Pretty Morning Glories

Good day!

Today I will explore September's Flower of the Month - the Morning Glory.

This is the first of two flowers for the month.

The second flower is the Aster, and we will have fun with them later.

Morning glories are actually considered weeds in many places.

The common weed "bind weed" is a close relative.

So who chooses what is a weed, and what is a flower?

I have no idea!

vintage postcard from http://www.fairy-freckles.com/

According to www.victorianbazaar.com/meanings.html the Morning Glory stood for

Affection

in Victorian times.

Morning glory tray

http://www.lpmchina.com/

The current sites for Flower of the Month and

Meanings of the Flower of the Month

do not include morning glories.

I'm pretty sure this is because they are mostly run by floral shops!

It would be very difficult for a flower shop to

add morning glories into their bouquets!

http://www.fairies-tales-art.com/

Today I am in a pretty mood.

No not ME!

A pretty morning glory mood!

"Glory" photograph

http://www.fineartamerica.com/

Here are some pretty dresses from Liana's blog

for two of her paperdolls:

She does such lovely work.

You can find her site on my Favorites section to the Right.

http://www.sunriseseeds.com/

Morning glories come in a variety of colors.

You will see them most commonly in blue,

next in purple and deep blue,

with some magenta and pink too!

http://www.edenbrothers.com/

You will also find the morning glory a favorite among artists.

Perhaps it is the variety in color;

Or the variations of color within one flower.

Perhaps it is because the flower grows anywhere,

 so it is outside their studio window?

http://www.arpitablankverse.blogspot.com/

morning glory cake plate, http://www.daisydeecrafts.com/

morning glory light by Wendy Legro

"White and blue convolvulus!

At four it goes to bed,

With bell closed tight with all its might,

Perhaps you've heard it said?"

- little verse by Kate Greenaway

morning glory cloche

http://www.pregnancyandbabysheknows.com/

http://www.daisydeecrafts.com/

morning glory fairies on purse, closeup

Morning Glory Fairy Purse

If anyone knows who is the artist of this creation, please let me know.

My notes have gone bye-bye on this one.

:0(

Let's explore some vintage ads and vintage art!

vintage soap ad from http://www.polyvore.com/

Nope, I have no idea why Morning Glories and Coal Stoves go together!

I fancified this and decided those were morning glories.

They probably are some other kind of flower, but it fit in with this theme!!

a beautiful watercolor by Helen Crayenhoff

an illustration from the Art Nouveau period, 1920's

Here is a very nice and simple design for needlepoint

by http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/

The thing is, you can super easily adapt this to a bead-woven project

or a bead embroidery project too!

Why not use some washable grid line paper,

and make some finger towels or pillowcases with this design?

Just because a design says it is for one craft,

explore!

Imagine!

closeup of morning glory, www.mikesjournal.com

Well folks,

that's all she says

for today!

Have a really nice day.

Look for the positive - it truly is there!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

AND

YOU CAN NOW LEAVE COMMENTS ON MY BLOG

EASIER THAN BEFORE!!

cool!

Paradise in a Flower

Bula Uro

(Fijian for an informal 'Hello')

Let's step into 'paradise' for a moment,

and check out

the Bird of Paradise flower

www.worldofstock.com

I fell in love with the Bird of Paradise flower

at my Grandpa Troup's funeral.

I was 8 years old.

I know, odd connection.

But that was the first time I had ever seen a flower like that.

It was stunning!

It was so bright!

The stem was thick, and the flower petals...

just so sci-fi amazing to me!

My parents let me take one home.

It lived in the back window of our car from Michigan to Kentucky.

I was very sad when it 'died'.

courtesy of TeleFlora

The history of the Bird of Paradise flower I find interesting.

Chuck Burgess

 is an HGIC Information Specialist at Clemson University.

He has a very informative page on the Bird of Paradise.

I also found some good info from Teleflora.

A photo I took at DisneyWorld

 The Bird of Paradise is native to South Africa.

It's botanical name is "Strelitzia reginae".

At first, botanists didn't know what to do with this odd flower!

It was once classified in the banana family because of it's leaves.

It didn't really fit.

They finally gave up, and gave it its' own botanical place!

a vintage hand colored engraving, 1840

Because the flower looks like a brightly colored bird in flight,

they gave it it's common name:

Bird of Paradise

Works for me!

painting by Johnny Karwan

Birds of Paradise Flower Meaning:

Birds of Paradise represent joyfulness and

[no surprise here]

paradise!

They are also the 9th wedding anniversary flower!

Well, I agree. I think the Bird Of Paradise is a joyful flower.

http://www.photoandpics.org/

Some Amazing Facts:

The plant will grow to a height and width of about five feet.

It has a trunkless, clump-forming pattern of growth.

The thick, stiff leaves grow to be

 about 6 inches wide

and 18 inches long.

The leaves are attached to a long stalk that sometimes reaches

5 feet high. 

Are you getting a picture in your mind, here?

I just never thought of Birds of Paradise growing in

clumps!

Okay, there's more!

On the same up to 5 feet high stalks, the flower is blossoming.

And what a blossom it is!

Modified leaves at the end of the stalk

form canoe-like structures,

4 - 8 inches long.

Out of the 'canoe' leaves the blossom is formed.

courtesy of http://www.free-stainedglasspatterns.com/

{Check them out, they have fantastic patterns!!}

As the flowers open, pointed petals of brilliant orange are contrasted with the arrow shaped 'tongue' of vivid blue.

Wow.

Beginning in late winter/early spring the flowers will open

one right after another.

Unless you live in Disneyland,

where you can find Birds of Paradise almost year 'round.

It is a magical place you know...

There normally are 1 - 3 flowers on each stalk.

note her website on the photo

There are actually 4 different kinds of Bird of Paradise.

They are identified by their color.

The most common,

Orange Bird of Paradise

is the one we all think of.

The second one is the

White Bird of Paradise.

The thing that impresses me about this one is

It is even Huge-er!!!

[gotta' love those made-up words...]

So it grows 5 - 6 feet wide

and about 18 feet tall.

The leaves look about the same, only much larger.

18 - 24 inches wide

and 3 - 4 feet long.

Big.

The flowers are larger (10 - 12)

and white, with a light blue tongue in a purplish bract.

I didn't find very many pictures that looked very attractive!

The 3rd kind is called

Juncea Bird of Paradise.

It is a variation of the Orange Bird of Paradise,

but produces a smaller flower.

It also has leaf blades that do not develop!

The leaves rise up from the base, at the soil line

(instead of the 5 foot high variety!).

The flowers do grow on a stalk, just like the one we're familiar with, but again, smaller flowers.

courtesy http://www.firebirdlanding.blogspot.com/

Okay, last but certainly not least,

The Giant Bird of Paradise

Just when I was trying to get my head around how big the flowers are, the 5 foot tall stalks, the clumping...

now we have GIANT.

Probably not a good backyard garden type.

It can grow 30 feet high.

The trunk (think clump) can be 20 feet.

The leaves are identical to the White Bird of Paradise,

except they are attached to the trunk in a fan pattern

on opposite sides of the trunk.

The flowers are white with blue tongues and reddish-brown bracts

only about 18 inches long.

They can be difficult to see as they are so high up.

Ya' think??!!!

Birds of Paradise are so striking.

They have inspired a lot of creative thinking in the arts.

Here is just one example:

Colleen, the Queen

birdofparadisegown, califashionista

Birds of Paradise, not blooming yet

God's creations are so stunning!

Think about all the unique characteristics,

coloring, sizes and shape -

All that effort into just ONE flowering plant.

He made a whole lot more,

all unique and special in their own way.

Big Wow.

I hope you have enjoyed today's step into paradise.

Maybe you need to add a little

joyfulness

into your life today.

I bet the town florist just might have a bloom for you....

You can even go get that hula skirt from

my past blog on Hula!

:0)

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

A beautiful spring day

Hello!
Today is a beautiful spring day in the Rockies. Yesterday we had quite a lot of rain, but today the sun is shining. The sun makes all the newly watered flowers and plants look so fresh.

johnny-jump-ups:

These are my iris blooming, from last year:

I can hardly wait for this year!

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments

when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

- Thornton Wilder

These flowers are from WaltDisneyWorld,

photo taken in January of 2009.

"I suppose if you had to choose just one quality to have

that would be it: vitality."

- John F. Kennedy

A beautiful rubber stamped card.

I have lost the name of the artist.

"Praise is a soul in flower."

- Thomas Watson

Barbie!

Here are some pretty spring paper dolls:

tip: Why not get out some old magazines, and make more clothes for her?

Remember, you can use cereal boxes as a backing for her.

Just cut out the doll, then glue to a thin cardboard (like cereal boxes).

Cut out, and you have a nice sturdy doll to dress.

Cut out a strip of the box to make a stand.

Mary Pickford, Hollywood star

This is one of Pat Stahl's charming paper dolls:

Thank you again to OrigamiBears for her fantastic sharing!

Here is a favorite quote of mine,

from a DressBarn ad, c.2007:

"Let yourself do something for others today.

Let yourself laugh.

Let yourself make funny faces.

Let yourself eat too much chocolate.

Let yourself meet someone smarter than you.

Let yourself be."

This is one of my favorite rubber stamped cards from my friend, Shelly.
Check out her blog, listed on the right.
The stamp used is from Peddler's Pack.

"Let there be no purpose in friendship

save the deepening of spirit."

- Kahlil Gibran

I hope you have enjoyed my little celebration of spring today.

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com