I think as an artist, you're always trying to go further and push yourself. I felt I had reached a point in my flower-making skills where I had to try something new to elevate my blooms. So, I took a whole month just working on a new technique - specifically laminating my crepe paper petals - to refine my blooms and have them look more realistic.
In this post I'll share more about the little design insights for each new flower.
These new belle roses are so luscious-looking. I was very inspired by Thao's roses (https://www.thepaperpetalsco.com/) and I wanted to achieve that similar effect for her silky soft petals. I didn't have the luxury of purchasing German crepe, so I decided to laminate my own Italian 180gsm crepe and voila!
It's definitely a more tedious process, because I won't be able to mass-produce the petals as I used to (each petal has to be sculpted BEFORE the glue dries out completely), but I think it's pretty worth it!
And here is my new Crepe Paper Sunflower! I wanted a fluffier center and a cuter "teddy bear" look. Again, those petals are all laminated and sculpted individually. She's much smaller than my old sunnies but I do appreciate the more petite size!
The one bloom I'm most proud of is this Crepe Paper Dahlia! She took the longest to get right but I do think she looks so much better with the laminated petals. The peach gradient effect from the Tiffanie Turner colours are also perfect for this volume of petals.
The funny thing about this Coral Charm Peony is that I love the profile view but not so much the frontal view haha. I suspect it has to do with the fluffiness of the petals! I brushed on a little colouring of white with soft pastels at the top of each petal to give it a more faded effect - it's very subtle but I do think it adds to the realism of the bloom.
I decided to laminate my petals for my Hydrangeas and Orchids as well. For my Hydrangeas, I aimed to make the blooms look neater, tighter, and have a rounder dome effect haha. This one took me 3 to 4 failed tries before reaching this final formula and design, including experimenting with various colour combinations, but I do really enjoy this purple on the hydrangea!
Finally, the crepe paper orchid! One of the blooms that has gone through the biggest evolution among all my blooms. When I was making this version, I just remembered thinking I wanted a glossy look - glossy blooms, glossy leaves. I focused less on making them look "realistic" and more on just having them look pretty and fun! Hence why the blooms are all kind of facing different directions, with one or two upside down just for a whimsical effect.
I hope that was an insightful overview of some of my new products, to view more, feel free to visit my shop here: https://www.misspetalandbloom.com/singlestalks
I'm still hoping to add more in the coming months so stay tuned! :D