Bouquet of Carnations

I was going through my Garden Notes die sets to find something I have not worked on for a while.  I decided to work with Susan's Carnation die set (1191).  This bouquet has light and dark pink carnations.  I usually always die cut my flowers using white card stock.  For these flowers I used a light pink card stock and sponged a bright pink ink at the base of the petals, and for the other one, I used a bright pink card stock.  The stems used were die cut using the Garden Notes Bouquet Stems & Branches die set (1190).  The vase was created using Susan's Garden Notes Glass Hurricane & Candle die set (1142).  I die cut the Glass Hurricane then cut a portion of it off to look like a vase.  It was die cut using a piece of woodgrain cardstock from my stash.  Gray ink was sponged around the edges.

I was not sure how many petals I would need for this flower, but thought probably 3 large, 2 of the next two sizes, and 1 of the smallest.  Just in case I might need an extra one, I die cut three of all sizes except the smallest.  These are the light pink with the dark pink centers.  I did not put ink on the three largest petals.

Before I started shaping the petals, they were lightly misted with water on the opposite side from where I was going to use the loop tool to shape (the backside).  The petals were shaped with the loop tool from Susan's Tool Kit.  They were shaped to cup up.  All the petals were shaped this way.  The petals are damp after this shaping.  Before continuing, I used the heat tool to completely dry the petals.  You can let them air dry if you aren't in a hurry to continue. 

The reason I wanted to have the petals completely dry is because the water will harden the paper to hold its shape much better.  In this picture the petals on the right have been shaped as explained below.  The petals on the left have just been shaped with the loop tool.

I wanted the carnation petals to be kind of wavy rather than just smooth, which would give them more fullness.  I used my fingernails to 'scrunch' up the ends of the petals.  This was done on all the petals.  

I know I do this different than Susan - I like to make most of my flowers on a craft mat rather than right on my project.  For this flower, I glued the three largest petals together, alternating the petals for a full effect.

For the next two size petals, only two layers were glued together.  (I didn't use that 3rd petal of that size.)  This was also done for the next smallest size.  The smallest group of petals was just cupped up by pressing down in the center with a small ball stylus and pinched at the base so it would hold the cupped shape.

Here is a picture of each of the three sizes of petals glued together., before assembling the flower.  There are two extra pieces not used at the bottom of the picture.

This is a side view of the three different sizes of petals glued together before gluing them together to make the completed carnation.

Add glue to the bottom of the next to largest set of petals and set in the center of the largest petals, pressing down with a ball stylus.  Do this with the next set of petals, then glue in the small center group of petals.  To see of you like the fullness of the petals, place the petals down in the flower before adding glue.  If you think it needs one of the extra petals you made, you can glue that to the bottom of the group before attaching them inside the base.  

I hope I have inspired to create this pretty flower if you have this die set.  

It is hard now to find many of Susan's die sets, so I am not adding links to any of the products I used.  She will have a new release in September and I will start adding links to all the products I use.  

Thanks for stopping by today.