Flores Tropicales Tutorial with bonus

While I was browsing through some of my older scrapbook magazines for some inspiration, I came across my old copy of 2006 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame Book...and there was my new inspiration for flowers... Honorable Mention Christa Hayden. She made these beautiful flowers from rice paper...I thought, why not coffee filters like I have been using...And break out my wonderful set of watercolors....This is what I came up with...These were done with one Sizzix die in 2 sizes..I am currently working on roses, and flowers in other shapes, and more custom colors...So here is the basic flower, variations will be shown with the tutorial which will be ready for the Swirlydoos March kit reveal!! I hope you like them...Color varieties are endless with watercolors!! The tutorial will show layered flowers also. When I was done, the flowers reminded me of flowers in my aunt Sylvia's garden in Puerto Rico.. thus the name...Flores Tropicales

Supplies

Watercolor paints
paint brushes
flower die or punches
fine tipped black marker

coffee filters or rice paper
egg carton
paint tray for mixing paints

Step 1
Cut out, punch or diecut your flowers out of the paper
Step 2
Mix your water color paints to the colors you want. Adding more water will give you a softer, lighter color. Using different shades of the same color, or using complimentary colors, start painting your flowers. If you have papers for a LO you are going to use, mix up colors that compliment the paper to use on a LO.

Step3
Place the wet flowers in egg cartons carefully pushing them down into the spaces, and let the flowers dry. This will give them some body and dimension.

Step 4

After the flowers are dry, using a fine tipped pen, draw some stamen on the flowers.

Step 5
Grab the bottom of the flowers on the wrong side and pinch and twist the middle of the flower in the middle as shown.

Step 6
Carefully open up the flower keeping the bottom pinched and twisted and fluff out the flowers by arranging the petals slightly. you could curl some of the petal if desired for a more natural look.

Step 7

This photo shows how you can also layer the flowers. Use as many layers as you like.

Step 8
Bonus Water Color rose...Cut a large spiral out of the coffee filter or rice paper. Color using various shades of color desired, and on the very outer edge of the spiral, use a darker color just along the very edge.

Step 9
This is your finished rose. You can now hit it with a little perfect pearls, or glimmer mist for shimmer.