Lily

I wanted to see what design I could come up with just by looking at pictures of lilies. The interesting thing is there are countless variations in natural lilies, size, colour, shape etc.



This lily has been through a few changes since I started working on it probably about 3 months ago. The first incarnation was not laced at all, and it didn't retain it's shape very well, the petals were also very loose. I took the original apart and reassembled it more sturdily. I also laced the petals, first individually, and then together to retain the shape of the flower. Then I added leaves, and beaded the stem. I finished the stem with green wire all the way down. I really like this finishing touch as it adds a bit more sturdiness to the finished piece and looks a bit more polished then simple floral tape. These pictures show it as it is now.



There are a few elements such as petal shape and size that I'm planning on fine tunning along the way with new projects. I've currently started work on another lily; this latest one is orange and dark red and will be patterned like a tiger lily. After I see how the first one turns out, I may decide to continue with that design and create a bouquet. This is the first petal that I completed last night. I'm not sure what I think of the colours at this point, or the dispersal of colour, but I'll hold off judgement until I have more petals assembled to see the overall effect.

Gift for my mother

We finally have a battery charger that works and so I've taken a few pictures of the little hydrangea plant I created as a gift for my mom.




It started out as an experiment in creating little balls of floral buds, I wanted to see how they would look. I had a lot of blue beads, so started with that.


The basic design for the floret is used in geranium, lilacs etc. but I'm sure it can be used in a multitude of other ways as well. As I progressed along, I started to find that the buds reminded me of the blue hydrangea my mother gave me on my 27th birthday. With that in mind, I set out to create a little plant to give to her in return.





It didn't quite come out the way I would have liked it too. I ran out of the primary blue I was using and I had to change beads. As my husband pointed out, in nature plants are seldom perfectly uniform and he thought it gave the plant a more natural look. I think he was just trying to be nice. In this case, not only did I use two different colours, but the beads are also differently cut and are not the same finish. The darker blue has a square cut interior with a silver lining whereas the lighter blue are round cut and transparent. I think in this case, the difference in cut and style is what I'm not happy with rather than the colour difference.

If I decide at some point to create another hydrangea, I might consider mixing two different shades of the same colour throughout the florets. A lighter interior with a darker edging, or something like that.

I actually did decide on that design element for the leaves and I am really happy with how those turned out. The outer edge of each leaf is highlighted in a slightly lighter green. Making leaves or petals like that takes much longer as the last row of beads has to be hand threaded, but I think the additional time was well worth the effort.