Dreaming of flowers

https://www.pinterest.com/DuchessofDixie/flower-inspiration/

I've  got  a  cold or whatever  the  nastiness  that's  going  around  is called.  I   hate zinc  even  if  it  helps.  I   have   only  a  thimble  full of ambition.  So  what  to do?  Curl up  with  a  cup of hot  tea and  pin things, of  course.  Mostly  I've  made  flowers  that  look  good  to me;  labeled  in my mind as roses, daisy  type, spiky  type, carnations, and  leaves.  I   made  a pinterest  board  of  actual  flowers  I  would  like  to  make  with  paper.  My  favorites  are orchids   (they  look  so  simple  and  the  real  ones  cost so  much), calla lilies   (I  love  them  they  are  easy  and  the  exotic  ones are pricy) and peonies  cause  they  are gorgeous.    I can't  wait   to  get  myself  back  together  and  cut some  out.  Mine are sneeze  and allergy free by the  way.   If you  have  a moment   stop by  and  visit  my board  so  you  to  can dream  of  flowers.

Boutineire inspiration

I  want  to  try  my  hand  at making  some  boutineires.  I  made some   yellow  roses  to  use in the  project but  how  to  transform  a single  flower  into  a  bout?  I  think  they're  important  cause  they're  the  only  flowers  the  poor  dude gets.  His love  gets  an arm load  of beautiful  flowers so  his  simple  boutineire  needs to  be  special.

I  love  these  from  The  Knot.  I  think  my  yellow  roses  would  work  as nicely  as the  red ones.  I  think  they're  simple  and  elegant  and  the  natural  flowers  are lovely  but  mine  would  last  a long  time.


I  also  love  these  tiny  white roses.  My  flowers  are bigger  but I  might  try  to  make  some  smaller  ones. This  is  a  slide show  darn if I  could  pick  out  just  the  one  but  the  others  are  cool  maybe  a bit  of  a  challenge  to  make  in paper.

I love  these  from  The  Knot  even  though  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  roses.

I just  love  calla lilies.

Now  I  want  to  use  natural  flowers  as inspiration  but  I  just  couldn't  resist  having  a  peek  at  Etsy  to  see  what  other  crafters  have  dreamed  up.  I  learned  I  don't  know  how  to  share  photos  or links  from  etsy  or pinterest  which  makes  me  sad  cause  there's  some  cool  stuff  that  deserves  a  share.

Yellow roses tinged in red

I  made  a bunch  of  roses with  a  couple  of new  details.  First  I  used Tim  Holtz  distress ink to color  the  edges  of  the  petals  before  I  started  shaping  the  flowers.  I  think  it's  made  them  more  realistic.  The  color  adds depth.  I   also  used  a strip  of  paper  to  form  the  bud  before  starting  to  add  individual  petals.  It  makes  a more  detailed  complex and  realistic  flower.

Baby shower

Here's  a  few  pictures  from  the  baby  shower  then  I'm  done  I  promise.

These  look great  I have  one  waiting  for  me  there was cake.

Isn't  this  just  to  cute?

Here's  the  food  table  

*

  

Finished centerpieces

I  have  finished  my centerpieces  for  the  baby shower.  I learned  a   couple  things:  ribbon  helps  fill in spaces and  making  signs on Cricut  is easy.  At first, I  had a hard  time  imagining  teal and  purple  together.  Then I  thought  of  teal containers with  purple  flowers . 

/

I  painted  some  quart mason jars  teal.  They're  so trendy  I  thought  they  would  be  a safe  bet.  Then I  used different  shades of purple  along  with  some  neutral colors.   I  added  a   bit  of   tulle  to each.  I  also  used my cricut  machine  to cut  the  signs.  These are the  first  signs I've  ever  made.  I  laid  them out  and  cut them  within  a half hour.

So  here's  the  finished  project.  I'm  happy  with  the  way  they  came  out.  I  want  to  write  my next  post  on something  other  than  flowers.  I want  to  make  a different  flower.  I'm  thinking  about  orchids and origami  water lilies. Sunflowers  are cool to.

Purple paper roses

I   made  a couple  of  purple  roses for  my purple  and  teal  project.  I think  I've  managed  to  get  some  decent  pictures  of  them.  Purple, red and  give me  trouble  in photos.  They're  a dark  grape color.

Teal and purple baby shower centerpieces

Our  church  is expecting  a new member  soon when  a new  little  baby  girl  enters the  world.  I'm  busy  making  flowers  for  the  baby  shower.  Mom and dad have  requested  purple  and  teal. Those  were  tough  colors  for  me to imagine  together  at first.  Then I  thought  of making  the  containers teal and  the  flowers  purple.  I  have  painted  three mason  jars teal and  they look  great.  Here's  the printed paper  for  the  flowers.  I  also  have  solid  purple  flowers, photos  coming  soon.

Finally listed on etsy

I   finally  listed  a bouquet  on etsy.  It's  a petite  bouquet  with  three main  flowers  plus  accents.  It's  $39  as is or more  with  beads or a custom  handle.  I  want  to  offer something  that's  pretty  and  unique  but  affordable.

First bouquet on etsy

Check out this item in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/269402851/petite-paper-wedding-bouquet-custom

A bit of Spring

Just  popping  in for a sec.  I   don't  have  paper  flowers  today  but here's  some  daffodils  I  spotted  in the  countryside.

Spring flowers for Grand-dad

I've been wondering how to go about listing my flowers on Etsy.  I believe they should be made to order so I really can't just keep making them but I want to have examples.  Also  I have been playing with my photos--Photos are the hardest part for me.  I decided to make some flowers for Lou's living room and photograph the process.  He really likes my flowers and I think its good to have bright cheerful things in his home.  So this is my first attempt to document the process I go through.  All together, this took about six hours.  I wasn't rushing myself though, I  had a couple of M&Ms  along the w stopped and chatted with Lou, and had a good time. 
 First off, here is the finished project:  I have to dangle some sort of reward before you or you will never keep reading.

So that's  what  I  ended  up  with.  Here's  how  it got  there.

I bought  this  silver  plated  dish and  several  of its buddies at an estate  sale.

I  painted  them blue . 

Then I  made them a newspaper  base to sit  on.  I   could  have  used half of a Styrofoam  ball but I  don't  don't  think  it  would  have  been  any better . 

I   mixed-up  my pictures  here but this is  the  play by  play.  I  got  a sheet  of  cardstock  damp, rolled it up ,  unrolled it and  glued it to  my dish.  I  used elmers  glue  all.  When  it dries it's a pretty  solid  form.  You  could  use two  layers  for  strength  but  how  tough does a vase of flowers  need   to   be?

I  cut  out  my flowers  on  a Cricut  machine.  I haven't  paid  for  an image  yet.  The  flowers  are elongated  hearts attached  to  a circle.  The  lacy leaves are a free  image.  Here  they  are  in their  flat state.

Then  I  sculpted the  flowers.  I  used  an orange  stick  from  the  beauty  supply  store.  I'm  supposed  to  be  manicuring  my nails  with  it.  Instead,  I  used  it to  curl the  edges  of my  flowers  and leaves . 

Next, I  glued several  layers of flowers  together  with  more  elmers for  a 3D flower.  I  had different  colors  of blue   and  bright  yellow  to work  with.  It's  cardstock  from  hobby  lobby.

Now, you  won't  believe  this  but  I  didn't  take  photos   of   the  assembly  process.  I  simply  made flowers  that  tickled me and  glued  them to my dish.  I  made  sure  some  greenery  was peeking  out  from  the  bottom  of the  dish.

So  here's  the  final  product  again.  It's quite  a  project  photographing  everything.  I   have  renewed respect  for  tutorials.  I  had a great  time  though.  I'd  love  to  see your  flowery  projects  so  please  share.

Valentine's day party

We had a great  time  at church  and  the  lunch  afterwards.  The  youth  made cheesy chicken  spaghetti  which  was fantastic.  I  have  to  get  the  recipe.  I  enjoyed  talking with  friends  I took  some  photos  before  the  service  started.  I  think  they  give  an idea of what  they  look  like  set-up.  After  the  party  was over they disappeared.  Ladies  took  them  home  for  their  little  girls  rooms.  Everyone  seems  to  like  them  and  I'm  glad  to  be able  to  do  this  small  thing.

Here  is my  latest  project.  The  youth at my  church  are having  a  fund raiser.  Every  summer  they have  mission  week  and I  think  they do  a great  job.  They don't  bug people, they  volunteer  at soup kitchens  and stuff like  that.  Of course, they  take  time  to  have  fun  also.   Anyway, all that  takes  money  hence  a fund raser.  Naturally  they don't  want  to buy  things  like  flowers  so I  took this  opportunity  to  make  paper  flowers  as a sort  of  dry run.  I  had two  weeks  to get  these  ready  and  almost  no limits  on what  I  could  do.  I  made ten center  pieces.  The  jars are painted  Starbucks  Coffee  bottles.  I used  scrapbook  paper, cardstock, and pages  from  old children's  books.    If you're  interested  in making  your  own  I  spent  less than   $30   and  that  includes  pricy coffee.  I  have  a  Cricut  machine  that  really  helps  with  the  roses but  you   could  make   them  without it.  I'm going  to  offer  them  to the  new moms  at church when the  party  is over.

Large   Kasudama  flower  

Here is my  new creation.  This   origami  flower   is made from  upcycled  children's  books  and   measures  six inches  across . 

Red roses

Here's  the  latest  bouquet  I've  made.  I  love  the  way  the  deep  redd plays off the  light  green  leaves . It's  dramatic  yet fun ,  not  Gothic.  There are several  Kinds of flowers  in different  colors  and  different  leaves.  Each   flower is hand  made  including  the  stems  which  are wrapped  in green  paper  for  a natural  look.  They're  easily  12 inches  across.  They would  make  a  lovely  bought.  I haven't  listed  one  for  sale  but  it would  be  about  150.  I  would  be  happy  to  make  one  at a higher  or lower  price  depending  on number  of  flowers  bigger  flowers  but  flower were of them would  be  more  moderately  priced.  Shipping  would  be  around  15

Blogging app

Checking out bloggeroid.  If you're reading this  it worked . 

My bright flowers

Here's  some  flowers  I've  been  working  on.  They're  just  sitting  in  a  mason  jar.  I'll  make   them into  a   bouquet  soon with  a  holder.