Ex aequo enjoyable parts

My new work: miniature felt flowers in a wooden pot

If you have questions about how this tiny potted bouquet was made, here are the answers.

Felt is a non-woven textile.

First, you need felt.

Soft bendable fabric, I love felt. At the Etsy shop named BenzieDesign, you can choose the specific colors you want among trillions of colors. That's what I did.

Doink!

Cut a circle, I mean an oval, into a spiral.

Twist & stitch.

Roll it until you have run out of spiral. A few stitches will make the edge stay put. 

Repeat it.

Even if my – miniature – flowers are not made of paper, this tutorial helped me a lot: how to make rolled paper flowers.

Then the green stem.

The flower is stitched to the stem. Once the sepals cut, choose three colors that go well together.

And the pots.

Clue the small bouquet in the (hand-dyed (!) in strong instant coffee) miniature wooden pot. Meet my friendly supplier: MiniatureMakerSupply.

The flowers look like ranunculus.

You may ask yourself, which aspect is the fun part in this crafty beauty creation? Each moment is enjoyable when creating miniature felt flowers. Twisting, stitching, assembling, offering.

In my Etsy shop, the listed ones.


Thank you for you interest in my work.

Double bloom, twice, simultaneously

As a member of the Iris family from Brazil, there are approximately 15 species of Neomarica found throughout the tropical Americas. The genus name “neomarica” means new ‘marica’. Plants in the genus were previously called Marica from the name of a nymph. The Latin word ‘neo’ (new) was added when it was discovered that Marica had already been used to define another genus —Cipura.

The Neomarica is commonly called Walking Iris because the flowering stalks take root after bending over and making contact with the ground. 

Thus the iris appears to walk as it fills the garden with graceful foliage and flowers.

The unusual, yet attractive, flowers of walking iris appear to grow out of its sword-like, gray-green leaves. In actuality, the stem bearing the flowers is fanned out, resembling the leaves [Instagram photo].

The flowers of walking iris also open only for a day [spreading an unusual, yet attractive, delicious perfume].

Two of the most commonly grown species of walking iris include N. caerulea and N. gracilis. N. caerulea has flowers that are vibrant, mid-blue with brown, orange and yellow claws. N. gracilis [yes] has stunning [purple-ish] blue and white flowers.  

Nikki Phipps wrote those infos @ plantingflowerbulbs.

Double bloom not once, but twice, simultaneously..!

Photos by me, March 2013. The double bloom seems quite unusual, yet occasional. Let's see Walking Iris' double bloom by Gloria Reiss.

Time-lapse of a walking Iris flower – by feinberj

L'eau l'été

38 captures d'écran provenant de ce youtube, images dans Photoshop, effet dry brush: elles donneront un gif animé signé Lily Matelot / Mimi Pond! En voici 8.

Et le gif. 

J'en ai fait d'autres.

Hefe Gatineau

Gatineau, ce nom a une consonance 100% française, right? À vos yeux peut-être car la terminaison eau fait effectivement très français. Par contre, Gatino sonne presque amérindien à nos oreilles… J'ai trouvé ce texte:

Il se pourrait bien que le toponyme Gatineau soit une forme évoluée d’un nom amérindien. En effet, dans sa [vous remarquerez la looonnngueur du titre!] Relation des traverses et avantures d’un marchand voyageur dans les terrytoires sauvages de l’Amérique septentrionale, parti de Montréal le 28e de mai 1783, écrite en 1830, le coureur des bois Jean-Baptiste Perrault montre la rivière Gatineau sur deux cartes dessinées de sa main. Sur la première, la rivière porte le nom de Nàgàtinong et sur la seconde, celui de Agatinung. Ce sont là deux toponymes à consonance amérindienne dont la prononciation se rapproche singulièrement du nom Gatineau une fois la première syllabe éliminée: gàtinong et gatinung. Gatineau: un nom, une ville

Il y a quelques jours j'ai passé quelques jours à Gatineau. J'ai pris là-bas quatorze photos, avec mon iPod, qui ont ensuite été filtrées dans Instagram. L'effet que j'ai choisi s'appelle hefe. Ce filtre augmente légèrement la saturation de l'image, en ajoutant un flou plutôt subtile ainsi que des tons jaunes et dorés.

Selon brandongaille, ce filtre simulerait la rencontre entre Polaroid Land Camera et Impossible Project PZ 680.

Cliquez ici pour savoir comment recréer l'effet hefe dans Photoshop.

Parmi les quatorze j'en ai choisi neuf. Voici donc mes photos de vacances à Gatineau. Je ne sais pas le nom de ce bel arbuste à poils.

Pour finir, laissez-moi vous dire que si j'avais été une vraie méga professionnelle photographe de vacances, j'aurais amené mon appareil photo qui, quoique un peu sale, fait de bien meilleures photos que mon iPod et j'aurais immortalisé un phénomène rare vécu lorsque nous nous baignions dans le lac Meech vendredi dernier en plein milieu de l'après-midi: nous avons aperçu de l'embrun sur l'eau douce! 

Ordinairement l'embrun n'est visible que sur la surface agitée de l'océan, mais le vent du 19 juillet s'est levé si brusquement que nous avons pu admirer une poussière de gouttelettes d'eau frôlant la peau du célèbre lac pendant quelques secondes… Magnifique.

L'appel du printemps

Springtime magnet on the table

I made a rustic-elegantly-springtime-inspired (!) fridge magnet for my friend's birthday last Saturday.

My drawing

Two snowdrop flowers drawn by me with graphite and ink on watercolor paper.

Snowdrop is a widely cultivated bulbous European plant of the lily family that bears drooping white flowers during the late winter, while the snow is on the ground.

Snowdrop, such a pretty name.

Estonian: Lumikelluke (snow tinkler)

Finnish: Lumikello (snow clock)

French: Perce-neige (snow pierce)

German: Schneeglöckchen (snow bell)

Greek: Galanthus (milk flower)

Italian: Bucaneve (snow hole)

Spanish: Campanilla de febrero (February bell)

Well, this flower has many pretty names.

In pale color

Then lightly two colors are added. The snowdrop drawing was cut…

Create your own photo (or drawing) magnet

… and gently disposed on a magnet sheet bought from the dollar store.  

Not yet framed snowdrop magnet

The magnetic drawing will be framed with small tree branches picked on the floor of Montreal, all around. The branches are easily cut with an x-acto. Ideally should be chosen straight ones.  

Stay still

With carpenter glue, I glued the branches. Mini clamps are used to keep the wood in place.

Oops

Next time, I'll put just a little less glue.

Springtime magnet on the fridge

Snowdrop, the call of spring, on a snowy morning in Montreal.

Springtime magnet on the floor

Thank you for your interest in my work.

On the floor

White swallow, white swallow
With your sense of honor
Remind us to follow the lightest
Lightning path without
Losing the honor of the senses.

First I drew an ultra minimalist swallow on white watercolor paper with ink.

I painted with lightly colored, almost white, gouache all around.

The painted drawings have to be cut.

Then glued on a piece of cardboard. The white swallow is temporarily, neglectedly and fragilely framed.

Four species of tree were selected from my pretty large collection of small branches.

With carpenter glue, I glued the branches. Mini clamps are used to keep the wood in place.

Voilà!


Now we've got a white swallow drawing and gouache, framed with small branches picked on the floor of the city of Montreal.


Thank you for your interest in my work.

The white swallow artwork in the Esty shop.