I wish I could write one, long, meandering blog post to show you how the Grand Weaver puts together all the different things that make up any given day, and then weaves all those days together into a cohesive whole life.
I wish I could.
But I don't know if I could pay attention long enough to write it, much less expect you to pay attention long enough to read it.
So, I'll weave a shorter (though probably not short) tale which involves the paper dogwoods and the first phase of my occupation with them.
Remember this picture I showed you of "what the sofa cushion next to me looks like tonight"?
This whole thing started when I saw the paper dogwood blossoms on Martha's blog.
I loved the thought of having some of them around for spring.
I thought they'd look perfect in the foyer, sitting atop the black credenza-which-is-still-in-the-garage-being-sanded-and-painted.
When our D'Art group meeting for April 1st (first Fridays we do art together) needed to morph so one of our members could welcome a new grandbaby, Miss B said she was game to motor on down to Gwen's to make paper dogwood blossoms with me.
Since we made our blossoms from copy paper (rather than the cardstock Martha specifies), and I just happened to have (I see the Grand Weaver everywhere) the perfect rubber stamp for the flower centers in my studio already, I had only to add a few sheets of green cardstock to get the project rolling.
We cut our squares about 4 1/4" (half a sheet of copy paper) when Miss B and I did this, but I later cut the size down to 3", which I like even better.
Here is Miss B creating the very first branch:
And here are some of our 4" blossoms up close and personal:
Because I knew I would be making many (many!) of these branches, one of the things we did (actually, Miss B was kind enough to do it) to make mass production easier was to cut two different size leaves and then trace them until we'd filled an entire sheet of copy paper.
I used that sheet for a master and ran my green cardstock through the copier (those are the sheets you see in the background of that first photo).
This way, all the tracing is done only once.
Yipee!
Now, the reason I knew I would be making many of these is that I had a table to decorate for a tea at the church, and I have a wedding shower (outdoor/picnic theme) I am co-hosting in May.
For the tea, I used the plain white blossoms...
...and added some aqua-colored paper birds (tanagers) I made to match the sweet dishes which the Grand Weaver placed in my hands just in time (and that's a story for the next post!).
It got a little crowded at the table once we put all that lovely food on it.
I made favors for each of the ladies at my table, because I had planned to give the larger branches to the guest of honor and Me Darlin' Mither.
My hands felt like mitts when I was trying to fold those little teeny weeny pieces of paper for the small flowers!
It was someone else's suggestion to perch the favors atop the water glasses...
Lovely idea...thank you, whoever you are!
My sweet friend, Diane (an artist who works with real flowers), was hosting a table also, and it was decorated with her collection of Scandinavian wooden horses...
...and real flowers, of course.
When she exclaimed so enthusiastically over the favors I'd made (ever meet people who are just out-and-out cheerleaders for others?), I told her I was planning to give her mine after the tea.
She said, "I'll trade you real flowers for the paper ones."
I had no idea she meant an entire plant!
I don't think it was a fair trade, but I'm sure enjoying my beautiful hydrangea.
It reminds me of my beautiful friends.
I am blessed.