Baby Scrapboxing

This idea came to me as a gift idea for a baby! I am always looking for new ways to include clay flowers into my paper art projects. When my former client Amy had a beautiful baby girl recently, I thought that a birth announcement/shadowbox would be a lovely gift...filled with clay flowers. Now, I changed the name for this sample, but you get the idea of how the everlasting flowers add to this adorable keepsake piece that can be hung in the nursery.

By changing the font and flowers I can create: elegant and classic, funky and modern, shabby chic and vintage...all in a keepsake shadowbox.

If you are interested in a custom scrapbox filled with flowers for your special occasion or for a gift, please contact me directly.

HOPPY EASTER!

Spring has Sprung! What a lovely weekend for Easter. We have seen so many bunnies frolicking through the backyard in the past few days. A lovely Easter/Birthday luncheon with family...lots of chocolate treats...a great time!

I put together this little clay flower collage of ranunculus, daffofils, daisies and hydrangeas to remind myself that the buds are about to bloom, spring IS coming and I hope you like this preview display.

Happy Spring - hope to see you at The Drake Hotel in Toronto next weekend for Indie Meets Couture!

Cake Topper

This simple white icing cake is cleverly dressed with a spray of clay flowers!

Hope you enjoy it...the cake, without the calories! Wedding, birthday, anniversary...a perfect occasion for flowers on your cake!

Simply place the flowers onto the cake (the stems are floral wire). When ready, remove the stems and simply wipe gently with a damp cloth. Pat dry with a paper towel and you will have your keepsake flowers forever!

A great way to enjoy peonies, ranunculus and hydrangea when the blossoms are 'out of season', or any time of year!

Celebrate with flowers on your cake!

New Year's Wedding Flowers

I wanted to share some photos of the bridal flowers that I created for Katie and Bill. Katie came to me after being a bridesmaid of one of my previous clients. She loved the bouquet that she carried for that wedding and I was thrilled to work with her for her own wedding! With the very elegant and stylish palette of white, tiffany turquoise and accents of silver, this would be a New Year's wedding to be remembered by all!

The out of season blossoms that Katie selected were easily replicated in clay - open white peonies, bloomed and blossoms of white gardenias coupled with white hydrangeas and stephanotis. Accented with silver embellishments, tiffany turquoise organza ribboning and white fluffy feathers, the bridal bouquet turned out stylish and stunning. The other photo is the maid of honour's bouquet - mainly white gardenias, different silver embellishments and more of the turquoise ribboning.

I am very thankful that Katie and Bill were so impressed with their wedding flowers and wish them a lifetime of happiness!

Such a fun day SCRAPBOXING!

It's taken a couple of days to recover and get down to business thanking Lisa and all of the organizing team behind ScrapFest in Kitchener! Each year gets better and better - great to see so many ScrapFest participants with shopping bags brimming with the latest and the greatest goodies to make their projects and pages look great! Not to mention the talented group of teachers that I was fortunate enough to be alongside!

Special thanks to Bobbi-Lynn and Christine for their assistance in my workshop. With each student bringing their own 5x7 photo, we giggled, encouraged each other and were pleasantly surprised (at the drying rack) how fabulous and unique each cluster of clay hydrangeas turned out! The whole rainbow of colours were tinted to co-ordinate, some even multi-toned to match with the photos. There were good giveaways when the room got too quiet (everyone was concentrating and working at their scrapbox components) and then...the big reveal! The projects looked GREAT - hope you were all pleased with your accomplishment!

Thank you ladies for the opportunity to teach you a new skill, a fun project and to spend the afternoon with you! I hope to see you all again next year at ScrapFest.

Great to also connect with some of my industry colleagues (and as busy as the Marketplace was) missed seeing a few others too. :( The very talented Vicki Boutin was prepping for her class right beside mine - she is one creative gal - always great to see her! A pleasant surprise bumping into Kelli Panacci - always loved her style and colour palette! Good to finally meet Alessandra from Stix2 and see Judy and Sheri from In A Pinch Designs busy selling from their booth too. The Scrapping Turtle was super-busy with make n takes - loved that photo idea!

Well, I am off to finish some flower projects that I have been working on last week - also some corsage photos to come...wedding and prom season are right around the corner!

Love Spring!

Register for ScrapFest today!

Registration for ScrapFest is now open - WOW! Such a great response to all of the workshops, crops and VIP passes. The ScrapFest team has been working very hard to make this event bigger and better than ever before (and the bar was already set high from past years!).

Here is another sneak peek on the Blossoming Hydrangea Shadow Box - the 'blue' colourway. See with the Claycraft by Deco, you can hand-tint the white clay to any hue or shade that co-ordinates with your photos. Scent-free, lightweight and everlasting -- very eco-chic! The shadowbox protects your photos and your clay flowers - a lovely keepsake that you have made yourself! Also a great gift for a Wedding, Shower or New Baby...and all the other reasons we scrapbook!

Start searching for (or taking) your best photograph (5x7 will work best) and sign up today!

Getting Ready for ScrapFest

OK, loyal blog readers...the countdown is on to the opening of the ScrapFest registration! Sunday Feb 7th (that's tomorrow) at 2pm EST the online registration starts.

This exciting event takes place in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada on the weekend of April 16/17th. Not only have they lined up great workshop classes (if I do say so!) there is a fabulous marketplace of the latest products and crops for all of the scrapbookers! Lots of prizes - tons of fun and learning! If you're not a traditional scrapbooker, that's OK too - there are still lots of interesting things to see and do (taking a class is a sure way to learn something new!).

I am thrilled to be teaching a 'technique-style' workshop - Above is a sneak peek of the "Blossoming Hydrangea Shadowbox" that you can make. I will teach you how to make these pretty little flowers (Mother Nature makes them fussy and delicate) but using Claycraft by Deco, they are tinted to the colour of your choice and everlasting! Start thinking of the fabulous 5X7 photo that you'll want to bring - it will be encased in a white shadowbox, surrounded by blossoms of clay flower hydrangeas and ribbon - a terrific 3-D embellishment to showcase your work!

Hope to see you there - you can preview the ScrapFest catalogue at http://www.scrapfest.ca/ to see all of the teachers, classes, times and events - you won't want to miss out!

Daisy Arrangement

SO thrilled with how this 'early spring' arrangement turned out! Daisies, tuberose buds, peonies, roses and hydrangeas - they're all there in this square vase arrangement!

I tried several graduated colours of clay on a few flowers and I am very pleased with the colour combination (such fresh and clean huses) and texures of the flowers used. I have been arranging blossoms that I have made over the past couple of weeks and there are LOTS to choose from on this worktable. I listed this one into my Etsy shop - take a peek!

I have also found a new source for containers - I can hardly wait to fill them with lots of clay flowers - what is your fave colour combination these days?

Late Summer Florals

Well...do you hear it? The sound of silence...as the children have gone for the first day of school in our neighbourhood! Some parents silently weep while others sing "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" as the hustle and bustle of the school routine resumes.

I thought it was timely to show a 'late summer' vase arrangement, designed two different ways. One is more traditional with a loose triangular shape and the other more contemporary with a more vertical structure. I used some delicate blooms - like white hydrangea clusters, coral coloured poppies and open white peonies complemented with some full roses in shades of yellow, peach and coral. I like how these flowers are balanced and how the burlap rope wrapped vase gives so much more texture.

Leave me a comment about your kids' first day of school...Enjoy the moment!

Summer Hydrangeas - Bloom Forever!

Ah, the beauty of summer hydrangea! Love the billowing blossoms and the abundance of colour, even the annabelle/pee gee white snowballs! Hydrangeas are a very popular flower in wedding bouquets and arrangements, but sadly they have a very short life before they wilt.

There are many hydrangea bushes in our neigbourhood and I have been experimenting with a couple of bushes that I have had for a few years. One disappointment in my garden this year is a 3 year old hydrangea that has bloomed in the past, but after moving it, there were no flowers last year and only one, lonely cluster of a vibrant, almost irridescent blue/purple this summer! I photographed it right away and admired it for a couple of days...then couldn't resist snipping it and bringing it inside to enjoy. I know the proper care for stems and water temp, however this beauty started to fade a day later.

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to do a floral comparison with real flowers and clay flowers made with ClayCraft by DECO. I snipped a couple of blossoms for comparison (see photo) and I was able to match and emulate the shading of this cluster through careful mixing of clay pigments. When I went to shoot it in the light of day, well...you can see what it looks like today. No one can match the beauty of Mother Nature, but with so many brides who desire hydrangeas on their wedding day, the qualities of clay flowers provide an eco-chic alternative!

Pretty Wreath

This summertime wreath makes me smile! It is just over 14" in diameter and FULL of wonderful clay flowers and ribbon. Peonies, roses, hydrangeas, tuberose buds, lilacs, gerbera daisies, gardenias and more....they're all in there! This wreath would look terrific hung on the wall, but just as fabulous on a dining table with a hurricane or pillar candle placed in the center. Could also be an everlasting head table centerpiece at a wedding! These colours are very happy and remind me how wonderful summer is!

If you are interested in purchasing this piece or having me custom make one in your decor colours, please contact me at invitemecreative@rogers.com . Imagine how rich this clay wreath would look using in the wonderful autumn colours (not that I am rushing summer along by any means) or spring pastels, summer brights...oooh, what about monochromatic?!! Possibilities...endless! Enjoy.