I often get asked how I fold and curl my flowers, I've developed some quicker methods over the years so I thought I'd share them here with a few of the more traditional methods.
FOLDING/CREASING
The traditional method is to score the paper and then fold it, to do this I use the back of a knife and a metal ruler, I place the petal onto a cutting mat and then run the knife firmly but gently along the edge of the ruler, once scored I'll fold manually. This method gives a lovely crisp definition, but can be very time consuming when you have hundreds of individual petals to fold. Instead I generally use the side of a thin bladed palette knife and some high density foam, I just position the knife and push down in to the foam, this has the benefit of creasing and folding at the same time, I will squeeze the fold afterwards if I need it to be sharper or longer.
I will also use a bone folder to sharpen any creases if needed (see below).
Curling
To curl you can roll the paper around a curved object like a piece of dowel or a pen/pencil, if you want larger looser curls you can use larger objects to form the paper around, such as a rolling pin or a bottle.
I find that the quickest method is to use a bone folder and pull the paper between the folder and your forefinger as shown below, this can be really quick but care is needed as too much force can rip the paper.
Finally for curling really small flowers and centres I use cake making tools and high density foam, push the tool (they come in many sizes) into the centre of the piece and make small circular motions, the shape will curl inwards into a cup shape.
