A Water Lily...sort of

As promised, I have a new tutorial for you.  I really had to improvise on this one because of my lack of the correct die cuts to make it look just right, but all in all, I think it kind of worked as a Water Lily hybrid.  If you don't mind thinking outside the box, that is. :)  To see a very good video Tutorial of this done with the correct tools and much better instructions than my poor attempt at photography could produce, please feel free to visit Connie.

For now, here is how I tweaked things to make it work for me.  To begin with, here is the finished product.  I decided to display it on a pillow box I made using the Easter Cricut cartridge.  The box has a bunny rabbit cutaway on the front, but I covered it with black paper; knowing I would have embellishments that would hide my patch job.  You may have a pillow box die on another cartridge that would be more user-friendly.  But, we work with what we have...right?  The finished flower is quite dimensional, so you will probably want to use it on something that is more of a gift or display item.  I can't see me using it in a scrapbook or any other project where it would get smashed.

So here is how I made it:

To begin with you will need a minimum of 4 flowers in each size.  I used the Cricut cartridge Accent Essentials (which I had to borrow...thank you Pat!).  You really want a daisy shape, but as I didn't and couldn't locate that, I used the closest I could find. Remember though, I am going for a hybrid of a water lily here...so it's all good.  (wink)  The sizes I used were: 2.75", 1.75", 1.25".  I also cut out 1 extra shape for the lily pad at 2.75".  On the smallest flower shape, you will want to use the feature that has the center cut out.  You will also want to take your basic hole punch and cut out 1 center of the middle sized flower.

Taking the smallest flower shape, snip through at any spot so that it looks like this:

Apply glue around the center hole and carefully roll the flower around on itself.

Continue on with the other small flowers, adding them to the existing ones until all are wrapped around making the flower center.

Next, you will need to curl up the petals of the remaining flowers.  I used the end of a paintbrush, but a skewer would also work.

Using a dimensional pop-up adhesive, (in this case I used the foam ones because they aren't quite as thick as others) begin layering the flowers together.  Try to off-center them slightly as you build up so it gives the petal effect.  Sort of like this:

Continue on with the middle sized flowers, reserving the one with the hole punch for last.

Apply glue to the bottom of the smallest flower and smash it into the hole of the reserved flower.  Using the dimensional adhesive, attach this flower as well.  Scrunch and arrange your petals the way you want them to look. 

Using your adhesive of choice, center the flower onto the lily pad.

Ta-da!  And there you have it.

I hope you enjoyed this flower tutorial.  If you would like to see more flower tutorials or crafts I will be working on, please become a follower of my blog.  Feel free to link me from your own blog as well.  And as always, I LOVE comments, so keep them coming!

~Shelley