This month we get some fresh and funky tips from Prima Design Team Coordinator Sharon Laakkonen and her daughter, Brittany Laakkonen! 

Flowers are fun, fresh and add the perfect finishing touch to your scrap projects! Instead of attaching plain flowers to your projects let’s try altering them! Here are a few simple, but effective ways to personalize your flowers!

1. Sewing on flowers

Stitching on flowers with your sewing machine (or by hand) adds texture and depth. A few tips: the bigger the flower the easier it is to navigate under the needle, paper flowers can tear while stitching, so be gentle with them while turning them, When you reach the tip of the flower put your needle down, lift the pressure plate up and manually rotate your flower. Drop the plate down and start stitching again. Sewing does flatten paper flowers so keep this in mind when planning out your project.  Add a little variety by using colored thread!

2. Stamping on flowers

With the abundance of rubber stamps available you should try using them on your flowers! Paper flowers and silk flowers absorb the ink the best. Try using a large stamp to create centers to the flower or a small stamp to add designs to the petals! Any ink can be used. Distress Ink by Ranger was used on this project. The ink bled a tiny bit, but she felt it added to the look she was trying to achieve.  If you desire a clean stamped image try using Staz-On ink.

3. Doodling on flowers

Doodles are all the rage! Why not add some to your flowers! With a pen and a paper flower add your hand-drawn doodles to the petals. The doodles add a fun feel to the flowers. If you don’t like doodling try writing some words or other message to the petals!

4. Using Rub-ons on flowers

That’s right…rub-ons are perfect for using on flowers! Any type of flower will work for this, but paper ones are the easiest to work with. Just cut out your rub-on image and use a stick to gently rub it on the flower surface. Make sure the image adhered fully by peeling back a tiny corner from the backing. Rubbing does flatten the flower so keep this in mind. You can scrunch the flower after adhering the rub-ons to add some dimension.