Gardening How - To Surprise!

I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that my pressed flower cards have been featured in the "Great Garden Gifts" section of the January edition of Gardening How-To magazine.  It's a gorgeous issue full of beautiful blooms and practical gardening advice, such a treat for those of us who can't wait to get growing again!

Just time for Christmas gift giving, all boxes of pressed flower cards are 15% off.  And, free gift wrapping is available if ordered before December 20th.

Thanks to the editors of Gardening How-To for your surprise feature!

New bookmark size mold and deckles

What's this, you ask? 

This is a 2 x 7" mold and deckle for making bookmarks.  I have been trying to locate one for years, but no one seems to make them.  Now Bob, my craftsman makes them for me, along with the 5 x 7" mold and deckles featured in my Going Green Paper Making Kits. 

I just got the bookmark mold and deckles in last week, and I'm looking forward to making some fun handmade paper bookmarks with the kids for Christmas gifts this year. 

Finished Batik on Paper

Here are a few of the paper batiks I completed last week, after I removed all of the beeswax.  They certainly ended up being interesting pictures to say the least!

The first picture (on the left) was my attempt at drawing/painting with wax.  Now you know why I create my flower pictures by gluing flowers, rather than trying to draw or paint them!

The other two pictures are nature prints, the larger is hosta leaves, and the other picture is a print of geranium leaves on a piece of my handmade paper.  As expected, I found that I definitely need to make my handmade paper stronger in order for it to withstand the batik process, because I lost some of the surface layer while trying to remove the wax.  But, in the places where there was no damage, the effect is wonderful.

I'm really looking forward to experimenting more with batik on my paper this winter. 

Last night I went to my last Paper Batik class at at the Lemon Street Gallery in Kenosha, and this time I brought along some nature prints I made, to use as a background for my batiks.

Starting at the top left, the ginko print, and the two tall hosta leaf prints are on rice paper.  However, the bottom left geranium leaf print, and the black hosta leaf print on the lower right are on my handmade paper. 

I usually don't apply a lot of pressure to my handmade paper, so it tends to be on the soft side (applying pressure to freshly made hmp compacts the fibers, making the paper stronger), so I was curious to see if my hmp could withstand the repeated coloring and waxing involved in batik. 

When I got to class, I applied alternating layers of colors and wax to the prints. Because the pieces needed to dry thoroughly before removing the wax, that still needs to be done.  I plan on showing you the results next week, and I can't wait to see how they turn out myself!

Have a great weekend!

Making free handmade paper...

I had the privilege of being a guest blogger on Mariel and Jessica's "Or so she says..." blog this weekend.  I wrote a brief tutorial on making "free" handmade paper with 100% recycled paper.

The tagline for "Or so she says"  is " a daily dose of great ideas" and that it is!  Check it out, and see if you don't find a great idea or two to inspire you...

String Garden?

I'm busy filling orders today, as well as preparing for a guest blog post this weekend.

But, I wanted to share this "String Garden" idea with you.  I'm not sure what to make of it, are you?  But isn't it interesting?  I would love to know how they do it...and why.

Better!

Pressed Maple Leaf Collage

Matted, 8" x 12" 

I am back in the saddle again!  Two weeks ago my children and my husband all took turns getting the flu, while I ran around dutifully taking care of everybody.  Soon I found myself bragging about my superior immunity.

Then I was reminded that God hates a prideful heart! The flu hit me hard and after 8 long days on the couch it is such a blessing to be healthy again.  I'll be back to my 3 day a week blogging schedule this week.

Have you ever seen anything like this???

Here's a quick scan of some purple smoke bush leaves I just pressed.  Has anyone ever seen anything like this?  Only a few of the leaves at the very top of the bush had this incredible design.  These are so cool!

Fading Hosta Leaves

We were blessed with an unexpectedly nice day yesterday! 

The weather people had called for yet another day of rain, but instead we had mostly sunny skies with a warm 60 degree breeze.  What a treat!

After the Packer game we headed outside to do some raking, and I was intrigued with the lovely mounds of fading hosta leaves.  They have gone through several light frosts, and their color is slowly draining away.  The dark grass doesn't really show it, but some of the leaves are actually translucent! 

I'm thinking of what kind of botanical collage I can make with them... Any ideas?

Calling all pressed flower and botanical artists...

Horticulture Magazine is celebrating "the centuries-long marriage of gardening and art" with an art contest for mediums of any kind.  Winners will be selected in two categories:

*plants and flowers

*gardens and landscapes

The entry deadline is December 1st.  Let's all get busy!

The Horticulture Garden Art Competition

The worth of a book...

This is my favorite book.  After the Bible of course, but I find endless beauty and inspiration for my art in this book.  The Pressed Plant, by Andrea DiNoto and David Winter, is a collection of pressed botanicals from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.  But beyond that, the authors examine the artwork created within the plants themselves. 

Much of these pressings were put together by early botanists solely interested in preserving their specimens for posterity, yet the beauty of the plants comes shining through, all on their own! 

Because so many inquisitive new flower pressers frequent my website, I have opened the Elizabeth's Flowers Amazon Bookstore to include the key books that have influenced my botanical art journey thus far. Maybe some of them will be helpful on your journey as well!

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.  
~James Bryce

The very latest in storing pressed flowers...

Previously I blogged about how I store my pressed flowers in large foil zip lock bags. 

Well, I eventually found these large bags to be cumbersome to store, hard to zip up after use, and quality issues were also occasionally a problem.

We learn as we go, and now I have a new pressed flower storage method that is working so much better for me.  See if it doesn't help you as well.     

Up or down?

I can't decide if I'd hang my latest unframed art creation up or down.  I seem to change my mind by the minute!  At least when I create my pressed flower art there's no question.  Stem at the bottom, flower on top.

At any rate, this unframed pressed fall leaves art collage is now available, with leaves from Wisconsin.   We are currently at peak color, and as soon as it stops raining I intend to go out and enjoy them! And press more of them as well.

There's an app for that!

I've been accused of being addicted to my iphone.  Here's another reason to be - now there's a gardening app!  One can reap what they sow with help from Botanical Interests. There doesn't seem to be much on flowers, but there is detailed info on vegetable and herb gardening, tips and tricks, and even a coupon for 5% off your first seed purchase from the company who designed the app.

$5.99 at the itunes app Store.

It's a good day...to make paper

Happy Columbus Day!

It's a balmy, cloudy 36 degrees here in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.  I've decided to forgo my plans of doing some much needed garden clean up today, (after our hard frost Saturday night) and make paper in my warm kitchen instead.

I will be making a large batch of small papers for my pressed flower cards, as well as some larger square handmade papers for a series of leaf pictures I have planned.  

By the way, I just read that it's National Pumpkin Pie day today.  I think I'll make one of those too!

A celebration in the trees...

I like everything about making Autumn Leaf Cards.

From tramping in the woods searching for the perfect autumn leaves with my family, to pressing them in the Microfleur, and then spreading the colorful leaves out on the table and enjoying the riot of color before I adhere them onto handmade paper.

God certainly thought of a great way to celebrate the end of a glorious summer - by throwing a bright and colorful party in the trees. I am always amazed.

Unframed Fern on "Free-Form" Handmade Paper

My Elizabeth's Flowers  website re-construction is happily over, and I'm back to doing what I love best - and here's proof.  This is an unframed pressed fern picture from the  Northwoods of Wisconsin, near Three Lakes.  The finely cut fern is beautiful in itself, but I decided to combined it with a highly textured "free-form" piece of my handmade paper, which really seems to compliment the orderly structure of the pressed fern. 

If you look closely, you can see that the edges of the handmade paper are very irregular, and the texture itself has an unruly look as well.   I really am pleased with this combination.

Hard Hat Area

Behind the scenes, I have been busy transferring my Elizabeth's Flowers website to a snappier, more up to date template.  After two weeks of toil, I finally breathed a quick prayer and pressed "publish."

Alas, not all went well, and there are a number of broken links and missing pictures.  Sigh!  I'll be busy fixing these during the next few days, but please check back Wednesday for some new art I've been eager to show you. 

You're Welcome!

Thank you to one of my customers for sending this kind note. Beth purchased the Deluxe GoingGreen Paper Making Kit , which includes both a 5 x 7" and a hard to find square 5 x 5" mold and deckle. Happy paper making Beth!

Blessed with a harvest!

These tomatoes on my counter weren't grown by me - I wish they had been. Mine succumbed a nasty blight, and I ended up harvesting little more than a few cherry tomatoes.

My brother Karl, (bless his heart) came to my rescue and gave me a large grocery bag full of slightly unripe tomatoes from his garden, and they've been sitting on my counter getting ready for me to use. We've been making BLT's through out the week, and tonight I will be using many of them for my favorite roasted tomato sauce. Hopefully there will be some left for me to make fresh salsa this weekend.

By the way, if you are ever in the need of a rigorous intellectual challenge, my brother has written two books, Having Words with God, and The Heart of Biblical Narrative. I have yet to delve into them, but one of these days!

It was a sunny weekend...

It was a picture perfect, warm and happy kind of weekend. We spent almost every minute of it outside, enjoying the beauty. Hiking, gardening, grilling, and biking. And of course flower pressing. It was such a lovely weekend that I find myself a bit discombobulated as I reconnect with real life. It's a price that I'm willing to pay! Have a great week!

Upcoming Art Classes in the Northern Illinois Area

Don't you think it's about time for an art class? Of course it is, and if you are in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area I have just the class (or classes) for you.

The Antioch Fine Arts Organization has announced its Fall Class Schedule, with a variety of classes sure to interest just about evryone. Classes include fused glass workshops, airbrushing, various drawing and painting classes, calligraphy, stained glass, as well as an animal art class for children.

I will also be offering my "Totally Green" paper making workshop on Saturday October 3rd, at the AFAF Gallery. We'll spend an entire morning making a number of different types of beautiful handmade papers by recycling unwanted paper. Going Green Paper Making Kits will be available to purchase for those who are interested, but are by no means required.

Here is a complete listing of the art classes available from The Antioch Fine Arts Foundation.

The return of "You frame it Friday"

"Be still and know..." Pressed Fuchsia Flower
Fuchsia, handmade paper
8" x 10" Acid-free mat
Unframed pressed flower art

Ever since I tried pressing the fuchsia plant on my patio, it has been getting smaller and smaller. I've pressed fuchsia in the past, but their round little "bellies" never pressed to my liking, they ended up looking like blobs. I bought this fuchsia not for pressing, just for enjoying, but pressed it on a whim one day because I wanted to use some of the leaves.



I apologize that I don't know what variety it is, but it's a beauty with its unusually slender flowers, long tendrils, and long pointed petals.

I've made a number of pressed flower cards with these flowers this week, and also placed a sprig with one of my favorite verses, Psalm 42:10.

Today's featured unframed pressed fuchsia flower picture has been treated with a UV resistant polymer to seal out moisture and prevent fading indefinitely.

Another line of lavender

Lavender Line
14" x 7"
Sold/Consignment for Jen M.


I have made a lot of "lavender lines" lately, and although it's more interesting to make new creations as opposed to doing the same thing over and over, I love how each of my lavender pictures seems to come together in a different way. Each has it's own uniqueness.

This morning I gave myself permission to procrastinate for just a little while, and on a blog I visit every so often there was a a quote from Edith Schaeffer that really made me sit up and take notice:

"There is a staggering diversity in Creation from the silence of snow to the delicate sound of rain on leaves...

The captivating ingredient in the whole fantastic stream of reality is that the Creator God created beings in His likeness so that each one could be a creator...^"


Two reminders. One being of how vast and varied creation is, and the other, that the Creator of all things also gave us a portion of His of creativity, so that we too can create in many many different ways. That's why artists can use the same media over and over again, and each time something different appears.

How amazingly kind of God to share His creativity with us.

What's so great about the Internet?

Free information at your finger tips - that's the single most valuable aspect of the internet, in my opinion. The amount you can learn is almost endless!

Over here, you can learn quite a bit about how to press flowers, how to make pressed flower cards, and what flowers press well, just to name a few. You can access all of my tutorials here: Elizabeth's Flowers Tutorials

For my non-flower pressing readers, here's a "how to" tutorial for you that I just love. See what you think...

Enjoy!

I'm in here...

I'm not sure if this quite equals my ship coming in, but I am thrilled that my Elizabeth's Flowers website was mentioned as a source for the Microfleur flower press in the August edition of Canadian Living.

Editor Karen Kirk contacted me a few months ago to find out if I ship to Canada, which I have been gladly doing for years. Her article, "Blooming Frames" details an interesting way to use pressed flowers to decorate frames, and has a wonderful step by step pictorial on using the Microfleur. My site is listed as a source under "Things You Need," and you can view the article online here.

It has been exciting to see my website in print and mentioned online, and I'm eager to find out what kind of traffic will be generated to my site. But mostly, I hope the article convinces more people to press their own flowers, and enjoy the beauty they bring.

"The beauty of each blossom speaks silently of God's love..."

Pressed for all time...

July already? Do you ever get the feeling that God pushes "fast forward" during the summer? It never fails to whiz by.

This time of year almost every spare moment I have is spent pressing flowers, so that I have plenty to use all year long for my framed and unframed pressed flower art, as well as my pressed flower cards.

Today I pressed the last of my violas, the first of my red poppies, many blue and purple cornflowers, a fern sprig, and lots of calendula and osteospermum.

Can you tell what the silver star shaped flowers in the middle of my Microfleur flower press are? They are edelweiss flowers - not an easy plant to grow, unless you are in the Alps. I am thankful when ever they grace me with their presence here in Wisconsin, and this year I've been blessed with a modest amount of small blooms. Many of them will be used for consignment pictures customers have ordered, and any leftovers will be used for cards that I will put up on my Etsy page.

If you are new to pressing flowers, here's a Microfleur Flower List I complied a summer or two ago about on what flowers I have found to press well in the Microfleur - if you have any to add, please email me, and I would be glad add them to the list.