Gift guide

My ultimate gift guide for a flower maker

Christmas is less than a month away and it is high time we thought what we would like to find in our Christmas stocking on 25th December 2015. Below you will find a wide choice of possible gifts ranging from tools to supplies to books and experiences all chosen to please an avid flower maker. Most of these things I have a use regularly, some others are in my gift list for Santa.Please note that I have not received any of the items listed below as a gift for this review. I am doing this gift guide simply because I love what I do and I would like you to enjoy flower making as well.Prices correct at the time of publishing.Simply click on an image and you will be taken to a website where you can purchase the item.I hope you will find the gift guide useful. Comments are welcome

oversized rose

Oversized rose headdress

I have finally finished this custom oversized rose headdress. This was an experimental piece, the one your customers inspire you to dare and do it by ordering something quirky. You try your best and come up with … well, a masterpiece! 
Oversized rose headdress
Created employing Japanese flower making techniques the piece has proven to be time consuming but the result is impressive. Not only does this rose look natural it is also very durable as each and every petal and leaf is lined with another layer of silk.
Large silk rose

As with mist of my flowers I have painted all the fabrics for this headpiece, which basically means that a similar headdress can be created for you in colours matching your outfit or wedding theme.

Oh, I do love this rose I must say! ☺

Trooping the colour ceremony and silk flowers

As you have probably heard, last Saturday Britain celebrated the Queen’s official birthday with Trooping the Colour, a fabulous military parade.

Although the Queen was born on 21 April, it has long been the tradition to celebrate the Sovereign’s birthday publicly on a day in the summer, when good weather is more likely. This military ceremony dates back to the early eighteenth century or earlier, when the colours (flags) of the battalion were carried (or ‘trooped’) down the ranks so that they could be seen and recognised by the soldiers.
Trooping the Colour is carried out by fully trained and operational troops, watched by members of the Royal Family, invited guests and members of the public. 
Naturally I was drawn to the celebration in order to observe what headwear members of the Royal family have chosen for the event.
A lot of attention has been drawn to the Duchess of Cambridge especially that it was her last  public appearance before the birth of her first child. In this nice picture we can see her pale pink Alexander McQueen coat and matching hat in more detail. 
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall wore the Philip Treacy designed picture hat in a sparkly oyster coloured straw with a large upturned brim.
But most of all I was pleased when I saw the Duchess of Kent’s hat. She wore a white pillbox hat trimmed with purple roses and a white tulle veil.
Interestingly the day before I painted one of my roses in a very similar colour.
For me silk flowers and hats is a marriage made in heaven and it is a pity we did not see many silk flowers on Royal hats at the parade. 
Here is one of my pillbox hats decorated with an open English rose:
Silk rose pillbox
Silk flower fascinators look equally stunning. Sometimes it takes just a flower to make a fascinator, like in this black rose fascinator
Black rose fascinator
or the oversized camellia headband
Oversized blush pink camellia hat
Do you use silk flowers to decorate your hats? If not, with what do you decorate them? Please share your opinions.

Fabric strawberries

Textile is a very versatile and pliable material and since there so many different varieties of textile one can say that there’s got to be a fabric for any job imaginable. When we make flowers we choose nice lightweight and medium silk fabrics, shiny or matt, sometimes almost transparent depending on the flower we are creating.
But what if we want to make a … strawberry? What fabric to use to make the work look nice and the process easy and smooth? Probably something relatively thick? Like velvet?
This is what came out of my fabric berry experimenting:

Materials: Japanese velvet, Japanese melton, satin, Japanese lining silk.
P.S. Whatever you see in the picture is a small unfinished interior arrangement. But I think that a little brooch with strawberries would look really cute!
How would you make use of these juicy berries?