Botanical Bits on Display

Gardens are beginning to be filled up with flowers as our night time temperatures are finally above the freezing mark.  As usual I am behind with that, but I have been playing with the pressed flowers that I still have lots of. 

 I so enjoy making these little decorative bits, but struggle with knowing what to call them.  

This little one fits nicely in my hand when closed

and stands up proudly to be displayed when open. 

Here you can see the inside...

And here is the outside.  

I have called them a booklet before - but they are not as they have no pages.....

 so if anyone has any suggestions  for what to call them I would love to hear them. 

Finding Words

'Proverb or Saying'

 

- that was the challenge this week, given to us by Patrice

 I love words, and so it took me quite some time to decide what words I wanted to create with. 

But I finally decided on these ones.  

They are from a poem by E.E. Cummings written in 1952.  

Below is the full poem.

 

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)

I am never without it

 (anywhere I go you go,my dear;

 and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet)

I want no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant 

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud 

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; 

which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart) 

― E.E. Cummings

I was not satisfied with how this piece turned out - but it was a learning piece, and I am happy with that.

I learned things not to do next time.

 

- too many dots will make it too busy

-varied letter/word size is important  

- more white space is needed             

- perhaps a thicker black line (or pen)

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Along the way today I found some other words.

 

These words were written last September when I also took the photographs.

It was a time that I missed my words so much.

I struggled to find them in my head as I was healing from a concussion.

A concussion that toppled my world almost sixteen months ago now.

I continue to heal from it.

Fortunately my words are beginning to come more easily.  

 

 

It has been a lesson in patience.

 

 

 

 

For more words, please visit Patrice.

A Mother's Day Tale

Hi! (that's me)

Mother's Day was a week ago, but I thought I would share a bit of my day with you. 

Every year for almost 20 years  my mother and father, husband, daughters and I 

 (and sometimes my sister and her family who live 100 miles away)

go to this place. 

We call it Crocus Hill, as it is where the first signs of spring are found. 

Whether we are having an early spring, or a late spring,

 there has ALWAYS been crocuses on this hill on Mother's Day.

Another thing about this place is that it is ALWAYS very windy.

But we go anyway. 

 It is only about a five minute drive from home.

We have a picnic,

 that often turns into a tailgate picnic, as the wind is quite cold, and it blows things around on us.   

We spend time just enjoying the place and our time together.

(husband and daughter #1)

We blow bubbles

Well really the wind blows bubbles for us.

(my mom and daughter #1)

(my dad and daughter #2)

(my mom and her bubbles)

We fly kites

My dad is the master of kite flying. 

 It is so windy here that an ordinary kite does not fly well, 

but over the years we have learned that a kite with a long and heavy tail flies well.

Or in this case, two kites joined together. 

You can see my dad's kite high, high above the trees. 

These trees have eaten a number of our kites over the years.  

And my dad has been known to climb a tree 

or come back with a ladder later in the day to rescue a grand daughters special kite.

We then go for a hike among the wind blown trees, that never grow straight. 

This little wind blown tree is probably close to the same age as my dad (80 years old)

The leaves have still not arrived, and will be some time yet.

(it snowed last night)

Just before we go home we pick a few crocuses to take with us.

My husband gathers me some.

We then head home after a lovely time on Crocus Hill. 

Embellished

The drawing challenge this week is hosted by Stefanie.

She gave us the theme 'fillip'.

Now I must admit that I had to go to the dictionary to get a definition for this word, and this is what I found:

1. A snap or light blow made by pressing a fingertip against the thumb and suddenly releasing it.

2. An embellishment that excites or stimulates

All week long I have thought about these definitions, and the idea that kept coming back to me was about embellishing.  

AND  SO  I  EMBELLISHED!

Using charcoal and paint, pan pastels, botanical bits and pieces of collage.

Until my snow goose was happy to show herself off.

I then played  with her on my computer....

but find the original is really my favourite of her. 

fillip - An embellishment that excites or stimulates

To see more be sure to visit Stefanie!

Finding Green

 In the search for all the colours of the rainbow it is time to find GREEN.

 

 There are no fresh leaves on the aspen trees yet, 

but this little spruce tree did show its lovely fresh green amongst the browns and greys of its surrounding environment.

 

 And because I still have some pressed green leaves and petals from last year, I decided they could be the focal point of a green  based creation.

Here you see the inside when it is open....

 and here is the outside.

 It can stand up and be displayed closed 

 or wide open.

 To find more green visit Jennifer and Julie

Spring Time Bouquet

 

The drawing challenge theme this week is 'smell' hosted by Barbara

Smell conjures up such wonderful memories, and I received such a beautiful spring time bouquet recently that I can not resist smelling it each time I walk by.  With this bouquet in my thoughts I went about creating this weeks challenge.  The smell of flowers takes me to so many memories. 

   Our spring has been very snowy, so I added lots of white to it including some snowflakes on the bouquet. 

 

 Here is a close up showing lots of the pencil scribble I did on this piece. 

 After I took the picture I realized I hadn't added the white dots yet.

 When I finished this piece I wasn't completely happy with it and wondered if I should add something else.  But when I put a mat on it, and looked at it through the view finder I was much happier with how it looked - the smell .... her memories .... all connected.

 

I added the final white dots and called it finished.

  

Well.... except for just a bit of playing with it on the computer.  

For more interpretations of the theme 'smell'  be sure to visit Barbara's blog!