Where was I?

How busy I've been! Life can throw you some angles, def. A couple of days ago, I was sifting through some storage boxes and stumbled upon my most delicate, tiny seashells and a box of domed antique paperweights. I could not resist either of them.

But did I still know how to construct my fleur de mers?

I think I've done well, but oh how I miss my dental tweezers! So handy to have. I enjoy the challenge of working inside these domed paperweights. First, the craftsmanship must be well done, as the domes are cast to magnify the curiosities inside. Second, I only have 3/8" height inside each dome. I must be extremely careful in constructing the flowers so that they are intricate enough to keep your attention, but small enough to fit easily inside. The domes themselves are 3.25" across and the inside is about 1.75" wide.

The challenge is to construct an arrangement that is simple but arresting. There is tons of editing that goes on inside my mind as I make my design choices.

Here is how I go about making them—I start first with making flowers and seeing how they will look and fit under the dome. Lovely! Next, I carefully cut circles out of all black presentation board and then back the black presentation board with cork. This way, the paperweight won't slip about your desk. I love the contrast of my shell flowers against black. I choose all black presentation board as I think the color is rich and dense and looks better than other boards with a black top, but white board is underneath.

When the bottom of the paperweight is ready, I then construct how the flowers lay and the overall design inside the paperweight. This is when all that editing happens. Only the smallest, most colorful shells and tidbits will look best. I then painstakingly glue the elements to the board, working from the center out, like a mandala. Except, I try very hard not to be symmetrical, as I think having something just a little off keeps the design lively.

 And then it's a matter of carefully gluing the black board to the domed glass and admiring it before I compose a blog post about the process and put it up for sale on Etsy!