May Flower Challenge - Day 19 - Gift Bag...

I'm fascinated with flowers. 

They are all over my tiny apartment. I photograph them all the time.

I draw, paint, doodle them, create them out of paper...I also see them all over NYC. 

Each day during May I will post flowers and I hope that you will join in.

The only rule is that your blog post or flickr photo that you link much contain flowers.

Click above on the May Flower Challenge Page to learn more.

Superman and I were in Greenwich Village today.

This means that we were also at Anthropologie

(it is just too close in proximity to pass by).

What do you do with the shopping bags

that your favorite stores give you?

I re-purpose or upcycle them into gift bags.

I've made these scribble flowers forever.

I love their imperfections.

(I also twist wire into pendants in this shape.)

What do you do with your shopping bags?

Have you ever thought of reusing them?

WOYWW - Stamp Making - Flowers

Blogtoberfest - Day 3

I'm linking up with Julia over at Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW).

Over the weekend I posted about creating a flower pattern using okra. If you missed it go here.

I was so inspired with the flowers that I have decided to create my own stamps using the image that was created.

I took tracing paper and and traced the smallest flower image, I like a challenge.

Lay the tracing paper on the rubber sheet (it's like an eraser but specifically made for making your own stamps and is softer so it is easier to carve) and rub so that the image comes off. If I wasn't copying an image I would have just drawn directly on the rubber to create my image.

Then you carefully carve away what you don't want to be stamped. I knew that I wanted 3 different versions of the flower. Full petal, outlined petal empty inside, and outlined petal with imprint inside. Thus, I carved 3 different versions.

The stamps create these images (below).

Flower Stamps inspired by okra                  (c) 2012 http://lorimoonstudio.blogspot.com

To work with them, because they are so small, a little easier I am going to glue to them to the end of corks.

Next up, creating even more flower stamps from the other images making larger custom flower stamps.

What have you created lately?

Hop on over to Stamping Ground and check out the other artists this week.

Day 23 May Flower Challenge & WOYWW

 Welcome to day 23 of the May Flower Challenge.

I'm fascinated with flowers. They are all over my tiny apartment. I photograph them all the time. I draw, paint, doodle them, create them out of paper... I also see them all over the NYC. Each day I will post flowers and I hope that you will join in. The only rules are that your blog post or flickr photo that you link must contain flowers. Click above on the May Flower Challenge Page to learn more.  

This week I moved my desk to my bed. (Yes, the joys of a small apartment and a small desk.)

I wanted to change the flowers that have hung above my bed for years. When I first moved into this apartment I bought canvases and used my pastels to create some flower art which you will see below eventually.  

I love the wall clings/decals that you can buy on etsy. I especially love the flowers shaped ones and I figured that I could make them myself. Living in an apartment means I am not allowed to paint the walls so I decided to I created my own decals.

I went to local hardware store and purchased some contact paper - yes, the kind that your mother used to line the kitchen shelves. I chose a lovely red swirl on white design. Keeping it subtle since my bedroom wall is also my living area wall and we would see it every day all the time.

I first cut out a flower trying to keep it whole.

 Next, I cut around the flower that I just cut out creating another flower outline this time.

Then I cut out a bunch of small flowers.

The old pictures are on the top and the new do it yourself wall cling/decals are below.

Here is a closer photo. Sorry that I had to use a flash but it has been overcast and rainy in NYC during the past 3 days.

I really love how they turned out. I'm thinking though that 2 large flowers may not be enough. I think I may need to add some more.

Have you done any DIY projects lately?

Besides posting for my May Flower Challenge I am also linking up with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW over at Stamping-Ground so hop on over and visit a few desks to see what everyone has been working on this past week.

Participate by linking your blog post to my blog post. Each day during May, starting on May 1st, on my blog post I will have a linkytool available so that you can link your specific blog post (not just your blog but the post itself) to my blog post. And, please remember to link back.

Participate by linking to the flickr group - May Flower Challenge- and adding a photo of your flower creation. Make sure you add your photo to the linky below each day that you post.