One of the things I enjoy the most about working on art is trying new things. This piece is very much an experiment. I decided to allow the flexibility to free shape the petals rather of this rose rather than depending on the two standard round and pointed shapes.

As a child I had a fascination with roses; they were one of the first plants that I tended to in the family garden, and I used to love perusing the coffee table style book that my Mom had detailing various types of roses, growing methods, and even the process for making things from roses – like rose hip tea and rose water. I’ve always wanted to make a rose kanzashi, but I wanted to do it a little differently from how I’d seen them before. I wanted my version of a rose to reflect the variety in the shape of a rose’s petals, and maybe even reflect a little bit of the imperfections that you see in a rose you grow in your own garden.

I bought the stamped brass foliage piece that I used to craft this rose many years ago, and although I always intended to create a rose with it I haven’t taken the time to do so until now. One of my goals for this year was to try and finish pieces that I’ve had outstanding for a long time – and with that to try and use up materials that I’ve had for a long time as well. While I might not feel that every project I complete plays into that goal, this project definitely does and it feels good knowing it.

Overall, I feel like this piece is a pretty successful experiment. It took a bit longer than I thought it would to piece it together, since I was making each petal and shaping it as I went, fitting everything together a bit like a puzzle, but I would definitely try this method again.

Thi brooch, like many of the pieces I’m going to be creating this year, was made possible by a production grant from Creative Saskatchewan – who were kind enough to support the production of over 500 new works of tsumami craft made by me. Most of these pieces are small – like this brooch – but some of the projects coming up are bigger and more complex, and I’m super excited to share them with y’all. If you’ve ever wanted to support an arts organization, I can’t recommend Creative Saskatchewan enough.

Anyhoo, that is all I’ve got for today. I hope to see you guys again next week with more crafty creative projects.

Or, if you’re in the area, I hope to see you at Pop Con YXE this weekend! 🙂 I’ll be there both days at booth #334.

If you like this piece and want to see more of my work in the future, be sure to join the Mailing List to get notified whenever an update is posted. You can also follow me on Instagram and check out my Youtube for videos showing my crafting process, travel, shopping, and gaming. 🙂 Check back here again next week for more crafty projects, and at the end of the month when this set and more will be dropping into the Shop!