Friday, March 18, 2016

Tulip Tutorial - A Carte Fini Tutorial by RoyasCreations


Hi everyone! I love Spring and all the new beginnings she brings with her. Everywhere I look, I see beauty in all the blooming flowers. It's so nice to be back to do another tutorial with my favorite paper company Carte Fini. Check out their fine Italian made paper selection on CarteFini.com and choose from a variety of beautiful Spring colors.
Here are the items you need for this tutorial: 
* Glue gun 
* Thread 
* 2 rolls of Carte Fini Blush Nuance #600-4 (you can choose any of their pastille or bold colors)
* 1 roll of Carte Fini Ivy Green #591
* Flower stems
* 2 cotton balls


The first step is to cut the petals. Cut your petals 3 inches in length and 1 inch in width:



Now cut a 4X4 square shape and stretch the square piece to the maximum on one end. Place the 2 cotton balls in the middle if the stretched paper and tightly bring the ends together and wrap it with your thread as I have done in the picture. You will be attaching the petals around this foundation with thread and glue:




Now use your index finger and your thumb to shape the petals as it is shown in the picture below:
Next, place a row of shaped petals on your bulb foundation and tie with your thread. Then place the stem to the end of the bulb and tie it tightly with the thread. Now place the next petal on your bulb but this time glue the sides of the second row of petals to the first as I have done and tie the bottom with the thread:




At this point, you need to cut off the excess paper at the bottom of your bulb so it won't be bulky. Repeat this process until you get your desired tulip shape. Remember you can change the size of you flowers either by cutting your petals larger or smaller than the size mentioned above.:


It's time to cover the stem. Cut a ribbon like strip from your green paper, add a dot of glue and tightly wrap it around the stem. When you reach the bottom, add another dot of glue to the end of the paper and hold until the glue is cooled off:


Let's make the leaves. Cut two 8 inches levees and shape it with your fingers by gentle stretching the sides of the levees. You don't want to over stretch the paper or you will be left with limp flat paper.
Now place the first leaf 1 inch from the bottom and add a thin line of glue to the end of the leaf and hold until the glue is cooled off. Place the second leaf on the opposite side of the first leaf facing each other and glue it:


Congratulations on making your first tulip!!! You can make as many different colors as you would like. You can give these beautiful tulips as present or use it as a centerpiece for your dining table, or use it as a bridal bouquet.

I hope that you will share pictures of your paper tulips with me.
Enjoy this beautiful Spring season and make lots of flowers for yourself, loved ones and friends.
All the best,
Roya

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Easter Egg Peony - A Carte Fini Tutorial by RoyasCreations



Hi everyone,
It is so good to be back and provide you with a Carte Fini tutorial for Easter!!! I hope you enjoy making these beautiful peonies as I did.


But before we get started, let me give you some information about me and my Persian culture. The Spring Equinox is the Persian New Year or Norooz which means new day...a new beginning and hope for prosperity. We set a beautiful table with 7 items that their names start with the letter "S" and each item represents a positive thought and hope for all humanity. For example, wheat grass (Sabzeh) symbolizes rebirth, sweet pudding (Samanoo) symbolizes affluence, dried oleaster (Senjed) represents love, decorative garlic (Seer) is cure against evil, apples (Seeb) for beauty and health, Sumac (Somaq) symbolizes the color of sunrise and Vinegar (Serkeh) represents old age and patience. There are other decorative items on the table that do not start with the letter "S" but they have a deep meaning in the Persian culture. For example, goldfish in a water bowl  represents passage from Pisces to Aries and decorative hard boiled eggs represent life. There are different ways to decorate the eggs for the Norooz festivities; some decorate them with pearls and rhinestones, sometimes you will see miniature Persian calligraphy or drawings, some attach tiny sugar flowers to their eggs, and some people like myself, design their eggs with beautiful paper flowers. The number of eggs are based on the number of each family member. The Norooz is celebrated for 13 days and on the 13th day, the entire family and relatives throw a big festive picnic party in the orchards with all sorts of delicious foods and deserts. It is customary to offer food to your neighbors at the picnic. At the end of the day, each person takes their decorated egg and play a game that has been played for centuries. They break the egg by hitting them on top of one another. If after 13 days the broken eggs still have a fresh smell, it means that the person's entire new year is filled with good omen. Happy Norooz and Happy Easter to all!!!


Now lets get started...
Here is a list of supplies that you need:
* Hard boiled eggs
* 180 gram Carte Fini crepe paper - There are so many beautiful colors to choose from for Spring
   I chose Orchid #590 - For each egg you need half a roll of Carte Fini crepe paper
* Glue gun
* Glue sticks
* Scissors


The first step is to cut 2 different sets of petals.

1st set of peony petals should be cut 2 inches in length and 1 inch in width (the picture shows it after it was cut and then after it was stretched):


The second set of petals should be 3 inches in length and 1inch in width (the picture shows it after it was cut and then after it was stretched):
Use the 1st set of petals and shape them with your fingers to get a closed scoop shape as it is shown in the pictures above. Add a dot of glue to the end of your petal and fix the petal a quarter way up to the tip of the egg just as I've done in the picture :



Now repeat this 4 times until you don't see the top part of the egg:


From this point forward, use the 2nd set of peals. Take 3 petals and glue them in a line, one overlapping the other and glue the three fixed petals to the egg just as shown in the pictures:





Repeat this procedure until you have a half bloom peony:
Now you need to glue 4 petals together; two petal stems to overlap one another and the third and fourth stems glued to either side of the petal stems as demonstrated in the picture:
Then hot glue the petals to the egg. Repeat this process three times around the egg:
The next step is to take a single petal and shape them by first placing the petal between your thumbs and collapsing your thumbs inward to get a cup shape. Then stretch the bottom of the petal to get a straight neat line and bend the top so you get a curved petal. Add a dot of glue and fix the petals to the egg. Repeat this by going round the egg to get the beautiful effect of a complete full bloom peony:





Congratulations...You have just made your first Easter egg with me!!!
I hope that you will share your Easter egg photos with me.
Happy Easter,
Roya

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Paper Chandelier - A Carte Fini Tutorial by RoyasCreations







 


Hi everyone!!!
I'm back with another festive design for the best paper company in the business; Carte Fini!!!

For the highest quality Italian paper, please visit cartefini.com.

Before we start, I should tell you that you can choose any color crape paper to make this beautiful chandelier for any occasion or decorate any room you desire. For example, you can use a light gray from Carte Fini's color palette to make this beautiful chandelier for your living room since this color is in style for this season. The color choices are endless!!!


Ok here we go...these are the supplies you need to get started:
* 6 rolls of Carte Fini 180 gram crepe paper - I used Seaweed Nuance #600/5
* Glue gun
* Glue sticks (make sure you have enough)
* A paper globe chandelier (I bought mine from IKEA because they also sell the light kit for their paper globes)
* Scissors


Roll out 15 inches of your crepe paper and make a straight line cut along the width. Then fold your paper three times along the length and cut in half from across the length. Now start cutting the sword shapes along the width (grain) as shown in the picture. Do these steps with both halves of your paper that you cut originally. Next, you need to start adding a thin line of glue to the wider end of the paper and attach it to the inside bottom part of the paper globe. Repeat these steps until you have totally covered the inside of your paper globe:



Now cut some more paper as before and start covering the outside of the paper globe:





When you have completely covered one quarter of the outside of the chandelier with you darker to light paper, then start cutting your paper from light to dark so that you would add the glue to the yellow end and the tip would be green. Glue and overlap the end of the paper on top of the next paper fixing it on top of the edge of one another:




When you have reached half way point on the paper globe, start bending 1 inch from the end towards yourself as shown in the picture so that the tip of the paper would stick up a little:

Repeat this procedure until you have completely covered you chandelier with your crepe paper. When you reach the edge at the top of the chandelier, glue the strips of your paper to the inside of the globe:

Well done you have successfully made your very beautiful chandelier!!!!

Remember that this beautiful piece can be used as a chandelier in your living room or dining room. It can be a very elegant addition to your bedroom or for wedding venues...the possibilities are endless!!!


Please review the beautiful choice of colors on the Carte Fini color chart and choose the color of your choice. I would love to hear your feedback regarding this tutorial. Also please visit my website at RoyasCreations.com.


All the best,


Roya