosebuds

I would like to know how to make parchment paper rosebuds. (by using strips of paper and rolling them up) How to make different sizes,and where online I can purchase all the supplies to make them. Thanks

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I believe you could be asking about how to make spiral roses? I added a picture of one of mine to your question so you could see if that is what you wanted. You can make these flowers out of any cardstock, designer paper or vellum, or any type of paper that will roll up. All you need is a pair of scissors, perhaps a wooden skewer to roll your paper on, and some strong glue like Crystal Effects from Stampin' Up!

I would start with a 4" x 4" square of paper and draw a spiral on the back of it. Cut across the end of your spiral and continue cutting around the spiral, all the way to the middle of the flower.

Now take a wooden skewer or a quilling tool or something round-ish (even a match stick would work) and start rolling your spiral onto the stick. Wrap it tightly and keep going until you reach the middle piece. Use that final piece as a base to glue your spiralled paper onto.

You can alter the size of your flowers by altering the size of the paper square you start with. For bigger flowers, use a 5" x 5" paper square. For smaller flowers, use a 3" x 3" square, and so on.

Remember that the width of your spiral will determine how high your paper rose turns out to be, so cut a skinnier spiral for flatter roses.

Another way to make a spiral rose is to use a circle or scalloped circle punch. Cut around the circle with your scissors to make a spiral, and then roll and glue as before.

I trust this answers your question. Thanks for asking.

Susan

PS: You may also like to know how to make folded paper roses. All supplies for making paper flowers can be obtained from Stampin' Up!

Paper flowers.

by Nancye Evans
(Junee. N.S.W. Australia.)

Dear Susan,
I have been searching the net for an answer to my query, and I have found you - will you help me.
I want to start making some flowers with punches, but am not sure what grammage of paper to use, should it be 60 or 80 and where would I find this paper, double sided if possible.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Nan Evans

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Dear Nan

I'm glad you found me and asked me that question :) You have also reminded me I need to edit and upload a number of new paper flower pictures so I must do that soon.

Paper punches can be used with a range of papers. I suggest you experiment with the papers you are drawn to and see if your punches will cut through the paper in a way that pleases you. Just cut one layer of paper at a time, though. Paper punches are usually built to handle only one layer of paper at a time or they may chew the paper or get jammed.

The weight of the paper used depends on the effect you want to achieve. Thicker and heavier papers make more substantial flowers and the paper cannot be as easily shaped. Thinner papers make more delicate flowers and can be layered and shaped more easily.

Humidity also affects paper so if the weather is humid, your flowers may not be as crisp as they would be in drier weather.

When I make paper flowers I usually use Stampin' Up! cardstock which I know is 216 g/m² in weight. This cardstock is dyed all the way through and has no white core. I like that I can buy it in smooth or textured finishes and have a choice of 50 coordinated colours.

I can also use rubber stamps to make designs on the cardstock and can sponge it with inks, make it shimmery with shimmer paints, dry or heat emboss it, separate the layers out to make faux suede etc. Cardstock takes a range of techniques quite well.

Sometimes I use designer series paper for my paper flowers which has patterns on both sides. Designer series paper is scrapbook paper that can be used in albums as backgrounds, embellishments and borders, but it can also be punched and shaped.

You can buy cardstock and scrapbook papers in craft shops. However, I do sell Stampin' Up! cardstock and designer series paper to people in Australia and can have an order delivered to you in NSW if you would like that. You can check out the papers available in the catalogues. They can be downloaded and viewed here:

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/susansalutations/catalogs

Scroll towards the back of the catalogue to browse through all the available cardstock and designer series papers.

I hope this helped you with your question and would love to see pictures of the flowers you make.

How to Make Flower Stems

by Billie Lever

Hello Susan,

I am hunting for a pattern to make a stem of either paper or ribbon bluebells, it needs to be fairly easy as I need to make about 30 little 3 flower sprays by the beginning of March, I hope you can help me.

Thank you very much

Billie Lever

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Hi Billie

There are lots of ways to make stems. I have personally used twisted paper, wire covered with ribbon, and wire covered with florist's tape. All of them yield nice results.

To make a twisted paper stem, cut a thin length of cardstock and spiral it around a cylindrical shape like a pencil, then remove it from the pencil and twists the paper till you are happy with the length and thickness of the stem. Then glue the stem in the position you want it to be on your page or card or coat it in glue and allow to dry on waxed paper.

To make a thin wire and ribbon stem, cut the wire to the length you want then apply some double sided tape to it by winding it around the wire. Remove the backing for the tape and then take a length of ribbon. Start at the top of the stem and twist the ribbon down the wire in a spiral fashion.

To make a wire stem with florist's tape, start with your wire length (maybe double the length of wire up to make a thicker stem) and then apply the florist's tape to the top of the stem, winding it down in a spiral fashion over the rest of the stem. Twist the tape at the end of the stem to break it and form a stop to the tape, which means it will not unravel.

All of these methods are quick and easy to use.

Of course, you can also punch cardstock stems out with something like the bird punch from Stampin' Up! or use a Big Shot die like Sweet Stems to make some from cardstock, thin cardboard, chipboard or felt.

Oh I just thought of another way - you can use a quilled stem if you want your bluebells to sit on a card or scrapbook page. Using quilling paper, just lay down a tiny, thin bead of glue on your card where you want the stem to be. Carefully place a piece of paper on its edge along the glue bead, as shown in the picture. You can add your own leaves with quilling too, as shown. just change the shape to look more like long thin bluebell leaves.

Do any of these ideas help?

Susan

3 D Folded Flowers

by Cat
(Moodus, Ct)

I saw some of these on YouTube but can't find them on your site. I would love to know the folding technique.

Cat

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Hello Cat

Paper flowers often involve some sort of folding, so I am unsure which particular folded flowers you are referring to? If you have a picture of them, I would be glad to see if I could work them out.

Many folded flowers are created using origami techniques. I often use a cutting and shaping technique myself, though I have some folded rosebud flowers here:

Paper rosebuds

I also have a fan fold flower tutorial on this page:

Fan Fold Flowers

Making Faux Suede flowers requires a lot of folding and scrunching. Here are instructions for making faux suede out of paper:

Faux Suede Technique

There are some more little flowers that require some folding on this page too:

Crepe paper flowers

Are any of these flower ideas the one you mean?

Id not, do share a photo of what you want to create and I shall see what I can do about making a tutorial if the flowers come within my range of craftiness.

Happy flower making!

Susan

Sunflower

by Anja
(Germany)

Hello! I am looking for a sunflower or something nice with an ecological touch. Not too difficult would be perfect. I want to use it as a give-away...
Yours sincerely,
Anja

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Hi Anja

Thank you so much for your question. I have been working on perfecting a paper sunflower to show you and I hope to have it on the site for you soon. It is based on a tea bag fold idea and I will show you how to make it into a 3-d flower too.

I hope you will like it.

Another idea would be to make a flower-pot card. I have put those instructions on the site for you.

Susan

PS: In the meantime, you may enjoy learning how to make other kinds of paper flowers such as these:

• Paper Roses
  
• Tiny White Flowers
  
• Fan Fold Flowers