31 Oct 2013

flower press



I am at my most peaceful when I am creating something with my hands.  Whether it be looping yarn over needles to cocoon my babies against the chills, washing watercolours over paper alongside my honey girl or humming along on my sewing machine. I relish peppering our home with my creations and gift giving has always felt more personal when I have enhanced it with a little something made by hand. 

Where I once turned to craft book for patterns and "how to's" to fuel my incessant need to create, now I'm finding inspiration within. Initially it was finances (or lack thereof) that led me away from intoxicating yarn and fabric stores to peruse the shelves of a shop much closer to home; that of my craft cupboard. Re purposing the snips of this and that from thrifting adventures and making seemingly useless items bend to my will has ignited a creativity in me that was once too shy to come out. Materials costing small change seem to bolster one's confidence too and I now view most discarded items with an artist's eye.

What started as a means to an end has slowly percolated into my very philosophy of being.  A thinking out of the box, a making it work, a changing of perception kind of ideology has evolved. Make do and mend has become re-evaluate and create. 

Do you like to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? 

Steph x

I made some flower presses to give as gifts using pieces of discarded "snap together" timber flooring samples from Reverse Garbage. A simple dandelion was painted onto the rough side (the lacquered side was hidden within) using black acrylic paint and a fine brush. These were not much more than a dot, some lines radiating out from the centre and some little horseshoe shapes at the end of the lines. A few pieces of thick cardboard were retrieved from the recycling bin and cut to size and a hole was drilled in each corner of both pieces of timber. A long wing nut for each hole keeps it all together.  Most any piece of discarded timber would work beautifully.

Many thanks to beautiful Pia Jane Bijkerk for the last two images...they are exquisite.

  

11 comments:

  1. beautiful!!!! I too am at my best/most centered when working with my hands. loved this post so. xo

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  2. So beautiful, you are very clever!

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  3. I'm the same Steph. Need to be creating to feel centred and alive. Your flower press is beautiful! I'm really keen to make some too.

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  4. Gorgeous! We made a flower press a few weeks ago and we're now due to take a peak at our flowers! Yours looks delightful with the painted top. Daddy did an inscription in ours with the wood burner :)
    I'm with you about the creating... it's what I crave but often don't give enough time to my creative side!

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  5. We had a lovely flower press made for us by Daddy a few weeks ago and we're now due to take a peak at our flowers! :) Yours looks delightful wtih the painted detail!
    I'm wtih you about the creative side... I crave it and don't give in/give time to it often enough xx

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  6. Beautiful... I miss creating with my hands... Photography sort of got in the way of that but it would be nice to get back to my roots (now just to find the time!) x

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  7. Oh steph! what wonderful use of materials and how beautiful your painting is. Such sweetness and perfect gifts these would make. xx

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  8. So beautiful Steph. We must all look between the cracks to find the time to satisfy our creative hearts, I call it 'snatch and grab' we must snatch and grab moments rather than waiting for those luxuriously long stretches of time that rarely happen. And yes I am all for making silk purses from sow ears :) xx

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  9. What lovey gifts these would make. My big girl uses our flower press nearly every day lately for her art. I too scour op shops with a different eye thesedays, pondering to myself how I could use one item for a different purpose in my crafting :) I like this mindset of giving a new lease of life to something otherwise unwanted x

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  10. I was gifted a flower press as a child by my grandma and really enjoyed picking the flowers and foliage and weeks later revealing the perfectly preserved blooms. x

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  11. I just found your lovely blog through the lovely ladies doing Pip Lincolnes' eCourse. As a favourite blog, your was mentioned a LOT! I too feel best when creating, and making something from nothing is one of my favourite ways to create. I am always eyeing off my recycling bin! Lovely photos... and you make painting sound so easy!

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Your words brighten my day! Thank-you so much for joining me on my adventure. x