Technique Class - Lynn's Flowers

Last year I had the pleasure of going along to a stamping workshop at the house of a lovely lady named Lynn... Hi Lynn! While we were there she kindly showed us a technique that she had been taught that involved breaking down the fibres in Bazzil cardstock so that it split into layers. Although she learned it from someone else, who probably learned it from someone else and so on, I'm going to call them Lynn's flowers since she is the lady who taught me the basic idea.

Now, you may remember the basket tutorial I posted back in April which featured several handmade flowers placed at the base of the basket handle for decoration. These are the flowers I am going to show you today using Lynn's technique.

Requirements:
3 different sized flowers cut from Bazzil cardstock (Other brands of cardstock may also work
Large stylus (The rounded end of a pen would also work fine)
Piece of foam, such as an old mouse pad
Piercing Tool
Matching brad

1. Cut out three nesting (increasing in size) flowers from Bazzil cardstock. They can be any shape and have any kind of petals.

2. Place one of the flowers on the foam mat and rub each petal vigorously with a large stylus. You will notice the petals become softer and more flexible and eventually the cardboard will start to fray and split.

3. Gently pull each petal apart, leaving the flower intact in the centre. Repeat for all three flowers.

4. Lay the flowers one on top of the other with the smallest flower at the top and the largest flower at the bottom. Poke a hole through the centre of all three flowers using your piercing tool.

5. Push the brad through the hole and open the split pin at the back to hold all three flowers together.

6. I generally spend a little more time at this point distressing the edges of the petals a little more. Try rolling the edges between your fingers, adding little tears here and there or drag out your inks and stains to add some colour. Have fun!