Well, This Took Some Time...

...and generated a fair bit of waste paper and painted paper. My friend Louise had asked me to make a companion dracaena tree, in half scale, for her camp project. She had one, but wanted another to make a balanced composition.

Half scale is new to me; I dreamed about how to tackle this project, before Christmas and after the holidays while I was working away on quilted Christmas and birthday gifts for my family members.
Finally, I decided to cut to the chase.

I must have tried half a dozen or more separate ways to do this; you can see some of the waste generated below. Last night I figured it out, the prototype worked, and today the tree is done, just in time for our mini get-together.



The original is to the left of the photo, my version is on the right. (You can see the various attempts at prototypes in the foreground.) Still a bit too bushy for a proper match, so out came the scissors, and hoping I wasn't going to mess it up, the dracena got a haircut.



Better, but too many clumped leaves, so out came the scissors again, and the plant got a trim around the edges. Original on the left, my version on the right. Photos really help to point out where corrections are needed!



OK, now we're cooking! This was my final attempt, as I was happy with the appearance of the plant. The stems were heavy gauge floral wire, wrapped in strips of paper, and then painted. Over that went a coat of matte varnish. The leaves are made of painted computer paper, a piece about 2 x 2" (5 x 5 cm), cut in a gentle curve at the top edge to vary the lengths of the leaves. The paper is then fringed every 1/16th of an inch (about 1 mm), leaving 3/8" (1 cm) uncut at the base.

Then each narrow leaf is tapered to a point (I nearly went cross-eyed). I used my pointed tweezers to roll up the fringed, trimmed strip, stuck in a tiny clamp, and allowed things to dry. Once dry, I curled each individual leaf over my scissors blade, trimming where I felt too many were the same size. When the leaves were all curled, I pulled the tiny clamp out and cut half of the rolled base off. Then I used my pointed tweezers to open the hole somewhat, and stuck in the stems with tacky glue on their ends.

I will give it to Louise at the meeting. Now I have to create a couple of white amaryllis plants. That will take a few days, as I work tomorrow and have appointments on Friday. But I will get to them soon!