Your flowers should be the center of your beaded flower pieces, but pay due attention to background pieces like leaves, ferns, and baby’s breath. The presence, absence, quantity and colors of these pieces can completely change the emotional impact of your bead piece.

Baby’s breath is a delicate white grass plant that adds an airy quality to a bouquet or arrangement. It can be made with transparent or opaque white beads on silver, gold or even green thread. Size 11 beads are the best as they give the most delicate effect.

You can make a few small twigs of baby’s breath for a small arrangement, or combine many small flowers on one stem to make a very large dew. A large bouquet of red roses would be beautiful with several large sprays of delicate white baby’s breath.

Have fun with the ferns. You can make small ferns with open, curved tendrils, or dense, elaborate pieces with a variety of colors and hues. Some ferns have white undertones, which can add a unique look to your arrangements.

Your green leaves do not have to be simple leaves of roses or daisies. Add some small, pinched loops to the outer rows of your regular rose leaves for a unique effect. Alternatively, add several loops of a few inches of green beads, pinch the loops, and then give them a curve, for an exceptionally eye-catching variation on your rose leaves.

If you are making a fall piece, remember that many leaves turn orange, yellow, red, or brown in the fall. Shade your leaves green through variations in those colors. Don’t be afraid to make a wilted leaf green and brown or completely brown too. Part of the beauty of your piece will be the realism of subtly showing the final phase of a plant’s life.

Experiment with the length of your basic row and the number of rows on your sheets. Change the top and bottom of the blades from pointy to round for a different look. A cute bouquet of small, round, light green leaves gives the same flower a totally different feel than two or three long, dark, exotic, waxy, tropical-looking leaves.

In my arrangements and crowns I always add a “surprise”. It is a small flower whose color does not mix with the rest; gold, an unexpected element of Swarovski; or an off-center leaf vine that falls over the edge of the vase (see my Gardenias and Hummingbird). Keep in mind that nature always has a little surprise that attracts you and increases your interest. With your greenery, you can add a “quirk” that will distinguish your work and make it very special.