Hi all , I hope that you have a been having some lovely crafty times 🙂

Today I would like to write about a request I received from a good friend, about how to create a rolled paper rose/flower using a die cut. The die that we both used, came as a free gift with a crafting magazine a few months ago.

I shall be showcasing a step by step photographic ‘How to’, using three of the main tools that I use to roll die cut paper flowers. Below is a picture of the result that I aim for:

Rolled Rose using a metal Die – free gift with a magazine.

The three most common paper rolling tools that I use are as follows:

1. A pencil/pen
2. ‘Squeezers’ – tweezers that you squeeze to open, instead of squeezing to close.
3. A Quilling tool.

Metal die plus 3x die cuts.

Tool No.1:-

• After die cutting my roses from my chosen patterned paper, I started to roll the first using the pencil:

• Start rolling the die cut from the outer edge, not from the centre:

• Try to keep the bottom edge of the flower as close to straight as possible:

• Carefully remove from the pencil/pen, once it has been fully rolled. The flower is fully rolled, when you are as close to the centre ‘circle’ as possible:

• You can change the style and size of your flower by relaxing your hold and allowing the flower to loosen. Once you have decided on the size, you add a large dob of wet glue to the inside of the circle panel. Then, push the bottom edges of your flower into the glue and hold in place until it has adhered:

Tool No.2:-

The next tool I shall demonstrate are the Squeezers. The technique is basically the same but the results are different. Using this tool produces a much tighter flower, which can also be used as a flower bud.

• Start rolling the flower the same way as before – from the outer edge. The benefit of the squeezers is that it keeps hold of the paper for you, leaving both hands with more freedom to manipulate the paper.

• Glue the flower the same way as before to secure and you have a much tighter flower.

Bonus:

To get more from your die cuts, at this stage you can add the tighter flower, to the centre of the looser flower, to create a larger and more dense flower 🙂

Tool No.3:-

• The final tool I want to show, is the Quilling tool:

• The quilling tool has a slot into which you can thread the paper. Once the paper is threaded, it is easy to twist the tool and roll your flower. This tool is my favourite to use to roll die cut flowers.

• With the quilling tool, it is also easier to hold the base of the flower whilst rolling, to achieve an even base. With this tool, if you want to keep the flower a tight bud, you can add dabs of glue throughout the rolling process 🙂

• Hold the flower tight whilst removing from the tool. Once again, if you would like a looser, more relaxed flower, then loosen your grip until the desired effect is achieved.

• Add wet glue to the same area as with all these tools. Hold in place until the flower is adhered.

Now here is a comparison of the final flowers:

On a final note, you can make your flowers smaller by cutting off part of the outer edge of the die cut and then rolling as normal.

You can also make your flowers larger: by removing the very centre section of one die cut and then joining the remaining part to a another die cut. Add glue to the middle edge of the cut flower  and join to the outside starting edge of the whole flower.

I hope that you have enjoyed todays blog post and find these ideas helpful:)

Take Care and Happy Crafting!!