I didn't realize that many people didn't know what I was talking about when I kept harping about making your spring flowers realistic. I had a section in "Flower Power" (from The Wizards' Journal #14) on the subject, but #1) I released a draft copy instead of the completed version by mistake and it wasn't caught until almost a year later, and #2) the section on Spring Flowers needed additional expansion and photos. Both of those items have now been addressed in the e-Book, but for those who have no clue as to how realistic a spring flower can become, I have posted some photos in Photobucket.

http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/p......15a6.pbw

The Flower Power e-Book gives some details on how to make the double chrysanthemum and if there is enough interest, I may do a separate e-Book to show how to make the full range of flowers, but once you understand the basic concept, you can usually wing it on your own from there.

I'm sorry this is not a tube or a box or a bag, but there is currently no forum section for flowers, and these flowers can certainly be produced from tubes and boxes and bags.

Those are excellent!!

Gosh, they look good enough to eat!
;)

Incredible work! Those really compress?

Yes, they compress, but of course not as much as tissue paper flowers. However they open up much larger than the typical tissue spring flower, so you can get just as big a bouquet using fewer flowers. The double chrysanthemum is an example of how to get two flowers in the space of one, so you can really make a big showing with a small number of springs.

If compression is really an issue, you would stick with flat type flowers, like the daisy, black-eyed susan or asters. Tulips, roses, lilies and daffodils require a bit more space, but I suggest you go into a Dollar Store and when no one is looking just give the flowers you want to use a squeeze to see how much they compress. Then apply the tricks I show you in the e-Book to make them compress even further for magical use.

In my new book about Willard The Wizard, you'll read just how much he got out of the "Flowers From Paper Cone" production. It is really gorgeous - and deceptive - if done correctly. It was the opening of Willard's show for many years. It's about time for someone to do it again.

Thanks to share this piece of work.

Paulo

Wow.
Simply...wow.

I recommend Spellbinder's e-book "Flower Power" for some great ideas on how to make better looking flower effects. If you want to do effects with flowers this is a good reference book:

http://www.magicnook.com/WizJ14/WIZ14-10FlowerPower.htm

(I was less than enthusiastic about the earlier, incomplete version of Flower Power which had been posted on his website for sale, but recently he has revised the Flower Power e-book extensively and it is overflowing with great ideas and examples of good looking flower tricks)

The last guy I saw do a decent job with the spring flowers was Bob Higa. He produced about 300 from a #10 can. It was really something. But the reset is long.

Richard

David is absolutely right about Willard’s Flowers From A Paper Cone production. I saw him do it twice. He would show the paper empty, form it into a cone, shake the cone and flowers would gush forth, slowly at first, then more and more. You saw absolutely nothing sneaky at all. And I mean nothing.

I doubt that his performance of this will ever be equaled. It would be a challenge for some talented, resourceful performer to try. Certainly this was a beautiful piece of magic. Thanks for reminding us, David. Your book on the Willard family is terrific!

Regards,
Gerald

Speelbinder, thanks for updating the ebook "Flower Power". I really appreciate it.

Anyone who is interested in this sort of classic flower production take a look right now at the featured stage magic effect on Robinson's AllMagic.com site :

Donald Holmes Production of Flowers from Paper Cone

http://allmagic.com/magic/stage.html

(this is current as of 8/5/08 . The AllMagic.com site changes frequently, so go read the article while it is up . Some weeks or months later it may not be there.)

Keep in mind that Donald Holmes was using materials and ideas available to his era (1920s). The paper band holder can be improved by using a slick garbage bag plastic band that you can squeeze the flowers out of right through the paper cone. Today, it is no longer the first load of flowers that is surprising... it is the second and third loads that fill up a bushel basket (or umbrella, etc.) This is where your cups and balls loading experience can really pay off.

Genius of an idea for the steal of the load in the Donald Holmes routine! Most impressed.

Love the spring flowers too, they look amazing.

I looked into getting some custom made spring flowers recently, just because it's hard to find perfect ones for sale. However I couldn't find a source that was willing to make even the basic design (companies complained they were too fiddley), nor could they be made in the UK for a reasonable cost (just can't compete with cheap labour...). And I even tried a company that makes lots of the false flowers seen in films and on television.

So I've ended up making my own, all 1000 of them (with some help from some very patient and kind friends). They're not all done yet, but about 2/3rds are. Again I opted for the standard design, because well, I started making them in May. Even to make a simple flower takes too long when you need them on mass.

So as beautiful as they look, and as much as I'd like to use them, I'll have to stick to the classical design. Nuff respect to Spellbinder for being able to create them though!

Paul

I've had spring flowers for years.

Every time I've considered using them I've decided not to. They just look too much like fold out Christmas decorations - and really tacky ones at that.

I like flash and colour, but compare spring flowers to the beautiful feather flowers from Richard Hughes. Richard's flowers provide flash and colour that looks both aesthetic and magical. Spring flowers look neither. (I never hesitate to use the beautiful Hughes roses I invested in a couple of years ago.)

I bought the Flower Power e-book from http://www.magicnook.com early yesterday morning and today I am looking at a beautiful bouquet of spring frangipanni.

There looks to be other great ideas in the book including a botania with real flowers but I went straight to the spring flowers and will now be an enthusiastic user of 'Flowers that Bloom in the Spring'.

If you use spring flowers, spend this $5.

If you don't, you have rocks in your head.

Destiny

Destiny,
Thanks for the kind words. I used to make spring flowers but people did not want to pay the price for good flowers. Mine had rip stop nylon outer leaves and the paper was hand dyed. One of the secrets is to use extra green spring flowers so there appears to be more leaves. Also making mutiple tones on the paper adds to the illusion.

When Bob Higa did the flowers they just keep coming and coming. I think Bob said he loaded 300 flowers for it.

Richard

Anytime Richard - your artistry is outstanding. I noticed the Professor also lauded and recommended your flowers in his Flower Power e-book.

It takes some getting used to Professor Spellbinders spring flowers because they don't look like spring flowers - they look like flowers - I've just been out for supplies to make more.

Destiny

While the idea is admirable, I do not feel that gives enough spread and flash on stage which is the ultimate goal of the flowers. Up close they could be a better choice.

Richard

I would remind Richard, and the rest of you who regularly perform on stages before crowds of 1,000 or more, that a good portion of the audience sits close enough to the stage to tell the difference between feather, commercial spring flowers and real flowers. We don't always have to plan our entire performances for those on the outskirts of the crowd, and in that kind of venue, how much flower magic is possible anyway?

If the person in the back row sees the magician produce a bouquet of roses (for example) and then sees the magician pick out a few roses and toss them to the audience, he relies on the reactions of the up front spectators to tell him that real flowers are being used, although to him, at his distance from the stage, they look like little red blobs whether they are made of feathers, silk, tissue paper, or genuine living rose petals. But a spectator in the front row who catches one and then holds it to her nose to smell it, tells him it is real.