Veteran poppies

by | posted in: buy poppy brooch, fabric poppy, french flowers, handmade poppy, how to make poppy, how to make silk flowers, poppy appeal, poppy flower, poppy tutorial, red poppy, remembrance poppy, silk poppy, veteran poppy | 0

It is the beginning of November and I am busy making veteran poppies! Buyers manage to find my flowers on some obscure websites I forgot I was using to sell my handmade brooches 🙂

This year I slightly modernised the look of 2 brooches I am selling as veteran poppies: one of the brooches is made of cotton velvet and no leaves or stems

Veteran poppies
Veteran poppy in velvet
Veteran poppy

the other one (although with less petals) features 2 hand painted pure silk leaves

Veteran poppy

I already have fresh exciting ideas for new poppies for the next year which I will present soon. I am going to play with new fabrics and probably shapes too.
Another idea which is hanging in the air is to make a leather poppy. I wonder if my dear customers like it… I am definitely going to give it a go especially that I have all the needed materials including gorgeous thin red leather for it.

As a kind reminder I would like to mention my poppy tutorial again. Using this tutorial you still have plenty of time to create a poppy (or two!) to wear or give to someone special before the 11 November.

The poppies are available for purchase from my online shop. The tutorial can be purchased from  my Tutorials e-store.

You can also follow me on Instagram here.

1 year later: how to measure my progress?

by | posted in: handmade poppy, poppy, poppy brooch, poppy corsage, red poppy, remembrance day poppy, scarlet poppy, silk poppy, silk poppy brooch, veteran poppy | 0
I made my first ever flower about a year ago. In fact it was not even a pure silk flower as I started with a so-called “soft technique” which presupposes the use of polyester fabrics with a completely different set of qualities. That first rose seemed to be so beautiful and wonderful at the time and I was very proud of it. But now I would like to talk about poppies, by far my best-seller and a very popular flower here and back in Russia. So let’s compare my first poppy made of stretch satin (polyester) and my last poppy made of pure silk and cotton velvet to see how much progress can be made in a year.
Here is my first attempt, which again looked perfect at the time and  I wore it with pride:

And this is my last one, hand painted silk and velvet + a bit of fairy dust ☺:

So which one do you like most? Or maybe you like both? They are very different after all…

Remembrance poppies

by | posted in: armistice day, buy remembrance poppy, poppy day, red poppy, red poppy uk, remembrance poppy, remembrance poppy uk, silk poppy, veteran brooch, veteran pin, veteran poppy | 0
Welcome to November 🙂
And as we all know in 10 days, on 11th November, Britain and other countries of Europe and Commonwealth are observing Remembrance Day, which is also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day. 
Remembrance Day is observed to remember those who died as a result of World War I.
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day. Red poppies are worn on blazers, shirts, jumpers and other items of clothing on Remembrance Day. Poppies were among the first plants that came from the battlefields of northern France and Belgium during World War I. Some people believed the popular myth that poppies were rich in their redness because they blossomed from grounds that were saturated with soldiers’ blood. 
Red poppy flowers are mentioned in one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the World War  I, “In Flanders Fields”, written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. 
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Both the poem and poppy have remained prominent Remembrance Day symbols.
Here are some of the pictures of red poppies I have created for Remembrance Day. For every poppy I sell I will donate £1 to British Legion 
Remembrance Day poppy pin
These two poppies have been made of synthetic rich red satin and can be purchased in my shop on Etsy.
But if you wish you can always order the iconic hand painted silk poppy  like this one:
With my best wishes,
Your Svetlana