Tuesday 28 July 2009

Bird of Paradise

I adore Bird of Paradise plants.

The first time I saw one was here in California and I just fell in love with them.




So, of course I had to have a go at making one....this is my 4th or 5th one now and I don't tire of them at all.





Although they are definitely more time consuming to make than a lot of my flowers, I don't find them difficult and enjoy them immensely.

Which is why I made one last week.
A welcome distraction from the eyeball fiasco :-)








There are many varieties of this plant but I am lucky enough to have one right outside to study. I love the bright colors in the flowers. And the leaves are so leathery with just the slightest hint of veining.

These plants even look pretty amazing when they are dead....
still so regal and exotic looking
.


Hope you like my mini version.

19 comments:

  1. Those are indeed gorgeous! When we were at Disney, I actually found Black ones!!! I was stunned!

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  2. Beautiful - one of my fave plants.
    Mags

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  3. I love Birds of Paradise. The colors are so vivid! Your mini one is just beautiful and spot on!! Hugs, Marsha

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  4. Delightful plant and such a great miniature-version!

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  5. I love it Jayne. I have 2 plants but they rarely flower. It's either too hot or too dry or maybe too wet...I don't know. Anyway, your mini one is lovely and the best part is it always blooms. Thanks for sharing it.

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  6. Jayne it looks like a full sized plant. Fantastic !!!

    Debie xxxxxxx

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  7. Thanks ((((()))))

    Glad you all like it...they truly are stunning.

    Tabitha...it will always bloom...that's the best thing. Perhaps it is too wet there. It is hot and dry here and they just glow wild...beats dandelions any day :-)

    Deborah... I've never seen a black one. Was it a dead one...they retain the shape for some time but go almost black.

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  8. Looking at the picture again I can see the wilted petals...it's still so very cool....oooh could you see a dead one done up for a Halloween scene...that'd be really neat. Ah, one day i will learn to make mini flowers! =D

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  9. So pleased you noticed that Deborah...I add a bit of dead or dying to most of my plants and flowers...makes them a little more realistic don't you think.

    I keep meaning to do a tutorial for these but never remember till right at the end lol.

    They aren't hard...fiddly but so are all miniatures.

    They do take a long while simply due to the fact there are a lot of tiny parts that have top be glued one at a time. And the leaves take 3 or 4 coats of paint on each side to get the veined effect...and you need so many of them.

    But they are pretty easy to make.

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  10. Gorgeous! I've always loved those flowers. :-)

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  11. Jayne, this is most most amazing! From very early on when I first found out about your cherry blossoms, I have been a big fan of your BOP. They are one of my fav in real life to use for dinner parties because they are huge and dramatic for the table setting. They also last a while. It is nice to come back to something familiar.

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  12. Jayne your attention to detail is amazing. xx

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  13. These are of one my faves in Big as well. Love your mini version :)

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  14. i used to work at the bird park here in Singapore, and they had TONNES of these all over the park! at first glance, these look EXACTLY like them. of course i know you're a miniaturist, but i seriously had to take a double take! I LOVE THEM!

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  15. Thanks Kat

    Debbie it is the little details that make the plant.

    Sans...I would never have thought of using them as cut flowers...yes very dramatic.

    Thanks April.

    Snowfern...how lucky to be surrounded by them. Glad you like them and thanks for visiting my blog.

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  16. Absolutely stunning Jayne! Your cleverness never fails to amaze me!
    Mercedes

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  17. Thanks Mercedes...glad you like them.

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  18. Well Jayne.... You know I LOVE them..lol

    You do such precision work down to the finest detail...

    Hugs to the Master...

    Jodi

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Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment :-)