Thursday 4 April 2019

As if fairies had tended them...

The seeds Dickon and Mary had planted grew as if fairies had tended them. Satiny poppies of all tints danced in the breeze by the score, gaily defying flowers which had lived in the garden for years and which it might be confessed seemed rather to wonder how such new people had got there. And the roses--the roses! Rising out of the grass, tangled round the sun-dial, wreathing the tree trunks and hanging from their branches, climbing up the walls and spreading over them with long garlands falling in cascades --they came alive day by day, hour by hour. Fair fresh leaves, and buds--and buds--tiny at first but swelling and working Magic until they burst and uncurled into cups of scent delicately spilling themselves over their brims and filling the garden air.






I'm trying to keep up with my English speaking kids (in case I haven't mentioned it before, my mother tongues are Russian and Ukrainian) by reading the same books they read. Recently I had a pleasure of reading Frances Burnett's "The Secret Garden", and came upon this lovely description of flowers. wouldn't mind having a secret garden of my own :) 


Wednesday 3 August 2016

My daughter's first stocking flower

This is just a "proud mama" post - my 7-year-old daughter Adriana has made her first stocking flower. And it seems to me it's not the last one :) The amazing part? I didn't have to teach or help her in any way - she's learned all the techniques by simply observing me at work.



Friday 18 March 2016

Thursday 17 March 2016

How to make a nylon daisy (chamomile) - a super easy tutorial



Daisies are charming in their simplicity and beauty. I’ve always liked this flower in all the forms – big decorative daisies from my mother’s garden, small and humble plants on the hills near the village river, packages of dry flowers from the nearest drugstore – it makes an excellent relaxing tea. I used to rinse my hair with daisy water to give it a golden shine. My little nephew was given chamomile baths to increase his immunity. Anyway, I couldn’t skip these flowers in my stocking flower making experiments, so here is a simple tutorial on how to make a nylon daisy. 

You'll need


    Get all the materials ready – you’ll need a thick wire for the stems, thin wires for the petals, white and yellow nylon fabric, a bit of cotton, scissors, threads, readymade leaves (you can do without), and green sticky tape.

        

      Step 1



 Cut your thin wires into pieces of the same size and form the petals. The size may vary depending on your preferences – daisies can be really small and relatively big.




Step 2


 Stretch the white nylon fabric, put it over each petal and fix it with a thread.



Step 3


 Form a cotton ball and wrap it with yellow nylon fabric a few times.


Step 4 

 Fix the ball to a stem with threads and start fixing the petals one by one.  


Step 5


Wrap the stem with the green sticky tape, inserting readymade leaves.  


Step 6

 Admire your work. :)



A few daisies like this make a nice bouquet, especially if you place it in a straw basket. I’m going to buy a couple of baskets soon, so stay tuned for a picturesque stocking flower photography:) For now – Buddha and daisy, an unusual, but nevertheless harmonious  combination :)



Saturday 27 February 2016

Serenity...




My first daisy! A step by step tutorial is coming soon :) Stayed tuned!

Friday 5 February 2016

How to make a calle lily - an easy stocking flower tutorial

What I like about stocking flowers is the easy techniques, affordable materials and lots of space for one's imagination  and self-expression. Making a calla lily stocking flower was so rewarding - I just let my thoughts flow while my hands were busy making something of an aesthetic value (at least I hope so! :) ) 

 YOU'll NEED

So for a single calla lily flower you'll need purple stocking fabric for the spathe (or white, pink, red - it's up to you), tissue paper and yellow fabric for the spadix, stem wire, threads and green sticky tape.

Step 1

Take a tissue paper stripe and fold it twice. Then wrap it around the stem wire and fix with the thread. 

 Step 2

Wrap 3 layers of yellow stocking fabric around the spadix.

Step 3

Make a spathe by using a wire and purple stocking material. Check out the basic stocking flower tutorial to see how petals are made.  


Step 4

Thread the spathe to the spadix and shape it. 

Step 5

Wrap the green tape around the stem. 


Your calla lily stocking flower is all done!








 

Thursday 4 February 2016

Adding this blog to Bloglovin

Ok, now we're on Bloglovin', so feel free to follow us  on that platform as well:

Stocking flowers as they are on Bloglovin'


Thanks a lot for appreciating my blog and the flowers I make!

Blue theme (nylon flower composition)

Actually, the theme was purple, but my stubborn camera has turned it blue. fine, blue is in my favorite color after all (as you may have already guessed after looking though the nylon flowers on this blog :))



Red and orange nylon flowers

Red, orange, crimson, yellow, auburn and pink - these are the colors of many Indian flowers. IF you'd like to see my photo collection of these floral beauties, fell free to check out this post on another blog -

Flowers in India – red, orange, yellow, auburn, crimson, pink…

 That site of mine is dedicated to expat life and travel in India. But let's go back to our flowers. Although the Indian flowers are a great source of my inspiration, the floral composition I made yesterday was inspired by a different kind of orange, yellow and red - the colors of the Ukrainian autumn. The birdie and autumn fairy kindly helped me showcase the flowers. Enjoy :)










Wednesday 3 February 2016

Blue and white stocking flower arrangement

I've made this bunch quite a while ago as a gift for one of my friends. To be honest, I even forgot about this composition, but recently I've been going through all the photos, and it was a nice surprise to find this photo. I think blue and white flowers along with pink stamens make a beautiful combination.