Spring has sprung!

And it's a bit earlier than usual this year.  In fact, we've had temperatures in the 70's and even up to 80 for the last week or so!  I can't ever remember wearing shorts in March before!  And the warm weather has caused all sorts of things to bloom weeks earlier than normal.  I went around the yard and got some pictures of some of the blooming flowers.
My lungwort has been blooming like crazy for over a week now, and has spread to several new spots in the flower beds.  I love these flowers- the blue and pink colors are so pretty and the spotted leaves are soft and fuzzy.  I like anything that's soft and fuzzy- LOL

 

This white hyacinth bloomed yesterday.  Hyacinths are some of my favorite fragrant Spring flowers.  I have them in shades of blue, pink, purple, white, and cream on both sides of the front door.  I can sit in the house with door open and smell them all day ;-)

 

 

This forsythia bush grew from a cutting I took of Gramma's 40 year old forsythia bush.  I only planted the sprouted cutting two years ago, but already it's a beautiful plant.  The original plant even had three flowers on it- LOL.  The fact that it has survived at all for all these years is impressive!  It's "baby" is doing quite well though ;-)

And the daffodils just started blooming yesterday.  Normally they don't bloom until Gramma's birthday (April 15th).  These daffodil bulbs are about 50 years old now, and have bloomed every single year of my life.  They're very special to me.  Every year, no matter what kind of weather we'd had  (and we had plenty of snowy Springs!), I was always able to pick enough daffodils to make a pretty bouquet for Gramma's birthday.  Some years that was all I got, just that one birthday bouquet, but that was the important one.

 

 

I'll be moving sometime in the near future, and I wonder if whoever moves into this house next will take care of my flowers and Gramma's flowers. It makes me sad to think of them being neglected or destroyed.  They may just be plants, but there's a lot of emotion and meaning tied up in these simple flowers for me.  I intend to take some bulbs and cuttings with me when I move, but I won't be able to take them all.  Things like the evergreens I planted several years back are now too big to move.  I transplanted them as tiny seedlings when I saw them sprouted in the cracks of the sidewalk, and now they've grown in lush little trees nearly as tall as I am.

Wandering the yard today was bittersweet.  I was saying goodbye to all the plants I had known throughout my life.  I've lived in this house, on and off, since I was born.  My first pets, two hamsters and a gerbil, are buried under the lilac bush next to the house.  My ferret, Ziggy, rests under the butterfly bush, and Ozzy and Cedric lay next to each other under the evergreens.  I feel Grampa's spirit every time I work in the garden, and Gramma's presence can be felt throughout the house.

This is the first year in about 15 years that I won't have a vegetable garden.  I don't want to have to leave it behind if I have to move during the summer.  There's a great sadness in not having a garden to work in.  I love starting my veggies from seed, nurturing them, watching them grow, and enjoying the fruits and vegetables of my labor.  

Wherever I end up, it will have to be someplace where I can have a nice big garden full of flowers, fruits, and vegetables.  It will be very strange starting from scratch in a new place though.  That's one reason I want to be able to bring at least a few of my plants with me.  It will be like having old familiar friends nearby ;-)

Thanks for listen to me blather on- LOL!  I hope you're all enjoying our early Spring!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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My Polymer Clay Flower Garden is complete

I completed my Flower Garden sculpture and  listed at CreativeCritters.  In my last work in progress post I had finished sculpting and placing the roses, Hydrangeas, daffodils, tulips, and Irises.  The pink, white, and blue Hyacinths had been sculpted, but hadn't been "planted" in the garden yet.  I chose to group the like colors together in a semi-circle in front of the tulips.

After the Hyacinths had been "planted" I decided to add some ground cover for a bit of added color and texture.  I don't remember what the plant is called, but Gramma has an evergreen groundcover with little blue flowers that grows vigorously in the flower beds.  It's just loaded with tiny blooms in the spring and summer months!

I sculpted vines, leaves, and flowers underneath the tulips, daffodils, and Irises, and had a little bit creeping under the fence.  It does like to try to escape the beds whenever it can. ;-)

I also sculpted five tiny little polymer clay butterflies in shades of blue and red.  I used Lisa Pavelka's foils to add a beautiful shimmer to the clay before cutting out their wings.  After baking I sealed the butterflies with high gloss glaze.

The butterflies are perched on the roses and on the white picket fence.   This little flower garden invites you to take a closer look, and discover all the tiny details it hides.  This is the kind of scupture you're meant to get lost in.  Thank you for joining me on this creative journey!  To view this listing in my shop, simply click on any of the pictures.
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

My polymer clay flower garden gets more blooms

I continue to work on my polymer clay flower garden, and have added tulips and hyacinths to the other flowers.  I believe the type of tulips Gramma had were called Rembrandt tulips. They had streaks and swirls of different colors on their petals.  I sculpted several tulips in shades of purple and red, as well as shades of red and yellow.  Gramma loved a big bouquet of multi-colored tulips in the house!

The tulips have been sculpted around pre-baked centers and are ready to go into the oven.

And here you can see them "planted" in the garden with the addition of their leaves.  You'll also notice that the bunny is now hidden.  You can still see him, you just have to look a little harder, which is the way I want it.  This garden is meant to draw you in and make you want to stay a while.
I studied hyacinths very closely and eventually  figured out how to create them on this very small scale.  I just love hyacinths- they smell divine!  Gramma loved their fragrance too, and I made sure to plant plenty of them right next to the front door.  She liked to stand there in the door and just enjoy their perfume.  For my miniature versions I used a toothpick as a support.  I cut out tiny flower shapes, refined them by hand, and carefully attached them to the stem.  I kept the toothpick long enough to hold with a clamp, which made it much easier to work with and avoid distorting any of the tiny flowers.

I used a ball tipped stylus to shape the flowers.  I covered the toothpick in green clay, giving the flowers something to hold on to.  And here you can see the blue, pink, and white hyacinths ready to be baked.  It took an hour to make just two hyacinths, but they look just perfect!  I will take the time to create just the look I want.  The end result is totally worth the effort!  I baked most of the flowers for this piece before adding them to the garden.  It's much easier to avoid damaging the delicate petals if they're baked before I handle them.  Of course it still requires a light touch!

The leaves were added to these before baking.  This way I can push them into the unbaked clay of the base and they'll have a more solid base of support.  I'll cut the toothpicks near the base before I set them into the clay.  They look incredibly delicate, but with that toothpick in the center they have a very strong support and I'll be able to handle them without too much worry.  Stay tuned to see the final results of my pretty polymer clay flower garden!  Thanks for visiting!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Happy Easter!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Easter and share some of my flowers with you!  All of my daffodils are bobbing their sunny yellow heads in the spring breezes now.  Really these are Gramma's daffodils and the bulbs are about 40 years old!  I divided them last year because they were so cramped in the bed behind the house and the bulbs I moved into the front beds bloomed this year.

Such beautiful flowers!  Once my daffodils start blooming I know it's really Spring- no matter what the temperature is!  And then there are my Hyacinths, one of my favorite flowers.  I love the way they smell.  I planted them on either side of the front steps so Gramma could smell them when she stood at the door.

 

And the bees like my Hyacinths too ;-)  And another early Spring bloomer is my Lungwort.  This plant is really cool.  I just got a small clump from my aunt's garden a few years ago and it's spread enough for me to divide it and put it in three other beds.  I love the soft fuzzy leaves with their silvery spots, and the flowers are beautiful shades ranging from pink to blue to purple.

And those are the first flowers to show their pretty faces in my garden.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I do!  Have a happy Easter! =)

-Michelle of CreativeCritters