Pretty Posies, Etc.

Well, I finally got some creative juices flowing...and made some cards yesterday, and plan to make more of them today...or something.

I love the posies made from Marah Johnson's Pretty Paper Posies Kit. It took a bit of playing with them to get the hang of it, and determine how may layers of petals I needed to use, and how best to color them. After a bit of experimenting, I determine the best way to dye them was to put my Glimmer Mist in a small bowl, tilt the bowl sideways, and dip my petals down in the GM. I began by being "stingy" with the petals, but eventually determined the look called for more layers of petals. Most of these have 7 layers of petals, but even more would be better. If I had a never-ending supply, I would love to use 12-15 layers, lol. To curl the petals, I painstakingly wrapped/curled them around the small "needle-like" tool I use to punch holes in paper to insert my brads in paper. This was time consuming, no doubt, so I eventually tried simply fluffing the flat petals with my moistened fingers, and this worked nearly as well . . . and took alot less time, ;). If you would like to try making some posies, here there are three different sizes of petals in one bloom. If you have floral punches, you could make your own, I suppose, using book pages or whatever you prefer. Or, you can order the kit from Marah; for roughly $8; she will send you well over 100 petals pre-cut using her Accucut dies. I have yet to find flower punches that I like, so I will be ordering another couple of sets from Ms. Marah real soon.

This isn't the best picture, as these two do not stay still long enough to allow for focusing and zooming in/out, lol. However these are my two "children" whom desperately wanted to help making posies yesterday. Gracie is a yellow lab, and Boomer is a black lab. They are both approximately three years old, however we rescued Gracie only five months ago. Thankfully, she is doing very well in her new home today, and Boomer has grown to accept her, and he enjoys playing with her. They are both sweet doggies, and the loves of our life. After 20 years of having kitties, these two are our first experience at being doggie parents, and we ask ourselves, "why did we wait so long to get a dog?" Admittedly, they are both Alphas to my DH and I, and Cesear would die if he saw how spoiled they are!

And this is where I get creative!  My "art studio."  It is a 12x12 building in our backyard that I refer to as my "Hawaiian Healing Hut," named after a colorful, Hawaiian quilt that hangs on the wall inside.

I hand-appliqued these colorful Hawaiian patterns onto the black backgrounds years ago, while sitting with my Mom in various doctors' offices and/or hospital rooms when she was battling breast cancer.  Thus I named the quilt "Hawaiian Healing," and when completed, I quickly discovered there was no place in my home to place it.  So...when I got my "studio," it just seemed fitting that it should be the interior focal point...to "distract" from all the messy clutter!

Now you've seen my mess, and admittedly, it's awfully nice to be able to close the door and leave this mess outside of my house!  This little building was one of my best "art investments," as previously all this clutter would be scattered over my dining room table when I was in the middle of an art project.

Now, I'm off to my Hut to create something!  Wishing each of you a beautiful day of creativity and peace, xoxo ~~ Jeanne