I think there are now dies out on the market to cut out pretty much everything your heart desires! That is awesome news for some of us but there are others who still want to do it themselves or don't want the expense or storage woes of massive amounts of dies.
Check out this tutorial from Jenny Peterson to learn how to make gorgeous rolled flowers all by yourself....
Supplies (plus your adhesive of choice..I still have no idea what works best, so don't ask;) See that wierd little screwdrivy-looking-pokey thing? It's a quilling tool (you can buy them at most crafting joints)...I showed another finished flower there too...
First, free cut a circle with your paper snips (I had approx. 2x2 dp scraps left over from my card front, so I used those...the teal flower is obviously made from a smaller square)....you DO NOT have to cut a perfect circle...the more 'off' the better, in my opinion! If you are uncomfortable with a wonky circle, feel free to punch a large circle out)...see the imperfection in my circle? Yep- it's wonky!
Now just start cutting in a spiral, turning the paper as you cut.
Okay, now stick the tiny end in your quilling tool, with the handle facing in (you can use a pair of fine tipped tweezers if you don't have one of these but I highly recommend buying one- this was about $4)
And start rolling the paper around the end of the tool, wrapping the paper tightly around itself. You want tight- you can loosen the flower up after.
Here's the end of the rolling process. Now you would just pull the tool (or tweezers) out the back of the flower and glue the flower to the end nub (end of your spiral cut).
Here are two flowers, the striped one 'looser' than the letter dp flower. If you want a looser, or larger flower, just use your fingers to slightly pull the curl out! And with these homemade flowers, it's okay that they aren't perfect!!! They are, after all, supposed to look like you made them!!
