Branching Out....

Layers and Layers.....

Blossom number Twenty-seven is completed, Dear Readers, and ready to be added to the lilac shrub! I have to admit that it was a little bit of a shock to look into the "Lilac Blossom Box" and see fewer blossoms than before! Now that they are being attached to the already completed ones, my plan is to add the pair to the shrub as I go, rather than store them up, meaning that the supply in the box will dwindle from here on out! But the shrub will slowly begin to bloom!

And it was as I was contemplating attaching this second set

 to the shrub that I realized it was crucial that 

I finish painting that shrub before I went any further!

Last week I had "quickly" attached the blossoms and leaves

 just to see how they would look... 

but of course, I loved how they looked, 

so I glued them in place!

But you might not have noticed that I had only painted a couple of the branches .... 

in a hurry because it was late and I was just testing....!

But it was now time to get serious about

 the color of those branches and stems!

 

 

Above you can see the beginning of my paint mixing.... 

burnt umber, black and white...

along with the "sample twigs" 

taken from my lilacs months ago.

I decided the color was good enough to start painting

 the branches of my mini "Spring Lilac" shrub.

I started with all the tips,

 covering the green wire stems first, 

and gradually working down the twisted paper stems.

This shrub will have all the leaves on the green wire stems

 because they are "new growth" 

and stay green for the first part of the summer.

(The "Summer" shrub will have the leaves attached to brown stems.)

At this point I wanted to see how it looked compared with the Real Thing.....

So out we went into the Garden... 

(fortunately it was not raining....)

to visit the Real lilac shrub!

Here, this is even closer...... 

you can see the texture and the lichens on the RL branch.....

(yes, I will have to make those too...)

And with the mini blossoms showing too..... aren't they cute?

I know... one more shot.... because the leaves.....

(I'm getting goose-bumps...!)

I Loved the color, 

so I painted the rest of the paper wire stems....

 and had to test it in The Folly Garden.

The bottoms of the main stems will get

 a lot more layers of paint and texture before they are done....

Here I have added some lighter more ocher colored

 layers at the base of the main stems.... 

starting to experiment....

But then I remembered, Dear Readers, 

that I wanted to try adding more texture

 to the lower part of the stems.... 

which would be best to add before I got the paint done!

And for this I was going into very Unfamiliar territory!

I had bought some paint texture additive, 

used to add to regular wall paint to make a textured surface.... 

so I mixed some into some of the gray paint I had left from the Castle Caves....

 and repainted the shrub!

 

Yes, I covered over most of that great color I had painted before!

It does add some texture... 

but I'm not sure it is enough... or the right texture.....

It needs to look a little more like this....

 

The ancient Lilac Shrubs at work.....

With all their broken and gnarled stems are the models for my minis!

I think I will have to experiment some more!

Maybe if I mixed some sawdust into the paint....?

Or just more layers with more of the texture in the paint...? 

Layers and layers of details....

Yes, this is going to take a while!

But meanwhile, I had to add the newest blossoms to the shrub....

Just to see how they would look....

because I couldn't wait....

They seem to have caught Will's attention!

 

Well, Dear Readers, it seems as though

 I am Branching Out along with the Lilac Shrub!

Layer by Layer I am adding to my abilities

As I add branches to my Lilacs!