Pink Flower Tutorial

Are you ready to learn how to create another style flower with a die I have used many other times? This flower was created with the Marianne Designs (LR0 168) flower die. Today I have prepared another tutorial for you.    Also, I have had some questions about die cutting the Marianne Design Anja corners, so I thought I would show you how I do that.  

I use two Anja Corner dies when I am die cutting both upper corners.  You will "flatten" down the embossing on the first corner if you are using only one die to cut both corners.  I tape them down so they are right next to the edge, as shown above.  On this card I am also using the Memory Box "Piestra Tile", along the bottom, and it is also taped down, then run through my Grand Calibur machine.  

This picture shows what the die cuts look like as soon as you remove the dies.  Notice that there are little pieces of card stock still attached around the corners.  You will probably want to clip these off.

In this picture, you can see how I snipped off that little extra piece still attached (corner on the right).  I followed the lines of the embossed design to give it a more finished look.

All the products used to create this card are available from Joan's Gardens and are listed at the end of this post.

Tutorial for creating flowers with the Marianne Design (LR0 168) flower.    

This is a picture showing the tools I used and the finished flowers.

I used five Marianne Design flowers for each completed flower.  On the upper left is the die cut flower and next to it you can see how I used a sponge dauber to add "Spun Sugar" Distress Ink to the center of each flower.  I used the fine spray mister to dampen each one to make it easier to "wrinkle" each petal.  Dampen on both the front and back.  In the bottom left, you can see the difference between the "wrinkled" petal and the two petals not wrinkled.  The last flower is how each flower will look after all petals are wrinkled.

I used the white shaping tool from the Flower Tool Kit to wrap one petal around it.  Hold it on the tip of the petal and down at the base around the tool, then pinch the petal toward the center of the petal to create the creases. This tool is plastic and works great for this technique.  This causes vertical lines down each petal.  Use your heat gun to dry the flowers before assembly.  If you are patient, you can just let them air dry.  They will not shape well (cup up for assembly) if you work with them while wet or damp.

Once they are dry, press each flower down in the black flower shaping mat to "cup" them.  The bottom three are not "cupped" as much as the two center flowers.  Use the largest stylus in the Flower Tool Kit and press down just in the very center and lower portion of each petal.  Don't use the stylus in the area you created the "wrinkles".  One of the flowers needs to be worked until it looks like the flower laying on the right side on the stylus.  The very center flower needs to be cupped up very tightly as shown on the left of the stylus.  The more you push and work the flower down into the mat, the more it will "cup" up.  Use your fingers to close up the cupped flower pinching the very bottom to help hold it's shape.

On the right you can see what the flower looks like with four layers glued together -- the very center of the flower is laying on the right.

Once the center is glued in, your flower will look like this.  Don't you like that pink shading down in the center of the flower!  

I love trying to figure out different ways to use our dies.  There are so many different types of flowers that can be created with a single die or a combination of dies. This technique has created a completely different flower from any others I have made with this die.  Hope this tutorial has been helpful.  I always love to read your comments.  

All the products used for this card can be purchased from Joan's Gardens:

Marianne Design "Anja Corner" (LR0200)

Memory Box "Piestra Tile" (98157)

Marianne Design "Doily and Flower" (LR0168)

Marianne Design "Leaves" (LR0156)

Memory Box "Quinn Flourish" (98267)

Memory Box "Kaleidoscope Butterfly" (98261)

Memory Box "Chloe Stem" (98321)

Pink Silk Bow

Flower Tool Kit

Black Flower Shaping Mat

JudiKins Spritzer

Distress Ink

Small Sponge Dauber

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