How Does My Garden Grow?

Just as a change from the shoes that Jo gave us to play with I thought I would do something with her felt flowers.  Now I can honestly say that I was not moved by felt flowers.  I would look at them and think what gorgeous colours and then pass them by not really knowing what I would do with them.  However it seems that when a project is due and I am least expecting it creativity strikes and I find myself getting excited about felt flowers.  So I had this vision of a torso rising up from a field of flowers and the project shown below is that vision realised.  How did I do? 

Firstly I layered up the felt flowers.  Once I was happy with the way they looked I glued them together.  I then covered them with fabric stiffener (white glue and water would work as well) and moulded them into shape.  Once they were dry I threaded thin plastic up through the center, added a bead and then threaded the plastic down the other side.  I used very fine strips of plastic because I wanted the illusion of movement when I had the finished project together.  I made lots of flowers because I really wanted to fill the base with them and give the impression of a vibrant garden.

So here is the process for the torso.  Firstly I made a small torso out of a toilet roll and covered it with newspaper.

Using white glue watered down with water I glued a serviette onto a piece of baby muslin.  While it was still wet I draped it around the torso.

I glued several bamboo skewers together and glued them inside the torso to give me a way to stand the torso.  I had some butterfly wings die cut (Spellbinder "Wings") from an old calendar that I was going to attach to the torso, but I just felt that it needed something more, so I used fabric stiffener on a crochet doily and moulded them to make wings which I glued to the torso.  I then glued the die cut butterfly wings in front of the doily. Once the wings were attached I then decorated the torso using Imagine If flowers, leaves, insect buttons and Imagine If/Fix Design butterflies and a gecko.

For the base I used a recycled condensed milk tin.  I undercoated it with metal primer then when it was dry I painted the whole tin with white gesso. While the gesso was wet I put white tissue into the paint and then covered the whole thing again with white gesso.  This gives the tin a great texture.  Once this layer had dried I used gel medium to attach Imagine If/Fix Design felt stencil flowers.  Once the gel medium had dried I covered the whole thing again with white gesso.

I also added a few hexagons that were the offcuts from a Cheery Lynn chicken wire die.

After the paint dried I painted the whole thing with blue acrylic paint.  While the paint was still wet I wiped most of it off with a damp cloth.

To steady the tin and stop it from tipping I put in a couple of layers of glass marbles into the bottom of the tim.  I then put in three layers of polystyrene which I painted brown.  I then began to build up the piece by sticking the torso into the polystyrene and began adding the flowers and the butterfly.  To finish it all off I painted two metal dragonflies with black paint, wiped most of it off then glued them to the front of the tin. I added a row of jewels around the bust and waistline to define the torso.   Once again here is the finished project.

I really enjoyed making this project and I am a convert to the felt flowers.  Thanks for looking please remember to leave comments or questions and I will reply as quickly as possible.  Also go and check out the fabulous flowers on offer at Imagine If/Fix Design NZ and start creating your own gardens.  I will also be posting this project on my own blog.  nysbiz.blogspot.co.nz  I hope you will pop over and check out this and my other projects.

Materials used in this project.

Imagine If/Fix Design NZ Felt Flower Packs Shape paces 2-6

Imagine If/Fix Design NZ Felt Stencil Flowers

Imagine If/Fix Design NZ  Butterflies

Imagine If/Fix Design NZ Geckos

Insect buttons

Silk Leaves

Small white and pink beads

Recycled tin

Tissue paper

Metal dragonflies

Glass marbles

Recycled polystyrene

Toilet paper roll

Serviette

Baby muslin

White glue/Fabric stiffener/Gel medium

White gesso

Blue and brown acrylic paint

Crochet doily

Spellbinder Wings Die

Bamboo skewers

Plastic for flower stems