I do have another post ready on the latest updates for the Witch House (Laser Dollhouse Designs' half-scale Jasmine Gothic Victorian Cottage,) but in the meantime, I decided to work on something else. (Last posts: cottage furnishings updates; see first floor. Click photos for full size; see other posts in left column archives.)
I got in the mood for making some new flowers! It's been a looong time since I made any flowers from scratch and using my own punches, so this was pretty fun. And since it's a witch's garden, I decided Halloween colors would work best.
I made the bases using air dry clay painted black, then covered with railroad dirt, moss, and loose green grass material.
First are Hollyhocks. I wanted them to look rather fanciful and thought the dark orange color was perfect for a witch's house. I love how they came out.
I used orange printer paper for the flowers (love the color!) and painted rice paper a mix of Soft Green (close to Wedgewood Green) and Hunter Green. The tiny foam balls on top are actually to make grapes from Grapevine Miniatures.
I drew a star pattern in the petal centers with Black Cherry paint using a toothpick, and glued sand mixed with yellow paint in the center of the flowers. The leaves are made from a tiny ivy Punch Bunch punch.
I punched the Impatiens petals at the bottom from a five-petal punch.
Also made some tiny Daisies in purple using a smaller daisy punch and jagged leaves. I used yellow flocking in the center. (See top base photo; still not done with these.)
But my all-time favorite:
I wondered what else to put in the flower beds when I saw another post someone shared with my favorite - Sunflowers! So I had to dig in the punches and see what would work best to make smaller flowers. I used yellow printer paper, painted wire, and rice paper painted green. I decided to make them a darker green (Hunter Green) for some contrast. Also used dried coffee grounds for the centers since it is the perfect shade of brown. Easy flowers to make but worth it!
Changed my mind on the center. The tiny sun could work but I decided to use the same punch as I used for the Hollyhocks. Painted brown and dotted the cuts in the edges with brown marker before gluing on dried coffee grounds.
The real garden:
Speaking of sunflowers: this is where the real ones are at now. Not real great but they're growing at least. I have some Mexican sunflowers, but only a few with flower heads right now. They all seem to be slow this year.
