Cherry tree Completed.

I finally finished and assembled the 2 cherry tree. Sorry about the pictures...I am still using the crappy webcam.
Maybe Santa will bring me a new digital....

Cherry Tree #2 in Progress

I have started assembly on the branches. As you can see there is no need for another layer of wire on the branches as opposed to the first one. But I do need to build up the trunk. 22ga. wire was used, I took a strand and doubled it, then twisted it, I repeated this 3 times then braided the three piece for each leg. So I repeated that process 3 times.
BUT IT IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT.
It is top heavy. I need to to what I did with the first tree. Take the 16 gauge annealed wire and double it up and twist it in the drill, to make the feet and trunk.

Holding it up.
A close up of the "Buds"
Here are the three annealed 16 ga. wires I will use for the trunk and feet. This should offer the stability needed to handle the heaviness on the tree-top.


After I finish the assembly I will take more pics.

2 Months is a Long Time....

...To be gone.......I just needed to take some time . I spend entirely way too much time on the pc. I took some time away to try to gain control of my blogging. ( I have other blogs, that I RANT on).

While I was gone I was working on my crocheted lapghans and also some beaded cherry blossom trees.

The tree I have currently assembled and am working on fixing is this..........









I made each bud by hand. It consists of 5 loops of ten pink seed beads with a small pearl in the center.

The Leaves were done in similar fashion , except I only used One loop of ten, and I varied between dark green rocailles, and a lime green seed.

My mistake was not wrapping each branch before assembling to the base which is made of 3 strands of 16 ga. black annealed wire that I picked up at the local home improvement store, I doubled up the strand ( folded it in half) and stuck one end in my drill and pounced it litely to twist the wire. I did this 3 times then bent the feet so it would stand.

So now I go back and floral tape then green paddle wire wrap the branches and stems ....Alot of work indeed.......However it is my prototype and I am keeping it as a reminder as to NOT make a tree.

The corrected way would be as follows......



While I really like the beauty of the detailed buds of the first tree, I like the ease and continuity of this type of tree.

Kimberly Chapman has the instructions on how to do this type of branch. ( my idea was the first, based on pics I had seen, and someone had a tree similar to this but I dont recall the site where I saw it)

When I get it assembled I will post some pics.

I have Not been clay working. But I am getting the feel to start up again.
I just need to focus on what exactly I want to do. Last time this happened I ended up with boo coo baskets of beads of which I still have not used. Most of them have been sanded and either polished or varnished/ acryliced.

Also I started experimenting with different types of paper on my bowls. However I'm not really sure about if and how much I like them. They are still an ongoing experiment.

Spotlighting some sites.

I was out surfing and looking for patterns and Ideas. I ran into some sites that had some awesome work. I wanted to post them here to share with you.

This site has a miniature beaded garden. What Work. It took Her ( I am assuming )
hours upon hours.

Diana has a blog featuring beaded Flowers. She also has one featuring Ganutell which is similar but doesn't use beads rather wire and thread.

Carmen's site has a slide show that says Ganutell but her working has beaded projects too. She did one that is the tomb of Jesus that is beautiful, as well as various flowers and bouquets.
.