Sometimes it's Better to look Through a Rose Lens...

I found a bunch of new techniques I want to share in the next few days.  Today, I made this beautiful rose.  And, I made it using my cricut, which makes it even more special.  I confess that I don't remember where the link was to this originally, as it is not my original idea.  But, I thought I would take the time to show you by step how I made the one for the card in the picture below.

This card is a special gift for someone dear that is going through a very difficult time right now.  She has been on my mind a lot in the past few days and so I wanted it to be a little special.  I hope it makes her smile.  Especially during adversity and our darkest days, it truly helps if we can take the time to remember the simple joys of life.  Bless you, Kathleen.

Rose Tutorial

To create the rose, I cut out 18 hearts with my Cricut using the Plantin School Book cartridge. I used Bazzil cardstock.  I think the better quality cardstock will make a difference in how well this rose will hold up when you start scrunching the paper.

If you would like to make the rose, here is what you will need.  Cut out the following in hearts:

6 x 2.25"

5 x 2"

4 x 1.75"

3 x 1.5"

After the hearts are cut out, you can then sponge the edges, front and back with a contrasting or compatible color of ink or chalk.

Next, you will need to punch a small hole at the bottom of each heart.  Taking a brad, and starting with the smallest three hearts, place them face-down onto the brad shank.  Follow that with the next size and so forth.  Alternate the placement of the heart petals so they balance out.  When you are finished, secure the brad and it should look something like this:

If you are luckier than me, you will have a more appropriate brad.  This was the only type I had that had a long enough shank; but when all is said and done, it isn't a focal point of the rose so I didn't think it would matter too much.

In the next step you simply take the heart petals and scrunch them up one at a time.  You can move the petals around as you scrunch to give it a nice balanced look.

When you have it all scrunched, it should look something like this:

At this point, I take a rounded toothpick (or a skewer) and curl the petals downwards.  You can use your own judgement on whether you want to do all the petals or just a few.  This rose can really go from a shabby look to almost a realistic rose.  In this case, I did all the petals.  This is how mine looked when finished:

To bling it up a bit, I did something I had never tried before and it worked out pretty good.  I lightly sprayed my rose with hairspray, and before it could dry, I lightly sprinkled prisma glitter on the petals.  I think it made a nice effect.

To create the leaves, I simply freehand cut a leaf shape in green with deckle craft scissors.  I then scored from the top to the bottom to give the leaf a folded look.  After some sponging around the edges, I gave them a quick "hairspray" treatment as well.

And, that's how I made the rose.  Give it a try, and tell me how it turned out for you.  I have some more flower projects I am working on.  Be sure to bookmark me and come back if you would like to see what else I come up with.  I would also be very flattered if you became one of my "followers" by clicking on the link to the right of the blog.  And as always, thank you for your comments.  They make my day brighter!