Wednesday, April 17, 2013

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I spent all of last Sunday working on this iris kit from MJ Miniatures. Of all the iris kits I'd seen, this one looked the most realistic.   I quickly realized I'd gotten in a little over my head.
Flower making is one of my least favorite projects to begin with, and this iris kit was easily the most finicky flower kit I've ever attempted. The petal paper was thin and easily soaked  up my purple wash of paint. But because the paper was so thin, I accidently ripped/mangled quite a few of the damp petals, even using my softest paintbrush. I ended up with enough petals to make 12 big blossoms, which wasn't bad considering the number I had to throw away!


I "planted" the iris in this painted wooden vase. I didn't want to make the flowers permanant, so I just stuck the flowers in a piece of styrofoam. I painted the top of the foam brown to simulate dirt.
My favorite detail of the finished flowers (and also the step that nearly drove me over the edge) was the snippet of tan tissue arournd the base of each blossom and bud.

Here are the irises in place in the music room. The pink and white flowers are all from SDK kits. The SDK kits are punched from pre-colored paper, so they looked a bit flat next to the irises. I gave the pink flowers a quick, uneven wash using pink and orange tones to make them look varigated. They were cut for a much smaller vase originally, so I had a little trouble aranging the short stems.

14 comments:

  1. Het zijn inderdaad hele mooie irissen. De vaas is ook erg mooi.

    Groeten Xandra

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  2. Hello Eliza,
    I5t was worth every ounce of trouble and frustration because they are just gorgeous. Very realistifc and they are just right in the music room.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  3. Preciosas, muy bien hechas¡¡¡
    Un beso
    Susi

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  4. they turned out really beautiful! I also really like the pink flowers short in that vase :)

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  5. Your iris are wonderful and the vase is amazing. Perfect in the music room.
    Bye, Faby

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  6. Your flowers could not be more perfect! The vase you have put them in is the most beautiful miniature vase I have ever seen! I love your wallpaper in the music room and how the two blue flower pots on the wall pick up the blue in it. The carpet is so rich in colour, I could not stop looking at it. I also love the embroidered seat of the piano bench.

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  7. They are beautiful. Well worth the effort.

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  8. Equisite irises. Worth every bit of effort.
    Hugs, Drora

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  9. The iris's are great. The turned out fantastically.IndyPoppy

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  10. One of the things I have yet to tackle in miniatures is flowers. They somehow intimidate me with all those miniscule petals!

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  11. The flowers look amazing, Eliza. My compliments!

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  12. They were well worth the effort. I have made irises from Templewood Miniatures

    http://www.fineflowersinminiature.com/shop/category_8/Bonnie-Lavish-Laser-Cut-Flower-Kits.html?sessid=YRwFAIwoIkndD3STB6e7jqdp5VpisvsfK4J00dbem6Qkp3umd3mHauKL45EfYPLu&shop_param=cid%3D%26

    I love their kits.

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  13. Hello Eliza! I have to say that the irises are delightful and the tan paper may have been what drove you crazy but they are the finishing touch to this very pretty bunch of flowers! They look so nice in your music room and I also like the chandelier that is shown in the picture. Is that a spinet that the irises are on?

    elizabeth

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