On my online workbook this week: A Buzzin’

Dear

This week's inspiration is celebrating the elegance of maturing flowers.

My tip for you this week is about selecting a flower to use as an armature to add even more flowers.

Just as we need to select slightly more mature tulips to reflex the petals to open the flower up (see the Tutorial for detailed instructions on how to reflex tulip petals) we can use the maturity (and the elegance of how flowers fade) to support… well… more flowers.

The tulip pistil, the sticky out bit in the middle of the flower, is the female reproductive part of the flower.

Unpollinated flowers are brighter in order to attract pollinators. As the flower grows and matures the ovary (at the base of the pistil) becomes more robust to prepare for pollination but once they are pollinated they divert all their energy into developing into a seedpod… and the gorgeous petals wither in the most elegant way.

This early stage of developing into a seedpod is ideal for using the flower as an armature. The seedpod can carry a tiny water tube and your design flower easily. And as the tulip fades and the petals wither and adds even more personality to the design! I absolutely loved how this design matured.

Simply glue the tiny water tube (again, see the Tutorial below the design to see how I made those) to the pistil. Keep in mind that the petals of the tulip will wither, curl up or even drop so place the water tube so that it will be concealed on one side by the growing pistil (see the picture above) and the flower on the other side and let the fading tulip finish the design by itself.

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine