Frida My Love

This same time, every year, I think of Frida Kahlo. This week is especially charged with her special energy because she was born on July 6th and she passed away on July 13th.  Every ounce of my love and appreciation for her and the inspiration she has brought me as an artist has gone into this headpiece.

I also have a friend who I love so dearly who has a birthday sometime about now...(actually I missed it because of work commitments)...who also loves Frida, and big flowers, and red polka dottie things. I made this for her too. Every hand cut and pressed petal that went into this was made with love and intention. My intention is that the wearer, who ever she may be, will be blessed with creative abundance, divine love and Frida magic...forever and ever.

If you think you would like one of these headpieces, I am selling them in my SHOP right now. I can also do custom ones in almost any fabric you like.

Love and Light

x

Real Bride: Karis, Headpiece and Bouquet

Hello there! Spring has sprung and wedding season is in the air.

A while back I posted about a crepe paper bridal bouquet that bride-to-be Karis had commissioned me to make for her. What I didn't mention was that along with the groom's button hole, I also made her a lovely bridal halo to wear in her hair. It's a natural wreath adorned with hand made flowers, up-cycled millinery leaves and vintage pearls and ribbon.

She just sent me this gorgeous photo, taken by Arran Corbett, on her special day and it shows how lovely the headpiece and bouquet went with her dress and the overall look and feel of their wedding. What a truly delightful project to work on and I am especially happy for the new Mr. and Mrs. I'm wishing Karis and Joe all the love, light and sparkles that the Universe has to offer for their new and exciting journey together.


Love and Light
Gx

Making Silk Cherry Blossoms for Springtime Goddesses

 

While Mother Nature has been busy whipping up thunder storms, pushing tulips out of the ground and peppering the trees outside with gorgeous blossoms, I have been inside all warm and cosy making some blossoms of my own.

These delicate little cherry blossoms have been individually cut, stiffened and pressed from the silk fabric from the sleeves of an old discarded wedding dress. All made up, they are like dainty little ballerinas eagerly waiting in the wing for their grand entry to dance around the heads of beautiful Springtime goddesses.

Love and Light

Gx

Crepe Paper Bridal Bouquet

I don't know about you but when I think of crepe paper flowers I think of fiestas, back yard parties and grade school art projects. My mind's eye simply could not envision anything elegant coming from anything made from crepe paper. Then I get a private commission from a lovely bride who thinks outside the box. She is a vegan and a conservationist and a really swell chick and isn't afraid to go non-trad with her wedding. She wanted a paper bouquet...red roses to be exact.

So with my usual flower making techniques that I use when making fabric flowers, I set about making some out of paper. I tried different papers...experimenting with different thicknesses and colors as well as different types of roses. None came out like I wanted...they looked too 'crafty'...not elegant enough. Then I tried crepe paper.  What a gorgeous paper to work with. We all know someone who is chilled, happy, fun to be with and easy to get along with, who never gives you agro right? Well, that is crepe paper. It's yielding, fluid yet tough, pulls, stretches and does exactly as it's told. I love it. And it makes perfectly gorgeous and elegant flowers. (Note: Make sure you use the top quality Italian crepe paper. The cheap 'party streamer' kind is thin, looks cheap and rips easily).  The traditional rose I made looked too uptight so I decided to make a rose/peony hybrid...which is basically a peony petal template without the jagged top.

Each petal was hand cut, stretched and shaped and glued around a stamen, layer by layer, then reinforced with floral tape. I used a thick florist wire to start the making of the stamen then after I added a few layers of petals I added a 10" long pipe cleaner to the wire and then wrapped the two together with floral tape. This gives the stem some girth.

Oh, and I also made a matching button hole/boutonniere for the groom which will look good against his black suit. I am pretty pleased with the results and astonished at how real it looks. I'm now in love with crepe paper and can't wait to explore more ways of using it in flower making. I'd love to try it on flowers that are difficult to make with fabric...such as sweet peas or giant sunflowers. The only problem is sourcing decent colors here in the UK. Most of the quality crepe papers I have seen on offer are in bright or garish colors. Another challenge is...color runnage. If you use a bright color crepe paper to make flowers, please note that the color will run when it gets wet. If you are making a bridal bouquet, the bride must be told this so color doesn't get on her dress. Fortunately, the bride I am working with is aware of this and it didn't put her off the idea of big red roses! I'm also going to experiment with hand painting on white or ivory crepe paper and will keep you posted on the results.

Love and Light

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