Altered Punch Flowers Tutorial
With the huge variety of paper punches available today, there's no shortage of beautiful things that can be created with them. Here's an example of giving a flat, punched flower a completely different look just by doing a little trimming and shaping to add dimension.
The design is one of mine that was in the Australian magazine, For Keeps Creative Paper. Sometimes I make a card without wording on the front in case the recipient chooses to frame it later on. This might be a nice idea for Mother's Day... wrap up a pretty frame to give with the card.
The lavender flowers were created with a cherry blossom punch. (Carl Carla/Craft Large Sakura) I used very cool paper from CustomQuilling that has a suede-like finish. It's actually called velvet paper, comes in beautiful, rich colors, and takes kindly to being shaped. 
This picture of a pearlized paper sakura/cherry blossom shows how to make the lavender flowers. The middle punch is the result after trimming away two petals, and the last one, when folded.
Even tiny punched flowers like the burgundy blossoms (five flower corner punch by Punch Bunch) spring to life when they are shaped in the palm of your hand or on a mouse pad. Rub each punchee with an embossing stylus or glass head pin to gently curve it. 
The shine of pearlized paper makes the shape stand out, especially when it's placed against a dark background; in this case, eggplant velvet paper. The quilled teardrops were made with one of my favorites types of quilling paper - graduated color strips.
If you'd like to learn more about creating punch flowers, Denise Cameron of Custom Quilling [the shop is closed] has a great selection of punch art and quilling supplies. She's offered to email a $10 gift certificate to one lucky reader anywhere in the world!
To enter, just leave a comment on this post by the end of Monday, May 3. Please include your email address within the comment if you don't have a blog or website. Earn up to three extra entries by mentioning the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog. Good luck!
