Friday, March 6, 2009

Accordian Flower Tutorial, Q and A and a tiny slider

A few of you have requested a tutorial on making accordian flowers, so here it is! It is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.


Step 1: Before beginning, decide how wide you would like your accordian to be. If you want it to span 2 inches, then cut your paper 1 inch. If you would like it 3 inches, cut your paper 1 1/2 inches. Does that make sense? For this particular flower, I wanted it to span 3 inches, so I cut my thin DSP 12 inches by 1 1/2 inches. I would recommend 12 inches, no matter how wide the other measurement is.
Step 2: Score the paper at 1/4 inch intervals the entire length of the paper.

Step 3:
Prepare the button, embellishment or charm you will be adding to the center. I normally just use buttons or some kind of circular image, but today you can see that I am using a cut stamped image. Get your glue dots ready as well as a glue line if you have one. If not, get a piece of sticky strip. If you are using sticky strip, you could always get it adhered and leave the red sticky backing in place until it is time to secure it.
Put a glue dot on the back of your center embellishment and have it ready.


Step 4: Fan fold at each score mark.



Step 5: Attach glue line or sticky strip unless you already did like I mentioned before. Glue it end to end.

Step 6. Lay the flower out. Bring the center in tightly...tighter than what it shows in my photo. I couldn't photograph and hold it at the same time! LOL!

ETA: I no longer use glue dots to assemble my accordion flowers! I use hot glue. You will need to punch out a 1 inch circle for each accordion you will be making. Once you get to this step, apply hot glue to the back of your accordion flower, quickly press the punched circle onto the back and hold in place for 10 seconds or so. Once that is done, you can turn it over and add your embellishments.

Quickly adhere your pre-glue dotted embellishment to the center. Add a couple of glue dots to the back and adhere it to your project. If you don't know where it will be placed on your project, simply leave it on the waxy backing that the glue dots come on.




You are done! You have now completed your beautiful flower!



I decided to make a fun little project in addition to the tutorial. This is a little slider, similar to the one I did the tutorial for the other day. It is tiny. It measures 4 inches by 2 1/2. I thought it would be perfect to hold a gift card or a bit of candy.


Yesterday's WT challenge was to make an ATC, which I did, but didn't post here or on SCS. I made tiny ATC's for my son's BB coaches and attached them as tags to goody baskets I made for them. So...I decided that this could work as my ATC. Even though it is a box, it is *almost* the right measurement.





Also....here is the Q&A portion of this post! I have had a few of you ask me how I combine pattern papers. I will give you a few pointers that seem to produce nice results.

#1 If possible, work in the same *collection*. Most pattern papers come in a collection which means they are all meant to go with each other. SU! makes paper packs that all go together as well.

#2 Many of the prints are large and are made for scrapbook pages and not cards. If you must use one of these large prints, use it on the largest section of your project. Many manufacturers are making *card * size prints which is especially helpful. It is the same design as would come on a 12 by 12 sheet, but it is scaled down for the card maker.

#3 Try using 2 or more prints on your project. I like picking a large print, medium and small. The large print could be a floral, the medium polka dot or another floral or even plaid, the small print could be a swiss dot or polka dot. It is important to keep the colors and patterns balanced. A good rule of thumb is this...if you have 2 sided paper, the one on the back is a guaranteed match!

As you can see from my little box I made today...the largest print which is the stripe is the biggest piece. The next biggest print is on the background and the tiniest print is on the sentiment banner. They include a strip, a floral or more of a damask and a dotted floral.

#4 It may take time, but the most important thing to learn is balance. You want to keep colors and sizes so that your project feels balanced.

These are some tips that I have learned along the way that have helped me! I hope that you find them helpful! Thanks for fluttering by!

Supplies: Simple Friendship Stamp Set
Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Bordering Blue, Basic Gray
Paper: Almost Amethyst (woops) next time I will use Bordering Blue, Bella Bird DSP, Whisper White
Accessories: Liquid Glue, Martha Stewart Coarse Crystal Glitter, Ribbon by Club Wed, Button from my stash, sponge.

36 comments:

Kay Kalthoff said...

What a beautiful project and you created an awesome tutorial!! Thank you!

Marlou McAlees said...

this is awesome :) thanks for sharing tutorial :)

Amy Rohl said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a great tute, Kelly and I love the tips about combining pp's! You know, after I asked about a tute for the accordian flower, I looked through the SU! SAB mini and there it was--the instructions, but I find yours much better and easier to follow!

Have a great weekend and we'll see you around tomorrow for SFYTT!

Norine said...

Beautiful project as always thanks for the tut I have made a bunch of these and although they are a bit fiddly (is that a word LOL) they add so much
Hugs
Norine

Deborah Saaranen said...

I'm so happy you put up a tutorial on your flower--I've been wanting to play around with one, and will now try since I've seen such good instructions! The print paper tips are so valuable as well!

Your butterfly slider is sooo pretty!

Thanks Kelly!

Marisa said...

Great project. Love the butterfly over the flower. Thanks for the DP tips too! Very helpful, especially for us DP Challenged types LOL :)

Linda Crowder said...

Your card and tutorial are wonderful. This is why you are one of my favorite sites. Thanks for all you do. Butterflies have a special significance in my life. I love them!

Brandi Parshley said...

Thanks for the tutorial Kelly! I love those flowers you're always making, now I'm going to give them a try!

~Lori Roop said...

I actually googled this topic today.....I found the acordian flower tut on another blog....Yours are all beautiful!!

I'm looking forward to trying it!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tutorial! Your project is beautiful. Thanks for the design tips, too!

Anonymous said...

k you so much for that info. I am printing it out and saving it to use for future reference. I really am color challenged as well as pattern challenged so I will have to work at it. I appreciate it so much! Your project is wonderful!

The Travel Realm said...

Thanks so much for the great tutorial. I have been admiring your accordian flowers for awhile now. Every time I have tried to make one they never come out right-- I can't wait to give it another try!

Jessie/knightrone said...

Gorgeous project!! Thanks for the tutorial!!

Nancy Riley said...

Beautiful project, excellent tutorial, Kelly. I am accordian flower challenged .... for the life of me I can't get the flower to stay flat. It always wants to pop up from the center. A button in the center just isn't enough to keep it from popping up. Any suggestions?

Jackie Pedro said...

This is beautiful!!! What a great tutorial!! Thank you!

ChristineCreations said...

Kelly this is so beautiful and fresh and detailed! A FAB tutorial too.

And I love your new Avie...you glam girl you! You look gorgeous!

Karen from Ontario said...

I love you cards and creations. Thanks for the tutorial for the flowers. I have been meaning to try making these.

Monika/Buzsy said...

Awesome project. Love the pretty butterfly and the great tutorial. TFS!

Anonymous said...

Thanks SO much for the box tutorial!! I made one and now I am sure many more will follow. I really enjoy your blog, you do such beautiful work. Thanks again.

Dawn Easton said...

Oh my! How did I miss this yesterday?! Shame on me ;)

Love this Kelly! It's gorgeous!

Chriss Blagrave said...

Thanks so much for this great tutorial! I will definitely try this later in the week!

Dawn B. said...

This is gorgeous. I just love the tutorial. Thanks so much for sharing.

hobbydiva said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!! Great tutorial. One day (if I get brave enough...LOL) I'm gonna try to make one. Your work is fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Jaw dropping gorgeous Kelly! Thanks for the tutorial and I love your new do! You look mahvelous darling!

Anonymous said...

Oi, sou o Clausewitz e gostaria de lhe convidar para visitar meu blog e conhecer um pouco sobre o Brasil. Abração

Eveline said...

Thanks for a great tutorial. Found your blog through Nicole Heady's blog.
I tried the flower too, it was much easier than I thought it would be.
Eveline.

Anonymous said...

It looks fantastic - but I still don't get how to go from step 5 to step 7. I glue the short 2 ends together to get e folded tube,is that correct? But when I try to put one side of the tube together to form the focal point, where I will glue my button, the other end ist not folding out properly??? What do i wrong? Please help - I really love your flowers!
Best wishes,
Nessie

Melissa S. said...

What a wonderful flower and the projects are great. I just found you via Julie Tillmans site. Ahe mentioned the tutorial for the flower. Now I have to go cruz your blogspot. Thanks for shareing. Melissa

Jen Bowles said...

Thank you for the tutorial! I'm going to try your method--these rosettes and flowers look so pretty but can be so tricky before you get the hang of it : ) Thanks for the help!

Jami said...

Gorgeous!! Thanks for the great little tutorial too, I need to give this try!

Nancy Ward said...

Hi!

Today I posted an entry on my blog with a link to this tutorial.

Would you let me know if that's OK.

Thanks,

Nancy Ward
http://paperfriendly.blogspot.com

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Traci S. said...

Hi there~

I found you via Deb's Dream in Color blog! I have been wondering how to make this type of flower...now I will give it a try! Thanks for the info!

He IS Able!
Traci S.

Environmentally Friendly Print said...

That is a great butterfly thing and very simple tutorial for enthusiastic creatives. I would be on cloud nine if such a beautifully wrapped present was given yo me. We at Mobius also make designs, you may have a look at them too.

Traci S. said...

Wow! I have wanted to know how to make these for over a year! Thank you for your tutorial! It was clear and easy to understand. And, I was sent here from Deb S. at Dream in Color blog!

I hope I can pull it off! BTW, thank you also for your thoughts on what size print goes where. I have been trying to figure out a good rule of thumb for multiple layers. I'll use your thumb...it works better! lol

Thanks so much!

He IS Able,
Traci S.

Lily's Treasures said...

Very very very sweet. Just love it and will try it. Thanks so much for sharing such beautiful ideas.