outdoors

Mount Rainier

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By far, my favorite piece yet! I love the Northwest and to me this gorgeous volcano is a true symbol of the pure beauty found in this corner of the country. I started with baby’s breath for the clouds and brown leaves for Mount Rainier. The ground is made of fig leaves and dark dahlia for the rocks. The snow is white hydrangea and I used blue delphinium for the water. The trees are made of ferns and I love how they move throughout. Last but not least I used the same leaves for the tiny wolves hiding in the trees.

My friend has the original so I have a 16 x 20 print hanging on my wall. It’s amazing how detailed even the larger print is! You can purchase a print from my Etsy shop here and they range from $16 – $24 for a 16 x 20.

Rainier Cropped RainierPrintFramed Rainier Close Up

Simple Garden

/ Woodland Soul NW / 2 Comments

Some of the greatest treasures in life come from the tranquility of nature. This piece makes me think of a sunny day with nothing to do but admire the amazing simple beauty life has to offer. The butterfly is made from white hydrangea, the ground is fig leaf, and the garden is made of lily of the valley and some random yellow flowers I found in my backyard :). I hope you enjoy this simple garden!

SimpleGarden2 SimpleGarden1 SimpleGarden

Beach Pea

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These beautiful vines grow alongside the beach here in the NW. They have gorgeous purple pea flowers and wild, twisting vines. Vines are some of my favorite plants to press. Vines may seem invasive to some but I admire their persistence to survive and flourish. The tiny ends are a miraculous design that grab onto everything. I have to laugh when trying to detach the little guys from each other because it seems their very purpose is to hold on for dear life. One of the most amazing facts about these plants is that the seeds can survive while floating in salt water for up to five years! This has caused them to be a native plant in many countries. You can read more on beach peas here: Beach Pea

Purple and Pink Memories of Summer

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These eight purple and pink Toadflax (or Linaria) flowers were picked in the warm Summer months. With temperatures now in the forties and the cold rain pouring down I found myself daydreaming of warmer days as I look at these flowers. I used the home made press to slow dry these and I am very happy with the results! I love how their wild, little leaves stick out in every direction.

Linaria are perennial flowers that grow in late summer and have some very interesting properties. It’s noted to have been used as a diuretic, insecticide, and fever-reducer. Bees and other like insects are required for its pollination. You can read more about this beautiful flower here: About Linaria Flowers

Laburnum

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These “Golden Chains” shine with vibrant, yellow pea-flowers.  The deciduous trees blossom in late spring and glow with bright yellow clusters. I’m so glad their amazing color stayed true after pressing!

You can read more about laburnum here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laburnum

http://bluewisteria.co.uk/flowers/flower_display.php?species_id=43

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Available for purchase here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106727236/pressed-flower-art-8-x-10-laburnum-on

Patience is a Virtue

/ Woodland Soul NW / 5 Comments

There is something so very majestic about these enormous birds. They move so gracefully, watch patiently for their meal, and if they fail they try, try again. I work near the water and often see these beauties take their long walk for lunch while I enjoy my pre-made one.
The main flower used for the heron is blue hydrangea. The detail is dark dahlia and orange rose petal. The mountains are hydrangea leaves and the ground is fig leaf. For the water I used delphinium. The marshy islands are made up of orange rose petal, grass-on endings, and pieces of pampas grass tussock. Lastly, the sun is a yellow dahlia.
Prints of the original are availble here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/102760116/pressed-flower-art-8-x-10-print-patience

Red Sky at Night

/ Woodland Soul NW / 2 Comments

Happy June everyone! I have a wonderful piece to share that I made for a friend. The only request was for a piece with trees so I decided to do a “Cold Moon” 2.0. The whole thing was inspired by the early leaves that bloomed on one of my rose bushes. They have an amazing red iridescence! I used them for the ground cover. I used hydrangea leaves for the mountains and hydrangea stems for the trees. The sun is a dahlia flower and the birds are Japanese maple leaves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it! 🙂

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Beautiful Heather!

/ Woodland Soul NW / 2 Comments

Here’s one of those plants that gave me a very pleasant surprise! I’ve always admired these flowers from far away but never gave them a close up look. My breath was taken away when I saw how colorful and bold they were. I also had no idea they were adorned with beautiful green needles. One of the things I love the most about Oshibana is studying the anatomy of the endless variety of flowers that nature provides. As with many other flowers that thrive in cold weather I wasn’t shocked to find that they pressed extremely well. I plan on pressing many more of this gorgeous flower but here are my first two pieces. Enjoy!

Featured Flower Artist ~Organic Art Wow~

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Here is an amazing artist that just opened her shop on Etsy. This art takes my breath away. I feel as though I’m actually in these beautiful scenes! The shadowing is done so perfectly. Here are some of the amazing works and a link to her shop below.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OrganicArtWow

Pressed Flower Jewelry II

/ Woodland Soul NW / 2 Comments

It was a long process with many problems followed by solutions but I was able to find what worked. I started by setting a 2-part epoxy (Easy Cast) into the molds and letting them sit for 24 hours. After that I place the flowers down and covered them with another layer of epoxy. Here in Seattle it’s in the 40’s this time of year so I ran into the problem of bubbles. After the bubbles rose to the top I ran a hair dryer over the top and it seemed to get rid of the majority of them. I let them sit for another 36 hours and popped them out of their molds.

When they were thoroughly dry I used scissors to trim the edges and sanded them with 150 grit sandpaper, then with 1500 wet or dry sandpaper. They looked horrible after sanding and I was pretty worried but then I placed a layer of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic over them and they were as clear as glass! I used a 2 part epoxy glue to place the bezels on the back and voila! Here is the result. I can’t wait until more flowers come into bloom and the weather warms up to make a second batch!