Breezy Northern Sea Oats

 Breezy Northern Sea Oats
81/2 x 11"

It's been a really hot and dry summer here in southern Wisconsin.  Many of my flowers have packed up and gone home, but my northern sea oats continue to dutifully sway despite the hot wind. 

Isaiah 40:8 says, "the grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever."  I just assume that if I plant my flowers, fertilize, water, and weed, my flowers will bloom, as they always have.  That's what always happens.  But this year, with the hot winds, the rock hard ground, and the lack of moisture from above, they are few and far between. 

Really, what can we truly count on in this rocky economy, this severe drought, problems popping up uninvited here and there?  Actually, not much. But, thankfully, what we can count on is all we need. 

Open Again!

We've returned from London and everything is back in full swing here.  Since our return it has been beastly hot here in Wisconsin, so I took it upon myself to do some much needed renovations on the Elizabeth's Flowers website.

The Paper Making Kits page is finally in catalog form, so you don't have to scroll down several miles to see each of the paper making kits we have available. It's much neater now, and less cluttered.  Now, if I could only get my basement to look that way!

In celebration of this, and in order to encourage you to take a look for yourself, I am offering $5.00 off any order or more on elizabeths-flowers.com, for the next 25 customers, using the code: makepaper  

Enjoy!

We're sorry!  We are closed for a bit, but Elizabeth's Flowers will be reopening on June 24th.

Cheers,

Pressed Flower Votive Candle Holder Gift Idea

Flower pressing friends, here's a cool Christmas idea gift idea for you to make, that's unbelievable easy.  

1.  Glue a pressed flower of your choice onto each side of a triangle or square votive candle holder.  I tend to prefer Perfect Paper Adhesive for gluing, but in this case any white glue should be fine. I also recommend using flowers pressed in a Microfleur microwave flower press since they tend to retain more of their color.

2.  Tear a piece of white/translucent tissue paper into a square that will cover each flower by at least 1/8".  You could also cut the square, but the torn edges give a much nicer, "artsy" look.

3.  Cover one of the flowers plus an extra 1/8" of an inch around it with either matte Modge Podge, or Perfect Paper Adhesive.  Place a tissue paper square on top, press out any air bubbles, and then carefully apply another coat of either Modge Podge or PPA over the tissue paper.  Make sure to cover the edges of the tissue paper, but avoid getting excess on the glass. Repeat for each flower.  Allow to dry.

There you have it!  The tissue paper lends a certain whimsical look to the pressed flowers, and also helps protect the flowers.  Avoid using greens since they readily fade unless you add some kind of pigment - with either water color, or markers such as Prismacolors. 

For the candle holder above I used osteospermum flowers (a type of African Daisy) in several shades of purple. Which ever flowers you choose to use, be sure to have plenty on hand - everyone you know will want one of these!

Friday Fun

Blogger has a fun new link out this morning.  You can plug in your blogger name, and try one of their new dynamic templates, for a vivid new take on your blog. Take a look at the "snapshot" view of Elizabeth's Flowers.  Fun! Don't you think?

If you have a blogger blog, you can plug in the name of your blog, and play around with the new templates yourself here.  I love things like this, especially when they're free!

Ok, now it's time to go back to work.
Have a great weekend,

Are you upgrading to the iPhone 4s?

I wish, but I'm sticking with my iPhone 3for awhile longer.

But, I did upgrade my blog so that it will look better on your iPhone, or any smart phone for that matter. 
Click here while on your smart phone and enjoy! 


P.S. Do you use blogger?  If so, go to Settings and select "enable mobile phone" setting.  I am thankful and pleasantly surprised when things like this are really easy.

New name, new site, new things to try!

New name:  Wooden Deckle paper making kits (formerly Going Green paper making kits)

New site:  Wooden Deckle Paper Making Kits and Supplies

New things to try:  Note card size mold and deckle , and a Rectangles Kit , and many other fun paper making things.



Special thanks to Nicole of Nicole Hacker Photography for providing photos of the paper making kits and mold and deckles.

Got Tomatoes?

When Tom and the kids came home one by one last night, each one wanted to know how soon supper would be - the aroma of  roasted tomato sauce  roasting in the oven sent their hunger soaring. 

A little sauce goes a long way with this recipe, because the roasting concentrates the rich flavors of the tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs.  It's the perfect way to use up tomatoes when you have limited freezer space like I do. 

Garden helper/hindrance

Gardening is more of a challenge with a husky. Apparently he likes cherry tomatoes.

- Elizabeth

Strange new flower

The first few of my new 'Henry Eilers' rudabeckia have just opened - aren't they odd? Can't wait to try to press them...

- Elizabeth

Lavender Bee Balm Pair

Here's a pair of the lavender bee balm I picked the other day, in an 8 x 10" acid free mat, mounted on my handmade paper.  The bee balm my neighbor friends and I have been growing for years is deep fuchsia or brilliant red, so I find myself really enjoying this laid back, peaceful looking native Wisconsin bee balm. 

native bee balm

I love this native bee balm I came  upon while gathering Queen Anne's lace near our local dog park. I temporarily pressed it in a phone book until I was able to pop it in the Microfleur.

New picture soon to come...