Arnold’s is really an amazing destination for gardeners. I am not, however, a gardener so I gave my mom a wad of cash and set her loose to browse to her heart’s content. I kicked back on their porch and read. Even the porch view is lovely!

There have also been meals, most followed up with indulgences in ice cream. Nom!

Just as an extra surprise, last night I decided to make some faux dogwood blossoms after being inspired by some of the various craft projects over at Dollar Store Crafts. I got a jones to make crepe paper flowers.

Grand total spent on this project: $1 for the crepe paper streamers, which came 2 rolls for a dollar. I only used a few feet. There is plenty left over for other projects. I had everything else–thread, fallen branches, yellow highlighter, scissors, tape, a vase–on hand.

So… what I did is cut out little heart shapes from the streamers. I twisted them together at the bottom of the heart with a little tape to keep the twist from falling apart. Since the crepe paper has a little give, I spent a little time gently pulling and manipulating the petals to have a little more natural shape.

Sorry for the crap pictures of the flowers, BTW. I was lazy and used my cell phone instead of actually breaking out my camera.

Continuing on, I used a yellow highlighter to  pop up the center of the flower a bit. Looked great but then the yellow started to absorb into the crepe and almost disappeared altogether. Might try water colors next time!

After that, I secured the blossoms to various spots on the branches by wrapping brown thread around the base of the flower and the branch. I piled them all up into a vase and that was it!  I ran out of time (had to work in the AM!) so I didn’t have as much time to spend of the overall presentation as I would have liked. But Mom loved them and I think they look pretty cute.

Finally, I decided to follow my muse. (She’s kind of a bad seed but I think that’s part of her charm.) In addition to being a fiber and yarn junky, I am also a graphic designer. Rather than go with fiber or yarn, I decided to include something a little different in next month’s box. I came up with a modern take on the Moirai/the Three Fates.

I’ll be updating my Etsy shop with fun stuff that uses this design and several others. Notecards, postcards, mugs, art prints. After not working on any personal projects for some time, I have to say that I’ve had a blast working on my new designs.

I also played around a bit with ‘The Birth of Venus’ so I also give you ‘If Botticelli Were a Knitter’.

I’ve got several new designs and am making good use of a few old favorites. Love a design but don’t see a color or size you like? Please feel free to contact me. If I can accommodate a special request, I would be happy to do so.

In postcard form, this is just the thing to send the person who keeps badgering you for your handknits or, like many of my designs, fun to include in swap packages.

And one of my more popular designs will be available as a postcard, notecard, mug or art print. Let your Fiber Floozy flag fly!

More blogging to commence soon!