Pressed Flowers

When I was young, I loved to walk around our house clipping my mom's beautiful flowers for my flower press. I would lay the flowers out between pieces of paper and cardboard and screw my press together tight...and then impatiently wait for 2 weeks to see the magical creations. Sometimes they turned out great, other times they were a little moldy or brown. Now, my press is packed in some random box at my parent's house. I hadn't used or even thought of my press in years until my parents sent me a birthday package this summer. There were a few art/crafting books and a microwavable flower press!! No more waiting! I went slow this first time, so it took a little longer than it should, but I didn't burn any flowers and I could press them and make a card in the same day!

I spritzed the cloth with a little bit of water, put the flowers and leaves in the press, and microwaved them for not more than 30 seconds at a time (so you don't burn them).

Between each heating, I opened the press to let the hot air out, which aids in the drying process. I repeated this process (in shorter episodes as the flowers were closer to being pressed) until they petals and leaves felt like paper and could not be bent without breaking off.

I decided to make a birthday card with one of the flowers. I used tweezers to handle it because of it's delicate nature now. The flower is stiff and does not droop when picked up.

I used Elemer's glue to secure it to the paper and then added a little note!...

For the Love of Food!

It took me MONTHS to make Usman's (my husband) birthday present. I've been cooking like a mad woman and taking pictures of all my meals since the spring, with the idea that I would make my husband a cookbook for his birthday. Both of us are somewhat disorganized with our recipes. I have a recipe box with some written down, some are printed and then folded up in the box or stuff inside books, others I go look on the website I found them. Usman usually cooks his mom's recipes, which are typed in Word, with his laptop sitting on the kitchen counter, just waiting for a spill! He also has some written in his college poetry book, and other folded up and stuffed in the book. Needless to say, it can sometimes be hard to find the recipe we are looking for. Even if I know that it is in my recipe box, there is not system and I proceed to take out all of the index cards and flip through them to find the recipe I want. There's also the problem of me not remembering which recipes Usman likes and which he thinks are my "bland farm food."

So, I set out to fix this problem and began documenting my delicious creations (and some not-so-delicious creations which didn't make the cut). When Usman was home and I was forced to take the picture with him in the kitchen, he would roll his eyes at me and ask whhhhyyy I have to take pictures of every single dish I make. He would also politely remind me that the food was getting cold. :)

Finally, I could stall no longer and had to put the book together with the recipes I had. I used Tastebook and found the site quite simple and the finished product is neat and visually pleasing. The only thing I didn't like about this site is that you cannot use your own photos for the cover or the tabs. You can add more recipes though, which I will definitely be doing in the near future, as a friend just recommended 101 Cookbooks to me and all of the recipes I have tried are FABULOUS!

I believe Usman likes the finished product as well, although he was a little skeptical as to why I was giving him more work to do! ;)

Here are a few pages from the book...


Of course, I had to include a recipe for my special popcorn so Usman can make it when I'm not around!


I had to start getting creative with the pictures after taking so many!




...as well as creative directions for "serving"!

Peruvian Textiles

I just returned from 2 weeks in Peru with my Dad and I am still in love with the handwoven textiles. I couldn't resist and had to buy just one! I bought this from a store in Ollantaytambo (near Machu Picchu) that helps native women preserve the traditions of Quechua weaving and pays fair wages through the Awamaki Weaving Project. You can meet the weavers on the website as well. They are all fairly young (I believe their group leader is 16 yrs old)...Felicitas Rios Cjuro is the woman who made my weaving!

All of the colors are natural (made from plant dyes) and it is all handmade. The symbols in many of these weavings are symbolic. The sun was very important to the incas, the condor was a symbol of spirituality, they used llamas or alpacas for food, clothes, instruments, etc.

If you would like to learn more about this organization (or perhaps learn to weave through their sustainable tourism initiative!) please visit the website above! They are also accepting gifts for children in the area, if you are visiting Machu Picchu soon.

Rose Necklace

I was so busy finishing up the school year and reports, followed by a visit from my mom, that I have not had a chance to blog...but I have definitely been making art. I took a beading class with my mom and learned some basic techniques and was so inspired that I made 3 necklaces over the weekend! One of them, I am keeping. I have always wanted a rose necklace but could never decide on one I liked. When my mom and I were in a bead store and I saw this thai silver flower, I couldn't resist! She bought it for my birthday and I quickly strung it and wore it out this weekend - I love it! If you want to see the others, go to my Etsy website:

Mother bird

For Mother's Day I decided to make my mom a paper mache bird to sit inside (or out!) of her birdcage she has hanging in her dining room. Right now there is a plant in there (very cute decoration idea!) but she loves birds and now she has a new pet! I made a mold using paper and tape, and made wire legs to help it balance (or to allow the bird to grasp something). I used paper towels to paper mache because they are white and help to cover up the print on the newspaper, and it is easier to create a smooth surface because they are thinner than newspaper. I used an elmers glue/water paste so that the little bird won't mold (the easy flour pastes often will mold and you especially have to be careful in the wet Northwest!). Lastly, I used decorative paper and mod podge paste to add color to the bird and finished off with pins for the eyes! I also made a card to go with the gift and to giver her a little hint!

THE ESCAPE...




FREEDOM!

Daydreaming about Summer

It's an overcast, windy day today and I can't stop thinking about summer. The weather has been teasing us with some nice days scattered here and there. I'm ready for daily walks, ice cream, bbqs, and discovering new neighborhoods. I was looking through some of my old pictures and came across this set of three photos that I took in the Little Italy neighborhood (near UIC) a few years ago. I had just gotten a new camera and was really getting into photography at the time. I would love to take a class or two someday!

New Perspective

I thought of Christo and Jean-Claude the other day, but could not remember their names for the life of me. After an hour of searching the internet with "castle + covered + fabric" and + "art + fence + fabric" etc etc etc, I finally came upon their webpage. They use fabric to temporarily change an environment, and allow the viewer to see the environment in a new way. If they wrap a building in fabric, we might pay more attention to the shape, or maybe it takes on a different feeling in that environment. When they created a fabric "fence" along the rolling hills in California, somehow it made the viewer pay more attention to the rolling hills, the sun reflecting or the fabric, and called attention to the wind, which blew the fabric beautifully. Sometimes we just don't notice the world around us and how beautiful it is, and they have helped many people see their environments in a new light. If you ever get a chance to see one of the videos of them creating a work, it is an amazing process and lets you see how the environment affects the artwork and vice versa....something you cannot see completely in pictures alone.

Wrapped Trees - Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park, Reihen, Switzerland




Running Fence - Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, USA


The Pont Neuf Wrapped - Paris