Update

Well here is the progress i made last night playing with new stitches. Getting out of the very medieval split stitch and playing round with new stitches is interesting that is for sure. Elmsley Rose has offered to give me some pointers. Have a squizz at her sight by the way...

The fishbone stitch is easier than i expected and doesn't look to hard to totally muck up. Have a lokk at the following video tutorial that is on the Needle'nThread website. I find them very easy to understand (once i do this switch over for being left handed...)
http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/11/fishbone-stitch-video-tutorial.html

As you can see i tried to do a filling stitch in the flower petals. It has highlighted the fact that a) i havn't done the stitch before, b) was doing the stitch by memory and c) that the petals are not the same size. Hopefully with all of them done this will ballance out a bit and look more normal. With have a hunt around and see what other stitches would be good for these sort of flowers.
They also just posted a link to an online book about embroidery.... here is the link i must check it out properly
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24964/24964-h/24964-h.htm