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This has room for some large and more small flowers and greens. You can personalize it on the lower front or back with up to 50 characters.
INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions for Wedding and Commemorative Designs
A telephone consultation with Betsy is the best idea: 800-859-5028
WHAT WORKS? Variety of color, shape and size works best. The pastels: blues, lavender,
paler yellows, pinks, rose, white and the varied colors of greens, are all within our reach.
Within the last couple of months we have made giant improvements in new shades of red
though they remain tricky. The best pieces have a mix of large and small flowers with
distinctive shapes. Roses, hyacinth, lilies, coral bells. I like hydrangeas because I can
spread them through a design to tie it all together but many small flowers and distinctive
greens do the same. Sprigs of babies breath, caspia, and other tiny flowers break up the
space and make neat impressions. Then there are basic greens; ferns of all sorts of
delicacies, variegated ivy, eucalyptus, pine, etc. If you have any questions, please call
Betsy at 800-859-5028.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK? A single flower selection like a ball of rose buds of white or red
will not be as successful as you want and we do not want to disappoint you by doing it. In
this case, we recommend adding blooms of other colors and shapes from table flowers,
bridesmaids' bouquets or altar decorations. Don't forget the boutonnière. Also don't forget
greens. Look for small size and interesting texture. In the area of color, saturated colors like
bright reds and fuscia, elude our paints. Look carefully at the colors we show on this web
site and see if they reflect your flowers. We are committed to your complete satisfaction.
If we think we cannot meet your expectations, we will respectfully decline.
GETTING THEM THERE: Have someone at the wedding retrieve your bouquet, put it in a
roomy plastic bag,(30 gallon bags work well) tie it closed, and pop it in the refrigerator (NOT
THE FREEZER!). If this is local, someone can drive it to us the next day. We will pick out
the selection we need. If you are far away, put some crumpled tissue paper in the bag
around the flowers, leave a little air in the bag, put it in a box and go to FedEx or some other
next day air server. The reason for the paper and the air is simply to keep the flowers from
being crushed. Many flowers can take a lot of abuse. Those that get here in the worst
shape are Stephanotis, because they typically are wired and plugged with pearls, and sweet
peas which are just plain fragile. But roses, alstromeria, hydrangea, daisies, and lots more
arrive with plenty of life left. Discoloration doesn't matter; we either peel off discolored petals
or paint them the original freshness. Dryness does matter; brittle flowers will crumple, and
flowers that are too far gone will fall apart when I work with them. With the flowers, please
send the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date as you want them painted on
your piece. We also require prepayment with a check or credit card.
HOW IS IT DONE? I lay the flowers on a template on a piece of drawing paper. The thick
flowers, roses in particular, need to be cut to be compressed into a 3/8ths thickness. There
are various little tricks I have learned with other flowers to get them in shape. (This is the
part that is really fun.) Then I roll out a large piece of clay and press it down on the flowers.
I flip over, cut to size and drape clay and imbedded flowers over a shape. Audrey finishes,
puts a base on the bowl, and gives it a day to dry. The painter who will do the final work
plucks the flowers out of the clay while taking color notes. Audrey puts the piece away to
dry. Scene 2. Weeks later, we put the dry piece over the kiln to super dry and fire it to
bisque (10 hours in the kiln to 1830 degrees Fahrenheit). The painter, up in her room with
the fresh , earth scented air lightly blowing through the white curtains, slowly applies the
layers of color to the design. This is the most time consuming part; 4-6 hours is not unusual.
It is also what the painters live for. After painting we fire for the 2nd time, paint on the
inscription, pat, glaze and fire for the last time. Then we call you. |
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