Coffee Filter flower buds

Coffee filter roses seriously took over my life for about a week over Valentine's Day.  I had no reason or need to be making them.  But once I thought about doing it, I had to try. 

And once I tried one, I had to do more.

And more.

And then try little tricks to make them better..  I found that adding a narrow roll of paper to make a bud really brought the blooms to life.  As did using watercolors to deepen tones along the edges of the petals.  

I never did perfect the use of floral tape.  That stuff is high on my list of nemesisses. It doesn't even respond well to glue. And I actually got out the hot glue gun, that is not a typical tool in my crafting arsenal.

 This called for the Big Guns.

Although, I did find that the tape was ideal to cut into pointed strips and use around the buds and at the base of the flowers.  It was not at all easy to attach, I glued each piece on, then added more glue over it with strips of tape  wrapped around that . And glued it down on the ends.

Still, the tape has an ethereal quality and naturally curls up when cut in the strips. So, while it wasn't easy to do, it was worth the effort.

Eventually, I had to force myself to stop making coffee filter flowers and get on with my life.  I gave some away to loved ones, and made a couple vase fulls for myself, and then tucked away the supplies with a promise that I'd dig them out again when I had more time.

 Because I am not done yet, those blooms are addictive.  

Having the Farewell to Downton book to work on was helpful to get my mind off the roses.  Also, planning the trip to San Diego got me into gear. There is nothing like a deadline to pull me away from an obsession.

If you'd like to be a part of the art journal swap, please email me at:  [email protected]

I'm in CA for a nice, long, visit, but will return your emails and sign you up when I return.  

 

Comments

[Cheryl Comfort]

Girl... you crack me up.

Here is the secret to the floral tape. You tug on a little section at a time and that makes it sticky... then you stick it on itself and squeeze it and it almost melts into the previous piece of tape making everything secure. I can see in your photos that you can actually see the strips of tape. If you tug on it to make it sticky/melt onto itself, you won't see strips of tape anymore, it will appear as one long uniform color of "green" Make sure you pull it tight back onto itself when you start. You'll get it I'm confident in that! :-)

[Karla Nathan]

Cheryl, you make it sound easy, thanks! Great tips. I didnt quite do it that way...

[Terri]

These are beautiful, Karla! Great tip from Cheryl on the floral tape, too.

[Karla Nathan]

It sure was a helpful tip, Im looking forward to giving it a try, Terri.

[Shannin Hamilton]

Not for nothing. I have not mastered the tape thing myself, but I do agree with the tugging and wrapping, it does seem to melt into itself overall. However, I personally find that once I have tugged and twisted and wrapped obsessively, if you still notice those gapping areas that did not adhere to one another, if you take a little clear glue like Tacky Glue and dab a drop or two to the area of concern and then proceed to twist the stem while spreading the glue over the loose areas, it does actually stick pretty well.

I had to chuckle at your comment about when you first tried making the flowers. I did the exact same thing. Mine was about two weeks before having to regain and resume my life and go out into the light once again. However, this weekend is my Granddaughters dance competition and rather than buying flowers to give her at the end and them dying in a week or two, I decided to pull out the ol supplies and create flowers she can enjoy longer than a week and that cost me far less than a bouquet of roses. Plus I feel that she will enjoy these more because she is like her grandma and loves "stuff"! The first few things I gave her when I had finally got to see her again after a couple of years of being absent, I guess she took home and after two days of holding onto it for dear life, she wound up placing and replacing and yep, placing again. Rearranging it all to get it just right on the table next to her bed. So I cannot wait to find out where she keeps these!!! lol. Anyway, I decided to use the scraps to try and figure out some rose buds but am having difficulties with the larger outside petals and finding a pattern for them. Any suggestions would be awesome and appreciated.