Violet-Leaves
There is one thing about the green leaves of the violet which makes it a joy to use them in a design, and that is, the stems are so pliable, so easily bent and curved, you can do almost anything with them.
Fig.82 - Design made of Violet leaves.
See how the stems add to the beauty of the violet-leaf design [Fig. 82].
| Fig.83 - The stem curves naturally. | Fig.84 - Under side of the small leaf in the design. |
The curve of the stem of [Fig. 83] is a natural one for it to take, and you can probably find a leaf with its stem curved very much like it, but it is another thing to come across one of the same size which has a stem curved in the opposite direction, and such a stem is necessary for a design like [Fig. 82].
Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve the way we want it, we will make it do so. All we have to do is to draw it through our fingers several times and, by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as we wish.
[Fig. 84] is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom of the design ([Fig. 82]), and shows how the stem loop above the leaf was made.
Fig.85 - This is the way the curling Ground-Pine grows.
First a violet-leaf with stem curved like the one in [Fig. 83] was laid down on a sheet of paper, then another leaf of the same size, with stem made to curve in the opposite direction, was placed beside but not touching the first leaf, and with its stem crossing the other stem. The two stems meeting at the bottom formed a pear-shaped loop. The small leaf, after its stem had been formed into a loop and the end tucked in at the back, was fitted on top of the stems of the large leaves, as you see it in [Fig. 82].
Fig.86 - Beautiful, tiny, green Pine-Tree made of a curling branch of the Ground-Pine.
Violet-leaves are seldom flat; they are apt to curl at the edges; some are so curled as to form little cornucopias. Choose the flattest you can find for a design like [Fig. 82], and paste them to the paper with a touch of paste on the under-part of the tip and of the two lobes at the bottom of each leaf. Paste the stems down also with a touch of paste here and there.
The violet-leaf design can be pressed.