Three Flowers: One Circle Punch

I have been flipping through my new Stampin' Up catalog and finding all sorts of gems I cannot live without...or can I?

I started thinking in what ways can I use basic supplies to make a variety of projects?  I love a good flower embellishment, so I started playing with a small circle punch.  It is 7/8" but any circle would give you similar results.  I used Authentique, Loyal Collection of patterned papers for these samples.

After playing around for awhile, I came up with several different styles of flowers to make that turned out varying sizes.  Using double sided patterned paper, you can make beautiful flowers.  It is amazing what you came come up with when you are allowed to play and experiement!

Now I am sure these flowers are not totally original with me, but I made them myself without any patterns.

The Rolled Flower

The first is a simple rolled flower.  I slit the circle in half and rolled it up.  Really, I tore it with my finger nails, very precise, huh?  The rougher, the better it seems to look.

Then I made a second circle, but this time fringed the edges of the circle before I rolled it.  Again, I used my fingernails to tear the edges.  I even lost some bits of fringe, but like I said earlier, the rougher the better it looks. 

Then I slipped the first rolled flower in to the middle and rolled the fringed circle around it.  Glued the edges inside.  Then I smashed the back so it was flat.  So easy to get a rolled flower without a fancy die.  This flower is small and measures about 1/2" across.  I think you could get fun results with different size circles...

The Folded Flower

The second flower I made using five circles.  Set aside one circle to be the base.  Take each of the remaining circles and fold in half. 

 Open it back up and fold in half the other way, but match up the score lines and fold so you have a pie shaped piece. 

Then, fold the outer edge of the paper back to reveil the reverse patteren of the paper.

Repeat this pie shape with the three remaining pieces, leaving the base for later. 

Glue the four modified pie shapes to the base to make a circle.

The Curly Flower

The third flower was made using between ten and eleven circles.  I used scraps, so when I only had enough to punch out ten circle, I made it work.

Start by setting two of the circles aside to be the base and the center of the flower.  Next, take your petals (the remaining circles) and gently roll up one edge.  This is best done with your finger or maybe a quilling tool might work (but I don't have one, so I used my fingers).  I rolled to the middle.  Then I rolled the other edge to the middle.  Then pinch one side to give it a petal shape. 

Glue each petal to the base. 

I recommend a wet glue that allows for a little fiddling to get the petals just right as you build the flower.

Add the center circle to the top.

There you go, three simple flowers made using one simple tool, a circle punch.  So easy and made from scraps and a tool I have had forever.

Journeys

In my last post, I made mention of my family's annual road trip.  This year we ventured to Monterey Aquarium, Crater Lake National Park, Coastal Redwoods National Park and State Parks, and Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We camp most nights, but spent a few in a hotel in Monterey and stayed in a camper cabin in Crater Lake. 

The natural beauty we saw along the way was truly inspiring.  I saw colors at the Monterey Bay Aquarium I would never have thought occur in nature.  Same thing at Crater Lake, that water is so dark blue in some places and cerulean turquoise along the shores.  The large trees of the coastal redwoods allow gorgeous shadows of golden yellow light.  Really, the whole trip was hugely rejuvenating and inspiring.

I cannot wait to scrap some of the gorgeous pictures.

Below are some of my favorites.  I took over 500, so it is really hard to pick just a few...

Monterey Aquarium

Gorgeous Pink and Green Anemones Gently Sway

Really?! Florescent Pink in Nature?

Crater Lake

Crater Lake and Wizard Island

Stunning Blues and Greens

Reflections like flower petals



Oregon's Beauty

Roadside Waterfall in Southern Oregon

Mossy Rock at a Roadside waterfall

Coastal Redwoods (Del Norte, Gold's Bluff Beach, and Jedediah Smith)

Wow, those are tall

Yes, elk wondered two feet from our tent at Gold's Bluff Beach!

Smith River



Super Clear Waters of the Smith River

Lasesen Volcanic National Park

Lake Manzanita and Lassen Peak

Turquoise waters off Lassen Peak Trail

These colors of turquoise, cobolt, bright pink, and lemony greens have inspired me deeply.  I cannot wait to see my travel album.  I hope to share that with you soon. 

Busy Times End of School Year

Sorry for my long departure from the blogging world.  The last month has been filled with handing out yearbooks, making teacher gifts for the end of the school year, and our family's annual road trip.  With all of that happening, I haven't had much time to document my paper crafting.

Check out my end of the year cards and books for the boys' teachers.  I made the two books and six cards in less than a week.  One book is 27 pages and the other is 36 pages.  That's right, over 60 6" x 6" pages and 6 cards on top of that.  I was a crafting machine.  I am so proud of myself. 

Every year, I make a book for my sons' teachers.  I take portraits of each student and then have them write something nice about the teacher or a favorite part of the school year.  On one side of the page is the portrait, the opposite side is the note from that student.  Some comments are sweet, along the lines of "You are the best teacher, ever, I will miss you."  Others make me laugh, like, "You were nice sometimes." 

The books are simple 6" x 6" books made of a cardstock with embellishments of 6x6 patterened papers, which I cannot find the name, now.  I thought it was Basic Grey's Urban Prairie, but it is not.  Can anyone help me out?  I used every last bit of the paper and tossed the labels.  Silly me.  I bought this paper months ago, thinking it had the perfect feel for a school memory book.  Filled with images of rulers, apples, and small floral patterns, it seems a perfect fit.  I added in a little ribbon and lace gathered from my local fabric store, bound it with my Bind-It-All, and voila...a book put together in a few days.

Seriously, I have to say, I love the school the boys go to and am happy to make a little memoire for their teachers.  The teachers and staff have built a true community where parents are welcome but learning is always the focus.