pansy fairy!:-)

 

pansy fairy!:-)

she's all finished!:-)...and the journey was wonderful!:-)

my grandma ruth was a flower presser too!:-)...when she passed away, my mom sent me grandma's flower stash...i've always felt honored that i inherited her flowers and wanted to put them to good use:-)

while browsing through one of the boxes, i came across some pansies with a wonderful antique feel to them...aha!:-)...a fairy dress!:-)...her skin is made from some lighter pansies found in the same box!:-)

translucent hibiscus blooms form her wings:-)...cornsilk overlaid with a beautiful weed for her hair:-)...batchelor button snippets for eyes and a clip of a red rose petal for her mouth:-)...

queen anne's lace florets fill her arms with a bouquet and she has tucked one of the blooms into her hair!:-)...pansy shoes adorn her feet!:-)

thank you, grandma ruth, for allowing me to continue the tradition of pressed flowerart with your flowers!:-)...i am honored:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

flowers+rocks=flowerox

 

flowers + rocks = flowerox!:-)

the story of how it all began...

many moons ago, when my daughter was just a tot, we played flower fairy!:-)

we would mod podge rocks with pressed flowers, covering them carefully to protect the flowers, then hide them wherever we went for someone to find!:-)...a tiny note from the flower fairy would wish them a happy day and hope that they would enjoy their flowerock!:-)

we'd tuck them into phone booth change slots or leave them on a bench along the local nature trail...behind a book in the library or in a tip jar at the bakery...all over town!:-)

we were lucky enough to witness some of the results!:-)...an eight year old girl found one peeking out from under a bush on her birthday...a teenager found one on a ledge at the mall and ran to show all her friends her lucky find...a lady found one in a parking lot and excitedly told her friend that she was going to display it on the bookshelf in her office!:-)

my interest in pressed flowers continued to grow and i began to put flowers on other things!:-)...soap, tiles, bookmarks and cards...and then i began to do framed pieces!...what fun!:-)

many years later with technology at my fingertips, i found a small group of other folks interested in pressed flowers!:-)...yippee!:-)...that small group of about 15 people has grown to be the world wide pressed flower guild!:-)...a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit dedicated to teaching the art and science of pressed flowers, with members all over the planet!:-)...you can find out more here... www.wwpfg.org ...

and that's how it all began!:-)...from the gifts of the humble rock and flower!:-)...i am still making and hiding flowerox!:-)...maybe you'll find one!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

pressed flowers and a renaissance faire!:-)

 
pressed flowers and a renaissance faire!:-)

we have had a wonderful opportunity to travel across the country this summer...working shows and festivals along the way!:-)

our most recent adventure was in washington state at a renaissance faire!:-)...

nestled in a lovely wooded spot with peacocks roaming the property, horses preparing for a jousting tournament and an amazing array of artists, we were welcomed like family by the owner of the property:-)

an invitation to pick wildflowers was gratefully accepted!:-)...and the kissing wench brought me a beautiful red rose which was quickly beheaded and popped into a press!...i will make a pressed flower picture full of memories of a wonderful time!:-)

if any of you are lucky enough to be in the area or visiting in washington state, be sure to check out this magical place!:-)... http://www.nwrf.net/ ...it's a must see!:-)

thank you lady tienne!:-)...it was a terrific experience!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

pressed flowers and find the fairy?!:-)

 

pressed flowers and find the fairy?!:-)

what a wonderful journey!:-)

this picture is chock full of bits and pieces of memories:-)

the background is corn husk sold in a local shop as tamale wraps...little did they know where these would end up!:-)

the dark mountain in the distance is a leaf snagged from a bush in tennessee...wish i could remember the name of it!...when you iron it, it turns black!...very useful!:-)

the lilypad is actually a lilypad!:-)...plucked straight out of the mississippi river by a dear friend that also loves pressed flowers...thanks, diane!:-)

the waves are tiny pieces of money plant seedpods sent to me from georgia...the ferns from virginia...thank you sarah and barbara!:-)

and the tiny fairy flying across the water...can you see her?:-)...she is made from a silky, tulip petal cut in the shape of a fairy!:-)...thanks, gilda!:-)

the fairy is almost luminescent against the background...you have to look closely to see her...and that's how we got to pressed flowers and find the fairy!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

pressed flowers and hearts!:-)

 

pressed flowers and hearts!:-)

my friends in the world wide pressed flower guild have been playing with ribbon bookmarks and making beautiful pressed flower valentine's day cards!:-)

as always they have inspired me:-)...

i nabbed a heart shaped cookie cutter from the kitchen cupboard and traced around it on cardstock for a template...

then i rummaged in my overflowing flower box to find some likely candidates for my project!:-)...ahhhhhhh!:-)...some beautiful, antique-like pansies, some dusky orange autumn leaves, some camellia petals and queen anne's lace from my grandma ruth and finally some birch bark for a more manly look!:-)

laminated, hole punched and beribboned, they'll make great little valentine bookmarks!:-)

and there's my pressed flowers and hearts project!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

oh, and as for the world wide pressed flower guild?...yes, there really is one!:-)...you can find them here...

www.wwpfg.org

pressed flowers and color mists!:-)

 


inspired by a friend of mine that has been playing with a new product...i dug something similar out of my art room...

it's called color mists...it comes in a variety of colors, including metallics...my favorites!:-)...

here's what happened with a combination of purple haze and 22 karat gold!:-)

you can find all the colors here...

http://www.outsidethemargins.com/shop.php?category=11

has anybody else tried a spray color?...did you like it?...

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

pressed flowers, spring and bling!:-)

 

pressed flowers, spring and bling!:-)

we have had quite a cold spell lately and i have been sitting and poring over my seed catalogs dreaming of spring!...action is required!:-)

i found some spring colors and rummaged through my flower stash looking for treasures...always fun and frequently surprising!:-)

sparkle!:-)...i needed sparkle!:-)...a long unopened box in my flower room unearthed some snippets of gold thread and some bling!:-)

here's what happened!:-)...a pile of spring!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

susan's garden!:-)

yesterday was a wonderful day!:-)...

a couple of months ago i noticed a note on our community chatlist about a lady that offered floral design classes and had a business selling flowers to local restaurants...she brings fresh bouquets weekly for a small sum...she also supplies them with edible flowers from her gardens!...how kool!:-)

as a pressed flower artist, i hoped that someday we would be able to meet and talk flowers, so i sent her a little note...she graciously replied and invited me to her home to see her flowers...yippee!:-)

we arrived early in the morning and had a lovely time exploring her beautiful gardens!:-)...well maintained pathways meandered through glorious rows of roses and butterfly bushes...cone flowers and coreopsis...sunflowers and delicate cleomes...bee balm and larkspur...dinnerplate sized dahlias in every color and long, stalks of gladiolas!:-)

a tiny bunny and baby chicks followed us on our journey through the gardens...and best of all she invited us back!:-)...thank you, susan!:-)...i look forward to our next visit!:-)

you can find out more about susan and her gardens here...

http://www.hearthouseflowers.com/

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

my laundry basket garden!:-)

i love where we live:-)...it's true that we need more room at this point and are looking for a larger piece of land...but, i really love this place:-)

i love to garden and grow things...doesn't matter too much what i grow...beans are just as much fun as wrapping honeysuckle vine around a chair!:-)...i would still like to have a grass couch outside, but that's another story!:-)

the biggest challenge we've had living here is the dirt!...it is very, very, hard, red clay!...it's good for making pottery, but not very good for growing things!...

for about five years we have had truckloads of dirt brought in...bought bags and bags of top soil and tried to fix it!...nothing worked and nothing grew...

but, inspiration struck!:-)...and this year we have a laundry basket garden!:-)...we went to the dollar store and bought out every laundry basket they had!...the results have been spectacular!:-)...beets, potatoes, tomatos, beans, morning glories and cosmos, daisies and hydrangeas!:-)...

and the best part?...i can just walk outside my door and all these wonderful flowers are right at my feet ready to be pressed and turned into flowerart!:-)

enjoy my laundry basket garden!:-)

rebekah:-)

my golden leafed plant!:-)

in the pressed flower world this plant is like gold!...literally!...

many leaves turn golden yellow...poplar and maple to name just a few... but they are still noticeably yellow and not gold...

it's name is machilus thunbergii...and i had heard rave reviews about how beautiful it is by some pressed flower artists that attended the philadelphia flower show...
http://www.theflowershow.com/attractions/index.html ... and were lucky enough to see it in person...

i had to have it!:-)...when it arrived it looked like a rather scrawny rhododendron...no gold in sight!...now, it is growing and has new leaves on top!:-)...they are a beautiful reddish color...still no gold, but i am hopeful!:-)

enjoy and think gold!:-)

rebekah:-)

treasures from terica's garden!:-)

i have a wonderful friend, named terica...we've known each other about a bazillion years...live about 20 minutes apart and have had many an adventure together!...she is a pressed flower artist just like me!:-)

we've traveled halfway across the country together... gathering flowers along the way!:-)...we've stopped on the sides of country roads after spotting wild daisies to press...searched the fields of old and abandoned farmhouses looking for wild roses...we've bartered pressed flowerart for the privilege of picking in neighbor's yards...we've even had folks welcome us like family and provide scissors for all we wanted to pick!:-)...what flower fun we've had together:-)

last week i got a chance to visit terica in her new little house and pick from her garden:-)...these are the treasures that came home with me!:-)...pansies and spiderwort...old timey roses and poplar blooms and the list goes on!:-)...thank you terica, for a wonderful afternoon:-)

rebekah:-)

spring!

this is my version of spring!:-)

in march, my friend elaine taught a wonderful, spring, pressed flower class incorporating a corn husk basket!:-)...the corn husk was pressed whole, torn into strips and woven into a basket...what fun!:-)

classes using pressed flowers, leaves and other botanical materials are offered on a monthly basis in the world wide pressed flower guild...you can find out more about them here... www.wwpfg.org ...

i had lots of fun with this one!:-)...eggs are made from rose petals, autumn leaves, pansies, and even a pointsettia leaf!:-)

the bunny is made from the back side of poplar leaves that a friend in tennessee sent to me...thanks, pat:-)...his tail is rabbit grass...seemed appropriate:-)

bits of moss and miscellaneous greenery from my yard finish the picture...the background is handmade paper with various petals and greens imbedded in the surface...

enjoy and happy spring!:-)

rebekah:-)

spirit guide

this picture was inspired by the work of some russian pressed flower artists!:-)...many use leaves, straw, hay and neutral or dark tones...more raw and powerful than most of my work, this piece has opened lots of new ideas for me!:-)...

i feel so fortunate to be able to take pressed flower classes through the world wide pressed flower guild!:-)... www.wwpfg.org ... it amazes me that with the help of the internet, i am able to learn from pressed flower artists all over the world!:-)...a big thank you to all of you!:-)

made of autumn crabapple leaves, dogwood blossoms and pampas grass!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

thank you, irina!:-)

recently i was lucky enough to be able to take a master class with an amazing pressed flower artist!:-)...her name is irina orlova...you can see her work here...

http://foto.mail.ru/mail/beresta7/ ...absolutely amazing!:-)

the class was offered through the world wide pressed flower guild... www.wwpfg.org
yes, there really is one!:-)

irina lives in russia, a wonderful woman in canada translated and we had such fun!:-)...the class lasted for an entire month as irina answered questions, provided pictures and instruction and guided us step by step through an autumn landscape made entirely of botanicals!...

the sky is made from tamale wraps (corn husks) that i picked up in a local shop...the distant mountains are bits and pieces of autumn leaves...the rolling hills are from leaves i gathered at a rest stop in new england...and the fence is made from darkened banana skins!:-)

i learned so much during this class and had a ton of fun with about 30 other people that wanted to learn too!:-)...classes are held monthly...why don't you join us next time?:-)

thank you, irina!:-)...i did it!:-)...finally!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

i think i found it!

today was a wonderful day!:-)...after a series of challenges that needed creative solutions the past few weeks, it was reassuring to have a beautiful gift fall into my lap...almost literally!:-)

i am lucky enough to be able to take a pressed flower master class from an amazing artist!:-)...her name is irina orlova...she lives and works in russia!...isn't the internet an amazing thing!:-)...her classes are available through the world wide pressed flower guild...yes, there really is one!:-)...you can find out more about them here... www.wwpfg.org ...

the class is a landscape with distant mountains all made with pressed botanicals...i searched and searched for just the right thing...used everything i could think of in the kitchen to press...pressed sweet potato skins...beautiful, but too dark!...pressed banana leaf?...same problem...beautiful, but too dark!...i needed a lighter, brownish, earth colored material...

this morning was windy and cold and i had some dreaded errands to run...best to just get it over with!...as i was sitting in a parking lot waiting for hubby's return from the bank machine, what did i see!?:-)...the most beautiful tree!:-)...and it's bark was shedding down around it's knees in big, soft pieces!:-)...i think i found it!:-)...the perfect pressed plant material for my landscape!:-)...thank you, tree:-)

rebekah:-)

windy day

today it is very windy in north carolina!...in memory of windy autumn days, i made a card for a friend of mine, using leaves from the cascade mountains in washington state!:-)...the bookmark was made by placing the leaves on a leftover piece of sheer ribbon...laminated and hole punched with more leftover ribbon to make it pretty and quick as that, a fun flowerart project!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

dancing leaves

this was a quick, fun project:-)...the leaves were pressed and sent to me from a friend in massachusetts!:-)...lucky me!:-)

i call it dancing leaves!:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)

winter forest

with a scant hour left until the deadline in the world wide pressed flower guild holiday card challenge, i managed to finish!:-)...these pressed ferns were really pretty and made fun evergreen trees!:-)...i decorated them with the tiny blooms of elderberry:-)...the star was punched out of a calla lily!:-)...easy and quick, i enjoyed my little project:-)

hope you do too:-)

rebekah:-)

hooray for brown!:-)

it's a crispy, crunchy morning in north carolina:-)...the back deck is covered with fallen leaves...as i looked out the window this morning, i noticed how many shades of brown there are...each one beautiful!:-)...sun and shadow...dark and light...hints of red, gold and an almost creamy white, sprinkled occasionally with the deep green of pine needles before they turn golden...
as a pressed flower artist, i feel especially lucky to be able to have nature's bounty presented right outside my back door!:-)...brown is a particularly useful color to have for pressed flowerart landscapes or critters!:-)...a young girl's hair or a lion!:-)...the possibilities are endless:-)
for now, i will go and gratefully gather my shades of brown:-)...when our world has totally turned to winter, i will sit quietly with my leaves and let them tell me what they want to be!:-)
hooray for brown!:-)
rebekah:-)

christmas mouse

i had fun with today's pressed flower project:-)...a tiny mouse, made from clover, decorates his fern tree with queen anne's lace and a tiny red flower that a friend sent to me:-)

enjoy,

rebekah:-)