happy (winter wonderland) halloween

photos from my weekend.

Snowtober is what they are calling it. The freak storm that pummeled us, ruined halloween, canceled schools, took out almost everyone's power and postponed trick or treating until friday in these parts of jersey. We bundled up, watched the snow fall, trees snap, sipped hot cocoa and made a little ghost craft I think we will remember and cherish for (hopefully warmer) halloweens to come.

Happy Halloween!


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magic blankie ride

a very special stop motion video i think you'll enjoy made by yours truly, my sister annie and her hubs on a rainy day while they were visiting. Starring my little Penélope and her cute cousin Evangeline. It was so much fun to make.

2,000 suspended dandelions

Suspended dandelions by German artist Regine Ramseier. 2,000 picked, sprayed and hung to create this tantalizing display. Such a beautiful weed after all :)

via melis

flower id: dahlia

some dahlias i picked from my autumn garden. they are seemingly flawless. look at their petals, perfect symmetry ! my favorite part of a dahlia is their celery-like smell when you snip the stems. they bloom late summer- autumn around here and are one of my favorties to use in fresh arrangements. i also think the name is so pretty. so much so that I tried to persuade my husband to name our last little baby dahlia, call her dolly for short. he didn't like it... :(

found friday: britt hermann

unique and dainty, I love the work of britt hermann. Her floral bands remind me of designing floral crowns. During the process you create a long band of flowers and then tie the ends together to make a crown. I love how her art has a vintage feel but at the same time, charming and fresh. A look that's hard to master.

Find her work at her etsy shop here.

photos to canvas

i've been contemplating for a while about getting a photo to canvas done of my girls. I made this clock when Camila was a newborn and now with the birth of Penélope, my photo wall was no longer complete! So while my sister was visiting, she took this gorgeous photo of my girls. I went with Easy Canvas Prints who put your photos to canvas. I loooove the outcome. It fits perfectly in with my black and white photo wall and I am happy with the exquisite quality of the canvas too.

They have a great deal going on now... if you 'like' them on facebook you get 50% off your next order and free shipping!

-christina

fall container planting II

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely again and full of container plantings. I also cleaned up my overgrown garden and planted these bulbs for next spring. I am so excited for them to pop after the long winter! (find my fall bulb planting guide here) Some more fall container plantings...

i love using the croton in fall (the bright colored tropical plant above). Funny story, my business partner Julie and I were discussing plants at the farm when a landscaper who thought we looked like we needed help came up and was trying to give us advice on some plants. After we told him what we were doing with the crotons and such we said 'thanks though' and went our ways. When we were leaving we spotted him heading out of the greenhouse with crotons in hand ;) Hope he has good luck with it!

found friday: wayne pate

because if you follow this blog, you are a happy plant and flower friend and therefore you would appreciate this artist wayne pate. Bright monstera plant, still life flowers and happy urns.

happy fin de semana!

fall container plantings

i got dirty over the weekend. dirt under my nails, on my face, even in my bra. Boy i missed container planting! I was nervous about it, leaving my 3 month old who lets just say is very attached to me. she figured out a way to demand my attention by refusing to ever take a bottle, which we have been working trying to get her to since birth!! I think she has every right to demand my attention that way though being the baby of 3! I left her with my husband all day, along with my other two little ones and ran out the door. I practically skipped around picking out plants and making up fall designs in my head. It was refreshing to say the least. I got home nervous to be handed a baby who had been screaming for hours, but instead was handed one who had just woke up and literally slept all day waiting for me. sheesh! thanks little penélope mommy needed a day to get dirty. :)

fall plantings are my favorite. they have simple ingredients. mums, kale, leaves, bittersweet and ornamental peppers.


-i'll post other jobs i did later... baby's a cryin'

evangeline's story

one of the most creative video's i've ever seen! i love the song too, hey mama wolf by devendra bandhart. my sister Annie and her hubs made it using stop motion photography. she's an amazing photographer in the atlanta area.

blossom buddies

my girls fight over this book blossom buddies by Elsa Mora all of the time. She has taken natural elements and made them into different characters and photographed them. My four year old Raquel especially loves giving each blossom buddy a name and a story.

Elsa was inspired to make this book while working with her autistic son who was fascinated with plants and nature. A previous post with more of Elsa's papercutting work is here.

to pin or not to pin

images pinned from floresdelsol.blogspot.com

Are you on it? Pinterest? Have you heard of it? It's a virtual pin board where you can save all your favorite things from the internet in one space. I like it because you don't have to bookmark all your favorite pretty things on your computer and you can share them with friends. My computer has a history of crashing, but with pinterest, recipes I want to try, inspiration and crafty bookmarks are not erased with every crash!

warning. you will become addicted. at least at first I was. Its been almost a year now so my obsession has lessened, but then again most of my friends have found it now which makes it more fun.

Some things I don't like about pinterest? A few times I have seen images of my work floating around with lots of repins. That's great you think right? Well not if when you link back to the original source it says google.com and shoots you to the wide open spaces of google images or just "etsy.com". Que Horrible!!! So if you are pinning (or repining), help an artist out... pin ettique states to make sure you have it linked to the original source.

Another sad thing I am seeing happen is the utter downfall of original creativity as creative images regurgitate over and over. and over. woof.
I still love the readiness of fabulous eye candy and another great way to get traffic to my shop and blog so... PIN on!

me on pinterest