Don't try to imagine. Don't try to create. Simply do it. Just pick up something and start. Don't agonize over perfection; don't worry about it being "good." Remember: You can always start over. Create. Put YOU in the world.
I followed the tutorial I have posted here and just added my own touches. I didn't make the petals tapered on both ends, because I wanted to make a tulip. I made 7 petals and then "stitched" them into a cup-shape with wire. The stamens and pistils are Swarovski Crystals on wire and then fed down through the center of the flower and wrapped around the top of the stem (which was created by the leftover wires.
I modified the tutorial instructions a bit. Since my wires ended at the wide end and I wanted them ending at the narrow end, I just wove them down the sides of each petal. I then brought all the petals together by threading a wire through the bottom bead of each petal, making sure all the other wires were facing the outside of the flower and downward, pulling it tight and then wrapping it around the remaining wires, thus forming a "stem."
I "stitched" each petal to it's neighbor using wire, making sure I ended at the bottom, and secured those wires at the top of the "stem."
This is stupidly simple. Seriously. Each petal took me less than 10 minutes. The hardest part was stitching the last petal into place, since I was working in such a small area.
I really liked this. If you're creative you can figure out that you can take her technique and do it any old way you want. You can cut your petals from scrap cardstock or even wired ribbon. This is the thing I like about paper crafts- there is very little waste.
When I woke up this morning, I was all excited about attempting to make another beaded flower petal. It's the little things, you know. :) THIS tutorial is easy, and makes sense of what the diagrammed tutorial I used yesterday was saying. I'm a visual person, and watching her do this made the CLICK! go off in my brain. She doesn't say what gauge to use, but I would say use 28 or 30 gauge wire, dead soft. For jewelry, I'd use sterling silver wire - it simply adds a touch of elegance to the piece that it wouldn't otherwise have, and you can polish the wire that shows until it shines.
She only shows one petal here, but it's a very very helpful tutorial and you can build on it. Have fun!
She refers to her wire, at first, as "string." She means "wire."
You could do this with any small bead with a hole big enough to allow a double width of small-gauge wire to pass through.
This IS the technique I used last night, but it took me so long because the instructions I was using were NOT very comprehensive.
Enjoy!
Below she shows how to attach the petals together to make a flower. I would make several layers of petals and take some clear quilting thread, and holding the flower upside down, with the petals brought together in one hand and cupped (don't worry about bending them - you can shape them later) and stitch the petals approximately 1/4" from the bottom, all the way around. This will create a flower "hip" and will keep your flower petals from flopping. Then just bend your petals to create your flower!
And here she shows how to attach them to a stem. For this she is using heavier gauge wire, and you can also use floral wire and floral tape, if you desire. I prefer to bead my stems, though. That's a different technique than she shows here.
