Since April Showers bring May Flowers, for May, our theme was May Flowers. We asked you to send in pictures of blooming miniature flowers.
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The challenge sample came from Julie French:
For May Flowers, I wanted to showcase a project that was inspired by an image floating around on Facebook. It was a gorgeous vintage truck filled with flowers overflowing its bed. I had dabbled in creating flowers and thought this was my chance to really learn how to make them. Luckily I had friends who helped me step by step with learning how to paint my papers, use the correct punches and the techniques to create the flowers. I couldn’t be happier with how my truck scene turned out. I even learned the technique of using static grass (frequently used in train models). It always amazes me how much we can learn from other hobbies that are so similar to our own. We have a wonderful train store here in the DFW area and they were more than happy to answer any questions about the static grass and recommend lengths to play with. I gifted this piece to a dear friend who proudly displays it in her collection. I hope you enjoy this piece and that it will inspire you to try a new technique.
Here are the beautiful submissions.
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From Gail Seus:
Spending some time in Myrtle Beach … picked up a shell on the beach and surrounded it with flowers.
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From Susan Buffaloe:
This is a little mailbox with tulips and a white flower climbing vine. A blue bow to announce the arrival of a little boy.
I got this many years ago so I can’t credit the artist/ maker.
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From Brenda Ryall:
These are the garden urns I made up for swap gifts at Camp Mini Ha Ha in Nova Scotia. I took them to Camp last September. The other flowers are Coral Bells. I have several varieties in my own garden.
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From Debbie Colombo:
This house was done from a 1/2 inch Debbie Young kit. Dogwood tree by Earthscapes by Heath.
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From Wanda Waterfield:
Here’s my May flower submission. The living room arrangement I made for my CYLC. It’s made from a collection of handmade flowers, flower kits and purchased flowers, but I did the arrangement.
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From Kathleen Ullman:
A cake topper I created for Mother’s Day. I used some mini garden accessories from one of the dollhouse kits I produce to make a sweet little scene. It was a perfect way to celebrate my mom who loves gardening and all things miniature!
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From Paula Sklodowski:
I started these during Terry Unnold’s online peony class and finished them later. Terry is an excellent teacher and is very comfortable teaching folks of different skill levels online. I’d never made flowers with tissue paper – it was so much easier than I’d feared. I’m looking forward to making more. Thanks to the entire CREATE crew for a great website. I appreciate it very much.
(Editor: We appreciate you too! The website wouldn't be half as fun without all our regular contributors!)
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From Carol Pitman:
This is my Dutch Tulip house, made from a kit by Debbie Young. I made almost all of the flowers in this shop, either from kits (sdk miniatures, Grapevine Miniatures, D & K Enterprises, Hooked on Miniatures) or from scratch, but a few completed ones were purchased. I thought the potting shelves, made by Karen Gibbs, fit perfectly on the top floor, right side. The doll on the porch is by Ethel Hicks (Angel Children) and I painted the tiny clogs made by Stewart Dollhouse Creations. I added a windmill charm in the little attic as the "attic fan".
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From Dee Cirilli:
This is my Flower Shop. It started as a tote bag from a State Day. I knew I wanted it to house a flower shop. Years later while cleaning out my stash I found all types of flowers I had made and collected. It just came together so beautifully. I am proud to share it with all. I know a lot of our creations come from our stashes!! If you really really like it buy it, because you WILL use it one day!
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From Rita Crawford:
I made this arrangement in a 1996 Guild School class in Castine taught by Sandy Wall Rubin.
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From Susan Richter:
I'm sending you a picture of the flowers that I've made in classes. The orange lilies and the arrangement with daisies were made in classes by Sandra Henry Wall. I'm sorry I don't remember the teachers name for the potted flowers, it was an IGMA class. The stand was a gift from Brooke Tucker.
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From Preble McDaniel:
I made this project over 30 years ago and it still one of my favorite projects. I call it Bunny Garden, because hidden in it are 13 bunnies. I made everything except the bird bath and stones. If interested in seeing more pictures and more details on how I made it can check out on my website http://mini-smallpackages.com/bunny-garden/.
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From Pat Creagh:
I completed this project in Jill Castoral’s cottage workshop. I found some new methods to create flowers.
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From Cat Wingler:
I have always loved the Fall colors so here are my flowers, I used them to landscape the Mill from Unicoi.
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From Lesia Lennex:
This is the Dutch Tulip from Debbie Young's international shops series. Each one is a special treasure but this is just the thing for May flowers!!
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From Joanne Kelsall:
This is a garden scene that I created. I made all the flowers in it---Hyacinth, Iris, Gerber Daisies, etc.
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From Sue Ostheimer:
Our club did a bunch of classes with members teaching how to make different flowers. I 3-D printed (and painted as needed) the fencing (except the gates), the pedestals & pineapples, sundial, benches, garden gnome, two statues, fountain and critters - birds, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrels and owl. The path was made with egg carton, the brick wall is the "real" brick sheet from Hobby Builders which I added mortar to and painted to age it. The water in the fountain is thin strips of clear plastic wrap with resin dripped down the sides and hung to dry.
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From Julie Stuckmeyer:
While this is hardly my best flower arrangement, it does have the distinction of being my first ever class. This was offered at the St. Louis Miniature Show probably close to 15 years ago. It helped spark my re-interest in miniatures after a long hiatus when my kids were young. It is half inch scale.
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From Margaret Gordus:
I made the flower shop at a Folsom Fiesta State Day in Sacramento, California. It is 1/12 scale.
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From Jean Smith (Rusty):
The roses around the seat were just punched circles of tissue paper which I painted first. I then scrunched them up and glued them on. The other flowers were made from kits. I altered the iris by gluing the petals on upside down.
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From Kim Narog:
I made these daffodils for a friend who has done many kind things for me. She has a greenhouse done in all pink and white. The pot is by Braxton Payne. He will be missed.
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From Elizabeth Lubera (and Debby Kawsky, her daughter):
This is an English perennial garden that I made during the 1993 NAME Convention in Orlando, Florida. The “stone” path is made from pieces of an egg carton and the “flowers” are made from parts of dried flowers and paper. I added extra realistic details such as the shovel, pot, gardening tools, turtle, and a tree ready to be planted. I later adapted my creation to serve as the back garden of my Victorian dollhouse.
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From Debbie Patrick:
I love the theme this month because I love making flowers!
The structure in the first photo was a NAME National class taught by Penny Champion in Orlando, FL. The class was supposed to be a produce shop but I switched it to a flower shop. Earlier that summer I took a Stain Glass window class from Penny at Castine, Maine and used those techniques in the structure’s windows. The large Tuscan flower arrangement was a Castine class taught by Sandy Wall Rubin. The other flowers in the shops are either kits or flowers taught in various classes I’ve taken.
The collection of flower arrangements are primarily silk flowers taught by Sandy Wall Rubin in Castine. The gold vase of Calla Lilies, Roses & Bamboo was a separate class taught by Sandy. The Orchid is a paper kit, Hopefully I will someday have a florist shop for my many arrangements!
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From Linda Fazzina:
Terry Unnold’s peony class was fantastic. Here are the flowers I made.
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From Patty Moneyhun:
Many years ago I bought a bag of vintage cake decorations for $1. Inside were a bunch of little ladies with bouquets, some were white and the others were smaller and in bright colors. I assumed they were bridesmaids. I lined them up and they reminded me of the nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.” The ones with the bright green dresses seemed most appropriate for the scene.
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From Pam Doran:
My miniature group made greenhouses and surroundings for one of our projects. Everything was designed by a lady in the group and it all came together beautifully.
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From Cynthia Lucas:
Here are a very pictures of my favorite garden. The house is a Suzanne & Andrew Miniature kit called Strawberry Lace. It was a labor of love over a couple of years.
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From Mary Johnson:
Two parts of my Alice in Wonderland scene- Alice (after "eat me" cake) dashing through the flower bed, to catch the white rabbit and the card-knaves caught by the Queen, while painting the Roses red! All character dolls by Susie Newell.
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From Jo Roseberry:
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From Shannon Test:
My market stall was made from popsicle sticks and left over wood pieces. The flowers are fimo and quilling.
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From Mary Myers:
This is my version of the 2014 Maryland state day “A View from the Veranda”, a garden shop.
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From Juanita Landa :
I love making flowers, and thanks to Toni Hansey's generosity; I've been able to make lots of them. Life brought us together when she was downsizing and I was just starting my miniature flower making journey. She not only gave me her tips and instructions, but her paper, punches, pots, vases, etc. I will be forever grateful to her! I'm currently working on my flower shop that I hope to exhibit at the Good Sam Showcase of Miniature Show this year. Here is a picture of the flower stand I designed.
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From Carin Shapiro:
This is a flower scene from my 1st NAME National convention is Seattle ... what a blast!
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From Angelika Oeckl:
Here is the latest floral Item I made. It is a Thanksgiving cactus. Flowers and leaves are designed by me using unwaxed parchment paper and cut with my laser.
Here is also a fairly new project I finished. A Bougainvillea. Around 2400 flower petals and about 900 leaves. All glued on one by one.
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From Jackie Williams:
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From Gail Stuart:
When it turned cold, this past Winter, I started making flowers, again. Been making them in one medium or another, since I was eight or so. That's a long time!
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From Sally Lonn:
This is my all time favorite project in quarter scale. I loved this Suzanne Larson-Tamburo house design as I am a BIG fan of Mary Englebreit's work. Making these hundreds of quarter scale flowers was challenging, with award winning results. I treasure this piece!!!
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From Mae Karoli:
Because I love anything with a tropical look I decided to make the 2015 NAME Day Window Shopping kit into “Paradise Flowers”. I had purchased the tropical flower arrangements over several years and finally had a place to display some of them. I originally planned to display more flowers on the upper shelf but was limited by space so it became an area for vases. The inexpensive frame was originally a medium to dark brown color but with a coat of sealer and several coats of white paint it contrasted nicely with the yellow siding.
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From Denise Voelker:
Living in Buffalo, NY my favorite thing to do in the dead of winter is to create beautiful gardens. The best part is that I never get weeds.
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From Paula Francis:
Flowers surround my ideal “She-Shed”. This was my first attempt at flower making and after chasing many fly away petals, I finished my retreat.
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From Jennifer Lockhart:
This photo is of some tiny 1:48 scale azaleas - these were made from a laser cut kit, and probably took a few years off my eyesight.
Theis is a Jane Harrop shop that I got at a NAME auction. Since the interior was missing, I decided to turn it into a flower shop. I made the flower shop flowers in the cold month of February, so they are extra colorful due to my wishful thinking!
This was a NAME houseparty souvenir with some flowery additions added. It has Paris, pigeons and peonies. And a penny for scale.
I remember getting this framed scene around the start of the pandemic at an estate sale, and I found it incredibly soothing to look at and escape into. I am grateful to the person who made it - it has brought such joy. It also inspired me to try my hand at making flowers for my own scenes and now I'm addicted!!
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From Ruth Goodger:
This flower arrangement by Colleen Middleton is part of a Quarter Connection scene. I sure miss those yearly Utah state days only a day's drive away.
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From Susan Skinner:
I love making flowers! I got a mini kit off of Amazon but was not satisfied with how fake the flowers in it looked so I made these from my paper punches instead and was much happier. They are Primrose, Hydrangea and Anemones.
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From Suzie Aguilar:
I don’t do a lot with flowers or plants, but I saw this project repurposing a mini door into a garden bench online and decided to give it a try. I ultimately gave it to my sister-in-law as a birthday gift. My mini club liked it so I helped them create their own at one of our meetings. I’m sorry but I do not know who to give credit to for the original project.😳 The tulips in the can are from Twin Heart.
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From Vicki Scidmore:
This is my garden shop. Made originally as a club project, I later added more flowers and plants from a convention project I took apart. Some flowers by me, some bought. The last picture is real flowers from my yard ... taken after I knocked over the vase while setting up. Luckily the scene wasn’t in place yet. Only the rug was “watered”!
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From Kathy Koons:
The Winter 2020-2021 Challenge for Quarter Connection was to build a winter porch. It was hinted that we'd be making another for warmer weather. I decided to go ahead and make one for each season. Attached is my quarter scale Spring Porch, complete with a pallet of flowers ready for planting and made by me from kits.
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From Marilyn Hughes:
I made this in a Paula G. class in Dallas back in 2018. She’s a very creative flower maker and I had a lot of fun. Two of the people that signed up didn’t show, so I was the only student and got all the attention and help.
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From Carla McIntyre:
This year one of our members of the Raleigh Miniatures Guild taught us to make various flowers. I added some of the many kits in my stash and flowers I’ve made over the years and “planted” them in my garden terrarium.
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From Judie Dresser:
Here’s my flower market.
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