Summer sun and heat are really taking their toll on me this summer…
Front Door Garden from Ash Tree
The gardens keep calling my name, but I can only get a couple 15-20 minute sessions every couple of days working in them in my tick repelling, Geranium scented outfit… Frustrating, but I have been able to get some veggie plants in the ground and uncover some of the weed buried flowers with lots of “quality time” with my bed in between… I am really trying to learn to look past the quack grass and just see the flowers… That is much easier to do with the camera… I can just catch the “good stuff” and ignore the icky stuff… The photo above shows one view of the Front Door Garden that is pretty well under control. The Echinaceas are blooming nicely, and the Glads (who are on year 4 wintering over here) are even caged. No one needs to know how many weeds are hidden behind the tall bloomers… 😉
Stone Wall Hostas
In the back yard, the Stone Wall Garden has needed very little work. The Hostas tend to shade out most of the weeds, and the mulch from previous years is still doing it’s job. I just need to walk out there and enjoy the view…
Frilly Echinacea Blooms
These Echinaceas are in the Mound Garden in the back yard, and did need a bit of “Quack removal” to reveal many hidden jewels… Not all the flowers are as tall as these pretties are…
New Guinea Impatiens Flowers
This annual New Guinea Impatiens plant has given me the gift of really HUGE flowers! This was just plunked between a couple Hostas… A few bugs and slugs are having snacks, but they still are impressive… I had to put my fingers in the photo to show the size of the blooms…
Garlic Flowers
This is what the wild Garlic flowers look like right now… Tiny little flowers with clusters of tiny red-ish purple bulblets… There is LOTS of Garlic this year…
Sunpatiens in Planter
The Sunpatiens in planters near the deck are also growing and blooming with abandon… One Sunpatiens plant is nearly overflowing this large planter with a few other types of flowers. I hope to be using some of these flowers for some sunprinting someday… The airy white flowers would work great used with some larger flowers for contrasting textures…
Oh, Yea…. Sunprinting… The title of this post did mention a “bit” of sunprinting… I did get a little experimental session done a few days ago… I wondered what would happen if I sunprinted some Lutradur… I tiny spark of inspiration!! A few brain cells beginning to work again!! I also wondered about trying out my Sizzix Big Shot and my newest bargain dies to make some different resists for sunprints. Hmmmm… Another Idea?? I know mylar confetti works great for sunprints, so I thought transparencies would work to cut the shapes from… Clear is hard to see, so I picked up some plastic page dividers in various colors (love back to school supplies), and played….
Lutradur and Spirals
Above, shows the spirals I cut from an orange piece of the plastic and the resulting printed Lutradur. I painted the Lutradur as usual, then placed the die-cut spirals on the wet paint and placed it in the sun to dry… by the time I got the paint and spirals on the Lutradur, I needed a nap (pretty sad when I need a nap after only 20 minutes of playing)… A couple hours later, I went outside to find the dry Lutradur on the grass and all but one of the spirals in a pile on the table next to the paint board… Oops!! Such a featherweight material easily takes flight with the slightest breeze… I guess no napping while sunprinting Lutradur in the future. You can see the one lonely little spiral that stayed on even with the breeze… I was amazed that I didn’t have to pick little orange spirals out of the grass!
Sunrprinted Lutradur Spirals
The above photo shows the Lutradur held in front of a neutral background, so the icky paint board doesn’t distract. It worked really well!! There was very low humidity that day with good sun, so the prints came out nice and crisp. The back side has a softer look, so I can use either side! The plastic die cuts worked great. Now I have a lot more possible shapes to play with in addition to my leaves and flowers… I’m thinking some Daisies might be fun with the spirals, and I have dies for hearts, circles, scallops and more, so there can be endless possibilities for playing! I also think that if printing on the Lutradur worked, then I should be able to get some nice prints on other sheer materials… I’d love to try layering sunprinted sheers over some bright colored cotton sunprints… hmmm… more ideas?? Maybe I really am getting rid of some of those nasty bugs in my brain!! Some days it seems like things will never improve, then I realize another tiny improvement… Peeks of hope here and there! I just need lots of patience…. and naps… 🙂
I am a former textile artist and new pattern designer with a degree in horticulture, wishing to share my love of nature, flowers and gardens with everyone through my photos, sunprinted fabrics, and now pattern designs. Chronic Lyme Disease has caused major changes to the direction my life. I have to limit the amount of time spent digging in my gardens, and quilting has become more difficult. I discovered pattern design as a way to get art back into my life. I now use my gardens and photos to inspire designs that can be used on fabrics and print on demand items.
