Inside Gardening

While the weather outside is unpredictable and not always conducive to working outside, I've been gardening inside on a much smaller scale.

My last post I showed how I created my flowers from scratch using two simple punches. Realizing that I wasn't going to get the realistic results that I wanted, I decided to order more flowers.  The iris are from Itsy Bitys Mini with simple directions: cut supplied wire to length for 8 flowers. Remove the blooms and leaves from the sheet then using the stylus curl alternate petals upward then turn the flower over and curl the remaining 3 petals so that each bloom has three petals that face up and 3 that face down, as iris naturally grow. The directions say to dip the tip of stem in glue and perch the bloom on top of the glob of glue, a rather tenuous balance. So I as I did for my own creations, I bent the wire to make a bit of a platform for the blossom to rest on.

While the blooms are cut from colored paper, the stamen is not, so I had to paint on the pollinator, using a toothpick dipped in a dab of yell paint.

I added the leaves a bit above the end of the stem because once planted the leaves will look as if growing from the ground. I wanted to be able to cu the stems to length and/or have plenty of stem to "plant."

 My garden grows.

 The Mistress is ready to plant her garden.

From SDK I ordered more flower kits: delphiniums and two daffodil kits. I adore daffodils. We have them growing here, but this spring's really bad weather ruined them. They barely endured 6 inches snow and as if that wasn't enough to test their durability and resoluteness, they were subjected to 7 degrees one night. The layer of snow protected them from being totally frozen; still they tried to bloom and be happy.

For the beginner and one lacking experience and certain artistic skill, these kits can seem intimidating; however, I am happy to report that if I can do it, so can you. Just follow the directions. The pieces come printed on a cotton crepe paper sort of material. I had watched a video on how to assemble these types of kits, so I felt like I could do it. Following the directions, I used acrylic craft paint slightly thinned with water to paint the flowers.

I began by practicing with my acrylic paints. My only yellow is too bold, so I calmed it down by mixing white with it, dab by dab.

I tired the color out on paper first. The problem with mixing paint in such a hap-hazard way is that you have to finish the project because you won't be able to recreate the shade.

I painted half the petals and the leaves, leaving the other half for another color.

I would say that SDK is very generous with the number of flowers with each kit; this one yields 12.

The directions are simple in assembling the flowers and the material is quite sturdy and forgiving. 

For the second batch, I wanted to replicate my daffodils in the garden with the bright orange cup.

Following the same process of blending paints, I was able to create that tangerine orange.

       

While the flowers are easily painted, I had to be careful to get the paint right consistency--not too

thin, not too thick and once the front was dry, I had to paint the back side of the back of the flowers. I used clothes pins to hang them to dry.

The Results

Two nice pots of smiling, happy daffodils. Again I attached the leaves higher on the stem so that the stems can be trimmed to size later.

Another project will a climbing rose like the one I made a while back for the Blue Farmhouse Now Pink.

I suppose now, you have realized that I'm attempting to build a garden for the Bellingham. What else do I have to do these days. Even when the Stay-at-Home order ends, I will continue working on my little garden. I really am in uncharted territory, but it's such fun.

Thanks for visiting.