Yes this is my first lily not my first flower. I actually did my first flower as an orchid and I think I did way better. lol

The problem is I don't have any dust the right color so I have to mix gels and go that route. I guess I could see if I could order the right color before Sat. Then paint them day before if it got here that fast. ....going to look.

AWay too late but I just came across this tutorial while looking at some other flower stuff

http://www.duskyroseveiners.co.uk/page_999201.html

Thanks, Jeanne. I haven't restocked wire for quite awhile and for some reason overlooked what I might have found at GSA. It would be a better source as I purchase more from them and S&H kills me with a small order. I guess if I wanted 35 ga, I could use a hair!

Jan

Never too late and thank you Kiki

I'm waiting for a color sample from the bride for the blue on the cake. I don't want to make them till I have that

just encase the color is off like hot pink with dusty blue! lol

So thank you. That was very helpful I didn't try rolling it on the table just my fingers. I'm gonna break out the crisco today to try to combat the stickiness issues. Too bad I don't have that veiners.. Those are on my to buy list. I've got all the cutters just no veiners..lol

APS I think your lily already looked better than that one, but it thought it might help with the stamens!

Ok here is second attempt with no dots yet. The ribbon is what color will be on the cake. I know colors are different on monitors and this looks way more coral than it is. However I wanted to show the second one. After looking at more lilys I decided to make it more rich in color. The bride really wanted more pink in her wedding than there was so she added these to the cake. I felt like the last ones weren't really doing that. Plus like I said I don't have the right luster dust color. The stamens I'm having issues with. I combined two things the wilton stamens covered the tips in a bit of green but they are heavy and kinda flop like you see in the pic. Any solutions for that other than don't cover them. lol. I think I need to bring them down more. I also made this one smaller than the last because the cake is so small I don't want them to over power it. Thanks everyone!

AI think they look great as is.

Thanks Kiki! now i need to figure out how to tell the bride she doesn't know her colors and this might not be exactly the color she wants.

She said today she wanted fushia..ummm that has purple in it. This color I find causes lots of confusion. I could email a pic problem is even

after trying to correct it in adobe it still is off and monitor colors are different ect.

Second one looks awesome, I think the stamens look really realistic the way they are.

Ok thanks Scrumdiddlycakes! On to the next 4.

This second one is so much better than your first.  Just look at that pistil - You tapered it and it is much thinner - Impressive!

 There is no reason why you can't use the Wilton stamens. You can cut down if you think they are too long.  You have to admit, it's much quicker :).

  If you go with this color, which is more intense than the last one, try keeping your color heavier up the middle of the petal and sweep it outward to the stop point so you still have your white edge.  More of a blending motion towards the edge. You will find the look of the petals will take on a more delicate appearance.   If you don't have extra petals to play with, draw a petal on computer paper and play with your dust.  You know you can always use food writers for the dots if you didn't want to paint them.

You should be very pleased!

Jeanne

PS  I know this is for a cake you are doing now but maybe the down the road when you get more wires, you can play with the gum paste  or even Twiddling to achieve the look of the stamens you wanted. 

Now that I have some light its a more accurate pic. Thanks Jeanne your help along with others is what is helping me get better. I know I can use the marker but to me it just takes away all the work I did to make it look real..lol..we will see my hand at RI ? I am having to use carnation petal dust as that is the darkest color I have. So I did what you said about the line but the problem is then it just looks light pink if I don't go as strong around the center. I then paint over that with vodka and electric pink gel. Trying to get it closer to the shade they really are and failing pretty badly..LOL...Never knew this color would be such a pain. I tried to mix just the electric pink with reds purple ect. to achieve the natural color. However everytime I paint it on it just looks hot pink or too red or too purple. So I gave up that route. I think it has to do with the electric part. I have no problems mixing any other shade to get varying degrees. I even tried just reg pink with a bit of electric pink..nope still fail.

Looks great! Can wait to see it with the spots! Stargazers are my favorite, that what I had in my wedding bouquet. :)

I see what you are saying about painting with gel vs just dust.  Because your color is already bold, use less dots than your first flower.  More concentrated in towards the center radiating outward.   Nature can use as many dots as she wants but we humans have to be more conservative :)

Really looking forward to seeing the finished flower. 

I learned this process from Jacqueline Butler.  I'm still working on achieving the beautiful light shades she uses :)  I have a tendency to go to heavy.  I generally screw up a couple petals before I can like something..  We all know the rule about making extra petals in case of breakage - I also use them to get the right shades :)

I encourage you to take one of her classes if you can.  Her Craftsy class will show in detail how to do this.

Don't know if was me, but I often recommend his books and especially his roses.  That's not to say if I had the $, I would take a Robert Haynes class in a heartbeat -

Thank you Jeanne!

2 more questions If I let my flowers dry and then dust them the dust usually just falls off or is very light. I can dust it a thousand times its just going to barely take color. Can you tell me if I'm missing something? I dust now right after i'm done with the petal but then the color usually grabs at the spot I touched at first or is streaky.

What does steaming do visually for the flower?

I have 4 flower books and 3 Craftsy classes paid for and I still haven't had time for ME to just sit down and absorb..lol

Ok luckily the bride loved the flower I emailed that last one so on to making them all. I'll post the cake when I'm done. Its for Saturday. Thanks again for all the help you all are really amazing!

Regarding your RI spots:  It was suggested that your might want to use a toothpick to paint the spots but it occurs to me that you could experiment using the tip of a toothpick dipped into the RI to make the spots,  As you pull the toothpick away it just might create that spiky look - haven't tried this so experiment first !!

I think it is looking really great. With your effort and determination you'll get it. By your 4th, or will it be your 5th, you will be able to fool a florist!  

Jan

Ok here is round 2 much better. I wonder if I should steam or not since I put the RI dots on the petals? I also wanted to show the detail on the petals and the difference in technique. The darker dots I used a toothpick. Not a fan. I had to keep watering it down hence they are round. If it was the right consistancy then you could get about one petals worth of dots before it dried up too fast. The best way I think would be to use the small squeeze bottles for icing that I think CK sells with the coupler tops. That is how I did the white. It was faster and more pointy that way. Another problem I have is keeping the petal dust where I want it. When dusting it gets on even the parts I want white. How do I avoid that?

Are you dusting your petals before you assemble?  If you dust your petals & steam before you assemble this will help with it going all over.  The steam will set the color.

Look at the difference between your first and now - Amazing!!