crocus

From My Inspiration File: First Bulbs to Bloom

| terriaw

I’m here today to share with you the start of another new column I am going to be doing. Today, I am introducing “From My Inspiration File,”  where I hope to share  everyday things I’m passionate about, such as treasures discovered in our yard and gardens, time spent on a trail, a visit to the botanical gardens, a morning at the farmers market, an afternoon at the zoo, a day on the beach or on the trails.

These are things in life that bring me peace and require unplugging from social networking as a way to find my own voice, to be more original, and to create my own muse. (how ironic, I know) I’m hoping you might be inspired too or simply uplifted by some of the shapes, textures, and colors I hope to share.

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We’ve had an streak of unusually warm weather around here lately. In fact, it feels like summer already, rather than the cold, damp days we usually have in March. So I spent a lot of time cleaning up our yard and gardens over my spring break.

Spring is my favorite season, so I’ve started my daily treasure hunt. Right now, the crocuses are opening.

They are the tiniest, most subtle flower that could easily be missed if you don’t know where to look.

Our daffodils started to open too! They are such a cheerful flower.

Stay tuned for lots more garden updates as everything around here comes out of dormancy and back to life. Thanks for stopping by!

PS – in case you missed the release of my first sewing pattern (yippee!) over the weekend, click here for more information. More patterns to be released soon!

Art Cards 2011 – Week 12

| terriaw

Last week, Michelle and I swapped cards to celebrate the first day of Spring.

She received my package so I’m excited to be able to share what I made for her. I was inspired by a photo she shared recently of a ribbon of daffodils growing across a field. Daffodils are such a cheerful flower, usually the first to bloom in my part of the world. Since I was mailing this little card to Michelle, I really wanted to created a postcard image. I found a piece of paper in my craft stash that had stamps all over it, and I saved one of those air mail stickers from another package I received from her.

I also found inspiration from one of my favorite spring flowers that will be blooming soon, crocuses, along with some lyrics from a Bob Dylan song that I know hold a special place in her heart.

The entire lyrics say “just to dance beneath the diamond sky, with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea, let me forget about today until tomorrow.”

I have to admit I was happy with how these turned out, so I made a duplicate set to have in my own journal.

I also made a couple more cards for the new week.

I have been inspired by all the spring bulbs trying so hard to come back to life here even though our temperatures continue to be cold (30 degrees F). I drew an illustration of the first tulip leaves to come up, cut them out and pasted them on a bright blue background for a 3-dimensional effect. I found a Chinese proverb that was a fitting sentiment to use for my journaling.

More and more birds have been returning to our part of the world, especially the common grackles, who act like bullies of the birdfeeders in our yard. They are fun to watch, but they are noisy and eat everything. I loved illustrating one of them clucking away because of the beautiful irridescent blue and purple and black colors of the feathers.

I haven’t added a journal sentiment to this card yet. I want to add this saying “Birds return every spring like clockwork, but where is the clock” but I’m not sure how to make all that fit on this little card. You know me, I’ll figure it out!

Be sure to stop by our Flickr group to see what Michelle and Sandra have been doing on their fun art cards.