Remember Fen Li's free French beaded flower tutorial from last week?  That was to celebrate the launch of her first book! It is exciting because it is the culmination of a lot of hard work.

Fen is the designer behind Bead Flora  (she is also on Etsy as Bead Flora Studio). She has been passionate about the French beaded flower technique for nearly 2 decades. The craft saw a revival in the early 2000's when many beautiful creations were created in the aftermath of 9/11. They are still around as these designs do not wilt.

I received a copy of her book, Bead Flora - The Revival of French Beaded Flowers for review.   Fen does cover a brief history of the French beaded flowers.  She also shares many tips on what type of wire to use and how to finish the assembled flowers. It is not just florist tape!  There are also 3 ways, including using a bead spinner, to load the beads onto the wire.


The book itself is divided into 3 main sections. The first is a series of simpler designs which teaches the novice the basic techniques.  I hadn't realized that there are abbreviated terms for certain steps much as there are with knitting and crochet.

Besides the Spring Blossoms tutorial published last week, there is also this delightful Small Daisies project :



Another sweet starter project is the Sweet Blossoms design shown below :


The middle section are the more advanced projects such as this unusual bamboo creation. You can see why French beaded flowers work so well as home decor.


Some of my favorites from this section include the daffodil, hydrangeas and purple coneflower (echinacea) with its marvelous center.




Last but not least is the section on really lovely French Beaded jewelry.



As you can see, the French beading method is versatile. Keep it small for jewelry. Scale it up and multiply the blooms and leaves for spectacular bouquets. I especially love seeing examples of Fen's collaborative work with a florist where beaded flowers nestle among real ones.  A great book to learn the technique and to get inspired.



Giveaway 

If you'd like to win this giveaway for an autographed copy Bead Flora - The Revival of French Beaded Flowers, please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is for US and Canada only.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments. (The exception is Facebook - just like/comment on the giveaway status there!!)

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, February 25, 2019. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

Before You Go:



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