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Monday, October 31, 2011

3D Poppy Tutorial

Recently I designed a paper poppy (you can see samples here & here) & received some lovely comments, as well as requests on how I created it.  So here is a tutorial on how to put it together.

Grab yourself a cuppa, this is a BIG post.  :)

Here are the supplies you need to make the poppy (you can click on any of the photos for a larger view.):-


  • Scraps of cardstock in Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black & a third colour for the stamens (I'm using Basic Gray)
  • Alcohol misting spray
  • Paper towel
  • Dark colour inkpad & sponge (I'm using Basic Gray on this sample)
  • 1" Circle Punch (optional)
  • Boho Blossoms Punch
  • Ornament Punch
  • Owl Punch
  • Piercing Tool & Mat
  • Brad (any colour as it won't be seen)
  • 1 Dimensional
  • Scissors
  • Post It Notes
  • Marker (any colour - it's being used with the lid on for shaping)
  • Gloves (the most important thing & I forgot to put them in the photo!  Doh!!!)
  • Hairdryer for drying (if you can use it on a "no heat" setting)

Firstly, put on your gloves.  I've found the dye in Cherry Cobbler cardstock runs a bit once it's wet & you don't want to end up with stained fingers.  :(

Punch 4 ornaments in Cherry Cobbler, then use a 1" circle punchie as a guide to round off the point of each ornament.  Trim the hanger section of each ornament to create a "tab" as shown in the photo.


(Oops, forgot to trim the point off that last one before I snapped the photo!)

Sponge each petal with Basic Grey in an arc shape, starting from the tab at the base of the petal, with the greatest concentration of colour through the middle section of each petal.  Use your piercing tool to poke a hole through the centre of each tab.


Thread each petal onto your brad, making two pairs of petals.  Mist your flower with alcohol.


To make the lengthways creases in the petals, first fold each individual petal in an accordian style across the petal, then gently scrunch it with you fingers & curl the petal towards the centre of the flower.


Very carefully, unfurl your petals & lightly mould them into shape.  At this point I use a hairdryer to remove the moisture.  Either cup your hand to hold the flower while you dry it or pinch it between your thumb & fingers.


If you don't have a dryer, set it aside on some paper towel to dry naturally.


To make the stamen, punch the 12 point (largest) flower from the Boho Blossoms punch in Basic Grey.  Attach your punchie to the sticky corner of a post it note & place it back in your punch.  Offset the petals by lining up the centres of the paper petals with the dips between the petals on the punch. 


 Punch to create a 24 point flower.


Pierce a hole in the centre of your multi-pointed flower, leaving it on the piercing tool.  Mist with alcohol.


Scrunch the flower over the tool & then remove.  At this point you can even roll it into a ball, then gently unfurl the flower.  Sit the flower on your paper towel &, using the a marker with the cap on (or the other end of your piercing tool), put some pressure on the centre of the flower & curl up the edges around your marker. 


Leave to dry.


Remove the brad from your petals.


Place the dry multi-pointed flower on the brad & then reassemble the petals in pairs.  Close the brad.


If you look at the edges of your multi-pointed flower (stamen) you may see that the cardstock layers have separated.  Using the point of your piercing tool, gently coax the layers of cardstock apart to give you a lovely fuzzy stamen effect.


(Just thought I'd add a little note here - I chose to make the petals & the stamen sections of the poppy in seperate steps to avoid staining the stamen with Cherry Cobbler dye caused by the misting & scrunching.  If you were using black cardstock for both your stamen & centre, you could assemble the petals & multipoint flower (stamen) together, thereby missing a step or two.)

Punch one of the largest circles from the owl punch.  Place on a soft surface (eg., a wad of paper towel), mist with alcohol & then rub your fingernail in a circular motion in the centre of the circle to make a "dished" shape.


When the circle is dry attach it to the centre of your poppy, using a trimmed down dimensional.

Voila!


Here are all three poppies together:-


Hope you enjoyed this tute.  Drop me a line if you have any queries.  :)

I'll be back later in the week with the sunflower tute.

BTW, when I first started thinking about making a poppy, I discovered some interesting facts:-

  • Poppies come in orange, pink, yellow, blue, purple & white, not just the well known red.
  • Poppies have 4 to 6 petals.
  • Some poppies have blue pollen (hence the Not Quite Navy stamen on my first poppy).
Bye  :)