The return of "You frame it Friday"

"Be still and know..." Pressed Fuchsia Flower
Fuchsia, handmade paper
8" x 10" Acid-free mat
Unframed pressed flower art

Ever since I tried pressing the fuchsia plant on my patio, it has been getting smaller and smaller. I've pressed fuchsia in the past, but their round little "bellies" never pressed to my liking, they ended up looking like blobs. I bought this fuchsia not for pressing, just for enjoying, but pressed it on a whim one day because I wanted to use some of the leaves.



I apologize that I don't know what variety it is, but it's a beauty with its unusually slender flowers, long tendrils, and long pointed petals.

I've made a number of pressed flower cards with these flowers this week, and also placed a sprig with one of my favorite verses, Psalm 42:10.

Today's featured unframed pressed fuchsia flower picture has been treated with a UV resistant polymer to seal out moisture and prevent fading indefinitely.

Another line of lavender

Lavender Line
14" x 7"
Sold/Consignment for Jen M.


I have made a lot of "lavender lines" lately, and although it's more interesting to make new creations as opposed to doing the same thing over and over, I love how each of my lavender pictures seems to come together in a different way. Each has it's own uniqueness.

This morning I gave myself permission to procrastinate for just a little while, and on a blog I visit every so often there was a a quote from Edith Schaeffer that really made me sit up and take notice:

"There is a staggering diversity in Creation from the silence of snow to the delicate sound of rain on leaves...

The captivating ingredient in the whole fantastic stream of reality is that the Creator God created beings in His likeness so that each one could be a creator...^"


Two reminders. One being of how vast and varied creation is, and the other, that the Creator of all things also gave us a portion of His of creativity, so that we too can create in many many different ways. That's why artists can use the same media over and over again, and each time something different appears.

How amazingly kind of God to share His creativity with us.

What's so great about the Internet?

Free information at your finger tips - that's the single most valuable aspect of the internet, in my opinion. The amount you can learn is almost endless!

Over here, you can learn quite a bit about how to press flowers, how to make pressed flower cards, and what flowers press well, just to name a few. You can access all of my tutorials here: Elizabeth's Flowers Tutorials

For my non-flower pressing readers, here's a "how to" tutorial for you that I just love. See what you think...

Enjoy!

I'm in here...

I'm not sure if this quite equals my ship coming in, but I am thrilled that my Elizabeth's Flowers website was mentioned as a source for the Microfleur flower press in the August edition of Canadian Living.

Editor Karen Kirk contacted me a few months ago to find out if I ship to Canada, which I have been gladly doing for years. Her article, "Blooming Frames" details an interesting way to use pressed flowers to decorate frames, and has a wonderful step by step pictorial on using the Microfleur. My site is listed as a source under "Things You Need," and you can view the article online here.

It has been exciting to see my website in print and mentioned online, and I'm eager to find out what kind of traffic will be generated to my site. But mostly, I hope the article convinces more people to press their own flowers, and enjoy the beauty they bring.

"The beauty of each blossom speaks silently of God's love..."

Pressed for all time...

July already? Do you ever get the feeling that God pushes "fast forward" during the summer? It never fails to whiz by.

This time of year almost every spare moment I have is spent pressing flowers, so that I have plenty to use all year long for my framed and unframed pressed flower art, as well as my pressed flower cards.

Today I pressed the last of my violas, the first of my red poppies, many blue and purple cornflowers, a fern sprig, and lots of calendula and osteospermum.

Can you tell what the silver star shaped flowers in the middle of my Microfleur flower press are? They are edelweiss flowers - not an easy plant to grow, unless you are in the Alps. I am thankful when ever they grace me with their presence here in Wisconsin, and this year I've been blessed with a modest amount of small blooms. Many of them will be used for consignment pictures customers have ordered, and any leftovers will be used for cards that I will put up on my Etsy page.

If you are new to pressing flowers, here's a Microfleur Flower List I complied a summer or two ago about on what flowers I have found to press well in the Microfleur - if you have any to add, please email me, and I would be glad add them to the list.