First step was the local florist, where I purchased a beautiful mix of fresh flowers. I picked up a fabulous bunch of Ranunculi's', now vastly becoming one of my favourite flowers, Roses, Lisianthus' and hydrangea. First step was dissecting some of these beautiful blooms, studying the petal formation, veins and colour hues. I then proceeded to make some veiners, using two-part silicone! - It is such a fab product. Found the whole process really enlightening.
After making these I then started with a Ranunculus, using oatmeal, shade with edible dust to add texture to the centre formation. I had quickly learned that the Ranunculus petals are much smaller than you would expect so I ended up using a 12mm rose petal cutter for every petal (note: I did not use a larger cutter for the outer petals).
The veiner impressions are ever so slight on the Ranunculus, the hardest part of making these flowers is getting the first few rows of petals to form around the center. Due to even the small petals being larger than the center these are quite easy to get frustrated with. - Persist; persistence and patience is key!
After about an hour, here are the finished flowers -
The next flower I wanted to create was a long term love, the Gardenia. I started this as you would with a rose, a coned center. The petals again are made using various single rose petal cutters and arranged in a different formation. I have notice many sugar artists Gardenia's are verging on a camellia/magnolia/gardenia type hybrids, and I really wanted to tidy it up, and make it bloom and look as a real Gardenia does, so... here is the finished article..
I am in the midst of playing with Hibiscus, Orchid's Frangipani, and Anemones', but these are currently taking a back seat due to the Alice themed wedding cake... due for this weekend :-)
Hand-drawn design - Copyright of Laura Miller (Sweet As Sugar Cakes)
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