A Crafty Floral Afternoon

It's ironic that some people think just because that I can do makeup, I can do all artsy things naturally. On the contrary, my crafty skills are zilch. I can't draw things at the top of my head and it's super hard for me to style an outfit (hence why most of my clothes are all dark colors, solids, animal prints, etc and I'm usually in my uniform of sando, shorts, and FitFlops). Funny, no, since they both involve the same side of the brain.

My friend Victoria (I call her Vicky), who I love feeding my food, is a paper florist. She makes paper flowers and arranges them much like how a florist makes bouquets and floral arrangement. She started out with this craft when she was assigned to make paper flowers for a shoot and somehow she got addicted to it. Some of her sample works are those below:

papercraft and Plueys

hey look! It's my muse Eriko! 

Oh, and she's an amazing pole dancer and aerialist.

Image Source

Vicky shares her knowledge to others by conducting paper flower workshops. For the month of May, she had one at my own nook - at Fully Booked BHS! Oh and thankfully, I was available that day to try it out.

I immediately signed up and got super excited in getting the crafty skills on cue. Vicky also assured me that I would be able to do something, despite my lack of skills in the foreign realm of arts and crafts or cutting very straight lines.

Ready to do something new.

Vicky demonstrated us how to make the basic flower patterns which she does, sharing with us tips on how to make the flowers look neat and even where to glue and easy ways to make things even for OC people like myself.

She gave us a pattern that was both pretty and easy to do, and showed us how to modify things when we get to be more advanced in our skills.

A few minutes later, I was able to make my first paper flower. Yay me!

She was also very hands-on with us and gave demos in small clusters so each participant had her undivided attention. She even gave suggestions if we seemed lost in transition on what to do and aside from being teacher of the day, even went around doing trash collection,

Aside from the basic paper flower technique, she also taught us how to make pom-pom flowers out of crepe paper, which resemble chrysanthemums. They can also be used as centers for flowers.

An update on my bouquet, getting there!

Paper flowers are a great idea for gift-wrapping or for giving flowers instead of buying expensive fresh flowers which wilt the next day. I'm personally not fond of fresh flowers because of that reasoning. Also, since I have pets, there are plants and flowers which might be harmful for them, which is also the reason why I don't keep flowers in the apartment. Paper flowers can also be their toys. They don't wilt by the end of the day and also, they're recyclable. During Christmas, we can make paper poinsettias since fresh poinsettias are poisonous to pets.

Vicky made this paper wreath from red and green paper for Christmas

 Paper flowers can also be an alternative to wedding bouquets. It can even be a great and fun activity for your entourage, or you can make it part of your bridal shower,

Finally! save for the (paper) leaves, my bouquet is done! I know, it's super bright!

A group photo with our teacher! Thank you for a fun, fun afternoon!

Just like any skill learned, we do not become awesome at it by just one workshop. Just like makeup, pole dancing, and cooking, things like these take practice. We had our take-home kits with templates and step-by-step tutorials for us to remember when we make our own at home. I'm glad my first attempt turned out quite prettily and rest assured I'll be tagging her in my creations and also have an alternative way to present gifts rather than dunking them in paper bags.

For more of her works, you may check out Victoria Velasco's site at http://www.victoriavelasco.com also to get updates on her upcoming workshops in various venues. You may also follow her at Twitter and Instagram or get in touch with her at hello@victoriavelasco.com


IMAGE SOURCES:
sample works and poster: http://www.victoriavelasco.com
pole photo: http://www.polecatsmanila.com