Peter Beales: classic English roses

Last Saturday in between the showers we set off to visit Peter Beales nursery, which so happens to be only 20 minutes drive from our place. Peter Beales, sadly deceased earlier this year, was very well known as a rosarian, author and lecturer. Beales was considered one of the leading experts on roses, especially species and classic roses, preserving many old varieties and introducing 70 new cultivars during his lifetime.

Our humble collection has one of Peter Beales' roses and we've got our eyes on another one for next year.

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Bridal choker necklace with a silk rose

There are many ways to use silk flower for decoration that have developed over the long period that the silk flowers have been around. Some of them are more obvious like brooches, corsages, hair clips, some are less. Another direction I am constantly working on apart from the diversity of the floral  form  is the diversity of application of these gorgeous creations. Here is one more way of using a handmade silk flower: a silk choker or a necklace.

This silk choker necklace is a perfect addition to a romantic bridal image "a la Marie Antoinette" and will work particularly well with an strapless corset wedding dress. As always I have created the rose from scratch and it can be customised to a wedding theme in terms of colour. The size of the chocker necklace is regulated by silk ribbons at the back.

Here is the picture of the silk bridal choker:

And that is how it looks when I am wearing it:

Similar chokers can be seen in the Ian Stuart collection named Revolution Rocks.

Bridal hat with a gorgeous silk rose and a birdcage veil

Please be kindly informed that we have moved! To read new blog posts, purchase our floral pieces and learn more about how to make flowers you are welcome to visit out new website.

When I finished assembling this rose I immediately thought of it as a millinery flower. Called Bride it is a gorgeous large silk rose of nearly 70 petals and is indeed meant for weddings.
I had the hat idea in my mind as well, I just needed some time to get hold of all the necessary supplies to start creating. And the supply list is rather extensive: sinamay base, viscose velvet, hat elastic, crin, coque feathers, dupioni leaves, birdcage veil with spots and of course the silk rose.
Here is  the picture of the finished hat:

And to give you an idea of how it looks on a head I acted as a model :-D in these pictures:

The bridal hat is available for purchase at at my store on Etsy

Lola rose

Britain is suffering of cold and snow. It is like being back to mother Russia in a way. And I have decided that I do NOT like cold and snowy UK, it just does not feel right. Besides, I am worried about my plants, all the little bulbs which are already coming up and the camellia full of buds. One snowdrop which was coming into flower got frozen the other day...

I would like to hope that it is not going to last long but BBC does not give much hope just yet.

Despite the gloominess outside I have a nice new rose blooming inside. In rich orange and red tones is provides a perfect change from the white winter outside. So here is Lola rose

Isn't she just full of sunshine? :-)

A large tea-coloured rose

Please be kindly informed that we have moved! To read new blog posts, purchase our floral pieces and learn more about how to make flowers you are welcome to visit out new website.

I must say as an artist I am attracted not so much by the colour but more so by the form in silk flower making. I salivate at the perspective of learning how to make a new type of flower whether it be a humble lilly-of-the-valley, hydrangeas, fuchsias, plumerias, a grape leaf  or a twig of a fur-tree. All of them sound equally attractive. Of course one must not forget roses. Firstly, people seem to be fascinated by this flower which makes it first choice for weddings, birthdays, other important events. Secondly the rose has so many faces, so many different shapes and sizes ranging from a small 5-petal simple flower to a complicated layer-upon-layer-of-petals rosette. This diversity of rose shapes is also very appealing to me.

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Roses, roses, roses

Rose is the queen of the flower world or so it seems. And although I personally like a lot of rather different flowers it is very difficult to resist the fascination the rose possesses. Especially if it has a nice flower shape. Especially if it has a scent. Especially if it has a historic charm about it. This is all true about the Old English rose as it has it all: great shape, smell, heritage and diversity.
Here is the English rose in silk.
The rose is hand made from scratch of pure silk fabrics (crepe and dupioni) and hand painted using colours for silk.
 The Old English rose with an open flower shape would look beautiful as a hair accessory or a wedding dress embellishment.
 Other colour options are possible as it is hand painted
The rose can be mounted on a hair clip or a comb, made as a brooch etc.
What do you think about it? Does it look an Old English rose to you?

Personalize your day Etsy Treasury

Here is a very sweet Treasury by Jamie Birkholz about all things personalized for that special Day. That of course includes our silk rose headband which is created in pink and soft beige colours but being painted by hand it can be made in fact in any colour to match the theme of a wedding. Which, in my opinion, is a great advantage of this accessory. And it makes a nice keepsake too :-)

'Personalize your day...' by jaysworldatetsy

Wedding Cake Topper - Person... zime $72.00	LOVE Antique Silver Pendant ... MyDifferentStr... $13.99	1950s Prom Dress - Vintage O... zwzzy $220.00	Silk rose wedding headband, ... PresentPerfect... $65.00
coral silk dupioni sash belt eclu $59.00	Personalized Wedding cufflin... BeautySpot $21.60	Jewel tones Statement neckla... BeautySpot $35.00	Custom Embroidered Bride and... merriweatherco... $73.00
OOAK Wedding Hair Comb Brida... lonkoosh $99.00	Window Treatment - Mother ... EyePoetryPhoto... $30.00	Set of three vintage retro a... AnnaLouVintage $44.99	Bridesmaid Gift Set Earrings... JarosDesigns $105.00
Mason Jar Lantern Kits-- 3 s... MidwestFinds $10.00	I Do Shoe Stickers - BLUE DI... RegalRhineston... $8.95	rustic burlap wedding ring b... whichgoose $12.00	Two Porcelain Love Birds Wed... touchthedutch $20.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

What's new?

After having received 3 books on silk flower making by world famous Japanese masters in the post I was thinking with what to start. Well, I must admit, the lack of Japanese does not help when I try to understand sophisticated instructions having just a couple of photos at my disposal. So I decided to start from a stem of tiny little roses or even rosebuds. They seem to be OK to make, and besides i have been approached before by my friends who were interested in very small roses.
So far the petals are ready and they are tiny! Here is a photo of a pile of silk petals featuring Fimbriata our new garden rose as well ☺

One pattern two roses

Here is how the assembling process influences the final shape of a flower. I made these 2 roses using the same  pattern but they look quite different. The white rose is meda out of silk tafetta which I personally found a bit stiff to work with. The pink rose has got nicely coloured pastel leaves