PRESSED FLOWER MAGIC - TURNING TWIGS, LEAVES, PETALS AND GROUND COVER INTO A GORGEOUS SEASIDE LIGHTHOUSE SCENE

The photo shown on this post is one of an art piece I created as a gift for someone. It was a lot of fun. Using good quality watercolor paper I painted the sea and sky background. Looking at a photo of a Maine Lighthouse. 9x12 is a good size for this. I lightly sketched an outline onto the paper. Then, materials I'd gathered and pressed were placed on the paper to get a general idea of what was needed to create the scene. Twigs became the outline of the lighthouse and railings. Carrot leaves served for some of the trees. Blossoms that had failed to become the gorgeous bright reds I'd hoped for during the pressing process but instead turned brown worked perfectly for rocks, etc. White petals that had come out tinged with darker colors gave the lighthouse a weathered appearance. Red maple blossoms, pressed very early in Spring, became small shrubs. A brilliant gold or yellow marigold petal makes a great light. Magically, daisy petals turned into soaring sea birds. All sorts of tiny neat things I'd gathered and pressed became interesting ground cover. The final step was to glue everything in place and allow time to dry before framing. Since beginning this hobby I've learned to train my eyes to see beyond every little flower, leaf, grass, ground cover, etc. that grow in nature. Seeing beyond what they are to what potential they might present after pressing takes a little imagination but is great fun. I place my freshly gathered materials immediately between facial tissues (I use Puffs) inside old telephone books. The books are labeled for content and date of entry. They are placed one atop the other with several bricks on top of the stack. After a couple of weeks I check them. Some materials contain more moisture then others and will need to have the tissues replaced and continue pressing a bit longer for better results. When the process is finished I remove and store them for future use. Organized storage makes it much easier to find exactly what you need when you find yourself in a creative mode, and inspired to put together a piece of artwork such as the lighthouse scene in this photo.

WATERGARDEN FROGS - WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?

For years we have tried to make frogs a part of our backyard water garden. Each Spring we went to a garden center, purchased tadpoles and placed them in the shallow upper pond. By summer at least a couple of them had survived and we had frogs there to watch, listen to, and enjoy throughout the summer. However, none of them ever seemed to winter over. We could not find a way to solve that problem, so decided to give up on the idea of having frogs. Each year we've worked to upgrade our tiny backyard and make it more wildlife friendly. The grasses and fern we planted around the edge of the water garden now frames a portion of it. Water lilies bloom continually throughout summer. Grasses creep over and through the rocky edging. Our koi fish have grown immensely and splash their rich gold color about as they poke their heads up out of the water searching for food. The shallow top pond, although the water is crystal clear is always swathed with deep green colored algae. This takes constant "weeding" to keep it under control. One day while working on this, much to our surprise, we heard a "plop" sound. For the rest of the day we kept a vigilant eye on the pond. What an unexpected surprise lay in store. With having done nothing more than create a friendly environment for them, three frogs had located our backyard, found it inviting, and were living in our pond. Needless to say we are utterly delighted. Each day we look forward to watching them. They've become so used to us now that we can be working within a foot or so of them and they just stay put. I don't know what species of frog they are. They've grown a lot since we first spotted them and seemed to have now reached maturity. Unlike the huge bull frogs that emerged from the tadpoles we used to purchase, these frogs are a good deal smaller. Another difference is that we have never heard these frogs croak. They are brownish with dark spots and bright green color stands out around their mouthes. I guess it really is true when they say, "if you build it, they will come". Now we are waiting to see what happens during the approaching winter. Hopefully, if they are a native species they will know how to deal with that situation and will be back here once again next Spring gracing our water garden.

If anyone knows more about this species of frog or could suggest information about what to create to help them winter over, I invite you to post it.