Paper piecing can be a fun and exciting way to bring creativity to your scrapbooks. Finding a pattern may not always be easy, so knowing how to make your own pattern could prove useful. Creating your own pattern can also add fun to your scrapbooking experience.
Roses are beautiful flowers and are often used to symbolize love and friendship. To begin the process of making a paper pieced rose, you will need to find a picture of a rose. The clearer the picture, the easier the task of creating your masterpiece.
Once you have found the picture you want to use, scan it into your computer. Each picture software program allows the user to make use of different features. In general, you should be able to enhance, enlarge and make any corrections to the picture you feel are necessary. This may include removing scratches, making the picture sharper, so you can see the lines easier or darken the lines of each petal so it will be easier to see in the next step.
After making all changes to your picture, print it. It should be the size you want for your scrapbook page. Remember the size of the picture after enlarging is the size it will be in your album. Cover the picture with white paper or tracing paper, making sure you can see the lines from your original picture. A light table or TV screen will allow light to travel through the papers and let you see what you need to see to make each line. Make a base outline of the rose to work from in placing the final pieces together. The base should be just the outer edge of the rose and not include any of the inner lines. Now trace each section of the rose separately.
After tracing the rose, cut out each piece. Number each piece in order to keep order for final placement. Place each piece on cardstock and attach. You can use either glue or double-sided tape. Now cut each piece again, careful not to cut deeply into your original piece. You have made a template that can be used for any rose you wish to make in the future. Laminating the pieces or wrapping clear tape around each one will allow you to use the pattern often.
Place the pattern pieces on the colors you have chosen for your rose. Cut out each piece, leaving the template pieces on top of the new piece so you do not lose the number order. Attach the rose to your scrapbook page in order. You may embellish any details you want, by adding lines to distinguish each petal, dewdrops, ladybugs or anything else you can think of to add character to your creation.
Use this technique to cover pages with roses. Smaller roses can be used to make bouquets. Add thorns, ivy, leaves, birds or animals to create a rose garden from your backyard or the garden you’ve always dreamed of. There is no end to the many pages you can create with your roses and creating them yourself will add to your sense of accomplishment and pride when you display your album to family members.
