I am in love with this craft!  The resulting sculptures are a true art form. 

When I started researching this I realized that I had been doing a type of french beaded flowers when I helped my mother as a little girl.  What she made were called "tembleques" (Click Here for our page on Tembleques), which are decorative combs made of pearl like beads used as part of the Panamanian national  dress the "Pollera".  I was delighted when I remembered this, because everything that reminds me of my mother has a special place in my heart.

Here are some great resources on French Beaded Flowers.  Some of the links you will find are Japanese sites.  Don't be scared of going into these, they have WONDERFUL galleries.  If your browser asks if it needs to install anything just say "no" because most times you can browse through image links.  Have Fun!