Wonderful Moth Orchids

Orchids are my favorite flower to make in sugar...

I never get bored making them and I like the challenge of the intricate details that is added to make them look more realistic.

As you can see I had made quite a lot of these moth orchids for this lovely arrangement. Everything is made of sugar except the container and the grassy filling. 

Gumpaste moth orchid

Lovely Little Lilacs

I really hoped I had made enough of these little flowers to make a huge arrangement since I was making them for hours... when all was said and done it seems I made 4 small bunches which I could have assembled in a tighter fashion. But, being anxious to finish them I opted to leave them as they are. I will make more of them and rewire them into tighter fuller bunches and take more pictures to compare.



Just the color I wanted



I last posted the lilacs made, but patiently waiting for the color to be added, the leaves to be made and assembled. Here is stage 2 adding the dusting powder which I normally like to add in layers. I do mix colors but also layer the colors to give them a more natural look. The lilac leaves are a rather bright green in one shade. I still mixed the greens I have to get a green I liked.



Adding the different colors



Color added and ready to assemble

pale green gumpaste to start then add shades of green

All colored added now assembly time

The last stage is assembly which of course everyone is always anxious to get to. At least the first time making a flower I can say I get anxious. I just can't wait to see if they come out how I expected them to or if I need or really want to remake them.  But of course the more you make a flower the better you get and can fine tune any part of them you aren't happy with or change the way you make them.



Lovely little lilacs



I think these will  make great filler flowers and are very cute and fun to make.. I will make some more in a pale shade of pink and put them with the next larger flower I am going to make.. so, come back to see what I create next.  I will also post more pictures of a fuller bunch of lilacs.

Before they are transformed

When I start to make sugar flowers I get all excited to see the end result and visualize in my head what I want them to look like. I know beside making the flower itself I will need to add the extra details and colors.

When I first started to make sugar flowers and saw them at this stage, which is what I call the first stage I thought they wouldn't look like a real flower when they are done. There they sat drying and I just couldn't wait for stage 2...



gumpaste Lilacs drying



So, I thought I would post these lilacs at stage 1 in the Styrofoam drying and waiting for stage 2.. my favorite part to add the color and start to bring them to life.  This is a close up...

gumpaste lilacs

Adding the color requires mixing and matching dusting powders... deciding what part of the flower I want to add it to and how many different shades I want.. I can get caught up in it since it is sometimes like creating your own garden.

Friday Giveaway: "For Pete

Friday Giveaway: "For Pete

Not your every day sugar flower

I am always up for a challenge when it comes to making sugar flowers. Although other sugar artists have made all the same flowers I have we all seem to end up with just a different take on it. It is how one sees it or the flower we are modeling it after. Color has to do a lot with I have decided. I love tropical flowers and the unusual. Not that all flowers are great to add to a cake, but they look just great in a nice container.

It is the challenge of making those fragile petals that easily break, getting the right size on an overly sized flower, or just making a flower you have never seen or heard of. No matter what I make it is always a challenge to make it a bit different or better the next time.

Tropical gumpaste flower arrangement

This was the first arrangement I entered in a show. There are Moth Orchids, Antherium, Ginger, Bird of Paradise, Hibiscus, Star of Bethlehem Orchids.