Friday, September 24, 2010

Water Distressed Blooms Tutorial


I'm obsessed!! That's right, I'll admit it, I'm addicted!! I just love making handmade blooms! And my latest obsession is making these Water Distress blooms. They are easy-peasy to make and the sky is the limit to the many looks you can get using this fun technique. For the above layout I used the pretty papers from the new Bo Bunny Olivia collection, the blooms were made from the coordinating Bo Bunny cardstock in 'Chiffon Dot' and 'Coral Dot'. Here are some of the products you'll want to gather together to make these blooms.....


*Some Bo Bunny Dot cardstock (you can also experiment with patterned paper)
*Scissors, plain ....decorative edge scissors (optional)
*Flower punches (optional)
*Chalk inks, glitter for decorating
*Buttons & bling for centers
*Spritz bottle filled with water (or glimmer mist)
*Glue

These are the basic things you'll want to pull together before you start. But really the basic's are carstock paper, scissors and water. Here are the steps to make these fun blooms.

Step 1

For the large bloom, I punched 4 medium sized blooms out of the coral dot paper (using the Paper Shapers med. daisy punch), one large bloom from the Chiffon cardstock (using the large daisy punch) and then hand-cut 3 jaggedy edge circles (getting slightly larger than the last circle as you go....the circles do not have to be perfect, in fact imperfect circles will give a more natural look). I used a regular scissor to cut the circles but you can also experiment with decorative edge scissors.
NOTE: If you don't have flower punches you can simply cut more circles in smaller and smaller sizes to create a lovely looking ruffled bloom.


Step 2

To create some petals into the circles shapes, I simply cut a few small 'V' cuts into the edges. I get a more even look to the petals by making one 'V' cut, then making the next one directly across on the other side, then I make the next notch about 1/3 of the way between then and the next 2/3's of the way, then same to the other side.....this will give you 6 petals (at this point you can choose to do a little inking with some chalk inks to your cut pieces on the edges or the center)....


Step 3

Make sure your paper pieces are on plastic or something water resistant (I used the top of one of my tuperware storage boxes). Very lightly spritz both sides or your cutouts with some water. You do not have to soak them, a light hand with the water will do.

Now here is the fun part, just gently bring up the petals from the center and just crush up the paper, wrinkling it every which way, the more wrinkles the more of an embossed petal look you'll get......


When you are done you will have something that looks a little like this.....


Step 4

Gently open up each of the wrinkled balls of paper (only leave one of the smallest pieces in a tight bud for the center) You will have something like this....


Step 5

Let the layers dry. Now simply layer the petals from largest to smallest adding a dab of glue to the center of each layer to keep them together. The large bloom to the left in the photo below is the result of the above steps (I added some Copper Stickles to the edges of my bloom to finish it off) You can also create different looks using buttons, bling & flower stamens.


Variations:

To get a more 'curled' petal look, you can lightly twist the petals of the punched blooms after you've opened them up, as shown here......

You will end up with an even more 'ruffled' look. I used this technique when I made my l/o called 'Daddy' using the Bo Bunny 'Cambridge' collection (I used the Cambridge Post patterned paper to make this bloom)......


For the smaller blooms on my l/o I simply used 2 of the larger punched blooms and one of the smaller punched blooms (quick & easy)......


So there you have it! Start your own obsession by experimenting with different color combinations, patterned papers, inks, spritzes, glitters, buttons and bling! Above all have fun with it! ~ Gabrielle Pollacco

Products used in Gabrielle's l/o:
Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny Olivia 'Nectar' & 'Cashmere'
Olivia Chipboard, Olivia Combo Stickers, Bo Bunny Buttons & Bling, Bo Bunny Candy Brads, Cardstock: Bo Bunny, Chiffon dot and Coral dot.

48 comments:

  1. This is fun and a wonderful lay-out thanks for showing.
    byebye,lean

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  2. Wow Gabi how beautiful is this girl!!!! Your blooms are...well outstanding!!!

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  3. That layout is georgous! And those flowers are amazing, thanks so much for sharing with us, i will have to try a few of those!

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  4. wow! what a cool idea! thanx for sharing it! ;)

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  5. I have always love your work since I saw it on an MB and I am glad to have found you here. Marvelous piece of art as always.

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  6. Wow, that is fantastic, Gabi! What a stunning layout and flowers!

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  7. Gabi, this is gorgeous as always! Great tutorial and your flowers are fab girl!

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  8. just gorgeous and the flowers aren't bad either (hehe) x

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  9. Such a beautiful layout!
    ..and thanks so much for the great tutorial! Those flowers look georgous!

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  10. Absolutely gorgeous! I love making my own flowers, too and I love the BB dots, so I'm off and running with this idea! Thanks1

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  11. Gabrielle that layout is stunning!! Your flowers are gorgeous, I love making flowers so will definitely have to give those a try! :)

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  12. These are beautiful, definitely a must try! Thanks for the tut :O)

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  13. Great tutorial! LOVE those flowers!

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  14. WOW, amazing job ! i would of never thought these where handmade flowers.. stunning. Thanks for sharing the tutorial :) i love it!

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  15. WOW! Prima, eat your heart out, LOL ;) GORGEOUS flowers! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. this is a lovely layout and a great tutorial!

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  17. These flowers are stunning and your tutorial is super easy to follow - thank you for sharing with us!

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  18. Lovely blooms indeed! I did this recently on a layout and I must say it was quite therapeutic to scrunch them up!

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  19. These flowers are amazing. They certainly don't look hand made. Must have a go.

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  20. GAbi.... your daughter is changing and growing into a beautiful young lady:) I ALWAYS enjoy your tutorials and have done one of these techniques .... ready to try on some more!!! Love the copper stickles on the large bloom

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  21. Gorgeous flowers Gabi!!! Love this!!

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  22. Always been a fan of yours Gabrielle! Love your work and love your flowers - will try these and some of my own variations for sure :o) Thank you for sharing.

    Lorena

    please check out my work and tutorials at;
    www.scrapingcorner.blogspot.com

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  23. breathtaking - thank u 4 the awesome tutorial.

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  24. Beautiful layout
    thank you for sharing.

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  25. Fantastic tutorial!! Beautiful layout too!

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  26. Wow,beautiful flowers and a magical L/O!!!
    LOVE IT!

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  27. wow these are fantastic. I cant wait to make my own :D

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  28. Gorgeous flowers! Sure make it look easy! LOL!

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  29. WOW!! I love this! Your layout is breathtaking! Truly stunning!! Your flower tricks and just fantastic! Thank you for the detail instructions! Beautiful!

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  30. The flowers are wonderful. Im all about flowers. I use them everywhere and even on stuff that isn't scrapbooked. Thanks for showing us how easy and beautiful they are.

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  31. The flowers are so pretty.Thanks so much for sharing...

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  32. Love LOVE LOVVVVVEEEEE these flowers and your sooooooooooo-very-easssssyyy tutorial! I am so glad you're on the DT at BB! Love the dark pink inking on the edges of the flowers :) Renee

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  33. Gabi, you have outdone yourself with this one!! I'm so glad that you are obsessed, but I'm even more glad that you are so willing to share your ideas!!! BEAUTIFUL!! The flowers, the layout and your dd!!! Wow!

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  34. I always adore Gabrielle's work! Just beautiful and I love that fabulous tutorial!!!

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  35. Stunning layout Gabrielle and I love your flowers.

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  36. simply love it. Absolutely stunning!!!
    Thank you for the step by step instructions.
    syeda
    syeda_lubabah@hotmail.com

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  37. Beautiful layout and flowers! Makes me want to do a really girly page! (I have 2 boys & a girl, so I do a lot of neutral pages.) Thanks for the inspiration!

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  38. So pretty Gabi, thanks for sharing your gorgeous technique with us:)
    Reneex

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  39. Beautiful! So easy to do, now that I have the know how. tfs

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  40. I don't remember how I found this site, but I'm so glad I did. I follow you everyday and I just love the designers. They come up with great and easy ideas to put into my own cards and scrapbook.
    Thank you for sharing your ideas.

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  41. oh these are just beautiful blooms. I am going to have to make some of these. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  42. Thank you so much for the tutorial on making the flowers! I was at it all day yesterday and if I must say so, I created some darn cute flowers.

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  43. These are amazing - I cant believe how professional they look and cant wait to have a go!

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  44. hi
    its toooooooooooo cute
    i love it <3
    thanks for shearing

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  45. Found your flowers via Pinterest -Very Lovely! Thanks for sharing.

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