thanks irene

I waited all summer for these cannas to bloom and what does Irene do? Break them right in half! A few did bloom before she stormed in, but most are bloom-less and now hanging low. I couldn't bear to see them wither and die so I snipped a few this morning and made some pretty green vases with them.

ps- today is my hubby Felipe's 30th birthday!! hooray!

birds eye view

landscape architecture in the netherlands. landezine

are you ok? did you weather the storm? I did! But my cannas didnt... I'll show you later. dirty irene.

found friday: silhouette prints

Silhouette prints by thepairabirds artist Tabitha Bianca Brown. Silhouette prints have been around for a while now, but these are a beautiful hippie take on the classic silhouette. The last one above titled summer sisters reminds me of this photo I took with my sister back in college:

Are you in the path of Irene? Please stay safe and stock up on essentials if you are. We are in its direct path here in New Jersey. Its going to be a wild weekend!
-christina

my new shiny penny

The birth announcement I made for my new little one! Don't you love how snuggly newborns are? That's all for today from me... back to snuggling :)

my late august garden

My garden is out of control! It's mostly due to the fact that we have had tons of rain here in Jersey the past week or so and I have also not paid much attention to it due to a newborn around these parts. Yesterday I noticed my first lime green zinnia flower that I had planted seeds for back in May. It's a bitter sweet feeling because I know once my zinnia's are up and blooming, summer is nearing it's end and fall is just around the corner.
Check out my canna's too. They are monstrous! My husband's coworker gave us lots of bulbs from her garden and I planted them around my hanging baskets thinking they would be the normal canna size but these are at least a crazy 8 feet tall. They are gorgeous though and I love the patterns on the leaves.

How does your garden grow as summer is winding down?

craspedia for sale!

Craspedia (aka, billy buttons or billy balls) is back in season and therefore for sale in my shop again here! It was a long few months waiting for them, but the bright yellow sunshine dried flowers are for sale in my shop again so grab them while they're hot! Also back are the craspedia cluster designs here and here.

double exposure photography

double exposed photos by .von on flickr. Such a simple but beautiful process! It reminds me of these paintings from this previous post. Very mid augusty.


The winner of the miles of light print is haley. congrats! :)

inspiration: Amy Merrick

Beautiful lush and romantic floral designs by floral designer Amy Merrick. She also has a lovely blog here, it's one of my favorites!

Also don't forget about the miles of light giveaway here. It ends on wednesday!!

new in shop: craspedia in blonde & brunette wood

New in my shop, craspedia in blonde or brunette wood. The ever popular craspedia (billy balls, billy balls) in modern wood vases. A perfect pair of textures!

giveaway: miles of light

Good monday morning! I have a spectacular surprise today. A giveaway sponsored by the talented Romina Bacci of Miles of Light photography (whom I recently posted on here).

Her soft and natural collections really speak to me with nostalgia from summers of my childhood. They remind me of scavenger hunts my mother would send my sisters and I on in the country of western New York. We were sent off running with a list of items to find and brown paper lunch bags clutched in our fingers to hold our found organic treasures:
A leaf from a maple tree, a skinny pine cone, a small grey stone, a short twig, one leaf from the pear tree, a buttercup, a cat tail from the fields, a feather, some bark from the willow tree and paper from the birch tree.
We could play that game all summer long. I am exited to play scavenger hunt with my own girls, although we'll have to settle for urban New Jersey style: a cigarette butt from the sewer drain, an empty beer can from the patch of grass... just kidding, this is the garden state.

Romina is graciously giving the winner an 8 x 10 print of your choice from her summer collection: Coastliners, Summer Floral, Bits of Summer or Blue Feathers. So hard to choose!



giveaway participation (leave a comment for each thing you've done and your email to contact you):

mandatory
-like miles of light on facebook here

optional additional entries
-follow my blog, flores del sol via google friend
-like flores del sol on facebook here
- tweet this giveaway
- link to it on fb
winner will be chosen by random.org and announced august 10th