Huge sunflower from recycled paper

Today I had to make a sign for our Floral Department advertising sunflowers.  I'm into 3D stuff these days so off I went trying to figure out how to make a huge fake sunflower!  After making the roses this seemed a bit easier ... and it was.  I used paper (sign request forms that had been written and drawn on and going to be tossed out), a napkin for the center (which I squished spray painted and then sewed onto a piece of cardboard to keep it in the shape I wanted), a paper plate (which I used to glue the paper cut outs in the middle so the edges of the plate push the paper leaves up and out which gives it a nice effect).  So tadaaaaaa, here is my sunflower!  Should be hanging up in the store by now.  Have I told you lately ... I love my job!  

Paper rose brooch

So since June is "Rose Month" I made another rose out of recycled paper and stuck it on top of my name tag at work.   I spray painted the paper with Krylon paint.  Drew a spiral and cut it out.  Then I used a Woodcraft painters pen and smudged the edges a bit.  I then used scissors to curl the edges twisted it into shape and used the hot glue gun to keep it together.  I then cut some leaves from more recycled paper and glued the rose on top of them.  A bit of double sided sticky tape and voila I changed my name to "Rose" today!    

Here are some  lovely tutorials for paper roses I found.  I definitely have to try out some more of these.  

This one I found on a blog with a great tutorial.  Isn't it gorgeous!  The link to it is listed below the photograph.

 http://www.ellinee.com/blog/freebie-friday-diy-paper-rose-templates/

This next one is a You Tube tutorial for a Spiral Paper Rose.  I just watched it and noticed they rolled the flower in the opposite direction I did and used the round center as the bottom of the rose which is a great idea.  I just glued mine on top of the leaves which worked just as well.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiB3soNy4e8

And one more called "Vintage Book Paper Flower Tutorial".  Click on the link below the photo to go to the tutorial.

 http://kristiilockart.blogspot.com/2010/02/vintage-book-paper-flower-tutorial.html

I don't know about you but my head is spinning with ideas on things to make with these beauties!  

Clymene Moth or Haploa Clyemene

For some reason there are always moths hanging around in the area where I spray paint at work.  I always make sure these months don't get messed up by the spray paint so when I notice them I move them out of the area or I move myself over to a different space so I won't harm these beauties!  I hadn't seen one like this before so when I got home I looked it up on the  http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Haploa-clymene     site.  If you've never visited this site you must have a look.  It's amazing how many beautiful moths and butterflies there are.  And here is one of them, it's called a Clymene moth or Haploa Clyemene.   

Sweet crocheted baby summer dresses

I made a couple summer baby dresses.  They are so easy to make and so much fun.  Make the crocheted part in a pretty cotton and the fabric part out of cotton fabric for a nice and cool baby outfit.  I made these two without a pattern like I do for a lot of my things. Both of these are for sale in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/68440024/pink-daisy-baby-dress?ref=v1_other_2

 But I did find this cute dress made by http://www.dewdropsdesigns.com/ with a tutorial for it so check it out if you're interested in making that special little lady a special little dress!  She has some other pretty tutorials on her blog as well as a shop on Etsy so go and have a peek.

More mice and my beautiful butterfly bush!

Finally took some pictures of the mice my daughter made.  They are for sale at the market and in my Etsy shop.  Here is the link to it: https://www.etsy.com/listing/101717277/catnip-mice-for-your-cat-or-kitten-cat  Lost of different color combinations.  Kitty cat will love ya!

Giant paper roses

I'm making a sign at work which measures 8 x 4 feet, in other words it's huge!  Did you know June is Rose month?  I didn't, until I had a request from the floral department to create a giant sign for it.  So off I went dreaming up something specials.  I was going to draw the roses but then I remembered seeing a tutorial about how to make paper roses.  I ended up taking the basic idea but changing it making up my own as I worked on getting them to look to my liking.  I ended up spray painting them and I must say I'm pretty happy with the result.  Plus I feel good about the fact I recycled a bunch of paper which are old sign request forms which ended up being perfect for making these.  Here is a picture of a couple of them.  I've made a bunch more and made some leaves as well.  These are actually so very easy to make.  I keep forgetting to take pictures when I'm making them so I can make up a tutorial for those of you who want to make some.  If you are interested in such a tutorial let me know and I can create one. 

Beautiful flowers and a baby mouse in a pumpkin house

Working on making some more floral brooches for the shop and the market.  I love putting these flowers together, so much fun and so easy to make.

Made another little critter house ... I had made this little mouse first to use with the lavender house I had made earlier but he was a little too dark to go with that one so I made a white mouse to go with the lavender house and ended up making a pumpkin house for this little guy!  Found the perfect colors so he would stand out more.  He will be up for sale in my shop in a little bit although he's so darn cute laying in his little white nest inside his house I want to keep him! Here is the link to purchase him:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/101047783/needle-felted-baby-mouse-with-crocheted