Most of my life I’ve enjoyed some form of crafting, but it was not until late in life that I discovered I could be creative. I’d always had a need to be doing handwork, and after years of needle crafts 
and the occasional art project for fun, I spontaneously signed up for a class in stained glass. I loved it! I worked at it constantly, and then one day I learned to work with glass in a kiln. I was lost to a passion for firing glass. Five years later, though, I sold my home and studio and began a search for a new avenue for all this creativity.
and the occasional art project for fun, I spontaneously signed up for a class in stained glass. I loved it! I worked at it constantly, and then one day I learned to work with glass in a kiln. I was lost to a passion for firing glass. Five years later, though, I sold my home and studio and began a search for a new avenue for all this creativity.With the discovery of French beaded flowers and Ganutell, I’ve rekindled the same passion for creativity that I had for art glass. While somewhat similar in that they both use a process of wrapping around a central wire, the resulting flowers are quite different. French beading of flowers is a craft from early Victorian times wherein glass beads strung on wire are used to sculpt the flowers, which can be quite large. There are a few good books available on the subject, and with patience and a lot of practice, it is indeed possible to learn to make these flowers well. They are quite lovely, with their colorful, glittering glass beads, and striking in their presence.
Ganutell is the creation of flowers from a prepared thread … a thin strand of wire and floss spun together. The completed flowers are quite small and delicate, and often include beads and wire embellishments. The craft comes from the Isle of Malta, where Ganutell flowers grace many churches, and are used as wedding favors, headdresses, etc. There is very little information available on learning this craft, and one must be dedicated to the search for instruction and supplies, and devoted to the practice needed to become proficient in the art. The resulting flowers, however, are well worth the time and effort involved.
Although largely self-taught, I’ve been blessed to receive wonderful mentoring from experts in French beading and Ganutell, and continue to strive to perfect my skills. Certainly both these crafts provide tremendous opportunity to be creative with shape, color and texture. One of my great pleasures is to hear from someone who has purchased my work or been gifted with something I’ve created, telling me that it’s made them happy.
Currently my completed work is sold through Art Things, a retail gallery in Dallas, Georgia, and I am a member of the South Cobb Arts Alliance and the NC Arts League.
I just got started with french beaded flowers, and I think your blog is awesome. Your work is amazing and inspiring. I am going to sign up for blog so I can get the e-book. Thanks so much for making these materials available for free. I really enjoyed the posts so far, and I hope you can find time to post more often.
Marilyn, you are very welcome, and I hope you enjoy the book. I’m very glad you liked the posts; I do indeed plan to post more often, and am getting ready to do some exciting projects with both beaded flowers and ganutell, so watch for all the new and fun things coming up!
Sharon, your flowers are gorgeous and very inspiring. I recently started making French beaded flowers about a month ago. I was looking for crafts to do with seed beads when I stumbled upon a website about French beaded flowers and was in awe. I have gotten better at making the flowers and I purchased a couple of books to help me, but I am still having a little trouble. I was wondering if you could give me any tips. My whole problem is getting the desired shape of the petals. I can do round ones, but when I try to do petals that have pointed tips they do not come out right. They always come out round.
P.S. I love the white flowers with teal outlining, very pretty!
Hi, Brandy! Thanks for your nice comments. Creating a pointed tip takes a little practice, but is really quite easy. I show this in the ebook Discovering French Beaded Flowers, and it’s a question I hear often. I’ll do a blog post now on how this is done. If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me.
Hi Sharon, just have one other question for you. Where do u buy your supplies? Colored wire is not always easy to find in the size I need. I have been using amazon.com for most of the materials. Just wondering if you know a better website.
Brandy – sorry for the delay in responding to your question. I find the best wire is from Paramount Wire at http://www.paramountwire.com. It’s very good quality and the colors are beautiful. Easy to work with, too. I buy a lot of beads from http://www.shipwreck beads. They carry lots of beads, and I can buy in quantity and save money. Wherever you buy your beads, be watchful of the quality. You don’t want to spend all that time and energy creating a flower that doesn’t look good because the beads aren’t uniform in size or they fade. I’d love to see a photo of your finished work! Email me at sharon@beadandwireflowers.com!