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These flowers are
handmade, hand dyed and made with ultimate care. There are also
arrangements from silk , wood , crepe paper & tissue paper flowers. The
flowers I make are paper roses, many types of paper flowers for wedding
like roses , lilies , carnations. The flowers are made from imported
paper, crepe paper, satin. Shades can be specified to suit your
room/theme. Do browse through the site and take a look at my creations!
You can mix these flowers with fresh flowers too, it helps
to:-
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Brings down the cost as the prices are kept low.
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These can be kept as souvenirs of your important functions
as they last long.( They can be used as a cheap wedding favor )
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If you have a color theme to your wedding or function, and
you are not able to get the color flowers that you need, you could ask
me to make them in the color you need.
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For orders email at :
stjudescreations@yahoo.com - with number of flowers required,
type, color and the date by which you would like them.
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Since the flowers are hand died some slight changes in
color may occur.
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Shipping and
handling must be paid by customer
Email:
stjudescreations@yahoo.com
Background
Silk and other artificial flowers
manufactured today are breathtakingly real and must be touched if they are
to be distinguished from nature's own. Silk trees bring the outdoors into
sterile
offices, and flower arrangements change the color and feel of a room for a
relatively small investment. Hobbyists find them a joy to work with and
take pleasure in completing arrangements that make beautiful, lasting
gifts and ornaments.
The vast improvements in the quality of
artificial flowers as well as lifestyles that demand
carefree home
decorating accessories have caused a flowering of the artificial flower
industry into a multi-billion-dollar business. Many of the individual
flowers, stems, and
foliage
are now imported from Thailand, China, and Honduras where the intensive
hand labor can be acquired more readily.
Faux flowers allow home decorators to
defy the seasons,
not only by having summer blooms in the dead of winter but by mixing
flowers from several seasons in a single display. Some manufacturers use
real materials to enhance silk flowers, such as inserting artificial
branches in real tree trunks. Real touches are also added to the false
flora; leaves may have holes that look like insect damage, silk roses are
complete to the thorns, and some fabulous fakes are even
fragrant.
Their ultimate attraction may be their least natural aspects; these plants
don't need water, fertilizer, sunlight, or tender care.
History
Florists call silk and other artificial
flowers "permanent botanicals," and for many years, they looked down on
both dried flowers and artificial flowers as inferior. Today, silk flowers
are prized for their versatility and are used by florists to enhance live
plants and
mingle with cut
blossoms. This tradition is hundreds of years old and is believed to have
been started by the Chinese who mastered the skills of working with silk
as well as creating elaborate
floral
replicas. The Chinese used artificial flowers for artistic expression, but
they were not responsible for turning silk flower-making into a business.
As early as the twelfth century, the
Italians began making artificial florals from the cocoons of silkworms,
assembling the dyed, velvety blooms, and selling them. The French began to
rival their European neighbors, and, by the fourteenth century, French
silk flowers were the top of the craft. The French continued to improve
both fabrics and the quality of flowers made from them. In 1775,
Marie Antoinette
was presented with a silk
rosebud, and it was
said to be so perfect that it caused her to
faint.
The Revolution that ended Marie Antoinette's reign also dispatched many
French flower artisans to England, and, by the early 1800s, English
settlers had taken the craft with them to America.
The Victorian Age was the setting for a
true explosion in floral arts, including both living and artificial
varieties. The Victorians favored an overdone style of decor in which
every table and mantelpiece bore flowers or other ornaments. Flowers were
so adored that "the language of flowers" grew to cult status in which
floral bouquets carried messages and meanings. During the mid- to
late-1800s, artificial flowers were made of a wider variety of materials
than any time before or since. Fabrics included
satin, velvet,
calico, muslin,
cambric, crepe, and
gauze. Other
materials included wood,
porcelain,
palm leaves, and metal. Wax flowers were popular and became their own art
form, and flowers were even made of human hair especially to commemorate
deceased loved ones.
In the United States, lavish
arrangements and
apparel made use of
permanent botanicals. The Parisian Flower Company, which had offices in
both New York and Paris, supplied silk flowers and other artificial
florals to milliners, makers of
bridal
and ball gowns, and other dressmakers, as well as for room decoration.
They sold separate stems and arrangements that were either pre-made or
commissioned. By 1920, florists began to add them to their products and
services to cover those times when cut blossoms were in short supply.
The trend toward wreaths and ornaments
using false fruit in the Italian della Robbia style flourished in
the 1920s and 1930s and waned by 1940. Celluloid became a popular material
for flowers in the 1940s, but the highly
flammable
flowers were banned from importation from Japan after several disastrous
fires. Plastic soon overwhelmed the industry, however, and is still
responsible for its versatility in the 1990s. Inexpensive plastics to
realistic silk blossoms offer something for everyone.
Raw Materials
Artificial flowers are made in a wide
variety of materials depending on the market the manufacturer is reaching.
In quantity,
polyester has
become the fabric of choice by flower makers and purchasers because of
lower cost, ability of the fabric to accept dyes and glues, and
durability. Plastic is also the material used most often for the stems,
berries, and other parts of flowers for the market that includes
picks—small clusters of artificial flowers on short plastic and wire stems
that can be inserted into forms to make quick, inexpensive floral
decorations—and bulk sales of longer stems of flowers that are also less
expensive. Artificial flowers are made of paper, cotton,
parchment, latex,
rubber,
sateen
(for large, bold-colored flowers and arrangements), and dried materials,
including flowers and plant parts, berries, feathers and fruits.
For more
upscale silk
flowers, silk,
rayon, and cotton
are the fibers of choice. Wire in a wide range of gauges or diameters is
used for firmness in creating the stems (and in stiffening some flower
petals and parts), but the wire is wrapped with specially dyed,
tear-resistant,
durable paper. No
plastic is used. Other natural materials such as dried flowers, feathers,
and berries are also significant in the upper end market. To make fruit
and some berries, specialty suppliers manufacture forms that are precisely
sized and shaped to look like the real fruit from mixtures of
tapioca
or flour base. The forms are sold to the flower manufacturer who dyes them
and mounts them on paper-wrapped stems or stalks. All dyes and glues are
also derived from natural materials.
Design
Most silk flowers are sold by the stem.
Their designs begin with nature. When a silk flower manufacturer plans to
make a new design of a magnolia, for example, the designer takes a
magnolia fresh from the tree and
dissects
it to use the actual parts as models. Dies called tools must be made to
cut the silk petals. The exact petals are used to design these tools, and
three or four are required to make the different sizes of petals that
comprise the flower. The leaves also require several tools. The cutting
dies are expensive to machine, so the manufacturer makes a significant
financial commitment when investing in a new design.
Silk flower design is also heavily
influenced by trends in interior design and fashion. Manufacturers attend
trade shows to learn about colors and styles in
wallpaper and
furniture or summer dresses and hats that are
forecast
for one to two years ahead.
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