The Fine Art of Paper Flowers: A Guide to Making Beautiful and Lifelike Botanicals

I bought this instructional book, because I felt I was ready to graduate from making basic paper flowers to making more complex polychromatic flowers. I will begin my review with the physical attributes of the book. The hardcover edition sports a gorgeous cover page. The book is sturdy, and VERY importantly, the book binding allows the pages to open FLAT. This is important if your hands are full of dye and can't hold down the pages. The paper is not glossy, such that your light source is not reflecting light back into your retina. The font is small, so if you have a problem with small print, you may need to also get the Kindle edition. THE CONTENTS: 1) The author begins with very detailed discussion on types of crepe paper as this is the main material used in this book. Also, tips for working with crepe paper and materials are elaborated. Next, she details the basic techniques e.g. cupping, fringing (author states it's her "strong suit") spindling, paper staining to name a few. The techniques are paired with photographs. The photographs are so detailed and CLOSE-UP that you can see the grain of the paper. 2) The flowers and instructions included in this book are: Bougainvillea Carnation Daffodil &Double Daffodil. Japanese Form Peony Morning Glory. Hybrid Tea Rose. Iceberg Floribunda Rose. English Rose two ways Perle d'Or Rose. California Tree Poppy. Chocolate Cosmos. Garden Cosmos Oriental, Iceland, and opium Poppies. Dandelion. Coneflower. Eucalyptus Marigold. Pom-Poms. Zinnias. Dahlias. Double Peony. Coral Charm Peony Ranunculus. There are also leaf construction, buds, and yes, even instruction on making wilting flowers! 3) There are also projects such as crowns, fascinators, daisy chains, boutonnières and garlands. 4) The Giant Paper Peony is stunning. 5) The templates are hand-drawn and actual size. No need to copy, enlarge (yes, even the giant Peony template is actual size). I'm not sure how you can copy if you get the Kindle edition, though. She even borders the area on where to bleach. 6) There are six pages of leaf templates. 7) Lastly, the instructions are very detailed with step-by-step photos. The flowers appear very realistic. Obviously, these flowers are not something you throw together in 30 minutes. It will take great care to imitate the real flowers. I use photographs. She recommends the actual flower. This is not a book for beginners. However, it can provide an excellent challenge, and you will have gorgeous flowers as your reward! I highly recommend this book!

As someone who had only worked in photography for the past couple of decades, I came to this book purely for enjoyment. After an ongoing illness limited my ability to work in photography, I was hoping to find something satisfying and meditative to work on. Creating everlasting versions of the flowers that I’ve loved throughout my life was just a bonus. It’s no exaggeration that this book has changed the course of my artistic life, not to mention my life as a whole. The Fine Art of Paper Flowers is inspiring, beautiful, and full of care and precision. I want to emphasize that for people with foggy brains or limited energy, precise instructions are what make endeavors like this a possibility! These flowers and the techniques used to build them can be a jumping off point for those who are already confident. With this book, I’m getting there, even as someone who had never imagined working (confidently, or at all) in three dimensions. I’ve purchased a number of paper flower books since I began using this one. The Fine Art of Paper Flowers remains my absolute favorite for its completeness as a manual, and for Tiffanie Turner’s exceptional taste and artistry. Her highly detailed guidance steers readers away from cookie cutter, lifeless blooms. Wildness, irregularity and imperfection are an enormous part of what make cut flowers beautiful and compelling, and this book is so generous with techniques that allow you to create a wide variety of very believable flowers (and leaves, stems, pods, buds… you name it!) that never look stiff or sad. This book is just busting with gorgeousness and technical mastery that must have taken so much grit, time, and love to arrive at. I feel so fortunate to have found it.

Gorgeous floral paper artistry, classic flowers, rich photography and creative techniques all combine to entice you to try making paper flowers. There are templates and good step by step photos to guide the process. I had no previous experience with paper flowers specifically, but I do have an art background. This book is definitely the fine art of paper flowers. I also ordered Lia Griffith’s book on making crepe paper flowers for beginners. Turner’s book will attract detail oriented hand crafters and artists. The dye techniques intrigue me as I like to dye fiber. The medium for these stunning flowers is crepe paper. I had never worked with this type of paper and was smitten immediately. Carte Fini from Italy and Werola from Germany are two companies that manufacture artists grade paper. One reason I bought this book was to create flowers for an event backdrop for my moms 80th birthday party. There was plenty of inspiration. And, for an ambitious bonus there is a tutorial on how to make GIANT peonies for wall scale installation. Turner just had a fabulous exhibition of her full size art flowers. She is also an experienced flower farmer/grower. I highly recommend this treasure trove of creativity for all those who love preparing beauty with their hands.

This book gives great information and patterns to make beautiful paper flowers. It is very informative and just lovely to look at and aspire to.

Libro con hermoso contenido práctico y lenguaje sencillo. Excelente!!!!. Muy recomendable para todas las que nos encanta el arte en la naturaleza.

There is more than expected in this book, and frankly i was expecting much. As i said in the title, this book is not for everyone. If you want to try paper flowers for your first time, you will have to struggle a lot because this book is on a high level. There are descriptions for everything, and also where to find the right paper. It's like being spoon fed

Cumplió mis expectativas. Es un libro con técnicas muy completas para expertos, pero a la vez viene explicado paso a paso, así que, si como yo nunca antes habías hecho flores de papel, es genial también. Está en inglés, pero viene tan bien ilustrado que con un nivel medio ni siquiera hace falta traductor. No sé cómo serán los otros libros, pero si solo vas a comprar uno, yo recomendaría este. Además, la autora da consejos de su propia experiencia para aplicar a las flores y que parezcan híper realistas. Os dejo fotos de las primeras flores que he hecho en mi vida sin haber hecho nunca antes ningún trabajo con papel.

Wow this book looks amazing and has so much info covered on making flowers. There are templates to copy and use and such detail in how to make lifelike flowers. I can't wait to get started.