Always a Bridesmaid . . .

I loved this challenge so much!!  I knew I wanted to do something with hydrangeas because I love the flower so much.  I played around with various hydrangea colors and settled on the pink because I thought it would blend the best with other flowers.

I used a support structure of a large hemisphere with smaller hemisphere’s attached to mimic the pompom look of the flower.  The hemispheres did not come out well in terms of cracking and distortion but I knew they would be covered so I kept them.  It's a bit embarrassing though to have them posted where Julia can see them.  If anyone hasn't done so, watch Julia's video on modifying ingredients when contouring cookies.  It is so informative.  I thought (thought!) I took necessary precautions to prevent the cracking but my results were definitely subpar.  I was still able to use them however, which was all I needed.

The hydrangea flowers are royal icing transfers with some direct piping.

 I then decided to make the center hemisphere’s into peonies.  The peonies are embossed fondant.  I attached the petals to the already attached hemisphere.  It may have been easier to do the peonies in advance and then attach them to the large hemisphere.  But, overall it wasn’t that difficult working with the hemisphere in place.

 The ranunculous and lilies are made of gumpaste and were attached after completion.  Here’s a fun fact – the center of the lilies is actually made from a macaron half that I had left over from Christine’s first challenge!

The stems of the bouquet are made of ginger clay.  It was added as an overlay to the cylinder.  This was my first time really working with ginger clay.  It took a long time to dry and temporarily made the cylinder (which is also the support structure!) soft.  It eventually stiffened back up but I added a column of stacked cookies in the center to be on the safe side.

I really could have spent so much more time tweaking, detailing, etc.  The whole experience was just entirely too much fun!!

This is so beautiful Lisa @LisaF!! Wow, you went all out with this challenge. I love it . What a great idea to use the hemisphere cookies as a base on which to build your flowers. It worked really well. I have no idea what ginger clay is so I'll have to look it up. LOL. The colors are gorgeous!! Great selection. Awesome work my dear cookie friend ❤️❤️

Oh...and thank you for all the in process pics. It's always so helpful to see the steps along the way with a project.

@Cookies Fantastique posted:

This is so beautiful Lisa @LisaF!! Wow, you went all out with this challenge. I love it . What a great idea to use the hemisphere cookies as a base on which to build your flowers. It worked really well. I have no idea what ginger clay is so I'll have to look it up. LOL. The colors are gorgeous!! Great selection. Awesome work my dear cookie friend ❤️❤️

Oh...and thank you for all the in process pics. It's always so helpful to see the steps along the way with a project.

Thank you so much for your kind words Carol @Cookies Fantastique.  Ginger clay is something frequently used at gingerbread house competition.  It's basically ground up gingerbread that is turned into a "clay" with the addition of water, tylose and gum arabic.  I think (think!) the appeal of it is that it counts as gingerbread in competition that require a certain percentage of a creation to be made of gingerbread.  It doesn't work nearly as well as gumpaste, fondant or modeling chocolate for anything those mediums are used for.  Possibly it could if the amounts of tylose and gum arabic are adjusted.  This was my first time using it.  I was curious about it.  It took forever to find what was actually in it.  Generally speaking though, I think other mediums are more effective unless only gingerbread is required.  Does that make sense?

Wow! A lot of time and effort went into this project, but the results are amazing. Your bouquet looks equally stunning from the top view as it does from the front view. Thank you for the wonderful photos, and the very helpful information.

Your colors are fabulous! Very nice bouquet!

@Sweet Prodigy posted:

Wow! A lot of time and effort went into this project, but the results are amazing. Your bouquet looks equally stunning from the top view as it does from the front view. Thank you for the wonderful photos, and the very helpful information.

Thank YOU Christine for the challenge.  It really was so much fun.  

@LisaF posted:

Thank YOU Christine for the challenge.  It really was so much fun.  

I'm glad you enjoyed it. And thank YOU for participating.

Wonderful! And any flaws in the domes went completely undetected - so no worries there! I don't sweat cracks much myself if the pieces are not to be seen!

@Julia M. Usher posted:

Wonderful! And any flaws in the domes went completely undetected - so no worries there! I don't sweat cracks much myself if the pieces are not to be seen!

Thank you so much Julia.  I really did learn so much from your video regarding the variants that affect contouring.  It's made a tremendous difference  when I bake contoured pieces though I'm really not sure what happened here.  Most likely I just wasn't paying attention. Despite the cracks, etc. they stayed surprisingly durable and held up to everything I kept slapping on them! 

Love all the views!

Absolutely wonderful work, Dear Lisa! @LisaF What a labour of love you put on it! Lovely colour combination too. 💜💙💗💚

WOW!!! Lisa, this Bunch of flowers is so great!!!! And Thanks for the photos from the process!! It's so intersting, how you designed the top!!! The idea is great, Lisa!!! The many flowers are great too!!! Alot of work... but a great result!!! @LisaF ❤️😘

@E. Sherwood posted:

Love all the views!

Thank you so much @E. Sherwood!

@Kanch J posted:

Absolutely wonderful work, Dear Lisa! @LisaF What a labour of love you put on it! Lovely colour combination too. 💜💙💗💚

Thank you so much @Kanch J. I really had so much fun with this. 

@Icingsugarkeks posted:

WOW!!! Lisa, this Bunch of flowers is so great!!!! And Thanks for the photos from the process!! It's so intersting, how you designed the top!!! The idea is great, Lisa!!! The many flowers are great too!!! Alot of work... but a great result!!! @LisaF ❤️😘

Thank you my friend! It was a lot of work but I really had such a great time doing it. I did it in bits and pieces as I had a chance. I learned a lot too which is nice. @Icingsugarkeks 😘🍪😁

Beautiful!!! 💐💐💐

@Evelindecora posted:

Beautiful!!! 💐💐💐

Thank you so much!!😘

Wow fantastic idea and cookie construction,great result❤️

@Petra Florean posted:

Wow fantastic idea and cookie construction,great result❤️

Thank you so much for your kindness dear Petra!

The cookie part!  that's how it support all those pretty flowers❣️  I am really learning a lot from you.  

@Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

The cookie part!  that's how it support all those pretty flowers❣️  I am really learning a lot from you.  

Thank you so much @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave.  I am pretty good at making things sturdy.  I am learning a lot from you on how to make things more delicate! ❤️

Amazing bouquet, Lisa! Needless to say that I loved the step by step pictures and the bird’s eye view of the bouquet is so realistic.

@Manu biscotti decorati posted:

Amazing bouquet, Lisa! Needless to say that I loved the step by step pictures and the bird’s eye view of the bouquet is so realistic.

Thank you so much Manu @Manu biscotti decorati.  I was so happy with how it turned out!❤️😘

Creative and beautifully arranged

@Joanna Manuel posted:

Creative and beautifully arranged

Thank you so much Joanna @Joanna Manuel