Spring is in the Air!

"Create a project that calls to mind how one or all the senses respond to this new beginning time of year."

This is the Challenge (made by me!) set forth before the Blogging Business Artisans for the month of April.

I love this lush, gorgeous time of year when the Earth comes alive again and is filled with the scent and soft velvety beauty of blooming flowers, bird song, and insects buzzing.  Greens like parsley, lettuce, and mint, growing in my garden are being harvested for delicious salads and tea. All my senses are heightened by this heady delight.

This time of year inspires so much creativity.  I've been making  a lot of cards lately, and Spring has definitely influenced my creations. 

I've been working in my garden (mostly weeding) and am about ready to pot up some perennials to give away.  My friend Kelly made a lovely card and shared the template for the flower pot.  This will be given to my Mother-in-Law for Mother's Day.  I chose her favorite colors.

The blue background of the card is cuttlebugged.  Images are stamped, and colored in with marker.  I stamped the white ribbon with golden yellow flowers to subdue it some and attached it to the top of the flower pot.  

This was a very simple card to make.  I love that!  The lavender background was cuttlebugged.  I rubbed violet ink around the edges.  Three punched butterflies were attached with rhinestones glued on their heads.  The purple flowered ribbon was tied in a "Naomi Knot."  (how to video on my friend Peggy's blog Bubbe's Biz)

a birds' nest in my hawthorn tree.  We think it may be a hummingbird nest. 

I folded this card and cuttlebugged a design on the inside bottom.  I then stamped a leaf pattern all over with Versamark.  It's very subtle.  I stamped the bird and nest with chocolate ink on a leaf patterned paper.  I colored the design in with chalk and inked the edges.  I hand wrote the sentiment.  The flower was made as follows:

3 (very) rough circles were cut out of ribbon.  I then carefully singed the edges with a flame.  This seals the edges and curls them inward. 

 


The ribbon circles were glued down one on top of the other and a pearl bead was glued to the center.





This card is a favorite and was inspired by a card on Pinterest.  (See it HERE--Lynda Benden's Stamp Act)

Here's how I made it:

First patterned paper was glued to a white card.

Vintage lace I happened to have around was attached to light green cardstock with double sided tape.


 
I burnished the tape down with the scissors handle in order to be able to remove the plastic tape covering easily.

This light green cardstock was then attached to slightly larger dark green cardstock.

Two types of yarn were tied onto the lace.

I found a turquoise button in my stash.  I placed it on the card where I wished it to go and lightly marked the beak, legs and tail with a pencil.  Yarn was then tied through the button holes to make the wing.  I cut a beak out of paper and glued it in place.  The legs and tail were drawn with marker.  The button was attached with double sided tape.  I then hand wrote the sentiment. 

○ ○ ○

Besides cards, I've been working on dyeing and painting silk.   Both of these items call to my mind the joyous revival of green growing things.

It's fun to play with dyes and techniques.  This is a detail of a scrunchie which can be found in my shop HERE.

I dyed and hand painted this scarf, Spring bamboo.

 

creamy white Spring flowers 

The whites of Spring seem so fresh and delicate.  The lovely white pearls in this bracelet are reminiscent of that delicateness.

Spring also makes one think of birth--not only the rebirth of the Earth, but of all the baby animals being born.  Of course, I know baby humans are born all year long, but I recently made this baby bracelet for a friend's granddaughter.

Intrigued by our team challenge?  Come on over to our BBA BLOG, and see what others have made!   

QUESTION:  Have you made anything lately which challenged you artistically?     

photos by me © 2012  all rights reserved       

One World One Heart giveaway

how would you like to fly away,

fly away on a magic carpet!

to a land where your most favored dreams become reality!

One World One Heart was created by Lisa in 2007 to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet.  The object is to discover new and wonderful people along the way, and in the process possibly win one or many prizes.  It's all about sharing and finding kindred spirits.

So come on in!  Let's get started!    Please stay awhile,  Make yourself comfortable and look around.  After your visit here, grab your magic carpet and fly on over to the next home.  As Lisa says, "Think of this as taking a giant tour of homes; you get to stop in, look around, meet the people who live there, admire and be inspired and before you go on to the next one you leave your name in hopes to win a door prize at each home."
And now for my giveaway!

"Oh, what is it?" you say.  "It's earrings, " I say.   "I can SEE that!"  you say.

These are beautiful earrings made from Grade A freshwater rice pearls, Grade A freshwater potato pearls, and sterling silver.  The lovely pearls are so lustrous!  They will come in a silk bag that I hand dyed with the happy colors of Spring.  Read on to see how I dyed it.

After the silk is washed and dried, I tied it up.  In this case, I used orthodontic rubber bands.


 

 Now the tied silk is soaked in white vinegar for 30 minutes.








ready to dye!

Place in closeable baggie and microwave on high for two minutes.  You can pause the microwave every 45 seconds or so to keep the bag from bursting.  Now open up (VERY carefully) and wash  with a dab of mild soap.  Soak in a solution of water and a little fabric softener if you like.  Iron on low heat.

Now it's ironed and ready for you to win!






And now for the skinny on how to win!
FIRST, this giveaway is open to those with blogs only.  
SECOND,  leave a comment on THIS post and do tell me a dream you have--it can be tiny or very big.  You may leave as many as 5 comments, but they must be made on DIFFERENT days.
THIRD, in your comment, please leave a way for me to reach you should you win.
You have till 11:59 PM on February 14th to enter.  I will choose a winner on February 15 using a random number generator.


Go visit One World One Heart on Lisa's blog, A Whimsical Bohemian to see how to play along and for a list of all participants.
Have fun!
♥ Margaret
photos by me  © 2010 except for OWOH badge which is © 2010 by Lisa