Soggy Poppies

News Flash: summer has finally arrived on Canada's we(s)t coast!! Hallelujah! So, this will hopefully be the last time you read any complaints about weather here (until the fall hits, that is).

I've been so looking forward to printing more poppy fabric this summer. Then two very important factors well beyond my control intervened. Those would be rain and letter carriers.

The rain and unseasonably cold temperatures convinced the blooms to stay snug in their shells.

In one rare afternoon of sunshine a few weeks ago, some brave flowers that could not be contained opened with a flourish, only to have their delicate petals pelted down by rain the following morning. Several of the giant buds actually just rotted atop their tall stems, having never even shared their gorgeous orange or red petals.

Interestingly enough, when I gently pull the rotted bloom off the stem, the seed pod is perfectly formed inside, and still has it's gorgeous stamp all prepared and ready for printing!

However, there's this little issue of our postal strike. You see, all of the solid fabric I ordered to use for printing is somewhere between Texas and my house. Possibly stuck in the main sorting centre downtown for all I know. We had three days of delivery before the holiday last Friday, so I'm hoping packages are moving and my fabric will arrive this week. I ordered plenty this time, so I'm hoping to be able to share some pieces with you - I might even open an Etsy shop, or maybe just post photos and sell them via Paypal. I can't decide. Maybe as I'm printing the right solution will come to me!

If you haven't yet entered my first week of birthday month giveaway, head over here. Entries open until this Thursday, July 7th. Please, please make sure your email is linked, or in your comment so I can contact you.

To all my U.S. friends, happy 4th of July! May you eat cake and watch beautiful fireworks.

Poppyprint(ing)

I promise never to take my daughter for granted. She is, and I believe always will be, the energizer bunny of our family; she's got endless enthusiasm and willingness to try new things. Ever since our giant poppies bloomed, she has been asking me "when are we going to print the poppies and make our own fabric?" Believe me, it's been on my mind for weeks, but other stuff just keeps getting in the way.

Well, yesterday at 5:00 p.m., I could postpone no longer. The seed pods are drying out rapidly in this heat and once the tops flip up, they are useless for printing because the velvety raised patterns are all hard and won't accept the ink. We set up outside on the deck got busy.

We worked with four ink colours: gold, white, red and brown. I pulled 4 solids from my stash: Kona snow, black and red and an Essex linen/cotton blend in lime green.

The Stampers:

The Process:

We used stamp pad ink that is colourfast for fabric (after you iron it) to print our fabric free-hand. I put a double thickness of towel under the fabric for two reasons; to absorb excess ink and to provide a soft surface to better complete the stamps because some of the pods have slightly rounded (convex) tops.

The Results:

I've said it before and I'll say it again...the symmetry in nature is astounding. These are some of the most beautiful, unique shapes and they please my eyes tremendously!

If you are new to Poppyprint, now you know how this blog got it's name! This is our first effort on fabric, but it won't be our last. I have to send a thanks out to my dear friend L3 who made a special effort to save the small-sized stampers from her garden and bring them all the way over from Victoria!

What's in a Name?

When my children were in Montessori pre-school, one of our favourite teachers was Donna D. One day we invited Donna over for tea in the garden. When she saw all of our giant poppy seed pods towering over all of the other leaves (and let's face it, weeds), she asked if we'd ever tried using them as stampers. Pre-schoolers don't need much more encouragement than that, when it comes to inkpads, paper and something to stamp out over and over and over!

When I saw the amazing symmetry and lines in the stamped images, I knew right away I had found my 'logo', my 'company name' and something to look forward to. One day, I might even sell something I'd made, and this would be me: Poppyprint.

I mean, just look at these gorgeous images! Nature is astounding in her perfection, especially when it comes to the garden. I'm a 'plant it and hope it lives' gardener. These poppies have thrived under my negligence and really taken over. I can only hope my 'at home' creating will be equally prolific with just a little bit more care and nurturing...

The velvety bits are perfectly suited to stamping - they soak up the ink and transfer it back to paper beautifully. The trick is to not let the pods dry out too much, because then the velvet dries up and gets too hard. Every image is slightly different from the next, and all of them are lovely. I'm going to try stamping on fabric with next year's crop!

Thank you Donna D.!