What a busy, but fun and relaxing weekend!!! I made jam (isn't it pretty with the sunset shining through??? We'll be set for raspberry and pineapple/apricot for the whole year!Then I made some "artwork" for the house. I've been putting this off for MONTHS....just waiting for the right time to get everything out and make the mess! LOL!!!
I have an old, torn up, coverless compilation of the Ladies Home Journals from 1923 through 1924 (I can't WAIT to do something with the Christmas editions!!!). I used some of the pages for backgrounds etc... This was SO MUCH FUN!!
The next picture is in my livingroom...I wanted to give you an idea of how big these three botanicals are. Phil and I went up in the mountains and picked a few stems of roadside plants and then I pressed/dried them between paper towels and a couple big pieces of plywood. We stacked heavy boxes of paper (for patterns) on top. It just took a few weeks, and VOILA!!!!
I had wanted....(not a descriptive enough word for what I felt....)....COVETED some botanicals like this that I had found on the Wisteria website last summer. They were smaller than these and cost over $300 each. Yeah....just couldn't justify THAT much no matter HOW cool they were! LOLOL!!!! All three of these together came to under $100 (not counting the gas to drive to the mountains....It was so pretty that day....sigh!!) Not a bad deal! I think I like these better anyway. Local flora, good memories... WOO-HOO!!!!
I found out too late that the glue would show through the leaves....I'll stick something in front of this one to sort of cover it up... it'll be OK. I've decided that I'm going to have to dry/press more and do a few more of these for here and there...........smaller tho! I'm thinking wild roses, wild lilacs, phlox....stuff like that!
When we had to move out of the house to have the floors re-done we moved Honeybunny out into the studio. He's been so happy out here! He greets everybody when they walk in....demands attention even if it means lying down on the keyboard or right in the middle of YOUR DRAWINGS AS YOU'RE DRAWING THEM!!! YIKES!!!.... and he takes great joy in helping Cindy with the shipping...(everything she does makes SUCH fun noises!) Anyway, I think he's now a shop cat so you may find cat hairs in with your orders! Sorry!!
When we had to move out of the house to have the floors re-done we moved Honeybunny out into the studio. He's been so happy out here! He greets everybody when they walk in....demands attention even if it means lying down on the keyboard or right in the middle of YOUR DRAWINGS AS YOU'RE DRAWING THEM!!! YIKES!!!.... and he takes great joy in helping Cindy with the shipping...(everything she does makes SUCH fun noises!) Anyway, I think he's now a shop cat so you may find cat hairs in with your orders! Sorry!!Well.... I'm off to new adventures. With the whole day empty and ahead of me I can do whatever strikes my fancy, huh????
xoxox Meg
10 comments:
Those jars do look beautiful with the light coming thru (do I see a project there?). Your botanicals are just fantastc. What a great idea using local plants and making them so totally yours.
Can't wait to see what else you get up to.
Hi Meg,
I love your new botanicals! Very pretty and so clever of you to figure out how to do them yourself.
The jam looks delish...will you be serving that at the retreat in October (hint hint)?
I also can't wait to meet Honeybunny. What a sweetie.
Have a great day!
I love your pressed botanicals. They look lovely on your shelving.
The jars of jam look like the sunset themselves. I saw a show on PBS this past weekend and on P. Allen Smith he was doing the same thing with fern leaves. He had a frame person do his but the thing I wanted to share was that he used cotton thread and just tacked the stems in certain places to hold it in place. That way you wouldn't have to use glue.
The jars of jam look so lovely and summery! The botanicals are a great idea too. As for cat hair, in my house, I wouldn't know if it came with the package or settled in when opened! Cat hair, like pine needles at Christmas, is everywhere, no matter how hard I clean!
Meg, do you have a trick for making the back of an embroidered tea towel look 'good'? I would appreciate any advice from the Crabapple gals or others who follow your blog! Thanks. ;0
Your 'Art' pieces look so lovely.
Great idea Meg.
Maybe something for my new decorated sewing room.
Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful botanical prints! I love teh Fireweed - I'm from the Yukon and that's the official flower for teh Territory - good choice. It sounds like you had a lot of fun making them and I think I would like to try my hand at one too. Thanks so much for sharing such a greta idea!
I hope you will share your recipe for Pineapple Apricot Jam someday--it is my all time fav and I can only find it here in MN during the Christmas season in the Knotts Berry Farm gift packs. And those jars are way to small!
The botanicals are awesome--I will have to make a trip to the woods soon. Thanks! Karen in Breezy Point
Be careful. Some of us are very allergic to cats! :-)
Post a Comment