Thursday, September 30, 2010

Unique Handmade Flowers

So, what makes these roses so unique. Well...they are made of fish scales. I know....uggggg and yuck...but wait...the people who make these get them from their local fishermen for free, which make them extremely affordable. After arriving home with them, they are thoroughly cleaned. Once they are cleaned the scales take (2) 24 hours baths in bleach. When dry they are colored various colors.

If you saw and touched them, you would NEVER guess what they were. They feel very much like a thin plastic. What is the best part of using them is that they are bendable, shapable and cutable. They truly are a fun medium to work with.
I took a class on how to make these roses at the egg art show I attended last week. With it came 3 full ziploc baggies of different color scales. I think there are more in these baggies than I will ever use, lol.
The texture and natural pattern of the scales make them perfect for flowers. When looking at them from the side you can see the texture adds a look of a really petal.

To use the flowers, all I need to do is clip the toothpick off. Glue adheres really well to these which I find to be another benefit. When using some other flowers, such as Prima, many glues just don't hold them. I usually use my glue stick and find that getting the glue on the spot I desire is quite a challenge. I will never give up using my Prisma! I do find these little flowers to be a nice change from the standard though.

I will be using these flowers on a card or project very soon and am excited to show you just how lovely they look in use.

Do you venture out of the norm when adding embellishments to your projects? If not, give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I am entering these in the Top Tip Tuesday Challenge.

Hugs,

11 comments:

Ellibelle said...

They certainly look very nice Sandy. Would have never thought they were fish scales. Wow. I don't know if I would enjoy working with these I'd probably be smelling fish all the time even though the smell would be long gone LOL .
Very unique technique though and thank you so much for sharing it. You should enter it to the new "top tip challenge".

Lelia Pierce said...

OK, I have to say this is strange! LOL! They look beautiful. Are they super hard? You'll have to let us know how they mail!

XXX

Yvonne Russell said...

I'm not as adventurous as you, but I can imagine they would have a nice shimmer... very innovative. Theu look great.

Dawnll said...

Wow those are really unique, would love to play with them to see how they work. Would love a link to purchase if you have one.
Thanks so much for hooking up at Top Tip Tuesday

Maggie's Crafts said...

I have to say that the idea of using fish scales for anything is very unusual but I love the flowers. :)

Thank you for sharing with us at Top Tip Tuesday at http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/

Maggie

Caroljenks said...

Sandy this is an amazing product - fish scales - wow!
I'd also love to know where you get them from :)

Thanks for sharing with us this week at Top Tip Tuesday :)

Carol x

Fuzzy Slippers said...

Cool!! Where do you get them? This is certainly an unusual tip, but I'm so glad you shared it with us at TTT! :)

toptiptuesday said...

WOW these are fantastic!

Thank you for sharing with us at Top Tip Tuesday - make sure you come back later today to see if you have won!

Hugs
Leanne xx

Anonymous said...

I would LOVE to know where you get these scales from because I've been looking for ages for a scale substitute to put on my mermaid tail and it never occured to me to use real fish scales but the way you described them is perfect so yeah, if you could back to me, I'd be delighted. Thanks! -Hannah

Anonymous said...

Oh, and, if the scales got wet again after the bleaching would they stink again? Or is that what the bleaching is for? Thank you. -Hannah

Sandy O said...

Hi Hannah, I don't knwo why I just saw your comment now. Sadly, you posted as anonymous and I have not way of getting in touch with you. Hopefully you clicked to be notified if there are other comments in this post.

I purchased the fish scales at an Egg Artistry show 2 or 3 years ago. The person who I purchased them from said she was going to add them to her online store, but has never done so. She got them from her father who fished.

I am sorry that I do not know any other way to purchase them other than if you know a fisherman.

Yes, the bleach sterilizes removes any fishy odor from the scales. I have not had the odor return to them over this time.

I do have quite a bit left over that I have not used. If interested, just pop me an email.

Hugs