Tutorial: Acetate Flowers

Hello hello! I thought of doing a bonus tutorial this month, and decided on making acetate flowers using alcohol inks. The above picture shows the finished piece. These are super easy to make and take about 10 minutes, max!

Lets get started, supplies required:

Alcohol Ink Blending Solution (optional)
Alcohol Ink: Raspberry (or any other color of your choice)
Alcohol Ink Mixative: Silver (or any other)
StazOn Ink: Black

Stamp: Bo Bunny Floral Stamp
Acetate Sheet
Paint brush
Plastic Palette or something similar


Scissors
Glue

Step 1: Ink up your stamp with StazOn, and carefully stamp out 3 images of the same flower, with the same stamp. (Use StazOn because it works with non-porous surfaces, unlike other inks.)

The stamped acetate

Step 2: Once dry, flip the stamped acetate, and color the reverse image with Raspberry. Be sure to color the petals ONLY. If you want a lighter shade, mix a few droplets of ink with blending solution, and color using a brush, that is what I did. Otherwise, apply the ink directly, and use the brush to control it.

The ink mixed with blending solution

Coloring the petals with a brush

Step 3: When the petals have dried, add a drop of mixative to the center, and spread it, with outward strokes. Remember, that you are coloring the reverse side of the stamped image, so don't panic if the mixative covers the stamped details.

Add a drop of mixative

Spread the mixative

Step 4: Using scissors, cut out the flowers by following the outline. Then, separate each petal by following its outline, without detaching it from the center. The cut out flowers should look something like the the picture below.
Place the flowers, stamped side up, so that all the details of the stamped image are visible. (This is one of the reasons why we color/ink the reverse side)

Cutout flowers with the stamped side up

*From this point forward we work on the flowers with the stamped side up.* 

 

Step 5: Now take one flower, and shape it, by gently bending the entire petal inwards (towards the center). When you bend it in, don't press the crease; you want the petal to stand up when you leave it. Once you've done that with all the petals of this flower, gently turn the tips of the petals outwards, without creasing them.

Bending the petal inwards

Bending the petal tips back

Step 6: Take the second flower, and shape it, by gently bending the tips of the petals outwards, and slightly bending the petal inwards. Unlike the first flower, you will only bend the petals in, half way, so that they aren't flat.

Bending the tips of the petal outwards

Step 7: The shaped layers should look something like this:

L-R: Layer one or top layer, Layer 2 or middle layer, Layer 3 or the base layer.

We will simply stack the layers now by sticking Layer 2 onto layer 3, and layer 1 onto layer 2. The flower has now taken shape.

The assembled flower

I took it a step further and turned it into a brooch, by sticking the gorgeous flower onto a brooch pin.

mounted on a brooch pin

You can now, use this lovely flower however you want.

The gorgeous brooch

Do give it a try, I would love to see your take on it.
Happy Crafting!