Petal & Pins

Tag: collage

Unexpected Colours

vintage flower dress

We were sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the end of May and I put them in the hallway to enjoy in passing and to avoid the rapid decline that a vase of flowers can have in a room that is heated during winter.

I try to remember to change the water and snip stems regularly but sometimes it’s easy to forget in the bustle of life. I also like to let a vase linger past its prime – there is beauty in decaying flowers – shapes change and unexpected colours appear.

Ahead of the weekend I decided to empty that hallway vase and another, but not before turning the aged beauty they contained into a Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe dress.

In my Meet The Maker interview I spoke about my childhood ‘dress up box’ and my inspiration for this particular Garden Fairy’s dress was the idea of it coming out of such a box or an old suitcase – transformed with age and time into something quite different with a special beauty.

There are bergenias, lilies, proteas and gerberas in the mix, can you imagine it brand new!

floral decay 1
blue tinge

A Bag Of Grapes

I’ve been making paper cut signage for my market stall inspired by the class I took with paper cut artist extraordinaire Miso last year.

petal & pins paper cut sign
Mr Petal & Pins translated this design into a rubber stamp for paper bags.

The stamp arrived just in time to use for the Spring markets, along with an abundance of grape hyacinths in the garden to decorate my stall and create some new dresses for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

grape hyacinths petal & pins grape hyacinth dressNow we’re making plans for Xmas markets including traveling  to Sydney for one!

You can find a list of market dates and card stockists here.

 

 

Early Signs Of Spring

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

Other Places & Sunny Faces

The heartsease seeds I planted in summer are thriving.

Even with our cold start to winter they are still flowering and I find myself wandering down to where they’re growing just to see their ‘sunny faces’ –  such a simple thing always makes me smile and lifts my mood.

I’ve been picking some and letting others go to seed so I can scatter them in other places.

You may remember the tiny no bigger than a thimble vase I use for them in Love-in-Idleness – just one of the other names they go by.

I have been contemplating designing a dress with them for My Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe but so far have just picked enough to create this delicate bodice.

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

Flowers & Seedpods

With the sun shining this morning I created two dresses with the flowers of Leonotis Leonurus and the seedpods from Iris foetidissima.

I’ve often combined the two in a vase – the splash of orange is a dramatic inclusion to an Autumn arrangement – but this is the first time using them for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

This is one of the dresses and you can can see the other at the petal & pins Facebook page.


© 2015 Sandra Alcorn

Leafy Layers #2

© Sandra Alcorn 2015  petalandpins.com

© Sandra Alcorn 2015 petalandpins.com

Leafy Layers #1

Cinderella

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

I think my garden fairy might be related to Cinderella – she only ever seems to have one shoe!

See others from her collection here and here.

Apple Blossom & Rose Petals

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

© Sandra Alcorn 2015

A Tropical Ballet

© Sandra Alcorn 2014

© Sandra Alcorn 2014

On my recent trip to Magnetic Island a dip in the ocean was high on my to do list. It was 28 degrees every day I was there and the island has more gorgeous beaches than there are days in the week.

At Radical Bay I not only blissfully frolicked in the sea but I created this design for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

It could almost be a costume for a ballet don’t you think?

Unable to identify what the flowering tree was I turned to sleuthing on the internet and discovered the most wonderful website – Some Magnetic Island Plants.

Donald Simpson is the author and his website is fabulous!
You can search by botanical name, common name or colour palette. He has photos, botanical information and tells you where on the island you can see a particularly good specimen of each plant.

Delightedly  I got to meet Donald the following day – such is island life!
His website is a true labour of love and  I encourage all plant lovers to have a look.

And the flowering tree on Radical Bay Beach that Donald kindly identified for me?
Barringtonia Asiatica.

© Sandra Alcorn 2014

Barringtonia Asiatica at Radical Bay  © Sandra Alcorn 2014

It’s a night flowering tree and by morning the blooms have fallen to the ground  – I think the scene is set for my beach ballet.

The Fairy Cordwainer’s Wares

Boot © Sandra Alcorn 2014

Garden Fairy’s boots © Sandra Alcorn 2014

Garden Fairy's shoes © Sandra Alcorn 2014

Garden Fairy’s shoes © Sandra Alcorn 2014

%d bloggers like this: