Since joining LE I can say that I have learned a lot from very generous people, from free or sold tutorials, from small comments and images, etc. So, this is my humble Christmas Gift to the very generous LE comunity!
The pictures were taken by my 15yo son, Bruno, and well, they show what I want them to show, but they could be less blurry. If I get better pictures later, I'll change them. But I think these will work alright for now.
Ah, and I made a collage of the pictures, with a bit of text, as a cheat-sheet. If anyone wants that, just send me a PM with your e-mail or send me an e-mail to bcordova AT hotmail . com
Petals: To make the petals I use plain tweezers (I owe a pic of those) the one's that have square, flat tips, and to make smaller petals (for the double ponsettia) I use the tweezers I'm using on the pics. I think the Leonardo Petal PUllers might be cool to make the petals, but since I dont have them, just make do with what's at hand.
1. I'm using a lentil as a base for the flower. In these pics I arrange the petals one at a time, though sometimes I like to add them all then arrange. If I arrange them one at a time, I like to very slightly overlap the petals, not much, just a little so they don't become a unipetal.
2. after attaching the petal, I leave it raised, instead of stuck to the base. Then heat the whole petal and bend it with tweezers.
3. Once bent, I heat the tip of the petal.
4. And pull it to a point. I like to pull down and out.
5. Attach. Remember to heat the base when adding a petal, so it sticks properly.
6. Bend
7. Pull (it's starting to sound like aerobics)
8. Here comes another petal.
9. See how it looks standing up?
10. and puuuuuuuulll... I flame cut the end of the pull, so it's spikier. :O
11. The underside... As you can see, the petals drop below the base bead.
12. The top with an empty space in the middle, where the yellow dots go.
13. Adding dots. I like to start with the middle one, then add one on the part where one petal meets the next.
Hope this is clear enough and that you enjoy making them. For me, they turned out to be quite addictive.