How To Make A Craft Into An Art
When learning how to make a craft or art piece, the artist has to develop expertise in many different techniques.
The artist must know how to use both sides of the brain: the imaginative and creative side, as well as the logical and linear side.
Knowing how to combine the artistic side and the technical side of a craft is knowing how to make a craft into an art.
As with so many other things, the "art" is in the details! For example, when learning how to paint, the painter must not only want to make nice fluffy-looking clouds, but must also know what kinds of paint to use, what colors to mix and what proportions of each color to use in order to get just the right hue.
He or she must also decide what kind of surface would be the best kind to paint on.
When deciding how to make a flower out of beads, the artist has quite a few techniques to master.
The beader must choose the right type and size of beads, what gauges of wire, and what flower patterns to use.
One of the most important techniques the beader must learn is how to make strong, but slender, flower stems.
Here are a few tips on how to make beaded flowers stand up strong and firm yet look graceful and natural.
These techniques will work whether you make French beaded flowers or Victorian ones.
Standard stemwire used for beaded flowers is 16-gauge wire, in pre-cut lengths.
This is fine for small to medium-sized simple flowers.
Cut a length of the stemwire that is long enough to hold your flowers, and tape the entire length with stretched floral tape.
Be sure to stretch the tape before applying to the wire.
You will know if you have stretched it evenly if it changes from a dark green to a lighter green, and the color is uniform.
Tape the length of the wire in deep, slightly overlapping diagonals.
Depending on the flower, you will build the flower right at the end of this wire, or you will attach the finished flower to the top of this wire.
You can add two or three flowers, plus their leaves, to a single stemwire if they are not larger than a medium size.
After the flowers and their leaves are added to the wire, slightly bend the wire in a subtle "S" shape between the flowers.
Make sure that the top flower points straight up, not off to the side.
This will give the flower spray a natural-looking grace.
If you are making a large, dense flower, or a spray of them, the technique is a bit more involved.
Take three full lengths of stemwire, and tape each one individually.
Be sure to stretch the tape before applying to the wire.
Then, tape them all together to make one unit.
Stretching the tape is especially important here, because if the tape is not sufficiently stretched, the unit will come apart.
Build or attach the flowers to this unit as described above.
If the flower is very dense, you may need to wire the flower onto the stem unit before taping all the flower's stemwires onto the main stemwire.
You can still make the subtle "S" shape in the stem with pliers, if the stem is too stiff for you to shape with your fingers.
By using simple techniques such as stem strengthening and stem shaping, you can make your pretty flowers look alive and authentic.
Enjoy experimenting and improving upon your techniques and your flowers will last for decades or even generations.
The artist must know how to use both sides of the brain: the imaginative and creative side, as well as the logical and linear side.
Knowing how to combine the artistic side and the technical side of a craft is knowing how to make a craft into an art.
As with so many other things, the "art" is in the details! For example, when learning how to paint, the painter must not only want to make nice fluffy-looking clouds, but must also know what kinds of paint to use, what colors to mix and what proportions of each color to use in order to get just the right hue.
He or she must also decide what kind of surface would be the best kind to paint on.
When deciding how to make a flower out of beads, the artist has quite a few techniques to master.
The beader must choose the right type and size of beads, what gauges of wire, and what flower patterns to use.
One of the most important techniques the beader must learn is how to make strong, but slender, flower stems.
Here are a few tips on how to make beaded flowers stand up strong and firm yet look graceful and natural.
These techniques will work whether you make French beaded flowers or Victorian ones.
Standard stemwire used for beaded flowers is 16-gauge wire, in pre-cut lengths.
This is fine for small to medium-sized simple flowers.
Cut a length of the stemwire that is long enough to hold your flowers, and tape the entire length with stretched floral tape.
Be sure to stretch the tape before applying to the wire.
You will know if you have stretched it evenly if it changes from a dark green to a lighter green, and the color is uniform.
Tape the length of the wire in deep, slightly overlapping diagonals.
Depending on the flower, you will build the flower right at the end of this wire, or you will attach the finished flower to the top of this wire.
You can add two or three flowers, plus their leaves, to a single stemwire if they are not larger than a medium size.
After the flowers and their leaves are added to the wire, slightly bend the wire in a subtle "S" shape between the flowers.
Make sure that the top flower points straight up, not off to the side.
This will give the flower spray a natural-looking grace.
If you are making a large, dense flower, or a spray of them, the technique is a bit more involved.
Take three full lengths of stemwire, and tape each one individually.
Be sure to stretch the tape before applying to the wire.
Then, tape them all together to make one unit.
Stretching the tape is especially important here, because if the tape is not sufficiently stretched, the unit will come apart.
Build or attach the flowers to this unit as described above.
If the flower is very dense, you may need to wire the flower onto the stem unit before taping all the flower's stemwires onto the main stemwire.
You can still make the subtle "S" shape in the stem with pliers, if the stem is too stiff for you to shape with your fingers.
By using simple techniques such as stem strengthening and stem shaping, you can make your pretty flowers look alive and authentic.
Enjoy experimenting and improving upon your techniques and your flowers will last for decades or even generations.
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