I didn't always enjoy gardening, but it was something I became very passionate about in the late 80's.
the foam balls that I cut from the stems for the ground cover |
the sweet alyssum mix |
the new garden entry |
And now for THE ROSE I reworked the rose that I originally made right after Janine and Fatima were last here in for our Miniteers Meeting. That same evening, I made roses out of white photocopy paper, trying out a tutorial that I had seen on Pinterest for scrapbooking. After I made a handful, I glued them to some greenery that I had. THEN I DECIDED TO PAINT THEM RED! (I seem to like working backwards) So what you see in the second photo from the top of the page is what I did several months ago. I wasn't about to make any more roses, but I knew that I did need to shape up the rose structure and make it appear more rose-like. I ended up gluing on some more leaves which I clipped from a vine purchased from FACTORY DIRECT CRAFT. It had a fern like plastic vine twining around some other greenery. I snipped off the fern, and groomed the leaves back to 5 only. I used Quick Grip glue for plastic to make them stick. When everything was on, that I wanted on, I shaped the rose to a more compact version, and began to paint the new base and stems, to unify it all. I have found that glass and tile air dry PERMA ENAMEL water-based paint, will really stick to the plastic and not puddle. I painted it with straight acrylics after I got the color on the canes and the leaves, then I touched up the roses and made the centers with grated yellow wax crayon. Using the wax crayon worked better than I thought and now I am determined to get a full box of Crayola crayons and grate even more colors! I used a very fine grater, but a nutmeg grater would work too. |
the finished rose |
the red red rose |
and a little brown bird |
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I made the BLOOD GRASS from a larger grass bundle that I simply cut down the center of each blade to make them to scale and then tied the ends with a very fine beading wire. After which, I then poked a hole in the dirt and squeezed in some glue and planted the bundles and fanned them out. I love the effect that they give. Right behind the Blood Grass is the SWITCH GRASS. This grass was from a floral decoration that I bought from the thrift store. The pot was ugly, the flowers were ugly but the grass was PERFECT! Not only was the scale right but so was the color. It lifted out of the floral foam easily, and since it was already bundled at the ends, I just cut it to the length I wanted and retied it and planted it along the cement wall. It moves with every gentle breath and the feather bits give the garden a fairy tale quality that I truly adore. |
Although I have NOT had any luck growing ORNAMENTAL ONIONS in my Real Life garden, I was pleased with my successful endeavors in miniature. The ball heads represent two different varieties. Originally purchased as a part of a larger plastic flower with white fuzzy balls attached, I was able to dye them with purple ink and then roll them in clear gel glue, followed by a pinky mauve flower foam. I drilled a hole with a push pin and inserted a green wire stem and planted them next to the grasses. As a companion plant, I then added YARROW, using for stems a ferny looking plastic greenery purchased from the dollar store. The vase shaped tops were filled with white Foam Glue and then dipped into grated Yellow Wax Crayon. When dry, I lightly went over the tops with 'Yellow Moon' Folk Art acrylic paint.The combination of golden yellow and purple/pink is very pretty to me. Next up... NIGELLA |
I have never seen a Nigella plant before so I had to go entirely by a photograph. I chose to include it because it was said to be a popular English Cottage garden favorite, commonly called "LOVE IN A MIST" and it had a feathery foliage that I already had on hand, compliments of the dollar store's fish tank supplies. The paper flowers came from a floral vine from Factory Direct Crafts, which I separated from the vine, removed the top layer, cut the petals, glued on plastic stamens robbed from another source and then dipped into a yellow fiber that I made. The flower were bunched and tied, planted and painted. Afterwards, I found some old air fern that I also poked into the plant which gave it an even more ethereal appearance. below is a close-up |
LOVE IN A MIST |
At the end of the row is a cone-shaped pine which use to be a topiary in a christmas theme miniature pot. I cut the pot off and left enough of the dowel to insert into the styrofoam. It serves as part of the foundation planting. I left it much as it was when I found it. I used a collection of tiny rocks that had flat bottoms and placed them in front of the border and then inserted more SWEET ALYSSUM and BLUE FESCUE grasses and allowed them to spill over the rock border to soften it. The bits and pieces that fell off the plants and onto the lawn, I left in place. |
After I built the rose, I was not sure how to fill the space next to it. I had a tall shrub which I suppose was a holly because of the tiny red berries. I bought it after Christmas season and just removed the disk that it was inserted into and stuck in the ground at the corner of the house. I wanted a big floral something next to it so I took the entire head off a plastic stem and reformed it and tried to make it look like a DAPHNE or HEBE. By inserting tiny green plastic leaves, I feel it looks close enough. To the right are a patch of FRENCH MARIGOLDS.I used the button flower centers from another plant and dipped the heads into glue and yellow wax crayon. I then added gold, orange and red and glued the heads onto more aquarium foliage torn into sections and secured with Quick Grip Glue. Because the green plastic is almost fluorescent, straight from the package, it Really needed to be painted. I painted it first with a base coat of the REVLON'S MATT NAIL VARNISH, and then a number of different green acrylic paints. The gold and green echo the Yarrow just opposite. |
French Marigolds |
Sweet Alyssum and French marigolds |
Just before I added the Marigolds, I made a bed of BLUE FESCUE. The blue grasses were chopped from a branch of green plastic tufts which I painted to match the ones that I have in my Real Life Garden. They have a sea urchin appearance but make a lovely foil for the Marigolds that I later planted in front, as well as, the Sweet Alyssum that now weaves and spills over the rocks. |
BUGLEWEED I tried a lot of different ideas out before I settled on the AJUGA a.k.a. BUGLEWEED. I love this plant in Real Life and now I have some in my miniature garden too! There are a number of different varieties on the market but I have chosen Catlins Giant which is nearly black with green, blue, brown, red and silver shot through it. Trying to get the right color was the trickiest part of the procedure. The plant itself is simply glued layers of sections of a plastic round leaf plant, stacked up and spread out to get the form. Then snippets of a glass beaded wire stem were cut and curved at the base and glued in as if it were growing out from it. Everything was painted in situ, using a photo as a reference and guide. Just for fun I took a section of plastic iron railing and placed it against the cottage wall. The garden pitch fork is dug into the earth leaning against the shutter. Perhaps the gardener is getting ready to lift out the TULIP BULBS that have already finished blooming? Can you see the yellow tops of the finished flowers? |
This plant is called PURPLE HEARTI love the colors and the look of it. I again had a stem that had smaller parts that when cut and bunched together were reasonable facsimiles of what I was trying to grow. After I installed this plant, I decided to add the 3 spent TULIPS. They show only the leaves and the stems, (which were originally the pale but very interesting stamens of another full-sized silk/ plastic flower). They are to the right and in behind the PURPLE HEART. You can just make out the green leaves of one of the tulips at the extreme right in the photo below. |
And Last but not Least is the coral pink GERANIUM. The flower heads are from dried flowers that I picked off and crushed, then dipped sections of plastic flowers into glue and then the dried bits. When set they were painted and inserted into old foliage that started out as aquarium plants. The Geranium is growing along the garden entry with the Sweet Alyssum just below. |
A view through the garden gate |
grrrrrr >< Of course, what is a garden without a DANDELION weed or two? (such a wonderful idea that I owe entirely to Tatiana of "My Little Dream" ) |
But the weeding will just have to wait, because I'm going in now to take a nap toodles everyone and thanks again for stopping by *** elizabeth |